Continuing...
I am happy I have another friend now. Not only I made a resolve but also able to experience some great moments. I think Orion also wanted me to make friends and strengthen my resolve. I am grateful for what Orion did.
"Come with me Kurt." said Voila.
"Huh?"
"There are rooms specially created for guild members as you already know, normally we need to purchase the house created by guild for guild members but I got it as a gift for completing a certain quest that was important to the guild."
"But is that alright?"
"Yes, besides I heard you are living in the rental house. Don't worry, party members can live together as long as the owner of that house let's you live in their house. Since I am the owner of it so I am inviting you." She said.
"Understood!"
"Alright it's decided, pack your bags and move to my place. One of my party member Ryuji also lives, I hope you both will get along too." She said with a smile.
And that's how I got permission to on this mission while making some friends and joining the party.
---
Part 2 (of this chapter) Chloe's Pov- Present time
After we got informations and orders to go on this quest, we were immediately dispatched after few hours. We arrived at the Deep wood forest and took the route 21 to reach the Mystic Gorg Abyss. Then suddenly a voice came.
"Hey Chloe, can I ask something if you don't mind?" said Reina while not letting her voice reach others.
"Um sure, what is it?" I replied.
"What's your age?" She said.
"Eh? But why do you ask?" I asked.
"Just tell me please." She said.
"I'm 17." I replied.
"Oh! I see I see..." She muttered while grinning for some reason.
"Um, what happened, Reina?" I asked.
"You know, Orion is also 17 as far as his ID says." She said.
"Uh, yes I heard from Orion himself. So, what about it?" I was confused what she wanted to say.
"Hm, what do you think of Orion?" She asked.
"What do I think?"
I honestly didn't knew what she was aiming for but still I answered with my honest opinion.
"Tell me!" She grabbed my shoulders and started pushing me forward and backward a little bit.
"W-wait, I am telling you please stop!" I said.
"Okay tell now!"
"Geez, why are you so excited."
Her grinning never seemed to disappear.
"I think Orion is kind and honest person, he always help others who needs help. Even if he is not on his duty, he still do everything to help others. I always saw him helping others. I like this side of him. He also helped me many times in many situations, when we tried to solve many cases, despite the risks. I consider him my best friend." I genuinely conveyed my thoughts and feelings.
"Oh! I see. Hmm, that makes a good relationship." She was still grinning for some reason.
"But why are you grinning so much?" I asked.
"Nothing nothing, by the way do you have any special feelings for him?" She asked.
"I think I said that he is my best friend..." I replied not knowing what she meant.
"Ah! So you are the type of person who don't understand what I meant, you are really innocent Chloe!" She said.
"W-what do you mean? I don't understand what you are saying." I said.
"Don't worry I won't pursue this further, I think you will realise it someday maybe. I hope your relationship grow even more." She said while not looking at my direction.
I honestly didn't understood what she wanted to say, then suddenly she stopped pursuing this conversation. I had hoped if I could read minds...
"By the way, what's your age Reina?"
"16 and don't worry I won't get in your way. Hehe." She said while grinning again.
"You are grinning again!" I said while feeling a little flustered...
"sigh..." I sighed.
"We finally arrived at the entrance of Mystic Gorg Abyss..." said Voila.
"The inside of this Cave is so dark..." said Ryuji.
"Let's go inside everyone." said Elena.
"Right." replied Kurt.
We all entered the cave and it was so dark that we had unable to see through the darkness for a while. Our eyes adjusted a little bit and we saw so many dead monsters and decayed ones.
"The magical atmosphere around here is eerie..." said Kurt.
"You are right, it's suffocating. Let's get out of here quickly." replied Voila.
As we moved forward, we fought with many strong monsters in this cave.
"Tch..... monsters are really a pain." said irritated Reina.
"Be careful everyone, don't let your guard down as you can see these monsters are high level." Elena warned everyone with a little shyness.
"Understood." replied Ryuji.
Elena is one of the four new arbiters who joined recently, she was not selected due to some reasons, one of the new arbiter left the Libra in just 2 days after the event so Elena was chosen later as the most promising candidate. She is also at the same age as me. Usually, she is shy but she had always cared about people around her.
She has the ability to heal people and she is much better than me in terms of healing abilities.
She was wearing a robe with colours on it that was white and yellow. She had a wand, it was a green coloured wand that almost looked like halberd. She is beautiful like an angel from both her face and kindness within her.
"She is shy but she is still caring as always.". I thought as I looked at her.
"Um, what happened Chloe?" She asked.
"Ah! Oh, No-Nothing. I was just thinking that you always care about people around you." I said.
