"You're fired, Ryo."
Those words echoed throughout the bar. Ryo felt his world spin slightly as he stood up, an unfamiliar sense of betrayal setting in. This was the place where he had met Kevin two years ago, and here is where Kevin decides to throw him away, like an awful science experiment gone awry. All of the other people in the party were staring him down, except for Amelee, who looked down at her legs, not meeting Ryo's gaze, and Arthur, who was reading a book that Ryo had made for him. "Why?" Ryo asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. "We've just reached A-rank after that last quest with the Umichron!"
"That's exactly the reason, dipshit." Andreas piped up, smirking with the same grin he used while mocking Ryo in the past. "Shut it, Andreas. Let me explain." Kevin snapped back, before turning his sights towards Ryo. "Now that we've reached A-rank, we'll have a lot more eyes on us as a party. For that reason, we can't have someone like… you." Kevin trailed off with a layer of disgust in his voice. "That's why we went to the trouble of hiring a replacement for you. We won't have to worry about your rocky body slowing us down anymore." Kevin continued, waving a man over to their table. "Ryo, meet your replacement, Uriza Markol."
Uriza, to his credit, bowed slightly towards Ryo, almost as a sign of respect. "He is a Wizard that has access to Nature and Lightning magic. He's not as versatile as you, but without you on the team, we'll be a lot more efficient with our co-ordinated attacks." Kevin explained, trying to make it sound as reasonable as possible. 'This piece of shit.' Ryo thought to himself, not a word escaping his mouth. "So, this is it, huh? You're just tossing me out like a used cloth? No real reason except that you don't like my rocky body, huh?"
"So? What if I don't? It's not like anyone cares about the opinions of some stupid Hyandean who got too big for his boots and tried to join the big leagues. You don't compare to us Utopians, scum. It's been this way for centuries, and you're an idiot for thinking we could ever be equal."
Ryo almost couldn't believe what he'd heard. He was the person who had saved them from so many life or death situations in the past two years, and they were getting rid of him because he was different to them. It was almost too crazy to think about, but standing there, right before his very eyes, was a stupid man. He was willing to remove a party member, not due to incompetence, but due to appearances like that.
"Fine. If you want that for the party, who am I to judge your decisions? After all, I'm just "some stupid Hyandean", right?" Ryo clapped back, dejected, as he began leaving the bar. "Hold up, Ryo." Kevin told him, bodyblocking him from leaving. "Give us your robes and staff. They're properties of the Rising Sun party."
Ryo actually couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "You're kidding, right?" He asked, almost chuckling. However, the laugh never escaped his throat when he saw Kevin's expression, as solid as stone. "No. Give up your robes and your staff. You don't get to use the property of the Rising Sun unless you're part of the party." Kevin stated, stonefaced and deadpanned. "Oh, so you're playing it like this, huh? Two years of service and you want to treat me this way? Fine." Ryo stated, taking a stand. "I want my books back."
You could have heard a pin drop. "No, those are property of the party too. We've used them for so long that they've become ours." Kevin tried to tell him, before Ryo put a finger up. "You have two options, Kevin. Either I get my books back, or I get the robes and the staff. After all, if these belong to the party, as you gave them to me, then those books are mine, as I gave them to you. If the books belong to you since you've used them for so long, then these belong to me since I've had them on me for two years." Ryo detailed, his heart beating through his chest. He didn't know where that surge of confidence came from, but he was never more glad to have it. Andreas began to stand up in order to yell at Ryo, but Kevin put his arm out, signalling Andreas to sit back down.
"Fine, take your stupid books. We need the robes and the staff for Uriza." Kevin spat out, as Ryo took his 'Observations' notebook and the pencil out of the inner pocket inside the robes. Arthur started to complain, but Kevin shot him a death glare, which shut him up. Ryo took off the robes and shoved them into Kevin's chest, leaving his staff leaning beside the chair he had been sitting beside. Ryo walked around, grabbing books from each person that he had given one to. One from Kyoka, Arthur, Andreas,and Amelee. Ryo felt bad taking the book he made for Amelee away, but he had to make a point. Each of them had kept his books on their person due to the useful information that lay inside. Finally, he made his way over to Kevin once more, who handed Ryo his book, slightly thicker than all the rest. "I hope to never see any of you again." Ryo said to the party, before placing his hand on Uriza's left shoulder, his rocky right hand causing the new Wizard to wince. "I pray for your success. I'm not mad at you for joining the team in place of me, don't worry." He told Uriza, letting his hand go and making his way towards the door. As he grabbed the handle, leaving a small scratch in the metal, he turned back to look at what was his party, only to see them all standing up to grab drinks with the new guy, except for Amelee, who looked at him once before averting her gaze back to her legs.
