As Morgana is recovering from her wounds, Lance, Piedro and even old man Travion were drinking. They were celebrating on the defeat of Konrad and his KarKhon bandit group.

“THEY ARE GONE! THEY ARE GONE! LET’S ALL DRINK TO OUR LIVES! THEY ARE GONE! THEY ARE GONE!”

Walking around covered in bandages, Morgana went to the pub and asked for drinks herself.

The bartender told her, “No. Aren’t you still recovering from your injuries?”

“What, I can take some mugs for myself!”

“No, I refuse to do so.”

“Is this how you treat your hero?”

“Yes, by ensuring that she has fully recovered from her injuries.”

“Dammit”, said Morgana

As she was leaving the bar, she bumped towards Piedro.

“You know, I don’t even know your name.”

“Morgana L. Octavion.”

“Good to know. Anyway, I would love to thank you for what you did in this town. You have saved us all.”

“No need to mention that, and besides, you were able to keep Konrad at bay.”

“Anyway, have you seen a guy named Drakon? He looked like Konrad but gave free food. I turned down his offer of apples yesterday since I don’t really eat apples.”

Seriously! We were this close to losing yesterday. Thank the heavens that she has luck on her side.

“No, I haven’t seen him.”, said Piedro

“Well, tell me, if he is here.”

“He probably left town.”

“Awwwww. Alright.”

“By the way, Hella told me that you still haven’t registered your guild.”

“Well yeah. I’m looking for members right now. Maybe Lance can join my guild. Old lady Hella mentioned that he was also an outsider in these parts.”

“Hmmmm. It will take a lot to convince him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lance and I knew each other for 2 years now, but even then, he won’t disclose his life to me. Maybe you can help.”

“Me?”

“I don’t know, but I do wish my friend would see the world. Someone as strong as him needs to fully realize his potential.”

“Alright. Take me to him then.”

“He’s just at the bar. You probably didn’t notice him.”

Morgana and Piedro went back to the bar. Giving some sort of code to the bartender, the two went to a secret door near the beer kegs. There, they saw Lance drinking a large glass of beer. Furthermore, there appears to be 7 empty glasses beside him.

“Morgana, Piedro. Come drink me!”

“She can’t drink, you know that.”

“Oh, yeah. Forgot, she still injurd”

“You’re drunk, my friend.”

“Naaaaa. I’m noooo dank.”

“Get some rest.”

Piedro took the last glass and drank it himself.

“Naaaa fairr. Mine.”

“Shhhhh. Take a rest now.”, said Piedro in a soft voice.

Carrying the sleepy Lance, Piedro took to the stairs and laid him to some room upstairs.

Looking at Morgana, Piedro told her, “By the way Morgana, you can stay at Hella’s place for a while.”

“Nah, I can wait for him here.”

“Suit yourself.”

Out of curiosity, Morgana went to the stairs and saw the sigil and symbols engraved on Lance’s armor just outside of his room. Some were worn down, and some looked fixed.

So this is the gear of a holy knight

While looking at the armor and shields, one thing caught her attention. It was an old rusty shield. After inspecting it, she found out that it belonged to a man named King Leon IV.

That name sounds very familiar.

But before she could inspect further, she sensed that Lance is getting up. Not wanting to upset him, she went downstairs, pretending to wait for him. After a short time, her assumption was proven correct when Lance went downstairs.

“Ugh, that is one nasty hangover. Oh, Morgana what are you doing here.”

“Ummm. I got a proposal for you.”

“Hmmm. What is it?”

“Would you like to…”

“No. My place is here. I won’t leave this town.”

“But…”

“No means no.”

Sighing to herself, and unable to convince Lance, Morgana left the room and the bar altogether.

“You can show yourself now, Piedo.”

“You know, you have refused being the town guardian and you are leaving the opportunity presented to you, my friend. Stop letting your guilt dictate who you are as a person”

“What do you know. My life is no one’s business.”

“But I do know something about your life, even if you won’t tell me.”

“Hmph”

“You were the holy knight of King Leon IV. Somehow, you believe that the destruction of his kingdom is your fault, am I right?”

Angry, Lance stood up and grabbed Piedro by his collar.

“How… Did…. You… Find… Out….”

“Well, you tend to give details when you are drunk.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t be drinking this much.”

“It’s been a long time my friend. Well, just yesterday, you told me to stop holding my resentment towards strangers.”

“Yeah, I said that.”

“If someone like me can change his mind, then someone like you can change yours. Think about it.”

“But…”

“Consider this, a journey with Morgana may help you in your goals, and maybe you’ll find someone you can protect. Maybe, you’re just afraid that you might fail like before.”

“What if I am?”

“Every one of us is afraid of failing. You lost your king, and I lost my wife. But we can always strive to better persons. Think of this as your second chance to redeem yourself.”

Piedro stood up and walked towards the doorway to the bar.

Before he left, he told Lance “By the way, I’ll pay for the beers.”

Meanwhile, Morgana was looking at the Wizard Outpost.

Hand Hand Hand

“You are looking for the outpost, aren’t you”, said Hella

Morgana nodded.

“Well, it’s that building over there.”, pointed Hella.

