"Master Yanda. Young Jak. Welcome back."

Two individuals sporting the red and black Sparrows uniform gave a small bow as Dante and Jak stepped their way over platforms of shattered rock.

Just ahead of the enormous, flattened hunk of charred earth the dual adventurers were standing on was an enormous canyon. In order to get to level ground, one would have to traverse a layer of brittle stone jutting out from the side, the same path that Dante and Jak had just exited.

Fresh off the slaughter of the Beast Parade, the pair of bright haired males had made their way back to the campsite of the Flaming Sparrows. Positioned about five or so kilometers away from the portal leading back to Ornera, the Guild had set up their tents and supplies in an area that wasn't easily accessible for monsters but somewhat easier for them, at the very edge of the aforementioned canyon. While going up and down the treacherous staircase was rather arduous, it deterred the volcanic beasts residing nearby from raiding and damaging their temporary living space.

Having camped in much stranger locations though, Jak hadn't been too bothered by such a situation.

"Mark. Trella. Good to see you." Dante smiled at his two subordinates as he stepped up onto solid ground. "Wasn't expecting you guys to still be around. Shouldn't you be back at camp?"

Mark rubbed the back of his head. "Master Monto instructed us to. Picked us out himself."

"Miss Hanlan was originally going to be the one to greet you..." Trella crossed her arms.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Not a chance." - Oginio

"But why? I can lead them to the desig-knotted spot. Do you not trust me, oh great Vice Captain Oggy, great ladder of the Flaming Sparrows." - Mizuroka

"You, Jak, and Dante? That's like asking for trouble. The last time the three of you worked together, you lot sent 12 nobles through a brick wall, set fire to the royal palace, and destroyed a library containing decades worth of valuable knowledge. That was 3 months ago and we're STILL trying to dish out reparations!! The answer is still a no." - Oginio

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"....but Master Monto politely declined. He sent us instead."

"Politely? Oginio?" Jak tilted his head slightly in confusion. "That doesn't sound right."

Mark laughed a little. "He may have been a little firm....give or take."

"Setting that aside, why did he leave in the first place?" Dante asked, moving past the two of them. "The plan was to head back and prepare for when me and Jakklo returned."

"A man named Anjo stopped by and talked to Master Monto about something." Mark moved to fall in line with the orange haired adventurer as he made his way towards the direction of the Rift. "I wasn't able to hear the majority of the conversation, but I was told by the Vice Captain that they were gonna head to Deryipall."

"Deryipall?" Dante frowned, a strange mixture of emotion on his face.

Jak, who was right beside him, noticed his expression but chose not to say anything, merely observing. It wasn't often that the captain of the Flaming Sparrows displayed any negative emotions, especially not the look of caution and confusion he currently wore, but when he did it was pointless to ask any questions. Dante would simply smile and tell the one inquiring not to worry about it, or he would crack a few jokes and completely change the subject. Usually both.

"Good thing it's only Deryipall," Dante chuckled, his face shifting right on cue. "Imagine if we had skipped dinner. All that winning earlier has me starving for that Ligen Pepper Chicken Alfredo."

"Winni-"-Trell

"Please don't ask-" -Jak

"-I'm so glad you asked my dear Trell." Dante gleamed, shooting a smirk towards the redhead himself. "Allow me to regale you of a tale as old as time itself.....so about 3 hours ago. A tale of strength and perseverance. A story in which our hero defied all odds and showed his opponent an unwavering will and indomitable spirit!!"

"Ugh." Jak let out a small sound of irritation before smiling a tad. "Here we go."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"Hehe. Not sure what he won but its so like him not to let it go." Mako crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm assuming you challenged him again, bonehead?"

"Yeah. On who could eliminate the most monsters."

"Did you honestly think you could win that?"

"Obviously not."

((Wait a second. You MET Dante, Kunzite? When?"))

(("Of course I did.")) Mako responded nonchalantly. (("Just a little after Jak was first saved by him in one of the dungeons on Ofidis. Me and Hadok had gone to thank-"))

(("He was saved on Ofidis??!! I thought it was...")) Psyche interrupted the Rookie in a sudden burst of excitement before the youth could even finish. (("The lore. The beautiful lore. So, you know the story of how they met? Can I get the details?? Dante was always so lackluster on the subject."))

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

(("Just ask Jak."))

