Everything finally slowed down.

The rush was over.

Training would now start for Zach. Roe and the others expected they would go on to run their missions.

They were called to the general hall. They would receive their instructions today. Yesterday was stressful, but it was time to put it all behind them.

Lot was the one addressing them despite Solomon being present.

Lot called out Zach. He would not be continuing with them as established. Zach would be trained personally by Solomon for at least a month.

Solomon would prepare him to be capable. Prepare him to be worthy of wielding the god-tier system.

"I maintain that Sigman will continue to lead. I believe he’s the best choice," Lot said.

Roe was disappointed. He didn’t say anything. He had already resolved to change things somehow. Maybe prove he was more worthy.

Lot informed them they would partake in regular rift missions, but they would do so without him ever supervising.

The mages were shocked.

Solomon smiled.

"Things might get rough in my absence," Lot said.

"Then don’t leave us," Gwen said.

"He has to," Solomon responded.

"Since things are bound to be dangerous, I’ll rank you all. This ranking takes priority in missions."

"The moment Sigman is down or occupied, the next person takes charge. This pattern must be followed judiciously, else the result will be consequential."

"Sigman will lead as stated," Lot said.

Lot collected a list from Solomon. It detailed their ranks based on both their assessments.

"Second lead would be Ursu—"

He paused.

"I’ll address this later."

"Second lead would be..."

Roe was waiting to hear his name get called.

He immediately realized it was weird that Ursula was being considered even higher than he was.

He didn’t think much of it.

"The second lead would be Randolph," Lot announced.

All the mages were pretty shocked.

Randolph was probably the most shocked.

He hadn’t expected such an occurrence.

Especially not over Roe.

"Third lead would be Edward," Lot continued.

No one was understanding what was going on at this point.

"Fourth would be Gwen, and fifth would be John."

Gwen teased.

"Look, babe. I’m ranked higher than you."

"Yeah, well, whatever," he responded, trying to brush it off.

"The final member with barely any leadership power would be Verdona."

"This will be a team of six."

"You six," Lot ended.

"I don’t understand, but—" Roe started.

He was cut short.

"Don’t worry. I’m coming to address you and your situation. I first have to talk about Ursula."

"This formation resulted because Ursula is no longer with us. I’m sure you all noticed, as she didn’t return home with us yesterday."

’Home?’ John thought.

"Well, the Council of Mages now commands her and her talents. She’s no longer with our circle."

"Standard mage teams that take on raids always consist of at least eight members. Well, you guys aren’t standard. You’re all A-ranks." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"The fact you’re all A-ranks is the same reason Zach can’t be on the team yet. He’d only slow you down."

"This is the exact same reason Roe can’t be on the team. You all would slow him down. We can’t have that."

"On paper, this raid team does, in fact, consist of eight members. Roe and Zach will just be occupied for a while."

"This won’t last forever, however."

"The team will reunite. It will just be a while."

"In that time, Zach will, of course, master the god-tier system in whatever capacity he can. Roe will also go on his own training. It’s just that his master is less lenient than Zach’s."

"You may all leave. I’m sure you’ve got rifts to close."

Lot ended with that.

He turned to address Roe personally. He noticed the others were still there.

He asked why they were waiting.

"Well, you haven’t yet told us who Roe’s master would be," John asked.

"I thought I made it clear."

"If one trains the system wielder, then another would have to train the SSS-rank mage."

No one understood what this meant.

This was embarrassing.

"I’m guessing Master Lot is saying he’ll train Roe," Zach said.

"Oh."

"I knew that."

"Oh, I see."

They all reacted, pretending to have understood.

He had now dismissed them.

Sigman was given a signal tracker. This was used to detect rifts.

They would, of course, only tackle rifts in their assigned area. Members of one circle were usually not allowed to interfere in another’s district unless the situation called for it.

Solomon opened a portal.

Zach ran up to Roe and told him goodbye. They would meet again later. Zach’s training had a timeline of a month.

Zach followed Solomon through the portal, where his training proper would begin.

"One month, okay? We’ll see then," Roe said.

"No. That’s his. Your training has no real timeline."

"We were assigned a mission by Solomon. I mean, by Merlin," Lot said.

"You will not take on regular rifts until this is done."

"It could take anywhere from a couple of months to even years."

"We’d better get started then," Lot said.

"Okay, so what is it?" Roe asked.

He noticed Lot’s change in character.

Lot felt slightly warmer. Kinder.

It was a welcome change.

"Go have your bath. Get your things ready. Eat up. Do whatever. Rest. Just whatever, really. We’ll move out in two hours."

"Use that time wisely."

"If you have family, give them a visit. We might be too busy for familial visits."

Roe didn’t respond.

He just nodded.

Lot noticed his response was cold.

This told him a lot.

’Oh shit,’ Roe thought.

’No time for familial visits, huh.’

He ran to see the van.

It was already loaded, and he wanted to tell them goodbye.

The van had started.

He summoned his staff.

He raced alongside the van.

Now they could catch sight of him.

Roe waved.

"You guys better make it out there!"

he shouted.

"Who’s that shrimp shouting at?" Gwen asked.

"Ha! You’re the one who better survive. Don’t let Mr. Grumpy put you down!" she shouted.

"I’ll take care of them!" Sigman shouted.

"Look at you pulling your weight, Mr. Leader," Edward joked.

Verdona waved back.

He deactivated his staff.

He was already a ways from the temple.

He knew he would have to return.

He was on the clock, after all.

In that moment, he felt satisfied.

He’d visited his familial bonds one last time.

Roe returned to the temple to do just as instructed.

Bathe, eat, and ready himself to be summoned.