Durdansa's optimism fell when she realized what this kid wanted: To be shown acceptance or some shit. Ugh. She knew his type, the kind that skulked around waiting to be told they were good at what they did, needing validation, needing to be told what to do. She hated him already. Although... perhaps this could be used to her advantage. She perked her chin up, her smile having never left her face.
"Ah, feeling shy are you? Well that's fine. Honestly I felt that way when I first joined the guild!" She chuckled and reached over to ruffle the kids hair. Lies. She pulled her hand back and put her hands on her hips. "Well look, you gotta take responsibility for your own emotions and feelings! After all, if you don't talk to anybody how can you be sure they don't like you?" Or find him bothersome. "When we get back, how about I introduce you to Pterro' first hand huh?"
It was then she took a look at their surroundings. They had come to a clearing in a forest area of some kind... and something felt a bit off in the atmosphere. She put her hand in front of Attania in order to usher him to stop. She looked around...
"Something's not right..."

******

The twins went off to watch the fight with Mez and the child, and meanwhile Reapageroy leaned back in his seat with his boots on the table. He relaxed as he listened to Divinity recounting the tale of the boss battle to an admirer of her own. His ear twitched as he listened. The woman had a very interesting voice, certainly. When she wasn't being loud, it was kinda soothing in a weird way. As he leaned back, he gently ran his fingers over his throwing knives, appreciating the texture of the blade that had saved him countless times. His eyes closed and he yawned. With his belly full, the story was putting him to sleep like he was a child.
With a barely stifled yawn, he interrupted Divinity's story. "You know, your fans might like you more if you were nice when they want to hear about your life. I mean, these people admire you. Don't you think you should give them their respect too?" His voice was a bit drowsy as he put his hands behind his head. His chair was tilted back with his feet on the table. One push could send him sprawling to the floor with ease.

"Queeny, don't worry your spoiled little head, watch this." Pterrophos said, pointing to the duel about to happen. He hopped onto the table, swiping through his menu to quickly equip his rapier. "Hey hey hey hey! No fighting the best warrior in this place without me announcing it." He turned around to face the room once more, still standing on the table. He began walking to where Repageroy was sitting and kicked his chair over, riding it down to the ground muttering "People might like you more if you didn't steal things" quiet enough so only he heard. The chair landed with a thud. "PLLLLLLLACE YOUR BETS!" He shouted, walking up to the boys rapier in hand. He brushed their swords away with ease, each time his rapier touched their swords it would flash green fro the duration of contact. He pointed to the boy. "And in this corner we have... Uh, who are you?"

"I'm Zeth, I was the best fighter in the Aincrad Liberation Force and soon to be Neon Colossus! Now back off and let us fight weirdo." The boy shouted, ready to go.

"And in THIS corner we have Mez! The ACTUAL best fighter in Neon Colossus! Now I want this to be a first strike duel. First clean hit wins, and no, we're not actually betting." he bellowed. "By the way, Zeth, I'm Pterrophos. You're new boss, leader of Neon Colossus." he winked at the boy and raised his rapier while stepping back, tripping over the downed Repageroy, and now sitting on his chest with no sign of caring. Pterro wasn't gay but he was comfortably straight enough to mess with the Russian thief.

2 scouting groups of 4 have returned

"I..." Attania hesitated, not knowing how to exactly feel towards the offer Durdansa was making. Whether to accept it or deny it, he had no idea. On one hand, he had this urge to begin to meet all of his guild mates and actually become... sociable like his friends and Ghesh once tried very hard to do. Yet, on the other hand, he didn't really want to come out of the thick shell that he's been hiding in for so long. "I suppose that would be-"

"Something's not right..."

"Huh?" He said before shifting his head over to Durdansa before looking around in the clearing, drawing his dagger from its scabbard that laid horizontally on the back of his hip, readying himself for any possible encounters. "What's wrong?" He asked while his eyes kept darting around the forest.

Khârn sighed at the sight of the up coming duel. " forgive me I must attend to something for the moment." he says as he excuses himself from the group Why must the guild master support such a thing he thought to himself as he walked over to the duel. Yet another young upstart to try and dethrone the king...have they not learned yet? he thought with a chuckle as watched from the sidelines "Well hell...looks like some idiot challenged Mez again" a voice said to his right "Indeed brother hopefully he shows promise...If not he will be made a fool in front of the guild" "Made a fool hell he is a fool..Down right stupid I'm sure the kid can't even fight his way out of a paper bag!" Razaks says laughing frowning Khârn sighs "have care brother... the boy may not be worth much now, but he is our brother." he says cold "Khârn's right Raz. you shouldn't laugh at them just because they do something stupid" Dark winter said as she seemed to materialize from the crowed knocking Razaks on the back the head lightly as she did. "Besides if we did you would be the laughing stock of the whole guild" she said annoyed "Khârn what are these two idiots doing?" she asked uninterested as she motioned towards Mez and the new kid. with sigh Khârn answered "duel...The new one was annoying mez I suppose."

