Everyone in the room was shocked to hear who Claudia Ostum was; she was someone cursed by the Forest of Dreams, where those who entered and failed were to be cursed indefinitely. It was rare for someone to enter, let alone survive and come out.
However, whilst looking down, Xerxes asked himself, 'Could this really be living?' To have a body but not have control of it, he wasn't sure if it could be called living. Merely, she was surviving.
Airi mentally spoke to Xerxes, "The mana that is entering her seems to be different. I don't know how to put it, but it is tinged with the higher power that Aemon had previously mentioned, the very same one that I possess and that he possessed. It seems not to be entering her; more so, encasing her."
Xerxes understood what she was saying, but in practicality, he didn't know exactly how it exactly affected her, that he would need more knowledge on.
Leiya began walking close to Claudia, placing a hand on hers. "I feel sorry for Claudia, but Xerxes, Thornfum, how are we meant to fight with someone like her on our team? It would only be us three."
Thornfum cleared his throat. "Something m'master had once told me, 'never leave a beautiful woman behind.' And as ya' can see, Claudia is quite the spectacle. But she ain't just a pile of sleeping mess, she's useful."
He then began explaining portions of Claudia's past to the extent that he could remember. "Formerly, she was a member of a guild called 'Dawn'. It's better t'say she made the guild. She formed it with a few chaps—all decent fellows."
"Through the years, she began gaining strength, but she didn't dream for it to be a big guild—just her with the people she cherished. And eventually, there was rising pressure. More and more people were getting their names known, but they weren't. Then, Claudia's idea to get fame was something that no one wanted to even consider."
"At this time, the Forest of Dreams didn't have too much knowledge surrounding the horrors it had, but still, people knew the risks. And as a guild leader, y'had to be a risk-taker—ya' couldn't be a darbul[1]." Thornfum's voice grew with sadness as he carried on.
"Then one day, she shocked everyone. Her name made headlines in The Baratheon Times: 'Adventurer Claudia Ostum, with her guild "Dawn", plan their most daring quest—a quest that is promised with loss, but with the potential reward of gaining everything from it.' Somethin' along those lines."
"Days... weeks passed, and there was no sign of anyone. Everyone thought they may have died, that was the only reasonable conclusion. But Claudia's 'conclusion' wasn't reasonable. She managed to escape, albeit alone and the rest of er' men dead. She had been tainted by the forest's curse, and it was only growing worse by the day. Her guild had to close; any former glory she had vanished."
Looking down at Claudia, "People avoided her like the plague—y'know, like how I avoid m'landlords—and her family even rejected her. They said she was a disgrace, and her family left her in Baratheon to start somewhere new, to get rid of the pressure they faced from the other families of the chaps that went into the forest under her command."
"Ya see, I heard about it, but we're not gods with some sorta' power to predict the future. We make mistakes, and that's what it's about, maybe not for me, because I'm exceptional, but I can feel for those who have. Claudia lost everything, but I wouldn't be known as the benevolent Thornfum if I didn't give her a chance."
"So, after a while, I located her. I gave her the proposition: whilst she's awake, she'll help me—because only when she expends too much mana does she begin to slumber. She can still hear, so that's a bonus, but even then, it can be random. Generally, that's how it works. And whilst she's sleeping, I take care of her. And I promised her—if she joins the tournament with me, then I'll use my cut to help make a potion or find some way to battle the curse."
"But the only way I think I can is by getting rid of that damned Forest of Dreams, to get her out of this nightmare. So that's why I need to enter the tournament as well. I need to help a pal, and I need to win this thing for myself too—so I can pursue my dream, to prove somethin' to someone who left me many years ago. And that's it. If ya' don't want Claudia to join, I'll have to find a new team. But if yer' willing to tek' the chance, then I promise, I'll fight till m'legs can't move."
Xerxes began thinking deeply. Despite Thornfum's remarks of him believing he was leader, in reality, Xerxes himself was. If he wanted to really go through with this, he had to be sure—he needed a plan, and he needed conviction.
All those things he'd seen, and looking around, noticing Leiya, Thornfum, and Claudia—despite all of them having some broken part of them, he thought that together, they could be something akin to 'whole'. And as long as they had that then he could make it work.
"It's done, then. I understand it as well, Thornfum. Trust me, I understand when someone makes a decision that may seem rewarding in the moment but ends in tragedy," Xerxes said solemnly, as he pictured Aya's teary eyes before him as he was dying, like they were a recent and fresh memory.
