Morning light streamed through the towering stone pillars of YaDu City, casting slanted rays at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild. Leo, Luna, Dan, and Vivella stood before the towering building of red rock. The weathered sign at the door, slightly swaying in the wind, still clearly read: YaDu Adventurers' Guild.
"So… we're really registering a new team here?" Dan shrugged, looking at the others. "This place is definitely more upscale than Black Mountain City, but are you all sure about that name?"
"Silver Pentagram." Leo said in a deep voice. "We're not new. We're returning."
Luna stood beside him, giving a slight nod. "I agree. It was our name in the past."
"But that name's… not exactly glorious anymore," Dan frowned. "Most people on the continent blame the disasters of that time on it."
"Then that's all the more reason to prove its righteousness again," Vivella said, already walking toward the reception desk.
Behind the counter stood a middle-aged clerk. Seeing the four approach, he asked routinely, "Would you like to register a new team? Please provide a name."
"Silver Pentagram," Leo replied.
The quill in the clerk's hand paused mid-air. He looked up at them, then chuckled. "That name isn't exactly lucky. Are you serious? Rumor has it that team caused a lot of trouble..."
Nearby adventurers waiting in line laughed mockingly.
"Silver Pentagram? Are they joking?"
"Isn't that the team that got delisted by the Empire?"
"You think a few new faces can erase history?"
Dan muttered under his breath, "Bunch of loudmouths."
Luna, expressionless, simply stared back at them without a word.
Vivella suddenly pulled out a worn, gray-yellow card from her coat and placed it gently on the counter. "Please re-activate this team name and link it to our new registration."
The clerk blinked, puzzled. But the next moment, his pupils contracted and his face paled, as if he had seen something that shouldn't exist.
"Th-this is—" he stammered.
"What are you waiting for?" Vivella said calmly.
The clerk immediately stood up and inserted the card into the crystal transmission slot behind the desk. A moment later, a clear chime echoed through the guild hall. One of the sections on the adventurers' ranking board lit up with golden light.
"Team Rank Update: Silver Pentagram – Now Ranked: Diamond."
Silence fell over the entire hall. Everyone stopped in their tracks, staring at the board in disbelief.
"Diamond rank?!"
"That's the legendary rank only granted by the Imperial Alliance!"
"No one's touched that rank in decades—how is it being reactivated now?!"
Leo quietly watched the glowing name, his face calm. He knew this was only the beginning.
Dan cracked a small smile, teasing, "Vivella, you still kept that old card? So you do have a nostalgic side."
"I just thought it might be worth keeping," Vivella snorted. "Didn't expect it to come in handy."
Luna gently tugged at Leo's sleeve. "Can we take bounties now?"
The group approached the mission board. A bounty outlined in black trim stood out among the rest. Written in deep red magical ink were the words:
[High-Risk Bounty: Eliminate the Lich 'Gar'. Danger Level: Extreme. No team has successfully returned.]
"Gar…" Leo murmured, frowning slightly.
"This mission's likely a trap," Dan said, leaning in. "But we're Diamond-ranked now. Might be worth a shot."
Vivella tore the bounty off the board. "No need to overthink it. If we're back, it's time they remembered what the Silver Pentagram can do."
Without another word, the group stepped out of the guild doors.
…
The roads out of YaDu City were as bustling as ever. Hooves clattered, carriages rolled, and people of various races crossed paths in the streets.
Crossing a suspension bridge, they headed toward the southwest, to the location marked by the bounty: a desolate, ancient region known as Echo Graveyard.
"Have we been here before?" Luna asked quietly.
"No," Leo replied, tightening his grip on his broken sword. "But something about this place feels familiar. Stay sharp."
After nearly two hours of travel, they reached the mist-shrouded graveyard. Crumbling tombstones leaned at odd angles, and twisted, dead trees loomed overhead. A chill, necrotic magic hung in the air.
"This is a land of the undead," Vivella muttered, frowning. "My arrows sense restless spirits up ahead."
Luna raised her magic staff. Threads of light spread from her fingertips, pushing back part of the mist.
"Elemental activity is high," she noted. "He might be nearby."
Dan unsheathed his twin blades. A faint chanting echoed near his ear. "Be careful. I hear the song of the dead."
"That means we're close," Leo nodded, gripping the Void Ring tightly.
The runes on the ring shimmered faintly. Streams of magical energy flowed into the broken sword, its blade igniting in violet-blue flame.
"Prepare for battle."
The four stood at the edge of the mist and stepped slowly into the heart of the graveyard.
The wind whispered low. Somewhere within the graveyard, an unfinished funeral was waiting to resume.
