Hadwyn sat closest to Loyd on the ride home in the carriage. Not a word was uttered during the trip. The rain ran down the sides of the translucent fabric.

Ike had bailed out Loyd a few days ago, He had only spent two days in jail, but one would assume he had spent two years.

He bore a hateful expression, thankfully, one that Hadwyn sensed wasn’t directed at him. Still, he knew he was not to cross Loyd in the slightest now.

Mateo and Ike were waiting outside for their arrival. Ike held an umbrella, Whereas Mateo leaned against the bricks of the wall. Ike paid the man the fare and they entered the room.

Ike rested his arm on Loyd’s shoulder. Loyd didn’t look at Ike.

Some of Ike’s friends were in the living room. They nodded silently at Ike as they walked by. Hadwyn never got to know any of them.

Ike was speaking to Ike as they walked. Mateo lit a cigar and was smoking near the patio. Alice stood near the corner. She had a small bandage wrapped near her abdomen where she had gotten stabbed. She had her hand to her mouth and her nails to her teeth, peeking carefully like a child watching their parents fight. Upon seeing Hadwyn, she retreated back into the shadows of the hallway.

Ike and Loyd had made themselves comfortable on the wide chair near Ike’s other guests, or at least Ike was. Loyd was not only alert, but had a murderous glare in his eyes. His hand gripped Dauntaker so hard his knuckles turned white.

“How… how dare he…”

“No, Loyd, we must not lose to this…” he bit his lip.

“Did you sell it?” He demanded, loudly. His eyes darted around. They rested on a bag sitting in the corner.

“Mateo. Mateo!” Loyd shouted.

Ike’s guests began to shuffle out of the room, bidding silent farewells to Ike as they went out the door.

Mateo flinched from the patio. He threw his cigarette down and stamped it. Then he slid the door open. He cracked his knuckles. Hadwyn took one of the empty seats, the one farthest from Loyd of course, as he could no longer stand up.

Loyd gritted his teeth. “Why the hell is that,” He jerked his finger towards the bag aggressively, “Still here?”

Mateo was still looking at the bag, trying to think of what to say.

“Mateo!” Loyd snapped his fingers. Mateo cleared his throat.

“T-they… they wouldn’t buy it.”

“Why the fuck not?” Loyd crouched his body down on the the word fuck, as if he were coughing up a cigarette end that had been swallowed accidentally.

Mateo seems unsettled. But he didn’t look that worried. “Err, the guild members came by… they said…”

“Well?”

“They said that it wasn’t a drakon…”

It was a drakonette! Hadwyn thought.

Loyd grabbed his hair with one hand. “What? What the fuck do you mean!? Is that not a drakon?” He jerked his hand aggressively towards the bag again.

Mateo threw up his hands. “They said it wasn’t a female!”

“The fuck do you mean?” Loyd was spitting on the carpet now.

“Well you said that it was a Drakon on your salesheet.” Mateo snapped back. “They came there expecting a drakon, and well I guess they won’t settle for a female.”

Loyd looked around, eyes glinting like daggers. “Why the fuck oes no one communicate this shit with me? For fucks sake, whos job is it to point out this…” His eye fell on Hadwyn.

“You.. you knew…”

Hadwyn thought many things. He thought that Loyd would become angry at him yet again. Hadwyn was incredibly lucky to have wronged Loyd this many times in such a short span of time, and not have been kicked out.

But Loyd did nothing. He slumped down on the chair. Loyd glared at him for a few minutes.

Loyd eventually got up, and left.

He slammed the door upstairs and Ike sighed.

“Mateo… if you want, you may go home now.”

Mateo didn’t respond, but he walked out. Hadwyn found himself walking out too, but he was called by Ike.

“Stop. Where are you going?”

Hadwyn didn’t know where he was going. Somewhere… Anywhere… Not here…

“Sit.” Ike patted the chair next to him.

Hadwyn didn’t move a muscle.

Ike sighed. “I have… never gotten to know you. Your team says many ill things behind your back, things I do not believe. And… you and I are the same.”

Hadwyn soon found himself sitting across from Ike.

Ike clasped his hands. “Now that that blockhead is gone, we can have a one on one conversion. And perhaps maybe I can understand your grievances.” He waved his hand. “Go on now, tell me. Is Loyd really as ignorant and reckless as we see him? Are you really as unappreciated as I see?”

Hadwyn didn’t know how to answer the question. This was too sudden. Ike was suddenly sociable? Why? Hadwyn didn’t know.

