"The most important quest of my life, huh? You're not being very specific, Amanda." He expressed, and he was understandably sceptical. "Don't get me wrong, I do want to do something with my life, and my skills, but you're being very vague."
"Vague? I don't think so." She insisted. "The Empire, powerful people, or just wealthy people in general, such as that hunter you met, are trying to keep something of great importance away from the common people. My organization is aware of what they're hiding, and we know why they're hiding it. This is where the problem stems, they want to abuse this… heavily guarded secret, and weaponize it."
She continued, "That's where we come in. We're peace keepers, even if we have to enforce peace through violent measures. We need more able-bodied members to join us, because right now, we're outnumbered. This is as specific as I'd like to be about the matter. The question is, do you trust us, and will you join us?"
"You were speaking my language as soon as you said that you work against the Empire. The amount of torture my species suffers because of them has gone beyond unfair years ago. Now it's just cruel." He answered. "Hell yeah I'll join you! Tell me who to shoot, and they're as good as dead."
Amanda seemed pleased, though the look on her face remained stern. She was a serious woman, and her next move cemented how serious she was.
She took a few steps forward, reached out her hand, and said, "In our organization, our word is our bond. If you shake my hand now, there's no turning back."
"I understand. You're not forcing me into this, you're trying to recruit me." He said, as he thought about the offer. "As I said, I hate the Empire, and I'd rather see it burn to the ground. Now that's peace."
Afterwards, he reached out his right hand, and shook Amanda's. He agreed to join the organization.
She nodded, kept shaking his hand slowly, and recited, "Welcome to the Blazing Star Order, brother. We're now bound by our word, and as the elders have passed down, we would sooner die than break our word. You now serve the order, and must perform its given, or inherited duties accordingly."
"This is starting to sound like a sect," He thought, but that didn't scare him. "If things get out of hand, I'll just spam them with grenades and make a run for it, but… let's see how it plays out."
Winston was opportunistic, so if this order was as stable and sensible as these members seemed, then he'd be willing to risk his life for it too. However, he decided that if he was ever to sense a lack of consistent logic coming out of them, he'd bail on the order, as after all, he valued his own life above anyone else's.
For now, he took comfort in the fact that he was finally finding some purpose. He was developing some form of direction to lead his life towards.
…
Winston, and the nineteen members of the Blazing Star Order he joined, walked back into the city. He was happy that he walked back peacefully, because that forced meet-and-greet at the edge could've gone wrong in so many different ways, but thankfully it didn't come to that. He lucked out.
The group he was walking with was a mix of starfish species, so they seemed quite colorful together, which was nice. Other than that, he also took comfort in the fact that these starfish saw him as a brother now, and would protect him if some random starfish were to attack him. Winston was safe, and he walked with purpose.
Amanda led the group to one of the many houses within the city that were carved into the coral reef, and to his surprise, this house had a basement. Basements were rare across the city, at least that's what she said, but the fact was that some species could work with stone, so by special request, they could build basements below coral houses.
"This house is our temporary outpost, Winston. As you might have guessed, we overtook it because it has a basement." She explained. "Basements are almost always there for an important reason, and it's not about wanting more space."
Winston was confused, but Amanda backed her words up with action. At the top left corner across the basement floor, there was a hatch. She pulled the hatch open, and revealed something Winston had not expected whatsoever.
"A tunnel?" He queried. "That's cool, but what do we need the tunnel for?"
"Hmm… why do you think?" She asked, and floated down the hatch. "Privacy's one thing, but here's the big secret, tunnels lead to other tunnels, as they often do. The City of Fik has a vast, underground network, and most of it has not occurred naturally. It was built hundreds of years ago, and these tunnels are still used today."
Winston floated down after her, and expressed, "Hundreds of years, huh? I'm surprised they're still standing."
The rest of the group followed after them, up until they walked into a larger cave, held together by stone pillars. The cave had several tunnel entrances around it, which bluntly showcased how mazy this underground world was!
"More tunnels, just like you said." He pointed out the obvious. "I kinda see where this is going now. Whatever the empire is hiding, it's somewhere in these tunnels, right?"
"Correct," She nodded.
"Okay, what are they hiding, then?" He pressured. "What's this big secret that you're refusing to tell me? Don't tell me there's a shark locked down here somewhere."
"That's stupid. What good use would a shark be?" She asked, and then continued. "There's a weapon down here. Empire secrets almost always revolve around weapons, remember that. Well… it's not a weapon just yet, but we have suspicions that they're getting close to weaponizing their little secret."
Irritated, he persisted, "Again, what's the secret?"
Finally, she revealed, "Ancient Mana, Winston. They're trying to weaponize Ancient Mana."