"S-so you're asking for a second opinion?" Bergman asked.

"No, he is trying to justify his preferred choice. Even though my decision is objectively correct." ZEKE's exasperated voice interrupted from Alarion's wrist.

It had been a day since Alarion had earned the skill. Long enough for him to return to the unit and for the lot of them to arrive at Camp Harival without further incident. The three were secluded in one of the green canvas tents that had been set up in anticipation of their arrival. It was a spacious affair, one they'd normally expect to share with their full four-man team.

Losses had permitted them privacy.

"Which skill-"

"No," Alarion interjected firmly as he pushed a notepad into Bergman's hands. "I want your unbiased opinion."

"If he agrees with me, are you going to accept it?" ZEKE inquired as the boy read. "Or is this going to be the sword all over again?"

"I am not saying your choice is bad."

"You are not answering my question."

"D-do you two mind?" Bergman said with a note of annoyance. "There is a lot here."

The two fell silent, even if their animosity had not faded. Despite some of his initial… eccentricities, Alarion had done his best to follow ZEKE's advice over the years whenever he could. The Steelborn was centuries old and had the wisdom to match. This marked one of the rare times they had fully butted heads in recent memory, and neither of them seemed happy with the situation.

"I hate you," Bergman said at last.

"What?" Alarion looked as though he'd been slapped.

"You h-have at least fifteen hundred luck?" the other soldier asked indignantly. "And these skills… the bottom t-two are narrow, I suppose. B-but those first three? Most people would k-kill for even one of those."

"Ah." Alarion scratched somewhat awkwardly at the back of his head, the tension in his shoulders easing as he recognized Bergman's hostility as humor. Or, at least, mostly humor. "Sorry."

It was easy to forget the absurdity of his aptitude and the knock-on effect it had on his overall growth, especially when he hadn't meaningfully progressed in months. He hadn't seen Bergman's Status, but he'd be surprised if the other soldier had more than a single Rare skill. If that.

"It's fine. N-not like it is your fault. Just…" the chubby boy gave the notepad one last look, his expression softening. "Ugh, I'm a r-rich boy telling an o-orphan conscript that he has it too g-good. I'm terrible."

"You are both terrible. Can we discuss his skills, please?"

"R-right," Bergman straightened as if his superior had just given him an order. "Mine, Mine, M-mine seems the obvious choice."

"Thank you!" ZEKE declared as Alarion groaned.

Bergman winced under Alarion's withering glare but powered through. "P-pendulum is interesting. Long-term, it might even be the best choice if you lean into your luck attribute. However, I am not sure if it provides you with a lot now, and that drawback could be devastating if it occurred when you were in a fight. It might be better if you were a crafter or if you find some way to mitigate it."

"All things that I have told him," ZEKE confirmed smugly.

"S-solitary and Found-"

"Writing both of them off," Alarion waved off Bergman's analysis before the boy could even give it. He'd skipped both at the last milestone and the reasons he had previously remained just as valid. If not more so.

"W-what can go wrong is the real competitor, then. But I don't t-think I have ever seen a skill like it." The other boy frowned as he re-read the description. "There are so many variables. I lean toward it being incredible, because it is a rare skill with an attribute reduction requirement, but it is h-hard to tell for certain."

"Unlike Mine, Mine, Mine," ZEKE said pointedly.

"There is plenty of uncertainty there!" Alarion countered.

"I-in the secondary function, maybe. But e-even without that, it is a l-looting power that scales off your highest attribute. That is insanely valuable!"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Alarion couldn't argue. He wanted to, but hearing the same logic from a fresh set of ears put a nail in the coffin of his desire. He wanted [What Can Go Wrong], so much so that ZEKE had been concerned about waiting even a day to make the selection, fearful that [Single-Minded] would make the choice for them. But Alarion knew he wanted it for all the wrong reasons.

It just sounded neat. The idea of his opponents tripping over themselves in battle, of swords chipping and breaking, or of spells always going awry. [Mine, Mine, Mine] promised to be useful, while its competition promised to be interesting.

"If it gets offered again, I am taking it."

"If it gets offered again, we'll give it deference," ZEKE told his pupil diplomatically. "You are making the right choice."

"Mm," Alarion answered, already moving through his System menus. He found the skill and selected it.

You have selected the skill Mine, Mine Mine [Rare]. Is this correct? Y/N?

Please note, this selection is permanent.

Alarion mentally struck the confirmation, and a set of new notifications appeared immediately.

