After their loss with the magistrate and the trio. The party decided to get a room at the inn. "Should we change course now, if they have Nyla that means no treasure." Dante asks.
Still furious with the loss Kaito grits his teeth. "We need to get after them!" He shouts. The others aren't too sure about this idea.
Dante comes to a realization. "I think I know why they're trying to frame the onslaught guild, their boss is a master and he's a hothead." Dante says as he stands up from his bed. "Whoever those three are working for, most likely is trying to get him killed in this war, putting whoever he is higher on the ladder." Dante explains.
Nanami tilted her head. "How do you know that large man wasn't the leader?" Nanami asks. "They all head a matching tattoo on their arms, the leader of guilds tattoo is usually different so they're working under someone." He explains.
Dante sits back down thinking. "The magistrate isn't super high authority wise, so I think he has someone else pulling strings on his side." Dante says.
He thinks of guilds and it makes him feel weird so he stops thinking about it. Nanami summons her tech magic writing this stuff down. "We should figure which guild they're working for then, maybe we can stop the conflict?" She suggest.
Dante pulls out his book. "Already on it, I keep a book about all of the guilds, I've always wanted to create a guild emblem so I have a book of them." Dante explains.
They work for the Sony guild. A lower ranking guild but nonetheless still dangerous. "So they work under a man name Renji." Dante says and Rika shrieks.
"Renji as in the monster of red!?" Rika yells. Kaito looks over to her intrigued. "You know him?" He asks.
Rika cringes. "I wish I didn't, the guys a brutal monster, he fights using his bare hands and he's beaten multiple people to death, he's insane!" Rika yells.
Dante crosses his arms. "I used to watch and read about guilds all the time. Form what I've seen Renji has always been obsessed with power." Dante explains.
While everyone else looks worried no fear is in Kaito's face. "Renji...." he thinks of the mans name. "I wanna beat the guy." Kaito states boldly.
Rika sweats. "Listen Kaito, I love your heart I really do, but there's no way we can beat Renji!" Rika yells rejecting the idea.
Dante then bows his head. "Let alone an entire guild." He grimly adds.
Nanami thinks. "It's not a complete impossibility, but you're right our chances are extremely slim, especially with how we are now." She finishes.
Kaito shakes his head. "Do you know where Renji's guild is." Kaito asks. Dante nods. "It's in a town called Kuni." He answers.
"How far is it?" Kaito asks. "It's a ways off our course but we shouldn't go straight to Renji if you wanna fight him." Dante explains.
Nanami agrees. "Right we should inform the empire of what's going on so we can stop the war before we fight him." She says.
Rika lays on the bed defeated. "Welp i'm useless then, you guys know anyone in the empire?"
Everyone shakes their head but Kaito thinks. "I know someone!" Kaito says.
"His names Yukki he went to a school." Kaito thinks trying to recall the name. "Elsie, or something like that."
Nanami thinks and knows a name similar from her books. "You mean Elysian, that's in a city named Arsaw correct?" She asks.
Dante pulls out the map checking it. "Yeah that's right, we can get there, we could get there if we change course and head through an empire checkpoint." He explains.
Rika snaps. "The empire evacuates their, the magistrate could try to hideout there until the war passes!" Rika says.
Kaito smiles hearing this. "Good, then we can catch him!"
"We probably don't have a bunch of time before the war happens, but we shouldn't have to rush." Dante says.
Nanami checking the maps sees it's more then a checkpoint. "It's an empire facility we have to go through?" She says disappointed. Dante rolls his eyes. "Great." He says sarcastically.
The night was quiet, save for the soft whisper of a cold breeze and the distant chirping of crickets. Dante lay in bed, restless, the weight of the silence pressing on him. He couldn't seem to find peace in it, his thoughts tangled and unsettled.
He finally couldn't take it anymore. With a sigh, he swung his legs out of bed and padded softly into the hall. The chill of the night air hit him like a wave, but it didn't seem to bother him—nothing really did, not in this moment. He needed a break from the silence, from his own mind.
Kaito stirred in bed, his senses sharp, as if he knew Dante wouldn't stay in his room for long. Without a word, Kaito followed him into the hallway, sitting down next to him on the cold floor.
Dante glanced at him, a faint trace of relief in his eyes, as if he'd been waiting for this. "Hey Kaito?"
Kaito tilted his head, blinking sleepily but with that familiar calm smile. "What's up, Dante?"
Dante let out a long, shaky breath, unsure of how to even begin. His gaze dropped to the floor, then back to Kaito, as if trying to gather the courage to ask the question that had been nagging at him for days. "Would you ever... want to start a guild with me one day?"
Kaito paused, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Why bring this up so suddenly?" he asked, a trace of concern in his voice.
