Hardcore Fantasy – Chapter 10: The Conference [I]

Two weeks flew by in the blink of an eye.

"…" – Akihiko was in his room, doing maintenance on some swords. 

The group had been subjected to specialized training for their roles and the results had started to show around this week. They were slowly getting used to working on a real battlefield;

Evelyn said that it still wasn't ideal but she was satisfied with their progress for now.

Finishing the maintenance, Akihiko picked up one sword and put the tip behind one of his knees.

Pushing it forward, the sword vanished, as if swallowed.

Doing the same with the other swords, he checked that the weight from all his weapons and tools was the same.

'I will need more weight.' – He noticed he was starting to grow used to the current weight he was carrying around.

Shaking his head, he checked the time before walking out of his room.

"Ahn~"

"Darlan~❤"

"Hum~❤"

"Melissa~"

As soon as he stepped out of his room, Akihiko heard moans along with clapping of fleshes.

Lathz and Darlan were having sex again, something that had become somewhat of a routine.

The surprise comes from Eric and Melissa also having sex. Those two were mostly uncaring about things, so it was a small surprise for them to be doing it.

Akihiko, however, ignored them and walked away.

Following the path he had memorized earlier, he took some turns in the seemingly identical corridors and after a few minutes, he arrived at a heavy door.

The door opened smoothly and revealed a spacious room inside.

In the center of the room, there was a magical circle resembling the one Akihiko had taken to arrive in this base, a teleportation circle.

And beside it, there were some chairs and benches on the side.

"You're already here?" – Evelyn's voice came from the side.

She was sitting on one of the benches while using her phone.

Akihiko turned his face toward her and nodded before walking toward another bench some distance away from her.

"Hum..." – Evelyn hummed and returned her eyes back to her phone.

As time passed, the other members of the group soon entered the room.

Evelyn glanced at all of them and put her phone away – "Now that everyone is here, we can go. It's better to arrive earlier at those events." – She snapped her fingers and the magical circle started to spin.

The others nodded and stepped into the circle.

Evelyn checked some other things and also stepped into the circle before the light from the circle brightened and flashed, covering the whole room.

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"We've arrived." – Evelyn spoke when the light dimmed.

The previous spacious room changed to a small but nevertheless fancy one.

The others were a little lost due to the side-effects of the teleportation.

"Let's go." – Evelyn walked toward the door before exiting the room.

Akihiko followed her and when he stepped out of the room, he was surprised by the amount of people he could feel in there.

A giant hall spanning for at least hundreds of meters and the number of people to fill it.

'I wasn't aware that there were this many examinees.' – Akihiko got over his surprise and noticed that he could feel instructors, students, acolytes, and servants from the Cathedral all around spread through the hall.

The group soon followed Evelyn and she guided them to a fancy table on a corner of the hall.

"This is your table. You can roam freely and mingle with other people in the meantime but when the Conference starts, remember to be here. Its location should have been synchronized with your bio-system, so getting lost will be hard." – She explained shortly before smiling and walking away – "If you need something from me, just message me. I will meet some acquaintances in the meantime."

The others watched Evelyn walk away with blank expressions. She left them on their own just like that, again.

Akihiko pulled one of the many chairs and sat down.

Seeing him behaving casually, the others recovered from their small daze and also took a seat.

"But to think that there's somewhere this fancy on Pandora…" – Beatrix commented in a quiet voice.

"Indeed." – Daran nodded – "From what we were taught and have seen until now, I didn't think there would be a place like this." – He added while looking around.

Waitresses and waiters walked through the crowd and offered both drinks and food, all of high quality.      

The decoration looked to contain mana stones and other precious ores, something that would be unthinkable to anyone belonging to the logistic field since their value was too high to be a mere decoration.

Hundreds of tables with people on it; an orchestra playing soft music to serve as a background, and the most notable thing, a floating projection of Pandora floating on the stage, showing everyone what is the planet now.

*Beep*

A low beep caught Akihiko's attention.

Opening his bio-system and using his magic, he saw he received a message.

[Eizabeth: Hey Aki, you're also attending the Conference, right?]

Reading it, he typed a message while ignoring the group's gaze on him.

[Akihiko: Yes.]

[Elizabeth: I'm attending it too. I'm in the hall right now, where are you?]

Akihiko took the location of the table and sent it.

[Elizabeth: Arriving~]

"An acquaintance?" – Lathz asked curiously. With how he had been behaving, the whole group had no idea of what kind of life Akihiko had prior to coming to the base, so him having an acquaintance or a friend was mildly surprising to them.

