Libation Fiesta

"Ha… I'm tired." Clovis fell to the ground as his hands had just given up on holding the swords. He truly pushed his arms too hard this time. 

"Are you alright?" Jay asked. Clovis's injury was due to him, so he felt responsible since Clovis was his captain.

"Yeah. It's numb, but I don't think there is a problem with my current state."

Jay looked at Clovis's expression. His smile looked like he was assuring Jay not to mind about it, but it was clear that he was hiding his real condition. 

Meanwhile, Kanaria walked toward them. "Jay!"

"Oh? It seems that you are alright." Jay nodded with a smile.

"I have to thank you and your friend. If not for both of you, we would have lost another person."

"Even without our help, your group can still run away. I know that you still have several grenades and other fancy stuff that you haven't unleashed yet." Jay shrugged. 

"No, seriously. This time, I was really in a bind. You asked me earlier what happened, right? To put it simply, I was betrayed by those people and almost died. I exhausted all my weapons to get away from them, leaving only this big boy." Kanaria pointed at the rifle hanging on her waist. 

"That sounds bad." Jay nodded, not asking more questions because knowing too much would just become another problem. Unless Kanaria reveals it herself, she should be able to take care of the problems.

Now that she had seen Jay, Kanaria couldn't help but take a glance at Clovis. This was the first time he saw him. If it was a famous, talented heir, she would definitely remember him. But it didn't seem to be the case. 

Jay also looked like he was happy together with him. The way they fought was similar to that of comrades who had fought together for years.

"May I know who he is?" Kanaria asked with a curious expression. 

"Clovis. He is my captain." Jay introduced Clovis as well as made it clear the result of the competition.

"Huh?! Your…captain?! As in the captain of your exploration group?!" Kanaria dropped her jaw in disbelief. Jay was famous for being talented not only in his technique but also in his evolution rate. Yet, that same person actually acknowledged another person as his superior; it was simply unbelievable. 

"Is there something wrong with it?" Jay tilted his head innocently. In fact, he was slightly annoyed when Kanaria doubted Clovis. 

"N-no." Kanaria shook her head. He must also have his circumstances, so she shouldn't ask about them. "Does your family know about it?"

"Please help me keep it a secret for the time being. I don't think they will have any objections to my choice in the future."

"I can do that much. And since you've saved us, we'll give you all these beasts, including the ones my group has killed. Consider this as thanks for saving us." 

Jay thought for a moment. They did indeed need a lot of beasts if he wanted Clovis to maintain his progress. It would be quite annoying if Clovis ended up falling behind simply because of his evolution rate. 

Kanaria walked to Clovis while extending her hand. "Hello, my name is Kanaria Renvolt. Thank you for helping us today. I will remember this favor."

"Hello. You should thank Jay since he was the one wanting to rescue you." Clovis shook his hand.

"That's right." Jay suddenly thought of a brilliant idea. He pointed his finger at Kanaria while saying, "Clovis. Why don't we have Kanaria join our group?" 

"Huh?!" Both Clovis and Kanaria looked at Jay in shock. How could they not be taken aback? Jay was an oddball, but Kanaria didn't seem to fit in their group.

"I'm serious. She is a long-range fighter and very good at logistics. If we have someone like her in our group, I don't think we will have any big problems in our explorations."

Clovis shook his head. "I think personal choice is better in this matter."

"Really?"

"She already has her group, you see?" Clovis glanced at her teammates.

"Well… that group is simply the members of her family. Basically, she is in charge of one of the groups that her family has. It's not really her real group." Jay shrugged. "But like you said, we have to ask Kanaria. So, what do you think?"

Kanaria pinched the bridge of her nose. "As an explorer, I'm grateful for your invitation. But as a Renvolt, I can't accept your invitation."

Clovis closed his eyes, thinking that the real reason why Jay wanted Kanaria in their group was because she was his childhood sweetheart. Of course, it would be better for them to be together. On the other hand, he was worried that relationships like this might result in some problems between members. 

So, he had to consider this matter properly. 

"By the way, what are you going to do now? Since the area is safe, you can go back to the base." Jay pointed at the direction where they came earlier.

"Yes. We need to return as soon as possible to report this matter." Kanaria raised her head, looking at the direction. "If you need anything from me, feel free to send me a message. Jay should have my contact." 

"Alright." Clovis nodded. 

