Chapter 4 – A crucial memory

Xavier and Leo were about halfway to the temple. 

And it was the Shinx who spoke up first. “So, you really don’t like owing something to someone do you?”

“Yeah, it bothers me a lot and I can’t stop thinking about it,”  he admitted.

“Is it because of  something that happened before?”

“No…, I’m just really cautious with little things like that, like, I just sometimes more than double-check something… but for some reason, I didn’t have that feeling when I was with you”

“Is it because you feel safer around me?”

“Maybe, maybe. Oh look, we arrived at the temple”

Leo this time got a better look at the temple. It was on a small elevation, with wooden oak stairs extending from the entrance. There was also a small archway right before the entrance in the shape of two wyrm dragons touching each other with their snouts. The main building was shaped like a one-story pagoda with the roof extending outside of the main fundaments. Leo and Xavier walked through the archway and there was a spruce double door right in front of them. In the background, they faintly heard a small bang to the ground and the loud crowd, cheering on.

“Was that the battle?” Xavier wondered.

“It came from inside, hurry! We’re already late as is!”

Once Leo and Xavier got inside, they found themselves in a darkened room lit only by a few candles. They were standing on a red carpet that led forward to the doors in front of them. There were also two other doors, one on the right and the other one on the left. 

“Uhh…, right. Any clue which way we should go?” Xavier asked.

“The carpet might be leading to the trials instead of the courtyard, so maybe we should try going left or right.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Let’s try going to the right”

Leo and Xavier opened the door and found themselves in some kind of hallway with little light coming from candles. As they walked through, they could see many doors along the way.

“Where do you think those doors lead?” Leo wondered.

“Maybe those are sleeping quarters?” Xavier guessed “But why would they be near the entrance so much?”

“Let’s just continue”

They went through another door that was at the end of the hallway. This time, they found themselves in a room with many training dummies on its right side. The dummies were not very tall, about the height of Leo, and were made out of straw. They were presumably supposed to resemble a Pokémon, but as all of them were beaten up a bunch, with many holes everywhere, it was impossible to make anything out of them. On the left, they could see a vast open space with a dark wooden floor that was partially marked with a white colour in a very particular pattern. To Leo, it resembled some kind of battling square as he could see the indication of the border and the spots where someone was supposed to stand. Though, because of the colour partially disappearing with age, it could have been for something else. Leo grimaced at the fine layer of dust clinging to his soles. Must have come from the dummies – the floor beneath them was coated with the same stuff. They could hear someone repeatedly hitting something with their fists, making some kind of faint sound with every hit.

“Yeah, I don’t think this is the correct way,” Xavier concluded.

“Hey! What are you doing here!?” Someone who was just training spoke up.

From the corner, a bipedal Pokémon revealed themselves, mostly brown with a green leaf on its head. It had beige mask markings on its face and bulky things that were also beige with thin striations. It had thin arms with mitten-like hands. He raised them fiercely, aggressiveness clear as day.

“We just got lost, we wanted to see the tournament” Xavier informed.

“It has already started a long time ago, and you should have clearly seen that the carpet leads to it,” the Pokémon concluded. “So, why did you stop following the obvious sign of there being a tournament that way? Or,” he took a step back, “you are here for a different reason?”

“No, wait!” Leo interrupted. “We really got lost here, we mean no harm to the artefact stored here! We just wanted to see anything of the event here.”

“Hmph… Fine, but we will have a talk after the tournament. Come along” Kai’s posture relaxed and showed the way. 

Leo and Xavier followed not wanting to get into more trouble. They got back into the same room they first came in and followed the red carpet. Once they opened the door, they found themselves on a terrace with small stairs coming from the courtyard. There was one from four different sides, creating a square. There were Pokémon looking in the middle of the courtyard from each terrace, but Leo noticed that no battle was happening at the time. All he could hear was the noise of Pokémon talking to each other.

