For several more hours Marcus and Evette chatted amongst each other.

The two of them had a great deal in common with their origins and both of them were grateful to have met someone that could understand certain aspects of themselves that others could not.

For Evette though their meeting was even more profound. It was rare for her to meet anyone that could speak to her face to face without being overwhelmed by her unique skill. 

“This has truly been enjoyable, but I think it is about time that I head out. There are a few more preparations I want to make before we leave for the expedition.” Marcus said.

“Yes, I suppose that it has already gotten fairly late into the evening. I am sure that my party members will start to worry if I am gone for much longer. It is rare that I indulge in one-on-one conversations with someone I just met for so long. Decades have passed since this happened, but at one point when I was just starting out as an adventurer a client attempted to kidnap me during a meeting after catching a glimpse of my face. After that happened my party members have always been a bit overprotective and try to keep me from meeting new people alone.” Evette said with a saddened expression.

Her unique skill was certainly very powerful, but it made it difficult for her to connect with others without the risk of bewitching them by accident.

In the hands of a less moral person the power could be used to effectively control any number of people, but for someone like Evette it really was more of a curse than a boon.

“Well, you do not have to worry about that with me. I can tell that your unique skill cannot affect me. It would take more than that to enthrall a great spirit.”

At this Evette smiled, Bheith had once said the same thing to her when she expressed her worries when she first acquired the Ethereal Beauty Unique Skill.

“Ah, but before we go our separate ways. I know you are a great spirit, but would it be alright if I consider you a friend?”

“Sure, I already feel like we get along well. It is nice to have another dual aspect spirit to speak with as well. I am not a normal great spirit anyway, so there is no need to worry about any hierarchy with me.” Marcus said before leaving and going back to his room.

When he arrived eh found Mrazivý sitting on the bed with a heavy scowl on her face.

Immediately Marcus tensed up and wondered what was wrong. He had never seen this expression on his wife’s face before.

“I am surprised that you returned before the morning. I figured that you would spend the entire night with your new lover.” Mrazivý said with a huff before turning her head away.

“Wait! It is not like that! Evette and I have quite a bit in common and were just tal-“

“I don’t want to hear it! I should have known I could not compare to another spirit. It was only a matter of time before you got bored of me and went after one of your own kind.”

Mrazivý then began crying profusely and sending swift glances towards Marcus every few seconds to see his stupefied face.

Frankly, for as fast as his mind could process information, it took him far too long to realize that Mrazivý was messing with him. Her acting this time had been better than usual and her opening accusation had caught him off guard.

“Okay, I think that is enough. I can see you trying to hide your laughter.” Marcus said, putting an end to Mrazivý’s charade.

“Sorry. I just could not help wanting to tease you a bit.” Mrazivý said in between giggles.

With a sigh Marcus realized the heavy tension that had built up inside him. He felt like if he still had a heart that it would have seized up.

“So, what did you and Evette discuss? You said you have more in common with her than anticipated.” 

Nodding his head, Marcus disclosed what he had talked about with Evette.

Mrazivý was surprised to hear that Evette was also a ghost turned spirit, and listened intently to what Marcus had to say.

“She certainly does sound interesting. I kind of want to speak with her myself, but now is not the time for that. Tomorrow is our last day before we head out and I have to attend the party leaders meeting in the morning, so I am going to get some sleep. What are you planning on doing?”

“I think I am going to head back to Borealia for a bit. Now that I decided to upgrade my item box, there are some sizeable tools I left behind that I want to collect. Hopefully we will not have any need for them, but just in case I want to have them on hand.” Marcus said, preparing a mental list of the equipment he was going to be stuffing in his item box.

“Just don’t go too overboard and fill up all of your storage space. There is no doubt that this island will have plenty to bring back.” Mrazivý said before turning over and closing her eyes.

‘Dark Portal.’

Opening up a pitch-black rift in space, Marcus slipped into it and appeared inside his estate back in Borealia.

…

‘She is still not back yet.’

Around twenty hours after he had left, Marcus slipped back into his and Mrazivý’s room and found that it was still empty.

He had been expecting Mrazivý to be back by now since the party leaders meeting should have started around nine hours ago, but it seemed she was still busy.

With nothing else to do, Marcus took out a book he had recently picked up and began reading to pass the time.

It was not until just before dinner time that Mrazivý came back looking exhausted.

“That was longer than expected. Did the leader of Round Table give all you some trouble.”

“Yes and no.” Mrazivý said with a sigh.

Before saying anything else she sat down at the table in their room and pulled out a bottle of wine from her item box and filled up two glasses.

Marcus accepted her invitation and sat across from her and took a sip of the wine she had offered.

“This is pretty good. From the royal stock I assume.” 

“No, this actually came from Gwyneira’s personal stash. She gave my some of her favorites when I achieved my evolution as a gift.” Mrazivý replied.

“So, what made the meeting take so long and wore you out this much?” 

“Positioning. Everyone had their own ideas for how our four groups should arrange ourselves while exploring the island.”

Mrazivý explained that the first part of the meeting was dedicated to each leader listing the capabilities of their members and what roles they focused on. This part went by fairly quickly and was little trouble, but what came after took an incredibly long time.

“Both Evette and Fianna wanted their parties to take the front of our planned formation, while Cassius was vehement that our group be at the head. His main argument was that it was my job to identify every creature we come across.” Mrazivý said with a sigh.

However, she told Marcus that she could not sense any sort of malice from Cassius during the meeting. He only made logical arguments and all of his suggestions made at least some tactical sense.

“I honestly wish that he was just a blubbering idiot full of himself, but he truly does have some competence. In the end he got his way, and provisionally our group will be at the front of our formation.”

While they were investigating the island, they would arrange themselves with the northern quadrant out front and the other three in a spread-out vee formation behind them.

This would place one of the groups directly behind them for support and the other two out to the sides to have a wider range of view.

“Of course, we all agreed to keep within detection range of each other so none will be more than three hundred meters apart at a time. In a place such a finite area that our senses can work in, it is too dangerous to get split up.” 

“Well, I am sure we will be able to handle taking the front. Anything that is stupid enough to attack us head on is probably not going to be a problem. Plus, it will give us a chance to show off what we can do.” Marcus said confidently.

“That was one of the other main reasons to put us in front. The others have no idea what we and Miguel are truly capable of, and they want to learn early on if we can truly hold our own by putting us at the front.”

“I can’t say it does not make sense. If we underperform at the beginning, it would be possible to force the expedition to return and reorganize with new members. Though I know that neither of us is weaker than any of the others. We will be able to show them just what we are capable of.”

“Naturally. We did not endure that special dungeon for nothing. This will be the perfect place for us to really test out what we have gained from pushing ourselves through that hell.”