Chapter 1 : Parting (1)

"Are you sure?" asked a man with a husky voice as he let out a sigh. He adjusted his seat and set aside his quill pen, then his eyes traced at the four people in front of him.

"Yes, Mikhail" A handsome man with long brown hair that touches his cheeks, replied while slouching forward with both elbows rested on his knees. "I think I did what I wanted to do. I aimed for the top and reached the top". He smiled as he straighten up his back and ruffled his short beard.

*Ugh*Mikhail grumbled frowning while kneading his temples. "What about the three of you?" He asked with much skepticism.

"I'm his wife, of course I'll go with him" She smiled with her rosy lips while brushing her hair around her ears. The woman is beautiful, she has silver hair with blueish tint. Her deep blue eyes matches her demeanor as she crosses her legs imposing a firm stance on the matter.

Mikhail let out a heavy sigh this time around. "Okay. I understand the both of you, since you are married and even have a son. It's quite normal that you want to settle down". His eyes surveyed across the room and finally pointed at the other two. "But what about you two? Quitting as well?" He inquired with hesitation.

"Yes" A very tall man with baby-face like features dressed in a white robe for missionaries replied. "As you can see, I, Rafael, has been accepted by the clergy and they wanted me to stay at the Temple of the Goddess here in the capital for some time." He beamed with confidence as he was showing off his brand new outfit.

Quite annoyed, Mikhail had the sudden urge to throw a pen at him but he calmed himself. "What for? With the experience that you have, they could send you directly to the main Temple of the Goddess in Gathia" He asked puzzled.

"Well, they wanted me to learn the basics of temple work, preaching's of the temple, and so on - before I can go to the Holy Land" The missionary replied as he scratched his head.

"Makes sense." He nodded.

Mikhail finally stared at the last person.

An elf, she had long blonde hair stretching down until her lower thigh. Her ears are a bit longer than a typical elf making her earrings, ruby and sapphire on each side look more accented. Her eyes are sharp like a predator on a prowl, in accord, she seems to put a mocking smile from time to time. She is truly attractive, and much more deadly to those who wanted to be dominated.

"What about you Sapphine? Going back to your Elf Country?" Mikhail inquired.

Sapphine was nonchalantly seated while making a copper coin dance between her fingers suddenly made a face filled with disgust. "The fuck you're talking about old man!" She suddenly snapped at him and threw the coin at him. "Like hell, I'm going back there after only a couple of years!" She bellowed pointing at him.

*tink* The coin hit his forehead and it directly fell at the floor. A bulge of irritation came to Mikhail and retorted "Watch your tone! I'm still the guild leader here, and besides, YOU ARE OLDER THAN ME YOU ELF HAG!" He shouted while counter pointing at Sapphine.

"HUH?!" Sapphine snarled as she walked towards him, her steps slowly echoed as her bust bounced and buns swayed at each step. She raised her hand and slammed it on the table.

*thud* A loud noise was heard.

"Listen here old man, how many times do I need to count your gray ass hair to show you your age?" She provokingly said while trying to pinch the guild master's hair.

A weird scene befall as a beautiful elf tries to forcefully pluck hair out of a balding old man while the other desperately pushes away her hands.

She eventually stopped and took a deep breath and went back to her seat. "And besides, my age in elf, if translated to your human years is still around 30." She continued with a smirk.

The three spectators were trying their best to hide their giggles, as they know the ire they will receive from the two if they were caught laughing at them. They will surely miss this banter routine, they thought.

Mikhail was red, furious, and veins popping out. He grabbed the pen on the side to try to calm himself down. "I think I should retire too, being a Guild Master will kill me" He sighed again and looked straight at the four and stood up straight.

"All right then" He took a deep breath, then fixed his voice and brought more authority in it.

"As of now, I hereby declare: As the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild in the Kingdom of Loutherid, I, Mikhail Cornelius, declare that the Adventuring party Dawnsteel with a party guild rank of 'S', with current members Glidal - Class: Magic Lancer, Lexia Raldime – Class: Ice Witch, Rafael – Class: Priest, and Sapphine – Class: Relic Hunter are now officially disbanded."

He sat back down and said with a stoic tone while gesturing them to leave. "Good luck, and now go – you're interrupting my work."

The four smiled, knowing what that means and headed towards the door. "See you later Mikhail" Glidal said as he closed the door.

As the door closed, Mikhail blankly stared at where the party were just a few minutes ago. "I'll miss you little brats" he muttered. "Except for the cheeky old hag of course. Hahaha" He laughed heartily for a moment. "Anyways, I'm sure we'll meet again. Now, Time to work!" He readies the paperwork and his pen, he realized that his right hand is still clenched to a fist. He opened, and there - a pen was crushed, or to those who didn't know it was a pen, it was just some fined debris of something.

"Fuck" Mikhail said under his breath as he sighed again. Then, he just slumped on his chair while blankly gazing on the wooden ceiling.

Outside the Adventure's guild, the four former adventures are bidding their farewells. They were reminiscing their starting days as adventurers, their first meetings as party members, and their accolades - basically everything.

Sapphine, teary eyed, hugged Lexia. "I'll miss you".

Lexia reciprocated as tears start to slowly tread down her cheeks. "I'll miss you too."

"Just send me a message if this runt Glid treats you unfairly, ok?" Sapphine said frowning while using her thumb to point at Glidal.

Lexia chuckled. "Of course". She replied and hugged her tightly.

"You know I'm not going to do that" Glidal said with a disapproving look on Sapphine. He looked at Rafael and reached out his hand. "I'll see you sometime"

Rafael reached out in turn but pulled Glidal to a hug. "A handshake… really Glid? You can't be shy to hug a man are you?" Rafael joked. "It was a real pleasure to have adventured with you" He continued as he looked at his party members and released Glidal from the hug.

"Mmm" Sapphine squeaked a noise trying her best to hold her tears.

"It was indeed" Glidal agreed. "But are you sure you don't want to come with us at the Castle?" He asked the group. "The decree said it was about the Dawnsteel party."

"It will be about rewards likely" Rafael said. "I don't need them, I won't be able to use them anyways since I will be called to the temple. Both of you can go." He chuckled.

"Rewards to tie you down to this country!" Sapphine emphasized. "I'm not going to sign on that." She stomped her foot annoyingly.

Lexia just chuckled at their responses. "This is it then. We'll see you sometime" She smiled.

"One last group hug?" Gligal asked.

"We need one" Rafael concurred.

"We never even had one in the first place!" Sapphine retorted with a confused expression and hands on her waist. "Well I guess this is the first and the last time" She continued and smiled as her eyes couldn't hold it anymore and let down a tear.

The four of them grouped up as they embraced each other like family. Memories rushed like a frenzy, the snippets of scenes rolled through their minds from crawling their way up the adventurer's ladder until the time they stood amongst the top. They cherished the people surrounding them, and they will continue to.

Moments passed by and it was time to go. Glidal and Lexia watched as Rafael, their party priest who can cast numerous buffs while simultaneously healing, is going towards the Temple of the Goddess. They waved goodbye as Sapphine, the party's tracker and pathfinder who saved them numerous times detecting traps from dungeons and natural terrain, just walks to the West City gate, knowing she will continue her journey alone to wherever her feet takes her.

As they could no longer see their friends. "Shall we go too?" Lexia asked with quite a depressing tone.

"Yes, Raymond must be bored of waiting". Glidal replied while he held Lexia's hand and started to walk towards the Biglodge tavern.