The player who called herself Fae Sol walked towards Covan, and Brookie exhaled as if he'd been holding his breath for a long time. If he were in the real world, Brookie was sure he'd be sweating bullets by now. He'd only felt that level of pressure from another human once before...
*And he was a monster.*
Brookie wanted to process everything that had just happened, but before that, he wanted to confirm something else.
"Dharr, are you still there?"
Fae had said she wanted him and his friend to show him the way, which implied that she knew Dharr was still around. Brookie thought he'd fled, but...
"Yeah. I'm here."
Dharr stepped out from behind a thick tree; he'd been observing the whole time.
*How did she know? Even I thought he'd left...*
"... Hey, you gonna show me the way or not?"
The annoyed girl's voice echoed back to them through the sparse forest.
"... Let's go."
Brookie and Dharr began walking in the direction they came from.
"Why do we have to help her?" Dharr asked.
"Well, we don't *have* to, but it sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders. She could probably help us snag a couple of items at the auction," Brookie responded.
Fae Sol was waiting for the two to take the lead. As they walked by, Dharr noticed she was in an unusually good mood, which seemed to make her beautiful avatar even more noticeable.
"Brooks..." Dharr said in a hushed voice. "Did you fall for a VR avatar?"
When he heard this, Brookie almost laughed out loud. "Of course not. I just think helping her will be beneficial for us, that's all."
Brookie and Dharr took the lead as Fae Sol followed behind.
They walked for a couple of minutes in silence when Dharr suddenly spoke up.
"Wait, didn't Stein send us all message about a suspicious female avatar? Isn't that her? Brookie, what are you planning?"
Brookie suppressed his urge to chastise Dharr when he heard this. They were very clearly still within earshot, and Fae Sol could hear everything they were saying. Brookie stopped and turned to face Fae.
"Do you mind if I talk to him about something privately real quick?"
Hearing this, Fae Sol became slightly annoyed.
"... I can follow behind a bit further back or you two can use DMs. I don't want to waste more time. Honestly, I was going to ask you guys to pick up the pace. If you don't want to help me at least this much, I can find Covan myself."
"... Alright, please follow behind a bit more. Sorry about this."
Once they were out of earshot, Brookie let out his frustrations.
"What are you doing?" he hissed. "She's an asset we don't want to lose right now."
"Really? An asset? Then why has Stein put up a kill order on her?"
"Well, that's simple. It's because she's strong."
"What do you mean? How can you even tell by just looking at her?"
"If you knew what I did, you'd know."
"... Brooks. Are you really going to leave Asunder?"
"Hah... You heard that, too, huh... It's possible. I can't help but follow someone strong, after all. She knows Stein is after her, so it's natural they'll meet at some point. Though I feel like she won't lose, I want to see their fight myself. I'll judge what I want to do then."
"I think you're crazy. What if I report this to Stein?"
"I don't care."
"Why? You really think she's strong enough to warrant leaving Asunder?"
"I do."
"..."
There was a moment of silence between the two. Brookie looked over at Dharr's unfocused eyes as they continued walking forward. He was clearly writing up a detailed report of what just happened. Brookie sighed and mulled over his encounter with Fae Sol.
*How many people would be able to function normally in that environment?*
The mental fatigue Brookie experienced while in the Corrupted Land was no laughing matter. He wasn't sure how many people he knew would be able to endure that pressure. This fact alone was enough to make him respect her, yet that wasn't all she showed she was capable of.
Those eyes... were of someone who had seen death. Though the facial expressions of VR avatars weren't 100% realistic, it was enough for Brookie to tell that Fae Sol had experienced death in some way. Whether it was through witnessing an unrelated death, losing a loved one, killing someone in combat, or something else entirely, he didn't know. But the aura she radiated was not one of ordinary civilians. Of course, Brookie was able to tell because he was a veteran of war.
But that still wasn't all.
*She had no openings in her stance.*
The way she moved and stood, even casually, suggested that she was ready to receive an attack at any time. It was similar to what he had seen from someone long ago, and not many could replicate that presence. Even though Brookie was highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, he was sure he'd lose to her.
He wanted to explain all of this to Dharr, but it was unlikely he'd understand. After all, Dharr was an ordinary civilian who'd built his body with ordinary strength training. He'd never experienced real combat nor had he experienced death of any kind. It would be like trying to describe a color that didn't exist.
Brookie stared at Dharr, who was probably still writing a report, and sighed.