You have slain red-tier main sequence Celestial, Maverick Rogier.

  You have cleared red-tier stargate [Mausoleum of the Maverick]

  You have obtained red-tier main sequence Satellite, Rogier’s Tree as a reward.

  The somber atmosphere that followed the paladin’s death was quickly forgotten about as Arden laughed in triumph. He balled his hands into fists and cheered, bringing them up into the air with a shout. He didn't care how it came across. He was just happy to still be standing.

  “Yeah!”

  He knelt next to the pile of dust that the Maverick had become. He sifted through it to claim his reward; a pair of red star cores. One for each rank above mundane. He threw them into his inventory after a few seconds of admiring their red luster and stood back up.

  He’d be lying if he said he was happy with the Maverick turning to dust. Not for any altruistic reason though. He needed pants.

  Arden was lacking any clothes at the moment, having all but his gauntlets destroyed by the Maverick’s death flame. And although he would have looked ridiculous wearing some of the Maverick’s armor, he preferred it to the situation he was in now.

  The stargate was cleared. Soon, Arden and his party would have to cross back over to Earth and to the presumably flattened slums. Celestials were probably all over the place and Starborn probably weren’t far behind.

  If he was going to have to fight more Celestials, he would very much like to keep his appendage from getting in the way, or even worse, severed. Yes he could heal from that, but the very idea of losing that, even if only temporarily, caused him to shudder.

  And if he was going to be in front of humans, Starborn or otherwise, he would very much like to keep his appendage out of their sight. People already had a negative opinion of him, and he didn't expect his reputation to improve if he showed up covered in grave dust and soot with gauntlets being his only clothes.

  “Well, at least I've got time to think of a solution.”

  The stargate appeared in front of him, hovering a few centimeters above the ground. It was completely identical to the one that brought them here. Same size, said mysterious energy, same red color. Arden didn’t need Vera to tell him that this was the exit.

  He looked between the exit portal and the girls. He didn’t know how much longer they would be out of commission, but it didn’t matter to him. They all needed rest. They wouldn’t leave the stargate until everyone was awake anyway.

  “Let me check them first.”

  He sincerely hoped that they were just unconscious and not dead. He was confident that Vera was still alive, but he was a bit preoccupied with being set on fire for a second time to pay attention to Sya. That made her Arden’s first stop. Kneeling down next to Sya’s sprawled out form, he could hear her breathing softly. That was a good sign. Just as good as the pulse he felt after bringing his finger to her neck.

  Arden sighed in relief and stood up. His next stop was Vera.

  He knelt down next to her and put his fingers to her neck as well. As soon as he made contact with her soft skin, he felt her flinch and stir. Panicking, he did the first thing he could think of to prevent her from seeing his naked form upon awakening, and covered her eyes with his hand.

  “Arden?” she asked. “Is that you?”

  “Yeah. It’s me.”

  “Did you beat the Maverick?”

  “Yeah.” A memory floated through Arden’s brain. “No big deal. I’m pretty awesome.”

  She laughed lightly, remembering that those were the words she said to him after she told him that she hunted Celestials as a mundane. It didn't seem as special anymore, but she didn't disparage. It was proof that her disciples were growing stronger.

  “Why are you covering my eyes?” She asked.

  “I'm still naked.”

  “...I see.”

  “No you don't. I have your eyes covered. Speaking of covering, do you happen to have any extra clothes?”

  “That would be a no.”

  “Damn.”

  “Well,” Vera began. “You killed the boss, so you got a Satellite out of it. Maybe it's an armor Satellite.”

  “I kind of doubt it.”

  “Did you check its Status?”

  “No.”

  “Then you won't know until you do. Hurry up and whip it out. For me? Please?”

  Arden could feel Vera batting her eyelashes from under his hands. It tickled a little bit and he couldn't help but smile.

  “Let's see here,” he said, summoning the Status for his new Satellite.

  Rogier’s Tree

  Satellite Tier: Red

  Satellite Rank: Main Sequence

  Satellite Type: Weapon (Spear)

  Satellite Description: Hidden

  Satellite Aspects: Hidden

  “Ooh,” he said.

  “What is it? Tell me. Paint me a picture with your words.”

  Red sparks gathered together in the shape of a large great spear two meters tall. It had an elongated shaft made of lacquered wood. Just below the 60 centimeter long blade was a gnarled knot of tree roots.

  With his free hand, Arden held the Maverick’s weapon just below the roots. Or at least he tried to. It immediately slipped from his grip thanks to its weight, and the shaft base smashed into the ground next to his feet.

  “Woah. That's heavy.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Hey Arden?” Vera said with a dangerous tone. “Either use both your hands to hold the damn thing, or don't summon it to where it fall onto me if you can't catch it.”

  “Sorry,” he apologized. “It's the Maverick’s spear.”

  “Can I see it?”

  Arden felt his face heat up with embarrassment at the thought of Vera seeing him right now.

  “Only if you promise to look at the Maverick’s spear and not mine.”

  “You have a spear?” She asked with a smile.

  “I'm not a fan of this conversation anymore.”

  Just then a sound came from the stargate. It was like a cross between electricity arcing through the air and glass shattering. A pulse of energy was released from the exit.

  Arden was confused, but Vera spoke urgently.

  “Dismiss your Satellite!”

  Arden didn’t know what was happening but did as he was told. Rogier’s Tree broke down into red sparks and disappeared into the ether. As soon as it was gone, several voices came from the stargate behind him.

  “Mausoleum of the Maverick,” said a male voice. “This is the place.”

  Arden, still kneeling on the ground next to Vera, turned around to look at the people who came into the stargate.

