Babel

Though there were easier targets among the various Territorial Kings, Linnaeus had decided to kill the closest thing to a Dragon that he could find. Part of him still recalled the moment when he was helpless to act immediately after entering the Seventh Floor so, in order to overcome this trauma, he was determined to strike down the closest thing to his mental demon as possible.Crouching on the edge of a rocky outcrop, Linnaeus stared at the entrance of a cavern that glowed with an eerie green light from its interior. There were the bones of various other monsters in the area as, when fighting amongst themselves, actual corpses were left behind.With a thoughtful yet focused gaze, Linnaeus continued to observe the entrance to the cavern as he reiterated his plan, stating, "The safest spot to attack from will be the flanks. You'll have to watch out for its tail, though, as I've seen it smash through trees as if they were twigs. Even this is better than trying to face it directly, however. It can spew out a phosphorescent chemical that can burn through the scales of other Territorial Kings...I'm confident my [Barrier Aura] can protect against it, but try to avoid getting hit directly..."Linnaeus turned his attention toward Krone when he spoke the final few words, earning a curt nod from the man who, upon learning what they would be facing, turned stoic and silent. He had a very determined look on his face and, rather than show any signs of fear, there was an expectant light flickering across his silvery irises.As they had already discussed the plan several times, Linnaeus didn't want to stress on the details too much as it would only unnerve everyone. Instead, he did his best to appear confident, pulling out shortsword and dagger as he said, "Let's do this...no mistakes..."Without waiting for a response, Linnaeus slid down the rocky slope before making his way toward the cavern's entrance, his [Stealth] active. At the same time, Emilia moved along the periphery, her ultimate goal the area just above the cavern's entrance. Her task would be blinding the Territorial King by coating its head in a veil of water. If she had the opportunity, she would then use her spear to try and stab any fleshy areas while Linnaeus, using his small stature and nimbleness, would try to sever the monster's tendons to reduce its mobility.Though they hadn't really practiced the execution of their plan, the average monster relied mostly on instinct when fighting. This made it easier to draw their attention and lure them into traps, a fact Linnaeus intended to take advantage of as, after reaching the entrance of the cavern, he dropped his [Stealth] and released his killing intent to the fullest.Almost immediately after an invisible ripple spread from his body, Linnaeus' hair was kicked up as a foul-smelling aroma impacted against him, accompanied by a shockwave and a fierce roar. It actually had enough force to knock him back a few centimeters, the hair on his arms and neck standing on end as a result.Despite his own [Danger Sense] screaming at him to flee, Linnaeus' expression hardened as he bent his knees slightly, distributing his balance between both feet. At the same time, the ground around him had already begun to rumble and, like a flash flood tearing apart the landscape, a large dragon-like creature with green scales and three layers of ridges running along its backside came sprinting toward him, its massive maw opening to reveal a dense line of teeth.Rather than evade outright, Linnaeus created a barrier in the shape of a diamond prism with two fine points on both ends. He placed it right in the path of the King's opened mouth, anchoring it with the use of 500SP to ensure it had an adequate amount of durability.To Linnaeus' surprise, the Territorial King didn't seem to notice the existence of his barrier. Instead, it continued moving with incredible momentum toward Linnaeus, the barrier piercing into the back of its mouth with surprising ease. It was unable to change course fast enough and, as a result, Linnaeus watched in awe as his barrier pierced through the back of the monster's head before it crashed to the ground a few moments later, completely lifeless...Without years of practice controlling his facial expression, Linnaeus was certain he would have looked like a fool right now. Fortunately, there were certain benefits to growing up in the slums so, while others may have stood with their mouth agape, he had a calm expression that bordered on apathy.As if to build up the illusion even further, Linnaeus dropped his combat stance before placing away his weapons and remarking, "It seems my Blessing is more suited to combat than I anticipated..." in a dismissive tone of voice.In response to his remark, Emilia jumped down from her perch, laughing all the while as she made her way over to his side. She gave him an approving pat on the back as she exclaimed, "You're a real beast, Lin! To think, I was actually nervous just a few moments ago, ahahahahaha~!"With his [Barrier Aura] active, Emilia's strike against his back only caused a few pulses across his body without knocking him off balance. This allowed Linnaeus to easily stay upright, despite the fact she had put a bit of force into the congratulatory gesture.After shrugging his shoulders in a dismissive manner, Linnaeus made his way over to the spoils as Krone and Eliza made their way over. The former had a stern and hard to read expression on his face while Eliza had a cheerful smile as she skipped over to his side and said, "That was awesome, Lin! You really showed that so-called King what for~!"Linnaeus gave a small smile in response to Eliza's praise before handing her a few neat pieces of hide, saying, "We can probably make this into protective gear. Do you want me to preserve some of the organs it dropped? If I remember correctly, some of them should be useful in