Inverse System

"Looks like he's a no-show. What should we do?" Xenia posed as she looked around the group, Rein entering a thinking pose, Quint suddenly storming off to the exit of the restaurant.

"Hey, where are you going?" Rein asked.

"I'm gonna drag that guy out of his fuckin' hobbit hole. He's comin' with us whether he likes it or not," Quint swore, opening the door and storming his way out of the restaurant, but suddenly stopping as he stared at the outside wall of the building.

"Bruh… You're here? Why didn't you just walk in?" Quint said with hints of anger in his voice.

"Sorry, you guys were eating and I didn't want to interrupt. I hope you'll forgive me," he coldly replied, the sad expression still plastered on his face.

"O-oh… That's fine I guess…" Quint's anger was dissipated as he scratched the back of his head, a look of confusion now entering his frame.

"Ah good, you're here," Rein followed Quint in exiting the restaurant, seeing Reggie leaning against the restaurant wall.

"Hello, Rein. And everyone else too. What's the mission today?" He emotionlessly asked, his eyes as dead as a fish out of water.

"Dunno. Let's go check, shall we?" Rein answered enthusiastically, ignoring Reggie's gloomy mannerisms.

The group headed for the quest room, which was, of course, open 24 hours 7 days a week, as it was not exclusively for the academy, but this was the main branch of the guild, so regular Rangers would often show up as well.

They scanned the quest board, looking for any quests that took place in any of the 3 cities that Rein outlined. Since they were still Ranger academy students, they didn't have the freedom to travel wherever they wanted. If they went off track, their Ranger tablets would begin to flash a red light, telling them to turn back. If they did not comply, they would be instantly disconnected from Ranger academy, effectively being expelled.

At the same time, if the tablet is disconnected from a student for more than 5 minutes, the tablet shuts off, and the student is expelled. This almost happened to Rein and Chloe when they went to see the Lifah remains. They went out just far enough to where they wouldn't be expelled, any further and they would've been found out.

Of course, the exception would be sleeping, but even then, the device gives off slight pulses, sensing whether or not the owner is still in the area. If it senses nothing, it eventually shuts off and expels the student. In conclusion, the students have very restricted freedom within the school. Once they accept a mission, a route is given to them, which they must follow, and that city becomes available to them.

However, once they graduate, that restriction is removed, and they become able to travel freely using their Ranger license.

"Hmm… I don't see any of the cities we need…" Xenia remarked as she squinted while looking at the board, moving her head between each paper to carefully scan each one.

"I don't care if I get expelled then, my brother's safety is more important," once again, Chloe rashly moved, Rein doing the same thing by pulling her back.

"Why are you so worked up today? Calm down and rely on me. I have a plan," he assured as Chloe settled down, sternly nodding to him as he pointed at one of the commissions on the board.

"We'll take this one. It's a 6 person A rank request," Rein declared.

"But that one goes to Aj'ess. Why would we go there..?" Quint inquired.

"Look at Aj'ess' location on the map. It's the eastmost city in Orthlys, being located on a small island in the east Orthlys ocean," Rein opened the map once again and pointed at the island of Aj'ess. "To get there, you have to go from Pathuless port and take a ferry to the island. If that's the case, the route we'd be given would directly intersect 2 of the cities we want to investigate," he took out another marker and drew a red line through the route to Aj'ess.

(Click here to see visuals)

"Wow, we'd directly pass through Alh and Pathuless on our way there. Good thinking Rein," Sho complimented, nodding his head in satisfaction.

"But this is a 6 person mission, and there are 8 people here. It looks like my presence wasn't needed… I'm going back—" Reggie dejectedly began walking out of the room, and as Quint was about to drag him back, Rein beat him to it and put his hand on his shirt collar.

"Oh no you don't. If it's okay with you guys, I'll be picking the party for this mission. And my first pick is you, Reggie Greybrewer," Rein declared, catching Sho off guard, who wanted to be the leader of this mission as the retrieval of the prince meant a great deal to him.

