It had been two hours since Thall had noticed it. A figure was raining arrows on the goblins from the walls of the fortress. At first, he had thought it to be a glitch. Perhaps one of the goblins was attacking their own. But when the hired archer did not show up in any of the other areas, Thall began to suspect it to be the mercenary. He was supposed to keep an eye on her, but it was hard to do that from down on the ground.

The past two hours of fighting had dimmed down the enemy forces, and everyone was tired. Thall was fighting one of the last remaining goblins in his area. He shoved the creature down onto the ground and planted his sword in its heart. The goblin dematerialized, with a short exp message popping up. Besil, Thall’s mentor, approached him, his greathammer resting on his shoulder.

“The others are cleaning up the rest of the stragglers.” Besil said. “We didn’t lose anyone, but the other guilds had a few casualties.”

“We haven’t even made it to the fortress yet.” Thall remarked. He sheathed his sword and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. “When we get inside, the fight will be tougher.” He paused to look at the wounded soldiers from the other guilds. “Are they ready for this? I don’t want to see a repeat of last floor.”

“We’ll make it.” Besil said. He sounded tired, but confident. He looked up at the fortress for a moment. “… I take it you noticed it, too.”

Thall looked up. The archer was gone now.

“Yeah, it has to be the merc.” Thall spoke with a hint of distaste in his voice.

“You know what we discussed.” Besil reminded.

The fields had been cleared of the last remaining goblins, and the guilds all voted on a 30 minute break. When it was done, they headed inside through the massive gates.

---

The players stepped into a dimly lit hallway. At the end of it was a large goblin, about five times the size of the ones they fought outside. It had a heavy club in one hand, and a spiked shield in the other. The armor it wore was made of mismatching pieces and he was covered in scars.

“I-Is that the boss?” One of the soldiers from a smaller guild asked with a shaken voice.

“We just came in here. It can’t be the goblin king yet.” Another soldier said. “It looks like a side boss.”

“That’s the side boss?!” Another one asked. Murmur began to spread.

Thall and the other members of Vanguard were silent. The side-boss hadn’t noticed the players yet, due to the sheer size of the hallway. Besil, who was the main tactician of Vanguard, was studying the creature from afar. Next to him was Darrus, Vanguard’s leader.

“Its legs don’t have much armor.” Besil pondered out loud. “It has no sidearm, so that club has got to be its main weapon. He’ll be swinging it around widely, so we can’t let him hit too many of us at once…” His voice trailed off in thought.

“The other guild leaders have notified me.” Darrus said. “They will begin the attack shortly. Their plan is to spread out and surround the enemy. Want me to ask for more time?”

“See if you can get them to focus fire on its legs.” Besil spoke. “The rest of its body is heavily armored.”

Darrus nodded and sent a voice message to the other leaders. Most of them said they would try to do as suggested, but were making no promises. It was good enough, so Darrus turned around to address his own men.

“Vanguard, Knights of the Blood Oath, and another guild will be leading the charge together!” He shouted. “We will spread out to minimize the area damage. Surround the creature, focus fire on its legs, but do not clump up. We can only have one or two of us close enough to attack it at any given time, so make use of the switch function.”

He stopped for a moment to let all of the soldiers process the plan. He then spoke again.

“Remember what you fight for. We’re here to pave the way towards safety, be it with it the enemy’s blood, or ours!”

The soldiers did a battlecry in unison.

“The other guilds are ready. Let’s go.” Darrus ended his short speech.

Littrix

She didn't exactly know to respond or not. She didn't exactly know what they were talking about. She was barely listening only listing the names she possibly heard, "Varren...Mia?..Fenros?" The messages she heard from 'a' man freaked her out. Pervert? Maybe she shrugged she always wanted to meet people but not at the sigh of her beast. She wanted to see people that she was who she was but with just a little extra help. People introduced themselves to her. Trying to gain information but..why? She always asked herself that..whats the difference? I'm weak, frail, but that won't get in the way of me fighting. She frowned. Everyone was staring at her until Varren spoke. He had invited her to the floor 35!

She smiled, more adventure and more time to study and probably gain more books about that floor. She pouted wishing she could at least be at level 20. She nodded but..drinking? Wasn't Aura's thing. Last time he drank coffee or any liquids but water made him <Zow!> <Boom!> Not good for him. She still followed, though. She smiled but declining his offer for Aura but she would gladly get a drink.

Knowing that she had ignored everyone she couldn't hear was either because of her thinking process or just because of her major confusion. Still, smiling she followed him. She didn't even know where she was going. 'I think were going to Urbas' she thought to herself. Shrugging she'd focus on the area.

