Garden Of The Abyss

"On one condition."

Noah halted Nikko before he got too excited, raising a single finger in front of the man's face.

"And that is…?"

The leader of the guild's question was left without an answer for a few moments as the drunken man stared at him.

The breath that left the man's maw was unsavory, to say the least; the repugnant aroma of booze emitted from his mouth as the redness of liquid filled his cheeks.

"Clear my tab…and a year of free booze."

"One month."

Nikko quickly countered his offer—little hesitation was had as he heard the number presented.

A year of free booze for Noah is a trap! This man is a bottomless pit of booze! Nikko thought.

"Six."

Gesturing with his bottle of liquor, Noah counteroffered the counteroffer with his rosy, alcohol-tinged cheeks.

"Three and I'll throw in a bottle of Dragon's Moon."

"Deal!"

Noah accepted with excitement, chugging down the rest of his bottle before letting out a satisfied sigh.

Watching this silently, Kazuya could only find himself perplexed by the eccentricity of both men as Fai laughed, standing up.

"Looks like it's settled then. When are you heading out?"

"Tomorrow night. We're all set and ready to go, but our...partners aren't."

Nikko seemed a bit miffed bringing this up as he crossed his legs, looking up towards the ceiling.

"Partners? Did you bring on more members? You're really pulling everything out for this one, huh?"

"No, this quest is too big to be handled by one guild, or so my employer has said. Handling this mission alongside us will be, unfortunately, another guild...Reid."

Hearing this answer from the leader of the Sky Dragon Conglomerate, Fai sighed as he began to realize the meaning for all of this now.

"Reid, huh? The rival guild to yours. That's why you wanted some extra helping hands, didn't you? So you can leave Reid in the dust."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Nikko replied with a mischievous smile as he flicked his glasses up for a moment, though it was clear what Fai's words meant on the bridge of truth.

"Anyway…"

Sitting up and adjusting the collar of his coat, Nikko set his barely-visible eyes behind his glasses on Kazuya, who remained few of words as always.

Extending his hand, the eccentric, young leader of the guild smiled, "Welcome, temporarily, to the Sky Dragon Conglomerate, Kazuya."

Accepting the gesture, Kazuya gripped the man's hand, but was greeted with a tighter grip than his own, as if being pinned between two, unmoving walls. It was a surprising amount of strength coming from the slender, jovial man, but Kazuya kept his composure.

"Thanks for having me."

With that alliance sealed, it wasn't the only one being made within the Hollow Foundation, and not the only one being created with a member of the Outlanders.

As Nikko had surmised the strength of an Outlander on his side would turn the tides, so did his rival, who sat in his chamber of leisure all the same with orderly, stacked paperwork sitting on his desk.

After spending a minute signing paperwork with a quill pen, the leader of Reid who looked no older than his early twenties, same as Nikko, lifted his head as his honed, hazel eyes sat on the guest sitting in front of his desk.

"Apologies for the wait. As you can see, I am quite encumbered with paperwork at the moment."

Even in his time of leisure within his office, Liam presented himself in the militaristic uniform famously attached to the guild, loosely wearing his large, commanding coat over his shoulders that had its shoulderpads decorated with crimson laces.

"It's alright. Just tell me what it is you called me here to talk about."

Sora leaned back in the oak chair much smaller than his own body, wearing a casual, black top with baggy, gray sweatpants as his vermilion locks were damp and loose as if just coming back from a bath.

"Straight to the point--I can respect that. I'd like to hire you as a temporary member of Reid for the duration of our next mission; it is a direct mission from Lord Ferstaus himself."

"Yeah, yeah--none of that matters until I know just what kind of quest this is. You're just wasting both of our time until you get down to the nitty gritty of it. Spill it, Liam."

Sora pressed for information as he folded his muscular arms across his chest, maintaining eye contact with the pragmatic eyes of the stoic leader of Reid.

The only noise filling the stagnant silence in the room was the faint breaths of the lit candles, filling the orderly office with an orange hue.

After a moment, Liam smiled marginally before chuckling to himself, "I was getting to it, but I can see with an experienced adventurer like yourself, we can skip the formalities. This mission is a hunt. A very significant hunt, at that."

"Okay, then what're we hunting, exactly?"

Sora asked this, a question that caused Liam to fall silent for a moment as he stared at the man as if asking if he was prepared for such information.

"We're hunting the Bixi."

"Bixi? Am I supposed to know what the hell that is?"

"No, I suppose not. I didn't know until Lord Ferstaus told me about it. It's a creature located in Jinyue; though, it's a bit disingenuous to just describe it as that...the Bixi is one of the principal creatures of that region."

As Liam explained this, he unsealed a small, beige journal, opening it to a page that exhibited a sketch of the aforementioned creature; a serpentine dragon with a body armored by what looked like a thick exoskeleton.

Looks weird, but that's par for the course around here. Jinyue, though?...Sora thought.

"Jinyue? Wait, wait, isn't that place completely off-limits to outsiders? What the hell does Ferstaus want with something like that?"

Sora asked while the young head of Reid retrieved the journal, sliding it in the pocket on the chest of his orderly uniform.

"I can only tell you that if you agree to join Reid on this quest."

