Precipice (I)

"There's nothing wrong with a little flashiness here and there. This is a tough job, you need to make the most of it any way you can. Especially you, Percy, you're a bit too stern for your age." Arden smiled, nudging him playfully. "Lighten up once in a while. It'll do you good."

"I simply know how to keep myself in check, that's all." Percy shot back, shifting his glasses yet again as he took two steps forward. Arden looked to be on the verge of following up with another one of his retorts, but Cyril's intervention prevented that from happening.

"By the way, Arden, when exactly did you two meet each other? Weren't you practically strangers during the final assessment?"

"Well..."

"They were both being questioned for days on end after the Phantom purge incident happened. I'm told that Percy left before the entire thing with Marcel's escort went down, but Angelica's retainer flatly refused to comply with our directive, so he was the only other source of reliable information we had." Wilhem's sudden explanation managed to quell the peculiar trio, the Chairman held a smile as he stepped forth to cement his presence among them, drawing even more eyes to their position in the process.

"We were staying in the same station so things kind of just ended up like this." Arden answered, addressing the Chairman's claim. "You're bound to strike up a conversation with someone if you're locked in a room with them for hours on end."

"That was a tactic they used to try and get more information out of us."

"Wait for real? Is that what it was?" Arden stammered, scratching his head in disbelief.

"Of course, it's one of the oldest tricks in law enforcement—but this time, it didn't get them any results. All that talking you did in there was simply a way for us to pass the time."

"Must have been some conversation huh?" Cyril interrupted from the side. Although he hadn't been there to witness it himself, he felt confident that the scenarios popping up in his mind were an accurate representation of how their original conversation played out simply off of the bits of their conversation he'd overheard.

"There you have it." The Chairman said, cutting in before anyone else could respond. "Its a bit abrupt for a one-time mission, but as of right now you're all on the same team. I was having a hard time coming up with a name for your party, but if anyone feels like it, go ahead and do the honors."

"A name for the party hmm..." Arden mumbled to himself, mulling over the matter with a focused look. "Oh, what about War Wolves? No wait maybe Night Fang? Hm...no, that's not it either...."

At first no one had taken the offer seriously, but after seeing how deeply Arden had immersed himself in the effort for appellation, Cyril couldn't help but oblige.

"Looks like you're putting some serious thought into this Arden. Sorry to say but as much as I'd love to provide you with some useful input, I'm not too keen on naming things myself. What about you, Percy?"

"Suit yourself." Percy replied with a slight shrug, his tone making it clear just how little interest he had in the matter—though he hadn't had much to begin with.

"It's fine you two. I know names aren't really that important when it comes to the mission, its not like this is a top-notch raid or anything." Arden spoke clearly, his voice was lacquered ever –so-slightly with the faintest traces of a reluctant assent. "It's just something I wanted to do seeing as I'll be the one leading our party once we enter the gate, Yelena can't accompany us inside so that automatically puts me in her place."

"Heh, what a pleasant surprise. Good for you, Arden." Cyril turned towards the Chairman, who gave him a curt nod to convey his assent.

"Oh come on, we both know that its just a formality, if we had chosen the leader purely based on strength, then it probably wouldn't be me. I've seen your fight against the infernal you know, no need to try and be modest now."

"Man, who hasn't seen that video at this point?" Cyril quietly mumbled out the words on a breath of exasperation.

"If I may..." Percy intoned mid approach, "...If you want to name our party, the easiest way to do so would be to use inspiration from its constituent members. Including Angelica, we have three Strikers and one magician, that being me—I shouldn't be saying this but it's a horribly unbalanced setup. With that in mind, what about the name 'Onslaught'?"

"Ah, that could work!" Arden exclaimed proudly, his instincts must have clicked with the parameters of that name.

"Onslaught...a party primed for offense, is it? Nice going Percy, it's a good name, I didn't think you were interested." Cyril remarked, glancing back at his teammate.

"When did I say I wasn't interested?" Percy said as he looked away, refusing to meet Cyril's mischievous glare.

"Onslaught huh? The name is a little strange, but I like it." A third voice interrupted them from behind them, its tone ringing with a melodic intonation. Without even looking, Cyril had already discerned the identity of its owner.

"You finally made it, Angelica."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Now that everyone is finally here, we can begin the mission briefing in earnest, although it really isn't anything all that complicated to be honest."

The Association's reception lobby was strangely silent at the moment. Only a few minutes ago, there were crowds of people moving back and forth inside the extravagant space, but now, only six people occupied the room.

All it took was a single command from Wilhelm to make the crowds to thin at an astonishing rate, emptying the entire lobby in the blink of an eye.

It was an odd place to hold a mission briefing, especially since he needed to exert his authority to do so. Wilhelm wasn't one to flaunt his influence unnecessarily, if he was going this far, the lobby was most likely the ideal place to commence their discussion.

Cyril turned his head to the side and glanced through the transparent glass doors of the building. His stare was returned several times over by the figures lurking beyond the transparent glass panes, none of whom seemed particularly pleased with the situation.

