Volume 3 Chapter 4: Part 4: Arrival

"We're almost there!" Onyx smiled as he could see the walls of Advent City. He looked at Rena, "We should hire carriages whenever we travel from now on." Onyx laughed as he said this. They hired a carriage to take them back, and it was smooth sailing.

It was at the halfway point that the two got off and traveled the rest of the way by foot.

"But what about the costs?" Rena tilted her head.

"The benefits outweigh the cost here." It's ok to waste some coins if they could have a safe trip. In their carriage, other adventurers were sitting with them.

The two keep talking about it as they arrive at the gates. The guard captain noticed him, "Oh, you guys are finally back. How was your rank promotion?"

"Mmhmm. We are C-rank adventurers now, Burr." Onyx has been coming and going through here. Every time, he would take with Burr. He was the one who allowed him to use the wagon.

"Damn." Burr gasped.

"Heh, is it really that surprising?" Onyx tilted his head,

"Of course it is!" The guards quipped back instantly.

Heh. Onyx chuckled a bit before,

Hmm, what's wrong? As he bantered with the guard captain, he noticed something off. Some of the guards behind him gave Onyx a weird look.

Hostility? No. More so of caution. They were looking at Onyx with vigilance. Any move he made, and they would react instantly.

Noticing the weird expression they have, Burr shouted out, "You guys cool it! Go run some laps!" Hearing that, the guards quickly ran away.

"Sorry about that. These guys are a little on edge from seeing you."

"Seeing me?"

"Yeah." Burr looked around before he got closer to Onyx, "You should be careful in the city right now."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't know much about it. But there's a nasty rumor going around about you and the girl. So you should watch yourselves." Burr had a tense expression as he said this.

What happened? Onyx looked at Rena, and she was confused about what had happened too. He looked back at Burr,

"Thank you for the tip." Onyx didn't say anything else as he entered the city. He turned to Rena,

"Let's go back to the inn and get some rest." It was evening, and they should get something to eat and rest.

...

"Mary, we're back!" Onyx opened the doors to the inn. Seeing him walk in, Mary had a big smile on her face,

"Welcome back, Onyx! How was your quest?"

"It went nice. The quest didn't have many hitches and went smoothly. And we got C-rank now."

"That's incredible! You guys may be the youngest C-rank adventurers yet!" Mary praised them when she heard that. Becoming C-rank at their age was rare.

"Thanks. Also, I got you gifts from the Riqueza Kingdom." Onyx took out the bags and handed them over to Mary.

"You shouldn't have." Mary's smile grew, "Have you guys eaten yet?"

Onyx shook his head,

"Then sit down and eat! Your food will be ready for you in just a second." Mary didn't say more as he walked into the kitchen. As he sat down, a large rumbling sound was heard,

"Onyx, you're back!" The person who dashed towards him was none other than Rebecca!

Onyx made a light smile, "Mmhmm." He was sitting right in front of her.

Rebbecca sighed in relief, "Thank goodness. I was so worried about you when you left." But then she made a tiny scowl, "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?!"

Onyx laughed wryly, "You were sleeping during that time." The time he and Rena left was so early that nobody should be awake.

"But still." Rebecca pouted a bit, feeling wronged.

Onyx sighed, "Don't be so sad. Here." He handed a box to her. Rebecca tilted her head,

"What's this?"

"It's a souvenir I got you from our quest. I hope you like it." Onyx gave the handsome smile of a playboy.

That pout got thrown out the window! What replaced it was a beaming smile, "Thank you so much, Onyx!"

"No problem. Also, do you want to eat with us?" Onyx gestured.

"Sure! I haven't eaten at all!" Rebecca quickly sat down beside Rena. And then she noticed the hairclip,

"What a beautiful hair clip! Rena, it's the perfect match for you." Rena's expression turned red. The two girls talked about the accessories, and then it turned to their journey.

Onyx watched the two girls talking. But then he heard something weird,

"Ain't that the guy?"

"The white hair girl and a handsome brat. Tch! They're the ones."

What do they mean? Onyx could hear what the customers were saying. Even when he entered the inn, he could feel the eyes stabbing him. He didn't think about it that much as someone came to their table,

"Brats! You got some nerve coming here after what you guys did."

Huh? Onyx frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Don't try to f*ck with us!" The man slammed his hand onto the table, splitting the table in half!

Silence. Just pure silence throughout the entire inn. All eyes were on them, wondering what would go down next.

"What's going on?"

"What's going on?! You guys broke the code and tried to kill your own comrades! How dare you come back here!" The adventurer didn't even wait as he tried to punch Onyx in the face!

But why would Onyx let himself get punched?

Onyx dodged the punch and pulled the guy's arm, making him lose his center of gravity. Dropping him to the ground, he grabbed his arm, not letting him get off the floor.

He looked at the rest,

"If you guys want to be like him, then go ahead. But I won't be messing around." It's not only him ready for a fight. The others got up from their seats seeing the guy get dropped to the ground.

It was about to become a brawl.

Before anyone could make a move,

Swish!

A giant shadow flew across the room and slammed into the wall!

"...." What was that? Onyx and the rest slowly turned their eyes to see an ax.

It was abnormal. It was bigger than Onyx and Rena combined!

"What are you guys trying to pull here?" A cold voice called out to them. The person was none other than Mary. Her hands were raised in the air from throwing the ax like a baseball.

"Ms.Mar-" "Don't mess with me. Have you forgotten the number one rule of this inn? No fighting! How dare you break my table! Do you guys want to die?!" Mary roared out in anger.

