---

The proceedings were going as they should, if visitors were none the wiser they'd think this was just some fun festival, and while it was for many, it was also supposed to be a grueling trial. Vega left the office with an expression of disdain on his face, normally he made a lot of noise but he seemed more sulky than angry with this requirement. "Team leader", he was the only one needed. Should he just pick some people and be done with it? No, he wouldn't have a good chance at winning if he just picked anyone... Then again perhaps another year of just resigning to a wasted trial? No, that was a waste...

"Curse that four-eyes stiff", he seethed under his breath. It was even worse watching the guy next to the Harpy Guild Master, disgusting, be more decisive at least, calls himself a guild master. Still, hmmmmm... Working as a team... He didn't like it, he kept running it in his head, but he subconsciously refused the concept. Opportunity and chaos was his style, and that had no coordination with a team, nor did he need it. He was just fine running it himself.

The more he ran it in his head, the more it bothered him, until he began to have visions of Angela's little goon squad sent after him, which only made him even more frustrated.

"Still... I should just take the job I can do best and bring someone who isn't annoying", in that thought he immediately thought of Damien, as an example of who to not choose. Maybe Kazue? She sure is a go-getter if there's money and Vega's not exactly strapped for cash. He either steals more or takes some ridiculous A rank job that requires a group all on his own. He knows Seto's back in town, but he doubts the guy's going to help him out in the name of being a good samaritan. Kage...? Nah. That only left Jack being the last of the notable choices, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. His background was the out-in-the-open version of his own thief background.

Even with these choices, he preferred to not pick any of them. Maybe they would join up with him, but he always went alone and no one seemed to care. The tournament at the end would be pointless until he could even pass the first stages, doubtless those on the Harpy side have thought of ways to deal with his magic already, and his own in Golem Hand the same way... That sounded like a lot of fun. Before he could run his thoughts over that it went back to the idea of teamwork.

Ahhh whatever. It was going to be annoying regardless, and sitting this out was going to be more boring than if he went with it, besides, a chance at an S Rank job, maybe he can get a feel and gauge his power.

So then... Who to pick? More importantly, was he to just go hunting for people? Jack was going to be no problem, but Kazue and even Seto were going to be problematic to find, and at the same time he's actively pushing even the word "Damien" out of his mind. And Kage was only a consideration... Maybe he should try and pit her and Ceri against one another one of these days. That'd be something. Stubbornness versus a secret venomous tongue.

After her, admittably interesting, conversation with Jack, Kage wandered outside. She had a couple of errands to run, but they would be quick. The reward from her last job had been quite heafty; she was going on a shopping spree. First, she headed to a tailor to have a few holes in her clothing mended, then to a cobbler to get a new pair of shoes, for her old ones had worn out. From there, she stopped by a book store and picked up some new books, then she wound her way back to the guild to pay rent for staying there. Why she didn’t do that first, was because she simply didn’t want to.

Now she found herself with both ample time and money. Then again, time was something she never found herself in short supply of. She wandered about the city, getting to know the layout, and checking anything that seemed mildly interesting. She was also curious as to why the whole town seemed to be wrapped up in the excitment for the upcoming S class trials. What was the big deal? She wondered.

Listening to people was a hobby of hers. Listening was different from listening. Then people lisened, they hear things. When people Listen, they understand things. While the difference was not immediately obvious, Kage found that when she Listened, life was generally more interesting. Listening is a knack. A knack that not many people seem to understand. It involves closing one’s mouth, and opening their mind. In her experience, people did the opposite. They open their mouths and close their minds.

Of course, if everyone Listened, then silence would be the only thing heard, redering Listening pointless. What a conundrum.

As Kage slipped around town like an errant shadow, she Listened. Most of what she heard was the usual small minded talk. What the waether would be like, who was cheating on who, old men complained about easy people had it these days and the general day to day talk of a town. But here and there were fragments of interesting information. A man who went missing a month ago, then showed up in the same clothing he disappeared in, completely unchanged, claiming he had only been out for minute. A supposed dragon sighting three hundred kilometers west of there, the candy shop off a cetain back street had the best sweets. Fascinating things, even the small minded talk. Every story was like a fragment of a larger Story, pieces to a infinite number of puzzles, that were in turn piece that fit into an infinite puzzle. Who is to say what all the pieces, once assembled, would look like? Kage supposed that it was not for her to know.

Presently, it seemed that a whole crowd of people were gathering in the center of town. Kage checked her shadow. It was about time for the announcement. Out of idle curiosity, she sidled towards the throng. On her way there, she noticed Guildmaster Arianna gliding through the sky. What would it be like to fly? She wondered. Why was man to crawl along the face of the ground? To experiment, Kage decided that she was walking along the fuzzy green roof of an endless blue abyss. She bent over and stood on her hands to hold on for dear life. What a amazing point of view. People walked on the green sky above, while birds fell sideways through the blue ground below. The whole sky seemed to funnel into the sun, as if anything that fell would be consumed by its heat. She swung that way to the edge of the upside down crowd, in the shadow of a great oak stalactite, so she would be within earshot. After all that effort, she didn’t want to miss anything terribly important.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like it was. The guild masters made some announcements, amazingly unaware of the impending fall below them. The people cheered, and Kage watched a balloon have the sense to break loose and fall. The balloon, at least, knew which was was down. Unlike all the obvious people walking on the ceiling.

@Lord Sawsaw2@Savo

---

"H-harlequin Creme Brulee?..." She had no idea what that even was, but Cyril suggested it. Mis seemed to take the suggestion though, so it could have been anything bad, right? "E-erm, sure!" She purchased some, not entirely sure what to expect. From something Cyril suggested. And a random flavor too! Ooh, she was a bit concerned she'd get something terrible like something spicy or pickle-flavored. When the treat was finally handed to her, she gave it a good look over, frowning beneath her hood. W-well, Mis always told her to try new things...

