Reject Humanity, Return to Monke

At this point, I wanted to call out the fact that Chythos was probably trolling the Dungeon Masters population that was able to advance to the finals, but since Uius said that this was a completely random event, which is held every decade, my opinion is ultimately garbage.

I was suddenly grabbed by my shoulders and pulled into a somewhat loving embrace, save for the fact that the one that was hugging me was my sex-buddy, Catalina, and not some kind of lover.

"Hey, lover-boy. Oshurkova told me to bring you to her side pronto." She let me go from her quick embrace and dragged me all the way to a waiting Oshurkova, who was conversing with Shrum. The old mushroom person nodded along as his eyes scanned the area for any visible threats.

"Ah, Jionni. Good timing." Oshurkova noticed me from the corner of her eyes and dropped the topic she was conversing with Shrum, which the mushroom person didn't mind much and continued to survey the area for any kind of disturbance. "Thanks Cat, I'll make sure you'll get some time with him alone once all this blows over."

"Oh, trust me, we'll have all the time in the world once these games are over.." Catalina licked her lips as she glanced sultrily at me.

"Bah, horny youngsters…" Shrum muttered, annoyed at the fact that Catalina and Oshurkova were loudly talking about sex. The old-timer resenting the fact that such a sacred union was casually talked about by the younger generations.

"Riiight…" I scratched my head when I felt my crotch area of my pants tightening. Catalina noticed it and glanced at it with the most seductive face and pose she could use. Ignoring her gaze, I gocused on Oshurkova, who was looking at the both of us with an amused smile. "Anyway, what did you want to ask of me, Kova?"

Before Oshurkova was able to reply to me, I felt my fur getting tugged by a pouting Catalina right beside me.

"Hey, no fair!" Catalina glared at Oshurkova, while the vampire in question tilted her head in confusion. "If you get to call princess vampire here with a nickname, then why not call me with one too? After all, I'm more intimate with you than she is."

I was about to open my mouth and retort, but retracted my words when I processed what she was saying.

'Well, she's not wrong…'

"Very well." After a few seconds of silence between the three of us, four if you count Shrum looking around with a watchful glare, I decided to call her the last two syllables of her name, the same as Oshurkova. "I'll call you Lina then. If that's okay with you?"

"Yep, totally fine." Catalina gave my arm a big hug and, at the same time, brushed her hand across my covered hard on, causing my body to twitch at the sudden contact. Looking at Catalina's face, I saw her slightly blushing as she gave me a sultry smile.

"Okay, enough of that Cat." Catalina opened her mouth, but was stopped by Oshurkova to prevent the escalation of the situation. "Look Cat, I get it. You're horny, and you want some release, but please, right now is not the best time to do it."

"Aw poo… Ruin my fun, will you…" Catalina let go of my arm and crossed hers, a pout forming on her face as she refused to meet both of our gazes.

"Anyway, back on track. I assume you know something about this event?" Oshurkova asked with a stern glare. Catalina and Shrum withdrew their previous actions and listened intently to my incoming words.

"Yes." My answer made the vampire sigh in relief, with Catalina giving me a smile, and Shrum an approving nod. "First of all, this battle arena, if what I'm assuming is true, is a five-versus-five match. The goal is simple, destroy the base of your enemy. Seeing as we're Dungeon Masters, we might be tasked to destroy a Dungeon Core at the end, thus eliminating the opposing side from the game."

"So, not any different from the first event where all new Dungeon Masters compete." Oshurkova remarked with her right hand on her chin. Catalina was staring at the map beside the floating letters with narrowed eyes, while Shrum was intent on listening to my words. "Are there anything else you would like to add?"

"Yes." I reply immediately, forcing Catalina's attention back on mine. "The goal may be simple, but a battle arena is anything but simple. Since this is a five-versus-five match, you can tell that we will be attacking their base, as well as defending ours. If that wasn't enough, I will also assume that there are default defensive structures placed on the maps at key positions. Half of them will be ours, and half of them will be on the opponents' side."