With a sigh Dark winter rolled her eyes "what does Sasha see in him? Khârn you know him pretty well was so great about him? she asked annoyed at the current events Whatever...just keep Rek out of it...Last time you let him duel he came home in such a defeated state because he couldn't beat you or mez....Do you have any idea how hard it was to cheer him up? the things I do for love" she muttered as Khârn looked at her with a raised eyebrow "sounds complicated and bothersome" he said blandly. Dark chuckled softly "You have no idea...but damn if its not worth it" she said cheerfully "You do know I'm right here right? Razaks asks slightly annoyed at being ignored. And? she responded with a chuckle as Khârn smiled and looked on to the duel

The boy, Zeth, seemed more agitated by Pterro's interference than anything. But he wasted no time in opening his menu and equipping his weapon. It was a black shortsword, a Tachi to be precise. Classed as a Kodachi due to it being barely 60cm in length. It was the perfect sword for his height, though he held it in an over hand grip, much-like an over-sized dagger. Mez noted the boy's relaxed posture, he'd seen combat before without a doubt.

As Pterro laid out the ground rules, Mez glanced past Zeth to see Sasha staring at him with a slightly troubled look. She wanted him to go easy on the lad. Mez merely smirked. Then, in a swift movement, he swung his sword off of his shoulder and drove it into the stone floor in front of him and took four paces backward. The kid's scowl lifted at that and changed to slight confusion. Without a word, he opened his menu and issued a duel request against Zeth who accepted straight away.

After doing so, the air filled with words detailing the duel and health bars for each of them. A ten second countdown began as well. Mez slowed his breathing and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You ready, Kid?" He asked. But Zeth ignored him which only made Mez chuckle. Then his expression suddenly turned serious. If this boy wanted to fight, he'd sure as hell give him one. And maybe a lesson in manners while he was at it.

The timer ticked down, each second seemingly a lifetime; 6...5...4...

"Still time to back out?" A final warning. 3...2...

1. As the klaxon sounded, Mez burst into action, blinking once between his starting point and the three strides it took him to reach his blade. A quick glace at Zeth's starting position revealed nothing but empty space. The kid was gone. Reacting immediately, he dove the remainder of the distance towards his blade, grasping the hilt with only one hand as he rolled over it. He hit the floor in a crouched stance and the momentum of his dive had ripped his greatsword from the ground. Looking up at where he had leapt from, he saw the blurred form of his attacker, descending upon him in mid-air. 'So he's fast, huh?' Mez thought before pushing off with his back foot to meet the attack with the flat of his blade.

Zeth's sword struck his own with a loud CLANG!, but Mez pushed through, taking the advantage of the fact that he hadn't yet touched the ground. Admittedly, he probably put too much into the shove that sent Zeth clattering across the stone cobbles beneath him, a quiet whimper could be heard as his smaller form crashed to the floor. Not letting up, however, Mez pressed the attack. He swung his enormous blade high above him before bringing it crashing down towards the Kid. Premature gasps could be heard from the crowd, most notably from Sasha, but they wouldn't stop him.

A sharp metallic din rung out around the hall as Mez's attack met only the cold, hard floor where Zeth had been but, now, no longer was. He looked up, seeing the youth stood a few meters in front of his sword, a wry smile on his face. He figured that he had Mez dead to rights. It would take him far too long to bring his greatsword back in to defend this next attack. The kid's next movements were like slow motion. An eruption of energy, directed straight at him. Priming his attack to hit Mez's exposed form. Some cheers could be heard from the crowd as they realised Mez's predicament. But in spite of this, the seasoned warrior stayed calm. In fact a smile had begun to grow upon his face. It grew wider with each step the kid took. He was waiting. Waiting for the commitment. The moment where Zeth would inject all of his weight into a single step so that he could spring off of it and launch his inevitable, unblockable attack.

Mez heard it then. To him it was a deafening change of pitch, a deeper slap of his foot connecting with the floor that told him it was time. In that moment, he sprung forward, his blade instantly feeling lighter than before. He felt his speed increase dramatically as he pushed off of his back foot. The build up was intense, like the crescendo of world-class symphony.

