Garden Of The Abyss

"I give up," Samfrey claimed lifelessly as he returned to the ground.

He brushed the palms of his gloves together as if clearing residual dust with a smile, "Glad we settled that."

As he began to take his leave as the crowd of adventurers grew wild, he was stopped by words from Samfrey coming from behind.

A sigh of relief left Iris' lips as she held her hands close to her chest.

"You spared me, didn't you? You showed mercy?" Samfrey asked.

Besides himself, the words of Samfrey also reached the ears of the cardinal-haired, temporary referee who listened in.

He stopped, turning briefly to face Samfrey with a smile, "Is that so weird?"

"I insulted the integrity of your guild–no, I insulted you. Slandered. People have killed for far less, and you'd be within your rights to do so," Samfrey told him stoically.

"...Well, that's not how I do things," he told with a smile as he lightly tapped his palm against the pommel of his sheathed sword, turning away as his cape fluttered behind him, "to be honest–killing someone over words sounds like an archaic concept to me, anyway."

It was an answer that the impromptu judge of the duel wanted to hear as well, though his furrowed expression didn't show whether or not the answer was satisfactory.

Samfrey clenched his fists, standing in silence before falling calling out once more:

"Ren Nakamura, I'd like to join your guild—!"

"Huh–?"

Taken aback by this proclamation, he turned back to see the man who once slandered him now prostrating himself.

"I am in no position to ask this of you, but…I'd like to join Gladiolus," Samfrey repeated, "...I was wrong. You're strong. Not just in strength, but in character. That ability to look past your own hubris…I want to be in a guild with a leader like that."

He stopped for a moment at the abrupt words of the man, looking up as he considered it, rubbing his chin for a moment as his eyes wandered to Iris, who stood on the balcony looking back at him.

…I'll admit, he's pretty formidable. There weren't many ruby-ranked applicants besides himself. He does piss me off a bit, but if he's trying to make amends…he thought.

Seeing her brought a smile across his lips as he glanced back once more at Samfrey.

"Sure," he told the man, "but you'll have to go through the same process as everybody else."

Samfrey looked up in total surprise at the answer, "...Really? Thank you…"

"Sure thing," he smirked.

–Walking out of that arena, he felt like a celebrity, hounded by more adventurers than he could count; most congratulated him, but many were pestering him to join the guild now after a display like that.

Begrudgingly, he had to decline such offers as he didn't know a single thing about the random faces he met.

"Ren!"

"Oh, there you are!" He called out, finally finding his wife in the flood of people in the hall beyond the arena.

"There's a lot of people…" Iris muttered, keeping close to him as they made their way through the crowd.

"Yeah, you can definitely say that…" He wryly chuckled, ruffling his snowy locks as they walked.

It took longer than expected to return to Gladiolus' sector with the crowd following, but eventually they returned with the original applicants.

After plopping back down on the sofa, he rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke to the adventurer applicants, "Well, sorry about that."

Though most didn't seem bothered by the delay, as one of the members spoke up; a man that had caught his eye previously who bore curved horns from his head with luminescent, fiery irises. He was tall and muscular, with dark-brown skin, carrying a regal air about him with the black and gold, illustrious robes he wore.

"I am glad I got to witness your strength firsthand, Ren Nakamura," the man said, stepping forward, "I came here initially to judge whether you're worth operating under."

"And?" He asked.

"I am not disappointed," the man said with a small, half-smile, "I am Akanni, as you can see, I am a demi-human. Ruby, second-class."

It was an impressive resume; the notable high-ranking, imposing stature of the man, and the aura he gave off.

"Glad to hear," he said, continuing on, "the reason I brought you all here today in the first place was for one reason: to do a "test quest", of sorts."

"Test quest?" One of the applicants repeated; a woman that had remained mostly silent, and unseen as she wore a dark cloak.

He nodded, "We're going to split you into two groups: one that follows Iris, the co-founder of Gladiolus, and one that follows me. We'll set out on a quest, and judge your performance. It's not just about how well you perform physically, since I don't doubt that very much, but also your willingness to cooperate. Understand?"

–No opposition.

"Good…that's good," he said, slightly taken aback by the lack of push back as he glanced at Iris.

"I've just got one question."

The words came from a young-seeming girl, no older than her late teens as she was dressed in gothic lolita attire; a frilled, black-and-crimson dress as her sable locks danced over her shoulders.

"Yeah?" He looked at her.

I remember her form, that's Calytrix–she was a sapphire second-class…that highest-ranked applicant. But…she looks like a little girl? He thought.

"What kind of quest are we going on, exactly?" Calytrix asked with a playful smile as she tapped her black-painted fingernail against her glossy lips.

It was a question he expected, one that brought a smile across his lips as he stood with a proclamation, "We're going to hunt "Lacryie!"

After the selected recruits took their leave to prepare for the quest that would begin that night, he had his own business to handle with the all-too-familiar guild that took residence across from his own.

Knock. Knock.

He lightly slapped his knuckles against the bright, silver door, waiting a moment before it was opened.

