Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lucius and Rena approached the reception desk with their proctor. Thanks to Jen's adventurer card, they were able to bypass the check at the gate. Even though they showcased excellent fighting skills, tracking, and cleanup, both of them had struggled when it came to proper butchering.

Jen had to show them both how to skin a monster as well as identify the important body parts that could be used as alchemical ingredients. Apparently, each monster has a body part that they use as a focus for their strength or powers.

It was that body part that an adventurer would want to collect. For Dire Rats, their claws and teeth helped them inflict poisons and diseases on their enemies, so it was important to collect those two as ingredients for selling.

Dire Rat meat was in abundant supply as an additive in cured meats and such right now, so there was no point in harvesting any of that, also Jen informed them that the hide of a Dire Rat was too flimsy to be desired by anyone.

Lucius could not help but sigh to himself.

"What's wrong?" Rena asked him.

They were waiting for the receptionist to return from the back where she had long since disappeared with Jen.

"Oh nothing, just a lot of stuff to remember…also I'm sorry." He replied.

"Sorry? What for?"

"I'm just going to be dragging you down. When I was younger…life was…rather intense, even before the trial. But since joining your side things have been…calm?"

"Is that a problem?" Rena asked.

"N-no…not really, I enjoy spending time with you, but I cannot help but wonder if I lost my edge…I train, and train, and train…but nothing."

His friend put a comforting hand on his shoulder. It was nice, but did nothing to assuage the tumultuous see of feelings inside him. Given everything he had gone through growing up, the things he had seen, the things he sacrificed, the things he had done…he had hoped that he would be destined for great things as he got older.

Sure, as far as technique goes he had begun to master the sword and unarmed combat, but technique, like raw power, only got one so far. It was only when one was able to combine the two that they were truly strong. And for Lucius…this was a strength kept out of his reach.

Of course, another thing bothered him that he could not share, even with his friend. That was the fact that since his father's death, he had not heard even a whisper from either Luz or Grimm. It was strange, but for a while after they stopped talking he felt somewhat lonely.

He spent a few months in a coma-like state essentially non-stop speaking to them, so it felt natural to worry about losing that connection.

The reason he could not talk about this with Rena was pretty obvious too. What could he say? 'Hey, I'm freaking out because two voices in my head that I named have not talked to me for years and I kind of miss them'? Something like that was NOT going to fly.

All he could do was sulk and let his friend gently pat his back to soothe him, even though she did not really understand what was happening. After a few minutes of this, Jen and the receptionist returned. The receptionist gave a light cough to get their attention and then passed each of them a small metal card along with a simple metal ring.

"This is your guild card. It acts as a form of identification when entering cities and passing over borders between countries. For you, boy it tells people that you are not in the military so they don't confuse you with a Runner."

"Runner?" Rena asked.

"Don't hear much of them anymore since Marked Ones can join the guild now before joining the military, but before, any Marked Ones that skipped their drafting was considered a Runner."

"Oh…"

"Anyway, the ring is a special enchanted storage ring. Its only a basic model so it holds up to two hundred items and each item can be no more than fifteen cubic feet. Every adventurer gets one as a sign on bonus. Jen went over the rules for you, come back to reception if you take a job."

With that, their registration was completed and they were released to do what they wanted. They quickly moved out of the way to allow the other adventurers to continue taking and turning in quests. Rena gestured for Lucius to follow her outside, so he obliged.

"Wow! Look at this! We are really adventurers!" Rena shouted gleefully. Lucius could not help but smile at her enthusiasm, it was simply too contagious.

"Want to grab…" Lucius began before being interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey you two. Newbies. Come over here." The voice came from their proctor, Jen, who was being followed by two other people. One seemed to be an elf with a sword on his hip and a shield on his back. The other seemed to be a human dressed like a common hunter. His weapon even appeared to be a standard hunting bow.

Rena and Lucius looked at each other for a moment before shrugging and walking over to them.

"What's up Jen?" Rena asked.

The three other adventurers looked and nodded at one another before Jen finally answered, "We want you to join our party. We lack a mage."

"Not without Lucius." Rena answered instantly.

"Heh, don't get your panties in a twist girlie, we want him too. Kid may not have power, but he's fast and he will make a good scout, of that I can attest." Jen smiled proudly.

"What do you think Lucius? Are you okay with that…we were going to be a duo…" Rena asked while twisting her foot into the ground.

Lucius eyed the two other adventurers behind Jen that started to snicker amongst themselves, but since they seemed harmless enough, he let it go. Instead he turned to Rena. "Sure, besides if its just us or us in another party, we are still together, so I am good!"

"Good line, kid." Jen muttered behind her hand.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing, let's go get some food newbies!"

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