“Why is no one fightin-”

“All Pokémon!” A loud voice spoke up and the talking silenced. “The last battle of the tournament will commence soon. Please, give our challengers a few more minutes to rest up after their last fight”

“Oh, come on!” Leo got annoyed ”We missed almost every battle”

The sound of murmuring Pokémon filled the silence.

“Well, at least we get to watch the last one.” Xavier tried looking at the positives.

“I guess you are right. Let’s just— wait,” Leo noticed something in the courtyard,” are those two grass-type Pokémons in the opposite corners of the courtyard the challengers for the title?”

“Yes” Another Pokémon, one in the audience, turned around and spoke up to Leo.  “That Breloom got especially roughed up in his last battle.”

“Now that you mention it , how many battles have taken place?”

“Two thus far, only four Pokémon entered the tournament, as there are pretty strict rules on who can participate.”

“Well, that’s intere-” 

Leo noticed a blue, bipedal Pokémon with a square build was getting into the middle of the courtyard. It had a large mouth with yellow lips and peg-like teeth in each corner. On top of its head were two short stalks that supported its two circular ears with black and purple rings inside. It had arms with three fingers and short legs. He was a similar size to Leo. 

“Sorry for the holding, but now our challengers are ready!” the Pokémon in the middle loudly spoke up, making Leo realise that it was the same voice from the last announcement “So, our first challenger, Cora the Leafeon!” the audience cheered up.

A quadrupedal, mammalian Pokémon walked to the middle of the courtyard. Her body was mostly yellow, with dark brown paws. She had a multitude of small green sprouts growing from her legs, chest and back. Her ears and tail resembled a tattered leaf. She greeted the audience by raising her paw and turning in all directions. 

“She was a long-time trainer at the temple as well, as she got many Pokémon through their trials. And for our second challenger, Ronan the Breloom!”

A bipedal, mushroom-like Pokémon shaped like a kangaroo stepped into the middle of the courtyard. He was mostly green, but his head, neck and tail were beige. On top of his head, he had a green mushroom-like cap with beige gills underneath. He had oval, black eyes, a beak-shaped mouth, and frilled segments around the base of his neck. There were two red claws on each of his hands and feet. When entering, he quickly punched the air and at the end took an intimidating posture, slamming the ground. The audience cheered loudly.

“He came from the Adunatio island, gaining a lot of reputation over the years by working as a part of  the infamous team Knock Out!”

Both of the contestants stared at each other menacingly, moving left and slowly aligning so that from Leo’s point of view, Ronan would be on the left and Cora on the right. The announcer got away from the middle and got close to one of the terraces.

“Let me remind you of the rules: no using status moves, and no using moves that can inflict fatal injury such as drawing blood. And with that, let the battle commence in three…, two…, one…, start!”

The audience shouted loudly, some cheering for Cora and some for Ronan. Even though the announcer shouted to fight, both of the contestants kept their distance and didn’t attack yet. The audience turned silent and Leo with Xavier got into a comfortable viewing position. 

“What’s going on? Why are they  not attacking each other?” Leo wondered out loud.

“In tournaments, the first hit is what can allow the attacker to make multiple hits right after the other so they are really important” Kai answered behind him “You haven’t been to one before?”

“No, never had time” Leo lied to avoid more suspicion.

“Well, you will get to like watching them,” Kai concluded.

And then suddenly Cora tried rushing in when she pierced through the air so fast, it made the air move, giving her an opportunity to land the first hit, but Ronan was prepared and dodged it swiftly. Cora tried to reposition herself, but then Ronan’s fist was somehow covered in a white orb as if he cast an attack and punched Cora. It sent her flying across the battlefield into the wall. The audience cheered loudly.

“And there goes the first hit to Ronan with his Mach Punch!”

Cora was grounded for a second, but she quickly got up and not even a moment later, the tip of her ears started glowing green. Then, out of them, many glowing light-green leaves started coming out flying towards Ronan. He tried to brace for the attack by crossing his arms, but as the leaves hit him, they exploded on impact, making small bursts of green explosions on Ronan. He couldn’t stand his ground and got a little knocked back. But before he could try to respond with an attack, Cora quickly followed with another try with her first attack. This time, she landed it successfully, knocking Ronan even further. The audience cheered on Cora.

“Ah!” Ronan shouted in pain “You are fast, I will give you that”

Ronan managed to fully reposition himself and opened his mouth. In front of him, many glowing green seeds started to form and he sent them flying across the battlefield into Cora. She didn’t anticipate Ronan to retaliate this fast and so the seeds somehow connected with each other near Cora and then violently exploded into a big green smoke. The explosion was so big, the air blew hard into the audience. Leo could see as Leafeon was thrown flying across into the wall again, but this time she somehow held her ground. To him, she seemed to be in pain, but still willing to fight with many bruises. Ronan didn’t attack as Cora slowly came back into the middle of the battlefield. 

“Go, Cora! Keep up the fight!” Leo shouted and cheered on with the audience.

However, Ronan’s eyes widened in surprise. His legs wavered under him, for then to look at where Leo shouted, giving the Shinx a chill down his spine.

Why is he looking at me? Did I do something? Does he know me? Leo thought to himself.

Cora, seeing this as an opportunity, focused  her energy, creating a blue aura on herself. She then jumped high into the air, creating a swift noise and only then Ronan noticed what was happening, but it was too late. Cora’s tip of her ears suddenly started glowing green and she pulled her head up. She opened her mouth and a light-green ball of light started forming in front of her. It seemed to Leo as if it was gathering some previously invisible small green particles and quickly getting bigger. Then, she pulled her head back and the ball followed, but once it got in front of Cora, it transformed into a really big beam of glowing light-green light about half the size of Cora in diameter that quickly pierced through the air into Ronan. The beam was so bright, it even partially blinded the audience for a moment. Ronan, unable to dodge in time, tried to brace for impact, by improving his position and crossing his arms again. The beam fully pierced Ronan’s arms and hit his chest, as well as the rest of his body. It created a really big green explosion that almost reached the audience. Once the smoke cleared, Leo could see Ronan barely trying to keep standing while having many bruises all over his body. He seemed as if he was just about to collapse to the ground.

“That’s enough!” the announcer shouted “The match is concluded. And the winner is… Cora the Leafeon! She will become the next master of the temple!”

The audience cheered loudly as Cora raised her paw to greet the audience. After a few seconds, she turned her attention to Ronan. Leo could see her talking to him, but it was way too loud for him to hear. Then, a pink Pokémon, hard for Leo to identify, came and kneeled to examine Ronan’s injuries. Then, it quickly took him away from the courtyard through the terrace on the left of Leo. 

“This is the end of today’s tournament! Please, exit through the southern terrace on my right-hand side,” the announcer pointed in the direction of Leo.

“Can we go see Ronan, before we get out of here?” Leo asked Xavier.

“Sure, we ha-“ Xavier tried to respond.

“Oh, you are not going anywhere just yet,” Kai interrupted, “or is that the reason you both came here? Just to see him?”

“No…”

“Then you are only making it harder and harder for me to believe you. Well, it’s not up to me to decide your fate, but after I tell her what you told me, you may be in a lot of trouble”

Leo, Xavier and Kai stood close to the left side of the terrace to allow the audience to leave. After that only they, the announcer and Cora remained in the courtyard. Kai took Leo and Xavier in the middle, where the announcer and Cora were talking, but it was hard for Leo to make any sense of it. 

“-but I should say, good fight!” the announcer congratulated ”I’m surprised at how well you managed this fight, now Master Cora”

“Thank you!” Cora blushed “But it will take some time until I will get used to this ti-“

“Well, I have to say,” Kai interrupted ”it didn’t take long until you have to make your first call, but I’m glad you won Cora”

“I will be waiting inside, seems you have a more urgent matter” the announcer left the courtyard.