the production of medicines..."Eliza bobbed her head in response, pointing toward what looked like a gallbladder as she said, "I'll need to conduct some tests but it should be possible to make a medicine to reduce pain and treat internal hemorrhages with its gallbladder. It is hard to be certain but I'll be able to figure it out after taking a few samples."As internal bleeding was a serious status effect, it was always helpful to have a medicine that could help alleviate it. They already had a few medicines with hemostatic properties so having the option of treating both would be very useful. After all, other than cleaning wounds, Emilia's Blessing was not currently suitable for healing injuries. There was a chance she would reach that point after obtaining Level 100, as Blessing underwent an evolution of sorts at that point, but that was currently a very distant goal...After gathering all the drop items and distributing them between his and Eliza's Inventory, Linnaeus turned to face his Party as he said, "My Blessing seems to be effective against monsters with a large size and soft internals. Making use of a choke point and sending monsters into a frenzy will be one of our strategies in the future. For now, we'll migrate to the territory of another King in order to build up more experience as a Party. Until I get a proper grasp of the timing, this should be considered a fluke, not an indicator of actual skill."Rather than refute his words, Eliza gave an affirmative nod, adding, "It is good that you aren't letting a single instance of success go to your head. I've seen a lot of people get cocky after taking down a few stupid monsters. The real test will be against monsters with intelligence. You'll also have to adapt your Blessing so that it is useful against other people. Against someone that doesn't move around a lot, you won't be able to use their own speed and momentum against them."Eliza had been the one to originally suggest using his barriers as anchored projectiles so Linnaeus was very attentive to her input. He nodded his head in understanding when she had finished, saying, "I will continue to improve. Thank you for your guidance..."Hearing Linnaeus' response, Eliza nodded her head approvingly before startling him with a sudden hug. This caused Linnaeus to tense up like a statue, resulting in Eliza laughing as she released him and said, "You work hard so it is only a matter of time until you become truly strong. Until then, I'm happy to help as much as I can."Linnaeus was at a loss as to how he should respond so, after a momentary pause, he just gave a small nod before uttering a subdued, "Thanks..." He really didn't know how to deal with someone like Eliza as she seemed determined to break down his mental defenses. This actually made him feel even more suspicious of her but, as she could easily kill him just by bringing her hands together, it was difficult to rationalize what her actual aim might be...So as not to force Linnaeus into a more difficult position, Eliza gave him a bit of space before saying, "Well, you heard our Party Leader. We'll be moving on to the next area so the two of you should get ready. Linnaeus and I can't be the ones killing all the monsters so you'll have to show a bit of spirit in the next battle."While Krone was just standing in silence, Emilia pumped up her fist in response to Eliza's words, an excited smile on her face as she shouted, "Yosh! Leave it to me! Just you wait and see, Liz. I'll ride on the back of a King and suffocate it with my water, ahahahahaha~"Hearing Emilia call her 'Liz', Eliza gave her a sidelong glare before ultimately letting the address pass. Since she already allowed the three of them to call her by Eliza, which was short for Elizabeth, it was a little annoying to hear someone come up with a pet name for her. However, as it was pretty close to Lin, she didn't mind it as much as she otherwise would have...After calming himself adequately, Linnaeus sent Emilia ahead to scout, allowing her to lead the way as he taught Krone and Eliza how to properly track a person. This helped him to focus his own mind and, as it was a very useful skill that everyone could benefit from, he was hoping to at least get them to the point where they didn't make a ton of noise while traveling.Proper tracking also included making yourself harder to track so, as they became more adept at following the trail left behind by Emilia, they were slowly becoming better at moving through the forest. This had the effect of increasing their speed through the underbrush as well so, while they still had a long way to go, Eliza and Krone were learning to traverse the forest much faster than a week prior.With this enhanced speed, it only took them around twenty minutes to reach the territorial line of the next King. There, Emilia was already waiting for them, a strip of dried jerky in her hand that she was able to easily tear through with her pearly white teeth. It actually amazed Linnaeus to see how easily she tore through the tough meat as, without wetting and chewing on it excessively, it was hard for himself and the others to ingest.Once the Party had regrouped, Emilia took it upon herself to say, "This is that big horse monster with the two horns, right? I want to try and fight this one on my own...is that okay, Lin?"As his own enemy had gone down a lot easier than expected, Linnaeus felt that it wasn't wrong for Emilia to be a little hyped up for her own battle. However, he didn't outright agree, saying, "I'll allow it, so long as you still make use of my [Barrier Aura]. Though it wouldn't be good to become reliant on it, you should still get used to exploiting it to your advantage when the situation allows."With a confident smile on her face, Emilia thumped her own chest, sending a blue rippled across her body as she exclaimed, "Sure thing! Yosh, I'm getting super excited now...!"

