Lucifi

**Lucifi** is a member of the Prontera Order of the Knights. He recognized Ales' innate talent quickly after meeting him and decided to accompany him for a while. As he's in his 20s, he often thinks himself the most mature as the oldest of the party members, but he also happens to never sweat the details or think things through. He suffers from phasmophobia.

## Story

**SPOILER WARNING:** Plot and/or ending details follow.
Lucifi is one of the swordsman tasked with testing adventurers looking to participate in the monster extermination efforts in the Prontera Culverts. He is called in to supervise Ales and Sierra in tracking down a Dog Tag from the culverts. He escorts the two of them south of Prontera where the culverts entrance is. Inside the culverts, Lucifi declares that it's time to look for the Dog Tag. Ales is confused, asking why they needed to look for it if Lucifi already knows. The swordsman responds that he knows where it is because he is their test examiner and that it was Ales and Sierra's job to find the item. Ales admits that Lucifi is right and begins searching the culverts. Little did he know, Lucifi actually did forget where the Dog Tag is located.

After fighting monster after monster after monster, Ales discovers that Lucifi seriously did not know where the Dog Tag was and has been leading them around the culverts haphazardly. Ales becomes frustrated, exclaiming what kind of examiner the swordsman was to not know where the test item was located. Embarrassed, Lucifi offers to help find the Dog Tag, but Ales stomps off with Sierra following after him. They eventually find the item in a chest and Lucifi congratulates them on passing the test. Suddenly, a Drainliar (Big Bat) catches Lucifi off guard and injures him. Lucifi is shocked to see that a monster from the second floor of the culverts made it past the knights in the area. He tells Ales and Sierra to run, but the two of them choose to stand their ground to protect him. They defeat the monster and turn to help Lucifi. When Ales notices that Lucifi didn't seem hurt, he asks the swordsman if the monster was part of the test. Smiling, Lucifi answers that it was and that the two of them passed the test to participate in the monster extermination. He adds that he appreciated that Ales thought of him as a friend, to which Ales vehemently denies. Lucifi asks Sierra what she thought and she also agrees that Ales did refer to the swordsman as a friend. Defeated, Ales stomps off and Sierra follows after him. Once they were far enough away, Lucifi reveals that the monster wasn't part of the plan after all and that he did indeed get hurt pretty badly.

The three of them make it back to the Prontera Chivalry in time to overhear an old man begging for the Order to find his son. The commander tells the old man that the Order doesn't have any knights to spare as they were occupied with getting the monster infestation in the culverts under control. The old man pleads the commander, explaining that adventurers won't help him as he is unable to pay for their services, so the Order was the old man's last hope. The commander insists that there is no one available to help, so the old man leaves the chivalry defeated. Seeing this, Sierra nudges Ales to help out the old man, but Ales is resistant to the idea since there was no money in it for them. He then thinks back to his mother telling him that his father was the type to help out those in need. By not helping the old man, Ales would be less of a person than his own father whom he despises. With a sigh, Ales agrees to help the old man for free, which pleases Sierra.

Ales turns in the Dog Tag to the commander of the Order and offers to help out the old man in their place. The commander congrats their passing of the test and is grateful for their help in assisting the old man. The commander then dismisses Lucifi back to his post, but Lucifi requests to accompany Ales and Sierra further instead. He explains that it would be beneficial to the Order if he acts as an intermediary to Ales and Sierra. Given that Ales and Sierra are not members of the Order of the Knights, Lucifi would be considered as leaving the Order to become an adventurer and that there was no guarantee that he would be allowed back into the Order if he changes his mind later. Lucifi weighs his options and reaffirms his decision to join Ales. With that said and done, the commander approves Lucifi taking a leave from the Order and asks Ales if he would accept the swordsman into his party. Ales is taken aback by all this, stating that he never had any intention of letting Lucifi travel with him. However, with some persuasion from Sierra, Ales relents and allows Lucifi to join them.