Cora sighed, “Okay, what happened Kai and why did you bring those two Pokémon?” she asked.

“I saw them moving around the temple when the tournament was happening” Kai went up closer to Cora and stood next to her, while also being in front of Leo and Xavier “They seemed to have been looking for something, but they are arguing they got lost in the temple and were actually here to watch the fights. Now, one of them also wants to talk to Ronan for some reason. I think at this point they are just looking for a reason to run away.”

“But why would you think so?”

“How could we trust anyone outside this temple? You know how rotten the world is outside this island”

“Kai, Kai… Look, there is hope in the other Pokémon if you just start looking at them from a different perspective. Look, they are not even close to looking like bad Pokémon“ Cora turned to the two,  “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can ask Ronan if he wants to talk to you.”

“Why are you immediately judging them by just their appearance? Is that really wise?”

“Did they try running away from you at any time?”

“No”

“Did they disobey your commands?”

“No”

“Then, do you really think Pokémon with bad intentions would do just that?”

“Okay, okay… Fine” Kai gave up on the argument.

“Now when that’s settled, I have to ask,” Cora turned to Leo and Xavier “Why do you want to meet Ronan?” 

“He turned his attention to me during the battle and he seemed… really unsettled about something” Leo responded. 

“Ah, so that’s why I’ve defeated him so easily. Now I’m curious myself, let’s go to the infirmary wing to check what he has to say”

“I will go back to the training hall,” Kai said as he went for the southern terrace.

“I guess we will talk later,” Cora bid farewell to Kai and turned her attention to Leo and Xavier. “So, let’s go already.”

Leo and Xavier followed Cora through the western terrace into the building. Then they immediately turned right and found themselves in a corridor similar to the last one they’d been in. It was still dark, with little candles enlightening the corridor. The three of them slowly walked through it. 

“Why aren’t there any windows here? There’s almost no natural light in here,” Xavier asked.

“Well, you can say it’s some kind of tradition, but it’s mostly so this building can be used at the same time to conduct trials to add atmosphere. I don’t know if it makes sense, but that’s what the last master decided.”

“And will you change it?”

“Nah, I think it’s fine. At least there is some light in the infirmary wing. Can I get your names? I don’t think I’ve heard them from Kai.”

“Yeah, because we didn’t tell him. I’m Xavier and this is Leo.”

“Nice to meet you both!” Cora smiled.

They got to the door at the end of the hallway and Cora opened the door. They found themselves in a bright room with four birch wood beds, all of them had a spruce wooden bedside table next to them. The rest of the room was like all the others, but it had windows at the top, which allowed some of the light to pass into it. On one of the beds, they could see Ronan lying down and next to him a pink Pokémon overlooking and talking to him. 

“Ronan, you need rest and a lot of it,” a tranquil voice pointed out. 

“I know, I know… Just” Ronan groaned in pain “I hope I will get out of here soon enough.”

“Hey!” Cora spoke up “I want to ask you something, mind if I do?”

“You are still in a lot of pain, I strongly dissua-“

“It will be fine, I—” he groaned and clutched his side, “I will take those herbs later. Can you leave us alone for a second Amaya?”

“…Okay, I will be in my room if you need me,” the placid voice responded.

The pink Pokémon turned towards Leo and Xavier. It looked like a bipedal, pink-cream Pokémon with oval blue eyes. Only the top of its head, back and arms were pink, while the rest of its body is cream-coloured. The patterning of pink and cream on its chest resembled a coat. It had floppy ears with thin, curled extensions on the underside and a puffy, white tuff for its tail. To Leo, it looked like a very pure soul that was rid of any pride and only looked after others. It made Leo astonished. 

“Cora, are you sure you don’t need any help yourself?” Amaya asked.

“I think, I will be fine,” Cora responded. “Besides, I can heal myself if needed. At least partially”

“Okay, remember to tell me if it worsens.”

