Soul Art Online: Chapter 18: The Return Home (Patreon)

Soul Art Online

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Chapter 18: The Return Home

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- Arthas - 

We reached Llyne three days later, spending some time on the way on hunting.

“Man, I am tired. I will take a day off today.” Star said as we entered the gates of Llyne. The past three days were spent on hunting.

Both Rose and Star got to T4 on the way here. Star got the Swordsman class and Rose got the Warrior Class. Bina got her Mage Class too.

We had enough Skill Books for them to get a decent Skill Set. Bina was using Veena’s spare equipment while Suikazura-san had extra  equipment for Rose.

Apart from that the rest were getting close to their T5 Classes too. It’s just that the enemies on the way were just too weak for our team and so I only got one level.

I had more than enough swords for Star too so the equipment was not a problem for us. All that was left was for Star to level his Class to max level so he can select the T5 Class of his choice.

These levels however took us some time to grind.

Funny enough, by the time we reached Llyne, the Guild actually levelled up.

The new Guild level gave us one perk point which we decided to save. There was still the Power of Friendship Perk Level 3 with 15% Exp Gain Boost which needed three points. We had planned to get that first.

The second thing which happened was the number of members increasing to two hundred. With that all the members were added to the Guild.

“You head to the Guild then. I will show Suikazura-san and Whistler to the Inn.” Shiroe offered.

Normally we would have more room at the guild but we had offered those rooms to the girls we had rescued. They had no place to live and had offered to work for the Guild so we offered them the empty rooms.

“We need to buy a property for Guild Dorms. I am very sure people would easily pay a lot of money to stay there.” Star said.

“That’s a good idea.” I agreed. It could be another privilege our guild offers, attracting better players.

“Hmm. We can do that but we should consider developing your territory in Greenfrost with the money we have if you want to make an investment. That’s the place you can earn the best returns.” Veena offered.

“Develop territory?”

“Yes. You did get a territory, didn’t you? Do you know where that territory is in Greenfrost?”

“Well, it’s on the outskirts. Greenfrost is a province and I was given undeveloped land on its outskirts.”

“Hmm. We need to check the map. We were going to Greenfrost to sell our wares either way. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to check the area too. Not to mention, Greenfrost is a higher level area. We can even stay there and hunt.”

“Then we go there after a month. We have been away from the guild for a while and need to work things out.”

With that, we parted ways, with Star and Elaine taking Damon to the Guild to act as a gatekeeper.

Bina and Rose followed us to our house.

I opened the house and they followed me in.

“I guess we would need to clean everything before resting.” I said looking around.

We had been away for a while and it showed. Everything had a thin film of dust on it.

“I will get that done.” Bina offered, already in her maid mode.

“I-I will help out too.” Rose offered.

“Well, we can all lend a hand. It will get things done faster.” Veena said and Bina looked like she was about to deny when she added. “Moreover, I am dying to test my new magic… properly.”

“New Magic?”

“Yes. It’s a nifty Spell called Clean.” She snapped her finger and the dust on the couch disappeared immediately. “Very convenient and versatile.” Veena threw me a discreet wink.

Rose looked confused while I recalled the versatile use of the magic making me hard. Seriously, she never stops with her teasing.

We got to work and within half an hour, everything was cleaned.

“You two can stay in the other room. It’s mostly unused as Arthas and I mostly share a room. We can shift to a bigger house soon.” Veena offered. Bina nodded while Rose was slightly embarrassed at the reminder.

We were tired and it was already late evening by the time we were done so we took turns to take our baths and retired for the day.

_________________________________x_________________________________

“Is it usually like this?” Rose asked me as I watched the crowd surrounding our Guild Building to get an invite.

Last time many had been doubtful, not that I had made it any easy for them but this time, they have had the chance to see the effects of the Guild Perks and thus the crowd in front of us.

“It’s larger this time, not something unexpected though. Unfortunately for them, we already have people who had reserved their seats. These people will just have to reserve their seats and wait for the next Guild Update.”

Shiroe was taking care of the crowd with Elaine. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with them myself.

Normally this kind of situation would have caused fights to break out but I had already contacted the Knight Academy and they had increased the patrol in this area to prevent anyone from acting stupidly. And on top of that, we had our hammer in Damon, standing behind Shiroe and Elaine, glaring at anyone who tried to cause a ruckus. The guy was channelling all his inner hate towards the crowd and a T6 was not someone any of these people wanted to provoke.

