The Guild Of Shadows

Apex Predator

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!"

Grover was panicking and sobbing while the walls kept closing in on him.

"I know I was a petty thief, but I never thought I'd face an end like this.".

Meanwhile,

Krystal appeared at the end of the portal.

"Huh, the portal didn't work!"

It looks like the crypt would only allow Grover to pass through.

Krystal clenched his fists at the thought of Grover not coming out of the portal. Self-guilt is a terrible feeling.

"If I hadn't taken his damn hat, he would be here right now."

"You've got that right, you bastard!"

A familiar voice shifted the current atmosphere.

"Grover!"

Krystal jumped on his feet excitedly at the sight of his teammate coming out of the portal.

He quickly rushed towards his partner and gave him a bear hug while sobbing.

"There you little demon spawn; I, the great Grover Star, have successfully raided a crypt all on my own.".

He declared, recalling how he escaped from his previous predicament.

A few moments earlier, Grover was being squished by the moving walls until an idea came to him.

He struggled to push his body forward, barely managing to take a few steps closer to the lasers.

"I hope this works."

He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth while reaching for a laser, with his foot barely managing to touch one, and then... ZAP! He disappeared.

"And that was how I, the great Grover, concurred with the accursed crypt.".

He finished narrating an alternate story of his experience in the crypt. One with zombies, robots, and aliens at the dumbfounded Krystal

"Well, I'm glad you're alright.".

Krystal had a faint smile on his face.

'I can feel it'

He looked at the still-gloating thief as he walked past him towards their original destination.

'Grover has gotten stronger'.

"You're telling me he's headed to that witch's district?"

"Yes, Commander, we managed to track his Anima after it spiked a while earlier.".

The location was currently what seemed like a throne room, only that the floors were all covered with animal skins.

A large man was sitting on the only throne in the room while three figures were reporting something to him.

"It shows his anima to be on par with yours, sir."

The one speaking was Cain, one of the trios that served directly under Vladmir, the commander of the Hondah district.

They were currently reviewing Krystal's current locations and discussing the abnormal rise of Anima that he showcased earlier.

All this was possible due to Ruth's and her tracking artifact abilities.

"He'll be in Regrah by sundown.".

The person who spoke at this time was Vidal; he was in charge of accounts and resources at Honda.

He was an expert strategist whom many commanders wanted to scout, but he ended up serving Vladmir a few years back when his village was raided by the Rebeasts.

He was saved by the traveling Vladmir and was the only surviving member of his village.

"We can reach there in a week by taking the chariots; Ruth will keep tabs on his activities during our journey."

A chariot is a vehicle powered by the anima of the driver; the more anima you give out, the faster it goes.

It would take a week for Honda's top charioteer to reach Regrah even at top speed; Vladmir didn't have the liberty to wait that long.

"One day."

The trio were perplexed as they figured out what their leader was talking about.

"Commander Vladmir, we can't keep up with your speed; you'll be alone if you run all the way there, and it's our duty to keep you safe."

Before Cain could finish, Vladmir channeled his Anima and dashed forward, breaking the sound barrier as he ran past them in the direction of his prey.

He seemed to have a grin on his face.

'Finally! Someone worth fighting""'

Vladmir seemed to only focus on something that Cain said earlier.

'It shows his anima to be on par with yours, sir.'

He licked his lips and dashed even faster over the thought of finally getting a good hunt.

"Where did you say this crafter was?"

"Follow me; he's in the central area; keep a low profile, okay; and don't do anything to cause an uproar."

Krystal and Grover have finally arrived at Regrah to get their emblem done.

The two were wearing black cloaks to hide their identities.

Regrah was a beautiful and large city with hundreds of houses located several kilometers south of Hondah.

The two stooped at the entrance of a crafts shop. It was a shady building that looked as if it could fall off at any time.

""Are you sure this is the place, Grover? It kind of looks deserted."".

"Do you want the emblem or not?"

"(- -)"

They walked inside.

The place was near empty... It looked strange, too; it was approximately twenty-eight feet long, perhaps half that wide.

A man could be seen dozing off.

He was around five feet tall, bald, and had a large potbelly.

He was dressed in a black tracksuit that was all dusty and oily from all the work he'd done for the day.

He was drooling and snoring loudly, oblivious to the fact that he had customers.

"...."

Krystal turned around to leave, but Grover grabbed his color and dragged him as he struggled to get loose.

"Now let me do all the talking, okay?"

He tapped the man's shoulder to wake him up.

"Hey, old man Kurt! Get up!"

"Haa, Lady Irene, you shouldn't have."

"KURT!!!".

This time Grover shouted right in his ear, making the old man jolt and shout, ""I'm up! I'm up!! ".

He is interrupted by his daydream only to be met by the now-laughing Krystal, who finds this funny and has a familiar face.

"Grover-boy! It's been a while. How are Bo and Cly?"

"Glad to see you're still your old drunk self, Kurt.".

Grover avoided the question, not wanting to delve further into the matter.

"I want you to make an emblem for us."

