Tossed aside. Well, he wasn't really invested in the fight. What was the point? After all, it was just bragging rights, right? Muko stumbled about, a rather unmotivated stagger. "Oh, so we're doing magic? I figured fisty cuffs was enough." He raise a hand, black flames curling around his fingers, and vanishing. A block of thick ice sprung forth around his arm, almost like an over-sized gauntlet. In fact, it looked a bit silly. But that oversized block of ice was perfect for blocking swords, or in this particular case, the blade of a scythe.

Scythe struck ice, chipping a few inches in. Something like that scythe, perfect for attacking magic, was rather useless against the ice. Since it was the after result of the magic, and not the magic itself. Thus, in the motion in which the scythe became useless, Muko lunged forward. Black flames swarming around his arm, before a block of ice formed into another large fist. In short, Muko was aiming to give Vega a solid blow with a hand the size of a golden retriever.

To be honest, Muko didn't judge others much. He tried not to for various reasons. Mostly because first impressions were often times wrong. But, Vega was the kind of person you couldn't help but form opinions on. He had been there on the day Vega had been captured by the guild. In particular, he had been asked to stand back, and let others deal with it. And yet, on that day, as he had sat back, and watched, he felt a kind of rivalry with that man. Somebody who did his own thing. Without seeking love. A man who filled his void with his own feelings, instead of words of others. Muko didn't get that, but he wasn't about to let such a difference stand between him, and Vega.

It seemed that a fight was underway.

Soundtrack: 7 Hells

---

As Muko went in for a strike, the look in Vega's eyes flared as he caught the strike, the scythe disappearing quickly as his swinging arm covered briefly with his magic to prevent the effects of Muko's ice from affecting him. For a brief moment he locked his gaze with Muko's, it was more driven now, that's more like it. The blow was hard, but it could most certainly be worse, that Void Ice was dangerous without any protection, but thankfully to Vega, it was just like normal ice.

"Well look who decided to wake up", he taunted. The next blow would come from his other arm, the same thing too, however with the distance he was forced to slide back from due to the previous strike, he had more options than to just block it. His right leg erupted violently with his black magic as he kicked up the dirt of the guild hall, causing a large blast of his magic to erupt in front of him in a large spread burst, hands in his pockets. The blast sounding like a shotgun had far more force than his scythe would ever have. If it didn't destroy that ice gauntlet, it would at least stop Muko's momentum, but given it's properties combined with it's kinetic force increasing with input, it didn't seem likely that gauntlet would survive. As his leg was on the downswing he'd take his right hand out and form a chain and sickle, which he already began swinging around, ready to send it out like a bladed boomerang at even a moment's notice.

It seemed Muko was getting more into it now, and that was far better in Vega's opinion. It's weird, most everyone when they start fighting try to restrain him, and most of the time that doesn't work out well for them and he taunts them for it. In this case, this guy here goes all out right away, those ice gauntlets could put lesser mages into the ground. There's no middle ground, it's low effort, or all effort. Did he like it? Nah, definitely not, it didn't feel like he was being true to himself, and those that lie to their true nature, pretending they're better than others just because they have a little more pisses him off, but in this case Muko... Likely doesn't know his own nature well enough. As a result, he didn't like him, but nor does he hate him.

He had more thoughts to grind about everyone else, but that'll have to wait. A Dragon Slayer with the full intent on a fight was never an opponent to slow down against.

---

Glory watched as Muko and Vega were going to blows with one another. Part of her wanted to jump down and intervene and put a stop to the fight. Another part of her merely shrugged at the notion. Glory's ever distant emotions wanted her to put a stop to the fight before fractions were formed and cracks made in their "family" here at the guild. Glory's logic, on the other hand, told her that if she let the two merely fight it out they might actually stop fighting for a while. Glory gave another sigh, unsure of which to believe. Reclining slightly in her chair, Glory felt the warmth wash over her briefly. She hadn't been cold in the first place, but she figured it would be nice for those that weren't like her.

Glory took this moment to reflect upon her state of being, since the difference between her and the others was once again brought up in obvious clarity. Raising one of her arms, Glory gazed upon the palm of her opened hand, taking in the minute details of the hardened metal. Her gaze wandered around her hand for a moment, observing the features of her fingers before trailing down to the thick metal plating that covered her forearm. Glory sighed to herself, before one of her more human thoughts crept into her mind. "Where has the time gone?"

The soft thud of approaching footsteps caused Glory to lower her arm and resume her neutral pose quickly. Lorn materialized from the staircase and made his approach. Glory pondered if he wanted something, since he had chosen to meander over to where she had sat. For a while, he sat in silence. This caused Glory to ponder if he merely wanted to be close to another guild member, but she also knew that Lorn was seeing someone, wasn't he? Glory had heard the whispers of him and his girlfriend. Had something happened and now Lorn, someone heavily invested in his emotions, needed someone else to attach to?