It was the day after we had returned and the news of the Guild levelling up had spread almost immediately.

Safe to say, the Guild Building was surrounded within an hour so we had to announce that we would be recruiting people the next day.

None of us was in the mood to work after the whole ordeal we had been through.

“Well, no sense in wasting any time here. Let’s go. We need to check the place we are planning to buy. Will you be joining us?” I asked.

Veena was busy with work and Bina was helping her. Star was off to the Black Market with the new members to check for any information about T5 Class Change. So that only left Rose and me.

“Alright.” I had talked to Kenneth and asked him for any properties which were for sale and he pointed us to a few properties around the area.

We roamed around and checked the places and Rose made a note of everything.

She really is good as a secretary.

It was evening by the time we returned home where a strange sight greeted us.

Bina, in a maid uniform, was cooking while Veena was working on her medicine.

It was strange to me for two reasons. First, I was used to seeing Veena cooking and second… where did she get the maid uniform?

“Where did you get that maid uniform, Bina?” Fortunately Rose was also curious about the same thing.

“In Sabaody. I got it from one of the shops there.” She replied not turning back.

“You are both back. How did the search go?” Veena asked, noticing our presence.

“Quite fruitful. Rose made a list.” I signalled the girl who brought out the parchment and placed it on the table.

“We saw eight properties and five of them are buildings in good condition, two are abandoned and in bad condition. We will need to renovate the entire thing and the last place… well, people called it haunted.” She reported.

“I personally think we might have a quest in that house.” I added.

“Oh. And these are in the budget too. I think we can buy one of the buildings in good condition first and make it a dorm for our Guild Members. The money we get from that can be used to buy the abandoned property and slowly renovate it. As for the haunted building, while the possibility of it being a quest is high, we still don’t know what level of quest that is and how long it will take us to complete it. Delaying this project for long is just wasting time and money.”

“Hmm, I was thinking the same. In fact, we can use the monthly rent from the first building to renovate the second building over time. In a few months, the players would have enough money and level to move away from this town and we will lose the best time to earn.” I added.

“Exactly. We can finalise the deal tomorrow.”

“Hmm. How were things on your end?”

“Oh, a lot of pending work. Mira has been maintaining everything well but she is new and there is only so much she can do alone. Now with the new girls in the management, things will be progressing soon.”

“Good to see they are settling down well.”

“Oh, they are drowning themselves in work to get a resemblance of normalcy after what they have been through and we have several new projects to start. I was thinking of establishing a brand with our Guild’s name and using it to start a business chain. Shiroe and Elaine have specifically been looking for tailors and blacksmiths this time around to add to our guild so that we can use the new blueprints we got from Sabaody. We are also opening a shop to sell the Medicine and items we import from Sabaody.”

While we were talking, Shiroe and the rest returned too.

“Everything done on that side?” I asked as they took seats. “We are short of seats. Remind me to get some more chairs.” I realised as there was no place for me and Bina to sit by the end.

“Eh, we can manage.”

“So, how were things?”

“Oh they were annoying. They were paying up to five thousand gold coins to book the seat. Charging only two thousand was painful.” Shiroe said.

“It’s a matter of principle. We are not short on money so I’d rather not change our rules for just this much.”

“Well I understand and agree with that… didn’t make it any less painful. That was almost five hundred thousand to a million gold coins.”

Yeah… that was painful.

“Anyways, we got the members. I left ten slots for emergencies. Five hundred people booked for the next round even when I told them that we would only have three hundred more places open after the next update. We have a million and five hundred thousand gold coins including the first month’s guild charges and the reservation charges.”

…damn.

“Star.”

He pulled out several parchments from his inventory and placed them in front of us.

We checked the parchments while he explained on the side. “Rose can try Magic Warrior Class. It’s basically similar to the Magic Knight. Needs a Mage and Warrior. She can easily get the Mage by using the Class Change Card and keep working on her Warrior Class and directly change when she is a full level warrior.”

Rose looked at the information of the Class and was happy too.

“If it’s really like Magic Knight then it might even have higher classes. I think you should go for this first.”

“Yes. This is good.”

“We actually found something good for Veena too. A Pharmacist and Mage can actually unlock a rare Witch Class. It’s a T5 Class which can craft and also use curses and dark magic.”

“Oh… that does sound interesting.” She took a look at the Class and the skills it could offer and was actually considering it.