Then it was all over. All sound had left his mind as the hall remained deadly silent. It was broken only by the sound of the boy falling to his knees, a singular cut traced across his left rib cage. Mez stood a few meters behind the boy, in his hand he held a different weapon. Not his greatsword, but Retribution. He had been forced to use his Unique Ability; Ghoul's Grin.

When the klaxon sounded again to denote the end of the fight. Mez sheathed his sword and headed for the doors of the hall once more, he needed some air. Looking back over his shoulder at Zeth, who had yet to move, he spoke, "Tomorrow. 8am. On the training field." Then he left.

"I don't have fans, peasant. I have subjects that serve me loyally no matter how I speak to them." Divinity turned her nose upwards at Repageroy, as a sign that he wasn't worth her time. "And I am not spoiled!" She shouted at Pterro, but shushed herself for his little announcer joke. Some newbie had challenged Mez to a battle. No chance he'd win, of course. Out of all the challenges and the battles that Maya had seen Mez face (which weren't that many, as she didn't pay too much attention to him), a surprising amount of none managed to even phase him.

She paid very close attention to the battle before her, whilst grinding her heel into Page's body as if it was simply second nature to her natural functions. "Would it be rude to yell rekt out loud, or send it as a message?" The Queen whispered to Page and Pterro, hoping that the answer would be no.

Durdansa didn't answer right away. She kept close to the ground, her own eyes darting much like Attania's as her thick, bejeweled ceremonial blade materialized in her hand. Then, at that moment, a snap of a twig could be heard. Out from the direction of the snapping twig barreled a large monstrosity, looking like a rhino mixed with a bear. Dozens of swords poked out of its back facing outward, like a mass of quills found on a porcupine, but these were definitely the blades found forged from a smithy. He was charging right at the two in the center of the clearing. Durdansa's eyes opened wide.

"Shit... MOVE!"

In one motion, Durdansa grabbed Attania and leaped onto the ground out of the path of the malicious rhino-boar, rolling on impact. She gasped as she hit her back, but luckily it didn't knock the wind out of her due her roll. She looked up where the rhino-boar had run, seeing it skid to a stop and start to make a wide turn around to face her. A sense of realization came over her as she got a good look at the grotesque beast once again. "It's a miniboss...!" She pushed herself up and off of Attania, getting into a battle stance as she locked her eyes on the rhino-boar, who pawed at the ground, ready to charge at them again.
"Attania," Durdansa began, "Are you able to fight?"

*****

Repageroy fell slowly to the ground as the leader of the guild rode his chair down. [url=Everything was in slow motion as his eyes opened wide and he stared up at his comrade, betrayal clear in his eyes.]https://youtu.be/vmd1qMN5Yo0?t=18[/url] Then his back hit the ground and the wind left his lungs. He coughed, and then groaned at he stared up at his leader.
"Вы чертовски як ублюдок ." He cursed in his mother tongue, glaring up at their fearless leader as he walked off of him. Repageroy groaned and rubbed his forehead by didn't move, instead sighing and closing his eyes. This guild was going to kill him. He wasn't paying attention so he was taken by even more surprise when the same man that put him on the ground came back and tripped in a strange manner that ended up with him sitting on Repageroy's chest.

The Russian farm boy's eyes widened and his face turned a deep, dark red, and again he found himself sputtering around in his native language. "G -получить свой ​​член от моей груди вы .... у ... ты ...." But he was too steeped in embarrassment to go on any further. Unlike their leader, Repageroy was in fact, not straight enough at all to find this comfortable. He found himself averting his eyes from looking straight up at their... pretty.... leader. GAH no no hahaha can't think that way at all that would be...
"OOF!" He was so distracted that he didn't realize Divinity had come over to grind her heel into his body. He could practically feel a nosebleed coming. What the hell when did I become the protagonist of a bad hentai?! He thought, all the while trembling.

"J-just send it v-via message," He wheezed over the pressure sitting on his chest named Pterrophos, quite beaten down by his attractive opponents in this game. All the while fighting from actually looking at the two as his face grew hotter.

"If I don't fight," Attania began as he slowly got up, picking up the dagger from the ground as his eyes stared at the hybrid mini-boss. "We'll both be screwed!" He shouted out the last few words more out of instinct then anything else, surprising himself as he prepared for a fight. He found himself having some sort of will. A will to live on, perhaps. He didn't really know what caused for this, maybe it was Durdansa's offer, or perhaps it was because of his friend's sacrifices for him. Attania himself had no idea where this will spawned from, but he knew, he desperately knew that he had to make it out of this alive.

