Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Future Plans
As Ace was trying to understand exactly what this black sludge was, he heard a notification from his system.
[CLONE OF CAMAEL DEFEATED. YOU HAVE GAINED:
10,000 EXP
3,000 SP]
[System what do you mean I defeated a clone?]
[What you just defeated was the magic spell 'Dark Shadow'. The spell allows the user to create a clone of themselves or another person of their choosing. The person cloned is able to control the actions of their clone through its eyes even from a great distance. However, the spell has significant drawbacks. The clone only has half the power compared to the original and a portion of the damage taken by the clone will also harm the original body. The person must be stationary to fully control their clone otherwise the spell will fail]
Not able to contain his rage anymore Ace shot a powerful light beam deep into the forest. He ignored the explosion he caused as he was too busy being angry with himself for his stupid mistake.
'What was I thinking?! I was so desperate to test my strength I rushed into battle without being fully prepared. Since I didn't even wear a mask, Camael now knows what I look like and is guaranteed to inform his group about me. Although he doesn't have much to go on, he still has plenty of more information about me than I do about him.'
After the fight, it seemed that Ace wasn't the only one who wasn't happy about the results.
(Unknown Location)
"DAMN IT!"
A deafening yell is heard inside a cave that seems to shake the walls. The people previously roaming around stop what they're doing and look towards a large ship where the noise came from.
Camael stands up from his bed seething with rage. He takes off the armor covering the top half of his body to check the damage he got from that little twerp. Once the armor was removed a large bruise was seen on his stomach but was nothing compared to the hole in the center of his chest the size of a golf ball. Although any normal person would be concerned with having a hole in their chest, Camael only seems angry at the fact that he even received these injuries in the first place.
Suddenly the door to his room bursts open and a young man with black wings wearing a white suit of armor looks over towards Camael.
"What the hell happened to you?!"
His voice is full of concern, but Camael knows that rather than being concerned about his well-being he is wondering who was able to injure him.
"It's nothing Raphael just hurry and patch me up so I can talk to Elo."
Although Raphael wanted to find out more, he figured he would learn sooner or later and began casting a healing spell on Camael. Once the only remaining evidence of his fight was a circular scar on his chest, Camael left his room and walked up towards the captain's quarters. Stopping before grabbing the handle he stares intensely at the door for a few moments before opening it.
The room was dark inside with only one window in the back letting some light from the moon in. A figure was sitting on a metal throne in the center of the room wearing a jet black set of armor but it was hard to make out the details of the armor as it's covered by a layer of black fog. Silence fills the room as the figure merely stares at Camael.
Realizing he is supposed to speak first, Camael began recounting the memories of his clone not leaving out a single detail. After he finishes speaking, he looks towards the figure waiting for some sort of response. Finally, the figure replies in a voice that seems to change with every word.
"You've managed to accomplish the task even with your failure. We have what we need, now we just need to find out if this person is going to be a problem in the future. In order to redeem yourself, you will send someone to find out everything there is to know about this mystery person."
Camael left the room after being told his mission disappointed he couldn't just kill the twerp himself but made a promise that he would slice him in half the next time he saw him.
(Back to Ace)
Ace had managed to calm down after realizing that getting angry wasn't going to solve anything. He decided to head back to town not before grabbing some bluegrass since that was the whole reason he had come out here in the first place. Walking back, Ace began to think about his next steps.
'Tomorrow I'll head to the guild to sell the bluegrass and see if I can find out any information on "Saviors". Getting whatever information I can will significantly help me deal with any future conflicts I may have with the group.'
Waking up the next morning in the inn, Ace went over the fight from last night in his mind. He tried to memorize all the important characteristics of Camael and the noble to use as a starting point in his quest for information.
He got ready and headed to the guild and when he entered, the scene was completely different from the one he saw yesterday. There were multiple groups of people handing out pieces of paper to individual adventurers who walked by. As Ace attempted to walk to the guild's second floor, he was bombarded with people asking him to join their guild or party. He politely declined any offer he received, but this seemed to encourage the groups more as they began giving their selling pitches on why he should choose their party or guild. He couldn't help but remember a situation similar to this when he was a freshman in high school as people constantly asked him to join their club. He somehow managed to reach the stairs and saw that nobody was following him up the steps. When he reached the "Quest" booth, he couldn't help asking the person at the booth about what just happened.
"Is there something special going on today?"
"Ah, you must be new around here. At the beginning of every month, we allow adventurers that are a part of a party or guild to advertise in the guild. You're of course allowed to advertise or join a team anywhere else, but this is the one-day teams can scout and recruit a much larger number of adventurers."
"I see, thank you. I was hoping to get my reward for completing a quest."
As the employee was confirming his reward, Ace had a sudden idea that could help solve his current problem.
'What if I made a team of my own? With more capable people by my side, I would be able to find information on "Saviors" at a much quicker pace than if I did so alone. Not to mention the fact that if "Saviors" had more members than anticipated I would not have to deal with fighting all of them myself. Although I'm not in One Piece that doesn't mean I can't form a crew of my own.'
After finishing his train of thought, he heard the familiar voice of his system.
[MISSION ASSIGNED:
CREATE THE DREAM TEAM
MISSION INFO: FIND PEOPLE WILLING TO JOIN YOUR PARTY THAT WILL HELP YOU IN YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS.
OBJECTIVES:
MEMBERS RECRUITED (0/5)
REWARDS: 50,000 SP]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
White_Donkey
White_Donkey I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think about the MC creating a party or guild. What type of people would you like to be in his team? If you have any alternative ideas I would love to hear them as well. The next chapter should be out soon, thanks.
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