“Mage has a T5 Class called the Sorcerer which can be obtained after taking a test in the Magic Academy. I am going for that.” Shiroe had already decided on his path so we didn’t search other classes for him.

Bina decided to go for the same but instead of the Sorcerer option, she decided to go for the High Mage which was an alternative route of Sorcerer.

We also explained to them the plan about the Guild Dorms and the business plans which Veena was thinking of implementing.

“That sounds reasonable. We can get it done in the next two days while we scout the next field boss. Oh and you have to address the new Guild Members too.”

“Ughh… is that really necessary?”

“It is. The whole Guild runs on your face right now. We need to increase your brand value so that our products can be trusted more.” Veena explained.

“Sigh… okay. We can have a party for the new members and I will address them there.” I agreed.

And thus step by step, our plans formed.

We all had dinner and I won’t lie, Bina was a great cook… even better than Veena.

It was late at night when everyone left for their own residences.

_________________________________x_________________________________

I woke up between Veena’s breasts the next day… currently my favourite way to wake up.

That alone helped me look forward to the new day.

We got dressed up and left the room to find Bina already cooking in the kitchen while Rose was working on the accounts books from yesterday.

These two… when did they get up?

“Good Morning.” I greeted the two and decided to do something productive too.

I had gained several skills and each one of them was useful so I decided to take some time to level them up.

Observation, Armament and Soru could be levelled at the same time. I wanted to get to a decent enough level. It would ensure that I could hold my own against the boss monsters.

In doing so I noticed that the speed of the two Haki levelling up was far lower with normal practice than it was with a fight. In fact, the speed of training Observation Haki on my own was just abysmal.

Around an hour later, breakfast was ready and we sat down to eat.

Bina was actually standing on the side, serving us but not eating together.

Was she really going to do this maid stuff the whole time?

“Bina.” I called out to her.

“Yes. Do you need something?”

“Join us for breakfast.”

“It’s fine. I will have my breakfast after I am done serving.” She replied.

“We can serve ourselves. Join us. We are all friends here. No need to act as a maid.”

She paused for a moment and looked at me quietly.

The silence stretched more than I was comfortable with.

Finally it was Veena who broke the silence. “It’s fine, Arthas. Bina… she does this because she likes this, not because someone forces her. Let her do as she wants.”

“…oh.” At that point I didn’t know what I should say. So this woman had a maid fetish?

I mean the Lucifuge were made to serve the Lucifer House. Was it something hardwired in their DNA? I mean I remember Euclid also being a lackey to Rizevim so maybe it could. Who knows?

The silence was a bit awkward so I decided to concentrate on my food. “This is very good. You are a great cook, Bina.”

“Thank you, Master Arthas.”

…

I really didn’t know how to deal with her. It’s not like I didn’t have maids. In fact I even had a butler assigned to me as my parents were very busy. Still… there was something about her professionalism which made even Albert, my butler seem like a novice… which he would be considering how long she has actually been working as a maid.

Veena sensed my awkwardness and initiated another conversation. “How is your training going? You don’t look happy today.”

“Ah… yes. My skills are not growing fast enough by training alone. I think I need to fight more to level them.”

“Hmm, yes. Fighting is always better to learn. Actually, why don’t you try going to the Knight’s Academy? We need to get the bounty quest for the bosses too. Maybe you can try sparring with the Knights of Llyne? In fact, you can even try fighting with Damon. A T6 would be good enough to put pressure on you. And since it will be sparring, you won’t die either.”

“That… yes. Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you, Veena. I will talk to Kenneth and train with them.” Kenneth would obviously help out.

“Hmm, actually, you can take Rose with you too. She needs to get her skills levelled up as well.”

I looked at the girl who looked embarrassed to ask me and nodded. “Sure. I don’t see why not. She is a frontline fighter too. Maybe we can get to know each other and learn how to cooperate better.”

After breakfast, we left for work.

Veena and Bina went to buy the properties we had seen while Rose and I left for the Knight’s Academy.

Kenneth had been very helpful. In fact, the Knights often sparred against each other.

I was however a T5 and there were not many knights of that level. Kenneth himself was one and he himself accompanied me to a spar.

This was the first time I had fought a trained NPC of similar level and Kenneth was a Shield Knight, which meant his defence was rock solid.

I don’t want to brag but I was pretty sure my attacks could hurt any Tier 5 but Kenneth, the guy was tanking my attacks as if they were no one’s business.

