Letting the blob of water break down into water energy, Jules stood upright as he raised his leather bag up.
"There's nothing wrong," Jules smiled nervously, trying to imitate the original. "I just prepared extra for today."
Ryan's frown decreased. "Oh, oh! I see! So what's in there?"
Scratching his head, Jules replied, "Hum… Potions, bombs, and some other extra rations…"
With a slight chuckle, Ryan's eyes pointed at the shortsword strapped to Jules's belt.
"It's good to see that the young master is becoming more enthusiastic with the mission. You even got a new sword!"
"It's all thanks to you, Ryan. The weight of the mission is less when I'm in your company."
Jules responded based on how he believed the original had acted in his mission.
He didn't know whether Ryan was just dumb or his acting was good because Ryan didn't seem to notice anything.
Ryan smiled widely. "I'm glad you think that! Just doing my job as a warrior of our clan!"
Jules nodded, adjusting his new leather armor and throwing his bag over his shoulders.
"Where are the others?" He asked.
"The seniors are at the clan's outer walls. They are waiting for the Captain. We are meeting them there today, remember?"
With his memories all over the place, Jules missed that fact.
"Ah, I did forget."
"Young master…" Ryan sighed in subtle disappointment.
If there was one thing Jules was happy with, he could freely ask this guy questions.
The relationship between Jules and Ryan after the past few missions gave him this leeway.
"Shall we go meet them?" Jules said, walking towards the entrance.
"Eh?" Ryan wore a look of surprise. "You're actually going to meet them on your own?"
'What does it look like I'm doing?' Jules forced a nod as he moved.
Soon, Jules got to where his teammates, Mark and Joel, were standing in silence.
Dressed in leather armor like Jules, Mark had black hair and blue eyes, a long sword fixed to his back.
Seeing Jules, Mark nodded curtly and greeted, "Greetings, young master."
Jules acted shy as he replied, "Ah…hello."
Joel chimed in, nearing Jules, "Oh, young master. How are you doing? Pumped for today I see!"
Creating distance from the black-haired, green-eyed man with a trimmed beard, Jules said, "You could say that."
Joel laughed as he saw Jules' new sword.
"Ha! Was the young master frightened by the beasts we fought yesterday?"
Ryan chuckled at his words and Jules smiled tensely at his words.
"Man, I don't blame you. That beast almost got us cornered if not for the Captain," Joel recalled the string of events as though the others didn't witness it themselves.
Meanwhile, Jules was scrutinizing his teammates inwardly.
'Joel's a Wind mage at Solid Orange, Mark's a swordsman at Light Orange, and Ryan is a swordsman at Light Red.
'Joel and Ryan were from the same squad before they were assigned to the mission, while Mark is from another.
'The Captain, who leads the team, is at Dark Yellow and is a spearman who has battled against beasts along with the squads at the Edge.'
Jules took a mental note of each of them.
'This mission's meant to kill me, and I can't trust any of them.'
Jules sighed, the risk of it dawning on him again.
'I've done all the preparations I can do. Hopefully, it all goes well.'
"The Captain is here."
Pulling Jules out of his thoughts was Joel acknowledging the Captain's arrival.
The Captain of this team was a man in his mid 30s, wearing high-quality leather armor and with a beautiful spear and round spear at his back, he walked towards them with indifference.
"And he's still as stoic as ever." Joel muttered before he greeted. "Captain Cid!"
The others followed Joel's actions and repeated, "Captain!"
Standing taller than everyone, Cid glanced at his four team members.
Then his eyes settled on Jules longer, his brows furrowing to betray the indifference he wore.
Jules noticed this and shivered a bit. "A f-fine morning today, right Captain?"
"Right." Cid said in a deep voice. "I hope yesterday's battle has inspired you rather than fear you."
"Haha! Captain, the young master is looking ready for battle. That's inspiration to me!" Joel remarked.
"You could say that…" Jules added.
"Alright then." Looking at them with a superior gaze, Cid spoke:
"This is the third out of six scouting missions we are to do. Today, it'll be the North East borders. We will aim to return before Dusk. You know the formations. Let's move."
Trailing behind the group, Jules calmed himself as he walked into danger on his own accord.
'To survive.'
After walking a distance from the Clan's main territory, the team picked up their pace towards the North-east of the massive island.
The mission they were assigned by the Clan elders was to conduct a deep scout at the borders because of intel that outsiders were aiming to bring down the clan.
Each member of the current team, aside from Jules, had been assigned to this for their respective reasons.
The person who most deeply influences this mission is Ryan, who is known to have senses that surpass the average in this world.
Because of Ryan's concentration during their scouting, Jules was left alone, with Joel occasionally initiating conversation.
The North-east area they explored was closer to the Edge of the island facing beasts infested lands and waters.
This area had more stray beasts compared to the previous regions they had scouted.
The day prior, they had fought against very few beasts in the East.
Despite the fact they were avoiding most, they still engaged in some battle based on Captain Cid's instruction.
During this period, Jules had always been quiet as he took note of his surroundings and observed his teammates for suspicious movements.
He also participated in the battle from the rear along with Joel, giving him the opportunity to use low tier Water Magic in actual battle.
After seven hours of finding no trace of intruders, they stood in a part of the forest that was fairly spacious.
Joel and Ryan were cutting down parts of a beast under the watch of Mark.
Captain Cid stood not so far, under a tree, watching them with his spear and shield in his hands.
"Man, I guess there's no signs here either," Joel said, cleaning his hands. "Mark was spot on."
Facing Joel, Mark explained in a pragmatic tone.
"Anyone could have guessed that there'll be less chances here since this place is closer to where the Squads fighting at the Edge are positioned."
"I believe you're just more insightful than us."
"Of course he is. He has spent years at the Edge!"
Ryan praised and Joel chipped in a comment.
Watching them, Jules thought. 'I wonder if they all died originally…'
Suddenly, Ryan stopped working, his face hardening into a frown.
He glanced around, his sharp senses picking up something the others hadn't noticed yet. "Something's off."
Cid reacted to this instantly. "Stay alert!"
Jules turned to Ryan, who already had his eyes closed, following the Captain's tense words.
In one swift movement, Cid closed the distance between his team, and muttered to Ryan behind him.
"How's it, kid?"
Ryan replied, his voice shaking slightly. "It is not beasts… But something is odd around us!"
Surrounding Ryan, Mark stretched out his sword, while Joel seemed to curse at the idea of engaging in another battle.
With his focus heightened, Jules suddenly had the feeling of being watched, giving him shivers.
'Is this it?'
Jules tightened his grip on his bag and distanced himself from the group a bit.
The stillness stretched on, and the quiet seemed to grow heavier with every passing second.
Jules barely registered the shift in the air, but the others did.
Mark's hand moved to the hilt of his sword, while Ryan stood frozen, his eyes narrowing in concentration.
Finally, in a defeated tone, Ryan said, "Intruders… We're surrounded."
Knowing they were discovered, twenty figures clad in dark green attires revealed themselves–some standing on tree branches, others positioned beside trees.
They were obviously skilled individuals. No signs of them were discovered prior to now!
"Fuck." Joel said instinctively.
Jules bit his lips as he looked around.
'I-isn't this harder than expected?'