50 Chapter Fifty

When Edward and Leila told the news to Brandon and Markus, the latter having only managed to get online four hours after Edward did, they were ecstatic. Like Edward, he was the type of player to dislike having more than a handful of skills. When Brandon heard the news he simply smiled and shrugged,

"Wouldn't that be obvious? The devs knew players wouldn't like having more than a dozen skills at a time- "it's too many to focus on," Brandon told them in the group voice call, his voice traveling to everybody in the party at once- other than Ikarus, "But at least we know how it works. Three skills of similar functions will be able to form together and create a new skill stronger than the sum of its parts."

"You didn't lose any of the abilities from the skills you lost, right?" Markus's voice asked.

"Nope. All the skills I learned were simply moved into my new skill," Leila answered, "Some of them were strengthened, as well, while others changed nature. My [Dragon Sight] skill used to be a passive, but now that it's included in my Dragon Echo skill, it's active."

"This is good news," Edward said, "We should start looking for information on skills through the forums. Soon enough we'll learn all of the skills related to our Origin and may need to focus on the basic ones, so we should try to find combinations that will upgrade into something stronger."

"Sounds good," The other three said at once.

Of course, though, none of them chose to go offline and do just that. Instead, while there was still time for the game, Edward gathered everybody at the inn and had a short meeting. The subject, naturally, was the decision behind their future dungeon excursion.

He could've talked to them through a voice call, but he wanted to see their reactions to the dungeon information when he repeated it to them- to see how they felt without having to rely on words.

"That's all of them," Edward said as he leaned back to an upright position. On the table before him was a small map of Pathia- one with all of the information needed to make an important decision. The towns, rivers, forests, mountains, roads, and even the five dungeon locations were marked on this map- which made it the most detailed map Edward owned.

Sitting around the table were all of his party members, other than Ikarus. The dragon chose to hunt birds outside rather than sit through a conversation he couldn't even understand.

"It sounds like the Dungeon of Winter Catacombs would be our best bet," Leila said as she picked at her lip in thought. She was leaning back on her seat with one leg crossed over the other as she gazed thoughtfully at the map before her, "Three of us will do mainly fire damage while the other two are our support players- no offense."

"No, you're accurate in that statement," Markus nodded. He sat on his chair like somebody from the military would- with a straight posture and folded arms. Of course, though, this wasn't because he was in the military- which he wasn't. Instead, he only sat like that because his armor was too heavy to allow any other posture, "With my defense and Brandon's luck, our strengths are best used in a supportive role. I also agree, the Dungeon of Winter Catacombs sounds like the best choice."

"I'm down," Brandon replied as he pulled his feet off of the table. The toy he had been fidgeting with, a small pencil-shaped block of wood, was placed into his pocket as he stood up, "But we'll need coats to prevent us from taking damage in the cold."

"Won't we need torches, too?" Markus asked as he stood up to meet Brandon.

"No, not while we're here," Edward answered as he turned to glance at Leila. He turned back to Markus and continued, "So long as one of us keeps a flame ignited the whole area surrounding us should stay warm. We will be just fine with Coats, though I'll look through the market and see if I can find some warm food as well. Leila will come with me while you and Brandon go looking for coats. We'll come back here in an hour, okay?"

"Why warm food?" Leila asked in Draconic as the two of them walked to the market. Brandon and Markus had already gone a different direction than them, one that would lead to a shop that sold all manner of outfits. Edward looked back at Leila and shrugged.

"It was just an idea. I needed to talk to you and thought this would be a good opportunity," Edward answered, "The CEO of Desert Industries is aware of the ascension problem. She contacted me yesterday and brought me to her headquarters to run some tests. I think she'll be looking for you soon."

"Anne Snow?" Leila asked, her voice high-pitched and excited.

"You know her?" 

"Well, of course! She's an icon. She started as a lowly intern at a tech company before rising to become one of the most wealthy women in the world. How can I not like her? What did you think of her?" Leila chuckled. Edward laughed and turned back to Leila.

"Honestly? I was too worried about my secret having been discovered to worry about anything else," Edward answered, "I was hoping you would be careful. She managed to catch me with only a police report and a few photos as evidence."

"What makes you think I want to hide? If I can meet Anne Snow, I might just walk up to her front door and start knocking. Can you introduce us?" Leila smiled. Edward looked at her in surprise.

'She's not afraid that her secret might be spilled?' Edward thought to himself. As he looked at Leila, he couldn't help but feel impressed, 'She's braver than I am, that's for sure.'

"Are you sure? I'm still not entirely sure what exactly she wants with me. If she ends up ripping out your organs for science, don't blame me," Edward smiled.

"Yes! Thank you, Edward!" Leila smiled. Edward shook his head and laughed before he turned back to the road. For now, the matter regarding Leila and Mrs. Snow's first meeting would have to wait. They had a set of meals to search for.