With everyone else in position, Emilia skulked along the edge of a large clearing that ran adjacent to a gently flowing creek. There was an area on the far end where large brush could be seen amidst the remnants of several brutalized trees.Having spent most of her life hunting, Emilia moved silently through the area, her ears periodically flickering in accordance with sounds only she was able to hear.From his perch in the distance, Linnaeus had a thoughtful expression on his face as he watched his new companion demonstrate her skills. She had a bad habit of ignoring her back whenever she was tracking down prey but, over the last week, she had made considerable improvements...Just as he was wondering when the target would appear, there was a sudden cracking down that echoed through the woods. Emilia used this as an opportunity to increase her speed, bounding up a tree with extremely deft movements before finding a perch of her own to observe.From within the area of heavy brush, a horse-like monster standing at over three meters in height emerged. It had bronzed fur covering much of its body but, on its legs, back, neck, and the crown of its head, a dense layer of pale-gold scales could be seen. However, even these didn't stand out as much as the set of ivory white horns running vertically alongside each other atop its head.While this particular Territorial King was much smaller than some, this actually allowed it to move far faster than its competition. Using their own size against them, it would bury the meter long horns in their exposed flanks and side, disabling them with a powerful paralytic poison that allowed them to turn their victims into a veritable pin cushion...As if she had become one with her surroundings, Emilia became so still that her presence, even while being observed from the distance, seemed to fade away. This was of particular interest to Linnaeus as it was rare to have the opportunity to experience how a Skill like [Presence Concealment] worked from the perspective of a direct observer. It gave him several ideas about how he could use his own but, as now wasn't the time for such wayward thoughts, he forced himself to stay focused.Emilia was actually very nervous about facing a Territorial King on her own. Even when she was in the outside world, she always hunted in a pack so it always felt awkward to be alone. Still, in spite of the incongruous feelings that made her gut flitter about, her eyes were crystal clear as she watched her prey move steadily closer to her position.With heavy footsteps, each leaving tracks several centimeters deep, the horse-like monster moved ever closer toward where it had sensed an enemy. Its body was taut with powerful muscles and, the moment it was able to identify a target, it would explode into an expression of pure violence in its attempt to overwhelm its foe.In order to take advantage of this cautious and intense state, Emilia did her best to remain as still as possible while manifesting an orb of water several meters behind her quarry. She, like everyone else, had an effective range of 50m at her current level so it wasn't difficult to manifest an orb a few tens of meters away.Though it didn't sense the formation of the water sphere, the monster heard Emilia manipulate it to move through the underbrush. It quickly turned around, kicking its legs out to arrest the momentum of its turn before digging hard into the moist soil and accelerating at an extreme speed toward the direction of the now non-existent water sphere.Emilia was actually a little surprised by the spontaneous acceleration of the monster but, more than that, its ability to thrash around and use its horns as sabers unnerved her. She had originally planned to strike it from the flank with her spear but, seeing how quick it could twist around, the best course of action was to kite it around, using the terrain to her advantage to tire it out.After waiting for the monster's thrashing to cease, Emilia immediately formed a second sphere, this time forcing it to snake up and around the monster's leg. This caused it to freak out and, as could be expected, it began to thrash around, kicking its limbs to try and dislodge the thin film of liquid, even though it was currently harmless.It actually took a considerable amount of focus to make sure her water clung to a target so Emilia was forced to remain on her perch throughout the process. It wasn't until the monster began to slow down, its ribs expanding and contracting a considerable amount, that she finally decided to make her move.Using one of the five spears she kept on her, Emilia arched her body like a bow as she leaped from her perch. Then, at the very peak of her jump, she snapped her body forward, her spear following the arc of her right arm before piercing through the sky, its target the base of the monster's neck.Though she lacked the [Stealth] Ability, [Presence Concealment] could function in a similar manner if you were skilled enough. Since the monster was currently using its horn to try and scrape away the persistent coating of water, it only reacted at the very last moment to try and evade the momentous projectile.Unfortunately, as its reaction was to thrash about in an attempt to knock the projectile from the air, the monster ended up taking the spear directly to its throat. This wasn't enough to kill it, as it had only penetrated a few centimeters due to Emilia's lacking Strength, but it still inflicted the Bleeding status effect.Before the monster could gain its bearings and charge at