"Come in."

Opening the creaky door, a man around 5'9" entered the dimly lit room, where an old man sat at a desk covered with papers. "So, I've been told that I have a new mission. What is it?" he asked the man, and he beckoned for him to sit at one of the chairs.

"This'll be your longest one."

Opening the folder in front of him, he was met face to face with the profile picture of a girl with short pink hair.

"A royal, huh? 'Child of the Full Moon'... One of the candidates for the imperial throne as well? Why so?" he asked, and the man lit his pipe.

"Insipid poison. The healing artes she uses don't require blastia, so it disrupts the aer. If she's eliminated, then there won't be any super major problems with aer anymore. Less stuff to worry about." he explained, and the boy nodded.

"Interesting. My time limit?"

"As long as it takes. However, you need to be careful. Resources have said that she's in a group, possibly a guild. Make sure that they don't know about your ambitions, but you may do whatever to rid of them. Take your bodhi blastia with you." he said, grabbing a small chest and opening it to reveal some sort of thick bracelet with a glowing blue crystal.

"Thanks." Grabbing it, the boy pulled it on his wrist and stood up with the folder in hand. "I'll be getting ready and leaving as soon as I can."

"Don't die."

"As long as you don't, old man."

"Let's see... I'm nearby Heliord, and apparently the Mistress is coming here with her group as well. If I can, I should be able to catch them during so. There aren't any monsters nearby, and I can't just go up to them." he muttered to himself.

Looking at his daggers, she sighed. "I don't have a choice, do I?" he asked himself, before grabbing one and forcefully slashing his arm. "Ugh!" Taking the blood, he smeared it over himself, to pretend that he was in a big battle. "One slash in the arm isn't enough..."

Staring at his stomach and leg, he slashed his leg before abruptly stabbing himself in the stomach, coughing up blood. Though yes, it was brutal, he did anything for missions.

Breathing heavily in pain, he dragged himself to a nearby tree, close to the path that the group was walking through. The boy could see them coming, so he hoped that they would see him.

Attempting to stanch the blood with his hand, the group came by and sadly, went right past him.

"W-Wait..." he breathed out, stretching his hand towards them, but they didn't hear him. 'Shit.'

Using the tree to help him stand, he slowly walked behind them, so close to touching them before collapsing on his knees.

The one in the back, a Krityan with purple hair in a bun, wearing quite the revealing clothes while hold a spear turned around and quickly went to help. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, but only more blood bubbled out of his mouth.

"Guys stop! We need to help this person!" she yelled to the group, and they turned around to see the mess of a person he was.

"Oh my god." The one with long blackish-blue hair wielding a sword in his left hand quickly covered the eyes of a short boy that was carrying a large bag. "Don't look Karol. There's just... too much blood."

"Huh?" the boy questioned, and the boy assumed that he had gotten a quick peep. "Agh!" he yelled, cowering in the young man's arms.

"He's lost a lot of blood. Estelle, can you heal him?" the Krityan asked, and the girl beside her nodded.

He smiled.

'There's my target. Step one, done.'

The boy closed her eyes and succumbed to the darkness.

"Ngh..."

"Are you awake?"

The boy opened his eyes to see the long haired man sitting next to him, staring at the campfire in the middle. It seemed to be nighttime, as everyone else except a dog and the man were awake.

"How long was I out for?" he asked, slowly sitting up on the mat he was on. Examining his wounds, they seemed to be fully healed, though he was a bit sluggish with the blood loss.

"Only a couple of hours. It was around the late afternoon when we found you, and it's almost the middle of the night." the man explained, and he nodded.

"How are my wounds fully healed?"

"That's the work of Estelle. Her healing artes are pretty useful." he said while he combed his hands through his shoulder blade length hair and tying it up into a ponytail, his hazel eyes shining amber in the fire light.

"I see. Also, I don't think we've introduced ourselves. I'm Alex. Alex Kuvier." he said, sticking his hand out.

"Yuri. Yuri Lowell." He took his, and they shook hands. "The pooch here is mine. He's Repede." he said, gesturing to the dog that was sitting in between them, and Alex smiled.

"Hey there. You're pretty interesting, aren't you? Having a blastia and all. You're still a good dog, following your owner all this way." he mumbled to him, stroking his fur and scratching behind his ears.

