The surroundings filled up with murmurs and curious stares as the group gazed upon the multiple floating displays. There were various ranking categories, with some named more straightforwardly than others. For instance, ‘most popular Guild’ was clear and to the point, while ‘Rising Stars’ felt a bit more vague.

In the middle of ‘most members’ and ‘most missions successfully completed’ rested the ‘most popular members’—but what had surprised the group were the top three people listed in it.

Claiming the first spot was Lucretia, from the Casanova Guild. Her goth-punk vibe and gorgeous looks, coupled with her amazing skills, seemed to make her a great hit among the public.

In second place was Zarya, from the Flaming Fists’ Guild. Her innocent act, cutesy appearance, and the contrast between her and her rougher Guildmates was likely a big factor in her popularity.

In the third position, and the cause of their astonishment, was Lilithra Vexeria, though she didn’t have a Guild alongside her name. The girl herself was looking at her name with an incredulous look, probably the most confused of the group by far.

Ascalon, on the other hand, felt a surge of glee as he realized Lilithra was being appreciated by a lot of people! It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Selorien, whose name rested at fifth place, let out a pleased gasp as he patted Lilithra’s shoulder.

“Nice going, Lil!” He said in a half-joking manner, a mix of both happiness and teasing. Lilithra was the only one that looked entirely conflicted, her brows furrowed into a concerned expression.

“How? and why?!” She blurted out with a panicked voice, her gaze darting around. “I’m not even in a Guild!” She added as a matter of fact. Ascalon titled his head at her words, pondering over their significance.

If he understood correctly, these rankings were meant for Guilds and their members. If so, why was Lilithra there? Was it because she was creating her own Guild? Or perhaps because she had been part of one before? Ascalon wondered about these things, as Lilithra grabbed his arm and abruptly pulled him forward.

“L-let’s go meet Mr. Kain!” She exclaimed as she quickly fled from the rankings, with Selorien hurrying to catch up with them.

“Relax, Lil.” The elf spoke as he joined them. Lilithra glanced at him over her shoulder, shooting him an irritated stare.

“How can I relax?! That’s too high up for someone like me!” Her words cut the air with self-deprecation, and that didn’t sit well with Ascalon.

“You are not a nobody!” He retorted, his tone upset. Lilithra blushed slightly, shook her head, and replied.

“But still! It makes no sense!” She was intent on denying her popularity, and Selorien was thoroughly amused.

“Well… after what you did in the colosseum…” Selorien began contemplating, his voice ringing with a bit of mischievousness. “It’s not that surprising!” He giggled to himself. Ascalon, still being dragged away by Lilithra, nodded in agreement at the elf’s words.

“I agree. You showed everyone present a glorious fight! I am sure they were all moved by your kindness and fighting spirit alike.” The knight’s compliment made her already flushed face redden even further as tightened her grip on him.

“Augh.” Lilithra whimpered with conflictive thoughts swirling in her mind, and then gasped in realization. “Ah! We didn’t even check the dungeon clearing rankings!” She groaned as she navigated the hallways, with Ascalon chuckling as he let himself be guided.

A bit later, they found themselves once again in Kain’s company, who looked at them with an inquisitive gaze. His demeanor toward them had noticeably changed over the days, from his early irritation and grumpiness to a calmer, more respectful attitude. Ascalon wondered if it was because they had shown themselves worthy, though he wasn’t about to voice his doubts.

Just as they settled in their respective seats, the Canidae spoke up. “Congratulations on successfully completing the second test.” Kain said as he flicked his fingers in the air, manipulating his network interface.

Lilithra beamed with happiness at the Canidae’s words, just as he continued. “But don’t drop your guard just yet—you can still be denied the Guild creation if you fail the third test.” Kain warned as he narrowed his eyes, not allowing even a moment of relaxation for the group.

Selorien sighed as he rolled his eyes, while Lilithra shrank in her seat, slightly dejected. Ascalon, on the other hand, smiled boldly, as he was sure they would succeed no matter what stood in their way!