The serious words from Liam were taut; Sora knew the man well, and knew he meant what he said. Maybe it was curiosity, but maybe he was already set on joining the quest--either way:

"Fine, fine! I'll help you with whatever the hell this is!"

Sora ruffled his own locks as he announced his temporary alliance with a bit of reluctance, but Liam seemed pleased with the answer as he smiled subtly, tapping his white gloves against the furbished table, signalling towards the contract that had already been placed before the Outlander.

"Really?"

The vermilion-haired man asked with a squint of his eyes as he looked up from the contractual parchment.

"I can't take just a word said in the heat of the moment."

With no other choice, Sora begrudgingly signed his name on the contract using the feathered quill, handing it off to the leader of Reid as the man rolled up the contract, stamping it with the sigil of the guild before finally, their conversation resumed.

"Alright, spill the beans already."

"As you may already know, Lord Ferstaus is quite an enigmatic one; he likes to leave things up to the imagination--so, even I don't have all the information. With that said, he gave me three main reasons pertaining to the purpose of this hunt: first, the shell of the Bixi is extremely valuable and can be used to make highly durable armor. Secondly, this mission is originally a request from the emperor of Jinyue himself, given to the Hollow Foundation to handle--"

While Liam explained the circumstances of the quest, Sora lit up as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, completely interrupting the man.

"So we aren't trespassing into Jinyue and giving them a reason to go to war with us? That's a relief."

"You signed the contract thinking that?...Anyway, the Bixi has suddenly become incredibly aggressive; burning fields, livestock, and even people--it hasn't stopped there either. Obviously, the emperor wants to put a stop to this, but dragons in Jinyue are highly revered. Not only would it hurt his reputation if he were to slay the Bixi, but it's likely mobilizing a force to put it down would result in even more death."

It was a significant realization for Sora that came from the taut words of the leader of Reid, now feeling a sense of urgency and danger to the quest he otherwise thought little of.

"You're saying even an organized force could fail to seize it? Just how strong is this thing, actually?"

"Hard to say; there is little known about Jinyue, and even less about their renowned dragons. However, the dragons that inhabit that land are different from ones you've encountered; the dragons of Jinyue are deities. It goes without saying that one of them poses a threat with at least a phantasm rank."

Liam spoke as he opened the journal once more, reading the foreign text through the usage of a simple deciphering spell.

"Wait-- what was the third reason for this? You didn't mention it."

"Right. The emperor of Jinyue didn't actually offer any sort of reward on his part for the slaying of the Bixi, but instead gave an incentive to the Hollow Foundation: claim to the blood of the Bixi. If he offered something, he'd basically be admitting he welcomed the slaying of the revered deity; that wouldn't fly over well."

As Liam answered, his tone fell as if discussing something even more pivotal than the previous points.

So the emperor really wants this done without any connection to himself? Sora thought.

"Blood of the Bixi? What good does that do for anyone?"

Sora asked as he glanced at the journal, unable to decipher any of the text himself as he quickly gave up on that path.

"That's where my knowledge ends, I'm afraid. However, I think there is a more important matter you'd like to know: the reward."

Liam's alluring words brought in a curious gaze from Sora, who raised an eyebrow as he leaned a bit closer.

"I'm listening."

"One thousand hollow coins...for the triumphant guild, that is."

Such a number drew excitement from the bulky Outlander as he whistled, but soon caught on to the second half of Liam's words.

"Wait, triumphant guild?"

As Sora asked this, the man nodded in response, "That's right. Lord Fertsaus handed this quest to both Reid and the Sky Dragon Conglomerate."

"It's a bit unprofessional to hire two guilds for the same task, right? Especially leaving the reward for only one…Is the Bixi that strong?"

Sora furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the umber ceiling, trying to gauge just how dangerous the mythical dragon actually was.

"It is, but the reason for having both guilds on the job isn't the strength of the Bixi, per say."

"It isn't?"

"Like I said—this is a hunt. We need to find the Bixi, and there are no reports on its movements—it could be anywhere within Jinyue."

Liam spoke as he held his hands together, resting his chin atop the silken, white fabric of his gloves.

Ruffling his hair, Sora exhaled, "So we're searching blindly through an entire country?"

"That's right; to make matters more problematic, the Bixi possesses a couple skills that make it quite slippery, apparently."

"Oh yeah?"

As Sora said this with intentions of getting more information, Liam nodded towards the journal.

"It apparently can shapeshift into other animals, though it retains a tortoise shell atop its back when doing so. So it's able to attack from anywhere, unsuspectedly."

"Scary, I think I'm starting to understand. When are we heading out?"

"Tomorrow night, if that's alright with you? This isn't a short-term mission; it may take a few days, a week, or even months--I've ordered supplies to accommodate for those possibilities."

Liam looked at the red-haired otherworlder for an answer. Though, knowing the boisterous, self-proclaimed knight of the Outlanders, an answer was already known.

"I'm ready to go anytime. I've got nothing better to do, anyway. Let's get this party started!"

Sora slapped his own bicep as he rose from his seat, holding a gleaming smile as a new goal was presented to him.

"Oh, one more thing."

Stopping himself before leaving, Sora smiled as he spoke, looking at the leader of the guild, who returned his glance with an inquisitive one.

"What is it?"

"You don't mind if Sirius comes along, do you?"