"Glory... Who within our guild do you care for the most? ...And why?"

An interesting question but, for once, Glory had anticipated it and didn't need a long silence to produce an answer. "I don't really care about one person over another in particular. It can be distracting to have those thoughts while in a mission or otherwise out on the field."

Glory considered her answer satisfactory. Though Lorn could possibly try and argue it. It was a classic case of cold logic versus hot emotions, which never ended particularly well. Thankfully, the argument didn't have time to brew. Emerging from elsewhere on the balcony was their guildmaster, Kukan Teki. Glory gave a slight nod in greeting as he approached, and remained relaxed as Guildmaster Teki used his Frozen Space spell. Glory listened to Guildmaster Teki's speech, along with everyone else. Even as an S-class mage, and a unique one at that, Glory couldn't move even her robotic limbs. Such was the power of the guildmaster, and why Teki held that position.

When Guildmaster Teki released the spell, Glory took a moment to catch her balance once again. It was always a bit unusual to be frozen in space for a moment and then released. As Guildmaster Teki turned to them, Glory remained silent. When Guildmaster Teki mentioned new jobs being posted, Glory breathed a sigh of relief before making an attempt at humor in order to lighten The Guildmaster's mood. "Well, perhaps with new jobs posted we'll see less brawls. Boredom breeds a lot of things for those with nothing to do but knock heads." Glory didn't really care if the joke would work well or not, it was a pretty poor one all things considered, but at least she made the effort. Mentally moving on in the conversation, Glory nodded with a little more vigor this time before speaking again. "I'll take a look at the job board and see if anything needs my attention. I wouldn't want to take a job from the lower rank members."

With that, Glory gave a slight bow to The Guildmaster before making her way to the jobs board.

Damian let out a sigh of relief as Sara took care of the frigid weather inside of the guild hall, despite the cold not bothering much he was much more of a warm sunny day guy. The wizard let out a small grin at the sight of the celestial spirit, Fornax, who released a wave of heat to melt all the ice inside the guild before disappearing. With the departure of Fornax, Sara had turned to Damian, giving him a pleasant greeting while also pouring him a cup of alchohol. The wizard replied with an equally pleasant greeting of his own, before taking a swing of alchohol.

“I’m holding up pretty good, I just came in see what the commotion was, kinda wish I didn’t”

Damian downed the alcohol in one go before turning back to face Sara who awaited his response with a warm grin. He never really got the chance to really get to know her, it’s not like he would mind it though. Next to the Mis’s, Sara had to be one of the nicest people in the guild and Damian did find her personality rather inviting.

As he was about to ask how she was doing, before a wave of energy that caused the boy to jitter while he watched color fade from the room. A grin was plastered on his face, an expression opposite of Sara’s, Damian took great enjoyment out of seeing new magic, especially Master Kukan’s arc of space magic. Damian watched as he broke up the fight almost effortlessly while also lecturing everyone though most of it was directed at Muko and Vega. Once he was done with his speech, he released his magic that held everyone in the guild hall captivated.

_”idiots”

That wasn’t all that Master Kukan has to say, he also came to place some new jobs up on the job board which was always nice, it’s been a while since Damian had took up any jobs so he might take a look to see if anything interests him. The boy turned back to Sara who asked if he would like to join her on a job followed by a nice very warm smile that was hard to say no to.

The boy placed his mug on the table before getting up from his stool to”Well when you smile at me like that, how can I possibly say no?” The wizard beckoned towards Sara as he made his way to the job board, ”Lets go see what’s available!”

@Lord Sawsaw2

---

_"...o-oh..." Ceri pressed her hands together as Mis didn't hear her. Understandable. She couldn't bring herself to speak up. Obviously Mis couldn't hear her. The small mage didn't hold anything against her. It was her own fault for not being able to speak up. Urgh. The demon reached for another strawberry, the flavor having a slightly less sweet taste in her mouth this time as Mis carried on roughhousing with the rest of the guild mates. Meh...really, why was she feeling bad? The human obviously was too busy wrapped up in her own thoughts and activities to help. Pathetic. Selfish...

That's what she was telling herself anyways.

She reached for another strawberry, but before she could bring it to her lips her entire body froze in place. Ceri completely froze, absolutely terrified. This was...the guild masters magic, wasn't it? She knew it well, but even so she couldn't help it. Being restrained like this, being unable to do anything. Utterly helpless - it was not a nice feeling despite whatever it was the guild master was saying. Once it was over with, Ceri lost her grip on the strawberry, causing it to fall to the ground.

