While Jack and his party were busy with their own plans and tasks, the people they had interacted did not sit idly by- neither the remaining part of 'Asian harem story' as Jack had initially called them, nor the disguised angel just sat, twiddling their thumbs. To both, Jack? emergence signified a change, a variable of some sort that was to be brainstormed around and utilized to their own benefit.

  The first to work on their brainstorming session was, of course, Izumi and the remaining girls, who had retired to their own room, leaving Hanzo alone on his own for the time being- not something the girls had not done previously, though the difference being that now there was no longer a Kenji around to share in the other boys annoyance, even if the booksmart guy had not shown any displeasure about the fact.

  Chiyo, Emi and Fumiko sat on their own primitive beds, looking at Izumi and waiting for the girl to start talking, as she was the one who had called them for this conversation. A few minutes of silence later, time that seemed Izumi had spent listening for the slightest sound that would indicate that Hanzo was anywhere their room, perhaps eavesdropping, later, she glanced towards Emi for a moment, earning a nod from the girl and relaxing a bit while Emi did her thing.

  Then, a small flash of light later, Izumi spoke up.

  "We have two things to talk about and come to a decision. If there is anything any of you girls want to discuss as well, please feel free to share your concerns afterwards." with a few glances at her compatriots and receiving nods to continue, she proceed along with the explanation of her concerns.

  "First things first. I have to admit that I was off the last few days, resulting in less than optimal decisions, being passive when I had to act and for that, I apologise. It is because of my inactivity that we lost two members of our party, even if their contribution to battles was somewhat lacking. Still, with the group as it was, it was only a matter of time before that happened. And the main cause of it all is the first topic we have to discuss."

  "Hanzo." bluntly stated Chiyo, slightly annoyed that Izumi was beating around the bush so much, though she could understand why. Still, Izumi did not seem bothered by the way Chiyo had disrupted her.

  "Indeed- Hanzo." Izumi nodded in agreement. "He had always been problematic, lashing out at everything and everyone, then using the money and influence of his family to make it all go away. And it seems that our arrival here had not fixed his character at all, despite what it seemed. I would say it made him worse still, so much so that I find it hard to argue with the warning Jack gave us regarding Hanzo. Thus, I would like to propose a vote to remove him from our party. As for why I bring it up before the second issue is even mentioned is because with him among our ranks our path is predetermined in that regard, no matter our choice.

  "And what is the second issue to address then?" asked Fumiko "Sounds like it's more important than the issue with Hanzo, as impossible as it sounds."

  "Because it is. We have to figure out if we still have a chance of establishing a working relationship with Jack and what would we be willing to sacrifice to make it happen, or if we want to begin with. I will note that is is my belief that he just might be our best bet to get safely through this trial zone."

  "Because of his class, correct?" Chiyo asked.

  "Precisely. If either of the items Emi appraised was made by him, the power we would gain would be substantial. A power that I believe is a must for our safety. No doubt you girls have also felt those endless lust filled gazes as we walk through the village. It is only because there is still some level of order around here that utter chaos and lawlessness has not descended upon the place and if some whispers we have heard are true, the food is growing scarce."

  "Let's get to solving it then. I am pretty sure we are all in agreement that Hanzo is hopeless and a threat to our safety in the long run anyhows, so, who here is against removing him?" Spoke Fumiko, always straight to the point. With not a single one of the girls raising and objections, they then nodded in unison, having come to a decision.

  "We will inform him and reimburse for the part he paid for the buildings construction later then. How does our supplies look?" izumi declared and spent a few minutes to tally up the stuff they had still on hand, their food supplies having been pleasantly increased with the meat from frogmops. "More than enough to reimburse and still leave us with a solid reserve. Now, onto the second issue." she continued "Who here believes that joining with Jack would not be a wise choice?"

  "We know too little about him besides his class. The fact that he is alone and still alive and fine does raise some other questions. Maybee an ex military? He did give off that veteran vibe my old man's buddies had around them." Fumiko started "Though so far he seemed reliable enough. The fact he stood up for Kenji and even gave him advice for nothing in return does give off good vibes, but one never know. I am not categorically against it at the very least." she came to a conclusion.

  "He's confident and decisive." Chiyo added "I did not see the slightest bit of hesitation when he slaughtered those goblins. I would also bet he's ex military, but he can't be a veteran. Too young. What was it he said, ten years older? That would still make him under thirty. Special forces of some sort? Don't have any issues with joining up, if we can still manage that is. We do need the extra numbers for hunting after all and we know what Kaede and Kenji can do, and Jack is a beast in battle as we have already seen."

  "So long as we have a contract in place." Emi just shrugged.

  "Yes, I was thinking the same. Contract from emi's class is a must. The next issue however is whether Jack would even be willing to entertain the idea now. The previous incident no doubt will hinder our attempts. The question about what we can even offer him that he could not find elsewhere also remains. I doubt we have much of what he needs."

  "Honepot?" Fumiko asked, her eyes locked on Izumi since she was the prettiest of them all.

  "Doubt it would work. Did you miss how he addressed Kenji and Kaede? Kids he called them. Nor did I sense the slightest lust from his gaze whenever landing on us. That felt like cold and calculating evaluation, couples with a slight amount of pity."

  "Pity? Why?" with a furrowed brow asked Fumiko. She did not like the implication one bit.

  "Don't know. Because we were dragged here maybe? You would have to ask him for clarification. Let's see what other options we have."

  The girls discussed various possibilities, eventually coming to a conclusion that they would have to just go and see how it develops on the spot and act accordingly. Not quite something Izumi liked, but they had little choice in the matter as it stood now. With their discussion over, they moved over to where Hanzo was to break the news and decision they had come up with. That conversation would no doubt be a fiery one and all the girls were prepared for it, both mentally and physically.

  "THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?!" Hanzo damn near roared once the girls informed him of their decision, seething with rage and disbelief.

  "It is as we just stated. You are not fit for our group and as such we have come to the decision that you should leave." Izumi spoke, pointing to a pile of rations "This is the part you paid for our lodging, plus a bit extra. Take it and leave."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Bitch!" he growled, clearly fuming and ready to take it a step forward, only to be forced to a stop as he noticed that all four girls also had their weapons ready just like him, waiting for him to take it too far to strike back. As much as Hanzo hated to admit it, he was no match for the group of four. Truthfuly, he was not even sure he could take Izumi alone on, only the relatively narrow place they were at giving him a bit of extra confidence. Izumi's sword would have a hard time to maneuver here and all. Still, the odds were heavily in the opposing parties favour and he would never let such disrespect stand. And now that he knew how the girls in front were, he was unwilling to have them as anything more than pets to be toyed with as and when he pleased. Can't do that if they are dead now can he?

  "This is not over." he grinded his teeth as he took the rations and stomped out, clearly seething from the way he kicked the shoddy doors open.

  "Yea, we are going to need all the power we can secure." Sighed Fumiko.

  "And as soon as possible as well." chimed in Chiyo.

  The girls would spend the next couple of days, the ones Jack spent procuring logs and stuff, building his parties home, trying to make contact with him, every time being sent away with the excuse that his group was busy- a task that was given to Kenji who performed as expected, though he did apologise to Izumi and the girls every time he sent them away, having been informed that Hanzo was not part of the group any more. He was both relieved and worried at the same time. Relieved that the four girls would no longer be in constant danger of Hanzo snapping and deciding to just take what's his, or try at the very least, and worried that everyone else was now in danger of the spoiled second generation rich kid. There was barely any policing within the village after all.

  ------------------------

  After his visit to Jack in the man's new, cozy looking home, the village elder returned to his own lodging, walking to a closet next to one of the walls in his home that also served as his office. There, once the door was opened, he touched a secret switch on the wall and slid through a new opening in the back of the closet. Moments later, he found himself in a small room with just barely glowing runes all around him.

  "Report." the same beautiful voice Jack would recognize as belonging to the beautiful angel that spoke to all arrivals back in the first chamber resounded in the small room.

  "The last of survivors from this zone has been registered." he relied, kneeling almost reverently towards a small, glowing orb from which the voice came.

  "The results so far?" the female angel asked.

  "As expected. The average turnaround. From the two hundred and fifty people assigned to my area, around two hundred reached the village. Some thirty had already died from inactivity and hunger. The food give outs should end in a week or so, as per schedule. No particularly special talents had appeared, though there is an unknown variable."

  "Elaborate." the angelic woman's voice commanded.

  "A Virtuoso male a bit below the age of thirty. Refused to give a name, thus his potential is unknown. Seemed to have knowledge of construction from their original world. Likely the most powerful among the people present in my area."

  "That's nothing new. They are a paranoid sort. Crazy, one and all, though worry not. Their kind always shine in the tutorial and quickly wither and die in the world afterwards. Their advancement is far too expensive and time consuming and the usual advancement choices- 'Crazy scientist' or 'Artist Savant', are not desired by many. Just observe and allow the poor soul it's moment to shine."

  "Understood. Anything else I should know?" the angel disguised as the village elder asked in subservient tone.

  "No, that's all for now. Keep up the good work and inform me if anything out of the norm happens."

  "As you wish, my lady."

  With that, the connection ended and the elder returned to his shoddy home, seemingly doing whatever tasks an elder of such a small village would do.

  ----------------------------

  "So, have you made your decisions?" Jack asked Kenji and Kaede on the morning of the third day once the group had finished their breakfast, courtesy of Kaede once Jack had provided his own blend of spices and precisely what each of them did. The girl had proven to be a careful listener and even better cook, earning a humm of approval and a comment that he had said that someone who was a better cook than him could make better tasting meals.

  "Yes brother." the duo agreed instantly, explaining their thought process and the weapons they wanted, as well as the stats that would help them the most.

  Kenji had decided on a shield and mace. Swords needed more precision and could more easily get stuck in bone or another tougher material, slowing him down on the retrieval of his weapon,. creating gaps in his defenses. Mace though would not have the same issue, though he would be a bit slower on the strikes as a result, but since he would mostly attack when he had either blocked or parried, the opponent would be off balance and easier to land a strike on. Strength or Vitality were the desired stats for Kenji to elevate his tanker's abilities, though the boy said he would be happy with whatever he got.

  Kaede wanted a chime similar to what she already had. A focus to help absorbing mana and increase the speed with which she did so. Humans were creatures with near no mana themselves, forced to utilize the mana in their surroundings, or so it was explained in her spell tab, though Jack knew that was not entirely true. The truth was that humans were too lacking in spirit, as well as unaware of the existence of mana, thus unable to channel it. It had to be mentioned that spirit stat could not be increased with the free attribute points even though the stat was clearly showed along with the rest and intelligence was the go to stat for casters since it increased one's ability to multitask and improved their ability to use mana focuses better. Spirit was obviously better, but due to it's restrictions near impossible to raise. Normal humans reached four or five in their life times at best, not like the ten that the rest of their stats were hard capped at, though that was before being summoned here. Elves for example would hard cap at eight in spirit and as such were very much attuned to mana in the world around them, allowing them to be much better mages than humans. Spirits cap was every five points, unlike the physical attributes where every next ten attributes provided with qualitative increase. it was why Jack, who had seventeen strength in total could exert power far above double the human limit, even if he had been hiding his full potential so far.

  And so Kaede had asked if Jack could make the chime to either increase her Intelligence or mana gathering speed, since she had plenty of buf spells she could empower the party with. Her healing also depended on the speed she could collect mana, so she wanted as much improvement there as she could. Thus, Jack spen the third day on examining Kaedes chime and coming up with the designs for their equipment. That and once he was sure what to make, he disappeared in his room warning not to be disturbed, his muse calling him to work. He emerged just a few hours later, holding a shield in one hand and a chime in the other, a mace showed behind his belt hanging by his side.

  The shield was a simple kite shield, gray in colour and with no actual engravings or anything, though it did give off a light sheen, making the item feel magical, if ever so slightly. Every blacksmith looking at the item would hold thumbs up and call it a fine work.

  Virtuoso's beginner's kite shield(Epic)- a dead Virtuoso, or their material collector for that matter, is a bad one, thus calling for a proper shield to hold off those pesky arrows and bonks coming their way. Virtuoso never does anything half assed, thus the quality of the item, even if beginners, is exceptional. Strength +1. Vitality +1. Slight auto assist on blocks and parries.

  The mace, much like the shield was simple grey in colour, it's design also not screaming fancy or valuable at all, though once again it seemed solid work that any blacksmith would appreciate the craftsmanship of.

  Virtuoso's beginners mace(Epic)- Virtuoso can work with anything, sometimes even living beings. There is no better tool than a proper 'Bonk' to secure said materials. Virtuoso never does anything half assed, thus the quality of the item, even if beginners, is exceptional. Strength +1. Vitality +1. Slight auto assist on weapon strikes.

  Only the chime seemed somewhat special, though because it was an item meant to assist in channeling mana there was no helping it. The materials used on such things were more expensive and rarer, though Jack could cheat in this regard by just showing in much greater amounts of matter to achieve the desired result, and achieve he did.

  Virtuoso's beginners focus chime(Epic)- Any self respecting Virtuoso knows that they deserve to be worshiped, What better choice than a shrine with it's own personal maiden to tend to it. That means a chime worthy of respect for when the maiden performs rituals in said virtuoso's name. Praised be ME! Virtuoso never does anything half assed, thus the quality of the item, even if beginners, is exceptional. Intelligence +3. Medium increase in mana gathering speed and slight auto assist when casting, easing the process.

  "Holy hell! These are insane!" The couple exclaimed when they received their items and equipped them, feeling the boost their new gear provided them with.

  "Muahahahahaha." Jack laughed, his hands pressed together as he tapped the fingers together. "I promised good gear. Here it is. Do take care of me after the tutorial kidos, will you."

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 8

  Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)

  Stats unassigned: +10

  Attributes:

  Strength- 17 (9+7+1)

  Vitality- 16 (7+7+2)

  Dexterity- 11 (5+6)

  Intelligence-7

  Spirit- 25 (20+5)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C)

  Spells- temporary spatial storage (shrinking)

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo.