My eyelids were heavy, but that didn’t stop me from forcing them open. I was then struck with a few seconds of absent mindedness. The clear blue afternoon sky was a bit shocking to see and even more so when my memories flooded back.

“Ah!” I sat up, ignoring the aches traveling through my body and looked around only to spot a woman wearing dark sunglasses me sitting next to me.

“Up already?” She asked without looking.

She was too preoccupied with scrolling through her phone to look my way. Or at least, it seemed like that was the case.

“You…” I stared at her, recognizing her face quite clearly.

The armor she was wearing told me she was a Gifted, but that’s not how I knew her. No… She was in the Ruin, I remember seeing her for a brief second.

“Your friends are okay and the one who died has been taken care of.”

“Wait… What’s- What happened?”

At my question, she finally put her phone away and looked at me.

“A wide scale merging of ruins, that’s what they’re calling it. Apparently, several different ruins connected together resulting in a huge event. You just happened to be in one of them. Luckily enough, we were already in there so we managed to save you.” She explained carefully.

I felt I could relax a little after hearing what she had to say, so I laid back on what seemed to be a stretcher.

We were currently inside of an emergency area outside the ruin so I didn’t have much to worry about.

“...Who are you exactly?” I asked.

“Alexandra Hallworth,” She replied with a bit of pride in her voice.

I sat there with a blank expression as the name rang out as unfamiliar. I didn’t want to be rude, but I had no idea who she was. In fact, I hardly paid attention to any of the Gifted prior to my awakening.

“You don’t know who I am?” She asked, seemingly surprised.

“You’re the one who saved me, right?”

“While that is true, I’m also the leader of the Iron Wyvern Guild.”

“Oh!” I widened my eyes as I remembered a reporter mention something about them a while back. “Wait, wasn’t it called the Iron Dragon guild?”

“Common mistake, but wyverns are much different from dragons.” Alexandra spoke passionately but then shook her head before sighing. “That’s not what’s important though… We need to talk, Casper.”

I silently gulped as I felt an ominous omen creeping up on me.

“You’re apart of my guild until you pay back what you owe.”

“What?! What does that mean?” I sat up in a fluster.

“I gave you a potion to keep you alive. A very expensive potion, Casper.”

“...How much?” I asked, burying my face in my hands.

“The current market price is nearly a million dollars.”

“A million.” I repeated in a hollow voice as the debt climbed onto my shoulders.

“I run a small guild with a membership number that hasn’t exceeded forty since its founding. As a small guild with a selective recruitment process, we don’t have a lot of swing on the political front. At least, as a guild alone.”

“What are you saying?”

“How do you think a small guild is able to afford to give away a potion like the one you consumed?”

“I don't know…-”

“The Government. This isn’t something you’ll ever hear publicly but we mostly do odd jobs for them. You see, you aren’t in debt to me, but rather, the Emerian Government.”

I looked toward Ms. Hallworth with a stunned expression. A Gifted who owed the Government was likely to become a prisoner, forced to clear and explore ruins with little freedom.

“So, it wasn’t really me who gave you a potion, but rather, I lent you a government asset without permission from the owners. Now, there is good news in all of this.”

“Like what?” I answered bitterly.

“I am willing to take on your debt, but in exchange you’ll join my guild until you’ve earned enough to clear it. I won’t add any interest but if you wish to use any items or materials, it will be added onto the outstanding amount.”

“Is this how guilds normally operate?” I inquired dejectedly.

“No, in fact, this is me being extremely kind to you. I can see you’re talented but I’m taking a chance on you and giving you a way out. Other guilds would’ve taken advantage of you by drawing up an unbreakable contract with strict clauses. You wouldn’t even be allowed to negotiate your terms as your only other choice is imprisonment.”

“So I’m allowed to negotiate now?” I laughed.

“Sure, what are your terms?” Alexandra asked with a thin smile.

“I… Well…”

I couldn’t actually think of anything right now. I had barely managed to keep my life during my struggles in the ruin and now I was tossed into a situation where my freedom was on the line. I was in no shape to properly deal with negotiating. She had to know that.

“Then do we have a deal?” Alexandra asked, perhaps sensing my plight.

“...Yes.” I answered.

“Oh, cheer up. I even said you can leave whenever you pay off your debt. If you managed to gather up one million dollars right now, I wouldn’t make a fuss at all.”

Now that I think about it, her conditions were extremely kind, almost suspiciously so. In fact, I was very skeptical now. There was something that popped into my head so I sought to resolve it with a question.

“When you said odd jobs, what did you mean?” I suddenly asked.

I swear the air around Alexandra grew still as she seemed to get serious.

"Who do you think deals with Gifted who refuse to follow laws? The ones who kill whoever they want and steal whatever they want. Do you think that cops and normal soldiers are enough?"

I could get the gist of what she was saying but I was completely shocked.

“Wait, you mean… I thought it was against International Law for Gifted to operate as soldiers?” I blinked rapidly as her words finally made sense.

“Officially, yes. However, when dozens of people with superhuman abilities take over a small city in some foreign country, what then? What about if they chose to do the same to us? These are enemies that can’t be stopped with bullets and explosives all of the time. So we quietly take care of the ones who make too much noise.”

I took it all in and was mostly surprised at the fact she was so open with what would be a very classified secret. I don’t know if her kindness was all a pretense or if she was actually very calculating. The fact that I now knew the Emerian Government made use of Gifted wasn’t a good thing. If I told anyone, I’m sure they’d mark me with the crime of treason and force me to work.

“Please, don’t tell me anything else,” I muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing… Do I need to give you my information or-”

“I already have it.” I could clearly feel Alexandra’s eyes peering at me through her sunglasses. “Courtesy of the Emerian Government.”

"Ah, also, you can rest easy knowing we didn't try to pry that artifact off of your hand." She stood up and gave me a pat on the back before heading off toward her guild members.

It was only then that I realized the ivory ring remained untouched. I felt that if Ms. Hallworth knew the true value of this artifact she would've cut my finger off just to take it.

The sudden turn of events made me wonder if this was a dream.

“Casper!” Jameson called out to me.

Sophia followed behind him while helping Emma who need a crutch to move.

“Ah, Emma?” I climbed to my feet to greet them, but Emma increased her pace and suddenly hugged me.

I flinched because of the pain, but ignored it and held her with a wry expression.

“Grant’s… He’s…” She began to cry and I didn’t blame her.

This group probably knew each far longer than they knew me. The only thing was I couldn’t feel sadness at the fact Grant was gone. That wasn’t to say his life was meaningless to me, no, it was the exact opposite. The fact that he was dead meant that he had lived and that was important to me. Wasn't there something good in that?

I couldn't say that aloud though, it was insensitive and might even seem heartless. So I kept it in and consoled the others as best as I could.

As I continued to hold, Emma, I spotted a woman far in the distance. She resembled my mother, but I knew it wasn’t real. Unlike the first time where I chased after her, I chose to remain where I was this time. There was no point in chasing ghosts.