Bane wandered through the forest, quickly coming to the conclusion that he had managed to stray from the path, and was now in fact lost. "I could of swore this town was to the direct east of the forest, shouldn't I have reached it." He muttered opening his inventory and realizing he had no map of the floor with him. Out of options, he continued to try and wander further in the woods, when he heard the sound of a monster being defeated. If a monster was defeated that meant people. Bane wandered towards the noise until he found a small group of people gathered two of which were begining to wander off. "Hey folks, if you don't mind me asking, could any of you help me getting to the mining town on the outskirts of the forest, i thought I know how to get there, but it seems that wasn't the case." He said as he approached the group.

Saraswati found her vision swaying where she sat in the bar. A very good sign she'd had too much to drink. It was, however, the best way to forget how hopeless the situation was that she was in -and what the hell, it wasn't like you had to worry about the long term effects. Here it was just a status effect that wore off after time. Swaying, she made her way back to the inn where she had a room. The sun had become uncomfortably high, and more importantly, uncomfortably bright. She winced and looked away, shielding her eyes.

Finally, she ascended the stairs, waving at the innkeeper as she passed. She often asked herself why she did that. He wasn't a real person, had only a handful of scripted lines that mostly serve to prompt interfaces. She asked herself and did it anyways. Grumbling and rubbing her forehead and temples, shifting her olive hued skin around her skull she quietly entered her room and promptly fell atop the bed.

The girl with the black hair answered them firs t"my screen name is blaze but my real name is Izumi" she responded. Fenros nodded, he met a few people who decided to stick with their real names when the crap hit the fan. He had decided to keep his screen name due to PKers...who know what if they managed to find out where you lived if the game was ever beaten. Besides it was easier to remember people by their screen names. But he did remember her name. He then asked, "You are an information broker arn't you? I've never dealt with you directly but I have received some of your intel, which was A class by the way." He said with a smile trying to break the ice.

When the beast tamer didn't answer them Fenros figured she must be shy. Oh well.... it was just a formality, he saw her name when he focused on her. But before he could say anything Varren hushed them,”Damn it, this shit is crazy.” The greeting played aloud, Varren quickly apologized to them for his rude comrade. ”Look, Varren, we’re short on time here. We’re about to engage the goblin fortification which protects the pillar of ascension. Anyways, the higher-ups are employing the use of a PKer... "

At hearing that both Mia and Fenros looked to each other, having a mental conversation in their heads. They knew now where they had to go next.

"...some archer who’s extremely valuable. But they didn’t disclose her information for reasons we have yet to be told…” ”It’s time to go, look, things are getting weird. Anyways, that ends this update. I hope to see you back here soon.”

Fenros cocked his head to the side, he didn't remember being notified of a dungeon/fortress raid... He frowned slightly, he would have to contact his contact and ask him why he wasn't notified.

“Well… That’s interesting, to say the least.” Varren said as he let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair, holding a coffee in the other. “Hm, this is quite the turn of even-” He was cut short when he noticed Aura perched on his shoulder, sniffing at his beverage. “No.” He said, pointing an index finger at the companion. “No, no, no. This is my god. This is my savior. Thou shant defile thy holy beverage.” Varren said,The reptile then cocked its head slightly, lost interest and then launched off his shoulder, and gracefully landed on its Littrix

Suddenly another messaged popped up, though it was a text. He opened it quickly and just as quickly, closed it down and let out a sigh, “What, does he think I’m on his beck and call?” As he opened his menu “Let’s all keep in touch, shall we?” Varren send, as he sent everybody requests. He then looked back at Lit. “I have to go to floor 35. Since that pet of your’s wants a beverage, I can buy one there. Gotta meet up with somebody there, but it’s your choice.”

Varren then turned to them. “Mia, Fenros, Izumi. I wish you all good luck. We can return to Urbas together, but I have to make my way to Floor 35 from there. I might have some leads which’ll intrigue you.” He began to walk at a slow pace, drinking his coffee as he proceeded, “Come on, let’s go. This cup is almost out.”

Fenros followed and then said, "We will probably follow you up to the 35th floor, It seems there's a party about to start and I don't want to miss it." He placed his hands behind his head and stretched as he walked.

Mia watched as the girl didn't seem to be paying attention or was confused. She Folded her arms and listened as the conversation turned. She almost forgot about Littrix when she heard an Archer pker though. There were not too many pkers who used a bow. She had, and she was sure Fenros had an idea who it was.

Gripping her longbow tightly by her leg she zoned out for a moment. She heard she was an excellent shot, She never really fought a pker who was an archer before She would have to be on the top of her game. Of course it could be someone else. She looked to Fenros from the corner of her eye. Fenros was the one she was more worried about when they fought. He always barged in head first, like he was invincible and nothing could touch him. During the last 4 months the people they've hunted have been getting more and more dangerous. Of course this is to be expected, but still... the thought of an Archer scared her...his only defense was his agility...and her if she was good enough.