Shield Knight had insane defence increase skills but the most annoying one was definitely the counter skills. They had a skill which could reflect damage from melee attacks and even melee skills. It meant one of my skills could be reflected if I went in carelessly and I could damage myself from a full powered attack of a Man Slayer.

Yeah, I didn’t want that.

Although, training with him did increase Armament Haki faster than before. Even the speed of Observation was faster than normal.

The man was T5 Level 36 while I was just T5 Level 13. He had twenty six levels on me but I made up for that with my passive skills and still had more stats than him and he was still keeping up with me with skill and experience alone.

The man showed me that having skills is not important. How to use them was the most important thing. He could make me doubt that he was going to use his counter skills whenever I tried to use my skills, making me stop and change my move, even giving him some chance to counter attack. He was a master of mind games and it was my first time fighting against such a person. I… didn’t like these kinds of opponents.

“That was a good spar. I haven’t had a chance to move like that in a while. Just how do you train, kid? I am pretty sure you will surpass me in no time. Maybe you should try sparring with the City Lord. He is a Lord Knight with skills far beyond mine. You would learn a lot.”

I suddenly remembered something and asked him the question which had been hounding my mind for a long time. “Say Kenneth. Doesn’t one have to be a Tier 6 to be made the Lord of the City? Then how is the City Lord one with just a T5 Class?”

“Well, there are more than one reasons for that. First you do realise that there are around eight hundred cities in our Kingdom, right. There are obviously not that many Tier 6 to fill up the spaces. That’s why if someone has the strength of a Sixth Tier and has made great contributions to the Kingdom, they can sometimes be granted the position of the City Lord. Our City Lord is one such individual.”

“Strength of a Sixth Tier?”

“Hmm. Not all classes are of the same level. The difference between a Lord Knight and Sword and Shield Knights is great. They are the masters of both sword and shield, true experts so a very High Level Lord Knight can sometimes rival even some T6 people with skills alone. There is also the matter of extra skills, equipment and martial arts learned by the person to make up for the gap.” He explained and I nodded in understanding.

“I see.”

“Well, it’s… not exactly a big secret but our lord is planning to sit for the assessment for the Grand Knight, a T6 Class.”

“Knights have advancements beyond Lord Knight?” I asked, curious.

“Well obviously. There is the T6 Grand Knight and T7 Imperial Knight, the ones who protect the King and serve as both his sword and shield. There are only about a dozen of them in the entire Kingdom.”

“What about the Holy Knights?”

“Oh, that’s more of a Church thing. The Church holds a significant amount of power in the Kingdom as well. Holy Knights are those who use Light or Holy Magic with their skills. There are also Magic Knights who use Magic with Swordsmanship. They can be upgraded to Mystic Knight.”

So Magic Knights are different. I had thought they were the predecessor class for Holy Knights.

I looked at him, slightly confused. “So aren’t these two paths better than just physical knights?”

The man didn’t look offended and instead laughed. “That depends on how you look at it. Light and Holy Magic can be used to heal and purify so it’s very useful against dark creatures. Holy Knights are the strongest against such foes. Magic on the other hand is extremely versatile making the Magic Knights the most versatile ones. But that doesn’t mean they are the strongest. While they have different skills, at the same time, their physical stats are lower than those of Grand Knights. Grand Knights can simply mow down the enemies with their superior strengths and speed so much so that if it’s just a fight between the three types of Knights… we almost always win.”

“If that’s the case then why don’t more people try becoming Grand Knights?”

“Who told you they don’t? Tell me, can you use a Butcher’s Knife for all your knife needs?”

“No.”

“Exactly. And just like a chef needs different types of knives, a Kingdom needs different types of knights too. Each has enemies they are very good against and thus have their own advantages and disadvantages.”

“Then how do we become a Grand Knight?” I asked.

“Oh, want to aim for that, do you? Well, I am sorry but I can’t help you there. We don’t know the requirements to become a Grand Knight except that you need to be a Lord Knight to even have the Class available. Also, since you are not a Lord Knight yet, let me tell you something which people don’t always tell others. You should never select a Shield or Sword Knight even if you have them available. You cannot level up your skills later and unlock Lord Knight again. Once you select any of these two, your chances of getting a Lord Knight is permanently cut off. I… kinda got stuck on the same thing.” He said, wincing slightly.

Damn… there are such things hidden in the game?

I am kinda glad I got Man Slayer when I did.

We talked for a while after which he sent some other Knights to spar against me. Safe to say I wrecked them all one-sidedly.

