Chapter 24: Avengers

The air was tense.

The source for such energy was currently in John's eyesight, Annerose, who was laying belly-down on a table, shooting daggers with her glare at Rann from far away.

Rann, either not noticing the malice or indifferent to the pressure the spirit exuded, was talking with his fellow party members.

The topic in their conversation was irrelevant. The only thing that was however was the feeling of uncomfortableness oozing off of John.

The sound of his foot tapping was the only thing keeping his composure together, as his fellow adventurer Kunan was currently gone.

After the discussion with Rann about Black Jack, he left to check out the bounty-board, to glean information about the organization.

John so wished he was still sitting with them. At the very least he could be doing something besides feeling forced to stare down his spirit's newly found enemy.

He had tried several times to speak to Annerose, to bring the staring contest with a participant of one, being just her, to an end but each time he failed. She was too focused on the man.

John released a sigh, and just as he was prepared to throw in the towel so to speak, the sound of a door creaking open caught his attention.

He quickly turned, looking at the second floor of the hall.

In view he saw Ashur, making his way out of the meeting room, with Claire and Rox following from behind him. His eyes slowly tracked the man as he started walking down the stairs.

The members of Rox's party noticed the group's descent as well, stopping their conversation to wait for their leader to join them at the table.

"Hey, everything good?"

Ashur turned to John, who asked him a question so filled with powder kegs that the odds of an explosion happening were sky high.

"Yeah. We should talk real quick though."

As he spoke, John noticed his tone was very calm and laid back. It wasn't as tired and almost defeated as it had sounded prior to the meeting.

His face was also very straight-laced, with not a wrinkle in his brow, or a scowl on his lip. He seemed to be much more serene, having the energy that John had come to expect as normal from him.

Despite his words being laced with a foreshadowing of bad news, or at the least a serious talk, John didn't have a feeling of worry or concern.

Even from how the three had left the room, he assumed things ended cordially. John responded.

"Sure, do we need to go off somewhere for it?"

Ashur shook his head, walking to sit at a table a bit behind John, who followed. Coincidentally it was the same table Annerose had been doing her people-watching at.

Ashur, raised an eyebrow at her, tracking her glare over to Rann, who was now talking to Rox along with his fellow members.

"He do something to make her mad?"

John nodded, a solemn expression on his face. "Indeed. He chose to completely disregard her presence."

"Ha. That's one thing you never do to Annerose."

Surprisingly following his words came a smile. To be more specific it was a smirk, but when his primary facial expressions for the past hour or so were scowls, frowns, and coping grins this was a good sign.

Ashur continued speaking, not dwelling on the no doubt funny details that he'd missed.

"So. I wanted to first tell you a bit about the two adventurers who died. Their names were Severost and Ultri; they were A Rank and A- Rank respectively. Severost was an elder of the Sun Clan as well as one of the seven A rank adventurers. He taught me everything I knew, being a mentor for me, as well as a father figure after I had lost mine during the coup attempt.… Ultri was my rival growing up. The strength I wield today is largely in part to him for pushing me to my limits. Even beyond our rivalry, we were close childhood friends though, spending days on end together for years and years."

Ashur paused for a moment, his gaze shifting from John to the table. His hands were clasped together, tightening as he tried to muster up more words to give.

It took everything in his power not to tear up, or let his anger and rage consume him once more.

"Anyways…that's who they were. It seems highly likely Boreas, my brother, killed them. To this day I will never fully understand his grudge against the clan. For why he killed our father, or Severost and Ultri. This path he's gone down has just become more and more stained with darkness as well as blood, blood primarily held by those in the Sun Clan. Due to this I feel it's my responsibility to end him. To stop his slaughter, whether it be based on a twisted impulse or a more sinister plan. He's extremely powerful. The same goes for the other two members of his adventuring party. My current plan is to track him down right this second. I was told failure at apprehending him would result in losing my license, the same would apply to you as well for coming along so you don't have to…"

Ashur finally raised his gaze from the table back to John. His voice trailed off as he looked the man in his eyes.

He recognized that look.

It was the same one that he'd shown to him long ago, back when he asked for his hand in taking down Black Jack. It conveyed what John felt without him needing to say it.

That he would come with him, that the burden he felt weighed so heavy upon him, was now his to bear as well.

Once again a smile grew on Ashur's face but this time, it was a full-blown one. A smile filled with warmth and gratitude.

"Thank you."

"Of course. We're in this together, partner."

Before their moment could continue any longer an exasperated sigh came from the lips of Annerose.

She was now facing the two of them, her cheeks slightly puffy with frustration. The whole time she glared, not once did Rann entertain her, having an ironclad will that kept him focused.

