The morning of when their group was to meet up again, a pair of strong, yet feminine hands pulled Peter back into his bed as he was getting dressed. Peter rolled to face Kalista. “We're going to be late if we don't get ready.” She wore a complicated expression, and Peter could tell something was bothering her. “What's wrong?”

Kalista's eyes seemed to lose focus for a brief moment, before finally sighing. “I think we should find a different group to party with. Or go out on our own.”

Peter's eyebrows raised in surprise. “What? Why?”

“I don't like the way our group runs. They are going to get you killed.” Kalista frowned. “They are going to get US killed.”

“But-”

“We have gone with them three times on capture quests. The first time, the dryads attacked you first in our group. The second time, he nearly abandoned you in front of the goblin's cave. The third time, a Fren dragged you away.” She shook her head. “And did unspeakable things. You are nothing more than bait.”

“But that's..” Peter grew silent. “The cave, I was being stupid. But the other times, I mean. Weren't all of us bait? Isn't that the plan, to lure out primals?”

“While Anda is around, she will protect Deric. And Kean as well. If Anda or the others are injured, Kya will heal them. But who protects us?”

Peter scratched his head. “But we fought the Dryads together. If I hadn't been dragged away, we could have taken on the Frens together as well.”

“Alright, then who prioritizes us?” At this, Peter was silent. He knew that Deric and Kean likely cared more for each other than Peter at this point. And that followed for their primals. It wasn't because he thought they hated him or anything, they simply knew each other longer than him.

“We do.” Peter sighed. “I don't know anyone else to form a party with though. I guess Jet.” Peter snorted then shook his head. “And being alone... If yesterday instead of being with our group we got attacked by both those Frens at the same time, I don't want to think about what would have happened.”

“I would rather fight two Frens alone than sit helplessly as you are kidnapped.” Kalista spoke those words with absolute certainty.

Peter found himself slightly taken aback. He couldn't help but smile. “Alright. I'm not a hundred percent sure though on a different group. What if I keep you out all the time? Would that be enough?”

“As long as I can protect you, any solution is fine.”

Peter's heart fluttered, and he felt a little awkward. “Geez.” He muttered, rolling out of bed with a light smile on his face.

After finishing their preparations, the pair arrived outside the guild, finding Deric and Kean waiting for them.

Peter looked around, but there was no sign of Kya or Anda. He fidgeted nervously for a moment before finally speaking. “How are... are your primals okay?” Deric and Kean both gave light smiles and summoned them both at the same time, looking as healthy as normal. Peter breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank gods.”

“Yeah. I owe Kean. Without Kya it would have been much worse,” Deric said, a tinge of sadness in his voice.

“It goes the same for Anda. I've never seen a primal fight so hard.” Kean replied.

“Yes. I am quite proud, she was impressive.” Anda blushed. “So. You ready to head out?” Deric asked.

“I need to turn in my summoning stone in first.” Peter replied.

“Oh. Right.” Deric said. Kean shot him a look, but Deric said nothing.

The group headed inside and Peter handed in his summoning stone. The guild receptionist confirmed that it contained a Fren but it had passed away, so the reward would be lesser. Peter nodded, confirming he understood.

“Alright, I will just split the payout to the three of you..”

“Actually, you can just give it all to him.” Deric interjected. Peter raised an eyebrow. “We turned in our stones already when we were leaving the medical center. You can just keep the full amount for this one to make it even.”

“Oh, alright.” Peter retrieved his coins and the empty summoning stone, and the group went on their way.

“Let's go after Goblins this time around. I think none of us want a repeat of what happened with the Frens.” Deric spoke. The group arrived at the northern entrance. As Kean desummoned Kya, Peter made no similar movements. Deric raised an eyebrow.

Peter's lips pursed. “I'd like to...” Peter paused. “I'm going to keep Kalista out today,” he said in a firm tone.

Deric thought silently for a moment. “Can Kalista track on the level of Anda?”

For a moment Peter thought about asking her, but realized any answer was pointless. “No.”

“Then Anda leads.”

“It's no problem if Anda leads.”

“Then we don't need both out.”

“I want Kalista to protect me.”

Deric paused. “Look, I know the other day was rough, but this is the formation we've been using up until now, even before you joined.”

“But now I'm here. Doesn't that mean that you might need to change your strategy?” Deric was silent. “Kean, how many Frens did you guys fight two days ago?”

“Two, not including the one that went after you I guess.”

Peter was surprised, but did his best to hide it. Had there really been one more? “So there were three total. How many times have you guys came across a group of three or more primals?”

“Think that's the second time. We had a run in with a group of goblins once but got away.”

“Maybe it was just bad luck. But if we're going deeper into the forest and there's more of us to capture, won't more primals be going after us?”

“Hmmm,” Deric hummed aloud.

“Say, Deric, is it really an issue?” Kean asked curiously. “We can try it at least for a day or two, right?”

Deric crossed his arms along his chest and hummed aloud for a short while. “Alright. I get it. You can keep your primal summoned.”

Peter smiled, happy with the outcome. The group set out with only Kya hidden away. By the end of the day, they had managed to capture three goblins, and the group decided to adopt this new formation for the foreseeable future.