Shades of the New World

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait for long as he heard the door to the mansion open and Nasst's familiar footsteps walking towards his room. Evin got up from his bed and looked at the mirror one more time to make sure he looked presentable enough. First impressions and all that.

Nasst then knocked on the door in a slightly urgent manner and Evin walked out.

"Alright, time for me to collect some of my investment. Or in a more crude set of words, time for you to work your ass off," Nasst said with a smile.

"Sigh… I suppose it is inevitable. Where is this team of yours that you've collected for me. I'll have a look and decided if they're fitting or not," Evin replied in an extravagant manner.

"Come with me. I hope you didn't forget anything, since I'm pretty sure you won't be able to come back for a while," Nasst said and walked with hurried steps.

Not wanting to run after the man with his short legs, Evin started to float behind him after putting on his Channeling Artifact. Nasst got out of the mansion and floated into the air.

"Follow me," the man said and took off.

Evin flew behind and after 20 minutes of flying over the plains, Evin finally saw a group of five mages standing leisurely on the plains, wearing what seemed to be a matching set of dark-brown armor. With his eagle eyes, he noticed three men and two women in the group.

Nasst and him quickly found their way next to them and the older of the women greeted Nasst.

"Well met, Director. And this must be our new member? You weren't kidding when you told us he was young, huh?" the woman's words didn't contain any negative intonations and she spoke in a very calm way. 

'Clean and simple hairstyle and clothing… looks about fifty, with some light wrinkles over her face, with a slightly droopy look to her eyes. No horn on her head so I can't really tell what kind of World she uses, but she doesn't seem to the up-close and personal type,' Evin thought in his head.

"Evin, this is the leader of your new team, a lesser-imposer named Sannah. You can get to know each other after you reach the designated area. Now go, before those zealous patriots find some other problem with your entry to the team," Nasst said and shooed everyone away.

'A lesser-imposer? Damn, guess I'm part of one of those elite teams that Gizel was talking about.' 

"Ha-ha, sure," Sannah said and started floating. The rest of the team also started to take on air. Evin also began to float alongside them.

"Alright, good luck on your mission, but don't try to do the impossible and be careful. You've seen the reports of our spies, so you might find some unexpected company there," Nasst reminded in the end as everyone started to float away.

In the air, after everyone got into a comfortable speed, Sannah shouted back to the others, but from the contents, Evin could guess that it was mostly directed towards him.

"At this pace, we'll reach our destination in two hours or so. I'll put an illusion around us, but it wouldn't hurt if you can throw a few veiling spells over yourselves as well. You can chat around after we've gotten to our destination, but don't make unnecessary noises during the trip if you can help it. If you see something unusual or weird, you can fly next to me and point me towards its direction. We'll do a recap when we get there as well, so for now, just focus on flying."

Everyone nodded in a serious way and continued to fly further. 

'Naturally, the team should be very familiar with these procedures, it's just me who's not used to them… And judging from how Nasst was acting, my entry to this team should be something quite unexpected.'

Things would've developed much differently if Evin had gotten acquainted with the team beforehand, or if the decision was made much earlier. They might've even went on some training drill so Evin could get used to how Paradra Elites operated. 

But since things developed in a bit of a hurried manner, Evin and the team could only improvise on the spot.

Sighing, Evin focused on creating a few rings of Time Beams around his body. He then brought out Runa out of his shadows and turned her into his armor in front of everyone.

[Big brother, I thought you wouldn't want to show me to others,] Runa said, surprised by Evin's decision.

[Since I'm sure to wear you in desperate situations anyway, I decided it was better to just put your existence out there…] Evin replied, [Or did you want to hang out with the rest inside my shadow?]

[No, no. It's been a while since you've worn me, so I'm quite happy to stay here,] Runa replied cheerfully.

[Don't just be happy to be someone's armor. Dream bigger, damn you!] Evin replied. 

Since the flight was starting to seem a bit boring, he could only bring in someone to alleviate the boredom.

[Aren't you the one who always tells us to be satisfied with the small things? But anyway, no one really seems to care that you flauntingly put me on in front of them, though?] Runa pointed out.

[Yeah… they don't really seem to mind you,] Evin looked around and found that Runa's assessment was spot on.

[They sure don't, huh. Only the lady on your right seems to show some reaction.]

Evin looked to the side and saw a young woman looking at him with a look of concerned pity.

[What the hell is that look?] Evin couldn't help but ask.

[Since this is supposed to be an elite team of some sorts, I'm guessing they're used to their teammates having rare perks. So when she saw you putting me on so flauntingly, maybe she thought you were one of those people who reveled in attention. So she might've seen a future where you slowly realize how insignificant the things you were flaunting are and gradually falling into depression and obscurity?]

[Stop jumping to conclusions. Maybe she just has a face like that. And besides, does she have a Beast Lord lying around in her shadow? Does she have 84 fully armored golems designed to be piloted by World sprites? I think not,] Evin retorted.

[Big brother, you need to face reality. Super-mother's practically useless now, and you're the one who's always insisting that we don't take part in fights.]

[Darn it.]

'When did Runa become such a cynical little sister? Who defiled you so? You were so cute when you just came up to me and talked incessantly about your daily adventures! Bring me back that Runa! I don't want this one! It hurts me in ways that resemble her mother and a certain cat!'