Volume 3 Chapter 4: Part 5: Arrival

 

"When I find those guys, I'll give them a beating they would have never thought of before." Onyx crunched his fists, ready for a fight. Right now, Rena and Onyx were headed toward the guild hall. 

 

After everybody left the inn, they got their rest. And they were ready for a battle. 

 

So it's spread that far. Despite Onyx's thoughts, he saw something strange. As the two walked, he noticed the vendors giving them a weird look. And it was obvious to Onyx who was the cause;

 

Those two fools. 

 

A week and a half was plenty of time to spread the rumor around the city. 

 

"Young man," Hearing a voice call out to him, Onyx turned around. A smile formed on his face when he saw who it was.

 

"What's up, Ben?" Ben was the stall vendor Onyx gave a gold coin to when he first arrived at Advent City. Onyx would go there for the most part, and they got to know each other from there. 

 

"It's been a while since I've last seen you guys. Do you want some skewers? They're piping hot and ready to order." Ben laughed as he picked the skewers up.

 

"We'll have some. It's been a while since we've eaten your skewers. I've forgotten the taste." Onyx joked as he took the food. As Onyx and Rena ate, Ben got closer to the two and whispered, 

 

"Onyx, be more careful when going around the city. There's a strange rumor going around about you two."

 

"Oh, you mean that rumor." Onyx was relaxed as he talked.

 

Ben sighed, "So you know about it, thank goodness. And why are you so calm? You shouldn't be so relaxed right now. I think you guys noticed it already, but people are seeing you in a different light with the rumor."

 

Advent City was a city of adventurers. 

 

That means everybody living here was either an adventurer or affiliated with one. So for Onyx to use a fellow adventurer as bait, vendors and other owners would look at him as scum. 

 

"And you guys can't even walk covertly too. You stick out like a sore thumb too much." Rena's hair was a dead giveaway. 

 

And there was nothing to be said about Onyx. With a face like that, it was impossible to move covertly.

 

His handsomeness was a dead giveaway. Ben continued, "You guys should wear hoodies until the rumors disappear." 

 

Onyx smiled, "I'll keep that in mind. But you believe I didn't do it?"

 

"Of course! You're not the person to do something like that." Talking with Onyx for a while now, Ben knew the man in front of him was someone who wouldn't do something like that. 

 

"Thank you for trusting me. Also, you don't have to worry about the rumors anymore. It's going to end in a few days." Onyx explained. A smile formed on his face the next second. 

 

"I see." Ben smiled, "Then take these skewers! Charge up and beat this rumor up!" 

 

Onyx laughed, "You got it!" 

 

As Onyx and Rena continued to walk toward the guild hall, Onyx had a gentle grin on his face, 

 

Thank goodness some people didn't believe it. Mary, Rebecca, Burr, Stewart, and the rest of Scarlett Lynx. And now Ben. Despite being here for a short while, there were people who trusted him. 

 

When they arrived in front of the building, 

 

"You bastards! How dare you cause a rumor like this behind our backs!" Even when they stood outside, the two could hear roars coming from inside. The two looked at each other, and Onyx nodded, 

 

"Well, it looks like we're late to the party." They entered. And it was no surprise to both of them what was happening. A group of adventurers circled the two parties involved. 

 

Even with that many people around, Onyx could see what was happening. Nigel returned from the Riqueza Kingdom. 

 

Right now, he was being held back by his party members. And the other party was none other than Blaine and Vinnie. 

 

From what he could see, Nigel got a clean hit on Blaine's face. Hmm, where is she? Onyx looked around and spotted Madelyn in the back. 

 

"Madelyn," Onyx called out. 

 

Hearing his voice, Madelyn quickly turned over; her face brightened, "Onyx, you've returned."

"Mmhmm. I returned yesterday. But enough about that, can you tell me what happened?"

 

Madelyn sighed, "I think there's nothing to say about what's going on." It was clear as day. 

 

"Of course, I know what happened right now. I want you to tell me what happened in the beginning." He understood this situation clearly. What he didn't know was the situation that caused all of this.

