The sunlight that had felt so welcoming an hour ago now seemed quite unfriendly as four pairs of eyes locked onto me. The goblin corpses lay scattered around them like broken dolls, their blood already darkening to black in the dirt.
I stopped at the edge of the clearing, keeping my distance. I was close enough to talk, but also far enough to react if things went sideways.
The woman studied me first, her knives still in her hands, although the blades hung loose at her sides. Her eyes traveled over me with efficiency, judging if I was a threat or not, then they stopped on my eyes.
Something shifted in her expression, and a flicker of shock and wariness flashed across her eyes. She quickly suppressed them, but I caught it.
The tank had noticed it too, and his hand immediately went to his sword hilt, his posture shifting from exhausted to alert in the space of a breath. The woman's grip on her knives tightened almost imperceptibly before she spoke.
"Easy," the woman said, but the word was directed at her own people, not me.
"I'm not looking for trouble," I said calmly, keeping my hands visible.
"Your very existence is trouble!" the tank spat harshly. His sword was half drawn, the blade streaked with goblin blood. Up close, I could see the wound on his arm now, a gash that ran from his shoulder to his elbow, still seeping red. He'd taken a hit during the fight that I hadn't noticed from my hiding spot.
"I already said I'm not looking for trouble." I reiterated, but this time, there was a cold edge to my voice.
"As if! You bast—" The tank started to say, but he was cut off coldly.
"Enough." The woman's voice cut through his building rage like a blade. She still hadn't looked away from me.
"Your eyes. What are they?" She asked warily, her entire body tense.
I blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play games with me. You know what I mean." She warned angrily, the tension in the air rising.
I frowned, confused. What was she talking about? I'd never—
Then it hit me.
I hadn't seen my own reflection since waking up in this body. The heavy downpour, fighting Horus, and the chaos of the past day. Throughout these events, I'd never once looked at my face.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, keeping my voice level.
Her eyes narrowed, and it was obvious she didn't like my response. However, there was something else in her eyes—fear.
The tank's sword was almost out of its scabbard now, while the other two had gone completely still, their hands hovering near their weapons. They were waiting for a signal.
"Is there a problem?" I asked, letting a cold edge creep into my voice.
The effect was immediate. The tank faltered. The spearman's grip tightened on his weapon, but he didn't draw, and the axe fighter's eyes darted between me and the woman, waiting for her directions.
They were afraid of me.
I didn't understand why. I didn't know what was so terrifying about my eyes or why these four experienced fighters were treating me like I might explode at any moment.
Could this be related to my trait 'Divine Eyes'?
I couldn't tell, but I understood one thing clearly: fear was leverage. And right now, leverage was my best weapon.
I straightened my posture, letting my hands drop slowly to my sides. I didn't reach for my weapon, as that would break the illusion, but I no longer raised my hands in surrender either. I met the woman's gaze and held it, not backing down and giving her a single inch.
The silence stretched between us, and the tension in the air rose with each passing second. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears, steady and slow. On the outside, I appeared calm and collected, but on the inside, I was panicking.
A fight would be the worst-case scenario for me right now. I simply didn't have enough mana. Horus would buy me maybe thirty seconds before my mana ran dry, but against four experienced fighters, I didn't think that would be enough.
Fortunately, they didn't know that. All they knew was that I was dangerous, and I would use that to my advantage.
The woman's jaw tightened. Her knives were still in her hands, but I could see the cogs in her brain spinning. She was thinking, recalculating, and weighing the cost of a fight against the risk of letting me walk away.
Then, she exhaled slowly, and some of the tension bled out of her shoulders.
"Stand down," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "All of you."
The tank took a step forward. "Rhea, this is a waste of time. He's definitely one of those monsters! Look at his eyes for crying out loud! We should just—"
"Doran." Rhea called, her voice as cold as ice. "Stand. Down."
The tank, Doran, looked like he wanted to argue. His sword was still half-drawn, and his knuckles white on the hilt, but the woman's gaze didn't waver, and after a long moment, he shoved the blade back into its sheath with a growl of frustration.
