I and Celestine, fully geared with her sword and shield, were slowly approaching the city center, walking arm to arm, to join her group. The day was nice, as always, with shun shining, clouds slowly drifting through the sky, pushed by the gentle breeze that felt nice on the skin.

From afar we could hear the noise produced by dozens of people gathering, to do the last preparation before departing to the reserved hunting spots.

She seemed to be a little bit nervous. I noticed her biting her lower lip from time to time. Not too much, but I guess it happened every time when difficult thought went through her mind. Judging by the context of the whole situation, I would say those thoughts were focused on me and the guy who couldn't take no for an answer.

- It'll be fine - I said eventually, just before we were able to see her group.

She looked at me briefly, and gave me a slight smile, then she focused on what was ahead of us.

Three people, already seemed to be ready, standing on the edge of the city center filled with many hunters finishing their preparations. Some were rummaging through their bags, some were talking, and others tried to get to either an access point, to the device itself.

The group concluded of three guys, both in thick, sturdy military pants, and dark T-shirts with bulletproof vests over them. One was armed wing an axe, and a plastic shield, leaning on his leg. The other one had a mace, and a smaller, wooden, shield.

There was also a female with them. She had thick black hair, put into a ponytail, two short swords by her belt, similar attire, and a bow, which she put on the ground, but didn't let go off.

- Hello - Celestine said to them loudly, to match the sound of the environment we found ourselves in. - This is Peter.

I waved at them.

- This is Leonard, Ethan, and Sonja - she introduced the three people to me, pointing at every single one of them with an open hand.

- Hi - Everybody said one by one.

- We heard a lot about you, mister amazing - said Sonja, but she was looking more at Celestine, than at me, and had this cheeky smile on her face.

- Yeah - Leonard agreed. - Celestine hyped you up a lot, so now you will have to meet high expectations, otherwise, we will be disappointed.

He clearly joined the train of making fun of my girl. I don't know if they did it just as a friendly joke, or to provoke me to go out stronger than I wanted to originally.

The effect was that Celestine's face got all red, and she avoided my eyes. I also noticed her kicking a bit of dirt on the ground, as she did that. It Was hella cute, and made me want to meet all the expectations she had with today's hunt.

- We are waiting for two more - said Ethan, cutting the jokes. - Hesiodos also invited some guy to join us. Apparently also a big shot.

He added looking at me.

I ignored those words completely. There was no need to respond because I doubted the guy could really know somebody important in Arc. Otherwise, I would already know who would be joining us, because everybody at the top was a part of my circle, and they would bring me the news.

- So... - The girl with the bow stepped slightly forward, towards me, picking her bow up. - You didn't bring a weapon, mister big shot?

At first, I wanted to ignore her question, but then I decided to answer it.

- My old one got destroyed during a battle. I still didn't get a new one - I confessed.

This created a few new smiles among the group. I have no idea why that was funny to them.

- You know... - Sonja continued - Celestine told us that you know people at the top. Is that true?

A quick glance to the side, made me notice panic on my, I believe, girlfriend's face.

- Depends on what you mean by 'at the top'. - I replied.

- Mister William - Leonardo butted in. - She mentioned that you spoke with him, to get her application accepted.

His eagerness to jump on whatever the female was saying, pushed me to believe those two were together in some way. Either just fucking, or in a proper relationship. At least on some level.

- Yes - I confirmed. - I know Will.

My words made those previously mentioned smiles, bigger.historical

- This is going to be quite the rivalry then - Sonja continued. - Hesiodos said that his friend also knows mister William.

This made me rise my eyebrows. The chance that it was indeed somebody from my circle was very slim, yet possible, but the most shocking fact was that if it really was the case, I should know about this, and I didn't. There was a possibility that somebody wanted to fuck with me. A could name a few people like that, starting with Sanders, but there was also a different possibility, more probable. A possibility that the guy was just a liar.

My lack of response to her words, made her step back. It was obvious that she didn't really believe I knew Will, or was anybody of great importance in the city, and wanted to provoke a panic reaction. I had no idea what Celestine told them about me, but with each passing moment, the situation was becoming more and more interesting.

An additional bit of spice was added when I saw two guys walking toward us. One I didn't know. It was an athletic gentleman with short dark hair. Another shield enjoyed, with a sword by his belt. What really, fought my attention, was the person walking behind him. My good, although quite new, friend John Wu. Yes, the same one who got introduced to me, by his father.

The same one, who lost an arm thanks to me. This view, I'm not gonna lie, brought a smile to my face. That was a response to John's reaction, though.