"That said, I have no idea what will be used to pose as the defensive structure, as well as the main rules, so I suggest we look for our members for now to build a team that plays to our strengths." I finished, and Oshurkova looked at me with a questioning gaze.

"What do you mean by playing to our strengths?" I facepalmed.

"Oh, right, I forgot that part." Undoubtably, this was the most important factor in a battle arena. If your team composition is shit, then you'll never go far. "The most important aspect of a battle arena are the players. Visualize this: A team consists of 5 mages, and their opponents are a team of 5 assassins. Which team is more likely to win in a fight with no rules?"

"The assassins." Catalina responded immediately and I nodded.

"Correct. How about a group of close range hard-hitters against a group of long-range specialization rangers?"

"Then, the rangers." Oshurkova concluded, and her eyes widened in realization. "So, it's like a game of rock, paper, and scissors, where a member could be the deciding factor whether your team wins or not."

"Exactly." I nodded, and looked at the three Dungeon Masters. "We need to build a team that is balanced, so that if ever we fight against an overly-specialized team, we can make sure to adjust ourselves to get an advantage."

"For the sake of being simple, I'll assign each member a classification, starting with the Carry, the Initiator, the Assassin, the Support, the Mage, and the Tank." I stared into each Dungeon Master's eyes with extreme seriousness. "To explain each role, first, the Carry. The Carry is the person who will be our main damage dealer. Think of them as a glass cannon that can wreck the entire enemy team with a well-placed attack. The Initiator is the person who is responsible for making sure that an attack is successful. The Assassin can be utilized to assassinate their Carry, since, as I said earlier, the Carry is most likely a glass cannon. The Support is quite literal. He will support the team, most likely the Carry, to make sure that we don't lose in a fight. Things such as healing, shielding, and other magic and skills that increase our survivability. The Mage is the person who has a somewhat similar role to the Carry, and last but not the least, the Tank, who is responsible for soaking up the damage and protecting his allies."

I then pointed at myself after that long speech. "I can categorize myself as a Tank and Initiator. Some others who could fit the role are Tanjin and Arekhus. How about you, Lina, what do you classify as?"

"… I'd say Assassin." Catalina shrugged and brandished the hidden blades that were hidden on her person. "I prefer hit and run tactics, after all."

"Mhm…" I nodded happily, and focused my sights on Oshurkova. "How about you, Kova?"

"Maybe a Mage, or a Support. I can cast healing magic, but I heavily lean on my more destructive magic in a fight rather than healing." Oshurkova replied with a grin. "Of course, I'm also strong physically, since I am a vampire."

"And you, Shrum?" The mushroom person looked at me with narrowed eyes, before his lips parted and gave me his answer.

"An Initiator." Shrum gave his answer, and I nodded happily.

"So, we're missing a Carry." I muttered under my breath before a question appeared in my mind. "By the way, where are the others?"

"I haven't seen them yet, but I'm positively sure that they are nearby." Oshurkova looked around the dense forest of monsters, humans, and demi-humans. All of them scrounged up some members for their own teams. "Oh, wait, I see Keia and Reia."

As I followed her line of sight, I saw the two twin maids making their way through the jungle of Dungeon Masters towards us. The four of us waited patiently, until they arrived, bringing with them Pilips who was close to a nervous breakdown.

'Poor bastard…' I nod sympathetically at the nearly catatonic state of the socially anxious Dungeon Master.

"Ah! Lord Jionni-ta! Lady Oshurkova-ta!" Reia quickly zoomed past the Dungeon Masters in her way and arrived at our fronts and greeted us like a dog would. "I finally found you-ta!"

"Tch, irresponsible Reia-la. Perhaps I should teach you some manners before you go leaving your sister and a suffering comrade at the drop of a hat-la?"

I had to hold back a snicker at the rapidly paling face of the scantily-clad maid.