(("You think that stubborn little fre starter-,"))

(("I can still hear you.")) Jak interjected.

(("Tough.")) The Buttermoth retorted.

Mako shook his head. "We can discuss things later. Let's focus on the matter at hand. What happened after you guys left....Greldoa was it? You were headed to Deryipall. I know of the world itself but I'm not sure I ever heard of that town before."

((" I have. If I remember correctly, It's a small settlement resting in close proximity to the Volcanic World of Greldoa. Due to it's short distance from such a dangerous Rift, there aren't many who live in the village due to its danger level, maybe around a few ten thousand or so. It's not important enough to be regarded as a town though or recognized as a place so it wasn't mentioned when it was eventually burned to a crisp in the Bird Massacre. The only reason it even had a name was because the villagers themselves gave it one."))

"Wait. The Bird Massacre?" Mako frowned. "I thought it happened in the forest. I don't think I saw any records-"

"That's because the town was eradicated, buildings and all." Jak shook his head. "Deryipall, it's residents, the surrounding area. All of it. Burned to the ground. The only ones who know of the location as well as any remaining residents were probably also killed shortly after. The mastermind behind the BM doesn't seem to leave any loose ends so I doubt he would've allowed anyone with in depth knowledge to live. Until now, I haven't met anyone else who knows of it."

(("So why do YOU know of it?")) Jak questioned, frowning.

(("House Raine has been around for a few centuries now. In that time, they've built up quite the repertoire of maps. Deryipall happened to be mentioned on one of them.")) Psyche paused for a moment, as if contemplating her next words carefully. (("Of course, even knowing that, even I wouldn't have been able to recall such a minor fact if it wasn't for Yokino mentioning it to me a few days before the Subjugation Mission went underway."))

"Yokino mentioned it?" Jak asked aloud.

(("It's strange. The memory is there buts it's foggy. I can't recall what brought it up but I remember that she mentioned the town and some instances regarding it."))

Jak and Mako glanced over at each other, seemingly at the same time.

"I guess you revealing your past was the correct choice." Mako walked backwards until he hit the Athrafstos wall. Crossing his legs, he plopped onto the cool metal floor. "So then. What happened next?"

Jak let out a breath.

"We made our way to Deryipall. As Psycho mentioned-"

(("Psych Cho!!"))

"-Its a small village located near Greldoa's Rift. Surrounded all on sides by dense woodlands, its actually quite isolated and would be easily missed if you weren't looking for it exclusively. Since Greldoa is a Forsaken World, it's not like anyone has any business being in that neck of the woods in the first place. For obvious reasons."

"That's probably why the BM mastermind picked that exact location," Mako commented, touching his chin. "If he zoned off the area, he could kill everyone without worrying about any witnesses or time constraints."

"Yeah."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"Here we are. Finally made it. Welcome to Deryipall."

"You say that like we didn't get lost because of your terrible directions." Jak shook his head. "I thought you've been here before."

"I have." Dante laughed. "But it's been a while. There aren't many maps that showcase how to get here, Jakklo. Gotta cut me SOME slack here."

Around 3 hours had passed since the bright haired duo had met up with Mark and Trell, and within that time, the group had finally managed to make it to Deryipall. The town wasn't extremely far from the Rift but due to its odd positioning within the woods and the lack of any indication of it on the local maps, it took Dante and group three times longer than it should have. Nevertheless, they arrived at the edge of the village just before the last vestiges of sunlight disappeared on the horizon.

"Please. You idiot. You never look at maps to begin with." Oginio rolled his eyes as he made his appearance. "If you were by yourself, you probably wouldn't have gotten here for two whole days."

"Ehehe." Dante rubbed the back of his head. "Hey Oggy. Long time no see."

The black haired Vice Captain scoffed a little before turning his attention onto Jak. "Did you manage to get proper training in? Another chance like that one might not come again for a while. It's best to stock up on experience while you can."

Jak held his hands out to the side. "The monsters weren't very strong since they had just been born, but there were enough for it to be a workout. Dante cleared out the majority of them."

"Right. You didnt challenge-"

"I did."

Oginio scowled. "And the results?"

Jak gave a nervous grin. "Ligen Pepper Chicken Alfredo."

"You some kind of maso-caustic?" Mizuroka questioned, popping up from behind the Vice Captain. "Who picks a fight they can't win? It's a such an enormous defusion."