"So, you said we'd be hitting the road immediately right?" Annerose said, her tone brimming with eagerness.

Ashur nodded. "Ideally. We can of course buy some supplies though, as we'll have to leave basically nonstop. Also, I want to stop somewhere before heading to Lethal, where the fight seemed to take place."

John raised an eyebrow, unable to help his curiosity at the stop mentioned. With all seemingly spoken through, Ashur stood.

"Hey, Ashur. Good luck." Rox was standing in front of their table, a conflicted look laying on his face.

He hadn't been there for their conversation, walking over after it but from the resolve on Ashur's face he knew the man's decision.

With a bow, Ashur responded."Thanks. My bad for the whole fighting you thing too."

Rox turned and with his back facing him he released a soft chuckle.

"I wouldn't have called that a fight but all is forgiven. It's not a real fight until one is killed or seriously injured, anything less is what I'd call a sparring match." He then walked away, back to his party which had been waiting.

John's eyes naturally fell on Rann who was standing, looking at him as well. He wasn't sure if it was due to their previous conversation but the clear-cut malice from before that radiated from him like a foul odor was gone now.

He still had a furrow in his brow, but it seemed to be one stemming from concern, as the two of them were once again planning to get involved in a mission of sorts.

John just gave a slight head nod, attempting to reassure him of his determination. He was unsure if it reached him however, before the man signaled anything back to him, a voice from ahead took his attention away.

"Hey, are you coming?" Ashur questioned, walking from their own table to the receptionist's desk.

Without a word, John rushed after him. When he reached the reception desk, the lady glanced between him and Ashur.

"What could I do for you two?"

"Well, I was hoping the pair of me and John could form our own adventuring party."

The receptionist nodded. "That you can. You'd just need to pay a fee of 1,000 Rubies and pick a name for your party."

"Want to do it?" Ashur asked, turning to John.

"Sure. There are many benefits to being in one, my only question is what name do we pick."

Ashur raised his fingers, placing them under his chin. A thoughtful look was in his eye. John squinted his eyes slightly, trying to rack his brain for any ounce of creativity.

Coincidentally enough, the two of them released exasperated sighs at the same time. It seemed they both held a lack of artistic vision.

"What about Avengers? That's all you two intend to do anyway right?"

The pair turned to Annerose, who'd given such a straightforward suggestion that it sounded like the obvious answer.

Both had blank looks on their faces as they just gazed at her and she, anxious about the lack of verbal response, floated back slightly.

"What? Was that a bad suggestion or som-" before she could finish, two big hands wrapped around her. John was the owner of them, lifting her up and shaking her. "Great idea! Thanks a ton, you're the best!"

Annerose cheeks turned red, she was extremely flustered. The sudden action of John grabbing her alone was enough to throw her off, not to mention being shaken up like so.

"Y-yeah of course it was!" She said, her voice shooting up and down with each lift and dip just like a seesaw.

Even in this compromising situation, she didn't let a moment of praise escape her, deciding to take it in with stride and pride.

"So that'll be our name," Ashur said, turning back to the receptionist.

"Sounds good. The last thing I'll need is the payment for it as well as a suggestion for the insignia unless you don't care or already have one to show me."

At this point, John was finished praising Annerose, releasing her from his hold. She remained in the air though, turning her back to them to conceal her blush, crossing her arms together.

"Shouldn't we do fifty-fifty?" John questioned.

"Sure. That sounds just right to me."

The pair simultaneously reached for their rubies. John fiddled in his sack while Ashur reached in a small pouch attached to his waist-belt.

Besides the jewels he'd grabbed, Ashur had a piece of cloth in his hand. Now having the items requested, they placed them on the desk.

After taking it, the receptionist pulled out a piece of paper and used a pen to write the proper information on it. John half expected her to ask for identification but that was before he realized they were technically famous.

Post the Black Jack massacre their names, and faces, as well as basic information, had been public knowledge. It would've been impossible for there not to have been anything honestly.

Due to this, people like Rann of course knew of his involvement or lack thereof in handling the situation.

Of course, that meant others who weren't adventurers like civilians or even criminals would know of them unless he and Ashur decided to get major makeovers and even then it might not have been enough.

The only places they could go without being feasibly recognizable would be a slum, another continent, or a faraway country on the Western Continent.

Luckily, just because they were easily recognizable didn't mean they were approached often, it just meant discretion in certain matters would be impossible.

"Okay, you're all set," the receptionist said with a smile. "Congratulations on the creation of your party. We hope to hear good things from you, Avengers."