A little congregation

The night falls, but the moon is nowhere to be seen. The night sky is glamorous with the twinkles of stars.

In the middle of used military tents, a campfire is lit with what little piece of log it has left.

A woman can be seen approaching the campfire. The closer she gets, one can see that she is no ordinary human female. A pair of furry ears can be seen on top of her head, and a long tail hangs from her back. She looks like a mix of a tiger and a woman.

“You guys know someone named Dan?” She asks the two men sitting beside the campfire. Doesn’t get an immediate answer, she continues, “I asked you two! Do you know someone named Dan?” She asks louder.

“Keep your voice down. Go inside the biggest tent.” One of the two men answers.

Ark hears the conversation outside. He has been here early enough, among the first.

And then he sees the tiger-woman lift the tent door covers as she enters the tent.

“Welcome. I think you'll be the last.” Dan says calmly.

There are at least fifteen people inside the tent, all in silence. Ark is among them, waiting for the meeting to start.

“Alright, before I start explaining what my plan is, let me introduce you to my partner here, Nero.” Dan is hinting at a man on his right to stand up.

“Nice to meet you everyone. As Dan said, my name is Nero. While Dan will tell you the overall plan, my contribution is more on teaching you more technical stuff that we have prepared.” Nero has blackish hair and eyes. He wears a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of gloves. Long pants and boots that cover the lower part of his body completely.

Nero’s slender body and baggy eyes make him look quite creepy at a glance. But from the way he is speaking, Ark can sense that the man is reliable, or at least knows what he is talking about.

“I know we all just met yesterday, and no reason for you to trust each other- not me, not the one beside you. But most of us have been through something similar in the past.” Dan stops briefly to look at Ark. “You should know the importance of working together. And now, we are not only one by origin, not just one by fate, we are also bound by the same goal!”

Ark can see Dan is looking at everyone’s reaction, so he unknowingly also looks around. Everyone gives little to no reaction, except for the tiger girl who just entered the tent. She is visibly annoyed, crossing her arms while tapping her finger to the side of her body.

Dan looks at Nero, but he just raises both of his shoulders. Without waiting any longer, Dan continues, “Alright, let's get straight to the main topic.”

Almost immediately, everyone creates small movements, adjusts their position, or clears their throat. That is why they are here in the first place anyway.

“To make sense of what we will tell you all, first I need to explain something first,” Dan continues.

Nero hands something to Dan. It's something Ark has seen before– in fact, that is what he used at Roland’s house earlier: an activation wand. Ark doesn't really know the details, but he knows the wand can be used by ordinary people to activate a magic crystal.

“Do any of you have experience with magic in our world? In Gaia’s world?” Dan asks, as he looks around the tent.

Two people raise their hands. It’s the tiger girl and one other guy.

“Oh, you lady from the Gallos continent! Was it the rumored transformations?” Dan seems excited. Ark believes it was something he said about travelling to that continent before.

“I heard you humans called that our homeland. And, yes, our transformation is an innate magic bestowed by our gods, Felion and Xaniin.”

“Wonderful! I also heard they are not sinners who betray the love that the almighty Gaia gave. And what is your name, lady?"

“Felicia, my name is Felicia.” There is some kind of pride in the way she pronounces her name.

“I see, your parents must be devotees to name their daughter after their gods. I hope we can work well together, Miss Felicia. And you, sir? What is your name? And what is your experience in magic?” Dan asks the other guy.

“I am Garry. I was a custodian in a relic shop. I might not be as great as my master, but I know most of the basic enchantment preparation and some intermediate stuff.” Garry looks somewhat young for a Ruheist. If you trace back to sixteen years ago– when Ruheist first came to this world- he might still be in his teenage years.

“Thank you Garry! Well, since we got someone who handled relics, this might be easier to explain. What I have here in my hand is an activation wand.” Dan holds the wand higher for everyone to see.

“In this world, there are magic crystals, which store magic, similar to a relic. If you want to compare it to relics, this wand acts as a spell chant. The difference is that not everyone can chant the correct spell to a relic, but in this world, there are no correct spells to chant, you only need to have this wand. There are more to it, but basically that is what you need to understand for now.”

Dan hands the wand to Felicia and tells her to pass it around. Without waiting for everyone to finish, Dan continues.

“We will use this in our operation tonight. So let me demonstrate how to use it.” Dan takes a brownish crystal from his pocket.

“This is a dormant glowstone crystal. You might be more familiar with this when this crystal activates, so let me show you. All you need to do is touch the glowstone with the crystal on the wand, and wait.” Dan keeps the crystals touched for five seconds. Then a dim yellow light begins to glow from within the brownish crystal.

A collective quiet “woah” comes from everyone. Most of the people gather to take a closer look. It is quite a fascinating thing to witness for the first time, but Ark has seen things that are more impressive.

“So, we will need to divide into 5 groups. I will explain the plan, but I need to know if any of you are experienced or have any skill in combat?”

Now, more people raise their hands. It makes sense since they come here, they must have some reason to believe they have a chance to infiltrate the viscount's defence scheme. Or they might as well just be desperate enough that they don't care about their well-being.

Ark joined this group because he understands their chances of success will increase if they work together. That is why he is willing to wait and listen to what Dan has to say. He didn’t expect anything at first, but now, he can’t help but respect him for being well prepared. Although it is strange how some Ruheists get all these resources, it’s not the time for making a scene. He will just take what he can.