The next morning, the city was already alive with noise. He hadn't intended to meet the trio again, but fate—or perhaps their persistence—had other plans.
"Shadow!"
Sera's voice cut through the crowd. She waved energetically, Lena following with a polite smile while Ryn trailed behind, grumbling about being dragged around so early.
He sighed, but didn't walk away. Something about them made it difficult.
"You've seen the markets and food stalls," Sera said, a mischievous grin spreading. "But you haven't seen the heart of the city yet."
"…The heart?"
"The Guild," Ryn said proudly, puffing out his chest. "Where real adventurers gather. Where names are made."
They led him through bustling streets until they reached a massive hall built of stone and timber, its walls lined with banners and weapons. The doors were wide open, spilling noise and laughter into the street. Inside, the air was thick with smoke, ale, and energy.
Hunters in armor boasted of kills, clerks shouted over stacks of paperwork, and a giant noticeboard dominated the wall—covered in parchment, each contract scrawled with rewards and danger levels.
He paused at the entrance. The place was alive. Loud. Chaotic. And yet… it pulsed with something that stirred him.
"This is the Adventurer's Guild," Lena said warmly. "Where we take quests, form parties, and get paid."
Sera leaned in, smirking. "You're tempted, aren't you?"
He said nothing, but his eyes betrayed him. They lingered on the quest board, on the hunters laughing with mugs of ale, on the weight of community he hadn't felt in… perhaps ever.
The gauntlets whispered slyly. "Join them. Take a name. Become someone again."
But he shook his head. "…Not yet."
They didn't press, though the disappointment in Lena's eyes was obvious.
Instead, they spent the day showing him the city's livelier side. A temple courtyard where Lena paused to pray, a bookshop hidden in an alley, and finally—Ryn's favorite stop—the city's combat arena.
The coliseum was crowded, chants shaking the stands as fighters clashed below. Gold and glory were promised to the victors, humiliation to the defeated.
"Now this," Ryn said with a grin, "is real entertainment."
Just as he spoke, the announcer roared a name that silenced the crowd for a moment.
"Rena the Crimson Fang!"
A young woman entered the arena, blade drawn, crimson hair tied back. Her movements were sharp, disciplined—more like a predator than a brawler. The fight was brief. Her opponent, a man clad in steel, barely lasted three exchanges before the crowd erupted in cheers.
"She's good…" Lena whispered, impressed.
Shadow's gaze narrowed. She wasn't just good—she was efficient, precise. Her strikes aimed not to toy but to end.
The match concluded, and the crowd roared her name as she left the sands victorious.
By chance—or fate—he encountered her later in the backstage halls, where the fighters prepared. She stopped when she saw him, eyes sharp as blades.
"You," she said flatly, as if she had already measured him in a single glance.
"…What?"
"I could feel it." She stepped closer, her presence like a drawn sword. "You're holding back something dangerous. Fight me."
The trio blinked in surprise. "Wait—what?" Sera stammered.
Rena didn't take her eyes off him. Her words cut clean, carrying both challenge and certainty.
"In the arena. Tomorrow. Don't run."
Shadow's silence stretched, the gauntlets humming with amusement.
"Oh, I like her."
The chapter closed with the weight of her challenge lingering in the air.