"Should we kill it?" Fugo suggested. After almost having his arm ripped off by a regular wolf, he had no mercy to show to their kind.
The wolf boldly ran towards Fugo and Renjiro, but not out of malice.
Once he arrived at their feet, he began licking their boots.
"What's this?" Renjiro asked.
The wolf looked up, sticking out its tongue in pure admiration.
"This one doesn't look dangerous."
Renjiro knelt to meet the wolf's gaze. "Hmm, I like this one."
"As long as it doesn't try anything, we shouldn't harm it."
Fugo did just that, staring deep into the wolf's grey eyes. It was glistening brightly because of how watery it was.
"Tears?" Fugo said, surprised.
Renjiro added, "Yep, it's crying, but something tells me it's not tears of sorrow... but joy."
"Hmm, didn't we just kill that werewolf and the other wolf? What's there to be joyous about?"
"This is only a hunch, but...the reason for the lack of monsters on this floor was most likely because of this werewolf eating them all."
"If that's the case, then this wolf lost all of its friends and family to that beast we just killed."
"We're giving a monster that kind of story?" Fugo sighed.
"A plausible story, don't you agree?" Renjiro smiled as he rubbed the wolf's fur.
"I've killed many wolves before, but this is the first time I realized how soft they were. Come on Fugo, feel its fur."
Fugo respectfully declined, still suspicious of the monster's intentions.
Sensing that the danger was over, Fugo puts his knife away.
"We should focus on finding Irene and Kae-"
A strike landed from behind, a thrust going through Fugo's chest, knocking him forward. The attack opened his previous hole and made it even bigger.
The gaping hole bled out rapidly, at any moment, Fugo could collapse.
"Just great!" Renjiro forced himself back on his feet.
Fugo crashed to the ground with a grunt, his breath escaping him in a sharp gasp. His vision blurred, and the world spun around him.
Behind Fugo, was the werewolf thought to have been defeated. Quickly, the other wolf hid behind Renjiro, trembling out of fear.
"Huh, you scared of him?" Renjiro asked the wolf.
The wolf covered his eyes, unable to face Renjiro or the werewolf.
Fugo's hand found its way to the hilt of his knife, his fingers tightening weakly around it.
"Renjiro" Fugo called out, barely above a whisper.
The low tone did not stop Renjiro still hearing his friend's voice.
"Yes, I'm here!"
Fugo managed to throw his knife towards Renjiro, close enough for Renjiro to reach it in one leap.
"Take it...finish it..." he whispered, gradually losing his voice.
Fugo was already in the worst shape, after that last injury.
Renjiro was not confident in his survival at all.
He was not even sure of his own survival.
Neither Irene nor Kael's.
As he grabbed for the knife, Clara's words dawned on him.
"Renjiro, as the leader of an Adventurer's party. Your decisions will inevitably lead to your teammate's survival to see another day or their death. Always keep that in mind."
As he recalled those words, Renjiro gripped Fugo's knife tightly.
"No! This can't be how far my party goes," he refused to accept the reality before him.
Irene's status was unknown.
Kael's status was unknown.
Fugo's status was Near Death's Door
The werewolf charged at Renjiro next, lunging its claws at him.
Renjiro parried the attacker with the knife and stepped forward into the monster's range.
"Risky but..." Renjiro slashed the monster's throat, making it spray blood.
In response, the werewolf grabbed onto Renjiro's face. Pulling him forward for a slash across his body.
While still gripping, the monster went on to stabbing Renjiro relentlessly, in his chest, waist, and shoulders, the monster showed no signs of stopping until its prey died.
Growl!
The scared wolf suddenly bit the Chimera's right leg, drawing its attention for a mere second. Surprised by this act, the werewolf tried kicking the wolf away but failed.
The bite's force was intense, a simple kick did not help.
Using this opportunity, Renjiro lashed out with the remaining strength he had left.
"Fucking die!"
First, he stabbed the monster in his left eye, causing the monster to let go of him. Renjiro proceeded to run the knife right into the wolf's chest, just like Fugo did earlier.
"I understand," Renjiro said, upon realizing why the monster survived. Fugo had only stabbed one of its hearts, but this particular monster had two hearts.
Renjiro made sure to stab one more time, this time directly at where he felt its heart beating.
The beast howled in pain, thrashing, before collapsing to the ground with a final, blood-curdling roar.
Renjiro fell to his knees, exhausted. "We... we did it," but his words were hollow.
The only one who heard his victory cry was the odd wolf that helped him. Fugo had already lost consciousness, either dead or knocked out.
Renjiro tried running over to his comrade but stumbled on his way.
He lacked the strength to move forward, but still, he forced his way closer to Fugo by crawling.
"Fugo, when I first saw you. I didn't think much." Renjiro cried.
"At first, all I wanted was a party so that I could quickly enter the Tower. I didn't mind anyone, as long as they weren't a jerk."
"You've surprised me, Fugo."
"You are strong, have an impressive grit about you that betrays that timid persona you have."
Renjiro spoke but received no response from Fugo's lying body.
"Damn it! Talk to me you dimwit! Don't you have a wife at home!?"
"What am I supposed to tell her?"
"That I brought you to your death?"
"Fugo?" Renjiro was becoming increasingly desperate to hear Fugo's voice.
