Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"So hi there! I'll tell you why we are meeting today."

Eren spoke with a plain voice that didn't exude any excitement. But one could subconsciously feel he was weighing his words carefully.

"But first, let's have a little self-introduction round, shall we?

I'll go first. Name's Eren Idril. I'm practising a lightning element technique and the spells of the same element.

I'm aiming to be a close combat expert. My BTP is 14. And I'll serve as the main damage dealer for our party in the future."

Eren looked at Jake who caught his cue:

"Hello. I'm Jake Sullivan. I'll serve as the tank. My water element technique is of the same class and my spells in the future will also be based on the same class. My current BTP is 10 but I can feel…"

"Fatty, no need to come up with an excuse. Having a low BTP is not a crime. Especially if you could beat a stronger opponent than you.

We have a certain someone in our party who till yesterday had the second-highest BTP value in our group. Yet he couldn't beat an opponent lower in BTP value than him."

Becky's haughtiness shifted the focus of the conversation from Jake to her before heading in Steve's direction. But soon she pulled the attention back on herself, lest their real boss becomes angry!

"Alright. So I'm Rebecca White. But you can call me Becky. I was going to choose the healer's path. But someone opened my eyes to the obvious truth in front of me and made me realise I'm better suited as a mage.

My BTP is 11. And I'll take care of the medium-range attack spells. All the spells in my repertoire will be based on this role."

Next was Steve's turn. He was a little downcast by Becky's snarky remark. But he was aware that she was speaking the truth. He summed up his perseverance to self introduce himself:

"My name's Steve Austin. Yes, I lost my first match yesterday. But I'll improve myself soon by working twice as hard as the previous me.

My BTP is 14. I'll be the berserker of our team.

I'll serve as a damage dealer on the frontlines with Eren. I can also assist Becky with my medium-range spells. Due to my class's speciality, I can use my skills to fill up the gaps left in our offence as well as defence."

Renita didn't waste time and went up next:

"Hello. You guys already know my name. It's Renita Diabreo. My class is that of a ranger. I can take care of ranged attacks with my AoE spell. But my ranger spells in tracking need some practice.

My BTP value is technically 15. But it's just one step away from turning 16. That's why it is shocking for me that this guy could beat me up with his BTP of 14."

Renita didn't hide her displeasure from yesterday's battle results while eyeing the butcher. Listening to Eren's BTP value made it even worse. Now she wanted a rematch with him more than ever to settle her score. But the guy who was the target of her scorn acted like he didn't care and stated what he had to say:

"Okay. That's it for our regular party members for now. The reserve members would give their introductions next."

Eren looked at the two new people after saying that.

One of them was a kid with spectacles sitting unevenly on his nose. They obviously needed a repair. The boy had a lean build and his stature was a little smaller than Eren. The latter was immediately pleased that he wasn't the shortest guy in their party anymore.

The other student was a girl. She looked more mature for her age due to all the curves at the right places. She was lively and energetic.

Eren could see that she was barely keeping herself from speaking abruptly. She was still rankless after all. Even if they all were a student of the same class and age, she needed to give respect to the Novice rankers in front of her. She only spoke after Eren nodded at her:

"Yo, what's up, folks? So my name's Oriana Amaris. But I'd prefer it if you could call me Ana. First of all, I'd like to thank all of you guys for informing us about the auction event.

We weren't going to attend it due to still being rankless. But now we have good techniques and spells for future use. And that's all because of you.

And thanks a ton for trusting and inviting us to your group despite us still being rankless. I can't…"

"Ana, sorry for interrupting you. But let me be clear about a few things. First, don't talk about THAT event so casually anywhere. Even if it's just us at this place. Use your audio channel if you really have to. You'd cause great damage to all of us including yourself if a mishap happens.

Second, we did everything to make our party stronger. You can consider this as an investment from our end. And we'll accept certain standards of performance in your roles as a repayment.

This is a simple form of exchange. So you don't need to be overly courteous with us. We are one team after all.

And third, this is a round of self-introduction. We'd prefer if you could get back on that as soon as possible.

I'm not trying to be a drill sergeant here. But a party has to be serious in its conduct when there's a need for it to be so. We'll have time to talk casually after I finish whatever I have to say.

Trust me, it's important. That's why I've called you guys here in the first place even when intra-class battles are still so many days away from us."

Eren cut short Ana's blabbermouth. The latter bit her tongue to show that she had realized her mistake:

"Ah, my bad! Forgive me, sir Eren..."

"You don't need to call me sir."

"Then Novice Eren?"

"Tch! Plain Eren would be fine."

"Al… alright. Sorry, Eren. I just get carried away sometimes. Although I'm yet to enter the Novice rank, I know what I want to do. I'll choose the healer's path.

I've been told by Becky that we'll serve as reserve members. I don't know how we can help you with our current rankless status. But rest assured, I'll do everything I can to support my team."

Ana patted her chest in confidence. Ana's cheerful presence made the mood a little lighter for everybody. Eren only gave a mild smile as a response before looking at the kid with specs:

"Um… Nice to meet you. My name is Bel Longstone. I'm planning to become a historian. Like Ana here, I'm opting for a non-combat class. But…. But if you guys want, I can choose a different class."

Bel said this while adjusting his oddly shaped specs in vain!

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Author Note: Hello. This chapter was mostly just a convo among Eren's party members. Let me know if this type of narration is okay. Personally, I feel that the readability is improved. But if the third-person narration is preferred, we can adjust the later chapters accordingly. ;)