her, Emilia rolled along the ground before bouncing back to her feet. She stayed low to the ground, making use of her own Agility to move at an angle that would be impossible for most. Even Linnaeus felt that he would fall on his face if he tried to emulate her form, especially with Emilia angling her spear backward to offset her balance...Realizing it had been lured into a trap, the horse-like monster released a feral neighing sound as it attempted to intercept Emilia, its own head bucking from side-to-side when it neared her location.Having already observed it previously, Emilia knew better than to let the monster get too close to her so, just as it began to charge, she immediately swept her spear while twisting her body in the complete opposite direction. This put a lot of strain on the joints in her knees and hips but, as it was better than being skewered by a raging monster, she grit her teeth in a determined manner as she evaded the ferocious charge with room to spare.To its credit, the monster almost immediately realized its prey had changed direction but, like most quadrupedal creatures, it could not so easily arrest its own momentum. It could use its front legs as a pivot to try and buck its body but, the moment it tried, Emilia's eyes flashed with a vicious light.As soon as the horse-like monster attempted to change direction, the joint of its left knee was frozen solid by the water that had soaked into its fur. This wouldn't have mattered in most situations, as a thin layer of ice was meaningless to most monsters, but it was disastrous when something as heavy as the horse-like monster tried to put all its weight on two points.Having lost the articulation of its pivot leg, a loud snapping sound, even louder than the previous tree being broken, resonated through the forest. This was the sound of the monster's leg breaking in a rather terrifying way, the bone protruding out several centimeters as it crashed to the ground and began to twist and writhe.Understanding how dangerous a monster could be when it was injured, Emilia took no chances. She retreated a safe distance before calming her breathing and forming a large ball of water. She would usually use her spears to skewer the monster from a distance but, remembering the practice she had gone through over the last week, Emilia instead used her Blessing to wrap the monster's head with her water, obscuring its vision and suffocating the thrashing creature.There were very few intelligent monsters so, the moment it was surrounded in water, the horse-like monstrosity began to thrash even more while making no attempt to hold its breath. This allowed the water produced by Emilia to invade its lungs and, though she had trouble sensing it, the proximity of the larger volume of water allowed her to freeze the entire thing.With its head, the insides of its mouth, its throat, and its lungs suddenly frozen, it wasn't long before the horse-like monster ceased in its struggles. It would normally be able to last nearly half an hour without any oxygen but, as a result of its thrashing and the cold energies invading its organs, the process had been accelerated considerably.Emilia waited into the horse had disappeared completely to recover her broken spear and the loot items. Since her tribe didn't believe in killing without purpose, she offered up a small prayer to the deceased, promising to use all of its materials to the fullest. While this might seem senseless from the perspective of others, her tribe could literally eat anything so there was rarely anything left of their prey once it had been processed...In order to let Emilia calm down, it was Linnaeus and co that came to her side. Since he knew it was important to praise people when they had done well, Linnaeus gave an approving nod, saying, "You fought intelligently and used the monster's own patterns against it. Great job, Emilia..."Hearing Linnaeus' words, Emilia's ears perked up a bit, even if she didn't take them to heart. Rather, she was hoping that Eliza would praise her but, rather than meet expectations, the latter only made momentary eye contact before turning her attention to the surroundings. This caused Emilia's ears to droop pathetically, earning her an awkward smile from Linnaeus as he muttered in a voice that only reached her ears, "I'm certain Eliza is impressed by your performance. We're still in enemy territory though, so it is better to remain focused instead of make idle banter..."Like the wind changing directions in a storm, Emilia's mood immediately recovered, indicated by her ears perking up once again as a smile blossomed across her face. She knew Linnaeus' words weren't exactly the truth but, as he was the Party Leader that Eliza recognized, it still made her a little happy to have him try to comfort her...In order to loan some truth to his words, Linnaeus quickly worked out how the loot would be split before making the decision to pull back for the day. There was still a bit of light left in the day but, as there was no way of knowing how long the next battle would take, it was best to strike after dawn of the following day.Krone seemed slightly dissatisfied by this arrangement but, as his temperament had improved a little over the last week, he didn't vocalize his discontent. He knew there was some truth behind Linnaeus' words so arguing would be a senseless act that earned him the ire of the entire Party. There were no benefits at all so, this time around, he just crossed his arms before ultimately agreeing to return with the rest...