The small mage gave a pained breath as she leaned forward, wobbling in her seat.

"Urgh..." Damn it...even if she didn't want to feel terrified, she couldn't help it. Even if the Guild master was an ally, she couldn't help but to feel utterly terrified. Why was she always so weak? She should be stronger than this, right? Ceri closed the box of strawberries, having lost her appetite. She needed to be alone right now. Nothing seemed to be going right today at all.

She hopped from her seat, forgetting the strawberries.

"Uhm...bye...Mis! I'll uhm, be in the Library..."

Flavia watched Lorn go, only feeling worse. "You're wrong." She whispered to the empty air. "I have no light. I never had any 'light'. No magic. No strength." She looked down at the book in her hand. Strange. It was blurry. "I'm weak. Just a screwup. I've always been a screwup." She gazed lifelessly over the books and bits of paper filled with wonderous magic that she couldn't grasp. All motivation gone, evaporated like mist before the sun.

What was the point? How many years has it been? How many days how many hours had she spent, pouring every ounce of herself into learning and mastering the art of magic that came so easily to so many others? Only for her 'light' to slip away. But, this was her fate, after all. Her destiny. It has been since before she was born.

She let the book slip from her fingers. It landed with a muted thud. She was tired. So tired. With a careless sweep of her arm, she scattered the fragments of her research. It didn't matter anyway. She was too tired. She crossed her arms and laid her head down. A nap, then.

An Escape.

---

Just as the wooden mug touched the lizardman's lips, Dreadlin found himself unable to pour the drink into his mouth. No matter just how hard he tried, he couldn't muster the power to drink the bitter brew. His entire body - save only for his eyes - had been suddenly compromised of movement. And not only that, he finds the world around him become devoid of color, as it was sucked up by some invisible force. Yet he already knew what was going on, as he finds himself looking at a very displeased Guildmaster Kukan storming into the guildhall.

Dreadlin was never really was much of a troublemaker, despite occasionally getting into ferocious brawls from time to time, but even so he took those words to heart. He listened closely to his speech regarding a multitude of current events before leaving. Once he left, the spell was broken, and Dreadlin accidentally dropped his mug onto the floor.

"Bloody 'ell." he grumbles before proceeding to excuse himself from the able. With nothing else to do, he might as well take a gander at what quests are available and see which look tantalizing to him.

---

Vega was the last to be frozen by the Guild Master's magic, his cloak and weapons disappearing as that magic simply overpowered his own, though it did afford him just a few moments to... Be frozen in a way where he's flipping everyone off. All this really did was make the Guild Master sigh briefly. In any case, as the events transpired, Vega could feel the proverbial spears and swords skewering him as each complaint was put to bear. A very significant chunk of these were... Probably his doing, but he didn't care about that. The jobs were still done, maybe not to full satisfaction but he gets it done.

Soon as that was over he as normal was called to his office, along with Muko too, likely for the fight earlier. Which was getting good until the Guild Master came along. In any case, new jobs on the board too... Well looks like it won't be right away, so at least he has time to pick up a good job before someone else could. He dusted himself off and walked over to the board to see what was there.

"Oh yeah Muko... Know what, nevermind, just get outta my sight", what was he going to say? Well even he wasn't so sure. Kukan the Guild Master ruined the mood completely, so there was no point in continuing further.

---

There really was no point in arguing with an idiot.

They would infinitely beat him with experience.

If the point was a bullet, it would have soared past Vega without a second thought. It mattered little to Vali who started the fight; heck, a brawl started in the guild almost every day, but it was the more powerful mages' responsibility to end them. To those who have more power, more was expected of them. The woman relaxing and conversing with Victoria, another of the top dogs, was a living testament to that responsibility. While the other top mages desired to just observe for entertainment or, worse, join in the destruction of the guild, Mis genuinely tries her best to put a stop to it. The rule on avoiding brawls was there for a reason: to reduce guild expenses with the constant replacement of resources. Emeralds were hard to come by in times of need. For now, the guild had more than enough to sustain them through a fortnight's worth of brawls, but there was only so much oaken tables you could break before they become loose board trestles with termites gnawing at them.

If anything, Vali didn't want Master Kukan to have to worry about the expenses of his guild house. The man was already working hard as it is, and at the very least, he wanted the master to return home with a clean and organized home. Bonding over fights was a good thing, Vali had no qualms about it, but they had to follow the rules. These legal bindings served as the wall separating the guild and the darkness which swirled in the hearts of the darker troupes whose wars against the Magic Council burned ever so brightly even until today. He would be damned before allowing this family to fall into chaos and anarchy.

