“What the hell?!” said Miriel to this sudden darkness all of a sudden. They were all in pitch darkness here with no source of light.

To this Lyndis then suddenly thought, 'Wait, can't I just use fire magic to make some light?'

“Pocket Fireball!” said Lyndis. However nothing happened at all, her mana didn't even decrease at all if the spell failed, she just didn't even activate the spell in the first place.

“What the...” Lyndis muttered, “I can't use any of my skills”, Lyndis again tried with 'Fire Blade' and even 'Life Burn' but they didn't even work at all. It was as if in here they couldn't use skills or spells at all.

“Hey guys, what will we do now?” asked Lyndis.

“....”

“Guys?”

“....”

There was in unusual silence for some reason. Lyndis moved around for a bit trying to feel their presence at least but there was no one there at all. She was all alone....

However then Lyndis felt that there was someone there.

“Hello?” asked Lyndis in the general direction of the other person.

“Useless.”

“Huh?”

“You're useless!”

“....”

There was a sudden mental shock to Lyndis as her memories were opened up like a old door being smashed down without warning from an intruder.

“Can't you do this right?!” the voice shouted at Lyndis from all directions.

“No...no...no....” muttered Lyndis no Maria, “Not again....no....no....I don't want this....”

Maria did not want to be useless, did not want to be abandoned again....again.

'Please don't abandon me again......'

There was only despair here.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Miriel was now for some reason separated from the others and in a school classroom. She recognised this place.

“No....” Miriel muttered before she tried to escape from this immediately. However no matter how much she tried to pull open the door, it would not open. She then took a chair and tried to smash open the window to escape but even the chair would not move.

“No! No!” Miriel shouted in a frenzy.

She punched the window but it did not break at all. Then the surroundings changed and she was standing in front of a desk that was covered with all kinds of things. Graffiti, garbage and insults were just the start of it.

Miriel recognised it easily. It was her desk after all.

“Why.....?” 'Why would this game show me this?'

Then Miriel noticed that there were other people around her. Her 'classmates'. All of them stared at her with no feelings of wrong in their hearts. They were in the 'right' while Miriel...no Hina was in the 'wrong'. It was 'natural' after all since they were 'always right' and Hina was 'always wrong'.

“Shut up!” shouted Hina as she picked up the chair that did not budge one bit before and threw it at 'them'. The chair hit some people and they disappeared but they were replaced by more people just like the others.

'I'm alone.....alone here.....alone......alone.....alone.....'

There was only despair here.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Serena was in a dorm that she had lived in most of her life. There she found some small happiness but that soon changed.

“Isn't this....?” said Serena looking around. She had fond memories of this after all so she was quite happy. She explored the place for a while and noticed that it was all nice and clean which made her quite happy indeed. She skipped around remembering things and eventually got to her room.

When she opened it....

“Wha...”

She was suddenly kicked in without mercy into the filth filled place that was completely ruined. Every piece of furniture item were either destroyed or wrecked. The walls were covered in graffiti of insults reminding Serena....Grace of how small and weak she was.

“Bitch!”

“Loser!”

“Go Die!”

Words filled everywhere Grace could think of. There was no escape to the words and the stare from the eyes that covered the walls like a horror film. Then the walls themselves spouted out mouths that were the source of the words.

“NOOOOOOOOO! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” screamed Grace.

She kicked and clawed at the doors and walls but no matter what she did, she could not get out, escape from this.

“Hic....No......please.....stop.....” Grace started sobbing on the ground on her knees to the wall.

There was only despair here.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Raven was in a dark alley way.

Bang!

He had no weapons or armour on here.

Bang!

He was not Raven here but Mark right now.

Bang!

And he was being beaten up to the point of near death by those he once 'knew'. They attacked him because he performed better than them, looked better than them and was liked by the girls better than them. That was all the reason they needed to turn on him.

“Die you trash!”

Bang! Bang!

A group of 5 people were beating him right now with no end to come. There were other people watching this play out. His other 'classmates', who just looked on not helping at all.

“....”

Mark stared at them.

“What?! You want some more?” said one of those 5 people with scorn before pouring some dirtied filth on him and kicking him some more.

“....”

Mark did not talk but his thoughts were flaring out at each and every one of them.

'I will kill you....kill you all for this....will not.....will not forgive....no matter the time....will not forgive....'

Inside of Mark came about an unremovable darkness that will never fade. Towards those who attack him. Towards those who just watch on never to act, just to protect themselves. And to this horrible world that drags others down with them and stomp them below. Then Mark saw his teacher....someone who should help him right now.

