Maximus,Virgil, Ruby, and Amethyst made up an A ranked party. They grew up together in this city. The city of Vandalia. Ruby and Amethyst were identical twins, and their parents named them after gems, because they were the most precious things to them. There was no physical difference between the two, but they acted differently which made it easy to tell them apart whenever they spoke. Maximus and Virgil were best friends. They were met when they were 4 and were attached to each other ever since.

Their contracts weren’t ordinary either. Maximus, contracted a Nemean Lion, which was noted for it’s impenetrable defense. In turn, most of his magic was based around enhancing his body and defense. Virgil contracted with a Hydra. A being that was not only hard to kill, but also had a number of tools to destroy everything within it’s reach. The hydra’s magic was based on regeneration as well as a number of different elements, including fire, water, and lightning.

The twins had similar summons to each other. Ruby summoned a coveted Phoenix, while Amethyst summoned a Cryophoenix. The two had opposite summons and both had extremely good control over their respective element.

They met in school, which taught magic and survival, as well as basic academics. There the four grew up to be astounding talents. They were strong on their own and could work as a team perfectly. Their coordination when it came down to taking down an enemy was frighteningly good. Maximus and Virgil served as the vanguards, the ones who were at the lead of the fight. While the two vanguards took the initial attacks, the twins would stay back and cast magic from a distance. If something happened to get close they would use their daggers skillfully, and create distance.

They entered the guild at the age of 16, and kept getting stronger ever since. 4 years later they’re already A ranked. This kind of speed with ranking up was almost unheard of. Usually some parties would be stuck at D and C for several years, and sometimes even B rank for the rest of their lives.

This talented and powerful group almost made it to the top in about 4 years. They were a little arrogant, but they had the power to back it up. They were well known and respected. S rank was within their reach, if only they could figure out how to do the quest. “Clear the Labyrinth.” There were hundreds of floors and to clear it, they would have to make it all the way to the bottom.

The group wasn’t in a rush and usually took it a day at a time. When they had passed Noctis and Lux, they didn’t even bother to memorize how they looked. Those two were just two more people that wanted to become great adventurers. People like that were a dime a dozen. However they didn’t imagine that a short few months later, they would see such an amazing spectacle.

The two had wings and were fighting. They had clashed swords. The girl’s sword gave off a brilliant white light, while the boy’s emitted a dark light that made the dead of night even darker. As soon as the light faded away. A strong gust of wind dispersed from the duo’s collision, almost knocking the group over.

They quickly realized that they were seen, and looked at each other with eyes of regret. The two didn’t bother trying to escape, because they had already been seen. It wasn’t as if they were being hunted anyway.

They descended and retracted their wings, which vanished without a trace. They approached the group with heavy steps. It didn’t seem like they were angry, but more that they were disappointed in themselves. The boy was the first one to talk.

“Hey, I’m N-Dusk. This is Dawn. I hope you can do us a favor by not mentioning this to anyone.” He had a strained smile on his face.

“Dusk and Dawn huh,” Maximus, looked at them both with his bright green eyes and smiled, “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Maximus. I like to say that I’m the leader of this party.” He quickly introduced himself. He was frightened by them at first, but after seeing that these two had no intention of hurting him or his team, he became friendly. It was more than likely that the duo had more than enough strength to wipe them clean off this realm, but didn’t.

“This is Virgil. He’s a bit more on the quiet side. These two are the twins, Ruby and Amethyst. You can tell them apart because Ruby is more eloquent, and Amethyst is a lot more... loudmouthed.” He regretted saying that last word less than a second later, when his arm was met with a punch. Not that it hurts, since his skin was stronger than steel, it was the thought that counts.”

Amethyst began to mutter to herself, inaudible to anyone else. It was likely cursing Maximus for making a comment in front of people they’ve never met before.

Virgil was the first one to break the silence after that awkward scene between the two. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.” Not one to mince words, he got straight to the point. The other 3 nodded in agreement. A noticeable wave of relief washed over Noctis and Lux, as some tension had dissipated.

Virgil reached his hand out. Noctis looked at it confused before realizing that it was a gesture. After an awkward beat, they shook hands. Maximus made a suggestion to the two. “Why don’t we walk back to the city together? You two clearly aren’t from around here. We can show you around tomorrow, how about that?”

Noctis had a confused look on his face and asked, “Someone else said that, too. Do we really not look like we belong here?”

Ruby giggled a little bit and answered, “It’s not that you don’t look like you don’t belong. It’s just that people with strength around here don’t try to hide it. By intentionally trying to conceal your power, it’s easy to tell that you aren’t from this area. Although, I’m not sure where you come from based on your looks at all, since you both look vastly different.”

Her explanation was on point with what the others had been thinking. Adventurers weren’t the type of people to pretend to be weak. If they had strength they would display it one way or another. Meanwhile Noctis and Lux were trying to lay low. It would be strange if they didn’t stick out.

They accepted the proposal and then journeyed with them. They separated into two groups naturally. The three in the front consisted of Noctis, Virgil, and Maximus. While a few feet back Lux, Amethyst, and Ruby were chatting away. This was a new experience for the both of them. Neither of them really interacted with people of the same gender and age.

The guys were sharing stories of their adventures with Noctis. They recollected the time where they faced off against an Orc. It almost killed all of them, and with enough, it’s injuries eventually added up and then it died. It was far off from what Noctis usually did, but it was still an interesting story to listen to. Maximus did most of the telling, and every now and then Virgil gave a tid bit of information that would otherwise be missed.

Meanwhile, Lux had slightly different versions of the same story. Amethyst did most of the telling, and then Ruby would stop her from getting sidetracked, like she usually did. For example, she would be talking about how they were fighting the orc, then that would somehow transition to how she got her name. As to how she got there was a mystery in and of itself.

None of them really tried to pressure the two to tell them anything. Seeing as they were keeping their power a secret, there was probably also a number of things that they had no interest in sharing with people they just met.

There was however one thing that the twins couldn’t help but ask Lux. Unsurprisingly, Amethyst was the one to ask the question. “What exactly is your relationship with Dusk? It doesn’t look like you’re siblings, but your names are related.”

She had the right idea, but the wrong reasoning. Ruby then whispered in her ear, “Their names are likely aliases, their real names probably aren’t Dusk and Dawn..” It wouldn’t be farfetched to think that people who hold many secrets aren’t willing to give out their real names.

Lux started to blush. She didn’t know what to say to that. She wasn’t exactly sure what her relationship was with him. She was sure that they cared about each other, but didn’t know what to say. Since she had no idea how to answer, and didn’t want to, she simply looked down to hide her blushing face.

Although they weren’t expecting that reaction they decided not to press on the matter for the time being. Instead they began to talk about what they liked to do in their free time. Ruby enjoyed knitting quietly whenever she had a chance. While Amethyst liked to practice cooking. They turned to ask Lux what she liked to do whenever she had free time, she simply responded with, “I usually just train.”

That response wasn’t what they were expecting. Lux had a very delicate appearance and looked like someone who wouldn’t do much physical activity. She was like a flower that couldn’t be imagined fighting. However they both saw the monstrous strength she possessed when she was facing off with Noctis. In response to their look of shock she said something that she probably shouldn’t have in a fluster. “I’m not really that strong. I can’t even begin to compare to Noct.”

“Whose Noct?” That question left their mouths simultaneously. The realization of what she said passed over her face. And then promptly smacked her palm against her head.