There, she saw a huge square building, with a large hand painting outside of it. Going inside, she saw that the place was also wrecked and is currently being rebuilt.

“Damn it, I cannot register my guild at this rate.”, said Morgana

“Oh, but I can.”, mellowed an older voice.

“Grandpa?”

“In my addition to my duties to my guild and my town. I am also the head of the sorcerer representatives in this area. With that responsibility, I can grant you a guild.”

“Thanks Grandpa.”

“So have you found any members?”

“So far, it is just…”

“I’ll join her guild.”, said a familiar voice.

“Lance”

“Hmmm. So the current members are you and this kid named Lance?”

“Yes”

“Alright, just sign this form with your names.”, said Merlock

Lance and Morgana looked at the form and realized two things that they forgot.

We need a name and a logo

“Grandpa, can we discuss it for a while”

“Sure, but you have to hurry up. I really can’t wait, even if you’re my granddaughter.”

Lance and Morgana went to a corner and whispered among themselves

“Alright, you provide the name, I’ll provide the logo.”, said Lance

“No, I’ll get the logo.”, said Morgana.

“You’re going to be our guild leader, you need to give the name.”

“Sigh, alright. Our name is….”

A short while after signing the forms. Morgana had her hand engraved with the logo. Shortly afterwards, Morgana, with a visible glove on her left hand, is arguing with Lance about certain things.

“Why did you pick that name”, shouted Lance

“Well, why did you pickup that logo”, retorted Morgana.

“That suits our team.”

“Yeah, but that logo is lame.”

Lance sighed, but realized that he needs to pack his items. But before doing so, he went back to Morgana.

“You know, since we now have a guild, give me a share of the reward money so we buy a horse to travel.”

“But I already gave the some of the reward money to those carpenters. They said they need extra to rebuild the houses.”

“And…”

“I also brought a bunch of cabbages.”

“I really need to manage our finances. Anyway, could you wait for me. I need to pack my belongings.”

“Sure thing”

Lance went back to the bar, only to find out that his equipment were already stashed in a sack. There, he saw Piedro standing near the sack.

“I knew you would join her.”

“How did you know.”

“There is something special about her. She has a strong presence to her that you can’t just ignore.”

“I know, something draws you to her.”

“Anywhere, if you are wondering about your equipment, it is all stashed in this sack.”

Piedro handed the sack to Lance.

“A specialized shrink sack. But how could you afford it?”

“It was actually Ashure’s sack. I figured that maybe you’ll need it. She’ll probably give it to you, if she’s still with us.”

Suddenly, Lance burst into tears. Joyful that he experienced some wonderful times with Piedro, and sorrowful that he is about to leave the place he called home for 2 years.

“There, there. If you need any help, you can always contact us.”

Still crying Lance mentioned “I will protect her… I won’t let her die… I will guard her during our travels…”

“I know you will, I know you will.”

Piedro then thought about the scars of Lance’s past and how he tries to bury it.

This is your second chance my friend. To prove to yourself that you are not a failure, and that you are indeed a holy knight.

“Goodbye my friend”, said Lance

“Goodbye, and see you again.”, said Piedro

It was only a day, but she impacted us in a big manner. She managed to change my perspective, which in turn, led to Lance changing his.

Lance went back to his meeting place with Morgana, and there he saw the young sorcerer wearing a white dress but still bandaged in some areas.

“Are you sure you want to leave now Morgana? You could always heal up your wounds here.”

“Nah, I’m curious about our next destination. Who knows, we might meet our second guild member in the next town.”

“You’re one optimistic lady.”

“And you’re the exact opposite.”

Lance chuckled.

This could be the start of a new journey for us.

“Before we leave, let us raise our flag and shout the name of our guild”, said Morgana

“Alright then.”

A flag of a howling wolf was raised. And the two of the shouted.

“WE WELCOME THE BIRTH OF OUR GUILD, FULL POTENTIAL.”

“Still a weird name for a guild.”, said Lance

“We all want to be the best, so why make it the name of our guild.”

“Alright.”

“Anyway, why is our logo a dog anyway?”

“That's a wolf, not a dog.”

“Well, they can have the dog, and we can have a dragon’s claw.”

“I’m pretty sure, that’s not how it works.”

“Well, I want it to work like that.”

“You’re one stubborn person, aren’t you?”

“They always say that.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Lance and Morgana soon departed Azuran. On the gates, they met Travion and Hella.

“Me and Hella are grateful to you both. Lance, thank you for helping take care of this town.”, said Travion

“And you Morgana, thank you for helping us when we needed one.”, said Hella

“We wish you luck and nothing but success.”, Travion and Hella told the two.

With a final wave, Lance and Morgana left Azuran. Along the way, Morgana asked a question to Lance.

“Are they a couple”, asked Morgana

“Of course they are. Didn’t you know that? Ms. Hella had a lot of Mr. Travion’s pictures at her house.”

“Well, I thought, she was just a fan.”

Lance simply kept silent after processing that information. Smiling to him, Morgana reached out her hand to Lance.

“Take my hand, we need to go to the next town as fast as we can. I think I forgot to eat again.”

What have I gotten myself into? Then again, this journey may be the one that I need.

“Morgana, don’t you have your cabbages?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Hahahahaha.”