The party tracks down the old man to the local tavern where he was desperately asking adventurers to help him. Ales introduces himself and his party before inquiring about the old man's son. The old man, whose name is Olav, reveals that his son Colm was left on his doorstep as a baby ten years ago and that he's raised the boy by himself ever since. His son went missing after leaving a note telling Olav that he's gone into the Prontera forest to look for a White Peach. Lucifi asks about the old man's leg, which confuses Ales as to why that would be relevant to their mission. They then leave the tavern to head for the woods west of the city.

They make their way to the western part of the forest where Colm should be. Lucifi insists that they hurry and find the boy before they run into a tree monster that's rumored to roam that area of the forest. When Ales asks why, Lucifi explains that the monster supposedly carries a fruit called the White Peach, which is said to be able to heal any physical injury. Ales realizes why Lucifi asked about the old man's leg and agrees that they should hurry and find the boy before the tree monster does. Unfortunately, the rumored tree monster did end up finding Colm first. Ales and the others quickly rush in to fight the monster and manage to destroy it before it could kill the boy. After making sure Colm was allright, Ales chastises him for being so reckless and making his father worry. He then tells the boy that if he has learned his lesson, he can have the White Peach that fell from the tree monster. Colm is elated and thanks Ales for getting it. Ales is taken aback by the boy's behavior, insisting that they didn't come to the forest for the fruit, so they didn't need it. Lucifi pokes fun at Ales for being such a good guy and Ales doubles down on his attempt to have an uncharitable image.

Ales and the others escort the boy back to the Prontera tavern where Olav was waiting. Seeing Olav reunited with Colm made Ales smile, which didn't escape Sierra's notice. When she points it out to him, Ales argues that it wasn't like it made him happy to see father and son together again or anything. Lucifi then asks why Ales' cheeks were blushing and Ales tells him to shut up. Olav thanks them for their troubles and asks if there's anything he can do for them in return since he had no money to pay them. Ales thinks about it and tells the old man that he can help advertise their guild for them. Olav agrees, but adds that guilds need some sort of item in order to become official. He directs them to Geffen where someone is looking for some sort of treasure, thinking that it may be connected to Ales' desire to form a guild. The party then heads off for the magical city to the west.

On the way, the party comes across a blacksmith who was looking rather agitated. Ales stared at the man, prompting Lucifi to ask what was wrong. Ales just shrugs it off and the group continues on their way. Upon reaching Geffen, they were met with a tall gate and a carpenter who explains to them that entry into Geffen was prohibited due to the increase in monsters in the area. Lucifi introduces himself as a member of the Order of the Knights and requests to speak to the carpenter's boss. The carpenter is unable to grant the request, saying that his boss has disappeared and that it was a regular occurrence. Ales suddenly remembers the blacksmith they came across and wonder if that was the boss in question. The carpenter supposes that his boss likely went to Prontera's tavern, so the party was forced to return back to the city from whence they came.

They reach the Prontera tavern in time to just miss him, as the barfly explains that the head carpenter left for the pond in the eastern Prontera forest after having a drink with him. (He apparently does this all the time.) Lucifi recalls seeing a pond in that area and leads the way out the eastern gate of the city. They track down the head carpenter at the pond, explaining that they need his permission to enter Geffen since the gate seemed to be under construction and accuses the head carpenter of skipping out on work. At first, the blacksmith seemed upset, but then apologizes as he was easily excitable when drunk. He explains that he had finished the gate a long time ago and went off to drink in celebration. He approves their request to enter Geffen and goes back to the city to tell his workers. Ales is exasperated that they were delayed into getting to their next destination for nothing.