His thoughts were interrupted although supported when Master Kukan himself took the reins and ended the fight with but a show of strength from his space-time magic. Immediately, Vali felt his entire body freeze with unnatural energy. It was similar to how one tried to run away from the monsters in their nightmares, but desperately feeling their limbs unwilling to cooperate. The unnerving weights seemingly pulling their limbs down always sent a shiver down the sniper's spine. The master himself seemed busy, and spared just a few words for them, mostly towards Vega and frosty over there.

There was no point in dawdling any longer in this tumultuous scene. In any case, he should probably wait until the sharks feasted on the good ones. As always.

"Thanks, Mis," Vali turned to the knight as he took a swig and downed it. "Though, I'll have to take some jobs just to replace the bullets I lost today. Sooner or later, I'd have to make my own bullets. See you, around, yeah?"

The sniper hoisted his rifle on his shoulder before ascending the stairs. The statement he said with Mis was true, though. The ammunition he bought from Valiant almost everyday siphoned a good sixty to seventy percent of his earnings. Crunching the numbers, by learning how to make his own bullets, Vali theorized that he could potentially save a thousand emeralds a week which would go to his apartment. After all, his cuckoo clock was now a weird sounding avian from hell, and he was frankly getting tired of being woken up by a bird injected with too much testosterone. Not to mention his wooden boards creaked to his steps or breathing. Or, existence. He planned to study bullet smithing and creation, and he had been doing this for a month now. Whenever things began to settle down after a brawl, he retreated back to the library to study the science of the bullet creation for a good portion of the hour.

Thus, as he reached the sanctum of knowledge (or, as Vali liked to call it, Anti-Vega Barrier), his sharp ears twitched at the sound of books, papers, and tools hitting the floor or tossing in the air. There were only a few people who regularly visited the library, and from the time he spent here, he could already piece who it was.

A gentle hand pushed the door leading to the library, seeing notes strewn about the carpeted floor. The stream of discarded research led like a breadcrumb trail to a certain girl resting her head on her arms as her back bent at the table. Flavia.

She was one of the constant denizens of this place, and in the time that Vali spent here studying, he only had a few successful conversations with her. The girl was absurdly timid and shy, but by the looks of things, she was quite the opposite. The sniper bent to pick up one of the scattered parchments, crouching as he scrutinized the topic before his orbs widened in surprise.

The Study of Advanced Photokinesis by past wizard-saint Pos Emon. The Anatomy of Magical Locuses by chairman Bora Yalis of the Magic Council. Photopropulsion and Enhanced Barrier Studies by wizard engineer Shivan.

"The hell," Vali grimaced, realizing that these were advanced texts meant, supposedly, for A or even S-class mages. When the sniper was studying for the Spider Bullet, he had to focus on the element of light and he encountered these researches on his way to completion. He didn't even read the entire thing. The complexity of the language and terms used confused the former bandit, and he settled for just a rope to help him move around instead of his intended piercing light shot.

One look at the exhausted girl, and the marksman knew that she was pushing herself the most out of everyone in the guild. A C-rank, she was, but, perhaps, her heart proved stronger than Muko. Maybe, she wasn't shy or timid all the time.

Maybe, she just remained strong for far too long.

Valishin knew exactly how that felt like.

Silently, he gathered the materials and the books she let go of before putting them on the space opposite her. Then, he took out a magical quill, a set of parchments, and his reading glasses from his bag. With a quiet sigh, he sat opposite of Flavia before unfurling the scrolls and opening the books she researched on. He didn't really know if she was soundly asleep, but he would try to help her. He saw himself in her when he was nothing more but a glorified poacher.

Putting on his glasses, Vali went to work as he jotted down the important things and notes from the complicated texts that he could comprehend. Based on these studies, he figured that she may be going to improve her barrier capabilities. When Vali first came to the guild, he also made the library his home where he studied his craft more and more. He was acquainted with almost all of the books and scrolls here, and as such, he listed an outline of a series of books and researches he recommended for her to read.

The sound of his quill scratching at the parchment served as a gentle melody in the library, and as his auburn eyes caught sight of his favorite bullet smithing text, he shook his head in favor of continuing to write notes for this exhausted young lady. Soon, the handmade notes began to pile on one another, the legalistic and formal language transformed into simple logic and ideas.

Vali was thankful that he had some friends like Mis, and that, he was able to interact outside of the library. However, he figured that Flavia may not be the same. It was no use to throw a fish into a new pond without a gentle hand; if the mage had dragged Vali back to the guild after that skirmish at the village, Vali would have flipped since he could not have adjusted quick enough. Instead, Valishin had to adjust slowly to society, to cast off his crimes and ways until the mask was no longer a shadow that he hid his face under. It was now a reminder, a constant sigil of vigilance.

It had to be a slow, gradual change. Like small waves forming into one big sweep.

To talk to her immediately like a friend or to toss her in the middle of the guild may be detrimental.

Thus, Vali decided to talk in her own language. A scholar's language, as it seemed. Starting off from where she could relate with him.

It was easy to say that the guild was a family, but if the only thing they knew how to do was to fight each other without adjusting to the needs of the least, the lost, and the last, then, what kind of family would they actually be? Guilds can easily be judged by the way they treat their weakest, and while Flavia was by no means weak, it went without saying that she did need help.

They weren't friends... yet. That much was certain. But, Vali was tired of ignoring others. He always spoke about the laws and the rules, and yet here he was, breaking the first rule of the guild: to treat each other like a family.

This was a small step, definitely, but it was progress nonetheless. There were a lot of weaker mages in their guild, and Vali decided he would be there for them. They may be slow like molasses, but he'd be there for them. Sticky with their molasses.

A guardian. An overwatch. A sentinel.

---

---

It's in the fields. The crop of wheat and rye. It had to be. The symptoms pointed to a type of fungal toxicosis. The entire crop would have been afflicted, and thus they had to burn it. A sad and dangerous process.

Mill Valley is known for the currents that blow year round that help turn the windmills and grind the rye, the wheat, the corn into meal for breads and other goods sold throughout the region. The mills stood still, lashed to prevent the needless grinding of its gears, and groaned against the winds. Far from the village, the diseased plants were set ablaze but a crowd had to be present to make sure that no ember spread in the wind to catch the other fields. Such a wild fire would devastate the whole valley, but the crop, the diseased yield had to be burned less it spread to the other farm plots. It always gave the sky a depressing gray black to it as the smoke billowed. It matched the mood of Mill Valley quite well.

In the village, a small collection of cabins and wooden houses, some homes, the church, the meeting house were turned into makeshift clinics. Volunteers both men and women with masks on their faces flitted between the beds and cots, seeing to the needs of the patients. The patients all shared the same symptoms. Fever, chills, bouts of delirium, cold sweats, and a whooping cough followed be accursed unsettling wheezing. Nearly four dozen of the three or so hundred people that made up the small farming village were in such a state. There was not much for the volunteers to do but change head rags, collect water, distribute blankets, and feed them hot stew with a brew that was more water than vegetables. Many in the village had fled, fearing they'd catch the cough.

The head doctor containing this outbreak is a member of the Apothecary House from the Kaelos Country. Rarely seen outside their country they have been known to be as hired retainers, just like every specialist that comes from the Caelondian Kingdoms and their odd culture of putting destined assigned roles before family. He claims to be hired by Lord Ferdinand to help the village in their plight and has seemed to work tirelessly to control the symptoms using the dwindling medicines and his rare healing magics. He has since become an individual of great status in the community and all volunteers look to him for guidance. He isn't the only newcomer to have come to the village though...

The Apothecary's days has been using magic on each patient, bringing about a day or two of recovery before falling back into sickness. Without the stolen shipment, there seems to be no recovery for anyone in this poor town. The request for aid has been sent, and the hope that it was accepted is all the town can latch onto in these dark times.

---

"Why do you wear that?" Marni asks the bird masked doctor as he puts away the foul tasting medicine back in his bag. The unfortunate girl has been in her room for a week, the youngest in town to catch the cough and thus Pox monitors her more frequently than the stronger adults. While shy at first, Pox's cheeriness and stories warmed to her.

Pox clipped his bag closed and cleaned his gloves with a rag. He tilted his beak up and began to explain. He made sure to always use his hands and arms to explain, letting his body be animated when his face couldn't be seen. "Somewhere, very very far away from here, there is a city of hats. Big hats, small hats, hats with bells on them, hats that look like boats, and hats that look like animals. Some folk have very tall hats, to let everyone know they are very important. Some folk have big puffy hats to let everyone know they are really good at cooking."

The girl looked confused, if interested. He didn't answer her question. "What's your hat mean?"

"The hats my family wears let everyone know that we really want to fly and we're really jealous of birds. It makes everyone laugh. And laughing makes them feel better. Didn't it make you laugh?"

"Not really. If anything it looked kind of scary when I saw it."

"Oh my goodness you're right! It is kind of scary." Pox immediately goes over to his bag on the side table and starts muttering to himself, scrambling for some things. He pulls out a small little kit of tiny jars with different colors and a mixing brush. "Maybe you can help me make it funnier."

"What are they?"

"Paint. You ever paint a picture before?"

"Yeah!"

