Chris

"Hahaha!" I laughed gleefully, "This is what I've been missing! Come at me, you mongrels!"

It had been a while since I had felt this joyful while in a battle. There were no Order members behind me fighting for life or death. There were no screams of the dying that played in my ear.

No. It was just me versus some ugly monsters.

It was the way it should be. I didn't have to look my fellow man in the face and smash their head in, nor use my skills to explode them with excessive force without even giving them a chance to scream.

While I didn't regret what I did, and if the situation arose, I would do it again, that didn't mean I took enjoyment in it.

This, on the other hand, I very much took enjoyment in. The monsters were touched in the head; everyone knew that, and I didn't feel at all bad at slaughtering them. Sure, the more gruesome of my methods still gave me a slight twinge, but even that didn't wipe the grin off my face.

My hammer sang once more, and the tune it hummed was a happy one, rather than the grim, dreadful one it had when facing humans. It was like it was taking just as much enjoyment in fighting monsters again as I was, even though that was silly.

The grouping of monsters I was facing off against died all too swiftly. It was barely enough to get my blood going, sadly, and no new chime came from the fight. It was expected, as I had leveled recently, but it was hard not to wish for it.

Following the beasts back toward where they came from wasn't all that hard.

The tracks stuck out, as it was the only thing in range of my aura that wasn't tinted by the cold, making it as easy as following a trail of glowing lights. At the end of the trail, though, was something I hadn't expected.

Of course, I had felt the pull on the mana from the Dungeon that was obviously in the area, but it was the scenery that threw me off.

I heard waves.

Ocean waves.

Not that there would be any other kind up here, as all smaller bodies of water were clearly frozen solid, but it still took me off guard. I hadn't expected to run into the ocean.

My surroundings had been smothered in a thick coating of white for so long that seeing anything other than snow, ice, frost, or icicles was a breath of fresh air by comparison. Even if it was water so cold that by all rights it should be frozen.

Now, running into the shoreline shouldn't have come at all that much of a surprise, as it wasn't like I was completely lost, but I just hadn't expected to have reached it already.

My path so far was relatively due North from where Frostheim sat. I'd had to go a bit West to skirt around the Hudson Bay, but other than that, I was walking towards the Northern star most of the trip.

Until it was daylight for so long I couldn't see it anymore, then I switched to navigating by the sun.

I had known Canada would end eventually, and at that end would be the ocean, but seeing it was something else. The air was so cold and sharp, the smell of salt was mainly smothered out, but it was still there if you looked deep enough.

Icebergs and small glaciers dotted the ocean as far as I could see, and I even noticed some beasts breaching out past the shore.

Huh, and here I thought the dungeon would be the coolest thing I found.

I decided to slow down and explore the area for a bit. It wasn't like I was on a time crunch, and I wanted to see what else the area held. I would have to look around for the ice shelf anyway, as I still planned to go further North than this.

I would just go about it slower and more sedately.

This is so much better than whatever Rachel's dealing with.

\

Rachel

Her stay in the city wasn't as bad as she feared. There had been many worst-case scenarios that she had thought up along the journey, but luckily, none of those came to fruition.

While her stay wasn't necessarily bad, that didn't mean it was good, either. If she had to put a word to it, Rachel would say it was tedious. With a group as large and as important –self-inflated importance, admittedly– they had to rehash a great many things that she had thought finalized.

It was a stark difference from how things were done in Frostheim.

Back home, when things were brought up and discussed, a conclusion was hammered out, and that was that. There was no bringing it back up, there was no rehashing or trying a different angle.

It was discussed, finalized, and unless something changed, set in stone.

Maybe that was because the people who ran nearly everything were all of one family? Rachel wasn't sure, but that seemed to influence things. Everyone had known each other for long enough that it was understood when a conclusion was reached.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Here, among people meeting for the first time, not so much.

Another reason for the tedium was that things were never finished. Topics were usually left open-ended or vague. There was just enough of a conclusion reached that things could be technically settled, but still room for alterations at a later date or time.

It was as annoying as it was frustrating.

The longer she stayed and the more meetings she was dragged into, the more Rachel had come to sympathize with Christopher's view of things, and that was slightly frightening.

Oh shit, they've finally switched topics. Rachel had zoned out about things that didn't involve Frostheim, and they had switched to something important. Before, they were discussing reclamation areas and providing a census for people who were torn apart to reach each other once more. It was sensible, and she agreed to take part, but did it really warrant this much discussion? Just agree to facilitate a missing persons billboard or something and be done with it.

She turned her ear toward what they were discussing now with interest.

"... still don't know what kind of Assessment we will face, or even when we will face it. I don't see how agreeing to anything now will be helpful." Marcus said. Their ally speaking in the first place was what had drawn her attention.

"I'm not asking for anything ironclad or set in stone; my goal is just to prepare and look ahead, so that the discoordination we saw last time doesn't happen again." The Admiral defended.

They were finally getting to the crux of the matter, after a few days of other such meetings. Rachel tuned in attentively.