At long last, they finally made it into Geffen. Lucifi reminds them that Olav said there was someone looking to hire people to help with a treasure hunt. Ales suggests they ask around to find more information and the party wanders further into the city. After some time, the party encounters a thug looking to recruit them for a treasure hunt. Thinking they may have found their man, Ales and Lucifi ask about the treasure, but the thug refuses to answer any of their questions. Both Ales and Lucifi are skeptical of the whole situation, but Sierra insists on helping the man out despite the sketchiness of the situation. The thug offers to give them a cut of the treasure should they find it and Ales immediately jumps onto the mission with vigor. Lucifi is still unsure, while Sierra doesn't know what to make of everything. The three of them follow the thug into a building where they were joined by other adventurers that were recruited. The thug's boss, name Lughill, explains that they were to go into the Mjolnir Dead Pit to find the treasure, supposedly belonging to the boss's grandfather Aghill. Ales suddenly has second thoughts about the mission, which Lucifi points out how quickly he dragged him and Sierra into it. One of the recruits, a blue-haired thief, explains that Aghill was a famous Rune-Midgarts thief who stole a lot of treasure and hid it somewhere. Many have searched for the treasure, but none have succeeded thus far. Lughill and his right-hand man, the thug name Attar, confirms the story and reminds the recruits that they will get a cut of the treasure should they find it. The two of them then leave as the recruits prepare themselves to search the mines. Sierra apologizes for pushing Ales to help out a man who turned out to be a thief all along. Ales assures her that it wasn't her fault since he was the one who decided that they would participate in the job. The blue-haired thief who spoke up earlier introduces himself as Viselc to the party and informs them that they would need to travel north to Mt. Mjolnir to get to the Mjolnir Dead Pit. He then leaves, hoping to meet them there.

Ales, Sierra, and Lucifi manage to run across Attar, who was looking very distressed. When pressed about it, Attar explains that there's been a landslide and the only way to the Mjolnir Dead Pit has been blocked. Attar exclaims that they have to figure out a way to clear out the road before Lughill arrives. They try to think of a solution when Viselc arrives, noting that the recent rainfall in the area must have caused the landslide. He has an idea that will require gunpowder along with plant stalks, wood chips, and poison spore. Viselc volunteers to get the gundpowder while he asks Ales to collect the rest from the monsters nearby. Ales agrees, but Lucifi is hesitant about the usage of explosions. Ales assures him that things will be fine and Lucifi reluctantly agrees to help out.

After collecting all of the materials, Viselc fashions them into an explosive that manages to clear out the landslide. He then assures the others that the path is clear and goes on ahead to the mines. Ales is in awe of Viselc's knowledge and the party heads towards the Mjolnir Dead Pit. Once inside the cave system, Lughill and Attar reminds everyone that they have to find the treasure and only when they find it will they get a cut of it. Ales and Lucifi are still pretty suspicious of the whole operation as the recruits were basically doing the dirty work for Lughill. Despite their suspicions, they went on ahead to look for the treasure.

As they get deep into the mines, Ales wonders if there's any ghosts around, which causes Lucifi to get very anxious and yell at Ales for even suggesting such a thing. Ales asks him if he's afraid of ghosts, to which the swordsman changes the subject to that of the treasure in question. Deeper into the mines, they hear a scream and sees one of the recruits getting attacked by a vampiric ghost. The specter reveals himself as the ghost of Aghill who needs to feed on souls in order to walk the earth once again. Lughill and Attar admit that the recruits were all sacrifices to feed to Aghill and apologize for their horrific actions as they flee the mines. Ales, Lucifi, and Sierra try to combat the ghost and Aghill strikes Lucifi down, knocking him out.

With the fight over, Ales and Sierra go over to check on Lucifi and are glad that he wasn't hurt too badly. Ales questions why Lucifi didn't look like he was giving his all to the fight and if he was scared to fight Aghill due to his fear of ghosts. Lucifi doubles down on not being afraid of ghosts despite his body language insisting otherwise. Ales decides to give it a rest as he understood what the swordsman really meant. The party is joined by Viselc, who notices that the three of them get along rather well. Ales thanks Viselc for his help and vows to make Lughill and Attar pay for sending people to their deaths. Lucifi agrees and they decide to head back to Geffen to find the two men. Viselc bades the party goodbye and takes off, believing that they will meet again.

Upon reaching Geffen, the party heads over to Lughill's hideout where Lughill and Attar were surprised to see them still alive. Ales threatens to make them pay and Lughill explains that they were forced into doing what they did. Aghill was really his grandfather and when he found out his grandfather's treasure was in the Mjolnir Dead Pit, Lughill sought it out. But when he encountered his grandfather's ghost, he begged for his life. Aghill agreed to spare him if he would procure souls for him in exchange. Lughill swears that he won't ever look for sacrifices for his grandfather ever again, but Ales doesn't believe him. He punches Lughill into the wall, reminding him of how many people he sent to their deaths. Lucifi tells Ales to stop, as beating up Lughill and Attar won't bring back those who died to Aghill. He then leaves with Sierra so Ales could collect his thoughts, telling him that they'll wait for him at the gates.

