Rise of Tyrus

While he wouldn't admit it out loud, Tyrus was enjoying watching the three men squirm in their spots. The two lackeys in the back clenched their jaws, sparing glances between Igneal and their brazen leader.

"L-Lord Igneal! What a coincidence meeting you here! How have you been faring these days? I didn't expect someone of your status to-"

Without warning, Igneal snapped his fingers. "That's mistake number one, little commoner. When faced with nobility such as I, it's only proper to grovel beneath my feet. I will only be lenient this time if you bow your heads now."

Within a second of Igneal's demand, the men instantly bowed so deeply, their foreheads almost struck the floor. Those near the contract board and still rooted in their seats snickered under the cover of their hands. Sir Wayne, who just waltzed in, merely shook his head and sighed at the comical sight, as if amused that someone dared to bad mouth Igneal of all people.

"W-We deeply apologize, Lord Igneal!" said the leader. "Us commoners are still ignorant in the ways of—"

"Mistake number two. I did not permit you to speak to me, let alone in that disrespectful tone. What makes you think you have the status to speak as if we are equals? Do you think you are better than me? More accomplished?"

The three men stayed quiet, hesitant to reply to Igneal after their poor choices in words. Their gazes were glued to the ground and sweat trickled down their brows. More snickering from the explorers followed, and the receptionist shuffled toward the commotion with a strained smile.

"As much as you are in the right of protecting your honor, Lord Igneal, but I'm afraid this is not the time nor place. Also, I would like to refer to the Explorer Guilds Code of Law, Section 5.2: No members of the Explorer Guild may harm another member unless acting in self-defence. To disobey this rule shall result in a penalty that correlates with the offense, overseen by Branch Leader Selena her self. Shall I offer you gentlemen a copy?"

"It's not just my honor that has been tarnished," snapped Igneal. "These fools have not only doubted my abilities, but have also questioned my aunt's authority as a branch leader. What's worse, they have harmed a friend of Igneal Lockhart, and that is absolutely unacceptable. Why should the Valis branch tolerate such rabble?"

At first, Tyrus thought he was hearing things until he saw the receptionist raise her eyebrow in a manner suggesting that she couldn't believe her ears as well. Even the other's watching had slack jaws. Never in a million years did Tyrus expect Igneal to stick up for him and publicly refer to him as a friend. Because of that, he would ignore how he was referred to as and just accept it as is. Watching the three men cowering on the floor after what they'd just said to him was all the satisfaction he needed.

"I understand you are angry, Lord Igneal, but the rules must be upheld," Celeste said. "If you truly care about Branch Leader Selena's authority, then I implore you to show restraint and not break a code that not just Branch Leader Selena has sworn to uphold. Violating it would reflect poorly on her. What would the others think about the Lockharts if they reject order?"

Igneal wordlessly regarded the three men below him with a scowl before setting his sights on Celeste. "That would be bad for our image, that we can agree on, but these vermin need to be punished for insulting us. Tell me, receptionist, what is a fitting punishment?"

A hushed silence fell between the two. One thing Tyrus could admit was that Igneal's voice was firm yet commanding, as if every word uttered demanded others to listen. Celeste's twitching smile seemed strained by this point and she was losing a slight amount of composure the longer the silence continued. After taking a moment to contemplate, she returned her eyes to the still cowering men on the floor and clapped her hands.

"Not only will these gentlemen pay a small fee to the Explorer Guild, but they will be suspended from the guild for two weeks. Will these conditions satisfy you, Lord Igneal?"

A mischievous smile appeared on his face, and he nodded. "Make it a month and I'll accept your conditions."

"You got yourself a deal," she said almost immediately. Celeste whipped around and jabbed a finger at the three men. "You three follow me to the front. There is some paperwork you'll have to fill out. After you're done, send them over to Branch Leader Selena and she'll deal with the rest. Be grateful that Lord Igneal is gracious enough to let you off this easily."

"Y-Yes! Thank you for your kindness, Lord Igneal! We have learned the error of our ways! We sincerely apologize to you and your friend!"

The leader of the group slowly rose and watched helplessly as Celeste returned to her post, muttering all the way there. His lackeys followed suit, each one breathing a sigh of relief. None of the onlookers taunted the embarrassed trio, instead turning away and minding their business, as if not wanting Igneal to redirect his wrath toward them instead. The grizzled man, with his jaw as tight as a bowstring, bowed to Igneal and briskly walked past Tyrus as if the latter didn't exist, his lackeys not far behind him.

"I'd rather they be whipped and tossed to the mines, but this will suffice," Igneal muttered.

Tyrus sighed. "Thank you for that, but that wasn't necessary."

Igneal turned, a deep frown etched into his face. "It wouldn't have been if you actually stood your ground. I've seen you fight beasts in a battered body, yet you allow those weaklings to have their way? Do you think of yourself as a saint, too kind to fight back? Or are you just a pushover?"

