As Grey left, he felt several gazes on his back, not the least intense of which were the ones shared by the disciples of the guardians. They had just come to casually watch, but this was the last result they expected.
Lloron wasn’t really all that surprised. He had tried to warn them that there was something particularly wild and unbridled about Grey. He was the sort of existence that made him feel a little bit of fear.
He could still remember how Grey had howled and leapt into the pit of Old Ones without a second thought. It was like he didn’t care for his life and death at all.
But the others... that was a different matter entirely.
The juggernaut wannabe in particular looked like he wanted to fight right this moment, his domed helm pulsing with light that radiated out from his eyes. However, he didn’t go, not because he feared Grey, or even for something as silly as "fairness" either.
The Relentless didn’t understand concepts of fairness. They would fight any battle no matter the circumstances they were in, so it didn’t really make sense to them to allow an opponent to rest first either. That was more like something The Immovable would do.
The only reason the disciple of The Relentless didn’t go to attack now was because of the rules of the Church. They couldn’t just fight in here without cause or reason, or else there would be strong punishments.
If Grey had lost, then he wouldn’t be considered one of the Church.
But right now, Grey had not only successfully been made a member following his defeat of Pandro, but he was also conferred the Title of Paladin. Ironically enough, because he wasn’t a disciple of one of the Guardians, his rank was technically higher than the disciples were.
There was a give and take to that, of course. But it was the truth nonetheless.
On the one hand, Grey wouldn’t be under the same restrictions as them, but on the other he wouldn’t gain any easy resources or guidance either.
If they were outside of the church, though...
The Relentless’ disciple’s eyes glowed brighter, his body practically overheating.
Nearby, a young man who couldn’t have been more normal stood, right next to a young man who was handsome beyond any normal measure. Despite being handsome beyond reasonable standards, it was somehow the young man who couldn’t have been any more average that seemed to stand out brighter than any of them.
The handsome young man was the youngest disciple of The Radiant. Everything about him seemed to shine from his looks right down to his literal hair.
But the average young man... he was the disciple of the second strongest of The Guardians... The Eternal.
He watched Grey with the calmest gaze, but anyone who knew of him knew just how interested he was right now. It had been a very long time since anyone but that man’s disciple had caught his attention.
He had only come because he was nearby. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered. But this...
"Xerchen will regret having missed this." He said calmly, speaking to no one but himself.
The strongest of The Guardians only had a single disciple. While many of the Guardians had more than just one, The Immovable had only cared to take fancy to a single young man.
And that young man was Xerchen, the strongest of the disciples and follower of the strongest of the Guardians.
Many said that the power of The Immovable surpassed that of The Pope. Some even claimed he was the only one that could rival the Holy Empress herself, but it was impossible to confirm any such thing.
What Modric did know, though, was that Xerchen was a lot more battle hungry and relentless than even the followers of The Relentless himself. He would very well regret not seeing this himself.
"But it seems that Bas wants to see for himself."
"You really shouldn’t speak to yourself like that, Modric," the disciple of The Radiant said with a chuckle, "it is creepy."
Modric ignored him.
"I still think you are very handsome and valiant, though." He continued, whispering softly into Modric’s ears.
Modric looked over at Legan with an indifferent expression.
Legan only smiled, seemingly not as afraid of Modric as he should have been.
"So very handsome."
Modric turned and began to walk away.
"Don’t leave me hanging like this, beautiful! Talk to me!" Legan ran after Modric like he was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "Do you want to spar again? I like it when you put your hands on me!"
**
At that moment, a very peculiar scene was taking place. Minutes after the sandy squire fields were cleared, Petri walked along with a group of nuns.
Their dainty, petite forms matched up against his hulking mass truly did look odd in the eyes of anyone who hazarded a look, but what was even more interesting than that was how at peace and almost safe the nuns looked in his presence.
Even the pink-eyed nun with a mean streak seemed quite happy to have him there as though he was their elder brother.
But after a while, the pink-eyed nun frowned.
"A mech is a very serious and important thing, Petri. You have heard of Mech Disease before, no? Integrating yourself with a faulty mech could ruin your life and cripple you forever.
"This Grey Temolt is a relative unknown, and he may have ties to the Dark Kin. I’ve seen the reports from Lloron and Kaito, there is no telling what happened to him in that abyss. You know the Old Ones have methods of controlling people, do you not? And I have also seen a request made by the Valdi Dukedom for his execution, they have only just begun their campaign efforts, but it will only ramp up like this. It has only been an hour and I have heard this news. How much worse do you think it can get?
"He is not trustworthy, and his power and strength do not make sense to me. Have you ever heard of a Established Class defeating a Vanguard like that?"
"Hm?" Petri looked down as though he just started to pay attention. "Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something else. Apologies, Rosie."
"What were you thinking about?"
"Didn’t you find it interesting that of all the things he asked for, he never asked for a blueprint?"