"With so many uncertainties and unknowns, I don't see how making a few agreements now will change anything." Marcus rebutted. "Sure, we can all agree that preparing for our next Assessment is wise, but we were already doing that anyway."

That much was true, at least. While no Faction knew what their D-rank Assessment would entail, everyone was striving to grow stronger. They weren't doing it explicitly for the coming Assessment, but getting stronger was getting stronger, whether it was for one reason or another.

"Who would lead such an effort?" Mikayla added on.

The Admiral drew in a breath and answered Marcus first, "While that may be true, I have also seen events take place that would lead to an even worse fracturing than previously," He motioned at Rhett and Tracy, "Their conflict alone can prove that much, let alone future ones. And there doesn't need to be a Leader, this is something for the good of us all that I hope we can all agree to."

"Conflicts," Rhett huffed, "More like one-sided aggression."

The man's comment was ignored, as it wasn't the first time he'd made one along those lines. He made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that he was attacked without cause and was hoping to gain some sway because of that fact. None were willing to give it to him.

"There may be bad blood, but if it came down to it, I believe they would still be able to work together to–" Tracy was abruptly cut off. While she may be a Baroness, she didn't give off the same aura of power as the others, and that led people to look down on her. It also didn't help that she represented the Stormlands, and not many people had a favorable impression of them.

"Wait a second." Mikayla cut in, "Before you claim that our disunity and lack of coordination cost us during the last test, yet in the next sentence, you advocate that there doesn't need to be a leader? That doesn't make any sense."

She looked at the others seated around the table and saw some nodding and others shaking their head. It was those who did neither that she took interest in. Drake seemed to just be taking everything in and getting a feel for everyone's personalities and attitudes. Learning what he could from those in power to get a better picture of how things were.

Edward, seated next to him, just seemed to be internalizing everything people said, without contributing much on his own. Bri seemed aloof, like she didn't much care what happened, while Sylvia was very obviously taking her cues from Mikayla.

"I said there doesn't need to be a Leader, not that there shouldn't be." The Admiral defended, "During times of war, throughout history, a strong central command has been better than decentralized chaos."

Rachel was intrigued because this was a sticking point Chris had made sure she understood before she had left. A sticking point for him, and all of Frostheim. They had seen this line of discourse coming.

Instead of butting in instantly, she let it play out.

"I presume you wish to be this 'strong central command'?" Mikayla raised an eyebrow. "Your faction may be strong, but you are by far the only one with any power."

Throughout the many days they had sat here and talked in circles, it was obvious that one of the Viscountess's main goals was to set up her faction as an equal compared to that of the Admiral's.

She was a bit heavy-handed in her efforts, and it came off a bit antagonistic at times, but it seemed to be working. Not many seemed to want to oppose the Admiral directly, and seeing the woman do exactly that not only once, but many times, gave some of them the courage to speak up. The weaker ones, especially, who didn't have all that strong of a Faction behind them.

"If that is how it plays out, then yes." The Admiral answered, "My Class specifically excels at leadership roles and it will help out tremendously if such a battle happens again. With better army cohesion and by working together more seamlessly, the casualties should be more than cut in half."

"And if the test doesn't involve some grand battle? What then?" Mikayla posed.

"Then we adapt." He answered firmly.

Rachel gave Marcus and Vanessa both a look, and they both knew what she was about to say. Marcus, more so than the Fire Witch, as she hadn't met Christopher in any great capacity.

"Frostheim is uncomfortable with elevating anyone into such a leadership role." She said as diplomatically as possible.

"The Twins agrees." Marcus nodded.

"Flame Falls agrees as well," Vanessa said.

It wasn't exactly subtle, and it surely wasn't coordinated or premeditated, but it got the job done.

The Admiral looked displeased, but schooled his expression well. He was familiar with such atmospheres, and it was hard to read anything off the man if he didn't want you to, but over the last few days, Rachel had gotten better at it.

It was becoming increasingly clear what his goal was with this Assembly, and she had relayed as such to Abigail. At the time, she had asked for direction on how to respond, but the only answer she got back was 'He trusts you.'

So she did what Chris would do in this situation, which may or may not lead to her putting her foot in her mouth.

"It has become clear over these past few days that you wish to play World Police, similar to America did not that long ago. Your goal is to limit or outright stop hostilities between Factions other than your own. You wish to elevate yourself above others in the guise of 'army cohesion' and you aim to guide all of us into agreeing that you should lead, should such another battle arise." Rachel laid out bluntly, dreading what she was about to say next, "We live in different times now, you don't have the influence or the strength required to do such a thing. You aren't the only Viscount after all, and even if you were, most of our cities are a long, long way from yours.

"While your aim may be as noble and chivalrous as you claim, Frostheim will not now, or ever, be a party to such blatant manipulation on a grand scale. If you wish to impose such things on your own Faction and the Factions of your allies, fine, but we will not stand by and let it happen to the entire continent or world, as it has in the past."

It wasn't exactly a threat, but it wasn't exactly not a threat either.

Everyone in the room reacted in their own way. Some poorly, while others tried to hide smiles.

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