However...

“Look what we have here” the teacher's face was filled with malice to the point it distorted, “You trash! You bastard!”

Bang! Bang!

And so the one who should have protected him acted against him. No...he was the one who started this in the first place since Mark's future would've been better and brighter than his own.

“..........why?” Mark could only mutter while he was still being attacked and beaten down.

There was only despair here.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Shadow was in a large room filled with people he knew who were talking away to each other for some reason. They all looked happy as they converse. He recognised each and every one of them and talked to most of them.

Shadow walked to one of them, a boy in his early teens, a friend of Shadow as he called out to him.

“Hey!”

However there was no response at all. Realising that something was wrong Shadow approached his friend and tapped him on the shoulder but again no response.

“Hey! Are you there!” said Shadow quite annoyed right now.

Then his 'friend' turned around with a look that Shadow....Ian knew. It was filled with void towards him like he wasn't there at all. Like he never existed to this 'person' to begin with.

“Who are you?” his 'friend' asked.

“.....Ah....”

Ian now remembered completely. He ran to another person and shook them, this person was someone who lived in the same place as him for a while.

'He should remember me!' Ian thought.

Again the void look was all that was there with a question.

“Who are you?”

Ian tried again and again with more and more people. But the same look towards him and the same question.

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?”

“No...NO! WHY CAN'T YOU REMEMBER ME?! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE ME?!” screamed Ian into the distance which was filled with people that did not acknowledge his existence itself.

There was only despair here.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Sain was in a school at one of the classrooms. There was a strange feeling about this place that Sain couldn't place. It was as if he was here before.

“It.....”

There was a voice on the other side of the room. For some reason the person was dressed in complete black and the classroom changed to a funeral place.

“It was your fault!” a person screamed at Sain not Peter.

“What...?” Peter looked on in disbelief. He slowly remembered this from before...

“Everything is your fault!”

“This is your fault!”

“You are the one responsible!”

More and more people showed up in this place all cursing him. Peter remembered this incident. Some people from the orphanage did something reckless and someone died while Peter was not watching over them. He had no responsibility over them at all and was helping other kids out at the time.

However...

“Go die!”

“If it weren't for you, he would still be alive!”

Peter was blamed for the entire things by those involved without warning. The adults believed the lies that were made and soon the 'truth' went out and Peter was the one to 'blame'. He wasn't even there at all, had no relation to those people at all. Not once did he even talk to them and just he was blamed.

Those who told the truth were made into 'liars' with all their so called 'lies'. The 'truth' and 'lie' was twisted to the point that even the police was involved. By the time to 'truth' was removed and the 'lie' was revealed, everyone already excepted the 'lie' as the 'truth'. They were taught all about the 'truth' that happened by those 'responsible'.

He did not even have a chance at all.

He was the one who had to be blamed just because he better than the others in teaching and leading them.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!” Peter let out a screamed filled with all of his emotions at once.

There was only despair here.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Gen appeared at the place outside the trial area where the other five were. He tried to ignore the screams from in the room and went to talk to the others who also tried to ignore the screams of despair that came within. It reminded them of what happened to them as well.

“So....how long has it been?” asked Gen.

“An hour” replied Park with a look of extreme displeasure though with acceptance to the current situation.

The trial was in it's essence, the breaking down of a person. From their deepest darkness, everything was exposed to them. Everything from the most relatively minor thing to the worst things that happened in your life. Every bit, even the ones you tried to forget comes back at you here. Many....no most people are completely broken afterwards with only those who came back in only a few pieces were permanently scared.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The scream was heard by all of them.

“What the hell did that Eden do?!” asked Gen in anger to Anna and Park who were with Eden when he changed the trial.

“He made it so it only showed the worst over and over again” replied Anna without a care.

Gen paled.

This meant that for an hour, they were being shown their worst nightmare literally. Before Gen could speak another word however, the stone door opened signalling the completion of the Trial.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Sain, Raven, Shadow, Miriel, Lyndis and Serena walked out of the room in which the trial was. Their eyes were void of emotions and they staggered to the slightest thing. On their right hands were glowing symbols that were engraved on due to the trial they faced. The shine itself was contradictory to the actual experience they went through to get the marks.

“....you guys” muttered Gen seeing them.

The masters however could only look in shock and deep regret, well to be precise only half of them did. The other half simply accepted it in the end though a bit of emotion was stirred in even them due to their looks right now. They were shocked in what state they were in and regretted even forcing them to take the trial even if it was an order.