Ryo opened the door, feeling a night-time breeze rush over his face, sending a small shiver down his spine. He closed the door gently, and let out a deep, almost relieving sigh, before being swept with a wave of guilt. He felt wrong taking back stuff he had given in hopes to mend relations with his party members, but it had to be done to make a point. The book he had given to Amelee, "The Detailed Method To Improve Mana Flow", had helped her improve the efficiency of her Healing magic. Arthur's book, "The Fighter's Guide To Strike Weak Points", allowed Arthur to become an incredibly deadly fighter, striking opponents down with ease. Andreas' book, "The Most Efficient Assassin Techniques", allowed Andreas to become even faster, striking faster than most human eyes could see. Kyoka and Kevin had the same book, but Kevin's was slightly different. "The Longswordsman Blitz Style", a book designed to teach them the fastest way to kill monsters, regardless of size, shared almost all the same materials, except Kevin's also showed him the weaknesses of everyone in the party, which Ryo updated with each new party member.
Ryo held all these books in his hands, not knowing what to do with them. He had no place to store them, but he was definitely not planning on destroying or selling them. He may dislike four out of the six members in that party, but he wasn't going to take the blame if someone learned their weaknesses. He had nowhere to go, as all he had for money was the reward from the last quest and little bit of savings. Seventeen large silvers, nine small silvers, and twenty seven large coppers. He could stay in an inn for a large silver a night, but that wouldn't include food. "I'd probably be better off going back to Hyande." Ryo said to himself under his breath. "First, though, I need a bag to store these in. I'll stay in an inn till the morning, then buy a decent enough bag to store these in.
Ryo made his way to an inn that had a single room open, coughed up a large silver coin to stay the night, and went to bed. It was the worst night of sleep he'd ever had, but some is better than none. In the morning, he got up, got dressed, and instinctively went to grab his staff, only to find it not there. "Right…" He muttered under his breath. Ryo checked out of the inn, and made his way to the market street. The smell made him nostalgic.
Seven years ago, Ryo had been evaluated to have three different Magic types available to him, and his village in Hyande went wild. They got a man to teach him all about mana circulation. The man went by the name "Mask." Nobody knew if that was his real name, but that was what he called himself. True to his name, he wore a face covering that looked like a Kobold, a small humanoid creature with yellowing skin and marks across its head, and the only part of his body visible beneath his clothes was a small black tattoo that seemed to extend up his arm, but Ryo could never figure out if it did. Five years ago, Ryo left his village to pursue life as an adventurer, spending three years as a wandering Wizard, helping those who needed help for little more than lodging and food in his stomach.
A little over two years ago, Ryo found himself in a bar in the Utopian capital, a city named Eilera. He was trying ale for the first time, deciding it wasn't too bad. An adventurer sat beside him, head in his hands, pulling at his golden hair. The adventurer complained about his party not being able to advance up from C-Rank, lacking any magic wielders. This was a younger, nineteen year old Kevin Iyeere. Ryo decided that this'd be the best chance he'd get to join a party, so he introduced himself to Kevin, who was more than happy to accept a Wizard to their party, telling him that he "didn't care if he was made of stone, an alien or even a fish, he'd still take a Wizard".
"Where did those times go?" Ryo asked himself as he wandered throughout the market street, his eyes flickered to and from each building and each stall, finding a small bag-maker outside one of the larger bakeries. He haggled with the owner, getting a large backpack for the nice price of 4 large silver coins and 5 small silvers, and the owner even threw in a map. He shoved the books he had reclaimed into the bag, having more than enough room to fit even more. He made his way to the edge of the city, his bag rustling with the books inside. He showed his adventuring license, something he paid for a long time ago, and simply walked out. He was unwilling to spend money on a carriage, as to own one it'd be thousands of times too expensive, and he genuinely didn't think he could afford the fares of a driver. So, Ryo pulled out his map, and started charting a course for his village in Hyande. It mostly consisted of following the same road for kilometers upon kilometers, but he didn't care. "I might find some new books on my way." He said to himself.
Days turned to nights, which turned to days, which became night once more. Yet, Ryo didn't feel lonely. In fact, he felt more at peace, no, more alive than he had during his time with the Rising Sun party. He walked, and walked, and travelled paths he hadn't seen for years. He made his way to the border between Hyande and Utopia after about three consistent weeks of travel, paying a fee of three large silver coins to pass. He kept moving onwards, moving past the capital city of Quebesk, trekking until his feet blistered, and kept going. He stopped in a village named Ingo near the sea in Hyande, taking a three-day break to rest his feet after what was now over a month and a half. It didn't feel like that, not even to him. He had blisters all along the soles of his feet, callouses showing where blisters did not form.
He finally slept in a bed for the first time in over a month and a half, paying a large silver coin to do so. It was the best night of sleep he had gotten in the last two years. However, when he woke up, Ryo heard a very interesting tale from one of the adventurers in the room beside him.