Pick Me Up!

Only one spot remained in the 1st party.

There were two applicants.

The numbers didn’t quite match for a draft.

There were two options available for the master.

Either send up one more decent candidate or resort to a paid summons if there were no outstanding talents. However, Anytng seemed unwilling to consider that. He continued to observe us while maintaining his connection.

“It’s clumsy.”

He seemed to have learned to some extent, but his operation was still unskilled.

There was one vacancy in the 1st party. And two additional members were needed for the 2nd party, but both applicants wanted to join the 1st party. It was a situation ripe for conflict.

I took a deep breath and alternated my gaze between the two.

Velkist and Neryssa faced each other with cold expressions. Former comrades now harbored mutual enmity.

“So, what’s the plan?” I spoke. “There’s one vacancy. Only one of you can join. Are you suggesting I choose one of you? You’ve probably heard that we could draw lots to divide the party if it came to that.”

“That method relies too heavily on luck. We want a more effective approach.”

“Are you saying that an effective approach involves leaving it up to my choice?”

Neryssa nodded.

Velkist remained silent, an implicit agreement.

I looked at Edis.

“What do you think?”

“I… I…”

Edis’s expression contorted.

She had a complex look in her eyes, a mixture of various emotions. She touched her forehead with her hand, as if her head hurt, and finally spoke.

“I don’t want to force someone who doesn’t want to come. But we’re short on members. The party won’t function without enough members.”

Edis sighed without saying anything more.

I observed the two once again.

Although I hadn’t fought alongside them, I had made some educated guesses about their individual specs through several sparring sessions and monitoring of their status windows.

In terms of pure combat power, Velkist had the advantage. However, when it came to overall sense and versatility, Neryssa was superior.

Both of them possessed exceptional talents among lower-tier heroes, making it a tough decision. It was like drawing straws out of a hundred.

But there was no guarantee of perfection. A hero’s true worth shone in real battles.

“Perhaps it’s better to decide by drawing lots. Choosing either of you might lead to dissatisfaction.”

I rested my chin on my hand.

‘If it weren’t for their twisted personalities, I would have chosen easily.’

Neither of them had a typical personality.

They had strong self-assertion and tended to look down on those weaker than themselves. They were difficult types to coordinate with, but on the flip side, they adapted well to the law of survival where the strong thrived and the weak perished.

‘I’ll do as you wish.’

I leaned back in my chair.

“If you don’t want to leave it to luck and don’t want to leave it to someone else’s hands, do you want to go in according to your abilities?”

“Exactly.”

“Yes.”

They both answered simultaneously.

I pointed to the iron bars of the training ground.

“Then fight.”

Their expressions stiffened.

“You want me to decide when I don’t know your abilities? Fight each other. Keep fighting until one of you falls. The decision will come after that.”

The training ground became noisy.

Edis approached and said, “Isn’t this a bit too extreme?”

“Weren’t they scrapping over a spot in the 1st party?”

I didn’t expect them to come out peacefully.

If they wanted a method other than luck, I would provide it.

A selection match.

A rule favored by masters who ran the waiting room aggressively.

The draft rules had already collapsed due to the difference in numbers.

To bridge the gap in power between the two parties, we needed to deploy two advanced heroes into the 2nd party. However, Anytng wasn’t summoning anyone. I had no choice but to make the best possible selection within the given limits.

“If you leave the decision to me, don’t complain about the outcome. In that case, I’ll decide based on your abilities and the party’s needs.”

Their personalities differed from Jenna and Aaron, and even Eolka.

They tended to see other heroes not as comrades but as competitors, generally admiring the strong and looking down on the weak. Unless they caused a brawl like Fangwolves, I had no intention of denying that type.

It was a matter of accommodating what they wanted.

Originally, this world was divided into grades among heroes, and there exists a synthesis system. These two are well suited for this world. Depending on how you handle them, they could become excellent combatants.

However, a different approach is needed.

“So, it’s coming out like this.”

Velkist chuckled mockingly.

“Are you suggesting a fight? That’s fine by me. I’ll finally get to taste some action.”

Velkist opened the iron bars and entered the training ground.

There was no hesitation in his steps. Velkist fastened his sword belt.

Neryssa looked, at him then said, “Is it okay if I kill you?”

“Do as you please.”

“I’ll do as I please too.”

Neryssa also sprinted up the stairs in a single bound.

She had agile movements comparable to Jenna. Once inside the training ground, Neryssa took out an opaque glass bottle from her pocket and spread the contents onto the blades of her three swords.

Velkist’s expression stiffened.

“This woman’s gone mad.”

“Didn’t you say ‘do as you please’?”

Neryssa said coldly.

‘Is it poison?’

Neryssa had a skill related to poison in her stat window.

She had possessed this ability since coming here. There happened to be materials available in the Weekly Dungeon, and she collected them to craft this. If you were to identify it as a recipe, it was a powerful paralysis poison that caused full-body convulsions upon contact.

“I’ve used it plenty against monsters. It’s my first time using it against a person.”

“And you probably won’t have a second chance.”

The two of them started their preparations for the battle, exchanging insults while doing so.

Jenna, watching them, shook her head.

“The atmosphere is getting incredibly hostile. Is someone going to end up dead at this rate?”

“It’s possible.”

There were cases where heroes died in battles or duels.

This was one of the main reasons for sudden hero deaths. Each master had a different way of handling it, it was up to the master to decide whether it was ruled as guilty and synthesized or passed as self-defense.  Of course, there are cases where the judgment is different in each case.

However, in our case, if one of them killed the other, I wouldn’t accept it. There was a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

‘Even though I did something like that once.’

I chuckled.

It wasn’t without precedent.

I was willing to tolerate accidents that couldn’t be avoided.

I don’t know how Anytng would view it, though.

[“Velkist (★★)” requests a duel with “Neryssa (★★)”]

[“Nerisa (★★)” requests a duel with “Velkist (★★)”]

[Both parties agree to the duel.]

A message informing of the duel’s status appeared.

[Mutual agreement duel!]

[Do you agree?]

[Yes (Selected) / No]

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