 

"Blaine and Vinnie kept shouting about you guys using them as bait. They kept demanding for us to punish you guys. However, the guild refused. We won't do anything like that until we hear from both parties." 

 

Just hearing from one side was not enough. With what happened, the guild would have to listen to both parties. 

 

"Good choice there." As Onyx nodded to this, 

 

"How dare you twist the narrative, you asses!" "Nigel, cool it! I know you're angry, but you might get demoted from this!"

 

Despite Nigel's anger, Vinnie and Blaine didn't back down, "What?! We told the truth! You guys threw us out to the wolves! We had to fend for ourselves while you guys ran away!"

 

"I'll kill you!" The rage meter broke. The vein bulging on Nigel's forehead was about to burst like a balloon! He didn't care about anything anymore. He charged at them like a raging bull!

 

However, there was one person that stood in their way. 

 

"Master!""Do you really think I would allow you to harm my apprentices?"

 

Blaine and Vinnie's faces brighten when they see who protected them. It was none other than Galven. He suddenly appeared and didn't hesitate to punch Nigel in the face!

 

"Galven, what are you doing?!" The person who screamed this was Nigel's captain. His face turned dark from seeing his comrade go flying. 

 

"What am I doing? Hans, you should really keep your vice-captain in check."

 

"What are you even saying? These two are the ones who slandered Nigel for no reason!" Hans wasn't going to let that slide. 

 

"Slandering? How are they slandering if they're telling the truth? Just look at what he tries to do. From what I can see, he's trying to silence them from telling the truth." Galven gave a dirty face as he said this. 

 

"And aren't you doing the same thing as well?" Hearing his voice, Galven jolted a bit. It was a voice he was all too familiar with. 

 

He never wanted to hear it again.

 

Hearing his cold voice, everyone steps away to give Onyx, Rena, and Madelyn to walk up. Onyx had a smirk on his face,

 

"Onyx, I'm protecting my appre- Ughh!" Before Galven could even finish his sentence, what he got was a fist to his face! He went flying, smashing a table!

 

"And I'm just protecting my friend." Onyx sneered. Don't try to give that backward defense. 

 

"Onyx! You said you would diffuse the situation! Not cause more!" Madelyn's face twitched. Onyx told her she would diffuse the situation. Never did she expect him to punch him!

 

"I diffused it. I stop the two from fighting." Onyx shrugged his shoulders and looked at Nigel, "You good?" 

 

"Going to feel that for a few days. But all in all, I'm good." Nigel rubbed his jaws a bit. But then he joked, "Why didn't you jump in sooner if you're going to do that?!" 

 

"I wanted to see what these idiots were going to pull." He thought something else was going to happen. But he guessed wrong. 

 

Are you serious? Nigel gives him a strange look. So he let me get punched because he wanted to see what happened? He felt kinda wronged. 

 

"Onyx! No more punching." Madelyn warned.

 

"Don't worry, I won't go over the limits." Onyx waved his hands. There was no need for me to use my fist. 

 

"You bastard!" Getting off of the broken table, Galven screamed out in anger and fury. 

 

But Onyx ignored him. He turned to Vinnie and Blaine, "You guys really like to mess around, huh?"

 

"..." Vinnie and Blaine didn't answer Onyx. Instead, their faces turn pale! 

 

They're alive! They couldn't believe it! How could they survive the attack from the stone lizard!

 

The two understood that Nigel and Cyrus would survive the horde as they were C-ranks. But not Onyx and Rena! They got their rank from favoritism and nothing else!

 

"What? Cat got your tongue? Did you think we were dead too?"

 

"What are you talking about?!" "You guys threw us to the wolves!"

 

"So you guys will be broken records till the end." Onyx shook his head, "I think before I say anything about this, there are some things I need to ask. Show of hands; how many people here have done a rank-up exam before?"

 

"?" The adventurers around were confused as to why Onyx asked this. But 50% raised their hands.  

 

"That's a good number. And let me ask this; when you guys did it, did you come late or arrive early at the exam?"

 

"Of course, we arrive early."

 

"Yeah, that's rude to the other members."

 

"I-I arrived late, but I apologized to my members."

