June 24th, 1995, 3:44 PM

    Alex impatiently stands at the edge, far away from the spectator seats of the newly constructed maze, slightly nervous. Aside from the giant hole in the ground close to them, there’s nothing out of place.

    Around him are his teammates—the three other groups of players. They’re not strangers anymore, but not exactly true comrades either, at least in Alex’s mind. Tereza and Rishi are not yet present.

    Alex sighs as he remembers the surprise—the culmination of Jewel’s hard work over the last few months. His head hurts a bit now that he also has to pay attention to Jewel’s new skill, as it requires a lot of resources, similar to his own skills. Despite the possibility, Alex has decided not to upgrade Jewel’s newest skill Arachmagic Eight-Spear Style lvl 0, as Rishi’s [Mobile Skill Station] costs 10,000 FC to activate, and it’s not yet clear if Jewel, as a pet, can use it or needs access to a special facility in the Main Realm.

    [Congratulations! Pet Jewel (Mutated Thornback Queen Hatchling) has increased its level from 3 to 4]

    [Sealion''s Might]

    Besides upgrading his item, Alex has also done a bit more hunting and spent all his Galleons, carefully strolling through Diagon Alley, buying any random item he could find.

    Thanks to his efforts, he has amassed a staggering amount of items to trade or use if he makes it back to the Realm. He has also traded away his unneeded food items. The other teams liked them so much that they wanted to get more than just the five items he promised. Alex traded away all recovery items besides the newest batch made with dragon meat. He gave away the other various healing items to Menchi to train and experiment with—something she more than deserves, in his opinion.

    Thanks to this, he has gained another 60,000 FC, a rather low amount for the sheer quality, but Alex has successfully gained the appreciation of the other teams this way.

    Alex stares at the others. He sees fear, anxiety, and even horror on the faces of the players of the youth team, their eyes clearly telling him all he needs to know about their current condition.

    Finally, he moves to Stefanie and pats her head. “Don’t get nervous now. After this, we’ll still have to take down Aragog’s lair… If you’re nice to me, I might even take you out for another date.”

    Stefanie blushes and turns away, pouting just a little.

    Alex then addresses her groupmates—two young males and females. “Rishi is also single, ladies. He’s not only good-looking but rich… If you get to know him, he can instantly make you wealthy, ladies. I’ll make sure he gives you his number before we leave, okay?”

    The two girls giggle, not taking Alex seriously but strangely open to his suggestion.

    “Sadly, I won’t offer you Tereza or Menchi, but if we make it through this, I might have a secret tip on how you can acquire your own Supporter,” Alex says to the young men.

    “Really?!” they both scream in surprise, showing envious expressions, obviously having a secret crush they’d die to have as a Supporter.

    With the group of youngsters a bit more cheerful, Alex steps away a little.

    Ben approaches him, commenting on his ways of cheering up the younger players. “You’re too soft in your ways of motivating your soldiers. You gotta be more strict and direct.”

    “Ben, I’d agree with you, but these youths aren’t soldiers… neither am I for that matter. Not everyone is mentally strong like you guys, and it makes no sense to treat them as soldiers, which they clearly aren’t.”

    “Hehe, I figure you’re right, and that’s exactly why you’re the leader,” Ben responds with a chuckle.

    Alicia and her female comrades also approach Alex, surrounding him.

    “Do you also need some motivation, ‘Leader’?” she says with a grin.

    “Just one question. I need to know… it’s for a… private bet. I didn’t come up with this topic, but I’ve been told that you are… lesbians?” Alex awkwardly asks.

    The group giggles around him.

    “What do you think, huh?” one says, breathing into Alex’s ear.

    “Take a guess!” another one cheerfully yells.

    “You really wanna know, huh?” two more giggle behind him.

    “We’ll tell you after this task—that way, you have something interesting to look forward to!” Alicia says in a teasing voice.

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    Finally, Alex is pulled back to reality as Rishi, Tereza, and a lifeless-looking person resembling Alastor Moody approach the group.