“Do you know about this world, really?”

What does he mean?

He spread his hands. “Aldarians do not care for anything one would hold dear. They do not care, respect, or obey any rules.”

“But you are different. I sense you think differently.”

Hadwyn didn’t say anything.

“Do you understand what you… the power you hold? The power of… Knowledge?”

Ike had a faraway look in his eyes. It sent chills down Hadwyn’s spine. Was Ike drunk? No, his speech is too crisp.

“You… are superior…”

“What?”

Ike blinked.

“Oh… I meant you are better than this. You are better than them… I used to be foolish, like all of these…” he flicked his hands. “Aldarians. They think they are strong, but they are not. They are the most uneducated, unsympathetic, creatures.” You have a heart, boy.

Hadwyn began to feel uncomfortable, so he began getting up to leave.

“Don’t forget… follow your gut… and listen to the voice in your head.”

Hadwyn came to the table which his party members sat at. Once he had gotten their attention, he informed them that he had quit.

Earlier, at almost the crack of dawn, Hadwyn had left for the GOAG main office. A sleepy clerk jolted awake at the sound of the door opening. His footsteps echoed through the building, which would have normally been crowded.

Hadwyn told the man he was quitting. The man asked for his Identification. Then asked him to repeat the phrase: “I, Beginner Hadwyn, request to unregister from GOAG, Aka, the Good ol’ Adventurers Guild, and the guild is entitled to any materials they have provided me with during my enrollment. The guild is allowed to decide whether or not I will be allowed to rejoin should I change my mind, and in the case of which, If I choose to rejoin and reobtain all my benefits and records. The window to do so will close no later than two months.

I, Hadwyn, Agree to these terms.

Then that was that. The man had taken his Identification, which consisted of a small black and white sketch of him on waxed paper, a folder, which contained his bio, and his Written Identification.

The first two, he unceremoniously tore into a garbage can beside him, and the third, he marked with a quill.

“Thank you. Have a nice day.”

Now he was standing here, awaiting a response. He secretly hoped that there would be a protest, indicating either the team had finally realized how essential he was, or perhaps knowing all along, apologized.

Loyd waved. “So what are you still doing here?” He waved his hand. “Go away now.”

As Hadwyn stepped out the door, he heard laughter erupt behind him.

Ike was laughing along with them.

Hadwyn grimaced. He had suspected Ike was playing a joke on him. And of course, he was right.

Hadwyn had taken what little property was his, and carried it with him in a wagon

After it was all dropped off, Hadwyn paid the fare, and took his stuff out to the square.

There were few summons there. This was the area known for summoned who quit, or were kicked out. Hadwyn considered them less than reputable people. This was because they were powerful, twice or thrice his level. People like this didn’t just quit. It would have to be the latter option.

They eyed him with contempt. So Hadwyn kept his profile as small as possible.

The next few days were uneventful. Several times, Hadwyn wanted to go back to his party. But he knew that if he came back now, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Maybe then, I'll respect you.

Respect? What is respect? Hadwyn pondered this. He found it interesting how people defined respect.

People of higher status often told people to respect them, what they really meant was, to respect their status, not them as a person. If you spent enough time around people of significantly higher status. They would expect you to treat them as such. And they would treat you as a lesser.

Respect me as an authority, and I will respect you as a human.

Hadwyn knew this quote from Knight Theo, A legendary Aldarian. He was the second most famous, only to Adonis himself. He helped the Adarians slay the second demon king, Iwehdak. He wrote a memoir stating how little respect people had for him; Ever since I stood on the land, I was underestimated and dismissed. But when I stood on the corpse of Iwehdak, people began to see my strength. My lungs burned from the stench, but my chest filled with pride.

Hadwyn had read every book relating to Theo. But of course, since there weren't many people interested in Theo, there were only so many books. Hadwyn had burned through all of them by the time he was out of school.

Hadwyn often found that he had quite a lot in common with Theo. In fact, he often saw Theo’s life as a prediction of his own. A beard that grew back thicker, every time it was shaved. No matter how many times Theo was beaten down, he rose again.

Hadwyn saw Theo’s life, and thought to himself that he ought to become a man like him.

But there was always one thing that bothered Hadwyn, or caused him to lose focus of this dream, Because although Theo led a successful life, one filled with feats that could only be accomplished by those who gave it their all, and that he was well respected for a long time after, when he neared the end of his life, he began to exhibit a drastic change in his personality.