Sensing Renjiro's panic, the wolf ran over to Fugo in his stead. The wolf placed its ear close to Fugo's chest and proceeded to nod its head with a growl.
"What are you saying?" Renjiro asked the wolf.
The wolf growled again in response, sticking its tongue out in a joyful manner.
The wolf's action suggested that Fugo was still alive, and that glimmer of hope gave Renjiro the level of calmness needed to continue crawling.
Once he made it close enough to touch Fugo's hand, Renjiro also slipped into unconsciousness.
The two of them lay there in silence, their battle won, but the consequences of their victory may have been too much to accept.
...
Seven years ago, Renjiro Tokita was born on the island of Arcland - a land torn by chaos, violence, and bitter ideologies.
At the time, Arcland was governed not by peace or unity, but by three ever-feuding factions: the Faction of the Sword, the Faction of Science, and the Faction of the Seas.
Each faction fought fiercely for control, not just of the land, but of its future.
The Sword Faction clung to the traditional values of samurai honor and martial discipline, refusing to let their culture fade.
The Science Faction sought rapid advancement through technology, viewing tradition as a chain holding them back.
The Seas, wild and lawless, embraced a pirate's life - raiding foreign shores, looting for wealth, and sowing chaos wherever they went.
This ideological warfare wasn't limited to battles on the field. It spilled into the streets, into homes - and worst of all, into the lives of children.
In Arcland, killing a child was not only common; it was strategy. Targeting the offspring of rival factions was seen as a way to ensure their eventual extinction. Assassinations happened in broad daylight. A child's laugh could be silenced in an instant, and no one would dare intervene.
Renjiro was one of those children, born into the Faction of the Sword - a faction that prided itself on honor, yet was locked in a dishonorable war.
And yet, against all odds, he lived a life many envied.
His salvation came not from strength, but from lineage.
Renjiro's parents were renowned merchants - one of the few neutral forces on the island respected by all three factions. Their influence reached beyond Arcland's bloody shores. They brokered trade, secured deals, and spread the name of Arcland across the world - not through war, but through commerce. Even pirates, samurai, and scientists recognized their value.
Renjiro never truly feared for his life the way other children did. He didn't have to glance twice at his meal, wondering if the stew had been poisoned. He didn't drink water with hesitation, nor sleep with one eye open, fearing a sniper's bullet might pierce the paper-thin walls of his home. The horrors that other children lived with - the daily threat of death - were things Renjiro only ever heard about.
And that was the problem.
He was different.
Untouched.
Unscarred.
Where others wore their suffering like armor, Renjiro had none.
And the children of Arcland - brutalized by war, hardened by grief - hated him for it.
To them, he was not one of them. He was an outsider wearing their colors, a pampered son of privilege in a land built on blood. Their resentment didn't come from cruelty - it came from pain. And Renjiro, through no fault of his own, became a symbol of the peace they never had.
So, he was left alone.
At home, his merchant parents were always away on trade voyages, busy keeping the factions appeased and the family afloat.
On the streets, the other children scowled, whispered, or worse - ignored him altogether.
At school - if it could even be called that - he sat in silence, a single figure in a sea of hostility.
Everywhere he went, he walked alone.
And so, despite the relative safety he enjoyed, Renjiro's life was suffocatingly hollow. He wasn't in danger of dying - but he was starved in another way. For friendship. For purpose. For connection. For a reason to matter.
Then, one morning, everything changed.
The war, which had raged for generations, ended.
Not through diplomacy. Not through surrender.
But because a single man stepped onto the island.
His name was Aphrodite V. Lan Reze.
A name that, to this day, commands reverence.
He came not with armies, but with an overwhelming presence. A towering figure cloaked in fine robes, his eyes sharp as blades, and his voice smooth as polished obsidian. He was a magic user - a concept foreign to the people of Arcland. No one had ever seen magic before, not truly. The factions had their warriors, their machines, their sea raiders - but this man wielded something entirely different. Reality seemed to bend around him.
Even without his sorcery, he was unlike any human they had ever encountered. His charisma was a weapon. His intellect, terrifying. His strength, absolute. Within weeks of his arrival, the factions - enemies for centuries - fell silent, then united. Not by fear, but by conviction. By purpose. By the sheer, unshakable will of Reze.
He didn't just stop the war. He redefined Arcland.
That morning, Renjiro watched him from the harbor, perched on the worn wooden railing as Aphrodite departed aboard his colossal, obsidian-hulled ship. The sails bore the emblem of the Reze Familia - an ancient symbol unknown to Arcland, yet now etched into the hearts of all its people.
Renjiro had never felt awe like that before.
It was like seeing a myth come to life.
That moment carved itself into his soul.
"So that's what an adventurer looks like..."
"That's what it means to have power, to unite, to never be alone."
So that's what an adventurer looks like...
That's what it means to have power - to inspire, to unite, to never be alone.
For the first time, Renjiro felt something stir deep inside him - a yearning that had no name before.
A destiny, not imposed by family or faction, but born of his own desire.
He would leave this island.
He would forge his own story.
He would become an adventurer - not for glory or wealth, but to fill the void in his heart.
To find companionship, purpose, and to one day stand as proudly as the man who had once stood before him.
From that day forward, Renjiro Tokita had a dream.