After some time passed, Lucifi decided to go back to the hideout to check on Ales. When Sierra and him got there, they found Ales passed out on the floor. They quickly rushed him to the Geffen inn and hoped that he would wake up. When Ales asks about Lughill and Attar, Lucifi responds with silence. Ales took that to mean the two men were now dead and didn't say a word. Sierra asks him what happened and Ales simply says something about a dark knight. He then requests to be left alone. Lucifi and Sierra reluctantly leave the room.

Sierra expresses to Lucifi that she hopes that Ales will get better and Lucifi assures her he'll be fine. He then tells Sierra that he needs to look into something and tasks the shaman to watch over Ales while he's gone. Sierra agrees and Lucifi leaves the inn. He comes back in time to see that Ales has fully recovered. The swordsman explains that while Ales was resting up, he's been going around Geffen asking what was necessary to start up a guild. He explains to Ales that they needed what was called an Emperium to present to the Order of the Knights in order to become a certified guild. Lucifi comments that it's going to be rather difficult to obtain an Emperium, to which Ales asks what it is. Lucifi is taken aback that neither Ales nor Sierra know what an Emperium is, as it's common knowledge among adventurers. He explains what an Emperium is and that it's rumored to only appear to those who are worthy. That's why it became a prerequisite for forming a guild, as only the best adventurers would be able to find it. Lucifi adds that he's been also asking around to see where they could find an Emperium and he managed to hear about a source who frequents the Prontera tavern. He reminds Ales that it would be hard for them to earn money without a guild.

At the Prontera inn, the party tracks down the source who just so happens to be a friend of Lucifi's name Aldo. Lucifi introduces the merchant to Ales and Sierra before asking about the Emperium. Aldo confirms that he knows where to find an Emperium, but won't give them the information for free. He asks them to get a Frione Tear for him if they want to know where to get an Emperium. The party agrees to the terms and asks Aldo where they can obtain a Frione Tear. Aldo responds that if he knew where to get one, he'd have one already. Ales sighs, but still commits to finding the tear if that was what it took for him to form a guild and get stronger. Aldo then wishes them luck with Freyja's blessing, which confuses Ales and Sierra. Lucifi rushes in and explains that Aldo worships the goddess despite being a denizen of Rune-Midgarts, which worships Odin. Aldo adds that he has to be careful as Rune-Midgardians are known to persecute those who follow Freyja. Ales asserts that he doesn't really care as he isn't into religion of any sort. Aldo is relieved to hear that and notes that he's only a casual worshipper as the only reason he follows Freyja was because a girl he loved did. Lucifi asks about the girl, but Aldo says that's all in the past.

The party leaves the inn and Ales is lost on how they would go about finding a Frione Tear. Lucifi comments on how Frione sounds like the name of a monster and suggests that they take other job requests and look for the tear on the side. Ales refuses, wanting the tear to be their one and only priority. Lucifi wonders what is the rush and Ales insists that there's no rush. The swordsman then suggests that they could work on the monster extermination in the culverts in the meantime and the part heads over to the Prontera Chivalry.

The commander of the Order of the Knights confirms that the monster extermination mission is prepped and ready for them to partake in. Ales is fired up to kill lots of monsters and the party heads on over to the Prontera Culverts. Lucifi takes Sierra aside and asks her if she thinks Ales has been acting weird lately. Sierra agrees and Lucifi tells her to let him know if Ales does anything out of the ordinary, hoping that it's nothing serious. At the culverts, the commander briefs the adventurers on their mission and warns them to stay vigilant. Ales is quick to rush into the hunt, but Lucifi tries to get him to slow down since it's not a race. Ales counters that they didn't come all this way to let other people do their job for them and dashes off. Lucifi and Sierra are worried, but are left with no choice but to run after Ales and keep an eye on him.

