Chapter 2: The Rendezvous point!
Around 15 minutes later.
Marcus and Anne proceeded towards the rendezvous point chosen by their group.
"The baby has finally stopped crying!" Anne exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Poor thing... Judging by how quickly it fell back asleep, it must have been exhausted," Anne expressed with concern.
"I just hope we won't regret this decision," Marcus stated with a stern expression.
"We already have six members in our guild. I don't think we need a seventh, especially not another child," Marcus said in a cold tone.
"Aw, don't be so harsh on the poor thing!" Anne pouted.
Holding the baby up by its armpits with a gleeful smile.
"I bet Alf and Reena will be thrilled when they see this heavenly gift," Anne remarked, cradling the baby in her arms again.
"Besides, we have already adopted the child. We can't simply abandon it like a discarded object," Anne mentioned.
When Anne looked at Marcus's face, she noticed his unhappiness and agitation, his fists tightly clenched.
"Marcus, what's wrong?" Anne asked, concerned.
"Anne, I asked you never to mention the Gods around me," Marcus spoke with a hint of frustration.
"You know how much I despise those tyrants and nothing ever given by them could ever be a 'Gift' only an inapparent curse." Marcus explained.
Suddenly, the atmosphere around Marcus became tense, and a dark red aura emanated from his body.
"Have you forgotten the incident from six years ago? How our lives were destroyed?" Marcus's eyes burned with anger and hatred, blood dripping from his hands.
"Of course, I haven't forgotten, dear," Anne softly exclaimed.
"How could I possibly forget what they've done to us... to our child?" Anne spoke gently, grabbing Marcus's hands and healing them with an orb of holy light magic.
This caused Marcus to snap out of his anger and regain his composure.
He noticed that Anne seemed gloomy, reminded of the painful memory of their deceased child.
Marcus halted and directly faced Anne, causing her to stop as well and face him.
"Dear?" Anne asked, her head tilted in concern.
He slowly took Anne's hand, raising it to his lips and giving it a gentle kiss.
"Thank you, dear, for always being there for me," Marcus spoke in a tender tone.
"A-Ah! O-Of course!" Anne blushed, her expression flustered.
They continued the rest of their walk with a positive outlook.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[~2 hours later]
As Marcus and Anne approached the rendezvous point, about 1 kilometer ahead, they noticed that the baby was waking up, opening its eyes.
The baby had beautiful hazelnut brown eyes, radiating a brilliant glow, and a cute, carefree expression.
"Oh... my... Marcus!"
"look! It's so adorable!" Anne burst out suddenly, jumping and yelling.
Startled, Marcus jumped as well.
"Get a hold of yourself!" Marcus exclaimed, flustered by Anne's sudden reaction.
"Heh... Sorry! I just got excited," Anne said, shyly scratching the back of her head.
"Anyway, look at its face! Isn't it adorable?" Anne playfully shook the baby in front of Marcus.
"I think it looks just like you!" Anne said.
The baby maintained a blank expression, seemingly unaffected by its surroundings.
"No, it does not..." Marcus commented, his expression mirroring that of the baby.
"Hehe~, I think it does," Anne spoke in a cute manner, smiling.
They continued walking across the scorched fields near the border, where the sky was clear and bright, and the fog had settled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus and Anne arrived at their rendezvous point, an extinguished campfire within a clear area of the forest near the scorched planes.
"It seems we are the first ones back," Marcus mentioned.
"Hey, Marcus, I think I've figured out the baby's gender," Anne said after unwrapping the baby from the bloody and ashy cloth.
Marcus approached the yellow A-frame tent where Anne had placed the baby, standing behind her and observing with an expressionless look.
"It doesn't seem like he soiled himself," Marcus commented.
"That's odd... Why was he crying back in the village? Could he be hungry?" Anne asked, concerned.
"But he doesn't even look hungry," Anne added, perplexed.
"He appears perfectly healthy and clean," she observed.
"Well, no use in stressing ourselves about it. If he starts crying again, then we'll try to figure it out," Marcus suggested.
"O-Oh, alright," Anne replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
approximately 2 hours had passed and the sun was setting, dusk was approaching.
Two other individuals, Alf and Leon, arrived at the rendezvous point, looking exhausted, covered in ash and dirt.
"Alf! And... Leon?" Anne exclaimed in confusion.
"How's it going, guys...?" Alf asked.
"It seems you two arrived early. What happened?" Alf inquired, curious.
"We encountered a certain 'issue'"
"Actually, it would be best if we showed you, fol-" Marcus was interrupted.
"Wait!" Anne interrupted.
"Alf, where is Reena? Weren't you supposed to be with her?" Anne asked, worried.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention. We ran into Leon and Rebecca while searching for treasures in the same area," Alf explained.
"Reena wanted to go with Rebecca, so to remain in pairs, Leon switched with Reena," Alf informed, his tone informative.
"But isn't that reckless? Reena is only six, and as her father and the second in command, shouldn't you stay by her side?" Anne expressed her concern.
"Oh, come on! Rebecca is the strongest elementalist we have! She'll be fine. Besides, if anything happens, I'll receive an alert on her heart-stone and be able to locate her instantly," Alf reassured with a bright smile, alleviating Anne's worries.
"Well, Leon and I are going to bathe in the nearby river. After we're done, we want you to show us this 'issue' you mentioned," Alf addressed Marcus as he walked away.
Leon waved without saying anything and followed behind Alf towards the river.
Marcus and Anne then walked toward their yellow A-frame tent where they kept the baby, wrapping him in a clean cloth.
"Let's wait until everyone is together before we mention the child. We can explain it to them all at once," Marcus suggested.
"I agree. It wouldn't be a good idea to tell them individually... heh," Anne nervously laughed.
"Alright, it's settled then. Let's wait until dusk, as we initially agreed to meet up," Marcus confirmed.
"Alright!" Anne exclaimed with excitement.
"Don't suddenly shout like that!" Marcus scolded.
"Hehe, sorry!" Anne apologized, nervously laughing and scratching the back of her head.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone