The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Isaac knocked several times on Hayden's door. The response was very quick – Hayden came to the door within seconds. He flung the door open and saw it was Isaac who had knocked. His face slowly turned red with rage as he spoke,

"How dare you try and turn me against Erik? For a job? What job?! If you had a job for me, you would've just said it! You were just trying to lure me into joining your team, since you're too fucking inferior for someone to join if you asked normally! For you to try and poison me against Erik is just..."

Hayden continued his tirade, but Isaac just ignored him from this point onwards. He just sighed lightly and lamented his misfortune,

'He's obviously had a long talk with Erik and told him about my comments. Instead of allowing Hayden's doubts to grow, Erik managed to resolve all those doubts and convince Hayden I was lying to him – he even worked out my motive. It's a shame, but I won't be able to recruit Hayden now – it'd be almost impossible to convince him to join my team after this. It seems I'll have to recruit my second choice for the position of defender.'

Hayden was still venting his anger at Isaac, but Isaac simply turned to leave. He heard the voice behind him become even more enraged,

"You think you can try to manipulate me and just walk away?! Come back here you coward! Come back here and fight; fist to fist like real warriors!"

In response to the threat, Isaac turned around. A translucent orange sword appeared in his right hand and he pointed it directly at Hayden,

"If you wish to degrade yourself to the level of mere commoners, you'll need to find a different opponent. I'll cut your head off if you come within 2 metres of me, let alone try to hit me."

Isaac's words didn't scare Hayden one bit, since he knew Isaac wouldn't kill within the sect. However, he knew he couldn't beat Isaac in a fair fight between cultivators; he specialised in defence, so he lacked a reliable means of attack which he could use against Isaac. If Isaac didn't accept the fistfight, there was nothing Hayden could do.

He was forced to watch as Isaac dispelled his spirit sword and simply walked away. If looks could kill, Isaac would've been dead 10 times over.

But they couldn't so Isaac was fine. He left Hayden to fume by himself and walked back home. When he was back at his house, Isaac dug up the box under his floorboard and took the notebook out. He quickly re-read all the information about other candidates who could be his team's defensive anchor.

The person who caught his eye most was not his 2nd choice, but a woman named Abbie Ibsen. After Sanna had gathered another round of information, Isaac now knew a lot more about Abbie and she seemed more suited to the team than his original 2nd choice, Magnus Steffanson. While Abbie's defensive abilities were only slightly above average, her other qualities made her a strong candidate.

Currently, the team lacked someone to help them coordinate in combat. Both Isaac and Eva were melee combatants who fought on the frontlines and couldn't see the whole battle. Meanwhile, Johan was a ranged attacker so he could see the fight developing, but sometimes his commands were be unreliable and led to dangerous situations. However, the notebook emphasised that Abbie was a skilled commander who could observe a fight from a safe position, defend them effectively, and help coordinate their attacks to defeat the opponent.

As the team leader, Isaac would also issue commands in battle. However, it was extremely important to have somebody else act as a control tower: observing the whole battlefield and giving commands about the things Isaac couldn't see. This quality convinced Isaac that Abbie was the best candidate.

It was also reported that she had a great personality, meaning she'd mesh well with the other team members. Furthermore, she'd done well in the trials and was resourceful. Isaac didn't know exactly where she came, but she'd earnt enough temp points to improve her talent from 5th class to 3rd class as well as buy the Snow Barrier Anima.

Isaac quickly decided she was the best person for his team. He put the notebook back in the box and hid it under his floorboards again, then he left his house and went to find Abbie.

Luckily, she was quite easy to gather information on. Sanna had written her address in the notebook, so Isaac headed right for it. When he got there, he knocked on the door and she answered it quite quickly,

"Hello, are you Abbie Ibsen?"

"Yes... what can I do for you?"

"If you don't mind, could we have a brief talk?"

Abbie was all smiles, but there was a calm and calculating mind beneath that cheerful exterior. Like Isaac, Abbie had gathered information about the best new disciples, so she recognised Isaac immediately. A thousand possibilities ran through her mind like a herd of stampeding elephants, but she used the clues available to quickly deduce why Isaac might be here.

He had openly knocked on her door instead of trying to break in, he was being polite, and he wasn't concealing his face or hiding his identity. That was enough to suggest he had come here with good intentions. However, she wasn't exactly sure of what those intentions were, so she asked,

"Of course! But could you tell me what you're here to talk about first?"

