Looking around, I was surprised that there were no others around me.
'This island didn't seem that big from the ship, but I guess that's just because the ship was big.'
After looking around at my surroundings, I checked to see if all the stuff in my soul gem had been transported with me.
'Looks like it's all there.'
After finishing all my checks and confirming the direction I wanted to go, I set off, hiking through the hot jungle.
Using my kusarigama like machetes, I hacked away at the vegetation in front of me, creating a path through the forest.
It took me 2 hours to arrive at my destination.
As I wiped the sweat off my forehead and chin, I looked up at the monstrosity in front of me.
It was a huge tree, almost comparable to a world tree that you would see in other novels, one that we could have seen from the boat if we had paid attention.
Looking up at the branches that surpassed the clouds, I couldn't help but sigh.
'I want to climb it so badly...'
Of course, this would just be a waste of time and energy though, because there was nothing up there, and even though I brought enough food to last me a few months, I couldn't afford to waste time climbing up and down the tree whilst others were hunting monsters.
The literal only reason I was here was so that I could meet up with Primrose and Marabelle, because this was where we had decided to meet earlier.
A Few Hours Ago:
I immediately searched for Primrose and Marabelle as my blindfold was taken off.
Quickly finding them, I just took out two pieces of paper, wrote a few words on them, and then sent each one to their respective recipients.
The message went something like this:
//Hi! It's me, Akimitsu. So, do you guys want to meet up on the island, at the gigantic tree on the northern side? This was also sent to Marabelle/Primrose, I'll tell you if the other accepts. Please rip this piece of paper if you accept, or just throw it away if you refuse.
Although both of them were confused at first, looking around furtively, trying to find me, both of them accepted, because we all knew that hunting together would give us a lot more points than hunting alone.
This was because all of us realized after hearing the explanation for how the points would be distributed, that if we formed a party to kill a monster, all of us would get the points for it, instead of just one person. So, this meant that if we killed 100 beasts as a group, then we would all get the same amount of points as if we killed 100 beasts alone.
And, well it was pretty obvious that a group was faster at hunting than a single person.
Back to the Present:
Marabelle arrived 10 minutes after I got to the tree, whilst Primrose came 13 minutes after.
Honestly, it kind of pissed me off that they had just teleported here, which was apparent from the fact that they both just appeared in front of me, a few meters away.
After they both arrived, they just stared at each other for a few seconds before turning their gaze to me.
"Who are you and why are you just standing there?" One of them asked, suspicion highly detectable in her tone.
"Oh, I was told to meet here by a guy named Akimitsu?"
'It's gonna be so funny seeing their reactions after finding out I'm a guy, and worse, Akimitsu... not that I think that about myself of course.'
"So that bastard managed to rope in another girl, he's starting to seem like a pervert now."
"Hmm, I don't think that Aki is that bad now, Marabelle."
"Hmph! Think what you want."
Primrose, trying to maintain a neutral standpoint, turned towards me.
"What's your name. I'm Primrose, Primrose Allegra."
This earned her a slap on the head from Marabelle.
"Why the heck did you tell her your real name like that? We don't even know who she is!"
"Sorry, sorry..." Whimpered Primrose, as she rubbed the back of her head.
She abruptly turned to me and said, "Tell us what your name is, or we won't even start to trust you!"
'An equivalent exchange as always.'
"Well, my name is Akina..."
"So Akina, what's your specialty and what stigmas do you have."
"Before I say anything, just remember that the only reason I'm telling you guys is because Akimitsu told me that you guys were trustworthy."
"No need to butter us up, go on."
"I'm an archer type, but I use guns instead. I have the fire and water stigmas. Have I passed your check yet?"
I put on an annoyed expression, before remembering that they couldn't see it through the mask, so I got into an annoyed gait instead.
I watched as they discussed something with each other for a few seconds, not even bothering to hide their cussing towards "Akimitsu".
"So, we've decided. Due to the fact that Akimitsu isn't here, so he can't explain your origins, we would've rejected you."
"But, because you're a girl, probably even younger than us, and because we need another distance dealer so that Primrose can focus on buffs and debuffs, we'll accept you."
"Now let's get going. Honestly, if Akimitsu joined the group now, it would be really awkward, with us girls and all, and his personality would just make it even more awkward."
"Hey, I'm telling you, he's not that bad!" Cried out both me and Primrose at the same time.
"Just shut up and follow me."
That was how Marabelle became the de facto leader of our group, and also, how we walked straight into an ambush a few minutes later.
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A/N: So, just wanted to say that the re-upload of STR, OTR, is taking longer than expected and will likely finish by the end of today with a new chapter uploaded in the afternoon.