"You trust me?" Erika blushed.
"Yeah, I do. A lot. You're also incredibly strong, don't you think it would be unfair if you come with me to the same party? The other party would be in a disadvantage!" I said.
"R-Right… Maybe." Erika nodded, she quickly held my hand. "Okay, I'll agree to it if you give me a kiss!"
"E-Eh?! In here in front of everyone?!" I asked in surprise.
Everyone looked with eyes even more open, whispering to one another.
"Oh my, look at them~"
"A-Are they really going to kiss?!"
"I didn't knew they were boyfriends already… And I wanted to confess to Erika…"
"Man, you never stood a chance."
The students really loved gossip.
As I tried to ignore everyone, I ended agreeing, giving Erika a quick kiss in her lips.
"Ahhh~ Fufu…" Erika giggled warmly. "Okay! I'll do it for you! If my boyfriend really trust me, then I cannot disappoint him as his girlfriend!"
"Alright, you better not disappoint me then." I said, giving her a head pat.
"Are you done with your love comedy?" Asked Rosen with a teasing smile.
"Shut up!" I roared back. "So anyways, it is …"
At the end, we finally formed the two teams. They were simply named Team Erika and Team Blake for convenience. Erika joined Rosen's party with Eduard, while I took Eduard's weakest members and Clarice's party.
"Erika's Team will go to the Crescent Lake, where a Monster Nest of Fishmen and also large Poison Wyverns has been detected. Using Eduard's special Spirits and Erika's strength, I hope you can get this done easily." I said.
"Meanwhile, I'll bring everyone with my team to the Rocky Cliffs, where we're going to exterminate the Insectoid and Winged Demon Tribes living there, and probably any monster we find."
"Wait! We're going to fight two demon tribes?!" Asked Clarice in shock. "A-Are we even ready?!"
"What's there to be ready? Just use that big axe of yours and slash them apart. They're weak demons anyways. I'll handle anything too strong for your sorry ass." I sighed.
"D-Don't call me like that! Geez…" Clarice blushed a bit, strangely enough. "S-So anyways! Let's get going, we can't waste any time. We've only got a week to get all of this done."
Erika took with herself Chris, Elfriedden, and Elizabeth. While I brought with me Erdrich, Alberta, and Eric. The reason behind this was important. Elizabeth and Elfriedden are perfect for these monsters. Elfriedden can easily freeze water, and Elizabeth heal any poison using her healing magic. Chris is just going to add his firepower whenever is needed.
Erdrich is better at fighting demons so I took him with me. Alberta is good at rocky areas due to being a Dwarf and can help us find any rare ores there too, and Eric is an all-purpose apothecary, alchemist, and even a healer. Also those two didn't wanted to get apart from one another…
"Two Star Water Magician here! I-I am looking forward to working with you!" A young girl with dark blue hair and freckles, alongside emerald eyes greeted me. Her name was Mimy, part of Eduard's party. Her Primary Spirit was a Blue Slime, and it had a lot of utilities.
"Three Star Ocean Spear Master to your service. I hope we can get along!" A clear blue haired and tall girl with a sleek figure and a long ponytail greeted us, with sharp red eyes and slightly toasted skin, she held a blue spear in her hands and there was a large hammerhead shark behind her. She was Alianna, Eduard's party spear-wielder.
"A-A pleasure to make your acquaintance! I've been looking forward to work with you, Blake!"
"Y-Yeah! Me too! We've been looking forward to it for a while!"
And the twins whose pink hair resembled the tentacles of squids were named Aquaria and Aquarius. It was a girl and a boy, but they looked so similar it was hard to tell them apart from one another even with gender differences. They were playful and childish, and both had Octopus and Squid Spirits. Aquaria was a two-star Trickster and Aquarius a two-star Bubble Mage.
But why were they all water-themed? Well, it results they all come from the faraway Port Country of Waterfall, where Eduard is the son of the King. Yeah, he is a Prince from all things. All of these allies he has are mostly his retainers or friends he made in the noble's school.
"You all seem fairly competent, but still quite weak. We'll make sure you gain a lot of levels." I nodded, analyzing Clarice's party.
Clarice, Clark, Eliana, Patricia, Ashen, and Arthuria. The lacked two other members, as their party ended at six. The max number was eight, but six was the minimum.
"Well, so we're ready or what? We must make haste!" Clarice said.
[Talent: 2 Star Gladiator, Spirit: Lion Axe, Primary Element: Earth.]
"Lady Clarice please don't be so hasty. This is an important quest." The stern Clark said.
[Talent: 2 Star Heavy Knight. Spirit: Rock Wyvern, Primary Element: Metal.]
"Ehehehe… I can't wait to experiment with those demons' bodies… I will make sure to use these poisons I've crafted…" Eliana laughed creepily.
[Talent: 3 Star Witch Doctor. Spirit: Swamp Man. Primary Element: Nature, Water.]
"To think we would end up working with them again…" Sighed Patricia with an expressionless face.
[Talent: 3 Star Sword Berserk. Spirit: Iron Slimes (fused with her blood). Primary Element: Blood.]
"Ehehehe, I'll be able to finally see how Blake slaughters his enemies up close! So exciting!!" Ashen, the boy, childishly said.
[Talent: 3 Star Gray Wizard. Spirit: Void Squid. Primary Element: Space.]
"I-I am looking forward to it!" Said Arthuria, the most decent out of this entire party after Clark.
[Talent: 3 Star Holy Blade. Spirit: Holy Sword of Light. Element: Light.]
I had taken notes of them previously, so my grimoire showed me their talents and everything else as they spoke, making things easier to remember for me.
"Very well then, let's go!"
And like that, our first day in the Eastern Wild Jungles began.