  There were three of them. One woman and two men. They all wore black full-body armored suits, similar to motorcycle suits, but much more solid. It made sense, given that road rash was the least of everyone’s worries at this point in time. The suits came with full-face helmets and visors. Between the gaps in the armor plating were lines of red light glowing softly.

  The three people in suits stopped their approach upon seeing Arden. They stared at him from beneath their visors and he stared back at them.

  Arden was no fool. He knew how bad this looked.

  A naked guy standing over an attractive woman whose eyes he was covering, while there was a second unconscious girl nearby.

  “Alright,” Arden began, standing up slowly. He raised both his hands in front of him. “I know this looks bad-”

  That was as far as he got before he was slammed into the ground by the bulkier of the two men. The big man’s knee drove into Arden’s back, preventing him from getting up. Arden immediately felt that the man on top of him was much worse than Staz.

  “What the hell!?” Arden yelled, looking up at the man on him.

  The second man appeared at Vera’s side. As soon as he came close to her, he took off his helmet, revealing his handsome face. He had a square jaw and a rugged countenance with light stubble on his olive face. His dark hair was only slightly unkempt from the helmet. He looked like a stock image of the word ‘handsome.’

  He smiled and offered Vera his hand.

  “Are you alright, ma’am?” he asked. “You’re safe now. We’re from the Association. We're here to help.”

  Vera looked at him with a distasteful expression.

  “I-”

  “Hush now,” the handsome man said with a bow. “You’ve gone through a horrific experience just now. You don’t need to respond. We’ll take care of this scum.”

  Vera furrowed her brow before attempting to respond.

  “He’s-”

  She was cut off again.

  “- A real piece of shit I know. We’ll make sure he stays locked away for a long time.”

  The handsome man stood up and looked down at Arden like he was a bug.

  “Starborn Association, Emergency Response Squad 414. Identify yourself, rogue.”

  “I’m not a rogue Starborn, asshole. I’m a mundane. This is mundane abuse!”

  “We’ll make sure to tack on resisting arrest on top of attempted sexual assault.”

  “What!?” Arden raged. “I didn’t do anything!”

  “He didn’t do anything!” Vera yelled.

  The third and final member of the Starborn Association squad spoke up as well.

  “He didn’t do anything!” she yelled with a voice that was familiar to both Arden and Vera.

  Everyone stopped to look at the Starborn woman who came to Arden’s defense. She took off her helmet to reveal her face that was just as familiar as her voice. Her shoulder length brown hair had grown a little bit longer since Arden had seen her last, and it was tied up so she could wear the helmet.

  “Cirai?” Arden asked in shock.

  “In the flesh,” she said with a smile. Her expression hardened as she looked at her two compatriots. “Let him go, Frozhe. His words are truthful. So are Vera’s.”

  “...Understood,” Frozhe said, before slowly getting off of Arden.

  Arden slowly stood up and tried to dust himself off, but it was futile. He definitely needed a shower once they left the stargate. He glanced at Vera, and saw that she was staring straight ahead, lightly blushing.

  With a sigh, Arden spoke to Cirai who was also looking away.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “That’s what I wanted to ask. Its all hands on deck during the cascade right now. Every available Starborn is coming together to try to close the stargates before they completely rupture. We were unable to get into this one because you guys were already here. When we saw that it was cleared, we came to investigate.”

  “This is a chaotic time,” the handsome man said. “We’ve already had a lot of ruptures. Most of the area has already been reduced to rubble. It’s not uncommon for unregistered rogues Starborn to go into hotspots to loot.”

  “Podren’s right,” Cirai said. “Normally when we can’t get into a stargate it means that there are either refugees or rogues in there. So when we saw that the stargate was cleared, we believed that it was the work of rogue Starborn who could actually take it on.”

  She smiled at Arden.

  “Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was you guys instead.”

  “Mundanes clearing a stargate is pretty cool and all,” Podren said. “But why are you naked?”

  “The boss monster destroyed my clothes,” Arden explained.

  “Without hurting you, it seems,” Podren said, skeptical. “Are you sure you and your lady friend weren’t having a post-fight slam instead?”

  “That didn’t happen,” Vera said, still not looking at Arden.

  “My sister told me not to do that when she’s with us,” Arden said.

  “He’s telling the truth,” Cirai said. “Is Sya the one over there pretending to be asleep?”

  Sya stuck her hand into the air.

  “Guilty as charged.”

  “Don’t open your eyes,” Arden said. “I’m naked.”

  “That’s why I'm pretending to be asleep.”

  Arden ignored his sister for now. She was alive and awake. That was enough.

  “You guys got any extra clothes?” Arden asked. “Maybe another set of armor like that?”

  “I got you covered,” Podren said, producing an extra set from his inventory. “Keep it. It's the least I could do after accusing you of doing something so heinous.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s done that before,” Arden said, putting on the suit. “Thanks, though.”

  Sya spoke up from behind him.

  “Are you covered up now?”

  “Yeah. You can open your eyes.”

  She didn’t know what to expect Arden to be wearing, but it certainly wasn’t a piece of sci-fi armor. It looked sleek on him, and she had to begrudgingly admit that he looked cool, even if the lights that glowed red on everyone else’s armor didn’t glow on his.

  “It looks good on you,” Vera said.

  “Everything looks good on me,” Arden replied.

  “Ha!” Sya laughed pointedly.

  Sya and Vera got to their feet in preparation to leave the Mausoleum of the Maverick. Arden was ready from the moment he killed the Maverick, and now that he was no longer on display, he was eager to leave as well.

  The three Starborn exited the stargate first, having completed the inspection by finding no rogues and only refugees.

  When it was just Arden, Vera, and Sya left in the stargate, they smiled at each other before leaving as well. Sya was in the lead, with Arden behind her, and Vera behind him.

  From the back of the line, Vera stared at Arden in the suit.

  ‘The suit looks really good on him from back here.’