That evening, the Heroes attended a sumptuous banquet, where only the King and the other natives who had joined him on the platform during the Summoning were present. Alesha thought that was a little odd, but after some thought, concluded that the King was probably trying to protect them or help them adjust slowly to the new world they'd found themselves in. Who knew what would happen if the Heroes, who were as of yet uneducated in local etiquette, accidentally offended some important nobles, for example.
There were a few dishes Alesha avoided halfway out of instinct, halfway out of conscious choice. Of course, these were the dishes that contained garlic. She had no idea just how severe her "garlic weakness" was, nor did she desire to find out. Aside from those few dishes, however, everything was absolutely delicious, and after the day's intense training, she was ravenous.
Just like in any class back home, Alesha discovered that the Heroes had quickly formed into cliques, accelerated by the seemingly arbitrary groupings that the natives had sorted them into upon Appraisal. These cliques sat and ate together. She, however, found herself excluded from all of them; though this wasn't entirely their fault. Alesha had been feeling somewhat anxious (when it came to the thought of interacting with her fellow Heroes) all day. It certainly didn't help that even back home, she had tended to drift away from large groups out of habit, so she was out of practice.
Alesha felt the urge to compensate for the quiet sense of loneliness by striking up a conversation with Rogork, the so-called "'Seed of Chaos' System" that had been a nearly constant companion ever since she'd woken up from her coma weeks ago. Only… Rogork was malfunctioning right now. She was reminded of that fact when it started meowing loudly in response to the mental mention of its name.
[MEOOOOOOOW, MROW, MRAW meoawww meow, meow meow, MEOOOOW]
She placed her face in her hands, resting her elbows on the rich tablecloth in front of her. The System was now being annoying in an entirely new way, and all she wanted to do was cry, because even though the System had been snarky, bossy, and unpleasant as hell sometimes, she had apparently grown to think of it as someone to rely on. It was stupid to rely on a being whose intentions were so often hidden. It was stupid to trust the System that invariably chose its own goals over Alesha's will, even going so far as to force her to change in order to meet its expectations. Yet, somehow, at some point along the way, that is what she had done. She'd grown attached to the System and its companionship.
Why? She knew her relationship with it was toxic. It never seriously considered her point of view, and was always doing whatever it pleased, whenever it pleased. That wasn't anything close to a healthy relationship model. So why did she miss the old System, which would probably be making fun of her right now if it wasn't broken? Why did some part of her want it to give her unreasonable quests with ridiculous penalties, if only just to be able to talk with it again?
In the end, she concluded that she was just lonely. She missed her family. She didn't know whether they had survived the Chaos Zombie outbreak (she didn't know how much she could trust the words of her sister during the interrogation), and she didn't know when she would be able to return home. "Hero Summoning" storylines could be anywhere from a few months long to several years. Could she even survive that long herself? Further, how long had she actually been gone this time? The other Heroes (which she now assumed were also participants in Zorhellian's Games) had mentioned that she'd skipped six months of "class" somehow. Did that mean six months had passed by while she was sleeping?? If so, then she had once again missed a big chunk of time while unconscious -- and a much bigger chunk than last time. It made her two-month coma after the attack on Faxton seem paltry by comparison.
Thinking about it sent Alesha's thoughts spiraling down several tunnels of possibility that she probably would have been better off not imagining.
----
Later that night, after everyone had gone to their assigned rooms, a young man with auburn hair braided down the back, green eyes, short deer antlers and a lanky figure was sitting cross-legged on his bed, examining his Status. He had been so busy chatting with Rino during his down time all the rest of the day that he hadn't gotten a chance to really look at his Class or Skill details. The baby-faced "Master Alchemist" Rino had an endearing stutter, one that reminded Han of his younger brother. Of course, Rino's young appearance didn't match his actual age, but it made Han feel more comfortable all the same.
This was a wonderful stroke of luck for Han because the last Story had been an absolute nightmare. By some miracle, Han had been lucky enough to survive, but it hadn't been pleasant. It had been six months of chronic anxiety. He had never been one to deal well with stress, and the fact that he couldn't check whether he was in the top or bottom 50% for soul-harvesting before the end of each month had driven his stress level through the roof. He never knew if he would survive the night or just never wake up at all when the time came. Further, as timid as he was, the only reason he'd been able to harvest souls in the first place was because he had Friedrich to take care of that for him.
So when he had been approached by the lovable little Rino earlier, Han had felt like he'd found a lifeline in this new Story. As long as he had someone he could trust, he was optimistic about the future. It had always been like that for him; alone, he would flounder, but with even just one friend, he'd be fine.
Stroking his chin while examining his Status, Han learned as much as he could about his Class, "God's Chef." Then he laughed incredulously. Sure, he'd always loved to cook, but this was just way too overpowered! He could not only make dishes to grant hours-long buffs, but if he had the right ingredients, he could make food that would permanently increase the stats of anyone who ate it! And these were just the abilities available to him at level 7, after having leveled up a bunch from that crazy Captain's hazing ceremony. What other awesome stuff would he be able to do as he got stronger?
Han was too distracted by his Status to notice the intruder. By the time he realized he was no longer alone in his room, a knife was up against his throat and the back of his neck was seized by a strong, gloved hand.
"Make a sound and you're dead."