Taking the brush and soaking it in a white paste he held it out to her, "Help me out."

And then Pox comforted the ailing child by painting his dark mask a plethora of terrible looking patterns and colors, holding up a mirror to comment. He felt a little better every time he made her laugh, but that immediately fell into the bottomless hole of guilt whenever the child felt a coughing fit fall upon her. I'm a monster. he thought.

---

Mis was somewhat surprised to actually make contact with Trixie with her tackle. She was well acquainted with her troublesome guildmate’s abilities, and knew she probably could have avoided the tackle if she’d been taking the situation seriously. Noting that her pilfered item, another bottle of the wine, had already been relinquished and was rolling across the floor, Mis gave Trix a glare before letting her free and getting to her feet. Grabbing the bottle off the ground and placing it back into the cart, Mis expanded the size of the mirror on top of the cart to protect it against any other thieving hands as she replied.

“And when that happens you’ll maybe deserve what you’ve made off with. Why don’t you go make yourself useful and make some money of your own rather than pawing at my stuff? I heard Kukan mention there were more jobs up.”

It was then that Mis heard Ceri jump down and take her leave from the situation. Well versed in the moods of her friend, and observing that she’d left her present of fresh strawberries on the bar, she had an inkling that something was wrong. This being the case, she called out to Ceri, since she wanted spend time with her anyway.

“Ceri, don’t head off just yet! Help me get these up to my room and then I’ll come with you!”

---

Glory watched as Sara took one of the jobs from the board. Seeing as there was only one left to take, Glory pulled it free. Reading over it Glory felt disheartened to learn that they would be searching for a cat, only for her mood to quickly swing the other way when she read that this was a rare cat that had been captured by a dark guild to be sold. The job suddenly seemed like a job worth doing rather than busywork. Glory turned from the jobs board and spotted Dreadlin approaching. What perfect timing, really. Glory held up the job posting and spoke to him rather bluntly. "Get patched up as you desire and gather what you must. We're going to go beat up a dark guild. Meet me outside when you're ready. Consider this favor one."

With that, Glory walked past the lizard man to return to the ledge she had been brooding on previously. Lorn was most likely still there. Glory prodded his shoulder firmly before holding up the posting again. "Lorn. We need to hunt someone's pet exceed. From what I understand your Heart Magic should be able to track it. Get ready and meet me outside. Dreadlin is coming too." With that said, Glory turned and left promptly. She didn't have time for further conversation since the job was quite time sensitive.

Glory walked down to the main guild hall of Dragon Heart before she located Victoria. Prodding her in the shoulder much the same as she had done with Lorn, Glory held up the mission posting before she largely repeated what she had said to Dreadlin. "Victoria. Get your gear together. I'm forming a party with Dreadlin and Lorn. We're going to beat up a dark guild. Meet us outside." Before Victoria could say anything, Glory was walking away once more. She didn't plan on waiting around for Victoria to answer. Their presence would determine the answer to Glory's statements. They would be outside or they would not be outside.

Glory didn't hesitate too much when it came to getting prepared. Arriving at her room in the guild promptly, Glory entered and grabbed a travel bag from a hook nearby. Glory set about packing it with a few spare clothes, though she doubted she would need them. Glory also packed a few high-density rations to keep up with her food intake needs, and additionally packed a map and camping supplies. With her travel bag now adequately filled Glory closed it and sealed it before slinging it over her shoulder. Glory would then promptly leave her room after taking a brief moment to look around for anything she obviously missed.

Glory walked quickly out of the guild hall and made her way towards a notable rock formation that was just outside of the guild entrance. It was close enough to be easily spotted by people leaving the guild, and it was also somewhere to sit so that Glory didn't have to stand around while she waited for Dreadlin, Lorn, and Victoria to make their appearance. Hopefully they wouldn't take long, as this mission was quite time sensitive. Dark Guilds, since they operated largely free of the restrictions placed on regular guilds, could move at a much faster pace than the red-tape covered regular guilds.

Now all Glory needed was a plan. Part of this plan was already in place: Use Lorn's Heart Magic to track the missing cat and then confront whoever or wherever that cat happened to be. Glory's other plan, as brutal as it was, would be to simply beat the tar out of the Dark Guild and hand them in to the authorities for judgement. Glory wouldn't mind tearing the guild hall itself down so that they didn't have anything to return to either.

If the cat had already been sold, Glory figured that they would still beat the tar out of the dark guild and hand them over, but before that they would most likely have to interrogate everyone to figure out who it got sold to and then start chasing the cat again until they found it again, then taking it back. This would likely be overly complicated, and it was excessively tempting to just give the job up if they found it had already been sold.