His eyes scanned the clearing, trying to find some sort of area where they could perhaps trap the boar, but saw nothing except for numerous trees scattered about. He shifted his eyes over towards the boar once more, only to see the beast charging towards them. His eyes then darted back over to the tree, an idea forming in his head. This was usually how the boy acted in combat, scanning the surrounding area before him only to come up with some plan, and whether or not he was given credit for it didn't matter to him.

"Durdansa, I'm going to try to get on that boar's back," He shouted out before taking off towards the largest tree he could find. "I'll jump on top of it when it gets close to me!" Attania quickly jumped towards the tree as he was a few feet away from it, climbing up the tree until he was on the highest branch. It hadn't come to mind yet that he had just left one of his guild mates on her own.

Nadie stood at the back of the crowd of new recruits, calmly admiring the architecture of Neon Colossus’s headquarters to herself. She was among the several new recruits of the guild, inspired by the spreading fame of two certain members. To Nadie and them, they were like symbols of strength and power. They all didn't have the same reason for joining; they all wanted different things, but generally their reasons all drew from the shared respect for the two heroes of Neon Colossus: Khârn and Mez.

Once the doors were opened and they were officially welcomed into the guild, she followed the others as they poured in. Almost instantly, most of them crowded around the two heroes, but she slinked over to the vacant end of a table near a corner, facing away from most of the other guild members. The two heroes were likely too overwhelmed with their respective groups of admirers, and she was just hungry too, so she would just calmly eat by herself. Sliding her mask up over her mouth, she began quietly eating; her hood and the rest of the mask still kept her faceless for the most part.

The food was incredible, and being a big eater, Nadia had already started a second plate by the time one of the youngest of the new members had picked a bone with Mez. A boy named Zeth. He likely wanted to prove his own strength, but against one of the strongest guild members? He should know there was no way this would end up in his favor. Nadie knew this, but she still got up to watch the duel, taking a third plate of food. The fight was as quick as expected, and concluded as expected, but she was intrigued by the last moment. In an instant, Mez had equipped a different weapon and moved even quicker than before, allowing him to land a hit on Zeth and win the match.

With the end of the duel, she went back to the table, but still thought about Mez’s ability. A tournament would be held among the new guild members, including her, and the winner would not only receive special training, but also be allowed to fight Mez. She didn’t know if she’d be able to win the tournament, but if she ended up sparring him, that skill would definitely be something to watch out for, among other things. Of course, she’d have to win the tournament in the first place. As she considered this, she gripped the handle of the sword resting in a large scabbard at her hips.

As soon as Himika entered the Guild Hall, she greeted everyone but was one of the first to separate from the party. Everyone who hadn't been on the front lines at the time had wanted to know of what happened with the boss and how they had won, but in her mind, this kind of thing was not to be celebrated. This should have been a mourning not only for the Guild members, but the loss of everyone. They had lost two of their best for crying out loud. And Ghesh just had to be one of them. She wanted to yell at everyone and accuse them of not caring... but it wasn't her place to do such a think. It was not her place to judge the other's way of mourning the loss of a friend. For now, she would smile and speak to a few. Accept their condolences, but inside, she was thinking she could have done something better, something different and maybe they wouldn't have lost so many people in that battle. On the outside, Himika looked as though she were cheerful like everyone else, but on the inside, her heart bled for those who would never again get to expirence something like this: a celebration with friends.

She skipped out on the fanatics of the party, making her way to the lower level of the Guild Hall, down towards where the Blacksmith shop was. Since Ghesh was gone, she assumed she'd be given the role of Blacksmith now. Making her way into the shop, Himika would unequip her sword and armor, changing into her smithing armor and retrieving her hammer. She would start by repairing her armor and sword, getting them back to one hundred percent before placing them back into her inventory. Looking around a moment, she decided to busy herself with cleaning before getting started on what they called the 'Commission Wall.' It was literally an entire wall of the shop with a giant table stretching across it. It was littered with various metals and requests for items to be forged from them by the members of the guild. It was always fun going and searching for the requested items with Ghesh, as some needed a Blacksmith to go with them and retrieve the metals. Sighing, Himika knew she was going to miss a lot of things she once took for granted.

Sweeping and washing up the shop allowed for Himika to clear her mind of depressing thoughts. She convinced herself that dwelling on unchanging things was never a good idea. Soon she was humming happy work tunes, and eventually she was dancing around the shop as she cleaned and organized things. Gradually her cheerful personality would return and the sadness in her heart was replaced with the desire to work hard in the place of her Master. When she was done cleaning, one more look around the shop gave her some validation that she could do this. Ghesh's mark was still all over the place. Various holes in the walls from where he had thrown things at her for being annoying, scorch marks here and there reminding her of all the fun times they had together.