"I plan on forming a team to take medium difficulty missions and up, so I'm looking to recruit talented members. Perhaps we could go inside and I can tell you more about it?"

There were several tell-tale signs which suggested somebody might be lying, but Abbie didn't see any of them when Isaac spoke. He didn't even have a reason to lie, so Abbie quickly assumed this was the truth.

While Abbie was observing Isaac, he was also observing her. In fact, he noticed that she was paying close attention to his gestures and mannerisms. He saw the perceptiveness in her gaze and the sharpness in her eyes, and quickly realised she wasn't as simple as Sanna's notes made out.

He made a mental reminder to keep his guard up around her, but his thought process was interrupted by Abbie,

"I'm ashamed I didn't welcome you in myself. Come in," she ushered him into the house, "sit at the table and I'll make us some tea."

"I'm fine, thank you."

Isaac opened his coat and pointed at the metal water canteen attached to his belt. He'd just reminded himself to be careful with Abbie – he wouldn't eat or drink anything she offered him until he knew he could trust her.

The 2 of them went inside. Isaac sat on the floor next to the low table, and Abbie went over to her cupboards to make a cup of pine needle tea. She put a pinch of pine needles in her mug, then briefly warmed a pot of water over the fire. Then she poured the boiling water into the mug and brought it over with her as she sat down next to Isaac.

She waited a minute for her tea to cool while she listened to Isaac,

"Firstly, I should introduce myself; I'm Isaac Dahl, a 3rd class talent who has reached middle stage and is skilled with the sword. My purpose in forming a team is to gather talented individuals and complete difficult missions to earn high mission rewards, and I managed to find you through the rumours that have circulating about your skill. Our team currently has 2 middle stage cultivators including myself, but we need somebody who can defend us from behind and help coordinate the team during combat. Somebody with a skillset such as yours would be ideal for our team."

Abbie was already leading a team composed of her friends, so Isaac wanted to see how she would respond to his proposition. To his surprise, she didn't even mention it. She immediately began discussing the details of joining his team. It was definitely a good thing, but it also meant her personality was nowhere near as good as Sanna's notes claimed it was.

"How many people are going to be in the team and how will mission rewards be split? I believe it's necessary for a team to fairly distribute its resources."

"It'll be a 4-person team with the classic composition: 2 people specialising in melee combat, 1 ranged attacker, and somebody who can defend the team. Of course, this may change when our members get more Anima, but we have all the crucial elements of a team already. Furthermore, we have another melee attacker who seems ready to join. If you chose to join us, she'll probably be close behind.

"As for reward distribution... myself and Johan – the team's other middle stage cultivator – will take 30% of the rewards each. The other 2 members will each have 20%, but those numbers will be adjusted whenever somebody advances a stage."

"I apologise if I'm asking too many questions, but could you describe the team in more detail for me please?"

"Myself and Johan have known each other since the trials. Our teamwork is well-practiced and he gives excellent suppression coverage from long range. Meanwhile, I'm best at closing in on the opponent and dealing the crucial blow. Outside of combat, Johan has a plethora of survival skills and useful knowledge. I'm also well-read and quite knowledgeable – I'll be the team leader and main decision maker for the team. The other potential team member is a melee combatant and her fighting style compliments mine rather well. She's proud, fearless and would make a reliable teammate. However, we still have our shortcomings..."

"You lack any form of defence, so you need somebody to protect and direct the team during fights. Am I right?"

"Perfectly so."

"The team sounds well put-together – provided that 3rd member joins, of course. It really does sound like a great opportunity, and I am certainly interested in joining.

"But my role is clearly a crucial one, and it carries a lot of responsibility. I did mention that I felt teams should fairly distribute their resources; it seems fair that those with greater responsibility get greater rewards."

'Not only is she ready to abandon her friends, but she's also quite greedy. I'll have to handle her carefully in the future.'

Isaac had a few doubts about Abbie's personality, but he was confident he could keep her under control. He chose to start by denying her request,

"Everyone in this team is equally responsible for the team's success. Even I – the team leader – only get a larger cut because I have a superior cultivation level. I do not wish to change the distribution of rewards now, as that could cause discord within the team. I hope you can understand."

Abbie sighed lightly.

"Of course I understand. Truthfully, I am impressed by your consideration for your fellow team members and I'm deeply ashamed of my selfish request. It would be a pleasure to work with a team leader such as yourself, so long as you're willing to accept me."

And so, Abbie Ibsen joined the team.