But this presented another problem: If they gave up the job, it would most likely bring a lot of negative rep to the guild, which would in turn bring their already low standing even lower, and thus add fuel to the fire of people trying to close the guild down. This was unacceptable in Glory's view. Especially with the speech given by The Guild Master not too long ago. They needed to find the missing cat and prove that they could still get things done, especially since it involved taking down a dark guild in the process. The boost to their reputation for taking down a dark guild would be quite welcome amid the consistent flood of complaints about excessive damage to everything.

Glory dismissed these excessive thoughts for now. Sinking too deep into a plan would bring downfall to their mission if they became too rigid in how they approached things. Glory took a moment to breathe and clear her mind while she waited for the three she had invited to show up. It would be fairly easy to spot Glory, as her large form made her presence upon the rocks distinct and obvious, not to mention that the sun glinted fairly brightly from her mechanical arms. Glory would be surprised if she wasn't seen.

---

---

Victoria had resumed drinking alone after all the excitement died down. She was happily humming to herself as she poured herself another drink from a bottle. Lost in a day dream about smithing a long halberd. She imagined how she would have to keep the forge hot while hammering the metal into shape. She imagined the smell of the hot steel rapidly cooling and the sound of her hammer rhythmically smashing the metal into shape. The heat of the fire could be felt against her skin or that could just be the alcohol enhancing her imagination. The entire bubble of the daydream suddenly and unceremoniously popped when Victoria was tapped on the shoulder. It was Glory, Gloria? No, Glory. Victoria tried to speak to give some kind of acknowledgement of Glory's request, but the only sound to come out was an embarrassing drunken hiccup.

Victoria waved over to the bartender and settled her debt to with him paying in full her tab. This includes the bottle she took during all the fighting. Rising to her feet, Victoria stumbled up the stairs to the small room she kept in the guild hall. She had a small cottage on the outskirts of town, but she liked having a spare room in the guild barracks so she could crash when she drinks too much. With difficulty she gets to her room and she begins gathering her stuff.

Victoria dressed in a red sleeveless leotard and knee high boots. She waved her hands and an illusion set of armor manifested over her cloths. Looking in a mirror, Victoria admired her craft. She looked like she had a solid steel breastplate but leather armor covering all her legs and arms. Best part, until she cast a reinforcement spell, the armor weight nothing. Grabbing a bag of supplies and a container of water, Victoria makes haste out the door to find Glory. She still stumbled moving first to the left and then shifting to stumble to the right. Coming out of the guild hall, Glory was not hard to spot. Victoria wanders half-drunk over to Glory. Victoria takes a swig of her water jug and sways as she stands.

---

As the indecisive lizardman stopped to look at which quest he wants to embark on, he'd hear a deep feminine voice call him to his right. As he turned to face the figure, he once again comes face to face with "Glory-O-Arms". He almost fainted in shock upon seeing her, thinking about how many more favors he'll have to do for her again. But it seems that metal-arms had something else she wanted.

"Get patched up as you desire and gather what you must. We're going to go beat up a dark guild. Meet me outside when you're ready. Consider this favor one."

Dreadlin stammered for a minute before regaining his composure and nodding rapidly to her as if he was in lizardman bootcamp.

"O-Oh! Yeh, sure, Glory-O! Jus' gimme' a peasin' hot minnit and I'll be 'ere!"

With that, the lizardman staggered back to his room as he began to prepare for the mission at hand. He doesn't need to take much with him, just maybe a canteen of water and some snacks like several handfuls of his favorite "Guva-Guva" berries (poisonous fruit to humans, although a favorite among lizardmen) and some 'Wyvern Jerky' for the road (the jerky isn't actually made from wyverns, just named that way due to it's spiciness). He'd quickly apply some special healing oil to his bruises and scratches as they sink into his scales, quickly reducing the red swelling within mere seconds. At this rate, he'll look good as new within the hour. And with that, he's ready to go.

As Dreadlin emerges back into the main hall, he instantly notices Victoria Pax, another S-Class member, alongside the towering Glory. It wouldn't be so hard to see a green, scaly lizardman from within the crowd either. Once he makes it towards the duo, he kindly greets Miss Pax with a nod.

"Oh 'ello there, Miss Paxie!" he greets her kindly, "Guessin' yer hoppin' along wit us as well, eh? And, er, are we happenin' to be waitin' for one more, yeh?"

Naturally he hadn't expected his ice creation to last long. In truth, as the scythe had begun to dissipate, he had brought his now freed hand forward. Both held in front of him, taking the sudden impact of the shotgun like kick. Ice scattering about and knocking battering against the tables and floor. And yet, Muko had expect that. While Vega's leg was still raised, his hands pointed downwards. Black flames began to spark, ready in that moment to fire out and engulf Vega's leg. With the intent to strip it clean of not just heat, but to completely ruin Vega's balance.

