"Were you really that broke?"

Rey said as he looked at his credit balance with a frown. Eden was in front of him happily chewing on the sweet bun he bought for the two of them. They were currently inside Towe's outpost, specifically outside a bakery.

"Yesh."

Eden spoke with a full mouth. She was relishing the taste of the bun Rey bought for her.

"Well, If that's enough as an apology, I'll be taking my leave now."

Rey waved his goodbye and walked towards a direction. Eden hurriedly chewed her food and swallowed.

"Wait—"

Eden breaks out into a coughing fit before continuing.

"...Where are you going."

"To investigate the flower near this outpost, why?"

"Let me come with you, I also want to see."

"Sure, why not?"

Eden jumped in glee, seemingly elated. She was thinking that they were a pair of detectives investigating a phenomenon.

Rey wanted to decline, but somehow he agreed. The creeping familiar feeling he had was giving Eden a good impression, It felt like they knew each other for a long time. It was a weird feeling.

"Hey how about we form a party. You said you're staying here to hunt for three days right? I am also staying for the same duration."

"Better than being alone. Sure."

He didn't feel confident hunting alone in the 48th floor, having Eden as a hunting partner would increase his efficiency in hunting. There was something he needed to do first before investigating, both of them needed to rest.

"Lets head to a lodging first, I need to book a room for the two of us."

"We're staying in the same room together? How bold."

They were both at a comfortable level with each other, so Eden made teasing remarks. Rey quickly retorted.

"Fine by me, as long as you're the first thing I see in the morning."

Eden became silent for a while. She was fanning her face as if she was hot. Her red cheeks were quite noticeable thanks to her pale skin. Rey smiled as he looked at Eden, It was a smile of victory.

After a few minutes of walking they reached a small lodging where hunters usually stayed to rest. It looked just like the plain building he resided in outside the hunting ground. It gave him a sense of comfort. Rey and Eden entered and faced the receptionist.

"Room for two please...erm...Sir. Clark."

Rey raised two fingers while talking to the receptionist, he looked at the name tag present on his right breast pocket: Sir. Clark was written on it. He suddenly felt nudging by his side. It was Eden poking him with her elbow while looking at him with a frown.

"Hold on a second."

Rey asked the receptionist to wait. The receptionist looked at them with interested eyes as if he knew what was going on between them.

"You were serious about staying in the same room?!"

"Well, Yes. Two separate rooms would be too expensive for me, no?"

Eden wanted to speak, but she couldn't. She knew Rey had good intentions but she felt embarrassed staying in the same room as him. She calmed her thoughts down. She couldn't be childish right now.

"Alright, book the room then."

Eden spoke lowly, she was shy. Rey nodded and went back to the receptionist. The receptionist looked at Rey and the beautiful woman behind him and asked.

"Lovers quarrel?"

"Ah, no. We're just temporary party members."

"I see."

A mischievous smile appeared on the receptionist's face. Rey noticed it, but he decided to ignore it.

"That would be 200 credits per night including food and the usage of baths. Special discount for your first night."

The receptionist winked at Rey and inwardly rooted for him. Rey just smiled back, he'd gladly accept the discount. He placed his hand inside a machine with a hole found in the middle and credits were deducted from his account.

"Your room number is 72. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you."

Rey bid his farewell and called Eden. They both headed towards their designated room.

"I can't say I wasn't expecting this."

Rey spoke first. As he opened the door the first thing he laid his eyes upon was the single king size bed in the middle of the room. The room looked plain similar to his room but larger in size.

Eden was also looking at the single bed in horror. Rey noticed this and tried to calm her down.

"I'll be sleeping on the couch then."

Rey pointed at the soft looking blue couch found at the foot of the bed. Eden nodded in agreement and placed her bag down. Rey also did the same. Before he would investigate the flower he wanted to take a rest first, he couldn't work with a tired body.

He laid down on the couch and instantly drifted off to dream land. Eden looked at Rey, she was surprised how fast the person in front of her fell asleep. She was also tired from roaming the Savannah, she removed her shoes and laid down on the bed, after a few minutes she also fell asleep.

After a few hours of rest. Both of them woke up at a similar time. Rey stretched his body, it was sore from sleeping on the couch. The 48th floor was constantly day, so he didn't have a measurement of when to sleep or not. He just slept when he was tired.

They headed out of the entrance and the receptionist greeted them.

"How was your stay?"

"Good, my body is a little sore though."

The receptionist chuckled and looked at Eden who was yawning behind Rey. Unlike the first time the receptionist saw her, she now had messy hair. He inferred that they had a fun time.

"Oh, how fun it is to be young."

The receptionist sighed and went back to his desk. Rey was clueless on what he was implying, but Eden had a full idea on what he meant. Her cheeks glowed red once more.

Rey noticed Eden spacing out with a flushed face. He quickly gestured her to move, they had to investigate the reasons why they entered the floor in a different location.

They exited the building and made their way towards the flower found outside the city's vicinity. The flower's name is "Arca Ostium" as it became the usual entrance for the hunter to enter the floor. The name roughly translated into Magical Entrance. It became the landmark of hunters trying to find Towe's Outpost, if they somehow entered from another place.

"The flower should be over here."