The party makes it to the deepest parts of the culverts and Lucifi tells Ales to be careful, as they have no idea what to expect this far down into the culverts. Ales still wouldn't listen and tries to hunt down more monsters. Suddenly, the party hears a scream and they go over to investigate. They found a magician on the ground and asks him what happened. The magician answers that a golden monster took him down, still shaken from the encounter. Ales tells the magician to take it easy as they will track down the mighty beast. At this point, Lucifi is at a loss as to what to do with Ales. Eventually, they track down the monster (Golden Thief Bug) and Ales is eager to take it on by himself. Lucifi warns him to be careful, as it could be a powerful monster despite how weak it looks. Ales ignores him and land the first hit on the monster. Lucifi becomes frustrated with Ales and tells Sierra to attack the monster on his command. Sierra agrees and the three of them take on the monster. The monster proves to be too much for him to handle and Ales ends up in a vulnerable situation. Before the monster could strike him down, Lucifi jumps in and demands to know if Ales was allright. Together with Sierra, the three of them fight off the monster and the monster flees further into the culverts. Before Ales could go after it, Lucifi stops the young man and tells him off, saying that if Ales continues to behave so recklessly he won't stick around for much longer. Ales is taken aback by the swordsman's words and apologizes for his actions. Seeing how genuine he was about his words, Lucifi and Sierra both forgive him and the party renew their efforts to hunt down the golden monster.

After a long-winded chase throughout the culverts, Ales, Sierra, and Lucifi finally cornered the golden monster and killed it before it could cause any more damage. They report to the Order of the Knights and the commander rewards them for their efforts. As they leave the chivalry, the commander wanted to have a word with Lucifi first, so Ales and Sierra wait for him outside. The commander explains to Lucifi that the Order had lost many members to the mission, so they needed all the help they could get to rebuild their forces. Lucifi agrees to return to the Order and goes outside to tell his friends the news. He assures them that it won't be forever and he'll rejoin them again someday. He adds that his commander mentioned that they might have luck finding information about the Frione Tear in Morocc, a city to the south. He bades goodbye to Ales and Sierra and hopes they take care of each other while he's gone.

Once everything settles down at the Order, Lucifi goes off in search of Ales and Sierra to find that the two of them finally formed their guild Garde. He tracks down the headquarters of Garde and are reuinted with Ales and Sierra. Lisir is quick to point out how old the swordsman was despite being in his 20s. This struck a chord with Lucifi and he starts arguing with the magician. Shortly after, Viselc enters the premises and comments on the noise. Not being able to handle it any longer, Ales tells everyone to shut up and Sierra starts tearing up thinking he was mad at her. Ales apologizes and Viselc shakes his head at the situation.

Once everything has settled down, Ales and Lucifi were informed that they were needed at the Order of the Knights once again. Thinking that it may not be an emergency, Lucifi suggests they head over. At the Prontera chivalry, a knight explains to them that a squadron of knights were taken down by a mysterious monster while doing regular subjugation in the Mjolnir Dead Pit. It happened so quickly that no one knows what the monster is. Therefore, it is upon Lucifi's shoulders to track down the monster, as it should be a fellow knight avenging the Order. Lucifi accepts the mission and leaves the chivalry for Ales to discuss the reward. Ales and Lucifi then head off towards the Mjolnir Dead Pit.

At the pit, Lucifi reiterates that he hates having to be there thanks to what happened with Aghill's ghost. Ales asks him why he has such a fear of ghosts and Lucifi answers that as a kid, his friends and him went into a haunted mansion to test their bravery. Lucifi became separated from his friends and it was while he was alone that he encountered a ghost (Whisper). The experience traumatized him so badly that it stayed with him for years.

They travel deeper into the mines and reach the deepest part where Aghill first appeared. In his place was a Giant Whisper, which shook Lucifi to his core. He tells Ales he suddenly has a stomachache and Ales tells him to stop using his fear to push his responsibilities on others. Lucifi forces himself to battle the monster with Ales' help. They have a hard time with the ghost, but were eventually able to defeat it. The two of them make their way back to Prontera to report to the Order. Lucifi felt rather excited, feeling as if he wasn't afraid of anything anymore. At that moment, the knight gives the signal and the lights start flickering. Ales tells Lucifi to turn around and right behind him was a Whisper. Seeing the ghost, Lucifi quickly flees the chivalry.

