"…Was it always this sour?"
The man who had served as an informant for Ealdred Crow since the Clan’s inception frowned down at the glass of lemon water he drank every morning to wake himself up. The reason for the bitterness was all too clear — it was not the lemon, but the lingering aftertaste of the Clan’s decline. Clicking his tongue, he downed the contents in one swift gulp, then shattered the square vessel — crafted with a modified [ — and let its fragnts dissolve into mist.
Ealdred Crow was in the throes of chaos. Ever since internal opinions had clashed over ena, a forr ally of Orbis and the one who had slain mbers of their Clan, the military-style command structure — established by Rook at the ti of the Clan’s founding — had begun to falter. What once brought cohesion now only deepened the rift. Factions ford along teams, and orders failed to trickle down.
Until recently, Rook had kept Ealdred Crow united with clever goal-setting — short-term and long-term objectives that allowed every mber to contribute and shine. By expanding beyond just Explorers to include businesses built around them, the Clan had grown large and wealthy, with top-tier facilities and generous benefits.
They had even ridden the wave of the three-role team composition with remarkable success. The Clan’s goals aligned perfectly with the system, and for a ti, Ealdred Crow stood at the summit. No longer overshadowed by Clans blessed with holders of unique skills, they had finally seized the top spot — and morale had soared.
But then ca the Stampede in the Royal Capital. Nine mbers lost. Then ca the girl nad ena, and the Clan began to tear itself apart in argunt. To make matters worse, Absolute Helix — a Clan barely a year old — cleared the ninetieth layer on their first attempt. One decisive blow after another.
Ealdred Crow, which had reigned from the seventieth to the ninetieth layer, was toppled by a single man’s leadership. A man without a unique skill. Since then, public sentint and dia coverage had turned sour, and the air within the Clan had grown oppressively heavy.
"Mister Dorren may be strict, but if you’ve got the skills, I guarantee you’ll be well-compensated. If you’re unsatisfied with your current conditions, or if you want to earn money even if it ans staying busy — so you can sharpen your skills — I’m rooting for you. Please, consider applying!"
[Good God, what a clumsy advertisent. Kyoutani Tsutomu… what a deceptively carefree man…]
On Monitor #1, Tsutomu stood before the Black Gate, flanked by mountains of gold coins in various shapes and sizes, pounding on a suit of high-quality armor for emphasis as he advertised recruitnt for the Dorren Workshop. This was the sa Tsutomu who, through his leadership efforts, had knocked Ealdred Crow off its throne.
The image then shifted — away from the gleaming gold — panning right to a green hillside, where Leleia and Diniel stood, clad in gear far more extravagant than usual.
"We hope to see your application soon!"
"We look forward to it!"
"Seriously! I want so normal-looking gear for once, so make lots of stuff, please!"
[Hannah aside, losing Leleia was a mistake. If only we had managed to pull Amira to our side… if only we had silenced the anti–unique skill crowd back then, things might have turned out differently.]
The informant had not considered Hannah’s evasion-based Tank role seriously — an oversight he could live with. But with Leleia, he had known full well of her fixation on Amira. He had even prepared a plan to recruit the weakened Amira after her Clan had disbanded. Yet even that had sparked debate within Ealdred Crow.
The Clan had long suffered defeats at the hands of those with unique skills. That bitter history had fernted into an inflated inferiority complex. Many within the Clan treated Amira with open hostility because of her gift. Still, if they had managed to recruit her, Leleia would have followed without hesitation.
[Co to think of it, almost every mber of Absolute Helix is soone we — or other Clans — wanted to poach… Heh, Tsutomu could beco an exceptional informant if he ever retires as an Explorer.]
At first, the mbers of Absolute Helix had not stood out much. Now, though, they were all desirable recruits. Among them, Hannah the evasion-based Tank and Korinna the Channeler had undergone particularly stunning transformations.
Hannah — despite being a Boxer — had insisted on becoming a Tank, and never backed down. The administration staff used to joke that all her nutrition had gone to her chest and none to her brain. The informant himself had once pitied her, thinking she could have thrived as an Attacker like Haltto if she had just stayed in her lane.
But now she was the leading figure among evasion-based Tanks — and the apprentice of lchor, inventor of the arcane art of the Magic Fist. With her brutal aerial mobility and raw power — rare even among the Birdkin — alongside a reckless courage bordering on suicidal, she had beco a crowd favorite the mont she caught montum.
Korinna, the Channeler who once belonged to the White Strike Wings, had been completely off the spotlight. At the ti, White Mages were in high demand, but Channelers were considered too niche — unless they had powerful connections, no major Clan would bother inviting them. When Absolute Helix recruited her out of nowhere, most dismissed her as a filler.
Yet when the team took down the Mount Golem using a composition where the Channeler served as the Healer, the tide shifted slightly. By the ti they cleared the Winter General, her ability was acknowledged by Dungeon Maniacs and slowly began to garner attention. Her insight into death was uncanny, too — so even speculated that this quirk of hers bordered on those granted by a unique skill. The role Tsutomu had carved out for her as a Channeler had now elevated her beyond even top-tier White Mages.
She now stood as a direct competitor to the Mobile Healer on the ninetieth layer — and even Ealdred Crow’s very own Stephanie.
[Still, Absolute Helix’s Team 2 isn’t a major threat — at least, not yet. It’s not that their mbers are lacking. On the contrary, they ARE all capable in their own right. The problem is their cohesion. They simply don’t function well as a party…]
As soone who had spent years observing parties from within Ealdred Crow and through the Monitors, the informant had already noticed the disconnect. The friction between Garm and Amy remained unresolved, but the more pressing concern was the distance — emotional, strategic, perhaps even ideological — between Korinna and Xeno.
There was a discernible reluctance in the way Korinna supported him. During battles, her healing subtly avoided him. It was most evident when dispelling petrification or casting [ — she favored Garm, without question. The discrepancy in care might have been negligible on a cast-by-cast basis, but over the span of an hour, the bias beca unmistakable.
[True, Xeno doesn’t have a particularly strong presence among Absolute Helix. But he still IS a solid Tank for his level, no doubt about that. Among their group, he also seems to understand the Corrupted Shells better than anyone. Even Tsutomu — or many of the other top Healers, for that matter — could have made more effective use of Xeno than Korinna does now.]
Tsutomu was a poor comparison, of course; the man could synchronize with anyone. But Stephanie — yes, she would’ve drawn out the full extent of Xeno’s potential.
[Interestingly, Xeno doesn’t return Korinna’s avoidance. If anything, he places his full trust in her. And that is precisely the issue. Their mismatched expectations clash at a subtle but fatal level. Xeno could rely more on Potions, make things easier for himself. But he doesn’t.]
If he had shared the sa hesitancy Korinna harbored, he likely would’ve supplented her lack of support with healing items. Doing so would’ve helped him survive the middle phases of the battle with more ease — and lent stability to the entire party.
But Xeno barely used Potions. He trusted Korinna’s healing implicitly. Korinna, for her part, failed to recognize the forced smile he wore through the pain. She assud he was still fine — and so she held back, delaying her healing. The result was Xeno’s inability to fight at full capacity.
Garm or Daryl — they could fight through injuries without missing a step. But Xeno, though experienced, was not quite at their level. He still flinched at pain. Back during the battle against the Winter General, it was Tsutomu’s ticulous support that had allowed Xeno to shine. Korinna was fully capable of providing that level of support, too — yet her subconscious bias against Xeno left their synergy fractured.
[Amira, by contrast, has beco obsessed with success as of late — not unlike how Stephanie once was. It’s a dangerous kind of hunger, but a useful one. She’s stopped looking over her shoulder, less concerned with what others think. That self-assurance would take her far. But unless the distance between Korinna and Xeno is resolved, her growth would an nothing.]
Ever since Team 1 cleared the ninetieth layer, Amira’s desire to win — no matter the cost — had beco visible, almost palpable. As an Attacker, she showed strength comparable to Diniel. But no amount of individual brilliance would be enough to overco the Corrupted Shell. Without sothing near-divine, like Tsutomu’s uncanny coordination, they wouldn’t make it.
[And then there’s Silver Beast’s growth… it’s taken a strange turn.]
Where once Absolute Helix had dominated Monitor #1, Silver Beast now claid the spotlight, their battle against the Corrupted Shell unfolding onscreen. Of all the figures darting across the battlefield, one stood out above the rest — a Conykin dashing about like lightning.
The informant couldn’t help but wonder, [Does she have so unique skill that lets her run forever?]
Lorena, still smiling even after hours of combat, might as well have been riding an endless runner’s high. Among White Mages, she was certainly one of the more eccentric ones. She deliberately avoided ranged support skills, choosing instead to make physical contact to boost both the potency and duration of her spells. On top of that, she joined in the attack when she could. No one had yet managed to replicate her unorthodox style. Her bottomless stamina alone made that impossible.
"[!!"
More recently, she had been practicing a strange new technique — casting [ in the shape of a handprint, as if stretching out her palm to reach soone across the battlefield. Whether it surpassed conventional ranged healing was still unknown. But one thing was clear — she no longer retreated into a purely defensive stance.
Her team was just as unconventional. Misil, his Job the rare Adventurer, now counted among the most popular in the dungeoneering scene. Riri and Rara, twin Birdkin Tanks specializing in evasion, defied all expectations. Madeleine the Sorcerer, their Attacker, rarely used magic-type skills, favoring blunt instrunts for physical strikes instead. Each of them constantly experinted, trialing strange new thods — even failing outright — in the hopes of uncovering sothing practical, like Lorena’s evolving handprint [.
[It would’ve been easier if they’d just accepted the Jobs given to them,] the informant thought.
After reaching the ninetieth layer, Silver Beast had fallen into a more cautious pattern. But now, they moved with the sa light-footed synergy they had shown against the Fire Dragon — as if they were communicating telepathically.
Still, Silver Beast was not the only group catching the informant’s eye.
[Scarlet Devil Squad and Golden Tune… especially Eunice. Her progress lately has been sothing else. Did sothing happen?]
He had been keeping an eye on Eunice, partly to see if her failed romance with Leon would open a window for recruitnt. But there had been no negative developnts on that front. Still, after a certain point, her growth as a Healer beca impossible to ignore.
She had once been rated below frontline Healers — especially after the mutated Shell Crab fight, where her effectiveness had fallen short despite her inventing the dumpling-style [. But recently, during a battle with the Winter General, she had pulled off two back-to-back revivals and turned the tide. Her performance had climbed dramatically.
[Maybe I’m biased,] the informant admitted to himself. [But it really feels like she’s broken through so shell. If she ever leaves Golden Tune, I’ll be ready to make an offer the mont she does.]
It could simply be a case of soone rising quickly after starting from a low baseline. Or maybe he was partial to Vulpeers. But Eunice had been radiating confidence lately — her expression brighter, her healing sharper. Small, cute, and strong — traits that made her naturally appealing to fans. He would not deny the temptation to play favorites.
Smiling gently to himself as he watched Eunice and her team working her way up near Monitor #20, the informant finally looked away, closing his eyes to rest them. A mont later, he reopened them and resud his observations of the Monitors.
There was still much to be done if he was going to help Ealdred Crow regain its forr glory. So, once again, he turned his focus to the work only he could do.
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