[Skyfreix 17, 0100 A.R]

[Throndrheim, Town Of Mare]

Current in-game time 2:13 PM

Even with both eyes closed, he could still feel the sensation of biodegradable waste being crushed under his feet. He would've preferred it if they just went with the farming quest as it was way simpler and less dirty than their current job. Tamaki tugged at the rope to signal Sylvia above so that she knows he has landed already.

While waiting for his partner to get down and join him, the young boy thought back at what their client had told them prior. The Headmaid of the said manor filled them in about the whole infestation they were experiencing across the whole mansion thanks to a couple of rats, they were told that at random instances furniture would often get gnawed on by the vermins, food would be stolen from the storages regardless of where they placed it. What worries Tamaki, however, was the fact that they required the assistance of adventurers to complete the task, a bit of an overkill considering that it was for a mere couple of rats.

"Watch out down below!" Coming back to his senses, the young lad scrambled to catch Sylvia who safely landed into his arms after warning him. Thanks to the Mage's weight the young lad almost fell over and dropped the Elken unto the ground, luckily he was able to balance himself before they both fell down. He let out a sigh of relief as the female hopped from his arms and stood in front of him, she gave him a thumbs-up, "Good boy." He received a head pat in return as they began walking into the tunnels.

Thankfully Sylvia was able to use her magic to shed some light on their path, though the two of them regretted it at first because it allowed them to see the horrifying sludge infested walls and floor even if they expected to see this much dirt. It was no surprise to see rats crawling around here since this is a perfect environment for them to be able to thrive, given the humidity and moist atmosphere under here.

"Ok Tamaki, remember to keep your eyes peeled for anything that looks like a rat," haphazardly waving her wand in front of them while Sylvia gave him a warning, he nodded as they proceeded. She didn't have to say it as Tamaki already knew what to do but given how she usually is, Tamaki let her slide for now and kept quiet.

Tamaki remembered the time Yuna and he spent their time taking care of a farm, now that he's mentioned it, it hasn't been that long ever since they did that quest. Compared to what they were doing right now, a couple of rats seemed to be a walk in the park for him, it's just rats, what's the worst that could happen? Thought Tamaki as they went around the bend. The boy chuckled lightly as he imagined the rats being compared to a bear. A sudden image showed itself to the boy as he recalled the time when Yuna threw herself to block the bear from harming him, he felt guilty for not being able to react fast enough, they could have avoided that from happening.

Back in the camp after their encounter with Muzui, he saw the scars all over his partner's body, both old and new. Tamaki inhaled and exhaled to calm himself, 'Why the long face? We won didn't we?' a part of him wanted to scream and yell at Yuna back then, he wanted to scold her for being reckless and he wanted to apologize for allowing this to happen to her but that was all his own little secret. As of now, he had a job to finish which included killing rats.

A while after walking for a couple of minutes, Sylvia halted and raised her arm in front of Tamaki to stop him. He saw her being seriously quiet right now, it was a sign that something was up.

"Draw your staff, I've got a bad feeling about," whispered the Mage as she extinguished the ball of light at the tip of her wand, allowing them both to plunge in pitch darkness as not to scare away the rat in front of them. With his staff in his hands, the young lad's eyes were able to get a glimpse of blue streaks of light running along Sylvia's arm and through her wand's length before hearing what can be called a gunshot. Without warning a pained squeal briefly echoed inside the tunnel they were in then it was gone, just like that.

Sylvia turns back the light on as they approached the thing they presumably killed, probably, thanks to that magic bullet. Slowly, they were able to make out something before them as they got closer to it. The two of them stopped after seeing it completely, looking confused, shocked, and definitely terrified, "What the heck is that!?" The first to ask was Sylvia, she recoiled from looking at the corpse lying on the ground.

"A rat?" With an odd curiosity, Tamaki decided to use his staff to poke the thing.

"Don't poke it! It's dirty!" Said Sylvia in a disgusted tone while she avoided looking at it.

It was already dead thanks to that magic bullet as a ton of brain matter littered the ground along with chunks of meat. The rat had light black fur and a tail half as long as its body, half of its skull was already blown off like a watermelon in a beach episode of some slice of life show. However, it was bigger than any of them expected, being as long as 5 feet in length, it was definitely a monster of a vermin.