"In that case, we'll be leaving soon." Kanaria signaled to her teammates to get ready. "Once again, thank you, Clovis, Jay."

"Yup. Be careful on your way back." Jay waved his hand as Kanaria returned to her group and began to walk back to the base. 

"Your childhood sweetheart is quite peculiar. She is not arrogant or an oddball like you," Clovis muttered.

"Huh? Childhood sweetheart?" Jay was bewildered.

"Huh?" Clovis looked at him with an innocent expression. "She is not?"

"Nope. You can't be more off mark there. Kanaria and I are in laws. Her brother marries my sister." Jay shook his head furiously. "How about you? Isn't she beautiful? Do you want me to become a matchmaker?"

Jay teased him back with a big grin on his face. 

"That's not possible. People from big families have one thing in common. They are looking at the evolution rate first. Besides, I have my own ambition, so I don't have time to take care of that matter." 

"That's true. In that case, we should take care of these essences. You can have all of them today, Captain. Consider it a congratulatory gift from me." Jay shrugged.

"Are you pitying me, you bastard?" Clovis looked annoyed. He knew that his evolution rate was far lower than his, but he didn't want anyone to pity him solely for that. 

"Not really. I know that you are a person who will do just fine without a high evolution rate. I'm simply thanking you for helping me earlier as well as for the fact that you were kind enough to change the terms of the competition. But I will take my share from the next hunt."

"…" Clovis thought for a moment and finally accepted it. "Alright. Just for this one time. Next time, we will divide it fairly. Once our group becomes bigger, we will split it even more and put some of it toward the group's funds. It's going to be a headache."

"See? We should have Kanaria. She will take care of that stuff!" 

Clovis let out a long sigh. He grabbed the bag he dropped earlier before the big battle and took out the syringe. 

"There is also another reason why I chose to give this all to you. Actually, I'm already halfway through Tier 0. I've been in this world for about two months after all." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. Do you want to see my stats?" Jay took out his device and showed it to Clovis.

Name: Jay Havenson

Tier: 0

Evolution Rate: 95%

Brain: 38.85%

Heart: 59.30%

Blood: 40%

Muscle: 48.24%

Bones: 61.10%

"That's high." Clovis nodded in agreement. 

"How about you, Captain? What are your stats? You don't mind showing it to me, right?"

Clovis took his own device and showed it to him. His stats dumbstruck Jay. 

"What the actual…" Jay blinked his eyes a few times, rubbed his eyes, and even slapped his cheeks as if he couldn't believe what he saw. "Did you beat me with only this kind of lousy stats?"

"Yesterday was literally my first hunt. I was awakened only a few days ago." Clovis shook his head helplessly. 

Jay's body trembled. He never thought that Clovis was this strong when his stats were that horrible. It made his progress look like child play. 

At the same time, Jay couldn't help but smile. The fact that Clovis was this strong already meant that the competition would become fiercer. 

"Hahaha. You're truly interesting. I guess it's no wonder you're a Hacfield."

"Well, I'm unsure of what you mean, but I'm a bit uncomfortable when you keep mentioning Hacfield over and over again."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean that way. I was talking about how you were stronger than your stats implied. But if that made you uncomfortable, I would stop mentioning it." Jay smirked. "I think we should take a rest today and tend to our injuries. Since we're now a group, we can make a camp out here to hunt for a few days without going back." 

"Yeah. Should we meet somewhere later?" 

"There is a good but cheap restaurant. I am running away from my family, so I don't bring a lot of money with me."

"Sounds good to me. Just tell me about its location later." Clovis thought for a moment. "That's right. How about you register our names in the Exploration Association? It doesn't require our full names, right?"

"Yes." Jay was surprised that Clovis entrusted him with this matter. If it was anyone else, they could actually exchange their names and make themselves the captain. But this also showed how Clovis planned to trust Jay from now on. It would be bad to betray that trust. "Though, we have to decide a name."

"Libation Fiesta. What do you think?" Clovis asked. 

"Libation Fiesta? What does libation mean again?"

"A drink poured as an offering to a deity. Fiesta means festival. I want to become the strongest explorer and know the truth about the meaning of simulation. I want to reach that so-called deity." 

"So, we will have a celebration (fiesta) at the end of our journey?" 

"Yep. As I said earlier, it's going to be a long journey, Jay." 

"Haha. I like this name. Then, we'll have this name as our group name. Libation Fiesta."