She was pulled from her thoughts as she noticed they were moving now. She let her longbow go and moved up next to Fenros, and as she did she saw a male player walk out infront of them asking for help. She then said, "We are heading that way now... you can follow us if you like." She said, trying to put a smile on, but it quickly went away as her thoughts turned again to who this Archer could be.

Achilles stood with his arms folded in front of his men who were resting for thirty minutes before they would push on with the attack. He had just ordered them to check all of their equipment, and to make the necessary repairs. As well as passing out potions. The extra potions came from men who had fought but nearly were killed but escaped to town, having to use an escape crystal to do so. Going to the stores and stocking up on massive amounts of Potions, then high tailing it back to the battle field and giving support.

He noticed Brock, his Lieutenant walking up to him to give him a status report. As he stopped next to him Brock growled "I've got some bad news... Jasper's squad pushed too far and got surrounded and was slaughtered" Achilles head dropped as he gritted his teeth and shook his head with a pained look... though no one saw it due to his helm. Brock's growl though informed there was more to the story.

Looking up to his friend Achilles asked. " What else is there?"

Brock looked over to his right and motioned with a jerk of his chin, towards a man yelling at Siegfried a private, from what he could hear it was about following orders. The man yelling was Jasper. Brock then said, "Only ten made it. Siegfried managed to save them by cutting a path back to the main line."

Achilles qucikly asked. "Why didn't they use their crystals?" At which Brock game him a 'You're not going to believe this' look and said, "Jasper didn't pass them out. Saying it makes the men more sharp and alert. And the reason they pushed so far was so they could make it to the gate and gain control of it."

Achilles knew Jasper was a glory seeker, but he didn't think he would be that stupid. With out saying a word he made his way over to Jasper quickly. Jasper saw this and quickly saluted "Sir! I would like to..." He didn't finish his sentence due to Achilles grabbing his armor and lifted him up, shoving him against the wall. He then said, "Sargent Jasper, because your pride you killed ten far better men than yourself. Because of this you are now a Private, and will stay that way."

He let go of him, allowing him to crumple like a sack of potatoes. He then looked to Private Siegfried. "Sargent Siegfried, Please escort this private to Oswald's squad, and inform of that he has a new grunt."

The now Sargent Siegfried was shocked for a moment and then smiled slightly before giving a enthusiastic salute. "Yes sir!" At which Achilles nodded and walked away, with Brock to his side who said softly, " Nicely done..."

---

As the break came to an end he had come to the knowledge of a Mercenary archer who took the wall and wrecked havoc on the enemy, and as much as he respected the feat, when he found out she was a Red Player... his respect vanished. Despite his hate for Player killers he knew she was hired by another guild didn't have much say in the matter, and didn't want to start any friction with that guild.

He quickly sent Mez a message about the player killer in their raid, and a brief set rep on the battle so far. As he sent the message he received a voice message from Darrus whom he knew well due to pass raids and considered a friend, to which he agreed to the plan as it was a good one and offered to take the side boss head on with his personal squad, With Brocks as back up.

He moved to the front of his men and pulled his two heavy Katana's from his back and turned to his men and said," Lets show the other guilds the strength of our arms and the might of our resolve to make it home to our families!" With that he turned and let out a cheer with his men and rushed the side boss, with his katanas trailing behind him as he ran.

Izumi stood by while the others talked among themselves. She smiled a bit and said "thank you" when the guy named Fenros complimented on her on how good her information was. Her interest was peeked when she heard about the pker archer. Thinking to herself she remembered she had a little info on some pker archer. Before she could say anything the dragon had perched itself on Varrens shoulder and his little speech was a bit intense for something so silly. It was very surprising when Varren sent her a request she paused for a moment then something inside her snapped and she accepted. She had no idea why she did it maybe it was her brain telling her that she didn't want to be alone anymore.

Hearing rustling in the forest she placed her hands on her Katar. She relaxed when she found out it was just a lost player. Thinking to herself what's an idiot not having a map for remembering his way back to town. It seemed everyone was heading in the same direction and that there was something important happening on the higher floors and these people where going there. She didn't even have to think about it "I'm coming as well" she said. She could probably get some very valuable information. "I have some information on a few pker archers if your interested" she said out loud though the information she had was very small and limited probably useless but didn't need to know that. Going along with these people would also let her stay close to the beast tamer. She seemed shy so she would have to gain her trust before asking her about her dragon.