Before Tyrus could retort, Fiona waved over at him; her mouth formed into a smile and eyes wide, gesturing for him to come over. He gave her an acknowledging nod and rushed over, glad to be out of that situation. As Tyrus neared their table, Fiona motioned over to an available seat, in which Tyrus took swiftly.

"Is it true?" Fiona whispered. "Don't tell me you and that punk are actually friends?"

Tyrus arched an eyebrow, glancing around at the table. It seemed like everyone was patiently waiting for his answer, since they all bore expectant gazes. He'd been tiptoeing over the topic for a while now, as he never really considered Igneal to be his friend. The two had gotten off on the wrong foot from the moment they first met—not the best foundation to work on—especially when he defeated Igneal in that duel.

At that point, Tyrus assumed Igneal would try his best to get his revenge or even sabotage his chances of succeeding the exam. But after his insistence on them being friendly and he's gotten to know him more, maybe being his friend wouldn't be all that bad.

His opinion of Igneal wavered to a more favorable view, but that didn't mean he could trust him wholeheartedly. He was still a noble, prideful and self-centered at that. There was still a good chance Igneal would change his tune one of these days and start berating Tyrus to an intolerable degree, but he didn't think that would happen anytime soon. As annoying as Igneal was, befriending a noble who visibly held no ill-intentions toward him wouldn't hurt. Besides, Igneal was the one pushing his friendship onto him, not the other way around. Maybe he could use that to his advantage whenever the guy goes crazy or something.

"I guess we are friends," he answered, directing his eyes to what appeared to be a map of Dharmere on the table. Mountains and cities, rivers and pathways had all been illustrated alongside a series of markings and lines near Valis; this was the first time Tyrus had seen a map of the entire world. There were so many names he didn't recognize that he felt a bit dizzy from trying to remember them all.

What shocked him the most was how vast the world was on the map. Valis was on the middle left of the paper, and above it was a country called Ethia, a place surrounded by mountains and only a few passages just to enter its territory. To its right were two kingdoms named The Beastfolk Kingdom, and underneath that was Askalid, a place that was apparently humid year round from what the markings showed. Those four were the largest from what Tyrus gathered, with Lethos being the biggest and Ethia the smallest. If Tyrus had to guess, then Lethos was three times the size of Ethia.

Tyrus snapped out of his entrancement and pointed at the map, just to deter the conversation to something else. "What are you guys looking at? This is the first time I'm looking at a map of the world."

"We're figuring out what route to take," Reo said, spinning a dagger. "Fiona just grabbed a contract an hour ago that'll once completed, will allow us the opportunity to reach the bronze rank."

Fiona scowled. "Reo! I wanted to be the one to tell him!"

"It doesn't matter who tells him. The message will be the same as it always is."

"It'll be his first ever contract, so as the leader of Blue Dawn I wanted to be the one to tell the new member. A bonehead like you wouldn't understand."

"Then by all means, oh glorious leader, please impart him your wisdom."

She huffed and ruffled her hair, which was tied up with a golden ribbon. "I know when you're mocking me, you ass. Anyhow, Reo is right. I grabbed a contract suitable for our rank. Thanks to the last contract Blue Dawn completed, it propelled our progress to where one more contract is all we need to become bronze. Here, come take a look."

Fiona reached into her robes and pulled out a brittle-looking sheet of paper. The handwriting on the page was written so neatly, Tyrus assumed it must've taken a day just so that there were no mistakes. On the top of the paper were the words "Valis Underground Sewers" with an image below. It depicted that of a tunnel barred with poles, almost as if it were a prison cell.

"The sewers?" Tyrus mumbled.

Fiona groaned. "Nasty, right? I wanted to pick something else, but it was the only one available! All the other copper ranks snatched the good contracts. I wanted to settle with something easy and less disgusting, like an escort mission or helping some love-struck woman find love. But the sewers? There's a reason no one accepts those things! We at the guild call them the undesirables."

"But before we divulge further, I would like to ask Tyrus something," Grant said, staring at Tyrus. "You seem to move well enough; your condition from today and yesterday is night and day. Is your body healthy enough for the adventure? That is, if you approve of the contract."

Now that Tyrus thought about it, his body was in much better condition than yesterday. The constant headaches, chest pain, and aching muscles mostly disappeared. Sometimes a random pain crept up, but not so much that it was difficult to deal with. He suspected the mana in the sanctuary had a hand in his recovery, thanks to Elder Treant. That place was practically the healing salve Wanderer used on him, but as a forest. It was fortunate that Tyrus was granted access to use that special place. He hadn't a clue what he'd do if the Wildwood sanctuary disappeared.

Tyrus stretched his arms and said, "My body has almost fully recovered. There's some pain here and there around the shoulders and legs, but it's nothing I can handle. As for the sewers, I don't mind entering them. The smell might be a problem, though..."

"Because of your senses," Reo added. "I'd honestly fall off a cliff if I had your nose and ears."

Fiona slapped him on the shoulder and glared. "Reo! That was insensitive!"

"What? I said nothing wrong. It's not like I told him to fall off a cliff. All I said was what I'd do if I was in his shoes. Seriously, I bet just stepping in front of the entrance will knock him out clean. Think about all the shit and piss flowing down there, fusing to create the world's nastiest stench."