"Oh, what's up, Ren?"

–Greeting him from the opened threshold, Fai smiled.

"Hey…" He returned the greeting, stepping in as he walked into the lounge sector of the Outlander guild.

"What brings you here?" Fai asked, clearly sweating from what was likely the never-ending training he put himself through.

"Urr, you act like I came from afar or something…I took two steps," he replied wryly.

"Ha-ha! Right!" Fai laughed.

He laughed before sighing, "Where's Beatrice at?"

"The usual," Fai told him, "by that, I mean her chamber."

Of course, he thought, she's more of a recluse than I ever was.

Shifting through the familiar halls of the Outlander sector, now realizing how much more space a guild of their caliber was given compared to one such as his, he looked around with a new perspective.

"Hey, Little Bro'!"

Sora greeted him, in the middle of bench-pressing a bar within his open room that held what looked like a few tons of dense, thick plates of steel. In a world full of magic, it was a sight that he should've been desensitized to, but by all means, it was still abnormal.

"...Yo," he waved, trying to get on his way.

It was enough weight to shift the air with each lowering and ascent, further weighed down for the muscular man by dozens of chains.

The vermilion-haired man of peak musculature set the bar down on the rack as it sat with a resounding thud before lifting himself from the bench, clad in sweat as he threw a wet towel around his neck.

"How's the new guild coming along? Is Sirius mooching off of you?" Sora asked with a smile, grabbing a large jug of water and gulping it.

"It's going well," he answered with a laugh, rubbing his own head, "and…I can't tell. That guy is so secretive."

Sora laughed, plopping back down on the sweat-stained bench in his room, "Yeah, he's always been like that. He's loud-mouthed and caring, but he's also just as full of secrets. He always has your best interests in mind though, remember that."

"I will," he nodded, making his way down the hall again.

"Keep at it, Bro!" Sora called out before returning to his superhuman workout regime.

In actuality, what he realized moments after walking away is that Fai and Sora were working out together.

"Come on! One more…! One more!" Sora yelled out, motivating his training partner.

"Ghh…!" Fai grunted.

It wasn't just them, he surprisingly found Brahmi and Tristan joining in Sora's gym-made room for training.

Keeping to himself, he saw Kazuya training in his lonesome in what appeared to be his own room, which was decorated like a traditional japanese bedroom.

The graphite-haired delinquent was practicing against a punching bag, though it seemed to be made out of an incredibly durable material as each hit unleashed a thundering clap.

Kazuya didn't seem to notice him walk by, clad in sweat as he continued his diligent training without a word.

Well, looks like the new guy isn't lazing around, at least, he thought.

–Though he wanted to be in-and-out, he was stopped by seemingly every Outlander present, only arriving at Beatrice's room half an hour later.

"...A bit lively today, isn't it?" He sighed out, closing the door to the sage's room behind him.

"Isn't that a sign of peaceful times?" Beatrice smiled, organizing the books of her many shelves.

"Funny joke," he wryly replied as he sat at the tea table.

Beatrice smiled to herself, speaking to him while keeping her eyes on the books she placed orderly, "What brings you here today, Ren? It's awfully rare for you to do me the honor of visiting on your own accord."

"You know why I'm here," he told her.

"Do you believe there is some ulterior motive to my wanting of the two guilds to remain close to one another?" Beatrice asked him, looking directly at him now.

He sighed, but wore a smile, "I appreciate it, I do. It's not like I wanted to move away from anybody, so this is a good thing, but…"

"But?" Beatrice responded.

They looked at one another for a moment; though her primordial eyes held little to work off of, little by little he began to understand the nuance of that cosmic gaze.

"You don't care about that sort of comfort," he planted his words.

Beatrice paused for a moment, looking at the books placed neatly on the spiraling shelves as she ran her pale fingertip against the spine of one such novel.

"Ren…"

"Mm?"

"How would you feel about Gladiolus and the Outlanders becoming partnered guilds?"

He looked at her for a moment, "I made Gladiolus so I could do things myself.

"You wouldn't have to listen to me," Beatrice assured him, "but I think it'd be in the best interest of both guilds to continue working closely together."

The sage's words brought pause to him as he sat there for a moment to ponder her offer, holding his hand close to his chin.

"You have only to gain from this, Ren," Beatrice told him, seating herself across from him, "the Outlanders are quite famous around the foundation; I'm sure you've already had a taste of that with Sirius in your ranks."

I was honestly considering the same thing. I'm used to them already, and joining them on quests, or vice versa, will be extremely helpful, he thought.

"...Yeah," he answered.

"So, how about it? This will allow things to continue just as they were–only, you can make your own choices as a leader, while keeping close and working alongside the Outlanders still," she leaned closer.

Pressed by the tempting deal, he truly had no other answer.

"Fine…!" He begrudgingly agreed, knowing it was to the sage's pleasure.

And, with that, the Outlanders were once again at my side.. But for now, it was going to be just me and the new recruits of Gladiolus on this…special quest.