This definitely isn't a good look for us. He thought to himself.

"It kind of feels like they all just got kicked out on short notice, doesn't it?" Angelica whispered, creeping closer to him.

"Yeah, kind of, and by the looks of things, most of those people are provisional hunters that are going to be participating in the raid with us. Our main objective is catching Scarecrow, and that's supposed to be kept secret, so I hope none of them get the wrong idea about this."

"I think it should be fine so long as we keep a 'low profile' inside the dungeon, that way, we won't stand out as much."

"Oh? You sound optimistic about this Angelica, looks like you were more prepared than I thought." At his word, Cyril gave her a quick once over, noting the girl's minimalistic attire, complete with her tapered leg guards and her famed rapier. Her retainer was also present, standing a short distance away by one of the large granite pillars. They had arrived at the same time, but aside from the quaintest of greetings, Yelena had made no further efforts to establish her presence.

"I guess you could say I'm eager to redeem myself? I've found my resolve, and I think I'm starting to understand what exactly being a hunter entails—You don't need to worry about me anymore Cyril, I won't be a burden this time." Angelica said calmly, producing the most poised expression he'd ever seen on her face.

Witnessing something like that left him speechless, there was no longer any room to question the girl's conviction. "If you're going that far then I guess I have no choice but to look forward to your performance."

"I could say the same about you." Angelica replied, her eyes scanning his appearance with a look of deep interest. The girl nodded twice, sounding content with herself as she said this: "You certainly look the part today, so I'm eager to see what you have in store for us."

"I second that!" Arden chimed in, jokingly raising a hand to match his beaming smile. "I mean, you can't blame me, right? You were pretty good the last time we fought together, but after seeing your fight with the infernal I can't help but wonder what else you've got hidden up your sleeve."

"Agreed. Even if it's just this once, I think we should give it our all for this mission, right, Percy?" Angelica said, lacing her words with unbridled sincerity. For the longest time, Percy had been tuned into their conversation, but for whatever reason he decided to stay out of it.

His subtle side-eyeing approach must not have been as smooth as he thought because his teammate ended up catching him in the act—hence why she called out to him.

"Well...I already have a relative grasp of your capabilities, but it wouldn't hurt to know that everyone is giving it their all, so yes, I share the same sentiment."

"What a roundabout way to give an answer." Cyril retorted. His thoughts must have unknowingly escaped him, because his remark had been instinctual.

"Say what you want. Communicating with others has never been my forte."

"You don't say?" Arden cut in, voice dripping with sarcasm as he gave a nonchalant shrug. "Who could've guessed?"

"At least we know he's a good listener; he's been eavesdropping this entire time after all." Cyril's sarcastic quip reinforced the impact of the verbal jab Arden had made moments earlier. Percy unloaded a heavy sigh and turned away as soon as he realized that Angelica could no longer suppress the rising urge to giggle at his expense. "Somehow I feel like you three are making fun of me." He said, throwing the words out on a dry note.

"It's good to see that you're all getting along, at least we don't have that to worry about." Wilhelm spoke up once more, his tone filling the room with a profound sense of authority. "Truth be told, Percy refused to take part in this operation several times and it took quite a bit of convincing on my end to get him on board. His abilities are exceptional for a C-rank and that makes him an indispensable asset for this mission."

"I only caught glimpses of him back in the dungeon, but I'm not exactly surprised to hear that. What exactly can you do Percy?" Cyril asked, turning towards his companion with a curious tilt of his head.

Angelica and Arden crept up behind him, their expressions mirroring each other as all three of them expectantly stared at the robed magician. Apparently, even Arden, the one who had evidently spent the most time with Percy was still itching to know the answer to that question.

"It's never really a good thing to reveal your hand like this, but I'll have to make an exception this one time. I'm a wind magician—I can control air currents, that's about it."

"Huh? That's it? What a letdown." Arden said candidly, shaking his head.

"Manipulating air currents...that's basically what all wind magicians do, but what do we even need that for?" Cyril scratched his head and slowly glanced around the room, his eyes captured the blase expressions of the room's occupants one by one, with the exception of Angelica. She was about the only one to portray a vested interest in the young magician's talents.

This time, it was Percy's turn to give a smug response.

"Oh, dear me. I'm terribly sorry to disappoint you three." After giving his glasses a gentle nudge, his gaze drifted to Arden, a conniving smile naturally curling onto his lips.

"Cocky bastard."

"Oh, looks like he has a shrewd side to him as well."

"I suppose it's only fair."

Percy's retort met no rebuttal. Arden took it in stride, while Cyril and Angelica seemed more amused than anything else.

"Perhaps you're getting along a little too well." Wilhelm intervened in the conversation again, re-establishing his presence in the room and for the sake of neutrality. The banter amongst team members was quickly cleared by the Chairman's reverberating voice, allowing him to speak without any further interruptions.

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