Dusk fell. Mist curled through the cemetery, and a deathly silence permeated the air. Leo, Luna, Dan, and Vivella tread cautiously over the damp ground, walking between rows of ancient gravestones. A faint scent of decay lingered, keeping everyone's nerves taut.
Suddenly, a distant voice echoed from deep within the graveyard:
"Outsiders… have you come to destroy me?"
The mist abruptly parted, revealing a man cloaked in a tattered black robe, floating silently in mid-air. He held a pitch-black staff, and his hood concealed his face, giving him the air of a ghostly wraith.
Leo stepped forward and raised his broken sword. "Are you the necromancer?" he demanded loudly.
The man paused, as if struck by the force of the voice. Slowly, he lifted his head, his gaze sweeping across them until it froze on Leo's face. A flicker of shock flashed in his eyes, and his voice trembled:
"...Leo? Dan? Vivella?"
The three of them were stunned. Dan exclaimed, "How do you know our names?"
The robed figure slowly descended to the ground. His movements were sluggish, yet carried a weight of emotion. He reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing the face of a youthful boy. Despite the weathered look in his eyes, time had left no mark on his appearance.
Vivella gasped. "Gar?! It's you?"
Dan's eyes widened in disbelief. "This can't be… How… how did you end up like this?"
Leo furrowed his brow and turned to the others. "Gar? You mean… our former teammate?"
Dan nodded and lowered his twin blades. "Yeah, it's him. None of us expected that the necromancer we'd find here would be Gar."
Tears welled in Gar's eyes as he looked at them, murmuring,
"Leo… you really came back. Ahhh—you have no idea what I've been through all these years…"
He stepped forward and threw his arms around Leo, choking back a sob.
"You're finally back…"
Though Leo was still a bit stiff, he gradually relaxed and gently patted Gar on the back. "I'm back, old friend."
Gar released him and wiped his eyes, smiling awkwardly. "Come with me. This place isn't fit for long conversations."
The group nodded and followed him. Gar led them through the far end of the cemetery, weaving past collapsed gravestones until they reached a cluster of ruins. Amid the crumbling walls stood a barely intact structure that still offered shelter from wind and rain. Alchemical instruments of strange shapes were piled at the entrance, and a few magical devices, glowing faintly blue, hummed softly in the dusk.
"This is where I live now," Gar said as he pushed the door open.
The room was small. The walls were covered in diagrams and scrolls, while the floor was cluttered with bottles and flasks. At the center stood a long, battered table, still functional. On it lay some worn books and a bubbling alchemical cauldron.
After sitting down, Dan couldn't hold back anymore. "Gar, weren't you an alchemist before? How did you become a necromancer?"
Gar sighed, his eyes darkening. "It's a long story… After Leo disappeared, the Silver Pentagram Adventurers disbanded. I returned to my homeland—but it was no longer the place I remembered."
He paused, as if trying to piece together a painful memory. "Not long after I got back, a neighboring city launched a surprise attack. They massacred everyone… my family, my friends. All gone. I was in an underground lab at the time, working on a new potion formula, so I survived. But when I emerged… everything was gone. Just ruins. I was consumed by grief, rage, and despair."
"I had dabbled in dark elements before and learned some related control spells. But that time… I lost control. I absorbed too much resentment and dark energy." He gave a bitter laugh. "And just like that… I became a necromancer."
Vivella frowned. "And you've been living here ever since?"
Gar nodded. "Yes. These ruins were once my city. I built a grave for every person who died, to remember them. I've lived among these graves ever since—my penance, I suppose."
"Being a necromancer… it's a curse," he said, staring at his pale hands. "My body stopped aging the moment I transformed, but my heart has never stopped being eroded by pain."
Dan sighed. "You've suffered too much…"
At that moment, Gar noticed Luna. Tilting his head, he asked, "And this is…?"
Luna stood up and replied politely, "My name is Luna. I'm a mechanical doll, and Leo's teammate."
Gar looked slightly surprised. "So you're Luna… You're even more impressive than I imagined."
Luna offered a faint smile. "We've come together for this mission."
Gar nodded slowly, gazing at these familiar yet changed faces. A complex emotion stirred in his eyes. "I never imagined… after all these years, we'd reunite like this."
Vivella said softly, "Yes… the Silver Pentagram Adventurers, together again at last."
Leo looked at them one by one and nodded. "And this time, we won't be separated again."
They exchanged smiles, that long-lost camaraderie returning as if it had never left.
The Silver Pentagram was no longer just a little-known group from the past—
They now bore the weight of greater responsibilities and deeper destinies.
Under the night sky, a soft glow lit up the dilapidated room. The five of them sat around the table, each lost in their own thoughts—yet all aware that the true journey had only just begun.