Thoughts of the Matter (4)

Through the hallways of Lavida, a man walked through it as he made his way towards the end of the corridor. While he was at it, the man noticed that a young woman was standing by, awaiting him.

"Hmm, Amy, what is the update with them?" The man calmly asked whilst walking past the woman.

"...Greld left last night, as for the adventurers, they left this morning without a word," Amy bowed to the man, Zavir as she followed behind him.

"Hmm, so they left huh? I'm guessing that's their take on refusing the offer? Such a pity. They would've proved useful if they decided to join in hand with us," he shook his helplessly. "Although inevitable, I would've liked it if we could've found out whether or not Lucas's were true."

"So what is our next course of action?" she questioned.

"For the time being, we have better agendas on our hand. What's the status of the invitees?"

"The adventurers except for a few has decided to join hands with us. As for the nobles, although it was hard, they have decided to come around in the end," Amy explained.

"Good, good. We'll begin preparations on the expedition," Zavir nodded his head in satisfaction. "Please make sure to provide your best support to them."

"I will do so," she bowed. "Will you be off to meet with Baron Eager and Viscount Drel?"

"Yes," he answered. "You may leave now to tend to your duties."

"Of course," she nodded her head as she watched Zavir walking away from her.

From his back, Amy could see the emblem of Lavida proudly embedded on his clothing. Looking at the sight, she sighed. "...the dark and the light from the legends foretold. If your speculations truly are what it seems to be, then surely this is no coincidence," she solemnly thought to herself whilst turning around. "I wonder, the shadows and the divine light, why have you chose to reappear at a time like this?"

...

Within the forest by the town of Parm, a blonde-haired man rushed along the dirt paths as he held onto his sword tightly. His eyes like a preying tiger swiftly slashing through the monsters in front of him.

"..."

Following up with the attack, the man, Ethaniel stepped forward as he connected it with a skill. From the tip of his sword, a bright flashing light pierced through everything in his sight.

"...hah. Not good enough yet," he clicked his tongue as his eyes scrutinized the surrounding area in hopes of finding another target. "...did I clear out the entire area?" he raised his brow.

Still looking around in the area, he frowned as he hurriedly took a step forward. "Ugh, of to another area then..." Mumbling to himself, he suddenly stopped in his footsteps, as he turned towards the direction of the town.

"...tsk. Why did I get involved in something so tedious?"

...

Earlier on the seventh floor of the hotel, within room 706, Ethaniel continued to sleep on his bed as he silently complained.

"...ugh. Is that loudmouth gone yet?" he groaned in annoyance.

"Frey just left," Shinto replied whilst making his way back to the bed. "You have 15 minutes before we leave the room."

"Eh?!" Ethaniel suddenly got up as he turned angrily to Shinto. "The hell do you mean 15 minutes?"

"...it is what it is," he sighed. "We still have thing's to discuss today you know."

"Bah. I'm tired," he quickly lied back down on the bed. "Why did this game have to include having to sleep to regain proper strength and stamina?"

"Well this game does want realism I guess. But anyway that's beside the point. I've got something I need to ask of you," Shinto stated.

"Hah? What is it now?" he clicked his tongue whilst still lying on his bed. His back was turned towards Shinto.

"..." After asking the question, Ethaniel didn't hear any response from Shinto.

"Hey, what is-" Just as he was about to continue on, he suddenly received a whisper notification. "...what?" Looking at the whisper, he raised his brow in question as he noticed it was from Shinto.

"I think, the reason why Lavida is after us is due to Altric. So... I'm asking you this, what is your class?" Reading the whisper from Shinto, Ethaniel suddenly got up once again as he gave a glance at the man looking at him with a serious expression.

"What's the meaning of this? What's with this question?!" he furiously asked. "I don't get-"

Suddenly, another whisper was followed up. "Use this function. This question is important and I do not want anyone eavesdropping on us."

"..." Frowning at the statement, Ethaniel let out a sigh as he replied. "Explain."

"...as I said, the reason why Lavida is after us... I figured it was due to Altric. The relation to be exact," Shinto continued. "So I'm asking you this. What is your class?"

"...is that even important? My class has nothing to do with this matter," he replied. "If anything, why would Lavida even go after us without any solid proof whatsoever?"

"...that, I'm not sure," Shinto sighed. "The only lead I have is through this. And since I've figured you might have a hidden class, so I thought it might relate."

"Tsk... what do I get from revealing on my side?" Ethaniel frowned.

"...what will you get?" Shino said out loud. "Information. The one thing you're curious about."

"..."

"So, what will it be?" Shinto continued to whisper.

"..." A moment of hesitation could be seen on Ethaniel's face as he glared acutely to Shinto. "...you know, I don't trust you. I might regret this, or I might not. But, whatever. My class... its name is 'Judgement Knight'."

...

Through the forest by the town of Parm, Ethaniel continued to cut through all the monsters in front of him whilst dodging the attacks targetted towards him.

"...tsk." With a resolute expression, he swiftly lit his sword in bright light, as he sent a lacerate arc, quickly turning the monsters to grey ash.

"Huff...huff," Ethaniel let out a tired breath whilst wiping away his sweat. "...not enough."

Quickly shaking his fatigue off, he suddenly felt a warm feeling around him. "...?" Turning around, he suddenly saw a familiar sight. Shinto.

