Vincent and Abigail were heading up to the Crusader''s HQ to register their party to be official. Vincent was shivering with excitement as they were taking the ropes to the top. This was something he and Abigail had been dreaming about for a long time, their very own crusader party. As they were walking up the steps, a small bird appeared in front of Abigail. It was carrying a letter. Abigail took it in hand and opened it.


    "Congratulations, Ms. Abigail Montall, you have passed the Enchantress exam; here is your badge; wear it with pride."


    Abigail began crying, reading the letter. All her hard work, all the failures, all the times believing she was not good enough were finally over. She had passed. She finally became an Elite Enchantress. She gave her boyfriend a huge hug.


    "Oi, oi, I thought you and the dark one were a thing. But I like this, ye two are quite cute." The voice sounded very familiar.


    "Maeva?" Vincent asked as he watched the small woman approach them from the HQ they were heading into.


    "Yup that''s me, love." She responded, "what are you lot doing here?"


    "Registering to become an official party. Abigail just passed her Enchantress exam; she is official," Vincent said proudly towards both facts.


    "What does that even mean? Were ye not official before prettay? How can they tell ye what an enchantress is or isn''t?" Maeva questioned, genuine confusion on her face.


    "That is actually a good question, Abigail, what is the point of getting that badge?" Vincent turned to Abigail.


    "There is a rumor that if you do not complete this assessment and pass they can take away your power and replace it. So every enchantress works with extreme diligence to complete it so they will not have their power taken away." Abigail replied softly, still shocked she passed.


    "BS, that sounds like a steaming bowl of pegasus poo," Maeva said, "You, miss, are lovely and strong, don''t let them idiots tell you what you can and cannot do. You''re a badass."


    Abigail stood in genuine shock again. Maeva was brash, perhaps too brash for Abigail''s liking, but Maeva seemed like she really cared for the words she said to Abigail. She never felt such authenticity from her before, and it came off as natural, which was even more foreign to her. "Anyways, loves, I''m off to catch some well-earned shut-eye. I''ll be in town for a couple more days or so, staying at a small inn in the housing district. Come find me, and we''ll get a drink. Bring that good-looking man with ya," she winked, referring to Ob.


    "He''s gone for several more days. Unless you wait for him, you won''t see him." Vincent replied.


    "I just might," she said as her final word, then turned and ran the other way.


    "Well, that was unexpected," Vincent said to Abigail, "You think that she really wants to see Ob or wants to be around you more?"


    "Why would she want to be around me more?" Abigail said, staring at Vincent.


    Vincent chuckled at the sweet innocence of his girlfriend. Abigail was still beginnign to see how great she could be. She was learning that she is powerful and wise on her own, not just Ob. Vincent looked her in the eyes and chuckled again, "Nevermind that." He said, kissing her on the cheek, "let''s go form a party.”


    "How can I help you?" a rather bored and lifeless clerk asked the couple.


    "We would like to establish a party" Abigail spoke up.


    "Very well," the clerk looked behind her, then grabbed a small stone and handed it to Abigail, "Please touch the stone." Abigail did as she was told and felt a strange current of magic enter into her own magical senses within her aura. She felt the magic leave as the clerk pulled the stone away. She told Vincent to do the same. "This is your party stone; it is what allows you to add members; it is registered with your two magical imprints. You two have the authority to add or kick someone out. The rock will let us know when the party has been completed. Once it is, you may name your party by speaking into the stone. You will be sent various objective requests if you choose to accept them; the stone''s location will disperse the reward. Does that make sense?"


    "Yes," they both said at the same time.


    "Very good, best of luck, oh and welcome to the Crusader''s Federation." The clerk motioned them to leave with that final note.


    As the couple was walking back to the housing district, Vincent thought about how easy that was. It was almost too easy. Vincent was a superstitious man; when it comes to hunting, you have to be. He did not enjoy easy hunts. They scared him and made him feel like there was something wrong, and usually he was right. This felt no different than an easy hunt. It left him with unease. As if there was something bad going to happen if they were not careful. He was lost in his thoughts the whole walk back to the inn that they were staying at.


    "What is going on?" Abigail asked as they walked into their room after exchanging pleasantries with Helvuna, "You missed how she looked when asking about Ob, you''ve had that same expression on your face since we left HQ."


    "My instincts are screaming that something is off about that. It was too easy," he responded, "I am not thrilled of always being tracked either."