Dante hesitated, swallowing hard. It wasn't easy for him to admit this. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the thoughts away that made him feel small. Finally, he spoke, his voice quiet but laced with something deeper. "I was just thinking… you're… you're so amazing, Kaito. You don't hesitate in a fight, you're strong, you make everything look easy. You always know what to do. And me? I feel like I'm just... trying to keep up." His words hung in the air, thick with a quiet kind of sadness, the kind Dante never wanted to admit was there.
Kaito studied him for a moment, his smile softening. "I never really thought about a guild before," Kaito said, his voice steady. Dante's heart sank, but Kaito wasn't done. "But... I could see it. I could see it with you."
Dante's head snapped up, hope flaring in his chest. "Really? You could see it?"
Kaito's eyes met his, and there was something in them—something that made Dante feel like the weight on his chest wasn't so heavy anymore. "Why wouldn't I want to start a guild with you? You're more than enough. You don't have to be like anyone else, Dante."
"But you're... you're like actually cool," Dante mumbled, almost to himself, as if the thought made him feel even more insignificant. "I'm just... well, I'm just me."
Kaito shook his head, the gesture gentle but firm. "That's enough," he said, his voice warm. "You're great at being you, Dante."
Dante's heart swelled, the simple truth of Kaito's words cutting through his doubts. He smiled, the weight in his chest easing, even if just for a moment. "Thanks, Kaito. I think... I think I can sleep now."
Kaito chuckled softly. "Goodnight, man."
Dante nodded, his smile lingering as he rose to head back to his room, the night suddenly feeling a little less cold.
Kaito stood still for a moment, watching Dante disappear into the inn before he quietly stepped out into the night. The cold air bit at his skin, but he barely noticed it. His mind was a thousand miles away, wrapped in thoughts of expectations, pressure, and the constant weight of his own doubts.
He didn't even realize when he crossed the barrier, just kept walking. He needed to get away—needed space to breathe, to clear his head. But more than that, he needed to be better. He couldn't keep pretending he was fine with where he was. Not anymore.
Everyone always thought so highly of him, and that was the problem. He couldn't understand why. They saw something in him that he couldn't even see himself. He felt... stuck. Why did they think he was something special? All he saw were cracks, places where he was falling short. He wasn't the hero they imagined. He wasn't even close.
All that came to mind was how utterly unimpressed his fathers eyes were. Whenever he made the smallest mistake, any error being shown was another disappointment to him.
Kaito clenched his fists as he stood in the quiet night, trying to summon fire. The crackling warmth he'd come to know so well... only nothing came. Instead, a gust of wind whipped through his fingers, sharp and erratic. He growled under his breath, frustration rising like a tide. He turned the focus inward, reaching for the wind instead. I've got this. But the magic surged with the wrong energy—solid earth shot up from the ground instead, jagged and heavy.
"How much magic can I even use at this point?" he muttered to the night. He didn't know. He couldn't keep track of it anymore. He didn't know when it would stop, when his body would snap, or if he'd ever control it. The new elements felt like an endless flood, unpredictable and wild, and each time they pushed through, he felt like he was being stretched thinner and thinner.
He was trying to master them, but it felt like trying to hold water in his hands—everything slipping through his fingers.
The hours bled into each other, the only sound being the heavy breath in his chest as he practiced under the stars. The cold wind bit at his skin, but he didn't care. Every failure felt like a chain, dragging him down. He needed to get this right. He needed to get this right. Not for himself—for everyone else. They were counting on him. They saw him as something he couldn't even grasp. They needed him to be stronger. To be better.
"I did it with the hunter, why not now!" Frustration clawing at him
By the time he finally managed to summon wind with some semblance of control, he collapsed onto his back, staring up at the dark sky. His breath came in uneven bursts as he looked up at the stars, trying to find a way to make sense of all of this.
"Am I even doing any of this right?" Kaito whispered into the quiet night, his voice carrying the weight of his frustration and confusion. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to push away the gnawing feeling of inadequacy. "I just don't know... everyone thinks I'm this awesome fighter. They think I've got it all together. But I don't. I'm just trying to keep them safe. I have to be better for them."
His thoughts returned to the fight from earlier that day, the helplessness he felt when he couldn't protect them the way he wanted to. It stung more than any wound could. He had to do more, be more. He needed to be stronger, faster, smarter. If he could just be better, he could protect them all.
The cold breeze washed over him again, and a flicker of something softer hit him—something he didn't want to face. His mom. The memory of her voice, her wisdom, her steady presence. How he missed her.
He let out a shaky breath, a nervous smile showing.. "I wish I had one of your talks right now, Mom," he whispered, his voice raw with longing. It felt like an ache deep in his chest, something he didn't know how to fix. The feeling of missing home, of needing guidance, of wishing he didn't have to carry all of this on his own.
He rubbed his face with a tired hand and pushed himself up from the ground, his muscles protesting. But there was no time to rest. The night wasn't for rest. It was for action, for pushing forward, for trying to find the strength that always seemed to slip away from him.
Kaito walked back to the inn, the stars still burning overhead. He didn't have all the answers. But he would keep fighting. He had no other choice