Lucifi travels to Geffen with Ales and Sierra to fulfill a request tasked to them by rival guild Golden Eagle, which has fallen on hard times. While in the city of magic, Ales and Lucifi become distracted by a traveling merchant offering a variety of swords. Sierra tries to get their attention, but they were too preoccupied with choosing which sword to put on display at the guild headquarters. They finally settle on a Rusty Legendary Sword and turn to rejoin Sierra, but the shaman simply walks away from them. Ales wonders if Sierra was upset with them and Lucifi suspects that might be the case. They catch up to her and apologize for making her feel left out. Sierra simply tells them she's going to the item shop and the two young man follow after her.

At the item shop, Sierra took charge asking what the client needed, which intimidated both Ales and Lucifi. The client explains that he's missing a legendary sword from his inventory that's supposed to get shipped out. Ales and Lucifi look at each other and Sierra turns to them to forcefully demand the sword. They reluctantly hand over the sword to the client, who's surprised that they were able to find it so quickly. He rewards them with money to the disappointment of Ales and Lucifi, who are now lacking a rare item to display in their guild headquarters. They go outside and Ales and Lucifi asks Sierra if she's still mad at them. Sierra expresses that she did, but stopped being mad at them when she notice them about to cry in the item shop. She then walks off and Lucifi swears to never make her mad ever again. Ales admits that she's scary when she's angry.

Ales later calls a meeting of Garde where Viselc and Lucifi both report rumors of a dark knight going around destroying up and coming guilds. Lisir jokingly wonders what would happen if the dark knight suddenly appeared right in front of them. Ales doesn't think too lightly of it and was about to explain to the others what happened to him a while back when the dark knight in question teleports into their headquarters. Without a word, he quickly shows his power and warns them that he will kill them if they resist. Ales tries to fight back, but the dark knight easily pushes him aside once again. He warns the guild again, but Lucifi, Viselc, and Lisir refuse to hand over Sierra without a fight. Ales manages to get up and tells the others to not get involved as this was his fight. The dark knight is amused and offers to humor him. They both engage in battle and as they gave their last ounce of strength in a final strike, a light enveloped them and Ales was passed out on the floor.

Ales was out cold for a while before he finally woke up again. The guild was happy to see he was well and explained what happened to him. Viselc doesn't think it'll be the last they'll see of the dark knight and Lucifi affirms that the dark knight was looking for Sierra after all. Ales thanks them for all they've done, as he feels he wouldn't have had the strength to fight the dark knight without all of them. Lisir starts joking about flying pigs, which annoys Ales.

While conversing with Lucifi and Ales on what to do to improve the guild's reputation, Lisir suggests that they go to Geffen. Lucifi wonders why Geffen and Lisir reasons that it's the city of magic, so of course she wants to do jobs there. Lucifi and Ales then tease about how Lisir barely wants to do anything around the guild, which upsets the magician so much that she leaves the headquarters. Both young men feel bad about what they said and Lucifi offers to go after her to Geffen to make sure she's okay. Once there, he asks a random citizen if he's seen a girl with green hair, and the man explains that he came across the girl who rushed off to find his pendant at the Mjolnir Dead Pit before he discovered he had it with him the whole time. Lucifi thanks him for the information and dashes off towards the mines.

Inside the Mjolnir Dead Pit, Lucifi searches frantically for Lisir when he hears a scream echo through the mines. He recognizes it as Lisir's and runs toward the direction of the scream. He finds her just in time to kill a Munak before anything happens. He tells her that they need to get out quickly and explains that the man had already found his pendant. Before Lisir could say much, Ales found both of them and expresses how glad he was to know they were both fine. Suddenly, another Munak appears and the three of them brace for battle. They manage to defeat it and Ales is impressed that Lucifi was able to get past his phasmaphobia to fight it. Lucifi couldn't believe it either despite stuttering a bit. Sierra and Viselc catches up with them and are glad Lisir and Lucifi are allright. Lisir starts teasing Lucifi about his phasmaphobia again and the swordsman takes off after her.