    "Hmm," Abigail said in deep thought, "I guess it does take the excitement away when we are operating as a party did not appear to offer any benefit. We could have just called ourselves a party."


    "Yes, that''s what is troubling me; we put our magical imprint on this stone without really trusting that lady. For what, no real benefit, no speal about how important it is to be a crusader? Nothing, just welcome, and here''s a rock. I wonder what Ob would say?"


    "He would likely say that it is not trustworthy, then question the legitimacy of the federation while bringing in some vaguely similar thing from his world." The two of them shared a laugh; they really liked Ob and were definitely missing his presence. "Do you feel the same concern I do with him using this stone? It could very well broadcast that he is a Draconian."


    "By nature yes, but let''s face it Abs, we are too," Vincent said in an almost whisper.


    "Why do you say that?" Abigail said, shock filling her eyes.


    "We walk around with a rare and awesome dragon. Who doesn''t scare us, who is very cuddly, and who tells good jokes. All caution around her went out the window the second we fought beside her. She is great, and I wouldn''t mind having a dragon soul-link, and I get the feeling neither would you." Abigail narrowed her eyes at him but nodded. He was right, after all. She did really like Eclipse, and the thought had crossed her mind several times that she would like her own Eclipse. She had just been fighting it so often because she had always been told dragons are evil, evil creatures. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Was her whole upbringing a lie? Or was she just around the best dragon known in this world? Could both be true? She wasn''t sure, but to be honest, she was less hell-bent than she usually is to answer those questions. She was simply enjoying learning about dragons in a different light and having her previous way of belief challenged.


    "Perhaps you are correct," she finally said, "I just always thought that this would be some amazing thing. Same with the Enchantress exam. What Maeva said has been stuck in my head. What was the point of that? How could they tell me whether or not I am an Enchantress? Do you think all these systems are in place so that we follow the status quo without question? Do you think maybe if we operate outside of these systems we will learn the real truth of it all?"


    "Why did you want to take exam in the first place, besides the fear of losing that power?" Vincent asked sincerely.


    "Being an Elite Enchantress allows me access to specific areas of study in libraries. In cities that have an Enchantress HQ, I can get some supplies at a discounted rate along with discounted room and board, but that will not be necessary with a friend like Ob. I want to go back to your original question before my tangent.


    We are not Ob. We have been here in this dimension our whole lives. The questions he asks are through the mask of his old world. There is nothing wrong with that. If we, however, fall into the trap of trying to think like our dear friend, we will go insane. He has a brilliant ability to balance his questions with staying among the status quo; we do not possess such a gift."


    Vincent took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "you''re absolutely right, Abs," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "I think I expected more, and I am riding that disappointment, and I allowed my mind to wander." He paused and still couldn''t shake the feeling that something was up, he had never noticed it before, but there was something odd about the whole situation. Would being a Maverick help Ob in the long run, or will that power disrupt his potential?


    <hr>


    "What is bothering you," Eclipse asked Ob.


    "There is something wrong with this assessment. It doesn''t make sense, how does this prove that I am a maverick? What does that even prove? The only assessment to have that would make sense is explorer''s are they capable of exploring and discovering, easy? Why does this feel like we are playing into someone''s sick game?" Ob responded, pacing their little cave.


    "I am not sure; we hear of Mavericks as legends in stories but never learn the details. Do you not want to be a Maverick anymore?"


    "Something Scourge said made me think," Ob said, looking at Eclipse. "Mystics are beings who surrender a part of themselves to gain something greater. Isn''t that what we’re doing? We’re sacrificing that third powerset for something greater? Who told physical beings that the only way to unlock the third power set was by federation only? I am really just thinking out loud.


    What if this was all a lie? When I was given the opportunity to use the dark heart, VON said it would give me a random skill even if I didn''t have the powerset. How is that possible? If the powerset is supposed to do with the federation, why is there a keystone item that would unlock that?"


    "Are you thinking you can choose the third and final powerset?"


    "I’m not sure, maybe. If so, I wouldn''t want it to be Maverick. What if it could be something dragon related or mystic? Or even Celestine? I think I want to figure out more of what is going on before I pass this assessment. My gut is telling me to not finish this assessment." Ob looked at his partner with her lizard-like eyes. "I don''t want to be the fool who fell into a trap because he was so new to this world." He walked out of the cave with Eclipse and jumped onto her back. "Let''s go find the Harpy."


