Darius eventually blinked back to the camp and noticed that Gunner was done. With the tent free, he quickly went in to clean himself up and made sure to replace the water with his new spell.

After drying himself off and equipping a new set of clothes from his Inventory, the duo left their tent and headed to the central one. Darius could see many fine men and women on their way there, their faces troubled and confused by this sudden summons.

They just had a meeting a couple of days ago, so why was there another now? Could it be that something bad had happened on the battlefront? A negative development of some sort?

This fear ran through the minds of the various powerhouses here. Their thoughts never crossed the notion of it being something positive, because years of living in the real world had taught them never to hope for pies falling from the sky!

Darius also entered the tent with Gunner in tow, the duo drawing many strange looks. Darius was easily identified because… well, he was literally the youngest Adept in the entire kingdom at the moment.

What drew even stranger looks was the fact that his aide was similarly an Adept at such a young age, making these old fellows wonder if there was something in the water nowadays that made youngsters flourish?

Darius noted his chair which was at the very end of the table opposite Elijah, one that was hastily prepared with the name 'Stone' written on it. Unbothered, he seated himself within as Gunner came to stand behind his seat.

The large conference tent was originally quite noisy as many powerhouses discussed what this meeting could possibly be about, but the voices slowly died down as they took in the weird sight at the end of the table.

Not only was a boy the age of their sons and daughters, in some cases even grandsons

/-daughters seated there, but he even had the audacity to bring an aide.

One should note that only those on the council were allowed in, and no matter who or whom, nobody had been allowed to bring in guards to minimize the risk of a conflict breaking out.

However, when they probed the duo, many faces changed into awe, wonder, and grimaces. As old foxes, they understood the flows of social gatherings and did not chase Darius or his servant out.

That would be making an enemy of a likely future Master-stage expert for both the master and his servant!

Nobody was so bored as to seek more enemies in their life, especially ones that had a brighter future than themselves. This mindset was what had allowed the majority of them to become the rulers of their factions.

Eventually, the venue was fully seated and the noise began to die down when Elijah and the representative of the Mercenary Guild entered the pavilion. All eyes were on the solemn Royal Seneschal, waiting for an explanation.

Elijah sat down in his seat and cast his eye around the table slowly, gazing at each and every face with such intensity that many frowned or looked away. His eyes only briefly stopped on Darius before moving on.

"Before you ask, yes, there is a pertinent reason I've summoned you all here today, so early in the morning.

" Elijah began when the silence reached a tipping point.

"This camp was established with the sole purpose of pooling together resources in the form of manpower and thought-power into clearing obstacles for mutual gain. This, however, is not a campaign of righteousness against the undead, and none of you are here to purify these lands out of noble intentions.

" The Royal Seneschal pointed out bluntly.

This made many more frown while some wore ugly expressions, but they still remained silent as they wanted to see what this fellow was on about.

"You have all spent more than a week here and no real progress has been made since we've encountered our first great obstacle, the Bone Dragon. Many ideas have been put forth, but the execution so far has been poor, because none of you have been willing to commit. After all, who wants to sacrifice his own men for another's gain?

"

Elijah tapped the table.

"I understand that the purpose here is to kill Stonekeeper Marasmus and claim the reward. It would be naive to think that anyone would willingly share these rewards, in other words, realistically there can only be one winner.

"

"This naturally means that our camp is based on the principle of competition, not contribution. There is no real way to get any of you to truly work together harmoniously to achieve the set goal, which defeats the entire purpose.

"

Elijah raised his hand and smacked the table.

"As such, I propose an immediate disbandment of the camp!

"

There was a short moment of silence before the room burst into an uproar! Many of the parties seated rose to their feet and shouted at Elijah, pointing at him as if he had threatened to kill their mothers.

The Mercenary Guild rep sat there with a wry smile, wondering what the hell this old codger was up to. There were a few parties still silent and calm.

Out of 123… no, now 124 seats, only 12 had remained seated.

Of these 12, 6 of their reps had a frown, 3 of the reps wore neutral expressions while 2 were showing curious expressions. On the entire table, only one person remained seated while smiling softly.

Darius Stone!

Elijah allowed the uproar to continue as he maintained a cold expression throughout, until the various parties calmed down and eventually sat back down. The majority was glaring at him, as if giving him a chance to retract his words.

Unfortunately, they would not get that chance.

"So then, let's take a vote, shall we?

"

Just before the table could burst again, a person coughed lightly, attracting everyone's attention. It was an old man wearing a conical wizard's hat and green robes. His long white beard flowed like the wind and his small blue eyes seemed to contain immense wisdom.

He was one of the two who had been curious.

"Dear Elijah, may I ask what has brought you to this decision?

"