Red rubbed the spot that had been hit.

"But they kept talking about a guild..." He explained, looking at Eiwin and Narcha.

Hector gave the women an ugly look, but the two of them looked away in embarrassment.

"Listen, kid." The old man turned to Red again. "We are a Sect, do you understand? A Sect."

"...What's the difference?" The boy could see that he had hit a sore spot for the elder, but he decided to take the opportunity to learn more about the subject.

"The difference? Everything about it is different!" Hector growled. "A guild is a band of greedy good-for-nothing people whose only interest is to make money! They don't stand for anything and they are more often than not just a bunch of rogues and thieves who managed to make their criminal way of living legal..."

"What about your Water Dragon Sect?"

"Our Sect is a noble institution, full of people with similar mentalities who all want to work together to elevate the organization around them while on their journey of Spiritual Cultivation and the pursuit of enlightenment!" The elder smiled, his words full of pride.

"Really?" Red asked skeptically. "It doesn't look like you stand for-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you for accepting him, Master Hector." Eiwin stepped forward and bowed towards the elder. "You will not come to regret this decision in the future."

"Hmph, you have the gall to say that after forcing my hand?" The old man snorted. "I will respect the sect rules, but this kid better be worth the trouble. Since both you and Domeron seem so keen on taking him in, then you should be responsible for teaching him. I'll be closely monitoring his progress in these next few months and if I find him lacking I won't hesitate to throw him out of the Sect!"

The younger woman nodded.

"You do not need to worry, Master Hector." She smiled. "However, could I ask you the situation of his wounds?"

"His shoulder should recover in a few weeks, so his left arm will be fully usable by then." The elder responded. "However, his acupoint is an entirely different matter. There's a reason why it's so important to have all 99 basic acupoints completely open before trying to open the Spiritual Sea. Lacking even a single one of them will make the control of Spiritual Energy a much harder task."

"Is there a way to heal it?" Eiwin asked, with a worried frown.

"There are certain medicines that can help, but they are all very rare and we most certainly don't have any of them here." He shook his head. "The boy made his choice, so he has to live with it now. As he said, it's much better than being dead."

Hector turned around and headed towards a set of stairs that led to the second floor.

"Go ask Goulth for some medicine. Since the boy already knows a special technique for opening his veins, there's no need to give him the sect's manual." The elder waved his hands in dismissal. "Don't bother appearing in front of me again until you have something to show for yourself, boy."

Cutting the meeting short, the old man was already halfway up the stairs and soon out of view from the rest of the group. Red, still quite confused about what he needed to do, looked around for guidance.

"Congratulations, Red." Domeron smiled. "It's best that you rest while you can for today. If you want to stay in this Sect, then you won't have any time to spare for resting starting tomorrow - wounded or not. Eiwin will assign you a place to sleep in. We'll see each other again tomorrow."

The man nodded at him and walked out of the hall. Now, there were only Red, Eiwin, and a brooding Narcha remaining around the table.

"Miss Valt..." The younger woman tried to speak to her companion, but she was cut short by a raised hand.

"Enough, Eiwin. You won, alright?" Narcha replied. "Whatever you see in this boy... Whatever troubles he will most certainly bring us... I hope it's all worth it."

She got up from her seat and moved towards the exit. Then there were only two.

"...Miss Eiwin." Red called to her. "You never told me anything about joining a guild."

The woman turned around to look at him, an embarrassed grin crossing over her face.

"I'm sorry for keeping that from you, but I had to hide it from Miss Valt, or else she wouldn't have even let us get to this courtyard." She explained. "Besides, you told me you wanted to open your Spiritual Sea, right?"

"I did."

"Then this is the best place to do it. Or did you have any other options?"

"I suppose you're right." Red shook his head. "But from what Hector told me, these benefits don't seem to come for free."

"You're right, but Master Hector often exaggerates when discussing the Sect." Eiwin continued to clarify. "I called us a guild because we more or less work like one - taking on client requests to deal with monsters or gather materials in exchange for money, amid a lot of other things. It's the way we manage to get by, and we're far from being comparable to a proper Sect."

"Then why does he insist on calling you a Sect?"

"That's because he wants us to be a Sect. Master Hector was part of a large Sect when he was younger, but it was destroyed by the Empire, with him being one of the few survivors we know of."

"So he's trying to revive that Sect?"

"More or less, and he has put all of his hopes in us. But more specifically on little Allen, the kid you saw earlier." She responded. "He's the son of a few of Master Hector's friends who were also part of the same sect, and he hopes that one day the boy can succeed his position and bring our group to greater heights."