    "What is happening with this human?" a voice asked, watching the recording. They could not sense Eclipse or see her. They could only see Ob and what was directly in front of them. Ob was intentional in only using dragon speak to communicate with his partner. "Charles, why is he just sitting in a cave and not handing you the egg?"


    "I do not know Timo. He is a strange man. I think that he could finish and pass the assessment, though; he is very quick with completing tasks."


    The man called Timo stood in silence for a while before replying, "It appears he is on the move again; maybe he will call you." the pair watched as Ob approached the Harpy. They were shocked to hear what was happening in the conversation; he was offering to help her find another egg. Thankfully, the Harpies are a proud race and won''t take handouts, especially as her former makeshift party member was manned by Ob.


    "It appears he is ready for you, Charles," Timo said. Timo watched as Charles left to go talk to Ob about the next steps. This man is very strange and dangerous; we need to leave a mark on his Maverick badge, Timo thought. Timo was a high-level official of the Crusader Federation; he was the branch executive director of Andohull. That seemed like a large, important title, but only for this town. Timo was a human; he was of average height with olive skin and short, buzzed white hair. His face was wrinkled and hardened with long battles and government work. He looked like a stereotypical war general from Oscar-Blane''s world. Timo wanted nothing but power, and he sought power out religiously.


    Most people only saw Timo as a government official who was once a bounty hunter, but there was something dark lurking within Timo.


    The darkness he tried to hide all the time was slipping out, watching Ob. Watching this human obtain all this power at such a young age. It pissed him off; it made him sick; what made this human so special that he could possess such large potential. If he hadn''t had better sense, he would have gone down and attacked him personally.


    Charles suddenly appeared, snapping Timo out of his thoughts. The man''s face was pure red. "He just quit."


    <hr>


    Sitting around the tree, the group had found Maeva across the street in the smaller inn. While they were grabbing food, they ran into her. They invited her up into their suite. The group chatted and got to know each other.


    Vincent was impressed by Maeva''s strength; she had not had an easy life growing up. It is no wonder she likes being independent. It was definitely much different than the pampered life of royalty in which both he and Abigail were brought up. Maeva didn''t resent them, though; at first, she did, but after seeing how hard they actually worked, it made sense.


    Maeva was not accepted in her last group. It made her feel even more isolated and like no one would understand her. But this group they acted like they knew what it was like to not belong where you were. Like they had a distinct understanding of what it was like to be a fish out of water. She liked it, it was refreshing.


    "I''m sorry, yeah," She said, "I judged you a lot; I thought you were all high and mighty. Being rich with your fancy gear and whatnot." She looked down at the table and her drink in a deep gaze, "I shouldn''t have judged ye all in that manner; it wasn''t fair. Ye lot work ye tails off and it shows. I didn''t mean to make ye question ye assessment either, missy. Sorry for that."


    "Your apologies are sweet but unnecessary," Ob''s voice came from his room, walking into the tree room, "we are high and mighty and do have fancy gear. We earned it forsure, but it doesn''t change the fact that we are rich. I mean, look at this place." All three stood speechless to see Ob walk through that door so early.


    "Why are you back?" Vincent asked, "You should have another week at least."


    "I can tell you later," he turned his attention to Maeva, "are you looking to join our party?"


    "It''s you, eh? You''re the reason that they understand meh?" Maeva said in response to Ob, "You''re the one who is a fish outta water?"


    "I''m sure I have a small part in that, sure," he said, "but yeah, I''m lost, and they help me be found. Do you want to be found too?" Abigail looked at Ob but did not interject. She trusted Ob''s judgment and especially his judgment of people. It was clear that he knew how people interacted and how people operated.


    "Why are they silent, yeah?" she said, gesturing to the other two.


    "Well, I think they are waiting for your answer," Ob responded with a small smile. He walked over to Vincent, gave him a warm embrace, and did so with Abigail as well. The group was a lot closer than when she first met them less than a month ago. She wondered what happened. She wanted deeply to be a part of it, though. She missed her home, but she loved her freedom, "Aye, pretty, why do you let him speak for you?"


    "Because I trust Ob''s judgment in people" is all Abigail said in response.


    "That''s a big offer, yeah? Can you give me a day to think it over." she said, once again looking down at her drink.


    Ob walks over to her, puts a hand on her shoulder, and says, "Of course," with a genuinely warm smile.