She hesitantly took a bite of the sweet, and was pleasantly surprised.

"Ah...Orange..." Her shoulders visibly relaxed as she took another bite of it. Did people know she liked oranges? She should maybe tell people at some point? She didn't get much time to enjoy the treat though, as a shadow from overhead indicated Ria was making her way towards the announcement area.

"A-ah, uhm, if you don't mind!" Taking Mis' offer, Ceri climbed onto her back and up onto her shoulders, and soon she had a pleasant view of the entire area and could easily make out both Ria and master Delsin. She quieted herself as the announcement began, nervously holding onto the collar of her robe as she hoped it wouldn't be anything too difficult as she listened with rapt attention, continuing to eat the treat in her hands.

A qualifying stage where she'd be placed in a team, told to take a S-class mission, and then participate in a Proving stage that seemed to consist of a fight of some sort. Okay...if that was it, then it wasn't so bad. She could handle a mission easily enough. I-it couldn't be that much more difficult than what she was used to doing. The fight after though...oooh, she might end up fighting someone from Golems hand - o-or even someone from her own guild! She liked the idea of that even less! What if she had to fight Mis, Saeko, Cyril or...

She took a deep breath, shaking her head. Right right. Useless thoughts. Focus on the positives. Like the fact she wouldn't have to really do anything with Golems Hand in the qualifying stage. For now, at least.

It was then she realized she spilled some of the Creme Brulee on Mis's head while she wasn't paying attention.

"...Ah, u-uhm. Mis you've...got...something in your hair..."

As Dreadlin is about to head back to civilization alongside old Pan, Eloise voiced her concerns over the monsters that had shown up as she tries to catch up.

"Waaaaait! Do you even know where you're going?! And what if the monsters come back?"

The lizardman paused briefly before turning to the little girl with a confident grin.

"Monstas?" he asks jokingly before looking around comedically, "Wot monstas?"

And with that, he simply continued walking.

---

Within what felt to be several hours had passed before Dreadlin finally reached Luna Crescente's town square. He was tired and needed a place to rest after all that traveling on foot. He could've easily transformed into some flying creature to fly his way back... if only had such a creature in his archival possession. If only had he caught that Wyvern back by the lake, he definitely would've achieved it. What's worse, he seems to have lost sight of Pan, whom separated either out of his own will or he got lost. Considering how unpredictable the old geezer can be, it's almost impossible to consider which was true.

But alas, the lizardmen arrived just in time, as the guild leaders of both Harpy's Wing and Golem's hand began to announce the S-Class trials. Already it became clear that this event was going to be different from all the others... with a CO-OP of both guilds? He wasn't that keen on working alongside the opposing guild, but if that's what it takes, then he might as well do it. There's also a Proving stage, the main stage, and then the tournament stage, three major parts in total. Looks like he has to assemble a team.

But the question is... with whom?

Taking to Cyril's suggestion Saeko ordered one of them interested to see the suppoosed random taste that they are supposedly known for. Knowing that in the end should she get a bad flavor that it would show she cautiously took a bite out of it. Chewing the food definately left a experience she wouldn't be forgetting it tasted like sweet cream and what she could only describe as a fruit taste. It certainly wasn't the worst taste but the flavor was certainly overpowering. This was certainly something as she in a rush purchased a drink to wash down the taste it was way to overpowering for her. As she started to cough from drinking so fast the offending food still in her hands as she patted her chest to get things in control. With that done she gave a small glare at Cyril though in all honestly all fault layed on herself as she pouted somewhat cutely. Before finally speaking up "All of this is well good but shouldn't we hurry up?"

A heavy sigh escaped Jack as he carried a drunk Damian on his shoulder. With a sour frown he marched on towards the announcements while grumbling at his companion. “Damn light weights, damn Boss,” he mumbled as he remembered Delsin giving him the task of looking after Damian, seeing as how he was the one who got him drunk. He glanced over to Damian and scoffed. “You really need to practice on your drinking man,” he chuckled dryly.

Damian was slinging most of his weight upon the poor guy who was tasked with being his supervisor. When Jack would Damian laughed, when Jack chuckled he chuckled. At least the young lad was having a blast while under the influence. As the two made their way over to the announcement Damian would holler and wave on random passerbyers. Some gave positive responses while others on the more negative side.

“Hey Jack, something had been bothering me…why the hell is everyone breaking their necks over this event. What is the point of being S-class?” He said slinging his head back and letting his feet drag. At this point Jack was carrying the boys dead weight.

Jacks frown grew slightly as he had to put more effort in carrying the drunken bastard, but it wasn’t all that bad really, it was just annoying. He shrugged as he thought of his question. “Guess people wanna get better jobs, or maybe they just want to prove their strength,” he smirked slightly. “I’m just hoping I get a chance to join in on the fun, some strong people are gonna be there,” he chuckled with his fighters fire sparking a bit.

“Who do you have your eyes on for fighting exactly, your crazy if you wanna go against Vega. His magic gives off an ominous feeling and his attitude does not make him any less dangero-.” He stopped right there mid sentence before picking up his head.

“You better not lay a finger on Alexandria or I'll have to hurtcha.” Damian said chuckling with Jack, thought he meant it. That was when Damian's stomach began growling rather loud, Jack was close enough to the boy to feel a small vibration. The dumbass drank alcohol on an empty stomach, “Hey Jack, can we get some chicken wings...please?” The boy pleaded for the food like a small child.

Jack groaned with annoyance before turning in the direction of the nearest place that sold wings. “I know a good place,” he mumbled with a sigh. This was a pain looking after him, but food and more beer sounds go by now. They would just have to be late to the announcements. Soon they reached a small establishment and took their seats. Jack had to help Damian into his like a child before ordering two orders of wings and four beers for himself.

