(Back to Clad's past)
(a few years later)
Clad is 18. Still with the mercenary group, but it became smaller than before due to many people dying and quitting, and Cody's girlfriend passing away during a monster hunt, which Cody was still sad about. Cody lost an arm and a leg and has retired to live a simple life, opening a restaurant in Naroth, Hishcadel's neighbouring kingdom.
While Clad was on a break buying new equipment before visiting Cody, he accidentally bumped into a mysterious man wearing a white suit, black hair, two black horns on each side of his head, red eyes, and snow white skin, as if he had never been in contact with the sun.
"Oh, I'm sorry," The man says as he picks up his books from the ground.
"It's alright," Clad says as he helps him pick up his books.
The man took a quick look at Clad and started thinking.
"A black haired man with rose pink eyes and a small scar on his forehead."
"He must be him," he thought to himself before asking him a question.
"You're Clad, aren't you?"
!!?
Clad, surprised by the sudden question, jumps away from him.
"How does he know my name?"
"Is he an assassin sent to kill me? No..that can't be the case because I let my guard down when picking the books, he could've struck me down the second I started picking them...." He thought, as he couldn't get an idea of who the man was.
"I'm not trying to kill you or anything, calm down." The man says as his books started to emit red energy before flying out of Clad's grasp and straight into his hands.
Whoosh!
"I'm actually here because one of my agents was secretly recruiting strong people to join our organization, and he told me that there was a man with Black hair and rose pink eyes that might interest me, so I came looking for you myself." He says while pointing at him.
???
"Huh?" Clad says in confusion.
"I know this is quite confusing right now but..do you want to join the Union?" The man asks him with a serious look on his face. The equipment store went silent as the store's manager stealthfully walked to the back of the store.
"How much is the pay?" Clad asks very seriously.
"2000 credits a month." The man replies with a sparkling smirk.
"IM. IN." Clad says without asking any more questions.
"Perfect! We will be leaving in-." The man was about to tell him something before Clad cut him off mid-sentence, saying that he would like to visit his friend before leaving.
"Uh, okay." The man says with a confused look on his face.
"And by the way, what's your name?" Clad asks him
"I am, Andras, Captain of the Union's Group U."
(A few minutes later, in Cody's restaurant.)
He tells Cody how he is joining an organization, and he asks him to drink with him one last time before leaving, which he does.
Cody talks about what happened that night many years ago, which Clad feels uncomfortable talking about it, but Cody doesn't mind and tells him that he and his girlfriend actually argued about it a few months before she died, and she told him that she knows that she can't undo what happened to him, but she hopes to make him happy with her present, but she wasnt sure that he would like it so she gave up on giving it to him. She got clad in a custom black pure kazenite sword, which makes Clad pretty happy.
"Kazenite!? Isn't that the really expensive mineral only given to the best awakened in the world directly by the government because of how rare and indestructible it is!?"
"How did she get such a thing!?" Clad says, with an excited look on his face.
"Alright, Cody, see ya!"
"And thank you for this cool sword!" he waves at him before walking out of his restaurant with Andras waiting for him at the door.
Cody looks at his beer with a warm smile on his face and mutters a few words.
"Look, Deica, it seems like he does like the sword that you got him after all."