One day, the guild was visited by a merchant from Morocc who came seeking Viselc. He informs the thief that the children of Morocc have been struck with an illness and Viselc's aid was needed. Ales agrees to help the children of Morocc and Viselc suggests they bring Sierra long with them, as her healing abilities would be useful to help the children. He adds that Ales would want Sierra to come along anyhow, which causes Ales to burn red with embarrassment from such an accusation. Both Lisir and Lucifi tease Ales for his reaction while Sierra remains clueless as to what's going on. Lucifi and Lisir volunteer to remain behind to watch the guild's headquarters.

Some time later, a pink-haired blacksmith barges into the Garde headquarters and immediately began expanding the building to the surprise of Lucifi and Lisir. They were at a loss what to do, so they let the lead carpenter do his work. Ales returns to the headquarters soon after the construction was completed and the blacksmith greets him eagerly. With his work done, he heads for the Prontera tavern, leaving Ales speechless. Lucifi demands to know what was going on as the blacksmith caught both him and Lisir off guard. Ales explains that the blacksmith offered to expand their headquarters for his, Sierra, and Viselc's work in Morocc. Lucifi contends that Ales should've let them know what was going on and Ales counters that he didn't have time to. Lisir doesn't mind the disruption too much as the headquarters looks much nicer now.

Just then, the guild recieves a request from a Pronteran guard. It seems that a large number of people have fallen unconscious in the eastern Prontera forest and that they've all awakened from a terrible nightmare that left them quaking in fear. As such, the Order of the Knights have specifically requested for the Garde guild to investigate the forest and find out what caused people to pass out. Ales accepts the request and the guild heads off to the eastern forest. Wandering through the forest, the guild encounters a Succubus and Incubus disappearing and reappearing through the trees. The guild manages to track the monster pair down to a stream, but Viselc is struck down first, followed by Lucifi, Lisir, and then Ales. All four adventurers became trapped in their own personal nightmares. Eventually, Ales, Viselc, Lucifi, and Lisir all awaken from their nightmares surprised to see Sierra still standing. The Succubus returns with the Incubus and the two of them engage in battle with the guild.

The guild successfully vanquishes the monsters and Ales and Lucifi thank Sierra for saving all of them. Lisir questions why Sierra was the only one to not fall into a nightmare like they did, but Ales is quick to change the subject to the fact that they've solved the mystery of the unconscious people. Lucifi isn't sure if the issue is actually solved, but agrees that they should report back. Ales tells them that he and Sierra will catch up with them later and the rest of the guild departs.

Some time later, Lisir shows up to the guild headquarters with a man in a lab coat who says he's looking for Sierra. The man is happy to see that she was alive and well until he learns that she doesn't remember who he was. Despite that, the researcher hopes that Sierra had put all the bad things behind her by now and promises to stay by her side. Ales and the others question their relationship and the researcher reveals that his name is Gales and that Sierra came from a research facility he worked at. They ran away from the facility and when Ales asks why, Gales responds that it was best that they didn't know. However, he warns them that the guild is being hunted down, which is why he came to take Sierra away to hide. Lucifi and Viselc argue that Gales hasn't given them any reason to trust him and that being with the guild would mean Sierra would be better protected. Ales mulls it over and asks Sierra what she wants to do, but she doesn't quite know herself. Gales then suggests that he'll stay at the headquarters for a while, and if he feels that Sierra would be better off with the guild, then he will let her stay with them. In addition, Gales also has a request for the guild to obtain some documents from the research facility he used to work at. Viselc wonders if this request is a test for them, but Gales asserts that should the documents fall into the wrong hands, it would have disastrous consequences. Ales agrees to the request and Lucifi and Lisir volunteers to help Ales. Viselc sits out the request, saying that he wants to look into something and leaves. Ales tells Sierra to stay at the headquarters for her safety. When she protests, he adds that she needed time to think anyways, so Sierra relents.