Damian leaned back in his chair, his head was pounding. As he heard footsteps walk by, the boy opened his eyes and turned his head. Damian faced a rather attractive waitress, the boy tugged on the back of her shirt. “Can I have some hot water and a spoon as well...please pretty lady.” After finishing his request the boy slumped back into his chair and awaited for the wings to arrive.

Once the food arrived it sat for a before lingering into Damian's nostrils. His nose twitched slightly before he roared back to life. “How come you didn't tell me the food was here” the boy grabbed a chicken wing devouring it whole and spitting out the bones. The boy then grabbed another wing and repeated the same process cleaning the bone. “These are good Jack, where'd you find a place like this” he said with his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. Damian was about done with his wings by the team his hot water and spoon came out, he felt a little bit better though surely after making this next concoction he would clear up in a hour or two.

“Like I was saying, who are you looking to fight in the trials?” He asked as he reached into his back pocket and placed a pouch on the table.

Jack chugged one of his beers and leaned back in his seat, thinking who he wanted to fight. After a long silence he smiled and held up a finger. “Everyone!” he admitted with an honest grin. “Think about it, fighting all of them at once would be the ultimate challenge! It’d be like a kid in a candy shop,” he chuckled. “Though if I had to choose I’d say I would want to fight Alexandria, she seems like a fun time,” he said before returning to his drink.

Damian pretended not these the last part of what Jack said for a moment. The boy pulled out a small seed from the pouch and clenched it firmly. “Oh is that so Jack? After I said you better not” Soon a green aura could be seen around the boy. At first I seemed like a threat but soon you could see the aura flowing into the seed in the boys hand. Upon opening his palm you could see a small plant with leaves. Damian picked off the leaves before walking over to a nearby flower pot and placing the plant. The boy then pulled out a small pestle and mortar to grind up the leaves.

“Regular green tea is no good for such a case though magical tea is another question.” The boy said as he grounded up the tea leaves and placed them into the water. The boy picked up the cup of hot water and slid the plate from under it out before putting it on top of the cup to contain the heat. He decided to let it sit for a little.

“I'm serious Jack, I won't hold back against you” Damian said folding his arms, “If you harm her beautiful face I am not liable for what happens next”

Jack raised an eyebrow and laughed. “That’s what I’ve been wanting! Seriously if it takes planting my foot in a girls ass for you to actually try then so be it!” he laughed and gave him a grin. “Not using your full potential is a waste and I’m getting sick of you doing it,” he said before drinking his beer. “Make not only you look weak, but the guild,” he finished as he shook his head.

The boy frowned at Jack's last sentence, “Just because I don’t pick a fight and exercise my abilities for selfish desires makes me weak? Self restraint is a strength that you lack.” he said with a small grin. Though Jack was criticizing the boy the effects of the drink were still there. He just smiled like an idiot “Besides, it would be unfair if it was required of me to fight at my full potential.” Soon the tea was done and the boys face lit up. Damian took off the plate and began stirring the tea around, the water turning into a nice green flavor. “Maybe against someone like Vega I’d give it a shot, but you…” Damian eyed the man down as he sipped his tea. Usually he wouldn’t purposely get a rise out of Jack but Damian wasn’t the one calling the shots today.

A grin spread across Jacks face as he leaned forward in his seat. He rested his head win his right palm and held up his left hand that began to become covered in tendrils of shadows. A hungry look was clear in his eyes as his fire began to grow every second and his grin turned into a thrilled smile. Was he going to finally get a proper fight for the day? The thought simply threw fuel onto his growing fire. “Your bark is decent, but is your bite any better?” he asked with a chuckle before making fist with his left hand and causing his entire arm to be enveloped in a coat of shadows.

Damian placed his tea down, the effects of it already beginning to bring relief. “Harm her and you’ll find out the full extent of my wrath. I know you like to play rough and that's a no go with me." Damian’s reacted to Jack with a magic aura of his own as he stood up to face the man. Damian did have no doubt that she could hold her own in a battle, her swordsmanship was unmatched in this town. Damian was still a bit light on his feet but good enough to stand on his own. Shadow magic was his specialty and he was no amateur with it. The boy just smiled back at Jack, “Now lets finish our food we are disturbing the other customers. Besides we need to head to the meeting before master Delsin has our heads.” Damian released his aura and took another sip of his tea with a happy grin, “He’d have our necks if we destroyed a shop on a day like this.”

Jack frowned with disappointment as his fire began to dull and his magic dimmed. He sighed and leaned back in his seat before taking a bite out of his wing. “Geez, it’s annoying when I see people like you. Good soul with plenty of power, but you don’t use it for its proper use for some crappy reason,” he said before swallowing and shaking his head. “Whatever, finish up and let’s go. I don’t want another damn punishment from the boss, this one was sad enough,” he complained as he tossed his wing back onto his plate. His mood was now even more sour thanks to this kid getting him pumped for a fight and just blowing him off like he was nothing. It pissed Jack off, but he decided that chugging a few more drinks will keep him steady until Delsin wasn’t on his case anymore.

Damian just put his hands in his pockets, “Thanks for lunch buddy” he said with a cheeky grin. Jack will be in a sour mood for the drinks should keep him tamed. “I’ll make it up to you later Jack, I never forget a favor.” Soon the two made it just in time to get to the directions for this years trials. “You said you weren’t all interested this year in the trials but even though... I still want to see how rigorous they might be.” Delsin began explaining the qualifying stage, the guild members had to form into teams this year to complete a task. This somewhat relieved the young boy, he could just piggyback on someone else's shoulders and watch safely at the given tasks. One problem was the selected leaders for each group. Being Vega from his own guild, just hearing him being a leader spew negative thoughts. Vega’s skills are admirable but his leadership was questionable. The only kind of leadership that he displayed is frightening others into compliance. The other name he was familiar with was dreadlin, the towns lizardman. He was rather nice though Damian was not entirely sure if he would pick him up for a mission because of his title. It was more likely to get on a team with Vega more so.