"Won't be the same down here without you, buddy." she said, turning to the Commission Wall and picking up one heavy chunk of metal. She looked at the slip of paper that was attached to the metal with details of the request on it, bringing the thing around to the fire pit. "Hmm... speed type metal.. two handed axe and one handed short sword..." she said aloud, memorizing what had been requested. "There will be metal left over from this... I suppose I'll keep it then." she told herself, placing the metal into the fire pot to melt. Thinking ahead, she went to go and check to see if there were any other commissions using the same speed metal. Looking through the long table, she ended up finding two others she could do at the same time, melting everything together and seperating the portions into what she would need for each request. When she was ready to begin, she clapped her hands together.

"Alright! Lets get started!"

The fight was amazing, Mez even showed his unique to a crowd of newcomers (who were frantically messaging him asking dumb questions or if they could have high up positions). Pterro wished he could have watched the full thing but he was getting so many messages from new comers asking to meet with him that he couldn't keep his eyes as focused as Repageroy's were. It was fairly awkward but he was too busy sending messages to get up. "Repa, I'd appreciate if you kept those thoughts in your head." He muttered, seeing the look in the boy's eyes. He kept typing messages and reading or deleting them one after the other. A few told him to stop the fight but he just ignored those. Queen walked over to watch the fight, placing a heal inches from his crotch and into Repa's chest.

"I'd say it out loud, uh, say I have an official decree or something so that everyone listens first. Fuck all these new guys are so needy, like look! This guy wants to know when he gets his uniform! We don't even HAVE uniforms!" he laughed until he looked up and saw his secretary on the war path heading straight for him. Laurent walked up to the two on top of Repageroy and chuckled at the scene before getting serious once more. "I'm sorry but we need to talk. Now." She grabbed his hand and pulled him off the boy, leading him to a table away from the fighting and the crowds. Pterro quickly closed all his menus and obliged reluctantly.

On his way over, Pterrophos was quickly introducing himself to every new member he could, but he had an issue due to the fact and Laurent had higher strength than he, so there was no stopping her other than slipping out but he decided not to test how angry she was. He passed by a lot of new faces who were shocked that there leader was so... not warrior-like. 'Why wasn't Mez or Khârn in charge?' he heard whispers and just laughed it off, flying through the crowd attached to a girl who barely reached his shoulders. They had meandered through the crowd, after many shaken hands and winks given and reached a table bordering the walls, a sole new guild member sat near them alone, facing a wall who Pterrophos had not noticed. Laurent had a fairly high perception skill (the job required it) and chose the table purposefully.

"Durdansa and Attania are supposed to be back. I just sent them this message and I'm waiting for a reply." She swiped her finger in the air and brought up her message. 'MEETING STARTS IN 5 MINUTES. WHERE ARE YOU TWO?' Laurent wasn't as much worried for them as she was nervous about them missing the meeting. "If they're not back it starts anyways, and from the looks of the map they're just running around together in this little wooded area here. I assume they're fine and strongly suggest we head to the meeting room ASAP, gather your team to go with you. I'll gather the prospects I have from the new members." She stood up. "Starting with you, Miss Nadie. Follow our GLORIOUS leader Pterrophos. She pat his face and smiled up to him. "I'll go grab Himika from the forge room, see if she wants to come." She bowed as sarcastically as someone could before running off holding her chest as she ran down the stairs silently cursing this game's boob physics the whole way down.

Pterrophos chuckled at the North Korean Dictator joke and turned to assemble his usual team. He cut through the crowds again, grabbing Khârn from the crowd. "One more time I need you. Meeting starts soon and I need you and Mez to look pretty for me. We could become the lead guild if you're pretty enough so try real hard at it. I want to see Repa all over you guys. QUEEN! Make our guys pretty or something, you're a girl you know that shit." He continued weaving through crowds trying to get to Mez who was outside before quitting and just sending him a message. He continued hopping and skipping through groups of people chatting. The mood was certainly no longer gloomy. He was looking for Attania a good 30 seconds before realizing he was MIA. "I uh, think we're good. We leave in two minutes, sent you a location for the meeting via PM, apparently a scout group saw a field boss. Hmmmmmmm, SASH! You're in charge while we're gone!" One minute until the meeting room would be opened and Pterro and Laurent met back together, she gave him a teleport crystal and they were both off, waiting for the others to arrive and watching the other guild leaders and their usual crew's showing up as well. Asuna, another clearer, was strangely leading a group into the meeting room, surely she wasn't leading a guild now, maybe it was just her weirdly similarly dressed party. "Should we have uniforms, Laurent?" Pterrophos asked. Laurent remained silent, watching this group march with such purpose into the first 26th floor related meeting.