"No-no!" The guys stuttered as they spoke. All the bloodlust they had before was nowhere to be found. They went from fearless lions to meek mice.

As the incident could go further,

"Onyx! Are you ok?!" Stewart came bursting through the door. But when he saw what was going on, his face paled.

I came too late.

That was what he realized as he looked at everybody cowering.

"What's up, Stewart?" Onyx said with a smile....and with the guy still under him.

"Nothing much. Just came late." Stewart sighed.

Onyx looked down, "So you know what's going on, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then tell me about it. I'm so lost." Onyx was still confused as to why he was getting targeted like this.

"Sure. That's why I came here. But can you get off of that guy first? You might snap Mord's hand off if you keep going like this."

"Ahh." Onyx completely forgot about him. But he asked, "Are you going to attack me again?"

"No! You tried to kill a fellow adventurer! I won't allow it!" Mord didn't budge as he flayed around. But to no avail; he couldn't move from his position.

"Mord, chill out. If Onyx really wanted, he could've snapped it."

Hearing this, Mord chilled out a bit. And Stewart shook his head, "You rushed in here head first, didn't you?"

"..."

"You know him?" Onyx asked,

"Yeah, he's our senior. So can you do me one and let him go."

"Fine." Onyx let Mord off. And when he got back up, he was ready to charge at Onyx again!. But,

"Mord, don't rush in again!" Stewart quickly held him back, "Do you want to get beat up by the old lady?!"

BAM!

The moment Stewart said this, it was the death sentence. The next second, Mord and Stewart went flying! They smashed into the wall, breaking through and landing outside.

"How dare you! Who are you calling an old lady?!" Mary pouted as she said this.

"..."

How strong is she?! Onyx did not expect Mary to be this strong! But the bigger question he had was;

Are they dead? Everybody wanted to figure out whether or not Mord and Stewart survived?

...

A couple minutes later,

"You guys should be better now," Muriel said as she patched up Mord and Stewart. The rest of Scarlett Lynx arrived.

"You're a lifesaver, Muriel." Stewart sighed in relief. He thought he was going to die from the impact.

"Thanks." Mord did the same too.

"No prob. Just don't do anything stupid like that again." When they came, they were outside the inn. When Stewart and Mord came flying out, their jaws dropped to the ground in shock!

"You guys better pay for that wall." Mary, on the other hand, was still angry.

"..." But you were the one who broke it. Mord and Stewart wanted to say this, but they didn't. Not unless they want to get beat up again.

"Anyways." Onyx ignored their scared looks and asked, "So what's going on again?" With what Mord said before, something happened while they were away.

"Start talking because I'm confused about why people kept giving me the stink eye."

"....You really don't know?" Seeing the confusion plastered on Onyx's face, Mord became skeptical. He could tell from his expression that it was genuine.

"Yeah. I just came back, and I don't know what's happening. So spill it already."

"I'll say it." Stewart turned serious, "There's a rumor around the city that you and Rena broke the adventurer's code."

"Hah?!" Broke the adventurer's code? When did they have time to do that?

"Thought so." Stewart grabbed his head, "Do you know anything about Vinnie and Blaine?"

"..." When Onyx heard their name, his expression turned dark, "....It's those two."

"I've done something digging around; they kept saying you guys use them as bait. And while they ran, you guys had escaped, leaving them there to die."

"..." The more he said it, the darker Onyx's face became.

"Those two bastards." Onyx could only hold his head, "How long has this rumor been going on?"

"It should be about a week and a half now," Mord said. He was there when the two made their accusation.

"I see." Onyx could feel a headache coming about. A week and a half. That meant they'd been throwing out accusations once they left the group.

"Master." "Onyx." Rena and Rebecca look at Onyx in worry. Onyx gave a light smile,

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just peeved."

"So what actually happened?" When Stewart and the rest of Scarlet Lynx heard these claims, they did not believe them. He felt something was off with their story, especially with Onyx.

How can a guy who killed a deviled python be afraid of a horde of stone lizards? That did not make sense.

"This is what happened." Onyx recounted everything that happened in those days: from how they pointed their swords at Rena to the two running away from their duties.

"I knew it! Those two bastards!!" Stewart smashed his hands together.

"So that's what happened." Hearing the two conflicting arguments, Mord did seem to favor Onyx more. His whole demeanor felt calmer about it.

"Let's go to the guild and beat those two up!" Reynold rolled up his sleeves, ready for a brawl. And he wasn't alone: Barrett and Lucia were ready for a scrap.

But Etta slapped their heads, "Cool it! If you guys attack those two, you'll only cause more trouble for Onyx and Rena."

"But-"

"It's fine." Onyx felt grateful and asked, "Have the others arrived back?" Just having one was not enough. With the others saying it, then it would make it believable.

"Hmm? The others? Can you be specific?"

"Oh, one is a solo adventurer. The others are; the vice-captain of the Thunder Breakers, the mage from Blossom Springs, and the new member from Ryan's party."

Mord spoke, "Hmm, from what I heard about the Thunder Breakers, they should be arriving today or tomorrow. For Blossoms Springs, I don't know."

"For Ryan's party, they should be back in a couple of days. They went to pick up their member." Stewart explained.

"I see." Onyx thought about it for a bit, "Then I'll go settle this tomorrow." With Nigel returning, it should be fine. He needed his sleep.

Because tomorrow was going to be a fight.