“I am guessing your going to team up with Vega huh? I want a word with Delsin before we set off to find that guy. I need a clearer explanation on what perks an S-Class wizard receives”

Delsin breathed a sigh of relief as he and Ria finished their announcements to various levels of excitement and applause. There seemed to be a few discontents from all quarters who were displeased with this turn of events, but the majority of both guilds, as well as the townsfolk, all seemed to be on board with the idea of the joint S-Class trials, and the extra festival days that would accompany the announcement.

Wandering down the steps of the platform with Ria, he exchanged a couple of brief words with her about meeting up later to discuss further actions, before she was swept away by a tide of Harpies all pestering her with questions and comments about the coming trials. Watching her apologetically wave at him as she disappeared off into the crowd, Delsin waved back and then moved on to further business. He'd said that he wanted Vega to collect his own team members, but there was more than one layabout and solitary individual in Golem's Hand, and Delsin knew well that most of the other potential teams would be getting near to capacity even now, what with the number of people who were seeking to advance to the S-Class from his guild. His plan, therefore, was to get these floating members of his guild and hopefully get them interested in joining a team for the trials. One way or another, if enough people were interested in the trials, Vega would essentially have to become responsible for a sizable team if he still wanted to participate. What could possibly go wrong...

Speaking of solitary Golems, Delsin was broken from his train of thought by the sight of one of his guild members doing a handstand with an exceptionally odd expression on her face. Exceptionally odd was, of course, a very common description for Kage, and so hardly surprising to Delsin if he was being honest. Walking up to her, Delsin knelt down so he was closer to her eye level before speaking.

"...I'd tell you all the blood is rushing to your face right now, but with your mask I honestly can't tell. I'm not even going to ask why you're like this either, I just hope you heard the announcement from down there. With your recent success in the field by yourself, and on reasonably well paying jobs no less, I would be expecting that you'll be entering the S-Class trials. I think you'll appreciate the extra autonomy and the better lodgings in the S-Class only areas, given your...esoteric nature."

Standing, Delsin lingered a moment, observing his odd guildmember for a moment before heading on into the crowd. The path carried him naturally back toward the guildhall, before he ran into some familiar faces. Jack had clearly taken his instructions to heart, and could be seen in conversation with his unfortunate drunk victim. Crossing through the crowd to meet them, Delsin started by addressing Jack.

"Well well, looks like you can be trusted to be responsible after all when the need arises after all. I'm impressed you've got him acting so sober to be honest. That aside, I assume both of you layabouts will be entering the trials as well? One of you will be in it for the challenge and the drinking money, and the other will be in it for the comfort of the S-Class lodgings and the freedom to be a professional layabout on the money you'd make on the S-Class jobs. Would that be about right?"

Delsin winked conspiratorially at Damian after this before continuing with a grin,

"I hear the ladies are pretty keen on the vaunted title of S-Class too, just between you and I."

---

Mis mused. She mused long and hard about Ria's announcement. Working with the Golems? She was all for reconciliation between the guilds, and had forever been one of the loudest voices calling for an improvement of relations between the feuding guilds, but this seemed like a big leap. There were still many in both guilds who harbored strong negative feelings toward their opposing guildmembers, whether from scraps and fights, or derisive gossip and the like. When she'd heard earlier that the guilds would be having a joint event, she hadn't even considered the idea that there might actually be Golems introduced into her team. One way or another, she would have to keep her team as a group so they could keep working together. Dreadlin would be their best bet, since barely anyone was particularly close to him and also running in this trial.

As she was formulating a plan of action, Mis felt a cold sensation on her head, followed by a quiet comment from Ceri.

"...Ah, u-uhm. Mis you've...got...something in your hair..."

Summoning a small floating mirror just above her head, Mis looked up to see Ceri, a mostly-eaten creme brulee, a partially spilled creme brulee, and a modestly sheepish face. Mis pouted up at her grumpily before pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiping up the spilled desert with it.

"Goodness gracious, is this the thanks I get for all my good works? You can carry me next time for that stunt! Also you have to feed me some of your food as punishment; let it be a lesson to you~"

The spillage somewhat sorted, Illedrith cast around to see if she could find who she was looking for. It didn't take long, as her guild's well-known lizardman not only stood out from the crowd in a spectacular fashion, but also just naturally had a small pocket of space around him from the townsfolk subconciously not straying all too close to him. Some habits die hard.

"Alright Ceri, hold on. The rest of you, come with me, we're off to find ourselves a team!"

With that, Illedrith was off, weaving through the crowd as quickly as she could, leaving a path of rattled passerbys in her wake as she made a beeline for her target. When she got within twenty meters she called out to him as she closed the distance.

"Drreeeeeaaaaadlliiiinnnnn!!!!"

Sliding to a halt in front of the enormous lizardman, Illedrith looked up at him and grinned.

"I hear you're in need of some teammates! Let me present to you a wondrous offer. At least four team members for the price of none! What a great deal! You won't get this sort of offer again, let me tell you."

Alexandria sipped at her tea daintily as she relaxed a bit. The sweet drink was relieving to her throat, even though she hadn't been using her shouts for a while. Hefting the small cup to her lips again Alexandria took a last sip before rising from the bench she had been sitting on. Teacup and saucer in hand Alexandria walked back over to the merchant she had gotten it from and returned it with a polite thanks and a bit of extra jewels to keep him in business. With a smile, Alexandria turned and left. Her metallic heels clicked softly on the stonework as she walked. It wasn't long before she noticed a commotion in the crowds as people parted to make way for a hulking lizardman. Alexandria didn't feel the typical twinge of panic flow through her body when she saw him. Alexandria could recognize one of their most notable guildmates easily.

