I Maxed Out My Luck Stat

"Survive."

After saying this, Zarius took a few steps back, indicating that it was done.

"Wow..." Richard muttered silently.

That was the most efficient pre-expedition address he had ever heard, not that he had actually heard that many, to begin with.

He glanced to his right and noticed the other side was still not done with their own address.

On the Explorer side, Lakyus Ariel’s speech was a different experience entirely.

Richard couldn’t hear it from where he stood, but he watched from a distance as the tall blond woman with exquisite armor stood before her ranks with a calm authority that was entirely different in quality from Zarius’ blunt dominance.

She spoke at measured length, her gestures precise.

The Explorers listened with focused attention.

Neia and the Noble representatives stood among them, composed.

His cousin was watching Lakyus with the expression of someone filing everything away.

Richard watched his cousin for a moment.

The fact that he stood so close to Neia made Richard flinch a little.

Something—a particular feeling of dissatisfaction—rose in his chest at that moment.

’Why do I feel this way?’ He wondered quietly.

’I don’t know him too well, so I can’t trust him. His name is Lucien, and he is from a minor household within the Branch Families. That’s all I know. Will he really be able to take care of Neia properly? No, that’s not it. I should be the one next to her right now...’

Although Richard had made a few acquaintances here, he didn’t particularly care for any of them or consider them friends.

More than anything, he wanted to be right next to Neia.

He was also sure she wanted the same thing!

’Or... maybe she doesn’t?’ He focused on Neia’s unbothered expression and noticed that she didn’t have the same look of dissatisfaction that he had.

Maybe... Just maybe...

’Does Neia actually prefer having him around?’ Jealousy rose in Richard’s chest, but he quickly quelled it.

Then, he sighed.

’What am I thinking about? Am I a child? Why am I acting this way?’

He turned away before the thought could grow into something more complicated.

The division was formalized shortly after.

Explorers and their associated Nobles would take the eastern approach—a longer but more methodically mapped route that the pre-expedition survey teams had partially documented. It was, by any assessment, the safer path.

Not only was it more structured, but the environment was more open and controlled.

Such a place was well-suited to cataloguing and detailed investigation.

Precisely the style of Explorers.

Adventurers would take the northwest.

The land in that area was unmapped.

Naturally, that made it much rougher and considerably less safe.

Richard’s heart did something embarrassing when they announced this.

It leaped.

Genuinely, physically leaped in his chest like an overexcited animal.

’This is it,’ he thought, and the grin forming beneath his hood was something he was absolutely powerless to stop. ’This is actually it.’

He was armed well beyond what anyone around him likely suspected.

Mystic Objects lifted from the Six Eyes of Infinity kidnappers were distributed across his person with careful deliberation—a perception-altering ring that softened the edges of his presence, a bracelet with three stored emergency abilities he hoped he wouldn’t need, and a secondary blade embedded with something that made it significantly more dangerous than it appeared.

And so much more!

He had catalogued and tested each one over the past few days with the methodical enthusiasm of someone who had read about this exact fantasy in a hundred different novels.

He even possessed the Category S Mystic Object that the Six Eyes of Infinity kidnappers used to trap him. The barrier was enough to protect him from a Nuke, so he was pretty confident that he could use it to seal any problematic opponent or protect himself as a last resort.

’Hehe... Let’s do this!’

Richard fell into step with the Adventurer formation as the northwest column began to move.

Carra fell in beside him on his left.

Dort was on his right with the quiet disposition of a boulder.

Vesh found a position just behind them and loudly declared that they were now a temporary party, which no one had explicitly agreed to, but no one disagreed with either.

Richard looked forward.

The mountains waited in the distance—dark, massive, and full of things that had been left alone for three years.

It brought back memories.

After all, the whole reason this expedition existed was his stupid idea to launch a Nuke.

Things that, in some cases, he had accidentally created.

’I should probably feel guilty about that,’ he considered.

He did not, particularly, feel guilty.

He just felt curious.

’The radiation from the fallout actually altered the chemical composition of this entire Mountain Range! I wonder what that means. On Earth, metals would become isotopes, and humans affected could develop all kinds of genetic mutations and even birth defects. But it seems this world has a completely different reaction to something like this.’

Because of this prospect alone, Richard felt very excited.

"Hey, Lock." Carra glanced at him sideways. "You look annoyingly cheerful for someone walking into a mutated wasteland."

"I laugh in the face of danger..." He smirked, trying his best to act cool.

However, the moment he did that, he cringed.

It didn’t sound cool at all.

And so, in order to quickly make up for his uncool statement, he cleared his throat and muttered in a low, mysterious voice:

"Is that a problem?"

Carra must not have heard his first statement, so she only answered the question.

"...No," she admitted. "It’s actually a good sign, usually. Either you’re very experienced or very stupid, and both types tend to pull their weight."

"Which do you think I am?"

She studied him for a moment with those sharp, measuring eyes.

"Hard to say," she said. "But I should have made a proper assessment after twenty-four hours."

Richard laughed softly.

"Very well."

The formation moved forward, and the dark shape of the Mutated Mountain Range swelled steadily on the horizon.

The expedition had officially begun.

"Now then..." Richard wore a mask on his face before pulling his hood down slightly against the hot wind that had begun to blow from the northwest.

"Let us begin."