Jak didn't even bother correcting her word choices. "Would you rather pick a fight you could win easily?"

"Yep."

"Then if I'm a maso-caustic. You're a sadi-melon."

Dante laughed. "So I guess we're just making up words now? Definitely getting points for originality."

As the small group of mages went back and forth with each other, bantering and taking playful jabs, an individual came up from Mizuroka's rear, from the direction of Deryipall's innards. Without a word, the new arrival carefully stepped his way through the others and wandered up to Dante. One by one, everyone fell silent as the plain looking individual, no doubt a resident of the town itself, gave a small bow.

"Please excuse my intrusion dear adventurers. Mister Anjo wants to talk to the Captain of the Flaming Sparrows, as well as the Vice Captain."

Dante frowned again. Jak noticed it almost immediately, this time having been actively looking for his friends reaction. It seemed that ever since Anjo had collected the Flaming Sparrows, any mention of the mysterious individual illicited a negative response from the orange haired Rift Hunter. Jak wasn't sure why since any mention before that timeframe, Dante had had only positive reactions and statements towards his longtime friend and supposed childhood rival. Just as before, he wasn't going to ask, but there was clearly something troubling the man.

Also just as before, the guild master quickly shrugged it off and smiled brightly.

"Well guys, guess that's my cue." Dante tapped Jak on the head as he walked away, Vice Captain following his lead. "Catch you knuckleheads later alright? Try not to murder each other before I get back."

"Lead them to the baths if you will Vaude," Oginio said as he passed by the villagers. "They'll be the ones helping prepare for the nights grand feast."

With those parting words, the two Rift Hunters took their leave.

"Feast?" Jak tilted his head in confusion.

"Quite." The villager known as Vaude answered the redhead almost immediately. "Your Vice Captain and Mister Anjo have been discussing the details and arrangements for a extravagant party in celebration for your successful expeditions. The funds raised from your journey will go towards the betterment of Deryipall and its people. For this, it's citizens agreed to hold a banquet and chip in to help it truly thrive."

"Were our efforts really that helpful?" Jak questioned, glancing towards Mark and Trell. "It didn't feel like we did all that much."

"It's quite alright to be confused." Mark smiled warmly. "You weren't told about the details other than what we were collecting."

As they talked, the group began a slow walk towards the baths, falling in line behind Vaude as he lead them through an assortment of twists and turns.

"Those cores we snagged are actually quite a big deal on the market due to the rarity and strength needed to claim even one of them." Mark held up his index finger. "In fact, even one of them can go as high as twenty thousand gold. Nearly a hundred times that if we're talking about the mutated core Master Yanda managed to collect."

"That much???" Jak's eyes widened. "Then why is Greldoa even a Forsaken World? It has value."

"It's an uninhabitable wasteland filled with Rift Hunter level monsters." Trell shook her head gently. "Only the strong can even afford to glance in its direction. High risk, high reward for Rift Hunters. High reward but guaranteed death for the common masses."

Mark nodded in agreement. "As for the cores, we grabbed them for Anjo, a close friend to the Guild Master and someone whose actually a local resident of Deryipall. Though he told us to grab them, it was actually for the benefit of this very village."

"Schools. Hospitals. Housing. Food. Drinking water. With the money obtained from the cores, Deryipall will be able to truly thrive rather than simply scrape by every year." Trell gazed at a passing group of laughing children, waving at them when they spotted her. "This isn't a well known place by a long shot and expanding their options will allow the residents to truly change that for the better, including becoming an actual place on Ornerian maps."

"What the two have said is true," Vaude affirmed, cutting into the conversation. "Thanks to the lot of you, we have hope for the next generation. This celebration is the least we can do for the ones who've done so much."

By this time, the group finally reached the area Oginio had sent them. It wasn't anywhere special, but it had its own appeal. A large closed off bathhouse separated by two cut off doors, one for the females and one for the males. All around, members of the Flaming Sparrows milled about, heading in and out of the building in bath robes and freshly washed guild attire. Steam curled into the air, coming out of the building and even off of some of the ones leaving.

"Well. You guys can finish disgusting the matter." Mizuroka gave Jak a wave as she walked towards the baths. "I'm gonna get a shower."

"Why didn't you take one before we got here?" Jak inquired.

"Don't worry about it short stack."