Alexandria walked calmly over towards Dreadlin. She had heard Illedrith call his name and wasn't surprised when she was found present in Dreadlin's company. The presence of Ceri atop Illedrith's shoulders was also not unexpected. The two were strong friends and could frequently be found in one another's company. It had spawned a few rumors, but nothing too serious. Alexandria cleared her throat and pushed gently into the small circle that Dreadlin's presence had created. Speaking, Alexandria gave a slight wave in greeting to her guildmates. "Greetings, Dreadlin. Hello again, Illedrith and Ceri. I couldn't help but notice the commotion and hear you shouting. I figured that since I was done relaxing I would go and join with the group of guildmates that we have running about. I am pleased that I was able to find you all without too much trouble."

Alexandria paused for a moment to allow them to make their own comments or to absorb her words a bit. Before too long passed, she continued. "The announcement was interesting. I figure it'll be risky to take a job like that. Even if it was downgraded to be below S rank. I don't know who I'll invite to a team with. If I can't find anyone I might actually back out of the trials. I'm brave, but not foolish enough to take on an S class job by myself."

With that, Alexandria was finished talking. Taking a few steps closer to the group, Alexandria brought her legs together and stood up perfectly straight before kicking her toes outward and bringing her heels together. Finally, she crossed her arms behind her back and clasped her hands together as she had done before when she and Illedrith were chatting close to the guild. Her maid training always found a way to shine through in some form. Mostly it was through her affection for being prim and proper in stance when she was with a group of people. It was a long ingrained habit that probably wouldn't find itself dismissed easily. Though it did help with guild reputation when Alexandria was acting as a diplomat. Many of the cross people she had to speak to were defused by their initial impression of Alexandria's prim and proper movements. It was really quite something.

With nothing more to say, Alexandria waited for Illedrith, Ceri or Dreadlin to speak.

@Lord Sawsaw2@Valor@Lmpkio

---

"A-ah...uhm okay?" Ceri was fine with sharing. It was good after all, and sharing was good. Keeping it all to herself would have just been selfish. Mis didn't give her enough time to actually do it though. "H-hold on...?" The small girl began panicking just a bit. Hold on? What did she mean by hold on? She couldn't possibly mean something like....

Oh

Oh dear.

"Eep!" Ceri squealed a bit as she was jerked forward, Mis not giving her a moment to get down as she bolted through the crowds, weaving through them as they went to find Dreadlin. She found something to hold on to alright, but that meant she had to drop the sweet lest she fall off. Thankfully it wasn't a long trip as fast as Mis was, and it wasn't entirely enjoyable either. After the initial shock wore off she found herself giggling lightly until Mis came to a screeching halt in front of the lizard man.

"Oof-!" The rather sudden stop almost caused Ceri to stumble off, but she managed to catch herself before she fell face first to the ground in a rather ungraceful manner. "H-hi Dreadlin..." She greeted the lizard, hopping off of Mis and back onto the ground, wobbling slightly as Alexandria approached, giving her a small nod of recognition. They wanted to team up with him, then? Well, that was fine. She did like him, even if he was a little scary. For the most part though, she remained silent. She'd stick with Mis, so she didn't have too much to add.

Dreadlin seemed to be a little out of luck when trying to partner up with somebody. Either the people he had in mind already had partners or simply outright ignored him for... well, being an ugly and scary lizardman (or so it seems acording to him). Even after his heroic duties during the old guild battles, does the racial stigma still carry on in some form or another. He was still figuring out who to search for until he heard a familiar voice call out to him from afar. Turning quickly around with his head perking up instinctively, he suddenly sees Illedrith coming towards him. And she wasn't alone, as Dreadlin can notice two other characters escorting her. Why they were the shy, yet charming, Ceri and the bold and sternful Alexandria coming to greet him. The lizardman waves at them with a toothy grin as they halt right in front of him. Are they here to partner up with him or...?

"Aye laddies! What can I do fer yall?" Dreadlin asks wonderingly towards them.

Illedrith smiles as she introduces her limited time offer.

"I hear you're in need of some teammates! Let me present to you a wondrous offer. At least four team members for the price of none! What a great deal! You won't get this sort of offer again, let me tell you."

Dreadlin knew he couldn't pass this deal on, not in a million years. He either stands with the charming laddies or be forever alone as a team of one. He chuckles at the offer as he gives a thumbs up.

"Sounds like one Robin Hood ov a deal ter me! Sign me up laddies!" he answers acceptingly.

He then notices Ceri shyingly saying hellow to him as she gets off from the ground. The lizardmen gives a friendly smile as he waves back with his scaly hand.

"Ello Ceri darling!" he answers calmly with a wink, "Good to see ya bloomin' today."

He then looks at Alexandria who had just remarked her own statement on the matters at hand. Dreadlin gave her another wink of assurance.

"Well ya found da right group ter team up wiv, Alexandria!" he mentions confidently "Lets win dis game, shall we?"

*Dreadlin has now joined Illedrith's party!*

As she held herself there, suspensed between the great azure abyss of the ground and the emerald ocean of the sky, Kage became aware of a familiar sensation. It was a bit like having a stuffy nose, but the pressure was spread out more. She gradually became aware of how dizzy she felt. Then she began to see things and hear things. For example, she saw Delsin wander over to her and crouch down. Then she heared him start talking. She blinked at him in silence. Then he left.

Well that was strange.

Kage let her mind submit to the collectivly agreed on experience called reality once more. She fell backwards and stared up at what was now the sky again. What had he said to her again? Esoteric? What was that? Was it edible? Kage was pretty sure it wasn’t an insult. The poor man seemed to be trying to encourage her, though she didn’t feel very encouraged.

What was the point in communicating if you failed to make the other party understand what you meant?

“Ess...oh...ter...ick.” She told the tree next to her. It didn’t respond. Poor thing. It couldn’t communicate either.