"How many veins has he opened?" Red asked curiously.

"Seven veins." Eiwin had learned better than to worry about undermining the boy's confidence, so she didn't hesitate to answer as she had in the past.

"And how old is he?"

"He just turned 11 a few months ago." She responded, gauging his reaction.

The youth didn't seem affected by the news though and simply nodded.

"I guess I have a lot of catching up to do."

"That's the right mentality." Eiwin smiled. "Now let's get out of here and take you to your room. I assume you're still very tired after all those days of sleeping on the ground."

Red had never actually slept anywhere other than the ground, but he wasn't about to correct her. He followed the woman outside and was greeted by the rest of the courtyard. There were quite a few buildings in total, with the hall they had just been in being at the center of everything.

Red saw a fenced-off area where a lot of chickens were wandering around in the grass. Another building emitted a lot of black smoke from its chimney, and a lot of junk and tools were gathered in a messy pile right outside the entrance. He even saw Allen sitting on some box by the hall door. His face brightened up once he saw Red, and he dashed inside of the main building in a hurry.

There was still a lot more that the boy didn't have time to examine before they were face to face with a small wooden house towards the back of the courtyard.

"This is my room." Eiwin explained as she opened the door. "You can sleep in here today and tomorrow we'll find a place that you can call your own."

Red nodded and wandered inside behind the woman. He was greeted to a rather cozy bedroom, with an actual bed, a table and a chain, and a small wardrobe. The woman moved around the place, cleaning up the room and picking up some items before stuffing them into her backpack. However, from what Red could see there was barely anything she kept inside the place.

"Right, as Domeron said, you should rest for now." She turned around to look at Red. "If you want anything I'll be around the courtyard cleaning things up. If you decide to stay here, I'll come to wake you up at dinner time. Is that alright?"

"Alright." Red agreed without much thought.

The woman nodded but didn't leave the room. Instead, she continued to gaze at the boy, with a serene smile on her face. Almost half a minute passed by in silence, during which the youth started to become uncomfortable under Eiwin's stare.

"Is there a problem?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Not at all." She shook her head. "I'm just glad you're here with us, Red. Regardless of what Miss Valt and Master Hector may think, I still believe I made the right choice in bringing you here. I'm sure you won't disappoint us in the future."

'That's unnecessary pressure.'

"I'll do my best."

Red thought about rebuking her, but she seemed genuine in her words. Some of what Narcha had said today indicated a deeper reason as to why Eiwin treated him so well, but there was nothing malicious in her intentions as far as the boy could tell. It would be unbecoming of him not to go along with someone who was doing nothing but help and defend him.

"Then, I'll leave you to it."

With that, the woman turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her, and Red was suddenly alone for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

He walked up to the bed and hopped onto the mattress, feeling softness and comfort he had never experienced before in his life. However, when he looked at those walls, he didn't feel any warmth. Only uncertainty.

He examined his shoulder, slowly unwrapping the bandage covering it. There was nothing different about the wound, still scabbed over and in the process of healing. At the very least, it seemed the old man had not done anything to his body that he had failed to notice. He put the bandages back and sat crossed-legged on the bed.

There was so much Red needed to think about that he barely knew where to start.

The journey over the last few days since the youth had reached the surface felt like a feverish dream. Meeting strangers in the middle of nowhere who didn't seem keen on killing him was a first for the boy, not to mention someone who wanted to help him out of the kindness of her heart. Red didn't believe it at first, but no matter how hard he looked for the slightest crack in Eiwin's mask, he never found it.

That, however, didn't bring him any comfort either. He didn't understand her. Well, he did not understand any of these people, but he felt like in every interaction he was more capable of comprehending the reason behind Narcha's actions than Eiwin's, even though the former was clearly against him.

In the underground everyone's main concern was their own survival. There was no space for kindness, as it was more likely to get you killed than be repaid in kind. These people, however, didn't operate on the same principle, and that left Red stumped on how to act or interpret their actions.

He didn't trust any of them at face value, even Eiwin. Suspicion was in his nature. It was how he had stayed alive for this long. Even if someone proved time and time again not to have ill intentions, he couldn't bring himself to lower his guard. He remembered the slaves that tried to trick him with sweet words and promises.

He remembered the blob.

One mistake was all it took to lose one's life in this world, and even if it was safer on the surface, that principle didn't change. All of these people were far stronger than him, and Red would never feel comfortable sleeping in the same vicinity as them.

So that brought him to one crucial question.

'Should I stay?'