While having a basic grasp of each other's abilities was important, it could never make up for actual experience. Knowing this, Linnaeus came up with a variety of different formations and discussed the various ways in which they could deal with different types of enemies.Eliza's [Gravity Rule] was one of their most powerful assets but, as it required her to be stationary and could easily damage allies just as easily as enemies, it was necessary to come up with measures that covered for this weakness. They also couldn't just have her use [Crush] on every enemy they came across as, while this was certainly an option in many situations, it would heavily restrict the potential growth of everyone else in the Party.Fortunately, while they lacked the utility of a true Support class, Linnaeus' and Emilia's Blessings were extremely versatile. So long as he had the SP, Linnaeus could mitigate damage almost completely, not just for himself, but everyone in the Party. As for Emilia, she could disorient enemies and make it extremely difficult for them to fight back by obscuring their vision and blocking their airway, giving them an advantage against all by the fastest and most powerful foes.The only restrictive factor behind using their Blessings to great effect was, as was often the case, the limited SP a person had access to. Though this became less of an issue at higher levels, especially if you could get access to powerful equipment, it was going to be a big issue in a world where they were unable to increase their Level.This was where Linnaeus' previous mistake actually became a boon as, while his Health was almost comically low, his SP reserves and SP Regeneration were bordering on the extreme for his Level. It wasn't a match for Eliza's but, considering she was fifteen Levels higher than him, that was to be expected.So long as he was careful, Linnaeus could regenerate upwards of 220SP per minute, effectively allowing him to upkeep his [Barrier Aura] on their entire Party at all times. This allowed them to tide through most environmental hazards and made exposure a non-factor. At the same time, he was still able to develop his [Barrier] and [Barrier Aura] further so, while his Level would stagnate, he was able to continually strengthen his foundation without any discernible limits.This wasn't something that was exclusive to Linnaeus either so, while their ultimate goal was to reach the top of the Crucible of Souls, he discussed the topic of Skill, Ability, and Magic training as part of their familiarization with each other. Since they knew the requirements for certain Skills, they could help each other further strengthen their foundation and, by the time the returned to the Tower, their growth compared to their peers would potentially put them far ahead of the curve.While Eliza and Krone didn't benefit nearly as much from this, as they had already graduated from Fledgling status, Linnaeus and Emilia had a chance of earning various rewards if they were thrown back into the earlier Floors. Other Fledglings would be hard-pressed to compete against them and, while this would require them to split up, it was possible for their Party to regroup on the tenth and twentieth Floors.Krone didn't particularly show any interest in returning to the Tower but, with his arms crossed and a solemn expression, he stated he would help them leave. He personally felt that the Crucible of Souls was his just punishment and, even if he managed to earn the right to return, there didn't seem to be much of a reason to.By reaching the top of the Crucible of Souls, they would have had to overcome various challenges and, while he may not be the strongest, his position would be near the top of other wayward Souls. Since returning to the Tower only meant a return to an endless struggle, he would rather repent in the Crucible of Souls until he felt absolved from his past sins. In his opinion, it was better to be one of the strongest people in the Crucible than one of the weak struggling in an uphill battle against those who had already lived for hundreds of years.Linnaeus couldn't really argue with this logic as, prior to entering the Tower, he would have been content just to have enough power to protect himself in the outside. There didn't seem to be any limit to how strong people could become inside the Tower so, even if his foundation allowed him to compete against his peers, those that had ventured forward ahead of him would force him into a difficult position.Despite this, he wasn't even remotely deterred as, after learning that his sister was already inside the Tower, Linnaeus was determined to reunite with her and Saht. He would protect them both until they reached a point where they were either satisfied with their progress or, much like Rebecca, they were ready to leave the Tower. Then, they could build a life together and, with the power they gained for themselves, live relatively free of worries...