These...S class trials seemed to be something important. Maybe she should take part? Its not like she had anything better to do. There was her search, but she had no new leads as of yet, and wandering around randomly hadn’t been working. She longed to be out there still searching. But it was a big world. Searching for one person in it was like...well...

Kage wished it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. At least she would know where the haystack was, and that said haystack actually had a needle in it. Oh and the needles generally don’t move and don’t resemble the hay.

Bah! She knew this. Why was she going over this again for the two hundred and twenty-seventh time? (She counted.)

Still, there were other ways to look. Maybe if...

Kage got to her feet. There was a gentle breeze blowing. The wind felt cool on her face. The wind? Oh. Somewhere along the way, her mask had slipped. She bent down and picked it up. Regarding it with a serious expression, she pointed a stern finger at it. “Don’t slip.” She admonished it. Then she pulled it on. She took a moment to straighten the rest of her apparel too, which was in a puzzling state of disarray.

Now she had to find a team to join. So the rules said. She was sure she could handle anything they could throw at her by herself, but others might need some help and she was nothing, if not helpful. Who to grace with her presence? She didn’t have any strong feelings toward or against any of the names on the list, so she quickly decided that she would join with the first leader she saw. That seemed faster and easier then weighing pros against cons and whatnot.

Well, it was progress for him with the cinnamon bun!... he guessed. Cyrils lips curved up with glee as the young lady and the beautiful mirror knight procured some of the delicacy. Of course, in the process, he stuck a now clenched fist to his face, pressing the thumb against his lip as he rubbed it back and forth in anticipation. Would she enjoy it, would she not? The man stood listlessly there as the girl took a singular bite. This was like a good thriller that kept him on the edge, like The Woman with the Fairy Tattoo.

Patiently, he crooked his head to the side by a tinge as he heard her murmur something about orange... and from what he could base on what he could make of her face, she seemed genuinely pleased. That small amount of pressure faded away as his smile grew even further, shining some pearly whites as he triumphantly moved his hand from his lips to his hips.

"I knew you'd love it," he announced, brushing his hair to the side as he continued shining a smile at the small girl. Letting his arm fall from his face, he stopped it as soon as it fell parallel to his chest and snapped. "Hmm, maybe I should grab some t'share with suuh, huh," his sentence came to a stuttering stop as Sae quickly rushed away, grabbing a drink as she chugged it down. Weird, these things usually weren't spicy from what he knew...

"Uh Saeko, you oh... kay," Cyril spoke with a bit of concern, his smile falling away as he approach the girl as she pounded her chest before she began glaring at Cyril and pouted... from the way she reacted, maybe she couldn't handle the taste or something? Scratch that off his list of sharing with one of the girls as he brandished a cheeky little smile, holding up a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it.

From what he presumed, Sae had a sweetness overload and was now projecting the rest of that sweetness onto him through a rather adorable looking pout... "Attack my weak point whydontcha?" He had no witty remarks, no words to say, nothing crossing his mind that the moment. Turning away, he pretended not to look, making that weak-spot even more glaringly obvious as he snuck a few peeks every few seconds.

"... you choose whatcha want next time Sae, my treat," he shrugged in defeat, turning back to face the group with his usual trademarked smile, save that it might of been faltering a bit.

... of course, time was running short as Mis and Saeko voiced, so maybe after the announcement he could do that.

In the few seconds that had passed, their fearless Mis-tifying leader had them all gather up, Cyril swiftly coming to attention as he kept his visage pinned solely on her. Of course, at the mention of Mis wanting her to carry some stuff in return for a reward, Cyril tilted his head quizzically and let his smile falter just a smidgen.

Cyril wasn't exactly daft over what she was trying to pull... but the problem therein lied that it worked.

"Suuuuure, that sounds delightful,~" he playfully said, sporting an impish grin as he straightened himself out and procured the items. While he probably would never swing one of these things around, they weren't too difficult to carry on their own. However, as he received the items, he leaned forward with a twinkle in his eyes and whispered to Illedrith.

"And since you offered, I'll go with the sweetest thing to date and choose you,~" he spoke in a sing-song voice, giggling a little as he backed away with the items in tow. A devilish simper and a wink, he huffed his chest up as he carried the items... only to start pouting mere seconds later.

"Cyril, if you're going to be difficult about it, you won't get anything at all, so hurry up and choose before they melt," she exclaimed, chuckling gently at his admirable attempt.

Thumbing his nose at a random one, the flirt shook his head, chuckling softly to himself with a weak smile. Once Mis turned away, Cyril's smile began to vanish, replaced by a discreet, dispirited frown. Slowly following behind the ladies, he came to an abrupt stop in tandem with the group. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard to peek over and get a glimpse at to podium Del was on... with Ria landing in the meantime.

The way he reacted to her landing was priceless to him, bringing up his spirits just a tad as he softly laughed to himself. He could tell the guy was flustered by what he saw before gently smiling to himself. "Some things will never change..."

But still, it was time to get this show on the road. From what he noticed due to his... natural advantage, most familiar faces congregated on one side with the Golem's forming on another. There were a few stragglers amongst the crowd, whether it was one or a few more Harpy's wedged between the rival guild members, or the other way around. Regardless, the tension may of seemed to be dissipated, the malicious rivalry was still there.

Standing at attention, he took in everything the guild masters spoke about, finding the whole qualifying stage and proving stage to be... quite interesting. While the latter was rather basic with the whole fighting, what truly interested him was the former. Cyril's features sharpened, his ears perking up. Everyone would be taking on an S-Class job if they wanted to even have to qualify.

Of course, what made this even more interesting was the fact that this was a joint function, meaning Golem's and Harpy's could form a team together... yeah, this was going to be chaotic, but probably not work as intended... possibly. Regardless, the hornets nest was being stirred up and he saw it on the few faces he could make out.