Rey looked around the empty land and scratched his head. Eden was doubtful but she still helped searching for it, Rey was sure the flower was located here. Suddenly an idea occurred in Rey's head that made him feel stupid.

"Ms. Eden, the flower is on the other side of the city."

He nervously laughed. The Savannah looked virtually the same everywhere he looked. They wasted their time searching in the spot they were in.

"Next time let me lead. You have no sense of direction."

She sounded agitated. She hurriedly walked to a direction unknown to Rey. Eden seemed like she was good with directions, so he decided to tease her a little bit.

"Umm...Ms.Eden that doesn't lead to the other side of the city."

"I-I know! I was just testing you."

"I was joking, I don't know where we are."

"You little!"

A string of verbal abuse escaped Eden's mouth. Rey's ears went numb from the assault, but he managed to calm down the raging torrent of insults that was Eden.

They both stood in a location near the city. They were now sure the flower would be located here. They could sense its ever fading presence.

"Rey, look over there."

She pointed in the distance, her voice trembling. Unlike Rey's polite honorifics towards Eden, she spoke in a casual manner. Rey wondered why Eden was randomly trembling, until he looked where she pointed.

"What the hell...is that?"

Rey could see a huge towering beast in the distance. It was a tall, lumbering giant that looked eerily humanoid. Where you would expect to see a face there is only a hole, giving a blank look to them. They had ghostly translucent skin that ran like melting wax. It had six appendages present on each side, each armed with a menacingly sharp claw.

It was shoving something in the opening on its face. Rey took a closer look and noticed it was devouring the flower, or what was left of it. They have found the reason for the phenomenon.

"It isn't any beast I know of."

Eden spoke, uneasiness present in her tone.

"I don't know if we could call that a beast. It's more similar to a..."

An idea popped up inside of Rey's mind. Eden stood there waiting for Rey to finish his sentence.

"A...?"

"...Familiar."

As Rey uttered a single word, Eden's eyes widened in realization. It all made sense to her now. Her lack of knowledge has been answered, of course it wasn't a beast she would know of. It was a familiar summoned by another hunter.

"Who would do such a thing?"

Rey didn't know the answer to Eden's question, he was preoccupied in something else. The creeping familiar feeling he had was becoming more and more intense, his head was starting to hurt although only a little.

"We should report this to the outpost."

Rey quickly grabbed Eden's arms and started to run. A sense of urgency was quickly growing within him.

"Oi! You two, who said you can leave."

An ominous voice rang behind them. The two immediately stopped and looked at the person. The person was wearing a red hood that covered his visage with shadows. A buff physique was hidden under the person's robes, but one could clearly see his well built body. The sleeves of his robes were ripped, Rey and Eden could see the person's bulging biceps. The person's right arm had a tattoo, It was a heart with a snake coiled around it.

As Rey laid his eyes upon the mysterious man. The familiar feeling he had suddenly vanished like a lie. Blood began to drip down his nose, and a flood of memories washed over him. Eden felt Rey's grip strengthen and tremble, she hurriedly pulled her arm out of his grip. A bruise mark could be seen where he held her.

"Six of Hearts."

The name unconsciously slipped out of Rey's mouth. It seemed like he was in a trance, his mind processing the memories.

"Oh? You know about our syndicate? Who are you, kid?"

Rey's heart jumped to his throat. Memories that didn't belong to him was being vividly presented inside his mind. He knew who the person was in front of him, even though this was their first meeting.

"Eden! Get out of here, now!"

Eden jumped where she stood. She was confused why Rey was suddenly ordering her to leave. Rey's eyes widened as he noticed something appear behind Eden.

KWANG!

A clash of metal against metal happened. Eden who was staring at Rey with confused eyes flinched. Rey disappeared from her sight and appeared behind her. She slowly turned her head to look where the sound emanated from.

She found Rey blocking a sword with his two daggers, there was a faint glow that covered him. The mysterious person was gripping the sword tightly and overpowering Rey. Eden was shocked, Rey suddenly sprang into action to protect her from the incoming attack.

"Courageous. Sadly both of you wont leave this place."

The mysterious person mocked them. The person quickly assaulted Rey with a flurry of slashes and stabs. Rey blocked all of the attacks, he was influenced by the buffing spell he placed on itself.

His mind was processing the information coming from his eyes and simultaneously processing the memories that suddenly appeared in his mind. He found something weird from the memories.

'It's as if I was the one who experienced those memories.'

The memories showed him a vivid image of what would happen next.

「A dagger similar to his flew into the air. The sheer strength of the slash made him lose his grip on one of his daggers. The mysterious man quickly took advantage of this opening and stabbed Rey in the shoulders.」

The scene started to unfold in front of his eyes. The difference in their power was shown as his dagger collided with his sword. The collision numbed his left hand causing him to let go of his dagger. Just like his memories, his left dagger went flying. The person exploited this opening and swiftly aimed his next strike towards Rey's left shoulder.

KWANG!

He knew what would happen next and quickly blocked the incoming stab from the person. Rey parried the sword with his dagger changing its trajectory to stab the air beside him.

"You fight well, kid."

FWEEWEET!

The person placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The familiar in the distance who was shoving the remains of the flower in its hole like face stopped. It quickly turned towards the mysterious person and released an ominous roar.

"KWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Rey knew what would happen once the familiar started to move. Eden would die.

- End of Volume 1 -