Winter Contingency

Varren nodded in response to Fenros and Mia, then glanced over to Lit, “Yeah, we have to go to Urbas, since that is where the teleportation gate is. The fare to get up to floor 35 isn’t that much, as I’m sure we all have gained money by some means over the past six months.” He took another sip of the beverage, savoring its bitter flavor. The palette engine which operated tastes didn’t falter by the slightest when resembling the real thing. Though, it gave him an unsatisfied feeling when the drink didn’t give him any effects or perks, its caffinated origin meant nothing in this world. “I have a friend to me-” The boy was cut off when a player called out to the group, requesting that they assist him in finding a route to a nearby mining town. As the man broke through the treeline, he heard the sounds of blades behind him, noticing that Izumi had readied her katars. He made a slight motion to put her to ease as the player approached the group. Judging by his armor, he was in the same level range as Izumi and himself, probably lower twenties. Varren narrowed his eyes in speculation, not completely convinced that the man’s mission truly lied in the mines. “You do know this is the second floor, correct? Any quests which lie there will render players like us absolutely no EXP whatsoever. Though, I can quickly map out the route for you on your map.” With a swipe of his fingers, an interface showing the floor’s map popped up before him. He placed his index finger on the point where the group was currently, then traced a cyanic line through a path, towards a mine which was roughly a kilometer away.

The routed map was sent to the character whose in-game name was ”Bane”. “Sorry, but we have to move along. Gotta meet up with a few comrades. Though, there’ll be a dungeon raid on floor 35 soon. You could get in on that and get some nice loot once you finish this quests.” Yinyues gave a departing wave as he continued his trek back to Urbas, the rest of the group in tow. Izumi offered knowledge about PKer archers, though judging by the fact she was in the same level range as himself, the girl wouldn’t know much. Besides, Varren had enough faith in his own connections and personal deduction to come up with an answer. “Well, good luck with that party of your’s. I’m sure the meeting won’t take too long, so Lit and I will be able to join up once I’m done.” Though he disliked talking for his newly met friend, he had an ulterior motive to having her tag along. Once they finally reached the town, they made their way through the bustling marketplaces and arrived at the town center. Varren managed to stop himself from buying multiple spools of thread, keeping his head on the objective. “You know, it’s a tad bit weird. As we speak, the frontline guilds are probably fighting to make their way into the floor pillar. Players could be perishing and passing away as we speak, disappearing from this world, and from the other side.” As he trailed off, the boy received another message from Mez. Unlike before, this time around, he chose to make the message appear to only him, as he did like a little privacy from time to time.

It's bad news. Two words: Kilia Fayne.

The short message changed the whole entire situation. Kilia Fayne, or more renowned as ”Dark Arrow Mora” was somehow involved. She was one of the few archers who possessed the sheer power and ability to operate solo during a pillar raid. Varren put two and two together and concluded that she was the archer involved in the attack on floor 36. Before he could continue his train of thought, the boy stepped onto the teleportation platform and took a deep breath in. “Floor 35 - Mishe!” The player was enveloped in a blue light, his body dissolved into light, and was reassembled in a completely different region. Varren instantly felt the temperature difference, a shiver ran down his spine as the cold air rushed to him. “Shit, it’s cold.” He complained and tightened the scarf, trying to preserve as much body heat as possible. A majority of the floors of SAO followed the same weather cycle as the real world, the 35th being one of them.

As he was about to turn to face the gate and greet his friends, a player accidently bumped into him. The teen who seemed to be roughly his age was draped in a black winter coat, his hair was almost down to his nose with a kind face, making Varren almost mistake him for a female. The sheath on his back was of the same color scheme, held by a leather shoulderstrap. The player spat out a stern “Sorry!” before running off towards the forest, with the look of determination in his eyes. Varren let out a sigh and pat the snow off of his own jacket, his friends finally arriving from the warp gate. “Oh, hey! I guess this is where we part ways for about an hour or so. Don’t worry, we’ll meet up with you guys soon.” Varren nodded towards the direction of the inn and waited for Lit to follow. As they walked through the snow covered street, he sent Mez a message;

”I’m en route to the inn now. Got a friend tagging along. Don’t be rude.”