Akihiko made some hand signals and Beatrix translated – "He said that it was his childhood friend. And that she will probably come over with some other people. He asked if is there a problem." 

"A childhood friend?" – Darlan raised an eyebrow – "And I don't think there's a problem, right?" – He turned to Lathz, who agreed.

As the group chatted, 5 minutes passed before Akihiko sensed a familiar presence.

"Aki~" – A melodic voice attracted the group's attention.

"Holy…" – Darlan's jaw almost fell when he saw a woman approaching their table.

Lathz wanted to elbow him but she too was stunned by the beauty coming closer.

Seductress. That is what the group's thoughts could be summed up to.

Long white hair, bright crimson eyes, and a bombshell of a body clad in a formal but rather erotic dress.

Not only the group but everyone else around them, including the waiters, were stunned by her beauty.

Akihiko turned his face to her and nodded, greeting her.

Arriving at the table, the young woman put a hand on her more than generous chest and performed a short bow – "I'm Elizabeth, Aki's childhood friend, a pleasure." – She smiled and Eric, Darlan, and even Diana blushed.

As they presented themselves to each other, Akihiko noticed a gaze on him.

One of the three young women accompanying Elizabeth was looking at him rather intensely.

Akihiko wasn't sure of what face she was making but he could feel a strange aura coming from her, and he knew that she probably wasn't going to be good news.

Eventually, Elizabeth and her group sat down at the table as both groups casually chatted. They surprisingly had a good synergy.

Elizabeth noticed that her friend was behaving weirdly – 'Melody, are you okay?' – She asked through telepathy while happily holding Akihiko's arm.

Melody, the pink-haired young woman flinched in surprise but soon recomposed herself – 'Yes, I'm, Elizabeth.'

Elizabeth knew that there was something she wasn't telling but didn't press her on it and let it be.

Confirming that the telepathic connection was cut off, Melody returned to her own thoughts – 'Elizabeth didn't have a childhood friend in the game. Not a man, at least.' – Her blue eyes narrowed at the masked man.

Nothing about him was familiar to her, he wasn't someone that was in the game.

'Should I pry?' – She saw how Elizabeth was being touchy with him while talking and her heart stung – 'Yeah, better be safe than sorry.' – Her eyes shone briefly as she activated her unique skill.

"…" – Akihiko slowly turned his face to Melody as the air around him changed almost imperceptibly.

As Elizabeth was talking with the others, she suddenly felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

She glanced at her side and saw Akihiko. When she saw his state, she panicked – "A-Aki, did something happen?" – Her slight panic attracted the attention of the other people at the table.

'It didn't work?' – Melody's eyes widened in surprise. Her unique skill didn't work, she was unable to read his memory or even thoughts.

'Huh?' – She belatedly noticed Akihiko facing her and felt an inexplicably uncomfortable sensation – "Hum… Is there something wrong?" – She asked while feigning ignorance.

"…" – Akihiko stayed still before pointing at her and doing some hand signals.

Elizabeth widened her eyes before she looked at Melody with a gaze containing anger and panic.

"H-He said that the next time you try to use a mental skill on him, he will kill you on the s-spot…" – Beatrix translated with a quiet voice, not fully believing in it herself. 

The others were obviously stunned and looked at Akihiko and Melody. Not knowing what to do or think.

Melody widened her eyes even more and panic appeared in them, he actually knew that she used a skill on him, however, she swiftly calmed using another of her skills – "What are you talking about?" – She once again feigned ignorance before a frown appeared on her face – "Please don't make su-"

"Aki, please, I will make sure to talk to her or give a punishment, but please don't kill her." – Elizabeth cut her off while tightening her grip on Akihiko's arm.

"…" – The latter remained unresponsive.

"Please…" – Elizabeth softly pleaded, only she understood the seriousness of what was happening.

"…" – Akihiko slowly lowered his hand.

As soon as he relaxed his hand and lowered it, Melody felt a small prickle on her neck and unconsciously touched it.

'!?' – Panic surged again and even more intensely when she noticed blood on her hand.

Taking out a small mirror, she saw her reflection and her blood went cold.

A red line of blood was visible on her neck, going from one end to another.

"Thanks…" – Elizabeth thanked him before jumping from her seat, grabbing Melody, and starting to walk away – "I will come after I talk with her." – She explained without looking back.

The group was stunned by the turning of events and absentmindedly looked at Akihiko, who picked up a drink.

'Bad memories…' – Akihiko thought while taking a sip on his drink.

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