 

Each adventurer gave their answer to Onyx. All of them were the same; come early to not keep the others waiting. 

 

Onyx smiled and turned around, "Hear that? You guys should really take notes to come EARLY to the exam."

 

Vinnie's and Blaine's faces turned red. It feels like someone slapped them in the face. 

 

"Shut up! We were only an hour late." "And not counting for the fact that we have to change the wheel, and you guys are screaming in the forest too. You guys didn't even apologize."

 

Onyx gave a mocking expression as he said this. Hearing all of this, the adventurers looked at the two strangely? You guys came an hour late.? Wait, isn't it more because they had to change the wheel?

 

"But you guys treated us like garbage! Even in the carriage, we were isolated from the group!"

 

"That's your own fault. You two didn't even apologize and pointed your weapon at a party member. Who wouldn't treat you as garbage?"

 

"She has white hair!" Blaine blurted out. 

 

And that sealed the deal. 

 

Onyx looked at Rena and smiled, "So? It's just hair, and I find it beautiful. Also, what's this about you guys pointing your sword?"

 

He caught them. 

 

Blaine noticed his mistake too! But it's too late, 

 

"I-" "And now said the part about us using you as bait. You guys changed the whole thing, so I'll tell the truth; 

 

These two fools were supposed to keep watch at night as punishment for pointing their weapons at Rena. But they didn't do the job properly, and when a horde of stone lizards came, these guys were the first to run."

 

"!" The moment Onyx finished saying this: the stares on Vinnie and Blaine grew even more. They shivered. The coldness went up a notch. 

 

"Lies!" "He's talking rubbish!"

 

"They're right. How can we be sure what you said is true? Do you have any proof of all of this?" Galven kept his cool as he sneered at Onyx. 

 

"Oh, wow. You actually got up from that. I thought you would go down like last time." Onyx scoffed. 

 

"Pff." Hearing his words, other adventurers started to laugh as well. And the redness on Galven's face turned into a volcano. 

 

"Stop joking around, brat. If you have nothing useful to say, don't say rubbish."

 

"Tsk, you're just mad because you're getting embarrassed." Onyx shook his head, "But can't I say the same thing too? They had no proof of what they said either. 

 

"Also, no proof? We have proof. In a few days, a messenger from the guild at the Riqueza Kingdom will be coming here." Onyx looked at the other adventurers, 

 

"You guys don't need to believe the words I said right now. But believe it when the messenger comes."

 

The other adventurers nodded to this. And Onyx stared at Vinnie and Blaine.

 

"..." That settles that. Vinnie and Blaine's expressions dropped. All the blood from their faces disappeared after hearing Onyx's words. A messenger will come. Just hearing that alone was enough to make their skin crawl in fear. 

 

"!"

 

"Nah, you guys don't need to say anything else. If you guys still think what you say is true, just wait for them to come. Am I right?!"

 

Hearing his questions, the other adventurers shouted,

 

"Yeah!"

 

"Put the coins where your mouth is!"

 

Onyx smiled even more, "You two better not be running away either. Because Rena and I are not going to. I'll be staying at the crescent moon inn. What about you, Nigel?"

 

Understanding his thought process, Nigel smiled, "Of course, I will be staying at my inn as well. I won't be running away from this. I'll wait for the verdict to come down too."

 

"That's nice. Tell Tricia and Willa about this too." Onyx said and continued, "What's wrong with you two? Why are you cowering like this?" 

 

Onyx tilted his head, questioning why they were acting like that.

 

"N-no! We won't be running away either!" Vinnie screamed, "You guys will see he only got this rank because of favoritism! You'll see! You'll see!"

 

He screamed out as he left the guild hall with Galven and Blaine. But Onyx added in,

 

"You should really wipe that sweat off before leaving." Vinnie was sweating like no tomorrow. 

 

Realizing this, Vinnie almost tripped on the air by accident. But they left the guild hall luckily. 

 

"Now that we got them-Hmm? What's wrong?" Onyx turned to see Madelyn and Rena giving him a strange look. 

 

Nigel was the one who explained, "Onyx, you are really sadistic."