With a quick tap of the send key, the interface waned out of his view. He glanced over to the beast tamer who must have been cold, “You’re probably wonder… Why is this boy asking me to meet a friend of his with him? What does he need of me?, or something along those lines, right? Well, in all honesty, it’s because of your mindset.” He exhaled deeply into his palms and rubbed his hands together, trying to generate some heat. “Judging by your level, you haven’t seen what SAO has to offer yet. Though, that also means you haven’t seen the horrors woven into its mass. I needed somebody who wasn’t been tainted by this world, a person who could see the insanity in my distorted views. Everybody in this game has sinned one way or another, I’m not the same me I was six months ago.” The snowflakes drifted onto his head and weaved their way into his hair, “So thank you, for not letting this world get the better of you.” He made a slight smile, then stopped at an inn. Like most of the complexes in the town, it looked like a medieval tavern. Varren opened the door for both of them and proceed into the inn, taking a seat next to a player with red hair. He gave a greeting nod to the young man, then looked off towards the bathrooms. Yinyues was able to see Mez’s diamond through the walls, since he was in such a close proximity with the person on his friends’ list. “Two cups of coffee, please.” The bartender went to work with the brew, Varren tapped on wooden bar whilst waiting for Mez to finish with his business.

”I’m en route to the inn now. Got a friend tagging along. Don’t be rude.”

Mez raised an eyebrow at the recently received message from his old pal. It had been the second message he'd read since entering the lavatory. The first being a SitRep from Achilles, the fourth number of the Twelve Guardians. Mez had given him leave to orchestrate the attack on the floor pillar and, eventually, the floor boss. Whilst Mez had attended every other one of these attacks, leading his Guild alongside the Vanguard and the Knights of the Blood Oath, this time around, he'd decided to forego the assault, opting to focus on his new directive. His goal to prevent PK-ing wasn't just an arbitrary thing, a holiday to get him some time away from the seriousness of the frontlines. This pursuit was just as serious as leading his forces and clearing floors.

Player Killing had started to become a serious thing, killings were more frequent and people were beginning to get used to the idea of hiring killers. It was unacceptable. Mez refused to lay his own life and the lives of his men down, clearing floors, only for some scumbag PKer to kill off the people he was doing it for, whether it was for sport or coin. Fortunately, he could afford to take time away from the frontlines to deal with the issue. Thanks to a few of his other Guardians, Rhan and Achilles namely, he could leave the clearing of the floors in their hands. They rotated the duties between each other and frequently kept him up to date on the important things. The remaining nine Guardians helped out by ensuring the guild still ran smoothly with his absences, except for one. The Third Guardian, Sasha. Her whereabouts was currently unknown, she had, by Mez's own order, unfriended everyone in the Guild except for himself. This was because he had sent her on a special mission, one that only she could complete. They kept in brief contact but he only ever received a message once every few days.

Mez found himself staring at his reflection in a mirror above one of the many sinks. He'd certainly seen far better days. The late nights and lack of proper food were beginning to take their toll. Each sink somehow had water piped down to a single tap, when he turned the rusted brass handle, water hissed out, splashing into the porcelain basin and flowed down a central hole. The water was a shade darker than he would've usually liked but he wasn't overly fussed. He cupped his hands under the tap and filled them until the water overflowed. He then lent down and threw the water over his face, rubbing away at the sweat and grime that had amalgamated there. He repeated this a few times before shutting off the tap and grabbing a less-than-fresh rag to dry his face. He instantly felt more alert. The water was cold and seemed to wash away not only his grubbiness but his fatigue as well. When he was finally done, he made for the door.

Upon exiting the bathroom, he immediately saw the familiar face of his friend, Varren. A slight smile forced itself on display. It had been a long while since they had last seen each other. Mez was happy to see him alive, especially now that not being on the frontlines was beginning to get just as dangerous as fighting on them. He noticed a girl standing next to him. Short in stature with mousy-brown hair and youngish looks. If it weren't for V's onyx-black hair, she could have easily been his younger sister. The next thing he noticed was a small creature perched on the girl's shoulder. It was a dragon, which meant that the girl was a Beast Tamer. 'A Beast Tamer, huh V? What are you doing travelling with one of those?' Mez thought to himself. He also noticed the Barkeeper's hard stare at the girl and the creature, his disapproval of the beast evident in his miserable scowl. Mez thought it better to announce that they were with him. Maybe he'd flip him another coin or two. So far, the Owner had been happy to take it so long as he didn't cause any trouble. Besides, what trouble could a small dragon like that cause anyway? He immediately took back the question in his mind, on second thought, probably a lot.

Mez eventually found himself sauntering over to Varren and his new companion, Happenstance was seated on the other side of him but they didn't seem to have started chatting. Why would they, they've never met? "Since when did you start taking on sidekicks, V?" He said, close enough now for his friend to hear him over the tavern's murmuring din. He carried on walking towards them and situated himself next to where Hap was sitting, facing Varren and his friend. He quickly remembered V's message about not being rude and decided to introduce himself to the young girl. "Hi there, I am MezmeriSin. Leader of the Crimson Guardians Guild & Venerable Lord of the Asylum of Othe. You, however, may call me Mez." He flashed her his most welcoming smile, which to be honest, probably looked more akin to a shark's grin thanks to his rugged, battle-hardened looks and the massive Greatsword attached to his back. Nevertheless he smiled anyway and hoped that his forthrightness hadn't scared her entirely.