Skill level increased. Mine, Mine, Mine is now Level 1. LUK +30.

New Resource Available! Unrealized Opportunity.

Skill Grade Up! Detection (Common) -> Observation (Exceptional).

Observation [Exceptional]

Description: Your proficiency in detection continues to grow. Though a long road to true mastery lies before you, your skills have sharpened and are becoming specialized, enabling you to see not only that which is hidden, but that which is obscure or valuable.

Requirements: None

Type: Passive/Active

Activation Time: 1 second.

Duration: 10 seconds.

Cooldown: None.

Effects: This skill grants a minor increase in user's ability to detect hidden objects or individuals. This skill grants a slight increase in user's ability to spot obscure details in text. This skill grants a slight increase in user's ability to recognize visible signs of greed. This skill grants the user the active ability to identify the rank and rarity of a target's strongest equipped item. When used in conjunction with [Mine, Mine, Mine], this skill grants the user the active ability to identify the rank and rarity of loot a foe would be expected to provide if looted.

Cost: Slight MP cost channeled during activation.

Growths: PER +6. AGI +6.

"Something wrong?" ZEKE asked.

"The opposite," Alarion said, explaining the sudden grade up.

"Unexpected, but welcome. It isn't unusual for one skill to add to another like that, but they typically don't upgrade the rarity, let alone twice." ZEKE's tone was ice as he said that last word. "But since when is anything to do with you typical. We should-"

ZEKE's words were interrupted by a sudden yell from outside the tent. Both soldiers were upright in a blink, hands on their weapons as they listened intently. For a second, there was nothing. Then, another shout. Not fear or warning. Anger. They knew a dressing down when they heard one.

"W-we should probably check," Bergman said, despite his evident desire to do anything but.

It didn't take them long to find the source of the argument. They just had to follow the shouts.

Kali was near the center of camp, his back straight, his hands tucked neatly behind his back. The man's face was empty of expression or emotion, his eyes focused and attentive, but staring straight ahead at nothing as a man barely half his size berated him.

"Sixteen! You left with how many?"

"Twenty-two, sir."

"Twenty-two. And you arrived with sixteen," the man said. He was a commensurate Vitrian officer; his dress uniform starched and proper despite the muddy camp conditions. He was short, only an inch or two taller than Alarion, with thin blonde hair and a slight frame. With his thick spectacles, he looked less like an officer and more like a merchant, or rather a merchant's apprentice, for the man could not have been a day over twenty-five. "Six men dead."

"Four dead, sir. Two walking wounded who were sent back as runners."

"Would one not have sufficed?!"

"It would have, sir. But I thought it prudent given the extent of-"

"And you did not think to leave that decision up to me?" the man paced as he scolded the sergeant.

This was a conversation that should have taken place behind closed doors. That the officer had chosen to make it a public spectacle told Alarion everything he needed to know about their new Vitrian CO. None of it good. He pushed his way through a small gaggle of onlookers, but one sharp glance from Kali stopped him dead in his tracks before he could even think of running his mouth.

"Ambushed by fiends," the officer continued, his voice dripping with disdain, though his anger was waning. "Disgraceful."

"Revenants, sir. Well outside of the expected combat zone."

"Excuses-"

"Explanations, sir." Kali's impassive facade cracked ever so slightly as he winced at letting emotion get the better of him. "The men acquitted themselves admirably, but there was no reason to expect an attack so far out with the information we had available on the march."

The officer took off his glasses and plucked a small handkerchief from his breast pocket to clean them as he spoke. "I would have you lashed, but we have not the time. The briefing is in an hour. Do your best not to lose any more of my soldiers on the way."

Kali's jaw tightened, but his answer was as professional as ever. "Of course, sir."

The man stalked away without another word, and the small crowd of onlookers scattered with nothing more than a turn of the sergeant's head.

"I-is that our new CO?"

"It is. Captain Elazi." Kali grunted, his eyes following the officer until he disappeared into a large tent. "Don't bother to get settled. I expect we won't be staying long."

"S-surely, he'll let us recover first?"

Kali answered the question with a blank look that left Bergman sighing. Then he turned his attention to Alarion. "And you, best behavior. I have enough issues."

"I did not even do anything." Alarion scowled. When Kali struck him with the same empty stare, the scowl only deepened. "I will come to you first."

"Good lad. Go get cleaned up and meet me back here within the hour."

"Why?"

"I need a second for this kind of meeting. You've volunteered."

Alarion had done no such thing, but somehow, he didn't think the sergeant cared to hear it.

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