Fiona visibly cringed at Reo's analogy. "Please, just shut up and never speak ever again. In Sthito's name I swear I'll stitch that mouth if you bring that up again."

"You first," Reo said with a snicker. "A leader should lead by example, or are you the type of person to order others around and not get her own hands dirty?"

As if it were an instinct, Reo leaned away just in time to avoid the swipe from a staff and let out a chuckle. Fiona muttered a slew of curses as Reo stuck out his tongue. Those two argue with each other so many times that Tyrus was beginning to wonder if they secretly hated each other. Maybe he was imagining things. He didn't feel it was appropriate to ask, though.

While Reo and Fiona were too busy bickering, Grant tapped Tyrus on the shoulder and smiled sheepishly. "You get used to it over time. It may seem like they hate each other's guts, but they're really close. At the end of the day, when everything is all said and done, they both will joke and talk with no care in the world. A friendship without conflict is bound to wither."

"Really now..." Tyrus whispered, staring at the map once again.

Friendship was a foreign concept to him. In fact, he couldn't recall a single moment where he ever had someone close enough to call his friend, aside from Igneal, apparently. One person who came to mind was Meadow, but did she think of him as a friend? The spirit saw him as the Hero of Wildwood, not a friend.

How about Blue Dawn? Did they consider him as a friend, or did they see him as nothing more than an acquaintance that they happened to recruit. Tyrus imagined it'd take a while before he was truly part of Blue Dawn. The three of them seemed as if they'd been friends for years; he was nothing more than an outsider. Acknowledgment as a team member was good enough. Maybe one day he'd genuinely be a part of their small circle.

"An extermination contract for the sewers? What a revolting request."

Everyone looked up to see Igneal standing next to Tyrus, eyeing the paper with a grimace; Sir Wayne wasn't that far off, merely observing. Fiona shot upward and shot daggers at Igneal.

"What do you want? Can't you see this is an important matter between teammates? Go kick rocks somewhere else, runt."

"Straight to the point and in a rude manner, too. How uncultured." Igneal yawned, then turned his gaze toward Tyrus. "So, are you taking part in this contract? That place may very well be repulsive, but I'm willing to lend you four the required assistance, free of charge."

Fiona snorted. "Did you take a whiff of pixie dust to be this delusional? Why in the hell should we need help, let alone allow you to travel with us?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with her," Sir Wayne cut in. He glanced at Fiona with a hint of distaste in his tone before facing Igneal. "You shouldn't mingle with these people, Lord Igneal. Perhaps you should look elsewhere?"

"Sir Wayne, return to the manor and await further orders," Igneal commanded, not looking up to meet the knight.

"But—"

When Igneal shifted his eyes toward Sir Wayne, the man bit the corner of his lips and slowly nodded. With a bow, he turned on his heels and sped away toward the exit, ignoring all the stares and looks he received. The guild doors closed with a bang, yet as if nothing happened at all, Igneal continued.

"You wish to rise the ranks, correct? Then we have the same goal. Frankly, I should at least be in gold, but I must follow Aunt Selena's policies. With Tyrus, progress will speed up, but us together will triple it. You'll be adding two sorcerers into the mix, capable of wielding weapons as well. Refusing such an opportunity speaks levels of your competency as a leader."

Igneal and Fiona locked gazes, neither one daring to speak a word. One had a smirk, as if confident that their argument had no flaws, while the other glowered with a twitching eye, a tinge of irritation mixed within her brown eyes. Fiona lowered her head, contemplating whatever it was she was pondering, until she finally spoke.

"If you're going to join us, you'll have to follow our rules, got it? I don't care if you're a noble or that you usually get what you want. In Blue Dawn, no one above the other and we're all treated equally. The door's right there if that bothers you."

The noble rolled his eyes. "Anything else you'd like to get off your chest, or is that all?"

Her eye twitched again, but she released a sigh and pointed at the map. "No, that's all. I'll really kick you out if you screw us over. Give me your word that you won't ignore a request and not sabotage our chance at succeeding."

"I, Igneal Lockhart, swear on my name and honor and accept these conditions given by my dear sister. There, are you satisfied now?"

She shrugged. "Not really, but it'll do. We'll see if you truly mean what you swore on. Before we continue, do you guys have anything to say?"

Reo was the first to answer. "I mean, if you've accepted him, then I have no problem with it."

"Neither do I," said Grant. "Ultimately, it is your decision, Fiona. We will accept your judgement, no matter what."

Afterward, everyone stared at Tyrus, awaiting his answer. He straightened his back and spoke. "Me? I don't really care all that much. Igneal is pretty strong, so I'm sure he'll be useful to Blue Dawn."

Fiona gave a nod of approval. "Great, it seems like we're all on the same page now. Our team has grown from three to five members, which might make things a bit crowded, but we can definitely handle the challenge. Now that we've settled that issue, let's get back to focusing on the main task at hand: the sewers."