Guess that meant only one thing. Gather as many Harpy's as they could, possibly some Golem's if they weren't too keen on being jerks, and they would have more than enough people to go on a mission. For all intents and purposes, anyone catching a glimpse his way would see him intensely staring at the back of Saeko's head as the cogs began grinding in his head...

... of course, before he managed to go any further, he realized that his sundae he chose was melting rather quickly. Bending his head down, he took one bite out of the ice cream, scarfing down a huge chunk rather inelegantly. He hoped no one saw that...

Before Cyril could go in for round two, he noticed Ceri dropped a bit of the desert onto Mis' hair, causing Cyril to stifle a rather audible snicker. He kept to himself as she cleaned herself up, finishing off the rest of the sundae in one fell swoop of a bite, causing him to shiver, his teeth chattering a bit. Yeah, that's what he got for trying to be quick with the ice cream... or what was left of it as a puddle.

With that said, Cyril went from getting a brain-freeze to... being confused with a brain-freeze over Mis' comment over getting themselves a team. Before he could respond, those two were off the the races with a squealing little girl on top of Mis...

... he was certain that was the loudest Ceri ever was.

"Good grief," he muttered loudly to no one in particular, beaming as he lightly shook his head. His eyes traced the way the hooded girl on top of her trusty mount speeding through the crowd. Well, at least it wouldn't be too hard to follow them...

... but in on the other hand, he could try to look for a job for them; Mis and Ceri seemed to have the whole squad thing figured out since they were standing directly in front of Dreadlin. Decisions, decisions...

"... so Sae, since Mis is busy recruitin' Dreadlin, wanna cash in on the offer I made ya earlier while grabbin' some members for our group," he quizzed up with a wink and a nod towards the stands.

Damian was still a little tipsy, arm in arm with Jack his babysitter. He just stood there smiling like a idiot as he waiting for Delsin to approach the two. As he addressed Jack sounding surprised that the rough guy could actually be responsible, the young lad gave a chuckle in response to this.

"Who would've guessed" he said under his breath, the thought of who was so close to his slipping his mind. Surely this would cause some kind of face or glare from his guild mate. W

"One of you will be in it for the challenge and the drinking money" When these words came out of Delsin's mouth, Damian scrunched his eyebrow and gave a confused luck. Damian shook his head, he was never, EVER, going to drink again. He didn't understand why Jack took such a love for it. Not being in complete control of his actions was rather annoying, he felt as if there was someone playing with him like a puppet. Everything had a much larger influence on himself whether it was words or actions, they displayed an even larger effect on the boy than usual.

"I hear the ladies are pretty keen on the vaunted title of S-Class too, just between you and I."

A prime example of larger influence on the poor boy, Damian's heart skipped a beat and the boy was slightly speechless. The mathematics behind it made perfect sense.

"Master, I know what you are trying doing... and I like it" he said with a hearty smile.

"One more thing though before we are off to get 'him'." the last word coming off his tongue with a bit of venom turning his head slightly towards Jack as he referred to Vega. Surely Vega was at the ceremony, Delsin would have the boys neck if he skipped it. Though it was unlikely that he would be close to the center of the square. Damian would have at least tensed up a bit with the weird vibe him and his magic gives off as well as the reaction of some of the towns people. The best clue on his wearabouts was that he was at least in town square and the awkward space in the crowd in the corner of the area that had formed when the annoucnement began gave the boy a good idea. Turning in that direction Damian could see the sadistic guy posted, nodding his head at guy who he struggles to call his guildmate. He didn't want to cause the guy to wait too long as the man was very impatient.

With the next sentence he was about to spill, his expression and tone was much more pressing on the matter of S-class.
"With access to much more challenging missions I am going to assume this also comes with access to classified information,
Yes or no?"

@Lord Sawsaw2@Sho Minazuki@Joker892

Delsin smiled as he watched a very plain and very entertaining train of thought make its way across Damian's face as he was talking to him. From the evident distaste at the mention of more drinking, all the way through to an optimistic enlightenment about his chances increasing if he became an S-Class. Hardly one for subtlety this one, Delsin imagined, though the booze would certainly have had something to do with it.

"One more thing though before we are off to get 'him'. With access to much more challenging missions I am going to assume this also comes with access to classified information, Yes or No?"

"Many of the S-Class missions themselves are classified information, let alone the contents of the information dossiers you get when you sign onto one. You do, of course, have full access to these missions on becoming an S-Class. Additionally, you are eligible to take on more responsibilities in the guild, and in the wider mage community. Depending on your talents, this could lead you to more classified information, yes. Was there something in particular you were wanting to hunt down, or was it simply a matter of interest?"

Delsin looked over to Jack before continuing

"Goes without saying that you're expected to be consistently proving yourself worthy of the title mind you. It's not a task for just your everyday schmuck. Glad to see at least one stepping up for it, though I imagine both of you will end up going for it."

---

"Sounds like one Robin Hood ov a deal ter me! Sign me up laddies!"

Illedrith laughed along with her new teammate. He was certainly a jovial type, and generally a pleasure to be around. She was looking forward to having him along with their regular group. Or... all being a part of his new irregular group? She wasn't quite sure how the team was going to work out in terms of dynamics, but as a Harpy team, she was sure that common sense and teamwork would prevail in the end, it was the way they had been trained after all. Turning to her side, she nodded to the other group applicant, Alexandria. It would be good to have her on side for the job to come. A reliable fighter who well complimented Mis' front line combat style; it would be interesting to see exactly how tight a ship they could run together. Add in the bulk of Dreadlin and it was certainly an intimidating lineup. Speaking of, Mis turned back to Dreadlin to let him know about the rest of the group.

"I take it you won't have any problems with Cyril and Saeko joining your team as well? They were just with us, but seem to have gotten temporarily lost. I'm sure they'll be over soon to talk to you about it, but surely that won't be an issue."