“Hmm…” Kain murmured, glancing at Ascalon, as if he were sensing his determination. “Let’s cut to the chase.” He claimed as a blue screen appeared in front of the group, drawing their attention to the text displayed on it.

image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/115144661/72cddf6b9aa04a5c8bede22d0b812cfc/e30%3D/1.png?token-time=1735948800&token-hash=OQprdSqa4z0tQyJGqSwGcFGFpJxg1OBHNJhax_cfeeI%3D]

As the group examined the information, Lilithra absentmindedly pressed on the ‘confirm’ button. There was no way she would deny a quest so far into the tests, so she didn’t even have to think about it. The name of the place was familiar, as it was somewhere they had briefly ‘visited’ on their way to Starugnia, but it was another detail that preoccupied her mind.

“No time limit?” Lilithra asked curiously, a finger gently pressed on her chin. Both Ascalon and Selorien silently pondered her question, while Kain responded.

“Yes, there’s no limit this time. You have to escort the researchers until they’re satisfied…” Kain paused, a deep sigh escaping his lips. “However long that takes, as they’re an eccentric bunch.” He declared, garnering the group’s intrigue.

It seemed like a pretty straightforward, yet flexible quest, though the researchers appeared to be the uncertainty factor.

“Alright! When do we begin?” Lilithra chirped excitedly, and Ascalon smiled warmly at her. He thought she was likely eager to embark on their first escorting quest—as that was exactly the kind of mission she had decided her Guild would focus on!

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“You’ll depart in two days, around eight in the morning.” Kain replied as he stood up from his seat. “I know you’re punctual and eager, but let me remind you anyway—arrive on time.” The Canidae warned, narrowing his wolven eyes.

Ascalon nodded at the strict examiner, while Lilithra made an exaggerated salute and Selorien giggled at her. Not one for shenanigans, Kain showed the group to the exit, and they found themselves approaching the ranking displays once again.

“Ah… I could’ve asked Kain about my ranking, maybe…” Lilithra muttered as she looked up at the screens, where her name still held third place for ‘most popular’. She couldn’t deny she felt a sense of joy and excitement at being noticed by the world, yet she was too shy to fully embrace it.

As she blushed slightly, Ascalon gently placed a hand on her head, while pointing with his other hand toward another screen. There, under the ‘fastest dungeon clears’ rankings, was a text that read ‘upcoming Guild’ right at the top.

“That must be us!” The knight declared with a smile, while Lilithra clenched her fists in a pumped up motion.

“Nice!” She exclaimed as she raised her arms enthusiastically, her happiness contagious. It was endearing to see how much more elated she felt for their collective success rather than her own, so Ascalon softly caressed her hair. Lilithra stood still, relishing the affection as her blush deepened.

After a few seconds, Selorien cleared his throat with a fake cough. “Ehem. When you guys are ready we could go chill somewhere.” The elf suggested with a smirk, causing Lilithra to fidget as she awkwardly, and reluctantly, pried away from Ascalon’s grasp.

The knight chuckled as he closed his hand, the lingering sensation of Lilithra’s touch causing his heart to flutter with a strange feeling of longing. “Huh.” He muttered, unsure of what that was, before shrugging and turning back to his friends.

“Let’s go to Uncle’s, then!” Lilithra exclaimed as she led the way, casting a glance toward the rankings. Many familiar names still ruled the top of most categories, like Lucio for instance. As they left, Lilithra silently vowed to make her Guild members' names populate these rankings in the future.

The rest of the day was spent in an uneventful, cheery way. Lilithra recounted the prior events and their visit to the Musashi Academy to a highly interested Raphael, while the tiny Goddess indulged in a variety of tasty treats—as per usual.

She seemed to recover enough energy to be up and about for longer periods as the time passed, though she would still inevitably fall asleep once said energy was spent. At the very least, she had gotten used to sleeping at Lilithra’s room, and Raphael had even placed a smaller, child-sized bed for her there—something that, unsurprisingly, thrilled Lilithra.

The next day, the group of friends met at The Chalice to discuss their upcoming quest. They sat at one of the outdoor tables, even though the weather was cloudy and it seemed that it could start raining at any moment. But they couldn’t help themselves, as there was a slight, refreshing breeze that felt quite pleasant outside!

While they conversed about various topics, Lilithra broached one of the quest’s details. “So, remember the ruined land we came across when traveling to Starugnia?” She asked, causing Ascalon to ponder briefly. “Around where you defeated the kaiju!” Lilithra added with flushed cheeks, recalling Ascalon’s feat of power.

“Oh! So that is The Scorched… uh of… what was it?” Ascalon replied with an awkward smile, as he hadn’t properly memorized the name of the place from the quest window. Lilithra had accepted the quest rather quickly, after all.