That didn't happen of course as the guild master arrived. Black flames slurping up the magic in the air, but Muko let them fade out, eventually freezing in place with his tongue sticking out, directly at the cocky mage slayer. As the Frozen Space came to an end, Muko's tongue went right back into his mouth. Black flames curling around his digits as he walked away from Vega. Clearly he had better things to do. Like...

Waiting for Vega to walk over to the bounty board, and then casually, and rather sneakily let a small wave of fire escape his fingers, and freeze the ground under Vega into a slippery ice patch. He didn't stick around long enough to see if Vega would actually slip or not. Either way, it'd make somebody laugh.

With that out of the way, Muko watched the others of the guild shuffle about, smiling when he could. Sure, he didn't completely destroy Vega, as he might have wished, but there was time for that later, of course. His hand eventually knocking on the door to the Guild Master's office. His hands reaching up to adjust his suit.

Waiting for the door to open. Must be some important assignment if it required both Muko and Vega.

---

As Vega walked towards the bounty board to take a peek, he felt a small chill in the air. A black wave erupted from his feet as he turned, the magic itself physically stripping away the ice, slipping his right hand out of his pocket, it seemed almost as if his scythe would form in his hand, but then he clenched it and dropped it, giving Muko a dirty look. Strange, given this kid wasn't the type to do that... Though he says kid, Muko was the senior here. He wasn't about to fight again though as after that last bout, with the Guild Master intervening, it just wasn't a good idea.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, you damn gloomy bastard, I'll be up after you in a minute", with that he turned and swung his hand up in dismissal to check the bounty board.

There was good pay, somewhat... But neither job appealed to him as to what to do. He would grab one, but he had to see the old man in his office. After around a minute he decided to just see what he wanted to talk to him about, get that out of the way first. With that he headed up towards the office, as expected Muko was already there, and he would step in after him.

---

The magical quill tapped softly on the table as Vali stacked the last of the handwritten notes on the growing pile before he stood up. Flavi still soundly slept, prompting the marksman to turn around to look at her one more time as he headed for the door. He couldn't help but let a smile curve his lips, finally realizing that this was the brotherhood that he should have aspired for a decade ago. A true family didn't ask for their own to murder another just to save their own skin. A true family didn't leave their weakest to the slaughter as those in the higher echelons watched on in apathy. He nodded his head at this realization, and soon he tightened the sling of his rifle before he left the library with steps as quiet as the calm before a storm.

As he arrived at the staircase, he noted that the guild had calmed down from its previous disarray. A good number of the members already stripped most of the job postings from the board, and Vali assumed that whatever he got would just be the runt of the litter in terms of requirements and reward. He dodged the roaming members who still busied themselves around the guild hall, and as he headed for the remaining postings, he heard a voice that piqued his interest: poor people, medicine, and near proximity. Those were three strikes that immediately alerted the repentant bandit as he turned his sights in the direction of the guild's resident Celestial Mage, Sara. She was one of the kinder members of Dragon Heart, and her kind, hazel eyes reflected the gentleness of her soul as she looked at anyone with equal respect. Unlike some others he could name, Sarah opted for the non-violent way to end her conflicts-- something that Vali admired greatly about the woman. In fact, he wasn't surprised to discover that she was the one suggesting the job posting to Damian and another girl by the name of Trixie.

When Vali saw the smaller, red-haired woman, a disappointed sigh escaped his lips. Trixie was definitely the opposite to Sara, and Vali could already sense that he would clash with this girl without a second thought. Her reputation for being rash, boisterous, and impulsive was known throughout the guild, and given enough power, she may have a chance at dethroning Vega. Seeing Sara offer the job to Trixie was almost enough to make the marksman walk away.

But, he had rent to pay, bullets to hoard, and a cuckoo clock to fix. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Hey, Sara," Vali called out as he sauntered over to the triad. "I heard that you're going for a job with sick, marginalized individuals." The sniper reached the trio before looking at the other two. "Sir Damian," Vali nodded to the A-ranked mage before doing the same with Trixie. "Trixie." Valishin turned his sight back to Sara before smiling at her. "I've always wanted to try developing my healing bullets, and I think I can help in trying to alleviate their sickness if I can improve my Guns Magic with them."

He had never worked with these people before, preferring to work alone since snipers could not afford too much companions since it would give their locations away. However, if this was just something as simple as helping afflicted peasants, then, he could make some leeway.

"I'd be happy to join you all in this quest. I've lived with the poor all my life, and I find it hard to resist their cries." Vali addressed the three. "I want to make their lives better."