"When do you think he'll arrive?"
The feminine voice echoed through the street as two figures walked towards the pier.
"She said around evening today, however, I don't see any way for a vessel to arrive from there this quickly."
Another voice responded to the girl's question in an uncertain tone that reflected disbelief.
Orange dust blew through the air, catching against the bandanas the two had tightly tied to their face to prevent breathing the sand.
"Don't you owe him your life?"
The pink-haired girl's words made the boy stop, a trembling light appearing in his hands.
"Yes…"
He replied in a barely audible murmur; yet, the girl heard it, causing a small smile to tug at her lips.
As they began their walk again, they discussed a topic that neither had placed much thought into.
"What would you get from the Vault of Nautilus?"
The white-haired boy asked the question first, waiting for the girl's answer as she placed her finger to her lip, pondering.
"Maybe some type of blade? I heard Lord Cosmoti had once acquired a dagger made from the tooth of a god from there."
Her arsenal of weapons was rather bland compared to her masters; only a handful of knives were tied to her belt, the main tool of hers being her magical pistol.
"What would you take?"
Redirecting the boy's own inquiry back at him, the pink-haired child turned her head backwards slightly to watch his face delve deep into thought.
"Something to harness mana better. Ever since I was young, I haven't been able to circulate it through my core without strain, so if I could get something to supplement that, then it would be excellent."
Nodding slightly, the girl felt her feet connect with wood, the smell of salt replacing the dryness that had hung in the air previously.
After a relatively short walk through the bay, they had arrived at the southernmost port where a certain blond challenger would be sailing into.
Gazing outward at the sea, both youths were surprised to see a medium-sized fishing boat, one they had both become familiar with, floating leisurely in the bay already.
"How did he…?"
Raphael's words were but a whisper as he stared perplexed at the owner of the vessel walking towards them.
Akari's face contorted solemnly as she scanned the boy up and down, taking note of his new appendage.
The white-haired noble's face paled as he caught her gaze, realizing with a sickening feeling in his stomach that he, if not directly, was the cause of such an injury.
His injuries were far less severe than the blond-haired boy's own, healing magic repairing the scorched flesh and lost blood.
Camilla Buckley had told him of his state; however, seeing it with his own eyes was a completely separate prospect.
A red and black bandana hung down from Aaron's nose, covering the bottom half of his face, his eyes a bloodshot red from sleep deprivation.
With the two other challengers frozen in place, the blond boy walked towards them, greeting them happily.
"Nice to be working with you."
Smiling under his mask, he held out his hand to Raphael in a respectful gesture.
Aaron's polite action made the white-haired boy confused, his eyes darting around as if he were searching for help.
W-Why would he want to shake my hand after I caused him to lose his leg?
With a nervous look plastered across his face, he reluctantly shook the boy's hand before hastily letting go so Aaron could move on to greet the pink-haired girl.
In a rather awkward interaction, the two shook hands as well, backing up from each other hurriedly as if an unspoken agreement between them had been forged.
Raising his voice to combat the harsh wind that bombarded the coastline, Raphael addressed the other boy.
"How did you get here so soon! We were told you wouldn't arrive until at the earliest tonight!"
Furrowing his brows, Aaron scratched his neck while giving a less-than-informative response.
"Winds change, I guess!"
With an uneasy look, the white-haired boy dismissed the confusion that laced his expression, only allowing it to bubble within his chest endlessly.
Akari, on the other hand, didn't even question the sudden arrival of the third challenger; the knowledge from Meredith Droskyn about his unusual family still lurked in her mind.
"Should we find shelter from this dust storm?!"
Shouting to the group, Aaron spoke firmly even after just arriving on the unfamiliar desert island in the Sea of Mystery.
Affirming his words, the three began heading inside the nearby cafe that was flooded with customers during the storm season.
Hurriedly finding an unoccupied table using their Hunters' Guild credentials, the three sat in a circle, unwrapping their facial coverings.
"Have you two started the mission yet?"
As he folded his bandana, Aaron posed the question to the two challengers who had been on the island for six days already.
Before Raphael could respond, Akari cut him off, answering with ease.
"No, we wanted to wait for you to arrive because you are the highest-ranked challenger throughout the world. Even your name's on the paper…"
Flushing red slightly in embarrassment at his second time in the global papers, Aaron turned to Raphael, listening to him follow up on the girl's words.
"What she said is basically correct, but we did receive our first batch of quests from the Guild Hall. We haven't started them, of course."
Throwing a small slip of paper over the table to the turquoise-eyed boy, the two watched as he unfurled it and read it silently.
Quest #1: Help the Church of True Earth prepare for its annual Harvest Festival. The reward is a free prayer session with the lead priest.
Quest #2: Hunt low-level terrors off the coast of the island and bring them to the Thorn Research Center for scientific analysis. The reward is the core of the terror after mana has been extracted.
Quest #3: Re-map the underground caverns that stretch below the island with the help of a Guild representative. The reward is any minerals located on the descent, including mana-infused ores.
Pursing his lips, Aaron turned his eyes upward at the two before placing the paper in the middle of the table.
"Who is doing which quest?"
His question was answered quickly by Raphael, who had hastily looked between Akari and Aaron.
"We haven't decided yet."
The girl interjected, finishing the white-haired boy's thought.
"But we were thinking of playing a game of cards to decide who would get first pick at each quest.
Understanding her words, the blond boy thought back to the last time he played cards against someone, his face overlapping with Raphael's for a moment as the pale boy picked up a deck.
"Eh?"
Aaron let out a startled grunt as Raphael passed out seven cards to each player, an obvious difference from regular poker.
Without replying to the boy's confused noise, he placed the deck of cards in the center, gazed up at his cards, and spoke firmly to the girl.
"Got any sixes?"
There was a lengthy silence as Aaron watched, brow furrowed, noticing Akari open her mouth slightly.
"Go fish."
…
After a short ten-minute game, the blond boy was left defeated, coming in dead last in the children's game of Go-Fish.
He had known the rules; however, oddly enough, the two opponents he faced were pros in the eyes of this fifteen-year-old boy.
Once they had solidified the ranks, the choice for which quest would be assigned to whom began at last.
Coming in the top place, Akari spoke first.
"I'll choose mission two, fighting terrors seems interesting enough, plus I'll get to keep the cores."
A pang of disappointment coursed through the blond boy's heart as his first pick was taken from him in a flash.
Raphael spoke next, quickly choosing one of the two remaining options.
"Quest three, I would never do anything for those earth cult freaks."
Nearly spitting at the mention of the Church of True Earth, he lay back in his chair, satisfaction rolling across his face.
Aaron, who had, without choice, been forced to accept quest one, stared sadly at the wall, realizing that his only reward would be a religious session.
Is that even safe for me? Aren't priests connected to gods?
While he pondered the idea to himself, Akari set down her drink on the table, talking aloud to the group.
"We'll start tomorrow then. I booked us each a room at the local inn so we should each get some rest…"
Pausing and turning her gaze to Aaron, whose eye bags looked like they had eye bags of their own, she continued.
"The more sleep we get, the better. Who knows how much they are leaving out of these quest descriptions…"
All three challengers simultaneously remembered the difficulty of the first mission, each experiencing something that would exponentially change the course of their exam.
Glossing over the sea terror in the room, the boys nodded at her words and rose from their chairs.
"Is the storm over yet?"
Aaron's words were quiet and directed at the waitress who stood behind them.
"I believe so."
Tossing her a regular silver Draught, he followed the other two outside the building, mentally preparing himself for what was to come.