“The Scorched Streets of Hedistrung.” Selorien chimed in, though his attention was divided between them and his phone. He had been playing with it non-stop since the moment they had met, and Ascalon was feeling slightly curious about it.

“Yeah, that!” Lilithra said as she eyed the elf suspiciously, likely sharing Ascalon’s interest.

“Hmm… I see. But how did it acquire such a name…?” The knight questioned with an inquisitive tone, his eye focused on Lilithra, who was usually the one to explain these kinds of things. She smiled sheepishly and cleared her throat, ready to live up to his expectations.

“Well… remember the catastrophes?” Lilithra asked, and Ascalon tilted his head as he tried to remember. It was how they called the aftermath of beasts roaming out of dungeons—or something along those lines, he recalled. He nodded resolutely, and Lilithra took it as a cue to continue.

“There was a dungeon in Hedistrung, and monsters broke free. The scale of the, uh, invasion so to speak, was so big they weren’t prepared at all… and the city was destroyed in a matter of days!” Her words carried excitement for the retelling, though her expression showed sadness about the event itself. Then, she jolted in her seat, realization spreading across her face.

“Oh, right! Both New Lumingard and Hedistrung were affected by the same catastrophe!” She revealed, causing Ascalon to gasp in surprise. There was a considerable distance between these ruins and New Lumingard, which raised many questions to Ascalon’s mind—though Lilithra continued before he could even voice them aloud.

“There were so many beasts that they roamed in all directions, and many of the biggest ones—kaiju level, supposedly—reached New… well, only Lumingard at the time!” She continued, while Selorien sighed and placed down his phone with a contented smile. It seemed he had finished his game, or whatever he was doing on his phone.

“That thing is done, Ascalon.” Selorien suddenly spoke with a smug grin on his face, confusing Ascalon momentarily. Was it perhaps Lilithra’s surprise…? Under her utterly curious stare, he decided to try and divert the conversation back on topic.

“Ehem… how did this ‘catastrophe’ come to an end?” He asked with clear interest, as he thought that such a large-scale event couldn’t simply have stopped by itself. If these creatures could race entire cities in mere days, something had to have put an end to their advance. Lilithra’s eyes sparkled with emotion as she answered with a vibrant voice.

“The Order of the Virtuous!” Lilithra proclaimed, a sense of admiration exuding from her words, with Selorien chuckling at her side. Ascalon didn’t even have the time to ponder over the information before she continued.

“They’re a group shrouded in mystery! Known for having helped those in need for a long time, way before the Gifted network was even a thing!” Lilithra closed her eyes, sighing with melancholy.

“Before you arrived, I thought they were the coolest—like living legends!” In her excitement, she unknowingly complimented Ascalon, who smiled feeling a bit bashful. Lilithra, completely unaware, kept going.

“They supposedly helped oversee New Lumingard’s rebuilding efforts, but not much is really known about them other than the rumors… and people tend to exaggerate those.” She said in a dejected voice, dropping her shoulders. Just then, Selorien chimed in.

“As far as we know, they could just be a fairytale.” Selorien broke the illusion nonchalantly, stretching his arms above his head. Lilithra narrowed her eyes, casting an irritated gaze on the mischievous elf.

“I believe the Order is real! Especially the rumor that they’re the Sanguine Island’s sealers!” She blurted out, fighting for her dreams! The knight raised an eyebrow with interest, yet once more, before he could even ask, she continued.

“Ah, the ‘Sanguine Island’ is a place filled with evil monsters and stuff… supposedly! It’s sealed with—and listen to this—giant, floating swords of light! Doesn’t that just sound incredibly awesome?!” She explained as she fidgeted in place, unable to contain her enthusiasm.

Ascalon blinked a few times as he absorbed the information. Giant swords of light serving as a seal? He had heard about similar things back in Excadia, though not in the form of giant weapons. Seals used to imprison demons and evil beings were a collaborative effort between the most powerful paladins and priests—though he hadn’t had the honor to participate in such an event.

“The Order of the Virtuous, huh?” Ascalon mused aloud, wondering if they were truly real, and if so, what kind of people they could be. Surely, they had to be of the holy alignment, so to speak, if they were in charge of keeping evil at bay—a most respectable sort, no doubt.

It was amusing that while he pondered about their existence, that same Order was already trying to meet with him—though that was an event still far ahead.

For now, they had their last test to attend to the next day!