Rose also sparred with some of them and she was doing relatively well.

We left the Knight’s Academy and went back to the guild.

On the way, I started a conversation with Rose.

“That was quite good.You are really talented with the Spear. Have you learned how to use a spear before?” I asked

“Oh yes. It was in the Valkyrie Academy back at home…” She paused, probably by the thoughts of home.

I didn’t know her well enough so I didn’t know what to say here so I gave her some time before speaking again.

“There is an academy to train Valkyries? That sounds quite fantastical. I… am sorry if I am very curious. It’s just that all this is… quite new to me and I can’t help but be curious. You can obviously tell me if I ask something I shouldn't. I am not really familiar with what I can and cannot ask.” I smiled, embarrassedly.

“N-no. It’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”

“So, what else do they teach in the Valkyrie Academy?” I asked.

Rose started explaining and after a while we were having fun. She was quite enthusiastic when explaining things and by the end of it, I wasn’t even trying to make small talk and was actually enjoying learning about the world.

The novels had been so vague, concentrating more on boobs than on the grand world outside to explore.

By the time we reached home, she was in a much better mood than she had been in all the time I had known her.

When we reached the Guild, the rest of the group were already there.

They were having a break in the meeting room on the third floor.

“Arty, come on. We have cookies.” Star welcomed showing me a cookie before taking a bite.

This guy… he really had a big sweet tooth.

I rolled my eyes and took a seat beside him and took a cookie from the plate and took a bite. “Hmm, delicious”

“Right. Miss Bina is awesome. I could totally kiss her hands.” He praised making several others in the room laugh while the woman in question was stoic as always.

“How were things on your side?” I asked, looking at Veena.

“Everything went fine.” She summoned and returned me the Baron’s badge. They had used my Badge and identity as a noble to buy the properties under my name.

“The first property can be put to use with slight adjustments and we can have people staying there in a few days while the other one will take a bit more time. I bought it because it was dirt cheap and can be sold for a profit after renovation if we cannot use it. We will have space for around eighty people in the first building while one hundred and twenty can be occupied in the next building after all the renovations. In the meantime, we can take the names of the people who wish to move to the guild dorms.”

I nodded. “We will also need to arrange something for the food issue.”

“That has already been taken care of. There are some people with the Cook Class. They are mostly those who do not wish to fight anymore and are looking for ways to survive in this game. We have hired them as the guild staff to cook. This way, they can gain experience and also some funds to support themselves without having to fight anymore. I was planning to use the profits from the dorms to build a place for the kids who are stuck in the game. We didn’t have the means to help them before but now that we do, we should try our best.” She added.

“That’s… great. Buy another one of the abandoned properties and renovate it. That can be used as a Child Care Center. We can make an announcement about the dorms at the party tomorrow.” I then turned towards Star. Whistler and Star had gone to scout the boss we were planning to hunt. “How did your task go?”

“Oh, awesome. We found the location of the next boss and investigated it. We can launch an attack on it in a week.”

“So the tiger then.”

“Yes. Unless you want to face the Rhino again.” He smirked at the dirty look I gave him at the mention of the Rhino.

“Umm, what’s the deal with this Rhino? You all seem to have a story there.” Suikazura-san asked. “Is it too strong to kill?”

“Oh we killed it.” Star replied, to her question. “We just didn’t fight it.” He then went on to explain what we had done and that finally made them understand why I was so disgusted by the monster.

“I have seen Arthas fight… and that monster. Yeah. We are not ready for that, at least not yet.” She agreed.

“Well, a good thing we are going after the tiger, which in some ways is more troublesome. It’s far faster than the Rhino. It also can jump to the rear and attack the ones at the rear of the team. To fight it, we need to restrict its mobility or we wouldn’t survive.” Shiroe suggested. “I will make a plan of action tonight.”

“Well, I too found out some information about some T6 and T7 Classes.” I told them what Kenneth had told me.

“So you already qualify for a Magic Knight, don’t you?”

“Hmm. The strength of Grand Knight would suit my style more though.” Especially with the Haki buffs. “I will try raising the level of my swordsmanship and shield skills on the side for the Lord Knight promotion and prepare to become a Grand Knight. We don’t know any other suitable T6 Classes for me yet so this is the best I can think of.” And now it was the time this game started becoming more about the grind.

Each Class will take other Classes or high requirements to unlock and even more time to level up.

Then again, this is what MMO’s have always been about.

In all this, I have the advantage of getting rewards through references.

