Chapter 942 Introductions
'This is going to be a pain.'
Marcus could feel that all eyes in the room were on him after Evette had approached and bowed to him.
Clearly everyone that knew her found this behavior strange and it was drawing unwanted towards Marcus.
Still, he could not just sit and stare at her with a dumbstruck expression, so Marcus stood up and bowed himself.
"I am also pleased to make your acquaintance Lady Evette. My name is Marcus Ferrous, a recently promoted mithril rank adventurer. I am not affiliated with a party, but I have come to participate in this mission at the behest of my quadrant's grand master along with my partner."
With the slight nudge of his head Marcus motioned towards Mrazivy, and she swiftly stood up and introduced herself to Evette as well.
"I am Mrazivy Borealia, also a recently promoted mithril rank adventurer, and Marcus' partner. I am looking forward to working with you Lady Evette."
"Oh, your last name is Borealia! That must mean you are a member of the Borealian royal family." Evette said with a hint of surprise in her voice.
"So, you know of our home. I am amazed that you have heard of Borealia when you live in a separate quadrant so far away."
"Yes, I have made sure to memorize every member nation of the adventurers guild."
Once their initial introductions were over Evette turned back towards Marcus and imply stared at him for a few seconds before speaking again.
"I believe I understand your circumstances to a degree, so I will say nothing more right now. But if it would be possible later to talk with you in a more private setting, I would be very grateful. Of course, it is completely up to your discretion."
"Okay, we can book a private room to talk later. How does two hours after the end of this meeting sound?"
"Yes, that will be fine. I am looking forward to it." Evette said, her tone conveying a bit of elation.
She then turned around towards her party members and gestured for them to introduce themselves as well.
To begin the male elf who appeared to be second in command went after Evette, but her had a slight scowl on his face as he conversed with Marcus.
Still, he introduced himself politely as Adlamin Tharneth.
Following him the other members gave their names starting with the female human that was clearly a dedicated mage gave her name which was Roseline.
After her was Besso the bear beastman, and the last member of their party was Yinceran the wyrwood.
Each of them looked a little strained during their instructions due to their leader's uncharacteristic deference towards Marcus, but they had the wherewithal to be respectful.
"And what might your name be young man? I believe this is our first-time meeting." Evette said, turning towards Miguel.
She had already met Thegia and Kollo in the past, but Miguel was another new face among those representing the Northern Quadrant.
"My name is Miguel LaRusso."
With as curt of an introduction as he could get away with, Miguel briefly stood up and lowered his head slightly before sitting back down. He was making it clear that he was trying to have as little interaction with others as possible.
This caused Evette's party to frown, and Adlamin looked like he wanted to say something, but Evette held up a hand to stop him.
"It has truly been a pleasure to meet all of you, but I suppose it is time for us to make ourselves scarce. We are not the only ones that want to greet the three new faces."
Looking behind Evette, Marcus could see that the party from the Southern Quadrant, Intrepid, had finished pleasantries with Round Table and was eagerly waiting for their chance to approach.
Evette quickly led her party away, and Intrepid came over to take their place almost immediately.
"You must be something special if you have got Evette seeking you out and bowing her head to you. What's your secret?" The arachne leader of Intrepid said before anything else.
She put her face uncomfortably close to Marcus' and he felt a sense apprehension greater than he had in a while.
Not only was someone he was meeting for the first time invading his personal space and acting overly familiar, but she also had the lower body of a spider.
Despite being a ghost and spirit now, Marcus still retained his arachnophobia from his first life and felt his soul shudder whenever he encountered one.
At the very least her upper body was that of a human, so as long as he focused there, he could dampen his phobia.
"Whack!"
"OW! Fenmaer, what the hell was that for?!" The leader of intrepid said as she whipped her head around and glared at the person that had just smacked the top of her head with their weapon.
"Fianna, you were being rude again. Before you go bombarding people with a question they clearly do not want to answer, you should at least perform a proper greeting." Fenmaer, one of the giant twins who was wielding a staff said, admonishing his leader like she was a child.
He then turned towards Marcus and bowed his head to apologize for his party's leader's actions.
Watching this Marcus wondered why Fianna was even in charge when Fenmaer seemed to have a better personality for being a leader.
"It is, fine." Marcus said waving off the situation.
After that he began by introducing himself and Mrazivy.
Once he had finished Miguel took the initiative to stand up and briefly introduce himself on his own terms so that Fianna did not attempt to approach him like she had Marcus.
"I guess it is our turn next. My name's Fianna, but you already know that. I am the leader of Intrepid and the best huntress in the Southern Quadrant. There is nothing I can't hit with my bow." Fianna said proudly as she jostled the elegant bo on her back.
Going after her, Fenmaer properly introduced himself and his twin brother Petlar went next.
Following the twins was the man with obsidian skin named Ashton, and last but not least was Iardi the weasel beastwoman who spoke quietly and seemed to be fairly shy.
"Now, we have made proper instructions. So, what about you has the Saint of Life and Death so interested in you?" Fianna said, not backing down despite knowing Marcus had no intention of answering her.
This time he was not saved by one of her party members, and it looked like he was going to have to get out of this on his own.
"Sorry but I have no idea what you are talking about. I assume that Lady Evette is simply polite and forthright." Marcus said, feigning ignorance.
"And what did you mean when you called her the Saint of Life and Death." Mrazivy said, steering the conversation in another direction.
Fianna's expression morphed into a pout when Marcus sidestepped her question, but she still moved on and answered Mrazivy.
"That is just a nickname she has earned for her accomplishments as an adventurer. She is well regarded and quite famous within her own quadrant. I am sure you noticed that she is affiliated with the Church of the Great Spirit of Life, but along with her healing magic, she is also a master of death magic. Hence where her nickname came from. She is as helpful as she is dangerous."
Hearing this came as quite a shock to Marcus. He had already figured that she was a spirit of life due to the vestments she wore, but if she also utilized death magic he wondered if she might be like him. A spirit that held power over two opposing powers.
'When I first met with Aerial, she told me that dual aspect spirits were rare, but they do exist. Perhaps Evette is a spirit of both life and death. That is probably less unusual than I am at the very least.'
As Marcus got lost in thought about Evette, Fianna attempted to wring some sort of information out of him, but he just continued to absentmindedly dismiss her.
"Fine, whatever, she eventually said."
However, her attention then turned towards Mrazivy and she gave a bright and dazzling smile.
"I know that Cassius was pretty rude when asking you this earlier, but would you mind showing us your Dragon Eyes race ability. I do not mind if you use it on me. I just want to know to what extent your ability is. Can you see my entire status even through the protections I have?" Fianna said.
"Since you asked more politely, I do not mind. Just don't blame me for learning all of your secrets if you were trying to hide something." Mrazivy responded.
Her eyes then flashed golden, and her pupils became slits like those of a reptile.
It only took her a few moments to scan Fianna's entire status and when she was finished, she said, "So where do you want me to start? With your level and stats, or maybe your eight unique skills."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