"It's so huge..." Still poking the corpse, Tamaki ignored the glares being thrown at him by his accomplice. He had greatly underestimated the situation they were in, he expected normal rats not some monster-sized version of Jerry. Unfazed by the fact that he was handling the corpse with his own two bare hands, he forcibly pulled out one of the large front fangs from the rat as evidence that they killed it.

The Mage gave up trying to stop the boy as it was only a waste of her own breath, she shifted her attention around them to see if there were more.

Placing the tooth inside his pocket, Tamaki smiled, satisfied with their work. He stood up and took his staff with him as responded to Sylvia, he saw her beside him standing quietly and tensely, "What's up Sylvia-san?" He noticed that she was pale all over while trembling, something was definitely wrong and Tamaki found out the hard way as he trained his focus to where she was looking.

Dozens upon dozens of glowing yellow eyes stared back at them quietly as Tamaki could make out the sound of shuffling all around them. The two of them took a step back as they slowly backed away but out of nowhere, Sylvia felt something touch her leg and let out a squeak as she began running out of panic, leaving Tamaki little to no time to even realize that she left him. The young lad followed suit after noticing that she was already gone and started sprinting after her as they went back to the path they took.

It was no use as a blockade of glowing eyes stared the two of them down, prying their body as they came to a halt. Their path was back was already closed and just right behind them was a stampeding mob of rats ranging from dozens to hundreds as Tamaki caught up behind her.

"These guys...they were planning on trapping us here," Annoyed, Sylvia threw a ball of flames at the darkness causing a larger and stronger explosion than expected. The shockwave knocked Sylvia back into Tamaki as the two of them fell down over one another. Thanks to the biodegradable waste scattered along the tunnel, Sylvia's flame magic turned into a double-edged sword as the flammable material would catch on fire the instant it makes contact with flames. She doesn't want to burn themselves into a corner and also cause a hazard problem throughout the city.

Swiftly standing up, she took hold of Tamaki's arm and dragged him into a different path, far from where they wanted to go and going deeper into the sewers. For a few minutes, they were able to get away from their pursuers as the flames halted the rats from advancing further to them. Stopping to take a quick break and regroup, the duo sat down on some stone bricks which had no sludge on them, "We got out of there pretty quickly, haha," the boy let out an exasperated laugh.

"Why are you laughing? Hahaha," unable to keep herself from joining his infectious laughter, the both of them looked at each other, then paused, and soon after they began laughing their asses off.

"I'm just glad you weren't hurt, haha," the Mage wiped a tear at the corner of her eye and fixed her witch hat in place. They were both dirty in some places on their body and also smelled the same way as the sludge looked, but even with all of that, the two of them couldn't help but share a good laugh. Tamaki was reminded of the times when he saw Yuna get hurt, first one was the part where she got slashed by those giant badgers back in the forest, the second one was the time when she took that bear's bite head-on for him, he felt guilty for all of it. But why? Why does he feel happy when he remembers it now? He turned around to see Sylvia also laughing hard.

His eyes flickered as he opened his mouth to talk to Sylvia yet she beat him first to the punch and told him; "I told you didn't I? I'm better than Yuna. So stop worrying about her and start worrying for yourself," she got up from her seat and dusted away at her skirt and robe.

Meanwhile, Tamaki stared at her in awe, "How did you know?" He asked her.

"You were always spaced out when we got here, I had no shadow of a doubt you were thinking about her," flaunting her usual confident toothy smile, she gave him a hand. That was when it struck Tamaki, ever since meeting Yuna he was only able to worry about hurting her, scared that he might eventually cause her to leave him. Yuna was the first person who he was able to openly have conversations with and have fun with, she was his first friend. Sylvia knew it and that's why she thinks he needs more people around him.

He took Sylvia's hand and grasped it firmly as she helped him up to his feet.

