New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 930  Filling Their Numbers

Since Athena agreed to guide them, the rest of the conversation was much more straightforward, with Kary explaining what they were walking into.

Athena seemed captivated by the idea of trying out her capabilities on this side of the veil, on something other than immobile targets. Almost too excited, to be fair.

Alex wasn't sure when they would get there, and what airport they would land at, so he couldn't give her those details, but they made sure to fill her in on everything they could.

In the end, it wasn't a long call, since Athena was having trouble understanding some details they were trying to explain to her.

The language barrier was hindering them greatly, which was already a downside, but not being able to share with her the images they had, to help explain, was their downfall.

They ended up confusing the poor girl more than anything, and promised to re-explain everything once they landed in Korea and made contact with her. It would be much easier in person, that much they were sure of.

After settling all the details about where to land and where to meet that were best for both of them, Alex left the conference call, letting Kary and Athena speak to each other.

He could tell from Kary's smile that it was appreciated, and he kissed her on the forehead before moving over to the kitchen to text a few people without feeling like he was prying.

Even though the neuro-phones cut the sound out of conversations, and Kary didn't need to speak to be heard, it still felt rude to him just to stay there and wait. It felt to him like he was eavesdropping, even though he couldn't hear a thing.

He started texting David, to find out if he had reached out to people to bring to Korea, and was surprised by the man's readiness.

David called him, refusing to continue this conversation over text.

"Of course, I reached out to people. Did you think I was going to let you handle everything? I can trust Kary to plan these things out, but you? I wouldn't trust you as far as I can throw you, hah!" David mocked.

Alex frowned.

"You realize you can throw me pretty far, right? That expression hardly applies to people like us, now…" he complained.

"Right…" David replied, realizing the irony of his comment.

"Nevertheless, I would never rely on you to plan everything. Originally, I wasn't going to rely on anyone, remember? So, of course, I have already started making calls."

Alex scoffed at his nonchalance.

"Tell me who you got," he huffed, insulted that David still preferred to handle as much as he could alone.

"I managed to get the priest kid back, Cody?"

"You mean Cory. At least don't fuck up their names…"

"Huh… I couldn't have sworn it was Cody. Well, it's on him for not correcting me once. Anyway. I got him, as well as little Jonathan. His old man wasn't happy about it, but he could hardly fault me since I didn't force the kid."

Alex was impressed that he had convinced Jack to stand down from keeping the young Jonathan at home on this one.

"How did you get him to stand down? This is going to be a dangerous one. You said so yourself," Alex asked, curious.

"Well, we are going up against what I think are harpies. The fewer people we have who are ground-bound, the better. Every player who is pinned to the ground and can't attack at a range will be useless. So, the kid is actually crucial.

"When I explained that to Jonathan, he was happy to join us, and the old man backed down after the kid begged him to let him go. He basically did all the heavy lifting for me, hehe," David chuckled.

David's logic was sound, so he understood why the old man backed down. But he was still impressed.

He would never have thought Jack would be so lenient on the young boy, not after the demon incident. He barely let the kid away from his sight.

"Alright, Mr. Cocky. Who else you got to join us?"

"I reached out through the guild forum, and got a few ranged players to join in, as well. Many of which we'll have to stop and grab as we go toward our destination, making our flight longer than intended."

Alex frowned again.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, Killi practically forced me to bring him along, saying he wanted to film the fight, so he could use the footage to convince his guild members to take him seriously. Apparently, most of his players have yet to awaken, aside from a few of his officers and himself.

"It's been causing him trouble to have them listen to him. He finally sees what taking in anyone gives him. Most of his guild members are only in the guild for the bragging rights, and now it's pulling him down. He'll organize his affairs eventually, but he's struggling right now," David said, sounding amused.

"It makes sense that he would need a little more convincing for them, then. But I thought he would be loaded enough to join us there… Why do we need to get him and extend our trip by going eastbound instead of westbound? Korea is closer through the west…" Alex asked, confused.

"Because he won't be the only one we grab on our way there. I have a few other players around Europe that want to join. Aside from Killi, Gulnur also wanted to join us. I told him he wouldn't be of much use, since he was ground-bound, but he insisted.

"Something about finally being able to travel, and wanting to visit Korea before the world went to shit. My words, not his, of course," David said, chuckling.

Alex also chuckled, as it sounded like something the kid would say. They had talked on multiple occasions, and he knew of Winston's condition and how it had progressed in the last months.

It was a good thing that his doctor had cleared him, but he wondered if his parents would allow him to follow them into the jaws of death. Had he even told them yet?

"Alright, that's two. But you said a few more players. Who are the others?"

"I was getting to it, you impatient little shit," David mocked.

"Then stop turning around the pot, or I'll start rotting and join your army before you're done, you slow-ass motherfucker," Alex replied, grimacing.

David clicked his tongue, half annoyed, half amused, before clearing his throat and continuing.

"I also contacted someone I thought could be useful to us, since he's one of the strongest druids we know. He was hard to talk to, and get ourselves to an understanding, but I managed. I'die said he was glad to help, and that he might take this chance to visit his wittle girlfwiend in Korea," David said, jokingly.

"Hah! It's funny you should say that. We actually got Athena to join us, too," Alex said, laughing.

"Oh?" David exclaimed.

"I wasn't sure she would give me the time of day if I called her. But it's a good thing you convinced her, even though I'm sure it was mostly Kary's doing. Her archery skills will be a great boon to our hunt."

"Hey! I was the one who suggested we call her. Kary only acted as the intermediary in this case," Alex rebuked, pissed that David was attributing his thunder to Kary.

"Congratulations, dick head. You were an adult for a single conversation. Want a medal?" David mocked.

"Pfft! Fuck you too, asshole," Alex spat.

"Are you going to let me finish? Or are you going to keep interrupting?" David asked, sounding impatient.

"Because you're the one who said I was taking too long," he added.

Alex grumbled, "Fine," biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from commenting again.

Aside from those three, I also got a guy from the guild who lives in Finland. A rifleman by the name of Simo? Apparently, he did well in some test you administered a while back, and Kary put a note next to his name that said 'Promising Talent.'

"I thought it would be a good addition to our party. I don't want us to be too many there since we would be grabbing too much attention, so I figured ten would be a good number. Adding Athena makes eleven. I think that's enough."

Alex recounted, ensuring he wasn't forgetting anyone, and came to the same number as David. But the pause didn't escape the undead player.

"Did you just recount my math?" he asked, peeved.

"Just making sure your brain hasn't rotted too much yet," Alex mocked.

"Fuck off," David spat, huffing.

"Hey, I'm only treating you like you treat me, you dick," Alex chuckled.

"Anyway, if you think that is enough, then we can go with just that many. It's a shame, though. With only one more person, we'd have been a full party of twelve," he added.

David paused. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I mean… I can think of one more person, but it seems like a stretch…"

"Huh?" Alex asked, confused.

"We could bring Xavier… I'm not sure how much he has awakened of his powers yet, but if he has even ten percent of what I know he's capable of, he would already be a great boon to our party," David said, sounding hesitant.

"That sounds great. Why do you sound so conflicted about this?" Alex asked.

"Because I'm not sure I want to risk him dying… Me being here depends on him being alive…" David replied after another pause.

"Beg your pardon?"