"Eh!? D-don't say that, it's embarrassing..." She said with a low voice.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't meant to embarass you or something besides no one is looking at you right now." I replied.
"...uh okay..... Forgive me, I always try to be calm and not get embarassed like that but..."
"Don't worry, it's alright. Besides, I don't think you have any issues."
"Really?"
"Yep." I replied.
She looked a little satisfied when I replied. I wondered how she became an arbiter and what was her motivation.
"Hey, if you don't mind, can you tell me why did you decided to join Libra as an arbiter?" I asked.
"B-Because... I....."
"Hm?"
I remembered when she looked confident at the stage when Jystice called them however she was not that confident rather she was trying to hide and go back to her position. She must have mustered the courage to stand up on the stage while not showing her shyness. She must have been trying her best to overcome her shyness back then.
Although, she was not able to show her confidence due to her shyness, however, I had acknowledged her struggle to come forward. When she warned everyone a few minutes ago, she had been trying hard to maintain her composure while showing her concerns.
"Don't worry, if you are feeling uncomfortable then there is no need to forc-"
"No! I mean, it's fine...I will tell... Besides I was going to reveal it you because I wanted someone to listen to me...."
She agreed to tell me, so I was ready. I made sure that other members would not hear us as it would create a sense of discomfort for Elena.
"I was born in a village k-"
"Huh? What happened?"
"No-Nothing..."
She seemed to stop for some reason but I didn't understood why. But then she started telling me.
"So, I was the most shy person in my village
My parents were kind towards me. They gave me everything I needed despite not having enough money. I wanted to do something for them in return. However, I was unable to step forward. I shut myself in my room because I am shy and unable to express myself due to the fact that I was useless who couldn't do anything, I was afraid of people around me too in my village for what they think of a useless person like me, people often made fun of me too. My parents didn't mind what I was doing and they still loved me while encouraging me that I could do anything."
Sometimes your shyness comes from genetics and sometimes it comes from your past experience. Elena was one of those people who had a traumatic event.
"You see, I have only healing abilities. Despite being shy and unable to do anything, I always want to support people in need. I never want to see people in some kind of problems. I thought that my shyness was my weakness and I wouldn't achieve anything in my life but...."
She smiled a little bit when she stopped for a moment.
"A person came to my village and taught me that my weakness can become my strength. He also told me that I was not a useless person who could not do anything. He said practice makes the man perfect. He taught me many things on how I can do anything despite being a shy person. He said that I should join Libra and work with other arbiters. I found new friends who considered me as one of their special friend. I was also able to help others and do many things that was hard for me back then. It was all thanks to that person." She said.
"Wow, that person must be a nice person!"
"Right!" She said while she looked happy.
"Who is this person? I am also curious to know whether he is also in Libra" I asked.
"If you..."
"?" I tilted my head a little bit as I didn't understood what she meant.
"Can you promise me not to tell anyone, I think I can tell you..." She said.
"Um, sure if you want it to be secret." I replied.
"It's....it was Orion who helped me and he was not an arbiter at that time...."
"...!? What? Really? I never knew about it."
"Please lower your voice..."
"Oh! My bad....But I never thought it would be Orion."
"I am still shy but I am doing pretty fine thanks to him. I can do most of the things myself without any problems. I can also support people around me despite I am shy and can't express much, however, the way Orion taught me, I am now able to express myself a little bit and I am trying to overcome my shyness. He motivated me and encouraged me. I am grateful for him." said Elena.
"I see, I am happy for you and I believe that you will improve very much." I said while encouraging her.
"I always wanted to share my feelings with someone to lessen my stress...thank you for listening Chloe."
"No problem and besides we are now friends, whenever you feel down come to me, I will listen to what you want to say and help you."
"Thank you Chloe! I appreciate it, I heard Orion is your best friend now. I want you to be with him and support him too. He is a kind person."
"Yes, I will."
"So she was saved by Orion. Orion never told me about this. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wants to show his good side.". I thought while smiling a little bit.
He is normally calm and doesn't seem to show his feelings but despite that, he is very kind who doesn't even show off like others.
I felt a sudden pain in my chest as my heart was racing. It felt good somehow. It was that same strange feeling I had felt before. I wondered what was happening to me. I couldn't understand this feeling...
After few seconds I had noticed that we reached the depth of this cave.
"Guys....I think this monster is one of the boss monster....This might become a mess but I want you all to work together." said Voila.
"Yes, let's beat this monster by working together." I said.
The monster had two horns, it's eyes were red and it's body colour was black and red. It was the hellhound boss monster. I had sensed the insane magic energy flowing through it's vein.
"Everyone, be ready!"
---
To be continued...