Kurt turned his gaze back to Krystal as he studied the boy for a while.

"Ahh, you have a nice aura there, kid; put it there; the name's Kurt Barns.".

Yes, Kurt might not look it, but back in the day, he was also a brave member of the now-disbanded White Night Guild.

Krystal seemed to also notice the reverberating aura that Kurt let out and smiled at the sight as he returned the handshake.

"Solemn! I'm Krystal Shadows, and I'm making a guild to find the primordial artifact.""

"Ho-Hooo, where did you find this energetic Grover-boy?"

""Enough of that; can you do it or not? We have somewhere else to be.""

"Grover!!"

Krystal scolded Grover for being rude to the person who was going to help them.

"Shut it, demon spawn!".

It seems they had a past together, and he's still upset about something Kurt did and the fact that he had to come to Kurt for help.

Kurt only smiled at this exchange.

"Don't worry, just write down the name of the guild and any other features you want here, and you can come back for your emblem in two days.".

"Thanks, old man.".

Krystal readily filled out a paper that was handed to him and gave it back to Kurt.

"Well, we'll be on our way now; see you in two days.".

Grover once again pulled Krystal by his collar and exited the shop.

They were now walking around the busy streets of the city.

"What was that back there?".

"Tsk, nothing you should bother about.".

Grover scoffed at Krystal.

"Okay." Krystal said with a smile as he placed his hands on the back of his neck.

"Huh, you're not going to say something like, 'We're friends; you can tell me anything'?"

"Nope."

Krystal interjected; it wasn't that he didn't care about it, but he understood something about Grover.

'Everyone has a past'.

"Now let's get something to eat!"

Grover pulled out a sack filled with coins that he had swiped from a passerby earlier.

"I saw a restaurant around the marketside earlier when we were on our way to the shop."

"Hahaha! I knew asking you to join me was a great idea."".

The two associates ran towards their destination.

Meanwhile, Justin, who had his money stolen without him even knowing, plopped to the ground and cried out upon realizing that he had been robbed.

"My monthly savings!!"

He was having a bad day.

Earlier, he ran mid-battle against Krystal; he was then scolded and punished by Irene, which was evident from the bandages that were all over his face.

"You should have returned as a corpse rather than a coward; no worries, I'll permanently paint that lesson for you.".

He flinched upon recalling his experience, then went back to sobbing.

"Woe is me?"

"Damn that Shadow user."

"Hey, tiny man, you're one of that witch's slaves."

The figure who spoke from behind the moping Justin was none other than a beastly-looking man whose aura flared to incredibly high heights. Hearing about his prey, he could feel that he was closer to his prey.

"Ahh! Cc-commander Vladmir! Wh-what are you doing here!?"

"Take me to the witch now!".

"Yum!! I've never had lasagna before.""

"Stick with me, demon-spawn, and we'll be eating like kings.".

Krystal and Grover were at a restaurant downtown and had finished devouring their meals.

"Thanks to Lupin's Hat, I can see just how much wealth someone has on them, and my dexterity is godlike now."

Grover explained his newfound abilities to Krystal. It was truly an artifact fitting a theif.

"Solemn!"

The black-haired teen rejoiced with sparkling eyes.

"Excuse me".

A hand tapped Krystal's shoulder from behind to get his attention.

But before he could turn around, he was sent flying by a meteor-like punch as he smashed through the walls and was now lying flat on the debris right outside the restaurant.

"Demon spawn!"

Grover ran towards Krystal, but before he could offer him a hand...

"What's this! Ouch!!"

He was trapped inside a sphere of electric current and got shocked while trying to smash the sphere.

"You sit tight if you know what's good for you.".

Vladmir, who came out of the restaurant, was holding a hammer that reached the height of his shoulders.

"I know that much won't be enough to put you out; heck, it won't even make for a good hunt."

He placed the electric hammer down and cracked his fist. His aura flared up, causing major shock waves in the area.

"It's District Commander Vladmir!"

"Is that other guy dead?"

"He sent him flying with a single punch."

The bystanders started to gather around them as Krystal began to get back up, wiping the blood on his face.

"Ow! Hey, you big palooza!"

Everyone except Vladmir and Grover stumbled at what they witnessed.

Someone is talking smack to one of the strongest Braves in Ernia.

"I wasn't done with my lasagna.".

"....."

They all froze.

"He's dead"

"He's Crazy"

"Let's get out of here."

They all scurried out of harm's way, giving enough distance to witness the beating that Vladmir was about to dish.

Grover, being stuck, could also only watch in silence, praying for a miracle.

He, being from Honda, knew just how powerful Vladmir was, even though he had never seen him in person. He heard stories about the great Vladmir when he first came to Honda four years ago.

Vladmir had a smile on his face.

"Let the hunt begin!"

In the library...

"Lady Irene, Vladmir has begun his assault."

The 'witch' had a devious smile on her face as she slammed the book shut.

'You had better pull up your side of the bargain to have me help you find your prey, Vladmir'

Two beasts were about to clash.