Interacting with: @Sho Minazuki

As Delsin explained the perks of an S-Clas mage, the young boy couldn't help but smile. You could see a good bit of hope pour into the kids soul as he listened to the mans words. Finally it was a start to avenging his family, with access to information he would be able to certaintly find who or what annihilated his village. Damian made a fist in his and started chuckling before responding.

"Thats all you had to say master, and yeah there is something we will have to talk about..." Damian began walking over in Vegas direction.

"After you make me an S-Class wizard this year"

Looks like this time around Damian will be in the game and not on the bleachers, as he approached his guildmate you could sense a different air around him.

"You don't seem to have gathered a squad together yet, so i'll make this short. Let me and Jack join your 'team'. Damain said putting his hands in his pockets and looking at Vega with a stoic face. "I won't be lounging around this time because I plan on becoming an S-Class wizard this year. If you still don't want me on your team that is fine, so what is the verdict?" he asked the guy infront of him.

Sure it was a longshot for him to ask Vega to pick him up on his team as he has never showcased his potential as the boy usually backdowns from any fight given as well as being a newcomer to the guild. Though with Jack,Vega, and himself, this team would have some serious fighting power and skill to handle whatever might get thrown at them.

@pkken

---

Vega when he began to start thinking often played with his knife, he could've just made any normal knife and it'd work with his magic just the same, but the form he crafted it into was more or less his own touch. A butterfly knife, he saw some rogue flicking around with it once and it seemed fun, and so it was. He leaned against the wall with an unapproachable aura about him, but even so it didn't stop one particular from approaching. The last person he wanted on his team because that positivity was frankly quite obnoxious, yet...

"Can it kid, not inter-... Hm?", he began speaking and turned his head as he did, and his fiddling knife stopped as he spun it into a sheathed state.

"Hooooooh? How unusual to see you so worked up", either he takes the rank seriously or... No, he's seen that look before. Revenge. He's seen it many times, but usually from someone who wanted revenge on him, in this case he could tell it wasn't aimed at him. There was some purpose to him rather than just slacking off and being friendly with whomever passed by. So this kid was hiding something hm? Maybe it'll be interesting.

"Hmph, alright then, saves me some of the work so fine by me", he accepted rather... Easily?

"But mark my words, we roll my way", what that style was, was anyone's guess, not many have seen him in action... But to summarize, his style was the job is going to get done. It didn't matter if they saw it coming or not, it gets done by force or guile, underhanded or not, if it works, it goes.

"Now then...", his face went from his snide sneer and into an unamused frown and disdain was written all over it. "We were told to over-register, which means we'll need one or two more people... So then... You guys ever hunted using traps before?" he inquired.

@Lord Sawsaw2

Jack looked to Delsin with a small frown. "Come on Boss, you already know I'm clear for this challenge. It's almost an insult to think I'm not of S-class material," he said with a fake look of sadness. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Besides, higher paying jobs mean more booze money!" he chuckled with a glint of excitement within his eyes. "Now then, might as well find a team that won't slow me down. Later Boss man!" Jack said as he parted ways from Delsin. As he scanned around for any potential partners he quickly spotted Damain speaking with Vega. He gave a sigh as he knew the two weren't a good combination, but shrugged it off and made his way over.

Jack clasped Damain left shoulder. "Hey there light weight," he chuckled and looked to Vega with a grin. "Vega, always sporting that friendly, inviting attitude I see," he joked as he crossed his arms. Vega was an ass, but he was a strong person and Jack respected that. Plus his sort of attitude was something Jack has dealt with in the past with others similar to Vega so it bothers him less then others. "So, you guys ready to crack some skulls? Hopefully we go up against some strong people, it'll make things less boring," he said with smirk.

@Sho Minazuki@pkken

@Savo

Saeko looked a bit of to the side as if contemplating the question she was asked which she was but in the end she already kenw the decision she would probably accept the offer and go with him. "If you will have me I'll follow since I have nary a thing to do at the moment." She said looking at Cyril she was sure that there was nothing else she had going but she was sure htis would probably be a better use of her time than just wandering without a goal in mind that much was for sure. "Shall we go than?" She asked once more looking at Cyril reading to go on wherever the wind took her for this journey.

Having made her decision, Kage glanced around.

And immediately picked out a huge form that towered above everyone else. She knew that shape. Well, she had decided to go with the first leader she saw.

Slipping like a shadow through the remaining people, Kage approached the behemoth. Or it may be more apt to say she became a shadow, for that is all anyone would have seen. The shade merged with his long, dark shadow, then a figured apeared to rise from it, cloaked in darkness and wearing a white mask, pale as death. She carefully lifted a cold, white, gloved hand, slowly slowly reaching up...

...To politely tap Dreadlin on the back.

She was rather looking forward to seeing him jump.

@Lmpkio

@Lord Sawsaw2 @Savo @Suku @Valor @Rune_Alchemist

Interacting with: @Joker892@Sho Minazuki

Damain folded his arms with a smirk as Vega accepted the two into the group though we had to do things his way.

"As long as we don't cause unnecessary mischief, I have no problem doing things your way"

On any other day this would be crazy talk surely, following one of the biggest troublemakers in Luna crescente would have usually led to no good. But the man had a different tone in his voice, it was much more cooperative. Enough to make the boy think that just maybe, Vega could be a decent leader. Damian was just going to run with this rare sighting as far as he could take it. As Jack approached calling him light weight, he let off a light chuckle.

"Whats up old drunk", Jack was already talking about fighting which was no surprise to him. "Things should be interesting as is with an S-Class mission, we will get our fair share of fun" he said reasurring his guildmate. That was when Vega asked if he knew how to hunt with traps. If Damian didn't know how to hunt, he certaintly would not be here today nor a chieftan in line of his non-existant tribe.

"I've been hunting since I was young. Bow, trap, spear, I can do them all if not better than a pro. What are you looking to capture exactly?" The boy said stretching his arms a bit, what could this man have in mind?