However before they could do anything, a certain person appeared in between them. A person who suddenly teleported here just before. This person was Eden who was behind all of this.

“Well looks like you guys passed! Good job!” said Eden enthusiastically.

There was only rage in the hearts of the masters now seeing their disciples like this. Why did they have to suffer like this? What purpose was having them, so young experience THAT trial of all things.

“What have you done?!” demanded Gen in rage.

Eden looked and stared him and the others down easily while the others did not react at all. Then Eden let out a smile and said, “Don't worry, I'll just use the same method as last time. Well you lot didn't remember completely after this but decades down the effectiveness disappears and they will remember either way.”

Eden snapped his fingers and a bright light shown there. A light that removed everything that the user desired, even memories itself. One of the 3 Ultimate Light skills that was directly taught by the Elemental Lord of Light...no it was better to say that Eden stole the technique.

“Fairy Law....” muttered Jenny recognising the spell even though it was only a faction of it's true power.

Then light came back in the eyes of Sain and the others with the power of the spell in place. Sealing the nightmares, the darkness in their hearts once more.

“Where....?” muttered Sain as he looked around confused.

The others as well looked very confused on what happened.

“We just went in that room and now....?” said Lyndis.

“It feels like something is missing” said Miriel.

Raven added in, “Like something is being blocked out.”

“The memories from when we went in and till now...” said Shadow.

“What just happened...?” asked Serena.

“Whatever it was, it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth....a very very bad taste for some reason....” said Sain frowning very hard to the point that it could be mistaken as a look of disgust.

“Good good, you're all back!” said Eden by excited now.

“Who are you?” asked Lyndis bluntly.

“I'm Eden” he replied without much care to the rudeness of her words with a smile.

“Why are you here? And what relationship do you have with our masters?” asked Miriel next with a slightly respectful tone seeing her master's face towards this person.

“Oh, I'm their Guildmaster. A long time ago they referred to me as 'Master' as you do to them now.”

“So....you are the Grandmaster....?” muttered Miriel in her thoughts as well now. Seeing that this was a great time to ask things now since this person seems to be want to answer the group's questions, Sain asked:

“Why are you here?”

Eden looked happy and then said with a serious tone, “The reason I'm here....well there are a lot of reasons but the easiest way to say this is that I want you lot to join my Independent Guild!”

A message appeared in front of the group collectively.

Guildmaster Eden has requested for you to join his Independent Guild 'The Sleeping Sheep Centre'

Do you accepted?

Note that all of you have to join or refuse this offer.

“!”

The group stared in disbelief. There was something wrong with this but...

“Ah! You're that woman from before!” shouted Serena in realisation of the person who she didn't see for a total of more than 2 months in game. Although Eden was now in a regular set of clothes that rid her(his) gender, Serena was still able to identify Eden was 'that woman'.

“Yep, you remembered me” replied Eden with a smile on his face seeing that one of the people her held an interest in and helped out before throwing her to Mel remembered him. There was no signs of malice or any other negative emotions that could harm the group.

Seeing Serena's reaction to this 'Eden' person, Sain had quickly decided the answer since it was too good to pass. However there was something else that he was worried about. To be precise it was from the advice Simon the butler gave before.

“Don't be interesting else you might catch the eye of Eden.”

However Sain did not follow recognise the usefulness of such advice to him and the others.

'Joining an Independent Guild would help us a lot. There are so many benefits in joining one even a small one but most importantly, this person seems to be a nice person. Plus she has the approval of Serena...so she helped her before maybe? Either way, it's better to accept than reject thus offer that's too good to be true' thought Sain quickly in his head.

Sain looked to the others and immediately understood what their answer will be.

“We accept!”

You and your party have joined the Independent Guild 'The Sleeping Sheep Centre'

With this message saying that they accepted, Eden was the first to say something.

“Welcome to the Sleeping Sheep Centre otherwise known as the S.S Centre!”

This was the beginning of their journey for better or worse.

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

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Author's Notes:

- Well this is the end...for the first volume that is. This was more enjoyable than I thought trying to write about regular players instead of a over powered monster Eden was...though he is a key part of this story as well but as a mentor and not as an actor....well not until a long time later on in this series. Writing this series takes much longer than the last since it is around 20+ pages each chapter though it only goes to around 10K words in the end, more likely to be less than that since battle scenes don't take that many words.

- On another note....Eden....always been a dick to people hasn't he....well it has been 100 years to him and a lot of things changed.

- Either way, I'm going to post the prologue for volume 2 tomorrow.