763 Meeting a new party

Hera arrived in the Arie on the first flight at around 2 P.M. Typhera told her the meeting with her new party was supposed to start at 4, and they would spend the day there before starting to travel for their missions. The Queen didn't greet the Ophidianite, but she sent one of her assistants for that. Apparently, she was busy dealing with some issues related to the movement of troops. Ever since the beginning of the war, there have been no large battles. Both sides were still moving their pieces around the board and doing a whole lot of posture, but they all knew that wouldn't last. The fact was, the humans were on the back foot during this conflict. Sure, they had the numbers, but they were facing several kingdoms, and it would take at least a few months for them to train new people who would be more than just bodies in a ditch. However, there was one simple reason why they needed to finish this as quickly as possible. Their levels.

All doorways connected to Earth were located in the first layer, without exception. This meant that humans were able to control a large area, but they would be on lower layers. Their most advanced stronghold was only on layer 15, but aside from that, most places they controlled were on layers 11 and below. This allowed the newly named MAZE Alliance to grow beyond level 30 at a much better pace than their enemies. Even so, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for the sentient species of the MAZE. If they wanted to make new soldiers, they would have to create groups with people strong enough to carry them through the early levels, and that was an issue. Military experts say the war would only last a few years despite the scale. The reasoning was that if the humans weren't able to win in the first five years, they wouldn't be able to recuperate their losses. Their army would be too weak to make a dent in the high-level army of the MAZE Alliance. This was all considering their plans of merging spirits with people wouldn't work, and they didn't have any other 'secret weapons,' of course. But theorizing about those things wasn't good for morale, so the leadership was being careful not to float those ideas around the population.

The Ophidianite was guided to a large meeting room with a few chairs and a small table with pastries, fruits, juice, and coffee. Inside, four people were already sitting in the chairs, making small talk.

"Oh… Sorry. Am I late?" Hera asked while looking around.

An elf with short, curly lavender hair and a youthful smile pulled her tablet, "No, no. We were scheduled to meet at 3. You are still early."

Hera let out a relieved sigh, "I'm glad. And at least I wasn't the last to arrive," she joked.

"Yeah… about that.." A triton with large ears that looked like the fins of a lionfish pointed to a chair with a coat on top of it, "The dwarf went to the bathroom. So you are the last one. But you are not late. We still have a good 15 minutes before that."

Hera just nodded and pulled one of the chairs for her to sit while placing her bag on the side. She noticed that the small beastman with a wide streak of white hair in the middle of his head and a male harpy with black feathers, baggy pants, and a transparent cape were chatting, not even realizing that she had arrived. The Ophidianite turned back to the triton, "Do you guys already know each other?"

"I don't, and I don't think anyone else does it either," the triton shook her head and pulled a fan made out of reef. She started waving it at herself as small droplets of water splashed her.

"I believe no one knows each other. Or at least, that was the intention behind this group. Elara told me that this group, in particular, was supposed to be made up of people who have no connection to each other. I have no idea why. I should've asked," the elf frowned and looked at the harpy and beastman, "They started to get along well after the harpy asked about what the beastman does to take care of his fur."

"Hey!" the harpy protested, "I have a name, you know."

"Well…None of us actually introduced ourselves, so calling you by your species was the easiest way. I thought that saying 'the guy in the transparent cape' might make you think I was taking a stab at your clothing. Which I'm not. It's really pretty," the elf explained.

"Yeah, and I loved that top. It's open back, right?" the triton chimed in, pointing at the harpy's shirt, which was almost like black, a sleeveless t-shirt that was tucked inside his pants. The big difference from what others would wear was the sleeves or lack of them. His shoulder was completely exposed, and the opening reached the beginning of his spec, only connecting to the rest of the cloth after his sixth rib. The shirt also fit his body perfectly, leaving no cloth to move around.

"This? Oh, this is like a simple T-shirt for us. We can't actually use things with sleeves, or we can't fly. But if we are talking about clothes. Those boots. I have no words. I mean, is that actual coral?" the harpy asked the triton, who was wearing a pair of knee-high purple boots with several straps going all the way to her feet. And right at the top, there were a couple of coral formations pointing to the sides.

"It is! This is one of the things we use to make our life more comfortable in places without a lot of water. I asked a friend to modify these gorgeous boots so I always feel like I'm walking on water," the triton said with a smile.

Hera frowned, "I'm sorry if this is offensive, but I never had that much contact with Tritons. But is that a problem? Like not being close to water? Do you need it to survive?"

"Well, we do need to drink water, and if you are asking, if we dry up. The answer is sort of. Our skin gets really dry and cracks a bit, but it's not exactly painful, just uncomfortable. We do get more thirsty when we are like that, but pretty much every triton learns some water spells to feel comfortable. I'll warn you that every single article of clothing I have is enchanted to feel wet all the time. To me, that's amazing, but other species tend to not enjoy the feeling."