"Yuna's not your only friend you know. You've got me, Viola, Surgiu, Aldyn, and Muzui, so don't go simping for her only," She chuckled and ruffled his white hair then turned to face forward, "Let's keep going, the flames won't hold those rats forever." Hoping that her words could act as a lesson for him, Sylvia allowed it to sink in as she walked away to allow him to decide.

Somehow, inside the boy's chest, he felt an odd warm feeling which he can't express. It was a nice feeling and he wasn't sure about what brought it up or how it became that way, he smiled slightly and walked to catch up with Sylvia as the two of them searching for a way out of this place.

• Enju Forest •

Through a thicket of trees, the afternoon sun's rays glistened upon a single blade as it shined brilliantly before cleaving its way through a couple of large dire wolves. Yuna calmly exhaled while her eyes were tightly closed, the wolves behind her soon fell in half on the ground, now merely chunks of meat as even the bones were cleanly sliced.

"Answer me Reik-I meant Yuna, Why is it that you're traveling with other people now?" sitting on top of a pile of cut logs, Muzui placed his head on top of his palm while staring back at the girl who was sheathing her blade. He asked her out of curiosity, bearing no ill-intentions with his words. She knew that and coolly stared back at him with an expression clean of emotions. "Finally got bored with going solo? Not that it's bad or anything."

"And why are you asking me that right now?" She responded bluntly.

"As a friend of yours-" Yuna and Muzui coughed at the word friend, "-of course I'd be curious to see you wandering with other people, we're talking about you right now, it's a surprise that someone who's always fighting alone decides to fight alongside a ragtag crew of people."

"What do you mean alone? I fight with you all the time don't I?" Eyebrows raise, arms crossed above her chest, Yuna shot a strange look at the guy.

"But that's different! Arghh, how do I explain this..." the young man ruffled his already wild hair and looked back at the girl with his finger pointer at her, "You only fight with me when it's for training, dungeon raids, guild battles, and tournaments. Usually, you're on your own wandering aimlessly and picking random fights with people, so why? Why are you acting like you're that guy's guardian? You don't even bat an eyelash when I greet you usually," he pouted, surprisingly angry at the fact that Yuna doesn't exchange his gesture.

"So you're mad because I don't give you enough attention?" Yuna feigned looking surprised as she teased him. She knew he hated it when she teases him about having feelings for her which she was unsure if he had any in the first place. A vein popped on his forehead as his brows twitched and came together into a tight-knit.

"I don't even...no! I'm being serious here, at least listen to me first!" In protest, he yelled at her in the sheer annoyance of not being taken seriously.

"Oh, so you swing that way?" She made air quotes using her hands as she emphasized the word, 'That'. She got her expected reaction and grinned at him as he threw a rock at her direction, she calmly tilted her head to the side as the projectile hit a tree behind her causing it to fall down to the ground with a loud thud. Flustered and irritated, Muzui facepalmed.

"Where the heck did you get that idea idiot, no! Listen to me dammit!" He yelled out loud, his voice cracking as he said so. There was a pause between them. Muzui looked flustered, turning beat red as he buried his face into his palms. It was no use, she's already holding back her laughter, he thought.

His assumption was on spot, Yuna already had her cheek inflated and her mouth covered by a hand as she looked at him, in a teasing manner that is. "Pffft, wait let me just-hahahahaha-sorry I'm not sorry!" Her laughter filled the forest causing animals in a 5-meter radius to scatter. A few minutes after the whole ordeal, Yuna was clasping her stomach and gasping for air while she staggered in place. She wasn't laughing at the fact that Muzui's voice cracked, but at the fact that Muzui was capable of slipping, "To think that the leader of one of the most prestigious E-sports team would have a hard time speaking normally." She wiped a tear, "Priceless."

"You done?" He asked dryly, bluntly staring at her. One of these days he'll be the one laughing at her.

"Just a moment," Yuna raised a hand at him and let out a short chuckle before clearing her throat which hurt thanks to all the laughing she did. "Ok, continue."

"No no, laugh a bit more, maybe you'll choke on a fly," threatened the samurai as he glared at her. After laughing the last bit out of her, Yuna let out a satisfied sigh then smiled at Muzui, "You gonna answer me or what?" Asked the young man.