“Will do! Thanks, Amaya”

“Wait, what are those two Pokémon behind you doing here?”

“I brought them as Ronan seems to have known one of them.”

“Okay, I will be going now” 

Amaya passed next to Leo and Xavier and exited the room. Cora and the duo got closer to Ronan’s bed.

“So, I wanted to ask,” Cora started “Why did you stare at something during our battle? You lost because of that.”

“N-no, it was nothing. I just got distracted by the audience, because… they were cheering me on a lot, you know?”

“I here have Leo and he claims that you’ve clearly looked at him during the fight.”

Ronan frowned, “I d-don’t know what you mean! It must have been a coincidence, right?”

“… Can you… both leave me here with Ronan alone for a second?” Leo asked.

“I think I understand” Cora agreed “Okay, are you willing to do that Xavier?”

“Yeah, sure,” Xavier responded. 

Xavier and Cora headed for the door through which they entered and closed it. 

“Now, both of them have left” Leo said, “Can you stop lying now and tell me what you were  thinking about during that battle?” 

“Ugh, fine, but don’t take me as I’m crazy talking.”  “When I first heard you during the battle, your voice sounded… very similar to my missing partner’s voice, and I thought that there was no way he would just suddenly appear in public. But then when I looked at you, I felt your aura, and it felt like we’ve met before…”

“What are you even talking about?”

“I have one question, please, answer honestly.”

“Okay…, I will try”

“Did you come from this world or somewhere else?”

The shock displayed on Leo’s face after he heard the question.

“…Yes, but how would you know that?”

“I will tell you something that I haven’t told almost anyone. My partner… also came from another world, but I have to say you suck at hiding this fact from others, but most just treat you as you being weird”

“Did he say he was also a human?”

“Yes, I would guess you are one too. And he didn’t retain any of his memories except the fact that he came from the human world, not even his name”

“That’s strange, I could remember mine, but I also didn’t remember anything else.”

“I was the one who first met him, so I gave him the name Kade and he accepted it.”

“What happened to him? Why did he go missing?”

“I don’t want to say much, but I want to blame Pertubatio Island’s Pokémon for that, even without clear evidence.”

“Why?”

“They harassed me and my partner many times and we couldn’t do much to oppose them most of the time. I hate that the people from Adunatio Island completely ignored this fact in the name of “protecting peace and integrity”. That’s why I blame them because their actions most likely lead to the disappearance of Kade.”

“Why did they harass you?”

“I have no idea. The only clue I have is that they somehow found out that he was a human before, but I have no idea how they could catch wind of that fact.”

“Did anyone besides you know  he was a human before?”

“No, as far as I know”

“…Where was he the last time you saw him?”

“You want to look for him?”

“He was a human, right? His guidance could be much more useful than anyone else could provide me in this world.”

“But he disappeared over six months ago, and no one has found him since.”

“Do you think that’s going to discourage me? I will stay stubborn on this matter and please finally tell me where he was last seen”

“…I’m telling you it’s hopeless. I tried for a very long time, I sacrificed so much of my time and effort, but it was all in vain. Please, just let it go!” Ronan raised his voice.

“Look,” Leo sat on the side of Ronan’s bed, “I understand that it must have been painful to lose your partner and you just want to forget it, if he was so important to you, why not help me find him so you have at least a little chance of meeting him again?”

“…Okay, but I won’t go with you.”

“That’s fine, so where was he the last time you saw him?”

“He was in the southern part of Adunatio Island, and you should know that he was a Monferno.”

“Can you describe it?”

“Umm, that’s a little difficult. He was a bipedal, fire-type with fire coming out of the end of his tail. His body was mostly orange and cream. He also had a white mane on his neck. Other than that, I have no clue how to describe him further. You would just have to see it yourself.”

“I think that’s enough for me to recognize him. Do you know anything else that could help me find him?”

