With the flaming sun drowning behind the horizon, an orange hue enveloped the guild's training ground, where Revan rested, after a strenuous day's work. As always, progress came slowly. He was below average in terms of strength, a death sentence in this world full of monsters overflowing with surging mana, who freely utilized the bustling energy lingering the air.

But those were the least of Revan's worries. Humans, elves, dwarves, demons, intelligent species were the real threat here. Most monsters moved on impulse, intelligent beings on the other hand, killed just because they didn't like the look in one's eye.

Nonetheless, Revan sat on the ground, with his sheathed blade resting on his shoulder, continuing one of the few things he found enjoyment in. The quill in his hand gently danced as he scribbled on an empty manual between his lap, with concentration unbroken like a monk. Fresh ink shimmered golden as sunlight reflected from the neatly written letters, when.

Pat!

Sensing a presence, the book in his hand slammed shut. Wary, his eyes, previously glued to the book, slowly rose. Though, hearing a stranger's voice, he couldn't help but raise his guard.

"I didn't mean to disturb, master Revan..." A seductive feminine voice lingered the air.

The woman speaking, looked no older than 25, with flowing orange-gold hair, along similar-colored beautiful eyes. Carrying a color profile as the sunset, she appeared to be an otherworldly angel, with the light behind her accentuating her graceful figure like a painting. Wind rippled her modest dress, while she sat on the floor with bent knees and legs to her side, curiously scrutinizing the manual's title.

As far as Revan knew, she was but a graceful commoner. Though that fact remained unknown to her, so her tiger-like eyes narrowed into suspicious slits.

She, Elaine, eldest princess of the empire's royal family, visited for the first time, in order to find the neutral hero's identity. And this man was her next target. From one suspect to the next, disguised, she had asked this question more than a hundred times. What could the chances be that this minor guild's leader would be him? So she cleared her throat, and like an actor in the spotlight readying a play, Elaine's words traced off without a stutter.

"I am Laine, a merchant from the east. It's a pleasure."

While slightly pulling the hem of her skirt in greeting, her head dropped, as she introduced her alias.

"There is something I'm interested in." Her tiger-like eyes sharpened even more, planning to catch every single detail in the man's reaction.

"Does the master know what this is? I have searched the land far and wide. A handsome sum of money as compensation will naturally be granted."

Revan's eyes lingered on the woman's slender pale hand, when his lips parted after a hum of interest, finally understanding the woman in front of him.

'So she was looking for her lover?'

She was a beauty, who searched the lands for her soulmate. He couldn't take money for such a trivial task.

"That is a flower of the fallen northern continent." he spoke with heart, as the corners of his mouth rose into a gentle smile.

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"As expected, you don't k-."

But before she could finish her words, a wave of shock clashed against her like in a mighty sea. Puzzled, her eyes grew into large circles.

"What did you say?" She asked frantically, her graceful act slowly breaking.

"That is a northern Cordelia, sent to accept the proposal of another."

Anger welled up inside as she grit her teeth, the faint sound of crunching becoming audible. She knew the significance of the flower well, and clearly, he did too! The one who stole her sister. She had found him. The neutral hero, who was her personal devil, the one causing havoc behind the scenes.

"It is custom to send it back if you accept."

That evil voice, cold, void of emotion. Elaine, attempting to hide her boiling rage, only nodded as her eyes trembled. Did he expect the royal family to hand over their kin this easily? Accept that proposal? Never!

"This flower will never be returned."

Her icy voice seemed to freeze the surroundings as she rose, leaving with graceful steps etched with the fury of a dragon. And Revan could only nod in response, pitying the man who sent those, looking at the beauty's back. Winning her heart? Impossible.

'Someone must've been captured by her beauty, unable to let go.' he thought, seeing the woman disappear.

Though right as Elaine entered the guild's hallway, her fickle glass world shattered, hearing a voice she had hidden deep in her heart.

"Leave, and if you dare harm him, I'll take my own life."

Tears fell down her reddened cheeks, her sparkling emerald-green eyes trembling, and though barely visible, Elaine recognized that platinum colored hair.

"Sister, you have to return."

As Elaine's disguise burned away, her true self, a fair beauty with the royal family's platinum hair emerged. Her longing eyes were sharp like a tiger's, a contrast to those trusting gentle eyes before her.

Ignoring the blood trickling down her neck, as a decorated royal sword brandished her nape, Elaine's hand reached for the back of the woman's head, bringing it close towards her chest. Her sister would never harm her.

Murderous intent, sadness, hatred, emotions swirled in her sister's trembling emerald-green eyes, as she nearly growled when speaking her next words.

"I'll return, leave the master be."

"You made the right choice, sister." said Elaine, her tone emotionless, despite her secretly fuming on the inside.

'But I will be the judge of that.'

Following that day, the guild gained a new application.

"You wish to join?"

A formal grey butler uniform, his round-glasses shining, shimmering white light as his gaze lowered towards papers on the neat wooden desk.

"The admission test is simple. Learn a single chapter from any of master's sword or magic manuals."

Sliding two books forward, he spoke in a matter-of-fact, but tired tone, as if everything besides his work was fleeting. As Elaine flipped the book open, like she did any other, the following ominous warning sent shivers down her spine.

"Only read a single chapter, I can't guarantee your sanity otherwise."

Though she soon understood. Opening that book changed her world forever. Her mind spun as Elaine felt as if she entered her mind, entering a ceilingless cave in another dimension. Stars flickered in the space around her, some nearby, and some far away. Her head shot back, when through the sound of water droplets hitting the stone floor and surging winds, she heard a voice call her name.

"Elaine?"

But what she witnessed, caused cold chills to crawl down her spine.

A towering dragon's gaze looked down at her, its whole profile blackened, except for those burning crimson eyes and razor-sharp, white teeth.

"You wish to learn my magic?" It spoke with a growl harboring disinterest.

"Unworthy human..."

Mana enveloped Elaine. It felt as if every fiber in her body exploded, as if the surrounding energy infiltrated her being, causing a splitting headache. But just before death, a strand of life returned, as she came to, panting as though she recovered from drowning underneath a vast ocean. Silently sitting in that same chair, before that same gentleman. The ticking clock only showed that a minute passed.

"Welcome to the guild, Laine." Spoke the man once more, congratulating her, his head never rising from the paperwork littering his desk. Though this time, a faint smile suggested that he knew.

Elaine's shocked eyes couldn't hide their surprise, staring down at her trembling hand, now showing traces of lingering dragon mana. The same wielded by that dragon which she had met before.

"Impossible." she couldn't help but mutter. Was all of that real?