"Alright alright, don't lose your panties," Yuna coughed to clear her throat as she prepared to face him, "About your question..." her tone went serious, a complete opposite of her previous cheery and teasing voice. Muzui gulped down, curious to hear her answer. "I don't know about it myself either but I can feel it in my gut and intuition, the moment I saw him I felt nostalgic. You could say I'm just helping out cause of my big ego," even though Yuna was chuckling at that moment, Muzui felt like it wasn't because she found the whole thing funny.

"You see yourself in him, huh?" The samurai asked her as Yuna stopped to look at him in the eye. He could see the mild shock in her eyes as she played it off with a casual, "Pfft, you're overthinking things, hahaha."

• The Town Of Mare •

The sound of feet running can be heard echoing through the whole tunnel system as Sylvia and Tamaki ran for their dear lives from a horde of man-sized rats close behind their tails. 15 minutes have already passed by ever since they began their marathon, Sylvia really wanted to get a glass of water right now while Tamaki kept his pace steady as he had already a good experience when it came to running thanks to how he started in the game.

Eventually, the two of them reached a running stream of water in front of them as it led down to the left side. Running water was a good sign as it was a sign of an entrance or something they could possibly use to get out of here. Sylvia and Tamaki followed where the water led and stayed close to the wall as not to fall into the water.

However, as they were running, a couple of rats managed to get a jump on them as they flooded out from a pipe on the wall, caught off guard by this, the Mage tripped on a small patch of moss growing next to the stream and fell into the water, "Sylvia-san!" Without even thinking about himself, Tamaki quickly dove into the murky stream and went up to save Sylvia as they floated back up on the surface.

Thanks to the water current that the two of them were stuck in, they were transported away from the rats faster than they could even run. What seemed like a sure escaped quickly went south as the water ended into a waterfall which led into a big drop, "We need to get out!" Fighting the current with all his strength, Tamaki tugged Sylvia's robe and failed as they both reached the edge, ending up falling down.

"Ahhh!" They both screamed in harmony as both of them fell down for 10 meters until making a splash. Tamaki fought to stay up and surfaced, he took a deep breath using his mouth as he kept afloat, "Sylvia-san?" he looked around him to see no signs of Sylvia, a single clue reared its head as he saw the Mage's witch hat floating towards him, he took it and looked below it expecting Sylvia to be beneath it. She wasn't there.

Filling his lungs with air, Tamaki dove deep into the water to search for his companion. By the corner of his eyes he saw a spark through the thick brown water, he swam towards it and as he did he was able to make out a struggling figure. Sylvia can be seen struggling as she waved her wand for Tamaki to see, and thankfully he did because as soon as he saw what was keeping her from surfacing he saw some weeds tangled around her ankles. Tamaki took a little longer to untangle it, while he did that, Sylvia was beginning to lose her remaining air, her eyes closing as she passed out.

Tamaki noticed how Sylvia wasn't responding, he pulled and yanked at the weeds with all of his might until it snapped. He caught her and attempted to swim upwards as he began having a hard time breathing, his air was also running out. Just when he was able to see the surface a little more, a sudden strong current swept them away as a giant rat bump him. He saw the rats jumping from the waterfalls and into the stream as a large gush of water burst through the pipe, carrying along with it a hundred giant rats as they were all swept away by the current.

Not letting go of Sylvia, Tamaki wrapped his arms around her waist and allowed themselves to be carried out by the water.

Current in-game time 4:56 PM

At a dark dirty alley where garbage had been accumulating thanks to the people throwing their trash where they shouldn't be, a hooded figure was being surrounded by a group of menacing-looking men holding knives at the person. They had tattoos, scars, and wore ragged clothing.

"Hand over your money and no one gets hurt," One said in a threatening tone as he held out a hand towards the person. The hooded figure kept silent and took a step back very slowly.

"Oi! Don't you have ears? Hand over the money, I mean it!" A bulky woman with a wild hairstyle aimed her knife at the figure and grabbed them by their hood. Still no response, the bulky woman formed a fist and grabbed the figure by the collar, bringing them up to their height. The hood fell off, revealing a young-looking girl with