"What got you so worked up all of a sudden?" Shinto said whilst storing his staff away after casting his skill.

"Nothing," he clicked his tongue at the sight. "Why are you here?"

"It's nothing. I just thought I'd level up," Shinto calmly replied whilst moving towards Ethaniel.

"...you wanted to level up? Wow. Such a surprise," Ethaniel sarcastically said. "It's as if you came here coincidentally and found me fighting and then decided to come up to me after I'm done."

"...actually, that is what happened," Shinto said helplessly.

"Yeah, right," he rolled his eyes whilst sheathing his sword. "If you're here for my answer, I'm still thinking about it."

"Hmm... so you haven't thought of the answer huh," Shinto let out a sigh. "But that doesn't matter. I'm not here for that."

"Huh? If not that, then what are you here for?" he frowned.

"...like I said, to level up..." Shinto helplessly replied.

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say," Ethaniel said. "Anyways, are you going to use any other skills to heal me back up or something?"

"Eh?" he blinked at the sudden question. "Is that heal previously not enough?"

"I'm not full health yet, so I wanted to know if you have any other skills to restore my health to full," he stated.

"...cough, I'm not your healing machine you know..." Shinto replied.

"Well, you're here already as a coincidence, right? So might as well ask."

"...seriously?" he sighed. "I've still got this and I haven't used it, so whatever..." Shinto said as he activated a skill. Suddenly, a small greet shroom appeared below Ethaniel's feet as his health steadily rose up.

[ Old Wood Cloak's Skill: Soft Root Heal ].

"...!" Shocked by the sudden skill, he turned to Shinto in question. "...this, you have this skill and you didn't use it?!"

"...I didn't have any opportunity to use it," he let out a cough. "This skill is more of a rest or a positioning skill than anything else. The fights we were at had us constantly moving around, so there's that..."

"No. That's not what I mean," he clicked his tongue. "Why didn't you use this earlier?!"

"Ah, er... well..." he laughed awkwardly. "It's not that I forgot this skill existed..."

"...hah. Whatever," Ethaniel sat down on the ground. "If there's nothing else, you can leave now."

"What?" Shinto blinked at the statement.

"You said you wanted to level up, right? Shoo, let me rest," Ethaniel yawned as he lied down on the grass.

"Hey... earlier you had this eager and energetic look on you... where did that go?" Shinto raised his brow.

"And earlier you said you wanted to level up, where did that excuse go?" he fired back.

"...I'm a support, Ethaniel. Like I can even level up efficiently without having to be in a group..." Shinto replied listlessly.

"Tch... if that's going to be a problem, why choose to be a support class then? Heck, why did you even choose this despite having a choice?" Ethaniel questioned. "And on that topic, what's up with this 'Shadow Diviner' class you mentioned? Are you going to give any details or what?"

"Aha... well I've got my reasons..." he sighed. "Anyways... my class is as I said before, it is a support class. I have no other clue on what this class is about."

"Hmph, reasons..." he scoffed.

"Right..." he let out a chuckle. "Then what about you? Why this 'Judgement Knight' class? Are you going to give any details?"

"Same as you. But instead of 'support', it's a damage class. Beside's that, no clue."

"Sigh... we don't have any leads on our classes huh? The only thing we know is that it's related to Altric..."

"Uh-huh, why isn't that obvious," Ethaniel said. "Get to the point, what do you want from me, really?"

"...I'll ask this once again," he closed his eyes. "Party up with me with Frey, and let's help each other with our classes. Whether it'd be discovering what Altric is or finding out where other ruins are."

"..." Upon hearing Shinto's statement, Ethaniel silently looked up towards the sky as he opened his mouth. "Honestly, this entire situation is extremely tedious. Had I not met that stupid face and arrogant brawler, I don't think I'd end up in this mess. But, look where we are now."

"..." Shinto silently listened in.

"Though, I guess it was fun fighting against those bastards," Ethaniel closed his eyes. "The one thing I hated from all this is..."

"...is what?" he tilted his head.

"Your damn name."

"...what?" he blinked at the sudden statement.

"It annoys me that it's the same one as the ex-first ranker," he clicked his tongue. "If it weren't for you being a support, I would have thought that you were that person."

"...cough, really now, huh?" he meekly said.

"But whatever. If we're going to end up being party members or whatnot, I want to call you by something that isn't 'Shinto' or whatever that fox guy or brawler girl calls you, what's up with that anyway?" he said bluntly.

"Things turned quite differently and it ended up like that..." he sighed.

"Hah, then, it'll simply be this. What's your real name?" he asked.

"...my real name?" Shinto hesitantly muttered out as he took a deep breath. "Zayden," he firmly stated.

"...hmm, Zayden huh? Then I'll call you Zay. In return, call me Ethan," Ethaniel got up as he extended a hand over towards Shinto. "I guess from now on we'll be working together?"

Without any words, Shinto nodded his head as he grabbed onto his hand, shaking it.

...

Eerie footsteps crept forward throughout the hallways, as a silhouette of what seemed to be a girl appeared.

"Hohohoho... The shadow diviner has awakened huh? Interesting~ Interesting~! I wonder what adventures lay ahead for him? Huhuh..." Laughter protruded out in the area as the darkness enshrouded it.