“…Never trust the Pokémon from Pertubatio Island, if your motivations are pure.”

“That’s… I will keep that in mind. I will be going now, you still need to rest for a while.”

Leo got up from the bed and started walking towards the door that he came through. He grabbed the mantle and Ronan interrupted him.

“Can you wait for a second?” Ronan asked.

“Okay,” Leo turned towards Ronan “What is it?”

“I just wanted to say, thank you. You are trying to help me even though I refused many times. I lacked any hope of finding him, but I think you just revived it.”

“…My pleasure.”

Leo left the room and almost right outside of it, he saw Cora and Xavier talking to each other. Xavier noticed Leo left and turned towards him.

“So, how did it go?” Xavier asked.

“I think I know everything that I wanted,” Leo summarized. 

“Let me tell you something, but you shouldn’t tell this to Ronan.” Cora interrupted. “Those walls in the infirmary are really thin and I with Xavier could hear your conversation with Ronan easily.”

“Yeah, sorry, but we couldn’t help it,” Xavier added. 

“I don’t mind that, actually. In fact, I want to know. What do you both think of what he told me?” Leo asked.

“…It’s hard to tell what to think about this, but it’s very surprising to me he had a partner,” Cora noticed “I thought that he only operated in the team Knock Out and only had close relationships with them.”

“Are you saying that Kade was never a part of it?” Leo asked. 

“Yeah, then this most likely means Ronan joined that group after Kade’s disappearance.”

“But that’s very surprising,” Xavier noticed “Almost no teams recruit new members after the initial formation. Mostly, they just encourage those Pokémon to form their own teams under the same guild as them. That was my experience with them at least”

“There are exceptions as you say, but that’s true,” Cora agreed “Why would they accept him?”

“But is there a reason why no teams accept new members?” Leo asked.

“Most likely, because it can affect the reputation of the team or even lower its rank in the guild, because of uneven experience of the team or the guildmaster not liking your decision” Cora answered.  

“That’s very harsh for new relations that were forged after someone joined a team”

“Yeah, but it’s not like you are forced to explore, there are plenty of other jobs you can take”

“Anyways, I guess you want to go to Adunatio Island, right?” Xavier asked.

“Well, yes. I want to find Kade as he is another human in this world”

“At least he should be in the southern part, I have a bad reputation in the northern part after you know what happened.”

“Do you know how we will cross the sea?”

“I can help you with that,” Cora proposed. “After all, I have to somehow repay you after how you’ve been treated. I have some contacts with the transporters to the Island, so I should get a cheap price for you. When do you plan to depart?”

“Thank you so much, tomorrow Leo?” Xavier proposed.

“Sure… wait, are you sure we can pack everything before we get to the port?” Leo noticed “I mean, we will stay there for a good while when we get there”

“There should be no problem, I don’t have to take as much as you think”

“Then, it’s decided. We will travel tomorrow.”

“Okay, you will go to the port tomorrow and there will be someone looking for you” Cora informed “For now, you should most likely get out of this temple, you have the stuff to do as well as me.”

“Good point, will we see each other tomorrow?” Leo asked. 

“I will try, but no promises. Now, let me show you out.”

The three of them walked back to the courtyard. It was really quiet, but Leo could see many different grass-type Pokémon training in the middle of it. They quickly bypassed them and went for the front exit of the temple. Cora opened the main door and lead Leo and Xavier out. 

“Have a great day!” Cora shouted as she closed the door.

“You too!” Xavier quickly responded so Cora could still hear him.

Leo and Xavier passed the archway and they could still see many Pokémon that were watching the tournament now talking to each other. They tried to pass through the group and when they got out, Atlas spotted them in the distance and came closer to them. He seemed a lot calmer to Leo than he was at the restaurant.

“Hey, so you also went to the tournament?” Atlas pointed out.

“Are you mad?!” Leo got anxious “Are you going to now start discriminating against Xavier here, right in the open for everyone to hear?!” 

