Reject Humanity, Return to Monke

"First of all, I would like to welcome Jionni to our humble little group of Dungeon Masters." Oshurkova nodded towards me while the whole group of Dungeon Masters clapped and greeted me with their own way of showing their acknowledgement. "Welcome Jionni, to the… What was our group called again?"

"Wasn't it called the Hemoglobin Council, fair madam?" Arekhus said with a huff.

"Ah right, I've been delving into too much work lately." Oshurkova said with a sigh. "Anyway, welcome to the Hemoglobin Troupe, Jionni."

The various members of the group clapped their hands once more as they greeted me with some smiles, or otherwise expressionless faces. Some even had some minor scowls as they glared at my figure.

"Once again, may I formally introduce myself as Oshurkova, the leader of this here council. May I call upon the others to formally introduce themselves to our newest member?"

'Now, hold up a sec… I didn't sign up to join a group… Actually, let me see the pros and cons to this…' I screamed internally, before my rational side decided to exploit the scenario to its fullest so I could gain some advantages in my otherwise precarious situation.

Now, as for the precarious situation… I'm surrounded by a bunch of Dungeon Masters, who I know that most are definitely stronger than me, I'm also the center of attraction in this area. Plus, one wrong move and I can say goodbye to my free trial of living since I'll be wiped off the face of the map in one move, if not by the Dungeon Masters I'm not acquainted with yet, then by Oshurkova.

We may have made a deal, but I know she doesn't fully trust me, and some of that trust developed by us making the deal, as well as listening to her vent about a part of her past.

The Dungeon Master right next to me, who was also Arekhus, stood up and faced me with a beaming smile.

"Hey, ya already know me, but I'm Arekhus, the bloody toughest of all Dungeon Masters theah ahah in this group!" Arekhus bellowed cheerfully, his thick Australian accent echoing throughout the walls, which I'm sure are just cloth. "Hope we'll get along, mate."

And with that, Arekhus sat back down on his chair, his eyes lingering for a short while on mine, before focusing on the Dungeon Master right next to him, who, in turn, stood up.

He wasn't anything extraordinarily looking, like Odette or the damned lamia, but he was unique, I'll give him that.

And by unique, I meant swirly glasses kind of unique. You know, those swirly patterned glasses that some of the anime use for their nerdy school characters? Yeah, those are the types of glasses.

He was also dressed in some kind of blazer, with black slacks clinging to his lower half loosely, and had curly, grayish hair, the same look as that of a messy mop.

"G-g-greetings, Jionn-n-ni." The man stuttered horribly as his breathing began to turn rapid and his body began shaking.

"Uhh… Is he alright?" I asked, a little bit worried at the sight.

"Oh, he's like that all the time. Just ignore it." The Dungeon Master beside me, who had the cat ears and argued with the harpy lookalike Dungeon Master I noted, piped up while yawning. "That dude's got horrible stage-fright."

I deadpanned the moment I heard about stage fright… I mean, yeah, stage fright is a horrible thing, much more if you're on the radar of thousands of thousands of people, but with a measly 12 people inside this tent, with most of them focused on me, I have no idea why would you have stage-fright with that…

Actually, screw that. I just recalled a memory about my past-life freezing in front of my friends, who numbered about 6 when it was my turn to show them something. They also broke off all relations once high school began… So yeah… I'm not one to talk about stage fright.

"My n-n-n-name is P-P-Pilips… N-n-nice to meet y-y-y-you…" And with that, he hastily took a seat to calm down his beating heart. I had to resist cringing at the sight, before I settled my gaze towards the next Dungeon Master, who was the harpy lookalike.

"Good morning, Mr. Jionni." The harpy lookalike Dungeon Master stood and bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle, before straightening her posture. "My name is Typhial, and as you can see, I am of a race called Harpy."

Once she was done introducing herself, I nodded and she sat back down on her seat, all prim and proper. Beside me, the catwoman was busy snickering to herself about the comical sight of the harpy trying too hard to appear formal in front of the so-called 'crown' who was actually just Oshurkova.

The next one to introduce themselves was the overgrown mushroom guy who was smoking a pipe. Based on his countenance earlier, I would assume that this mushroom is an old guy, a VERY old guy.

The mushroom guy stood up, a hand on his cane I didn't see earlier as he smoked once more from his pipe. Oshurkova crinkled her nose in distaste, but let the mushroom continue to smoke.

"Good day to you, young'un." The mushroom spoke after he breathed out a puff of smoke from his gigantic mouth. "These old bones of mine are called Shrum, not that I have any."

"Ever the comedian, eh, old-timer?" The Dungeon Master right next to him smirked.

"Bah, you youngsters have no senses of humor." The mushroom guy, who I now know to be Shrum, grumbled for a bit before sitting back down on the chair.

"Nah, you're just demented and keep on cracking that joke all the time." The Dungeon Master beside him replied with a deadpan. "Anyway, I think it's my turn to introduce myself to the greenhorn."

The Dungeon Master stood up, and I had the urge to gulp due to how gigantic he was. He was definitely bigger than Arekhus, if that's what you're wondering.

He was dressed in baggy trousers that went all the way to his shins, but was otherwise, naked, his bulging muscles free for everybody to see.

"The name's Tanjin, and obviously, I'm a giant." The giant man introduced himself with a pound of his chest. "Nice to meet you, greenhorn."

Before he was able to sit down, however, a horn sounded off in the distance.

"Shit. Let's halt this session for the next day. Everybody, get ready!" Oshurkova sounded a bit tense, if her voice was any indication. The next moment, all of the Dungeon Masters in the room went into action, each of them quickly leaving the tent, either through the main entrance, or another method. "Jionni, come with me."

"Is it an attack?" I asked, a bit worried about the scale if their tensed expression was any indication.

"Yes.." Oshurkova wasted no time in grasping my hand and dragging me along.