In other words, his cruel fall from grace.

Hadwyn had tried to mentally shut the book of Theo’s life from his head, but the words had already stuck to him. This was the only thing that kept him to believe he would soon have a big break like Theo, a call to action, fulfillment. The ending shocked him.

As Theo had gotten older, people began to notice he smiled less, and looked like he was always sick. His friends and allies claimed his would talk in a low tone, as if they were being spied on, but all of these behaviors were brushed off for the most part.

Until the disappearance of Adonis.

When Adonis disappeared without a trace, the world was thrown into panic. Their panic subsided, once the grand summoners pulled in five Aldarians. So cries of worry were silenced.

People ignored Theo after this point. But then Theo had left his mountainside home, marched to the nearest town, and announced his presence.

Once he had gotten the attention he needed, he made a claim that sent reverberation across the land.

“I knew Adonis. I knew him more than most people. We did not alway get along, as a matter of fact, we often quarreled, and I admit, even crossed blades a few times. But I always knew that Adonis had a good heart, and a protective spirit, something I sadly no longer see in Aldarians, how shameful! But that is a speech for another time. I have come to tell you the truth of Adonis’s disappearance. He was cast away. He was not a resentful man, I swear it on the almighty god, and all the gods between me and him, but I when I tell you how he found himself resenting the system. The system which the greed of those in power has perverted beyond such… such a moral comprehension. I know what happened to him. He was taken and put to death. He was sacrificed, destroyed… He was torn apart with no dignity!”

Naturally, the crowd that had gathered to listen to his speech were deeply unsettled by this.

“I see the doubt in your eyes! I see it, and I applaud you. You should not believe a man who runs up and speaks with his mouth before his brain. But I am not asking you to believe me, I am asking you to believe in Adonis! Think of all he’s done! Perhaps not for you, but for someone you know! He would sooner fall on his own sword then leave for any reason! These claims of his return to his home land are lies! Disgusting, abominable lies! There was no paradise for Adonis! There was only the primordial force that tore him apart! The Hand of Gods is an example! They talk ill of Adonis behind his back, they boast about their power, since he is no longer here. If he were here, I would not restrain him from beating these posers to a pulp. I wouldn’t because I know that Adonis Is better at restraining himself than anyone.”

Artists in the crowd snapped from their shock and scrambled for their papers, then drew, sketched and painted madly, recording every movement, pose, word, and nature of the speech.

“You should know… Even Adonis has made mistakes, but he understands and learns from them, he took it to himself to learn… To learn everything about this beautiful world and its people. To learn before death came. He even took a wife… “

The crowd gasped. Artists, now satisfied with their collection of drawings, now scribbled to get the crowd’s reaction. Later, after the ordeal, Artists were paid a high amount for their paintings and sometimes robbed of them, and those paintings were copied. Despite Theo not having as much attention as Adonis himself, these paintings would be the most significant piece of his life.

It was unclear to this day whether or not Adonis had been married. He was depicted as a bachelor in every story, art piece, and all recordings of him. But this was Theo speaking.

“She was not an Aldarian, but he loved her…”

There was some more to the speech that Hadwyn couldn’t remember, but what he did remember was that people never looked at Theo the same way. He lived for about a decade after the incident. Eventually, his friends decided to check on him, and when they got to his house, it was no longer there. Instead, lava from the mountain, which had been now discovered to be a sleeping volcano, had destroyed his house, paving over it like a bricklayer. The debris was cleared, but his body was never found. He had been drowned and burned to death by lava while he had been asleep.

Hadwyn shivered at the thought, or maybe it was because it was getting late. People frequently made fun of Theo, mocking his death as stupidity, well deserved, or other jokes. Maybe that was why Hadwyn read. Because he didn’t want to end like Theo.

Hadwyn wasn't even one percent of what Theo had been. And that was what Theo had gotten. That was the cruelty that this world served. This was the cruelty that Hadwyn understood too well.

In some twisted way, Hadwyn could understand why the Aldarians didn’t seem to care about the world. But he would never understand why Aldarians didn’t care for the people. Anivors showered Aldarians with respect. They were the entire reason why the Aldarians were summoned.

Still, an Aldarian would grieve over things as trivial as breaking an item or losing a spar, but would shed no tears when the very people they were tasked with protecting perished.

Life was a game. A cruel game. One that couldn’t be cheated, avoided, or dealt with.

Hadwyn was going to lose at this game, so he decided that he might as well quit while he was ahead.