“Okay, maybe I should have started with this,” Atlas corrected himself, “Look, I’m really sorry for that situation in the restaurant to both of you, Leo and Xavier. I let my anger get a hold of me and you got a really bad impression of me as a result of that. In fact, I was very happy that I finally managed to find you, Xavier, as I was really worried about you. Leo, I know you most likely now consider me as someone who is just not worth the attention, but please, I will try to somehow make it up for you. I just want… just want forgiveness…, please, I feel really bad about the actions I’ve taken…” Atlas collapsed onto his knees, pointing his head down and he looked to Leo that he was crying, but desperately trying to hide that fact with his arm. 

“Hey, hey!” Xavier kneeled close to him, “I already guessed before that this wasn’t intentional of you to do something like this, and I think Leo also accepted that fact, right Leo?”

“Yeah, here, you are really showing your remorse and shame,” Leo noticed “I don’t think there is any reason not to forgive you”

“Really?” Atlas moved his arm from his face and looked at Leo.

“Yeah, and now,” Leo gave his paw, “let this be the beginning of our renewed friendship”

Atlas put his paw on Leo’s and managed to easily get up with his help. He seemed to Leo as if he felt accomplished and very grateful about their decision. 

“Coming back to your question,” Xavier said, “Yes, we were there watching the tournament, but where were you? We couldn’t see you ourselves. We were on the terrace closest to the main entrance”

“Hmm, I was on the northern one, but I’m surprised I didn’t see you on my way out. Anyway, I need to do some other things, so I will be going now. But I’m still really grateful for what have you done for me.”

“No problem, just learn from your mistakes and don’t call out your emotions this fast” Leo proposed.

“I will keep that in mind, I hope we will see each other in the near future” 

“Bye!” Xavier called out as Atlas walked away.

“So, what do we do for our preparations for going to Adunatio Island?” Leo asked Xavier.

“Oh, about that. I forgot to mention we have a few problems with moving to another island”

“Which are?”

“Firstly, I’m already really thin on money,” Xavier pointed out, “I can afford to pay for the travel to another island, even without Cora’s discount, because of her connections, but I can’t afford full payment for another home for even a week. So, this means we will have to join a guild somewhere there to make money. This also provides an easier financial situation, since we will have shelter and food provided in a guild. We will also be able to acquire the guild’s intelligence in the region, which can help us in our searches for both Kade and Ryder”

“Then what’s the problem with this, we can for sure join a guild.”

“There are a few problems with that,” Xavier noticed, ”Firstly, we will need to follow the guild’s schedule and rules no matter what. Secondly, anyone with a higher rank in the guild than us, which is going to be everyone most likely, has the upper hand on us, which means they will be able to tell us what to do and we can’t refuse. Thirdly, to even get into the guild, we need to present at least some qualities of being able to reliably do jobs.”

“I guess everything has its upsides and downsides, but I don’t think we really have a choice here.”

“Yeah, it feels like it,” Xavier agreed. “But as I’ve mentioned, both of us will need to show we can do jobs, which means we will need to train you a bit in combat.”

“It was going to happen sooner or later, so I guess it’s time for me to learn to fight. I actually wanted to know how to not do this accidentally.”

“I’m glad you are looking forward to it” Xavier smiled “Good, so now we should grab some training equipment from my chest and we will go train in the field.”

“Wait, don’t we have to do other stuff before we journey out?”

“It’s fine I’m telling you, there is not much to prepare anyways.”

“What about those haystacks for example or the whole chest, how are we going to take it?” by

“No, the chest is staying and we won’t need to take haystacks with us. But I want to take some stuff at least, so that reminded me that I have to also buy a new bag. We will do this when we go back here for lunch.”

“Okay, whatever you say”

Leo and Xavier started walking back to Leo’s home. Unknown to them, there was someone who followed them.

“You are not leaving me after all that you did Xavier. Not again…”