He then motioned to Happenstance, who was sitting on the stool next to him drinking, what smelled like, black coffee. "And this, this is Hap. My new sidekick. He's going to help me with the PKing problem, if he agrees to it, that is. Say hi, Hap." He continued to smile, trying to be a welcoming as possible.

Happenstance

"Ack, no!" The coin Hap had been toying with slid off the counter, he stooped clumsily to catch it before it hit the floor, and upon straightening noticed two newcomers had joined him at the bar. The first was a boy who in appearance looked to be a couple of years younger and a few inches shorter than him, dressed in surprisingly 'normal' clothes, which made him stand out from everyone wearing what was closer to traditional medieval renaissance garb; a simple sweater and a ratty scarf tied around his neck. He seemed to like the color black. The other was a small girl who more closely conformed to SAO's pattern of dress. She seemed more timid than her companion, with wide eyes that were taking in everything around her. The little dragon perched on her shoulder drew the eyes of everyone in the room, making her look very uncomfortable. Not surprising, there were only a handful of players with beast-taming abilities. Hap offered a smile when they approached and the boy nodded to him before placing an order for coffee to the barkeep.

Shortly thereafter, Mez finally reappeared and Happenstance was ready to complain about him taking forever but was interrupted by Mez himself as he greeted the newcomer whose username was Varren. Apparently Mez didn't know the girl for he proceeded to introduce himself by some long-ass name, stringing together titles the way Sancho Panza strung together proverbs, and like Don Quixote, Happenstance felt the urge to curb this tasteless habit. As Mez finished and flashed the girl a grin, which kind of also could be interpreted as a grimace, he interjected with a cough, rolling his eyes. "Try-hard," the words muffled by his glove.

Mez must've heard him because he immediately went on to say: "And this, this is Hap. My new sidekick."

Hap choked. "Your what?!"

"…He's going to help me with the PKing problem, if he agrees to it, that is." Well, this was an unexpected turn of events, but he kind of wasn't paying attention, still nursing his injured ego. You think you know someone, and then a pretty girl comes along and everything just goes to hell. He tried very hard to think up a snappy comeback, but was once again interrupted.

"Say hi, Hap." Smooth-talking bastard. In spite of Mez, Happenstance put on a cheerful face and stood to shake both of their hands. "Happenstance," he said, careful to pronounce his name to its full extent. He was quite proud of it, in fact, though more often than not it was shortened to Hap. People always ended up calling him Hap regardless of how he introduced himself, so unlike Mez he didn't feel the need to give either of them permission to use his nickname. "At your service m'lady," he made an elegant bow in the girl's direction. "…and, Varren," he added, inclining his head in the boy's direction. He glanced at the girl again and jerked his thumb at Mez, "Don't take him too seriously, under that hard external shell of shining armor and stunted emotion I'm sure he's as soft as a teddy bear at heart… Probably." He leaned against the bar, tired of sitting.

"By the way Mezzy, what's this about dragging me into your investigation? I don't know if I could handle what I think you're about to offer me. I mean, that's like a lot of potential titles, I don't think I can handle that kind of responsibility. Especially…" and here he cast a very pointed look in Littrix's direction, "…if the ladies don't even know what they're supposed to mean. I mean what's the point?"

Littrix (I'll flesh it out moar)

Stood behind them both. As they were traveling to the floor she could feel something cold arising. Reaching the floor she shivered, huddling towards Varren. As they walked to a inn. Looking around seeing that everyone was very merry at the moment. "Christmas?..." She thought out loud to herself for a moment then focused on holding Varrens shoulders. She didn't want any High levels to kill her nor did she want them to ask her about her dragon. Once they entered the tavern she felt warm, releasing her hands from Varrens shoulder, looking around.

Some people stared at her and some didn't. She liked it. Quiet, sort of peaceful and not to loud. She sees Varren walk towards the bar infront of two men and there user names stating "Mez...and Hap-..Happ..Happ-.Stence " She thought his name over for a few times until she gave up trying. Quickly sliding over to Varren, standing behind him. Looking at the high leveled men. She listened to them talk for a few minutes. The 'Hap' guy bowed at her, peaking from Varrens back she waved then sat back down behind him. She didn't want to talk at the moment only listen and find who this PKer is..or what there talking about. Aura flew onto her lap to comfort her.

'I see you...'

The entrance to the room opens one final time, as the last member of the assault walks through: The Mercenary. Her bow is in her hand and arrow already half-drawn as she walked, going around the large crowd and, hopefully, avoiding detection. She didn't count on that, though. She was eager to use her shortswords on the giant beast, though decided against it. Sure, she may be fast enough to dodge it's strikes and get away, though it was more than likely this thing would regenerate HP whenever she wasn't hitting it, which would be a cause for concern. Then again, the guilds appeared to have taken care of that...

She looks up at one of the giant pillars that held the roof on the place. At the very top was a small ledge that would allow for a great amount of cover, height and, assuming she's close enough, range. It'd also keep her reasonably hidden, too, if the beast wasn't smart enough to track an arrow's trajectory. The only trouble was getting up or down. Though, Kilia had an idea for going up. Opening her inventory, she scrolls through until she finds something: a grappling hook and rope, it seems. Perhaps this was also what she used to scale the fortress?

Regardless, she begins to spin the hook around and around, before release. In real life, this would most certainly fail, or at least be nigh impossible to do. However, in the virtual realm, anything can happen, as the hook spins right around the base of the pillar just above the ledge. After a slight tug to see if the rope held tight, she took a few steps back before running up the pillar, pulling on the rope as she did so.

When she finally reached the top, she put the item back into her inventory, aware of how low durability it was now getting. She made a mental note to go back to a smithy and have it repaired once this was over. Retrieving her bow once more, she immediately knocks an arrow without second thought, and aims directly at the beast's eye, concentrating heavily. Her breathing slowed, the rest of the room zoned out, all she was thinking about was hitting that fucker in the eye....

---

The large goblin had laid down his club to scratch its rear. It was oblivious of the player guilds standing on the far edge of the enormous hallway.

A black arrow found its mark right in the goblin's left eye. The creature began roaring and shouting in pain, it picked up and swung its club all over the place. The guilds charged forward, with Vanguard and another guild at the front.

"Keep yourselves spread out!" Darrus shouted. "Remember the plan!"

A soldier from another guild was the first to reach the goblin. The enormous creature flattened the man with the weight of his spiked shield. Two more soldiers, who were sticking too close together, tried to flank the side-boss. The goblin swung around with his club, hitting both men in the process. They were sent flying through the air, but their health bars weren't empty. It looked like they would live.

"That shield is heavy enough to one-shot a player!" Besil shouted. "Stay away from its shield!"

Thall came to a stop right in front of the goblin. He banged his sword against his own shield, and the creature noticed him.

"Now! Hit its legs!" Thall yelled. He braced as the Goblin swung its club through the air. He was able to dodge the first attack, but when the creature swung back again, the massive club Thall right on his shield. He was knocked down, but he managed to pull himself back up to his feet. The goblin still had its one eye fixed on him.

---

'Time to see if we can make this easier...'

Mora began raining down arrows from her position, aiming for the higher parts of the body, going for precision and power over trying to inflict a load of damage with multiple arrows. Many shots found their mark on the creatures skin, though an equal amount simply "Plinked!" off of its armour like nothing. She's been coating her arrows with status potions, such as major paralysis, weakening and poison. The ones that hit would more than likely apply their effects. However, she'd used up all of her potions now.

The beasts movements begin to slow given time. Paralysis and weakening, followed by a drowsiness effect, seemed to all be taking their toll. Of course, it wouldn't last long, and the beast wasn't completely immobile, though it manages to trip itself on the base of a pillar which sends it on it's back. The men attacking from behind barely make it out of the way, though there might've been on or two who didn't make it. But now, the creature was down...

"Quickly!" One of the Guild Leader's shouted. "Attack him before it wears off! Use a SWITCH with a defensive player if he seems to be waking up!" The Guilds charge and the main assault teams strike at the creatures legs in a flurry of swipes, slashes and smashes, using their sword skills to deal as much damage as possible. To those who stayed back, progress was being made on the Goblin's health bar, to say the least, especially with the weakening and paralysis in play, though it was going to wear off very soon...

That didn't stop Kilia, though. She was out of potions, though she wasn't done, as she'd made her way down the pillar and towards the beast. Now leaving her bow on her back, she draws upon her shortswords and strikes at the Goblin's feet, mostly attacking by using a spinning motion to inflict quick and brutal amounts of damage. No sword skills are activated, however even so she appears to be doing rather well for a solo player, as one might notice.

---

Through the combined efforts of the guilds and individual players, the side-boss's health was finally reaching its lowest points.

"Knights of the Blood Oath are about to launch an all out attack!" Darrus informed the rest of his guild.

"Can't let them have all the glory." Thall said in between breaths. His condition was alright, but he had been one of the main tanks drawing the attention of the boss. Through the whole fight, Thall and the other tanks had dropped down to low hp, but used the switch function to save each other. Vanguard had provided its own with plenty of potions, so Thall had been able to heal up in between his tanking shifts.

"We should all go in at once." Darrus said, confidently. "Although we shouldn't be stacking up, if we pull off this attack, we won't have to worry about that. Let's end this."

Thall and Besil did not argue. The rest of the Vanguard soldiers were ready. The guild as a whole had suffered three deaths, but other guilds were much worse off. Any second spent fighting this boss was a death sentence for someone.

"Thall, you go in first for Vanguard's charge." Darrus ordered. Thall nodded. "The rest of us will be behind you, but you won't be going in alone. Other guild's strongest players will be right next you, leading the charge." Darrus added.

"Looks like Blood Oath's lead in Heathcliff." Thall said. He moved forward to stand at the front, next to Heathcliff.

The legendary leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath was the one leading the charge, just as Darrus had said. Heathcliff didn't even seem to notice the other players lining up beside him. His eyes were on the boss. Everyone was ready.

He began his charge, and the sturdiest players of each guild were alongside him, forming an arrow formation with Heathcliff at the point. Following each player was his respective guild, following their charging comrades. Thall felt not a single bit of fear, for he knew his guild mates were right behind him.

The players clashed with the boss in a spectacular fray. The boss lifted his giant shield. If he brought it down, all of the players at the charge would be crushed in an instant. It would have been a disaster.

But in this final all out attack, the players put everything they had into one momentous strike. The damage output sky-rocketed: almost every player in the hallway, even the wounded ones, were involved in some way. The boss's health bar reached zero before he could bring down his enormous spiked shield.

The giant goblin de-materialized. A small victory screen popped up in front of Heathcliff.

Everyone was too tired to cheer.

'Now to find Shvril...'

As the others in the assault team took the oppurtunity to rest, Kilia took her oppurtunity to claim her reward. Using her tracking skills and incredible perception, it wasn't hard to rat out the man she sought: the same man who assigned her the job - Shvril. He was waiting, seemingly, behind one of the many large pillars that held the roof on the place, reasonably close to where the corpse of the Goblin King disintegrated into pixels. 'Smart man,' she thought to herself.

She didn't even make an attempt at keeping hidden, and didn't care if anyone followed her through, unless it was a Goblin, though it would've immediately been slices in half by her blades or had it's head pierced by a dagger or an arrow. It was his job to keep the deal a secret, not here. It was actually one of the defining rules to her contracts. She recited it to herself in her head just before Shvril came into view...

Though he didn't. He obviously was using something to make his avatar invisible, because Kilia couldn't see him, though she could still see his menu screen perfectly. It wasn't difficult to spot he was opening the same folder from last time, either, and Mora made the presumption he was going with efficiency rather than sneakily. He just wanted the deal over and done with. She immediately opened her PM's too, and the exchange was underway....

---

Username: Shvril
Title: Job = Slaughter
Message: Well done, Mistress Mora, your contributions have been greatly appreciated... Unfortunately, though, they'll go unrecognized by the men and women who fought here, today, for you will be leaving this place in either one of two states: In cuffs or not at all. You see, the second you walked around that corner, you were struck with a strong paralysis potent needle. The poison has already swept through half your body as you read this, and will soon leave you utterly motionless for the next 6 hours, so even if we don't kill you, somebody or something else will.

You see, this isn't a personal vendetta or anything like that, it's simply a matter that you're a red player and I'm a green. I believe that the red's of this world should be purged, obliterated and wiped out, so the good citizens needn't to fear of their own. If that means I need to change to orange for a short while, then so be it, but it's a small price to pay compared to what you've done. Almost a hundred dead by the Night Arrow Mora, and with the flick of a sword, vengeance will be granted to those that were sacrificed...

And now, I leave you with this: surrender now and we will consider letting you live. When I send this message, you have ten seconds to send back something, anything, in order to tell me that you accept. Failure to do so will result in death. So, I leave you with that.

S.

---

Numerous other shadowy figures appeared from nowhere and surrounded Kilia on all sides. They all waited in case she made a move, many of which had paralysis or poison status effects set on their daggers. They watched her with eagle eyes, as though the paralysis could wear off at any second and they'd spring into action. Kilia, herself, was thinking over what to do. She'd already made her choice, though she didn't quite know how to do it. For starters, she literally couldn't move anything. The paralysis and poison worked so well together that it made movement impossible. After ten second of waiting, she could hear Shvril sigh, as a duel request popped up on her menu. Unable to move, another player stepped forward and accepted the duel invitation...

60 seconds...