Before they were able to continue their conversation, the dwarf who had left for the bathroom came back. Seeing that the party was now complete, he started speaking right away, "I know we are a bit early, but since we are all here. How about we all introduce ourselves? I don't want to be calling everyone you all the time."

"Sure," the harpy smiled as he and the beastman pulled their chairs closer to the others, "Who wants to start?"

"You are already talking, so go for it," the beastman replied.

"Great!" the harpy opened a large smile as he stood up on the chair so everyone could take a good look at him. He had mostly black feathers, but the ones on his lower neck, growling like part of his hair, were pure white and yellow eyes. The baggy pants would reach between his knee and ankle, where they tightened to stop it from moving, and instead of shoes, he had what could be described as fingerless socks, but they were made out of white leather and still allowed his feet to move properly, "I'm Rash, but you can call me Vash. As you can see, I am a harpy. I know it's a shock to see someone as handsome as me. I'm level 38, and I'm a performer. This means that my skill set is more about communication and sound. But I also have some songs that can buff us or hinder monsters. And my weapon of choice is," he made a dramatic pause and pulled a pair of maracas from his wain using his feet, "The maraca. I can control the sound that comes from them to turn it into various instruments. Aside from that. I'm a pretty open book. You can ask me anything, and I'll answer. I like music, obviously. Especially musicals. Oh! As my stage skill, I can make a kind of warning system. An array of lights in the sky triggers depending on who is below it. It's less flashy than you might think, and I can make it invisible to everyone but me."

Vash took a bow and jumped, twirling in the air before gently sitting back on his seat. He then turned to the left to the beastman, who nodded and climbed on his chair. The man had a lot of fur on his back and behind his arms, which looked a bit longer than they should be. His eyes were a golden orange like the sunset, and he had a pair of tiny round ears on the top of his head. He was wearing a pair of clawed shoes and brown leather pants together with a beige pelt as a half skirt. The other half of his belt had a few animal skulls, but it was hard to tell which animal they came from. On his upper body, there was a simple white shirt that looked a bit too big for him.

"I'm Roan. Beastman fighter. Level 37. I come from the Honey Badger tribe. We are a resilient bunch, and it takes a lot to take us out."

Hera nodded, "Yeah," making everyone turn to her with confused expressions, while Roan's eyes flared up with anger, "Oh. Sorry. I just know about honey badgers. I know badass they are."

The answer seemed to calm the man down, and he continued, "Then you know we can take pretty much anything. The skin on my back is loose, so if something grabs me from there, I can spin around to free myself. Also," Roan took a deep breath, "The chieftain told me to tell you everything. So, to keep that promise, I'll explain one thing. I fight using a pair of hand axes or my hands. I can use a skill called 'Beast Armor.' It's something only we can do. Beastman, I mean. Basically, I tap into my animal self, getting stronger and going on a frenzy. The problem is it's hard to control, and there is a chance that I will see everyone as an enemy. We are trained to have some trigger words to help us regain control, and I'll share them with you all later, or you can try to knock me out. This is more of an emergency resource, but everyone should know."

Roan sat back down and gestured to the next in line, the dwarf. The man nodded, "I'm not getting up. I might be small, but everyone can see me just fine. Then again, in this group I'm not the only one on the smaller side," he glanced at Roan and Vash, both who were just a dozen centimeters taller than him, "My name is Flint. I'm a level 40 crafter," he stopped talking for a moment and groaned, "Fuck I have to get up."

The man stood up, letting Hera get a good look at him for the first time. He was about 120 centimeters tall and had long brown hair and a long beard, with the sides of his head shaved and tattooed. His mustache would curl up, showing he paid a lot of attention to his appearance. He put on his long brown coat, which seemed heavier than it looked, and put on a wide-brim hat that was hidden underneath it.

"I may be a crafter, but I'm a front liner. I fight with my fists. Well, these fists," he closed his hands, and the coat shifted. It formed a metallic exoskeleton connecting his legs, back, shoulder, and arms. It wasn't full armor, and most of his body was still exposed. His fists turned into spiked hammers powered by a mana piston, "Now, before you say anything. I know this doesn't look like the best idea. Armors like this usually can't handle the strength high-level explorers use and break apart constantly. And you would be right. But I have a skill that constantly repairs any items I'm using, plus some others that can increase the durability. I can also make some bombs and tools on the fly. As well as shields and other smaller weapons, but this," he banged the metal hammers together, "Is my bread and butter."

His exoskeleton returned to the coat form, which was now clearly metal, and Flint sat back down, looking at the next in line, Hera.