However, he kept his gripes to himself and allowed Rein to take charge, fully aware of his power and capability to lead this mission.

"So that cuts the rest of my choice size to 3. Reggie and I so far, Chloe is a priority too…" Rein thought as he decided who will be accompanying him.

"Can I come as well? If we're ultimately going to end up in Aj'ess, I would like to be there as it is my home," Clyde requested, Rein remembering that Clyde was from Aj'ess, and agreeing to add him to the party.

"Alright, now that Clyde's onboard, we have the required amount of A+ class students…" Rein thought, Sho raising his hand promptly.

"Sho? You want to come too?" Rein lifted from his thought, Sho shaking his head in negation.

"I'm fine. I'll leave this to you. In the meanwhile, I'll try and contact the Econican intelligence division and see what kind of information they have," Sho exclaimed,

"Can I stay back too? I'd be dead weight if I came and I'd probably be more useful trying to get Checkmate to investigate from here rather than go out there myself," Core requested.

"Ok then, it's decided. The team will be me, Reggie, Chloe, Clyde, Xenia, and Quint. We'll be heading to the eastward island of Aj'ess, but we'll be investigating the cities we cross along the way. Is everyone ready?"

"Yeah!"

The group approached the counter and gave the commission paper to the receptionist, who approved of the party taking it. She suggested for the team to take the teleporter to Zacrozir, but they declined and opted to rent out a carriage from there. They all pitched in for a luxury 8 person tiger-drawn carriage, which could barely fit in the tunnel leading up to the surface. They were finally on their way to Aj'ess.

Since the carriage was tiger drawn, it would only take the group 3 hours to reach the edge of the continent. Rein sat in the front driver's seat, Chloe sitting beside him as the rest sat in the back of the luxury carriage, which was lined with cushions and velvet cloth. Despite the speed that they were going at, the ride there was surprisingly smooth, the Kindus tigers adept at mitigating the bumpiness of the roads.

As the wind blew through Rein and Chloe's hair, she rested her troubled head on his shoulder, no words exchanged between the 2 as they rode the continent.

While that was happening, the rest inside of the carriage were having a conversation, Xenia asking Clyde about Aj'ess.

"Aj'ess is your home, right Clyde? It was where the Seeking Blade brought you after he saved you from Crypt?" She asked, shuffling next to him in the wide carriage space.

"That's correct. Daisuke Morioh, the Seeking Blade lives on the outskirts of Aj'ess island. He was the one who trained me with a tachi, and is the strongest man I've ever met," Clyde explained, Xenia fascinated by his claim.

"Wow, he must be insanely powerful then. You said that while you were in Crypt, you were sent to assassinate him? Did someone want him gone?" She inquired.

"There are many people who want the Seeking Blade gone. He is one of the most powerful men on the continent, and some would have an easier time going about their affairs without him around," Clyde described, Xenia tilting her head in confusion.

"Hm? Why's that? Is he some sort of vigilante that fights crime or something?" She asked.

"No, not exactly. But he is one of the few 13th prestige Rangers," he revealed, which turned Quint's attention along with the uninterested Reggie, Xenia's eyes lighting up as she heard that, being the Ranger fanatic that she was.

"What!?! No way! He's one of the 13th prestiges?! Along with principal Julianne, there are 4 of them in total around the continent! Principal Julianne is the only one who's made it to the public though, the rest are a mystery!" She kept gushing, almost as if smoke was pumping out of her nose out of excitement. "And you're telling me the legendary Seeking Blade is one of them?! I didn't even know he was a Ranger!" She yelled as Quint had his mouth gaped open at Clyde's revelation, Reggie's eyes also widening.

"Could you guys keep it down in there? You're agitating the tigers!" Rein yelled from the front of the carriage, making Xenia quickly put her hands over her mouth to shut herself up, then promptly sat back down with a guilty look on her face.

"So, just how strong is he?" Quint approached Clyde and whispered.

"Well, do you remember what Rein did to that gorilla we fought? Imagine the gorilla was still at full strength. Using about 10 percent of his power, master could decimate the gorilla with no trace."