From Alessio Leone's Perspective
Sith didn't seem to like auxiliary items.Or maybe — and that was an equally plausible theory — she simply didn't understand them very well.Alessio still wasn't sure.
Sitting on a fallen log, he carefully organized the contents of the pouch they had just acquired, watching her expression with a mix of curiosity and quiet resignation.Her predatory green eyes were fixed on the things he laid before them — the two isolation scrolls, the flood scroll, and the guild authorization — but her reaction was almost nonexistent.
She looked, but without the same spark of technical fascination — that almost childlike brightness — that burned in him whenever he handled such items.
"They're rare, you know," he said, a hint of excitement in his voice as he held the gray-and-gold scroll between his fingers.The paper reflected the moonlight in soft tones, the runes dancing like living embers. "Each of these could be worth weeks — maybe months — of work, depending on the Tower's current stage."
Sith tilted her head slightly, her face impassive."They look pretty," she replied simply.
He let out a quiet laugh."Pretty?" he repeated, somewhere between amusement and exasperation. "These things can decide the outcome of a war inside the Tower."
She just shrugged, as if war and survival were trivial concepts.And in her case, maybe they really were.
In the videos of the original Sith — the woman Alessio had obsessively followed in his past life — he had never once seen her use an auxiliary item.No potions, no scrolls, no talismans.She relied solely on herself — on her sword, her instincts, and an absurd ability to adapt.
And now, watching that same woman before him — alive, breathing, her gaze sharp and her hands still stained with fresh blood — Alessio realized something curious:nothing had changed.
She was still the warrior who faced the world head-on, without needing trinkets or tricks.And yet, there was something subtly different…a lightness in her posture, a flicker of curiosity that the original had never shown.
While he explained in detail the purpose and potential of each item, Sith merely listened, arms crossed, her attention fixed not on the objects — but on him.And when Alessio began to describe the last item — the most valuable of all, the official guild authorization — her expression finally shifted.
Her eyes narrowed, and a distinct gleam passed through them.Curiosity.Or maybe… something deeper.
She leaned forward slightly, studying the golden seal and the floating letters."So… this allows you to create an official guild?" she asked, her tone blending interest and caution.
Alessio nodded."Yes. Official. Recognized by the system and tied to Thalgrande. It's the first step toward…" — he hesitated, searching for the right words — "toward building something real. Something bigger than just surviving."
Sith fell silent for a moment, staring at the parchment with an unreadable expression.The night breeze lifted a few strands of her dark hair across her face, and the moonlight reflected in her eyes with a glow that momentarily distracted him.
Then, unexpectedly, she spoke."When are you going to create your guild, Aslan?"
The question caught him off guard.There was something strange about the way she asked it.It wasn't casual, nor teasing — there was genuine curiosity in her voice.And that, above all else, was what surprised him most.
The Sith he knew — the one from his previous life — had always been solitary.A force of nature who preferred to fight alone, hunt alone, and die alone.She despised the idea of fixed alliances, let alone something as structured as a guild.
But the woman before him…this living, unpredictable, newly awakened version of her — she seemed different.
Alessio raised an eyebrow under his helmet and replied with a smile she couldn't see, but surely felt in his tone."That depends. Are you interested in joining?"
For a moment, the silence between them grew heavy — almost intimate.Sith held his gaze, motionless.Those green eyes, wild and sharp, cutting through him like a blade.
Then she smiled — a short, thin smile, just enough to confuse whoever saw it.And she answered with the same calm one might use to declare war:
"We'll see."
The word lingered in the air between them — soft, dangerous, and full of promise.It wasn't a "yes."But it wasn't a "no" either.
Alessio stayed quiet for a while, watching the gentle glow of the runes fade as he tucked the scroll away.The night air was cool, carrying the faint hum of the forest — calmer, softer now, as though even Gloomshade itself had decided to grant them a truce.
Yet, even in that rare moment of peace, his mind refused to rest.Thoughts spun rapidly, gears clicking and turning in quiet precision.
A guild…The idea still felt distant, almost abstract.And yet, irresistibly alluring.
He thought of Matteo — the calm-voiced strategist with the sharp mind.Of Eleanor — her balanced temperament, her precise, unshakable composure.Of the girls — each with their unique abilities, chaotic personalities, and irreplaceable strengths.If he could gather them all again… and if Sith agreed to join them…
Then it wouldn't just be a promising guild.It would be a legend in the making —a force impossible to ignore within the Black Tower.
The thought made Alessio smile faintly.
The idea was too good to dismiss.And for a few moments, he let himself indulge in it — imagining the guild's emblem, its base, its missions, its name.The weight that symbol would one day carry.
When he finally returned to the present, he noticed something curious.
Sith was watching him.
She sat near a fallen tree trunk, the two lion cubs asleep in her lap.Her expression was serene, but her eyes… her eyes studied him intently.Green. Deep. Predatory.The calm gaze of a hunter observing her prey's next move before deciding whether to strike.
Alessio exhaled slowly.There was something he had to do — something small, yet important.A simple gesture, but one that had been lost amid all the chaos.A touch of humanity that, anywhere else, would've been normal… but here, inside the Black Tower, felt like a luxury.
He took a deep breath and looked directly at her.For a moment, even the wind seemed to wait for his next words.Then, with a firm yet genuine voice, he said:
"My name is Alessio Leone… It's a pleasure to meet you."
Hearing his own name aloud felt strange.It had been so long since the last time he'd spoken it that it almost sounded like a memory — something belonging to another life.But it mattered.
Sith blinked, surprised.Her eyes widened just slightly, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips.For a heartbeat, he saw something rare — vulnerability.A small crack in that fierce, predatory mask she always wore.
Then she tilted her head and replied, her voice soft, firm, and laced with quiet irony that sounded almost musical:
"Freya Van Daalen," she said, amusement glinting in her eyes. "Likewise — it's a pleasure to meet you, Alessio."
Her smile widened a little, genuine and calm.And for a single moment, the world itself seemed to fall perfectly silent.