3 of 4 scouting pairs returned. The fourth group mysteriously late. The meeting was starting without them.

Koji tried not to laugh when he saw some new member try challenging Mez. Than just a few minutes later he had almost as much respect for the kid as he did for Mez. When Pterro took away the more "experienced" members, Koji went out of his way to tell the new member that had lost to Mez "Wow, you might be the worst fighter I've ever seen." Koji sarcastically stated. "I mean, you didn't even get a hit in." He joked. The kid seemed to be taking it well, which immediately made Koji like him a lot more.

They chatted for a while and than Koji went over to greet the other new members. He was very friendly to everyone and joked around with some of the more athletic looking ones. Koji was quickly making a good impression on the new members, hoping Pterro would finally notice him for something other than his awesome username.

Koji than went over and signed up to fight in the tournament. He expected to breeze through the competition and than have an epic fight with Mez who although Koji respected him, he didn't like Mez too much and wanted to beat him and earn some respect. He had messed around with Mez before and it just resulted in him getting threatened. Mez was one of the few people that didn't like Koji besides Pterro who Koji wasn't sure about. Koji was a good fighter although he was greatly under appreciated and this made him have a minor disliking to his leader.

Khârn hated these meetings. My must I attend? I am no officer. I have no love for being anyone's boot lick. he thought as he pulled out his transport crystal. "Perhaps we shall earn some good graces from those other guilds, though why we would need it is beyond me." he mutters "Perhaps we get more then an honorable mention." he says emphasizing honorable mention with barely contained anger They deserved more then that... he thought as he arrived at the meeting area. After arriving Khârn examines the area to see if there was anyone of interest there Asuna... he thought as his eyes stop on her I had heard of her, appears Rza was right...not bad looking...always did have a nose for talent. he thought as he moved on. The remaining people there were of no interest to him so he dismissed them from his mind.
After a few seconds he moves to where his guild members were Long shall be your suffering if my time is wasted... he thought. While Khârn loved his guild members he held no love for the others. Were he given the option he would sacrifice scores to save one of his guild members. Not to say he hated the other guilds, if given the chance he would save both. I mustn't be so angry... it is not their faults...they do what they feel is necessary...I must always try to remember that... I know it was a morale boost not to show casualties and to show us...still doesn't sit well with me. he thought as he took his place within his guilds ranks.

"Are you NUTS?!" Durdansa blanched at the kid as he climbed the tree, narrowly dodging the hybrid mini boss as it charged again. She turned to him, her eyes wide and scowling. "Use your head, Attania!" Her icelandic accent came through her more than it usually did, suggesting her anger and lack of focus on her speech. "Look at the swords on its back, whoever designed that thing clearly thought ahead! You'll be killed!"

Her head turned sharply from the boy as the rhino-boar let out a screech and charged at her again, its thick saliva spewing everywhere as she realized her distraction had made her lose the time necessary to dodge its next attack. Her eyes widened again, this time in surprise, as she turned her back to the boar-rhino and made a run for it, straight to the tree Attania was sitting in. She raised her hands up, her voice booming in its commanding tone.

"ATTANIA! LOWER YOUR HANDS FOR ME!"

*******

Repageroy let out a sigh of relief as the main pressure on his chest left, just leaving Divinity and him behind with her heel on his chest. He waited, his head turned as he listened to his leader and Laurent talk. It was interesting to see how Pterro actually did take his job seriously, whilst being simultaneously hard to believe at all. Then he heard the comment about how he wanted Repageroy to be all over the pretty guys and his face flushed dark red again.

"H-hey, Thats...!"

But then he was gone. His face fell and he was left with a small, thoughtful frown on his face.

"Queeney..." He spoke to Divinity, his cheeks still a bit flush as he bit his lip. His eyes weren't focused on her, instead he seemed to be looking inward, at himself. "Ah... was... am I ... really that obvious?" It was clear that he really was embarrassed now.

He stared at Durdansa as she raised her hands up, then straight over to the boar. She was slightly right, after all. The blades that protruded out of the boar's back meant that anyone who would try to jump onto the boar would be either dissuaded or die upon landing, but the blades weren't evenly laid out across the boar's back. He could try to land on the thing on its own two feet in one of the area, or at least die trying.

"ATTANIA! LOWER YOUR HANDS FOR ME!" His gaze then shifted over to Durdansa before he crouched down on the branch, lowering his hand. As he did so, he noticed how his hand wasn't exactly low enough for anyone to grab onto.

"You're going to need to jump, Durdansa!" He yelled out, almost as if it was some sort of crappy thriller movie. His eyes wandered over to the boar, who was behind Durdansa, still charging after her. It was at that moment when he realized something -- something as sort of a "weakness" of the mini-boss.

That boar couldn't stop on a dime. It would need to slow itself down before turning around to charge once more. That meant that if they could somehow dodge the boar while it's charging, they could easily attack it from the sides or behind.

It also meant they could make the boar run into some really, really hard things -- such as a tree.

Divinity leaned downward towards the man whose body was being graced by her foot and stared him in the eyes. "Yesssss." She hissed as she removed her foot from the Russian man's body. She would have to give him a bit more shit later, as now it seemed like it was time to move out. She walked over to the guy who just lost to Mez, and simply whispered "rekt" with her hand on the side of her mouth and flipped Koji off as she passed him, withdrawing her hand after leaving his general vicinity.

"'Make our guys look pretty.' Tch. I don't make people pretty, I fuck people up." She said to herself more than she did to others as she strolled over to Nadie who had been previously sought out by Laurent for some reason unknown to the Queen. "Look, uh, I don't really know what tit-lady said to you while she was over here, but you're comin' with me kid. You look capable enough, and I need someone to stand next to me and cast nasty looks at the other guilds."

"Eeeaaaahhh.." She stared at the other girl before finally saying, "..Just, uh. Show up. I believe Laurent should've given you a teleport crystal? If so then, uh. Just use it. See you there, hopefully."

Divinity disappeared as she activated her transport crystal and situated herself next to her guildmates as she cast somewhat nasty looks towards the other guilds in an attempt to show that they weren't to be messed with. Her arms folded themselves over her chest as she gazed at the other guilds, especially Asuna who she eyed pretty consistently. A good chunk of her current brain function was pushed towards thinking of insults to shout at Asuna should the chance arrive.

Mez swiped away Pterro's message as he lay on top of the small wall roughly 5 minutes walk from the Guild Hall. It ran parallel to a little stream and was surrounded by looming willow trees that provided ample shade from this level's relentless sun-rays. It was his favourite place to think or simply relax, which he was currently doing. That's because nobody ever came here and he was allowed to think in silence. Life on the frontlines was obnoxiously loud, what with everyone fussing about how they were going to be the best and beat the game or worrying about not making it or losing their loved ones. Coming here gave Mez some solace from the madness he'd been trapped in and also the chaos he'd become a part of by fighting on the frontlines.

It was no coincidence that a bunch of members had joined the guild immediately after him and Kharn had been shown in the newspaper. Their names had been growing rapidly throughout Aincrad for a while now. But this was the turning point for him. As soon as he attended the next meeting, it would become real, he would become one of the faces of the frontlines. And that was a hard pill to swallow.

He'd seen what had already happened with Kirito and Asuna, how their fame had affected their lives here in the game world. How they could no longer been seen to be slacking off from trying to free everyone from this death game. Mez wasn't sure he could handle that reponsibility at first but the more he thought about it, his reservations weren't about whether he could, they were about Sasha and whether she could.

Of course, if he'd have quizzed her about it she would protest and immediately declare her support for him. But sometimes he just wanted to support her for a change. She'd always been worried whenever he left to go and fight but if he took the next step and became a face, he wondered just how she'd handle it. As pondered the forming of a question to ask her, he remembered the last time he doubted her and how upset she'd been with him. She refused to speak with him for two days, which was rough. If he doubted Sasha with this, she'd likely be just as angry or maybe even more so. A thought that scared him slightly. He couldn't lose her.

Sitting up from the wall, Mez pulled a teleportation crystal from his inventory and switched his sword so that Judgement now appeared strapped to his back. Then he stood and activated the crystal. A brief flash of light filled his vision before his surrounding were replaced with the familiar sight of the floor meeting room. Scrying the room, he immediately recognised everyone here. He'd lost count how many times they'd fought together now. A few heads turned in his direcrion. Some smiles, others glares and even a look of admiration or two.

Mez slowly crossed the large chamber, his greatsword clinking gently with each step, until he reached Pterro, Kharn and the others. He greeted them with a quick nod and then turned to face everyone else, ready to begin.

"Love you too!" Koji yelled at Divinity, who had just flipped him off. She obviously got pissed at that comment, but judging by the fact that she didn't turn around and say something she was either in a really, REALLY good mood, (for her) or she had better things to do. Koji assumed it was the second one. Koji than messaged Durdansa and Attania to see if they were ok.

After that Koji small talked with other guild members for a while, until he started getting very worried about his fellow Neon Colossus members. He had been constantly checking his messages hoping for a response, but he still had none. Koji later decided he was going to find them himself before he went crazy wondering what happened to them.