The others immediately followed suit. The spearman's hand came away from his weapon, and the axe fighter's weight settled back onto his heels. The immediate threat of violence receded, but the tension didn't disappear. It just changed shape, coiling beneath the surface like a snake waiting to strike.
The woman sheathed her knives slowly and deliberately, making sure I saw each blade slide home. Then she straightened and met my eyes again.
"My name is Rhea," she said. "These are my companions: Doran, Finn, and Kael."
She gestured to each in turn. Doran, the tank, crossed his arms, still glowering at me. The spearman gave a short, stiff nod, while the axe fighter didn't react at all. Instead, he just watched me with a flat gaze.
"We're not here to cause you trouble," Rhea continued, her voice carefully neutral. "And we'd appreciate it if you extended us the same courtesy."
I studied her for a long moment, letting the silence hang and add to the tension before I nodded slowly.
"I already said I'm not looking for trouble, and I intend to keep it that way." I said calmly.
Rhea's eyes flickered in relief as the rest of the tension left her body.
"Then we have no quarrel."
"No," I agreed. "We don't."
There was another brief silence as we felt each other out before she finally broke it.
"What's your name?" she asked finally.
I hesitated. Zenon Castellan was out. If the name carried weight I didn't understand, using it could cause more problems than it solved. Still, I needed something to call myself.
In the game, I'd used Zero. It was my identity and my pride, but in this body and this world, it felt wrong. I didn't want to use a name with such a bitter ending, so I gave her the next name that came to mind.
"Baal." I answered coolly.
I didn't think too much about using the name of a popular demon back on earth. At least until I uncovered the mystery behind the Castellan family, I couldn't use that name. Baal was safer.
The woman studied me for a moment longer, then nodded slowly.
"What brings you here?" I asked offhandedly. I didn't expect them to answer, after all we were practically strangers.
"We're here on behalf of the Valdris kingdom," she answered. "They need certain resources from the lower floors of the Tower. We're being paid to retrieve them."
"You're mercenaries?" I asked, an eyebrow raised. I didn't expect her to actually answer.
"Yes, and that's all you need to know." Doran added harshly, his voice still rough and hostile.
I nodded in understanding. Mercenaries didn't share contract details with strangers. It was common professional courtesy. Trust and privacy were paramount in their line of work after all.
Valdris.
The name meant nothing to me. In the game, there were no kingdoms, empires or politics. It was just floors, more floors, monsters and loot. I'd spent thousands of hours in this world without ever knowing there was a world beyond it.
I'd thought I understood this place and my knowledge was my greatest weapon, but standing here and listening to Rhea talk about border kingdoms and defence contracts, I understood how narrow my vision had been.
I'd seen the Tower as a game. A series of floors to climb, monsters to kill, and loot to collect. I'd never once wondered about the NPCs who lived at its base, or why they sent their best into its depths.
Now, I knew that this world was far more expansive than I thought.
"You're heading to the Sanctuary." Rhea said, pulling me from my thoughts. It wasn't a question.
"I am."
She glanced at her companions again. Doran shook his head almost imperceptibly, but Rhea ignored him.
"The forest between here and the sanctuary is quite treacherous, I'd say."
"Are you offering to escort me?"
"I'm offering to let you travel with us." She held up a hand before I could respond. "It's not charity. This forest has more than goblins. Having an extra pair of eyes and blade benefits us too."
I studied her, trying to read the angle. Mercenaries didn't offer free passage to strangers unless they saw value in it, and I didn't know what value they saw in me. However, when I looked at the four of them again, I understood.
They didn't want to travel with me because they liked me. They wanted to travel with me because they'd probably heard stories about people with eyes like mine, so they'd rather have me where they could see me than lurking behind them as an unknown variable.
Moreover, they were afraid that if they said no, I might become a problem they couldn't solve.
The irony wasn't lost on me. I was level one, unclassed, and had little combat experience with barely enough mana to summon Horus for three minutes. I was probably the least dangerous person among them, but I wasn't going to let them know that.
"Until the Sanctuary," I said. "Then we go our separate ways."
Rhea nodded.
"Until the Sanctuary."