"Looks like he likes you."

"Seems so."

Yawning, Yuri lay down and closed his eyes, Repede curling up close by. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna take a rest."

"Fine with me. I'll keep guard for you." Alex added, pulling on some finger-less gloves from his pouch.

"Thanks."

As Yuri fell asleep, Alex pulled a bundle of clean clothes from his pouch and stripped his dirty ones off, wearing the new ones. Loose pants that stopped at his knees, snazzy sneakers, a plain white t-shirt, and a red vest. To top it off, he slipped on a necklace, just a string that had a blue teardrop gem tied at the end of it.

'Step two, complete.'

"I must thank you for healing my wounds. I really appreciate it." Alex thanked, giving the group a slight bow.

"It's nothing! We're glad to help!" The girl that introduced herself as Estelle bowed back with a smile. He had woken them up by preparing some breakfast for them with his provisions, and they had a nice chat before putting out their fire and packing up.

"What will you do now Alex?" Karol asked, and she sighed.

"I honestly don't know. I was originally going to head to Heliord for a bit before going back to Capua Torim to catch a boat to Capua Nor, then travel around a bit in Ilyccia, but maybe I'll shift my attention to Dahngrest." he explained.

"I'm afraid that's a bad decision. Dahngrest is in a bad state after Phaeroh attacked, so I doubt you'd like to go there." Yuri added, and Alex sighed.

"Is that so... Maybe I should go back to Zaphias..." he mumbled, before pretending to realise something. "Hey... You guys are a guild, right?" he asked, and Karol nodded.

"Yup! We're Brave Vesperia!" he cheered.

"I see. If that's the case, then is it okay if I join your guild? I really have nothing to do, so this would probably be my best choice."

"That should be fine, isn't it Karol? As long as you abide to our guild's rules, then you're welcome to join." Yuri explained, and he nodded.

"Well, whatever your rules are, I agree. I promise not to break any rules and regulations nor betray Brave Vesperia. If I do so, then taking my life will be subsequent. I swear on my honour." Alex recited, hand on his chest, and Yuri smirked.

"You sound just like a knight. Almost like Flynn."

"Thanks for the compliment, I guess? Also, I dunno who Flynn is, though he sounds familiar." Alex commented.

"He's Yuri's knight friend." Judith added, and he nodded.

"Got it. So, am I in the guild now?" he asked.

"I guess so. Welcome to Brave Vesperia, Alex!"

In no time, they had arrived in Heliord, the Rising City. "The city seems less busy than before." Estelle commented.

"Before? So you guys were here once?" Alex asked, and she nodded.

"Yes. It was on our way, and the blastia went out of control. One of our friends tried to fix it, but failed in the end. We were going to check up on it." Estelle answered.

"Cool. Anyways, you guys don't mind if I wander for a bit? I haven't been to Heliord before, so I'll meet you guys back at the inn." Alex suggested, and walked off from the group.

Once he was far enough away, he went off to a secluded part of the city and took out a scrap piece of paper and a pencil.

'Old Man,

The mission is currently a success. I've joined their guild, Brave Vesperia, and though this is illegal, I don't have a choice. The Child of the Full Moon looks just like her description, though her allies aren't that much of interest. There's a man from the Lower Quarter of Zaphias, named Yuri Lowell. We might have seen him a few times, though we're located in the Civilians' Quarter. The captain is Karol Capel. A kid from Dahngrest, though he isn't too bad. Yuri's dog Repede isn't so bad either. There's also a krityan tagging along named Judith.

I think I've seen Yuri on a wanted poster somewhere. Probably a thief or small criminal. That's all for now.

- Alex.'

Rolling it up, he stored it safely in his pouch and walked back to the inn. It was late into the night, and just as he was about to enter, the door was opened by Yuri.

"Restless?" he asked, and Yuri shrugged.

"A bit. I'm gonna go take a walk."

"Stay safe."

Walking out, Alex stepped in, walked up the flight of stairs, and entered their room. It was quite large, and Karol and Estelle were asleep. The balcony was connected, leaving a light breeze through the room.

Walking to the railing, he took out the letter and summoned some aer. "Go to the leader." he whispered, and with that, it disappeared.

"Now it's time for some sleep."