Ales, Lucifi, and Lisir head for Juno, located in the neighboring country of Schwarzwald. There, they were to seek out a man by the name of Skal who can make a keycard that would grant them access into the research facility. After getting off the airship, Lucifi takes Ales aside and asks him if he really felt fine with leaving Sierra back at the headquarters. The swordsman expresses that he won't question Ales' decision, but reminds him that he should never let go of things important to him, no matter what. The three of them track down the blacksmith Skal in the Juno item shop and ask him to make a Key Card for them. Skal doesn't seem to have a good relationship with Gales and says that although the Key Card would be easy for him to make, he won't do it for free. He demands a High Orc Helm in exchange for the Key Card and the Ales and the others have no choice but to agree. Lisir and Lucifi are annoyed at having to do an extra step to get what they need.

Ales, Lucifi, and Lisir head off towards the Elmes Plateau where they can supposedly find a High Orc to get the helm from. After a while of searching, they come across a group of High Orcs hunting down a Pecopeco that gets away. Lisir is unsure if they can take on a whole group of them, but Ales reminds them that they don't have much choice. Together, they struggle to take down the group of High Orcs. By the end of the fight, the three of them were able to procure a High Orc Helm from one of the monsters. Lisir is disappointed that they risked their lives for a piece of junk and Lucifi is eager to rush back to the item shop to smack Skal with the thing. With Key Card in hand, the three of them take the airship back to their headquarters in Prontera.

Upon returning to the guild headquarters, Ales sees Sierra and Gales having a rather friendly conversation with each other, which makes him feel a little hot under the collar. Sierra notices and asks Ales if anything was wrong, but Ales assures that he's fine. Seeing that they have the Key Card, Gales explains that their next destination was Lighthalzen, another city in Schwarzwald. There, the facility they will be infiltrating is known as the Somatology Laboratory. Inside the facility, they are to find a case file labeled "File F" and bring it back to Gales. Ales absorbs the information and immediately heads out of the headquarters, ignoring Sierra calling out to him. Lucifi and Lisir are unsure what to say as they follow their guildleader out.

After leaving the Juno airport, Lucifi tells Ales that Sierra was trying to tell him something, but Ales already knew. Lisir butts in about how Sierra looked like she was having a good time with Gales and Lucifi tells her to shut it. Ales tries to not think about it and focus on their mission at hand, which is now to travel from Juno to Lighthalzen. After passing through the Elmes Plateau, the three of them reach Lighthalzen. They prepare themselves and then head on over to the gate to the facility. A guard stops them before entering, stating that only authorized personnel were allowed to enter. Ales asserts that they were authorized personnel, flashing the Key Card at the guard. The guard then lets them pass and Lucifi comments on the strict security. They go inside and search around the facility in search of "File F" only to suddenly be surrounded by security Minorouses. The captain of the guard emerges and tells them that they knew Ales and the others were coming and were surprise they fell for their trap so easily. Lucifi quickly figures out that Gales was behind everything and starts arguing with Lisir since she was the one who brought the researcher to their headquarters. Now all angry at their predicament, Ales, Lucifi, and Lisir viciously fight their way out.

Making their way back to Juno and onto the airship, Lisir paces back and forth as she worries about whether or not Sierra was safe. Lucifi tries to lessen her fears when the airship comes under attack from a flying monster (Owl Baron). They manage to drive off the monsters, but the damage has been done as the airship was now falling to the ground. Ales, Lucifi, and Lisir brace themselves as the airship crashes into the ground. The three of them somehow survive the crash, but they landed somewhere between the Elmes Plateau and Mt. Mjolnir. They manage to run across an old man, who is able to direct them towards Prontera. Worried for Sierra, the three of them rush to get back to their guild headquarters.

## Memorable Quotes

>
> **Lucifi:** "That sleazy jerk was in on this!"
>
> **Lisir:** "Sleazy jerk...? Oh, you mean the good-looking researcher?"
>
> **Lucifi:** "The complete stranger that YOU brought to the guild!"
>
> **Lisir:** "Did I do that? Ahaha..."
>
> **Lucifi:** "You're unbelievable..."
>
> **Lisir:** "Are you trying to say that this is all my fault?!"
>
> **Captain:** "Uh... Did you hear me? I said we're going to kill y—"
>
> **Lucifi & Lisir:** "SHUT UP!"
>
> **Captain:** "..."
>
>
>
>

## References

1. ↑ Ragnarok DS Website 2013 Feb. 01
2. ↑ Ragnarok DS