"I also understand what that exact person would do, the lengths they would go to if it meant that they could regain something they had once lost." Xerxes not only thought of Claudia's potential to be stable again, but he also thought of Dorian and Aya, who may still be fighting, with the slight inclination that he may be alive.
Finally, he looked at Leiya, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you understand it too, Leiya."
Leiya put a hand on Xerxes' hand, smiling, knowing that within her, she was ready to fight for something. And that something, for Leiya, was not only to regain the honour her family had lost in that battle but something greater. It was to regain the score, to make things even, and to end Yves.
Xerxes almost forgot, but he held his hand, stroking Airi's feathers, speaking mentally, "And I can't forget you, Airi. You have saved me more times than I can count. You've made me stronger, you've been there for me, and I know you will regain your memory. These days, I'm talking to you about getting stronger or the other things that we need to talk about, but I promise, Airi, you're more to me than just some weapon. You're someone I view as an equal, as an individual."
Xerxes felt a huge emotion rush into him, it was relief and an eradicated feeling of doubt. Airi looked at Xerxes, "You were making me fear for too long. I thought that was all you saw, but I realise I need to do more—communicating my thoughts to you. But thank you, Xerxes. And I hope you know I feel the same. I'll always do because to me, you're irreplaceable."
Xerxes smiled, stroking her feathers more. "Likewise!"
Thornfum then said, "I'm glad y'do. So, what's the battle plan here? We got some absolute units joining this year's tournament. We need Claudia to rest as much as possible, so she can be awake for as much of the tournament as she can, because she's a badass. You can't become a leader without any good reason, because once she's awake, she releases water power at Tier 4."
Thornfum sighed. "She's ad' better days—used to be Tier 3, but the curse is regressive on her mana too. She has a time limit, and we need to do somethin' about it. But as all of you acting as m'subjects, I'm sure Thornfum the Great will be able to make it work."
Airi spoke to Xerxes, "We may need to burn him one day—without a doubt."
Xerxes, not bothering to speak out loud, said, "I second that, Airi. I really do..."
Leiya then looked around. "Well then, if everything is in order, I think we should sign up for the tournament as soon as possible. And even though Claudia may not be able to train, with her experience, when she awakes, she can work around our combat styles. But I believe it would be best if we could work with yours as well, Thornfum."
Thornfum then said, "No can do, m'lady, well, partly I can. It's either, in a week, I forge Xerxes a decent-ish sword, or Xerxes goes in with a wooden sword again. You pick, zombie boy."
Xerxes held his chin. "It would be more disadvantageous for me to fight without my strong suit than gaining chemistry with Thornfum. After all, Leiya, my old swordsman teacher and mana teacher told me the importance of being adaptable in certain conditions. And I think it's best to be adaptable in terms of chemistry rather than combat."
Leiya recalled her father and grandfather's words, understanding that Xerxes—even now—was still using their lessons, meaning she had to as well. "Right then, I have to be as well. Thornfum, we'll train over the next week, but we won't burn ourselves out too much. You make a badass sword for Xerxes after we register ourselves, and then—it'll be time for the tournament."
Xerxes then thought of one last key detail before creating a party. It was all so nostalgic, creating a party. His first with Dorian and Aya, and now with Leiya, Thornfum, and Claudia. But he needed the name to be smart.
He needed something that would allow Dorian and Aya to know he was out there somewhere—and still fighting. 'My old party's name was Destiny's Hand, but this needs to be something they would know. We had a few other names we wanted to call our party, but the one that I think can fit all of us is... that's it—The Embered Flame.'
Putting a hand in the middle—with Leiya placing one on top, Thornfum grabbing Claudia's hand to place it on top, and Thornfum placing his hand on the very top—Xerxes spoke, "Today, we create our new party. I hereby call it The Embered Flame."
Everyone then roared in unison, besides Claudia, "THE EMBERED FLAME!", ready to perform their best in the tournament.
[1] Darbul is a derogatory word used to describe adventurers' lack of experience or power. It can also be used against rookie adventurers, without a big accomplishment under their name. It originated in Baratheon, but it spread to Layne's adventuring district, as the two kingdoms of Baratheon and Layne are quite similar in terms of the adventuring aspect, both of them deriving cultures and even similar languages from each other.