"What do you think your doing?" some guard yelled at Koji while he was walking into the storage room to "borrow" a teleport crystal. "It's not what you think I'm just getting a teleport crystal, trust me I'll show you my inventory when I come out." pleaded Koji, hoping the guard wouldn't wonder why he needed a teleport crystal. Luckily the guard didn't wonder. However the guard thought he knew why. The guard thought Koji was going to sneak into the meeting all the "higher-ups" in the guild were at and sell the information he would learn. That's a good idea Koji thought, about the first part, not the second, Koji wasn't that kind of guy... well he was but he was too lazy to have to go around trying to sell information.

Koji left the area and than waited for a while before coming back to the room next to the storage room and screaming like he was in terrible pain. Koji than dove behind a chair and listened for the guard. Of course the guard came and scanned the room for a murder. Koji took this opportunity to sneak around the guard and break into the storage room for a crystal. He than teleported to the area around the guild meeting and discreetly walked in and tried blending in with other guilds, wishing for his own to not take notice of him

Himika was preparing to start something new when Laurent suddenly burst into the room. Jumping nearly out of her skin at the sound, her head flew to the door and she stared with wide eyes at the girl as she walked into the room. The two didn't say anything for a long moment as Laurent looked around the place as if she were just seeing it clean for the first time. Her eyes went to the commission wall and her eyebrows raised, surprised at the number of them. Eventually she walked over to Himika and placed a hand on her shoulder, though still she said nothing.

Looking up at the other girl for a long moment, her eyes started to fill with tears. "I... I just..."

"I already know what you're doing. It's not like you to hide away when everyone else is happy and having a good time. Don't blame yourself for this. It's not your fault and you know it." she said, her hand squeezing Himika's shoulder briefly.

"But-"

"Ah ah, no buts. I'm not asking you to forget or not be sad about it. I'm telling] you to accept it. We can't afford to stop and lose our wits now, got it?" she was told. Blinking and wiping away her tears, Himika nodded and smiled after a moment. It was classic Laurent to comfort her without getting to mushy about things or making her feel awkward. Placing her hand atop Laurent's, Himika found her voice. "Well, did you need anything?"

"Yes actually. I... we, need you. There's a meeting going on. Get your things ready and get there as soon as possible."
she said, removing her hand and walking towards the door. After a few quick swipes, she sent the location via PM. Lowering her head, Himika looked around the room. "I think I would be of a lot more use here rather than up there." she said honestly, at the moment she was doubting herself. Doubting if she was even needed on the front lines. Laurent just shrugged. "Maybe." she said, turning back to the door and leaving.

Sighing and lowering her hammer, Himika hugged herself and started to walk around the room. The essence of her friend was still here and she was comforted and saddened by it. Opening her menu, she would change out of her smithing equipment and into her fighting equipment. Adjusting the armor slightly, she walked to the door and left, heading up and out of the guild hall, slipping past anyone who may have wanted to speak to her. When she was outside and away from others, she opened her menu, looked at the meeting location and used a teleport crystal to get there.

When she appeared in the meeting room, she saw the Guild Leader and nodded to him, along with some other people she knew as she walked forward towards the others. Her left hand rested on the hilt of her sword, and her shoes made the lightest tapping sound on the floor. She noticed everyone was suddenly looking at her, growing silent at her entrance and turned as red as her hair. "S-s-sorry I'm late! I hope I didn't interrupt." she said, half running to stand by Mez and trying to resist the urge to slink behind him out of sight.

By the time she was approached by Pterrophos and Laurent, Nadie’s appetite had finally been satisfied and her mask was in it’s rightful position. She gasped softly as the latter instructed her to follow the former, and the grip on her sword softened. Offering a “Yes, Ma’am” in her soft but deep voice as she stood up, she indeed followed after Pterrophos while he gathered other guild members. Once he met back up with Laurent, they left to the meeting and Nadie remained at the Guild Hall until she was found by another guild member.

“Understood.”, Nadie politely replied to Divinity’s orders to go with her, as well as provide a stink eye at the other guilds even though she did not fully understand that order. She wore a mask covering all but her eyes, so the other guilds would not likely be aware if she scowled at them. Despite this, she decided not to ruffle any feathers by making a point of her mask and followed Divinity as she activated her crystal.

She soon stood close by her as she glared at the other guilds, especially at a single girl in particular. Nadie did not understand what she might have done to offend Divinity, and honestly didn’t care much either. She only stood next to her as she wanted, but her eyes scanned the other occupants of the room out of curiosity instead of malice. She figured that if they couldn’t notice her giving them a dirty look, Divinity most likely wouldn’t notice if she did not.