---To prepare for their battle against one of the Kings, Linnaeus' Party spent the better part of a week hunting around the den to develop their coordination and stockpile a sizeable amount of supplies. For all they knew, the next Floor would be a desolate wasteland so, in order to avoid having to go without food, they had been salting and drying meat in bulk. This was to conserve SP as it was much cheaper to keep preserved goods than use additional SP to preserve them yourself.This week of training was also an opportunity for them to grow a little closer with each other and, while there were still a number of issues, predominately related to Krone, a status quo had been established within the Party after a few days. It was a little awkward, as Eliza and Emilia were far more friendly with him than they were with Krone but, as the man often kept to himself and focused on his own duties, this was just a matter of course.Linnaeus wasn't the most personable individual but, with Eliza and Emilia having strong personalities, he was basically forced to socialize with them. Since this was a way of building rapport with his Party, he did his best to answer most of their curiosities and, while he avoided asking about anything that could be considered sensitive information, he had come to learn more about them as well.Emilia was actually the granddaughter of her tribe's Matriarch so, while she was determined to climb the Tower, she didn't have much of an interest in trying to reach the top. Rather, enter the Tower was more of a right of passage for the Vanargandr than anything else and, after exiting, they would then be tasked with tracking down and establishing their own tribe. This was made possible due to the fact that, when you left the Tower, you apparently appeared in the same location as when you first entered.At this point, Emilia's tribe had been venturing into the endless expanse of wilderness for countless generations so, while they could still see the Tower in the distance, a testament to its size, it wasn't something they could ever reach the base of in a single lifetime. Thus, upon exiting the Tower, they would be thrown back out into the wilderness and, while encountering others was rare, it wasn't impossible to find other tribes.By entering the Tower and successfully exiting, Emilia would be considered for an Elder Huntress position that could easily see her become the Matriarch of her own tribe in the future. She only had to find another tribe of Vanargandr and, by presenting her Status, the Matriarch of that tribe would usually gift her with a few capable Huntresses and a number of suitable males to produce children with.Linnaeus found the social dynamic of the Vanargandr a little strange but, as it was just one among thousands of unique cultures, he didn't have much to say about it. The only thing that mattered was that Emilia was a capable Huntress and, with her Agility and enhanced senses, she had already replaced him as the Party's Scout.It turned out that, while she wasn't fond of fighting at the frontlines, Emilia took great pride in her tracking abilities and, after coming to trust Linnaeus, she no longer believed he would just send her into a dangerous situation. He was the type that seriously considered his next course of action and, if it came down to it, he would expose himself to danger before requiring others to do the same. This had earned him Emilia's respect and, with Eliza and Krone often giving her the cold shoulder, he was the only person she could really talk to when she was bored or lonely.Emilia ended up being quite the chatterbox when she wasn't hunting so, with his propensity to listen to what others had to say, Linnaeus often found himself at the mercy of her pestering. This was more than a little troublesome, as he didn't really know how to socialize with others that well, but Emilia didn't seem to mind his awkwardness as she was perfectly content with doing most of the talking.The only real problem with Emilia's chattery nature was that Eliza often grew annoyed with her when they had first started living together. She didn't like to be interrupted and, as Krone wasn't really the best company, having Emilia monopolize the only other interesting person to talk to had caused her to chide the young Vanargandr on several occasions.Fortunately, while this was something that Linnaeus had expected to evolve into serious issues later down the line, Emilia was surprisingly obedient when it came to Eliza. Since she was used to a power structure where the strongest female told the others what to do, she was predisposed to obey Eliza's words so long as it didn't force her into a compromising position.Eliza was bothered by this behavior, as she was trying to prop up Linnaeus as the Party Leader, but she quickly learned that Emilia wasn't going to change any time soon. Instead, she used this to her advantage and, whenever she wanted to talk with Linnaeus, she only had to send Emilia on an errand or ask that she remain silent so that she could speak. While this led to a few tense moments, at least for Linnaeus, things had reached a peculiar equilibrium by the time a week had passed.When she first began taking advantage of Emilia's nature, Eliza hadn't really minded it too much but, after seeing how Linnaeus reacted, she began to mellow out. Now, though she would often enter the conversation to give her own input, she didn't outright tell Emilia to remain silent. This led to the two girls interacting with each other more often and, as he didn't really have much to contribute to the conversation, this made things a lot easier for Linnaeus.At this point, the only contentious factor in the Party was Krone but, as he still followed orders, it was not something that needed to be directly addressed. Rather, as they continued to work together, it felt like Krone was slowly beginning to trust in his decisions as Party Leader.Krone's subtle changes made Linnaeus feel as though things were going well and, though he never dropped his guard around the man, it no longer felt like Krone was looking for an opportunity to dispose of him. While this could just be his way of luring him into a false sense of security, the fact that Eliza and Emilia were far more likely to side with him meant that Krone didn't have much leeway to sow discord within the Party. Thus, after a week had passed, Linnaeus felt that the Party was ready for its first real challenge...slaying a Territorial King.

Chapter 51: Momentum