Going by the trend, if they have Goblin Slayer and Man Slayer then they might have other Slayer Classes as well.

Was there a Demon and Dragon Slayer?

I have tried quotes from those anime but they haven’t worked. Could it be that the Game Master hasn’t used them or is it just that I haven’t used them in a proper situation yet?

I haven’t given up and have been trying any and all references I could remember relentlessly at every opportunity I could. But that didn’t mean I stopped looking for other methods. If that doesn’t work out, I need to start working on higher Classes. The next bonus will mean 10% more experience for being the first T6 Class user. I cannot lose it.

“Hmm. By the way, what about the welcome party in the Guild?”

“We can have it tomorrow. I will ask some of my friends to help prepare for it. You can announce it in the Guild Chat and inform everyone about it.”

“Alright then.”

I posted the information about the welcoming party and within minutes the Guild Chat flooded with comments…

Everyone seemed excited about it.

Great then.

________________________________x__________________________________

“Good evening everyone. Some of you might already know me but for those who don’t, I am Arthas, the Guild Master of the Fairy Tail Guild.” I started as the crowd on the first floor calmed down.

“I know the last few months have been very stressful, even traumatic for most of us. We have lost things precious to us, our family, loved ones… our normal lives. But it’s because of this that we must cherish the good moments we can have here so as to not lose hope. Thus we have organised this party for everyone to help bring some joy to us and encourage us to work hard together to win this game.”

There was a bit of silence before someone clapped and then others joined the first person one after another.

“Can we…” Suddenly someone spoke, attracting the attention of the people.

I looked in the direction and it was a guy, around my age. He was wearing glasses and was actually looking comfortable with people staring at him. The ID name was Black Shooter.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Can we… really win this game? Can we get out after winning this?” He asked, hesitantly.

I looked at him and felt sorry. The guy wasn’t trying to cause trouble. If anything, he just wanted reassurance. He wanted to hear someone say this.

I stepped on the railing of the second floor and jumped down to the first floor and walked up to him.

He looked a bit scared so I put a hand on his shoulder. “No need to be afraid. What is your name?”

“I am… my name is Keith.”

“Keith… I won’t lie to you that I know everything. In fact I don’t. I don’t know if we can get out of this game by winning… but… I am willing to try. I am not going to sit here and accept defeat. As for beating the game… I truly believe that as long as all of us work together, as long as we truly give it our all, we can win… so don’t lose hope.”

He looked sad but nodded.

I thought of something and added. “The most difficult thing in this world is not to win this game…” I said, making him look up to me. Please work. Oh, please work. “The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live.”

Congratulations Traveller.

You have discovered another secret!

Traveller.

A Special Title given to those who complete the Hidden Quests, Man of Culture.

+18 to all stats.

+36% to Exp Gained.

Note: The Effect of the Title can be enhanced the more secrets the Traveller discovers in the world.

Reward: Monster Slayer Class Unlocked.

I bit my tongue to control the urge to laugh and stop it with just a smile. I don’t believe it. It worked.

It seriously worked. After trying so many quotes and acting like an idiot, this one was the one that worked.

Thank you, Buffy.

The guy nodded and the rest of the members encouraged him too. It was the start of a decent guild.

I took the time to get to know the members of the guild.

We had one hundred and ninety members as of now and it will only continue to grow in the future.

The members we have now, could go on to become the core of the guild in the future so knowing them was given.

I even took some time to talk to Gareth and his team who seemed far more friendly this time.

They have been working their asses off and the guy himself had reached T4 already and his teammates were getting there too. They had completed the most number of quests, just behind our group and contributed a lot to the levelling of the Guild so the decision of bringing them into the guild was not a mistake.

The meeting with Bina and Rose had made me realise something very important. There is only so much we can do by ourselves. Both Bina and Rose were very good players and yet they had been reduced to slaves because the other players in their town had not been on par with them.

We needed a group of strong players to face the World Quests which will be occuring in the coming days and that’s why holding a grudge over a trade would be short sighted. That’s why I had especially come to have a chat with Gareth.

As for Dwain… nah, fuck that guy.

At the end of the party, it was time for another announcement.

I clapped my hands and the crowd’s attention gathered towards me.

“I have another announcement to make on this day. We have noticed that most of the players in our guild are staying in the Inn and due to the rise in the number of players in the town, the Inns are charging more money than they used to charge previously. This is becoming a problem for the players who wish to save up money for the equipment and consumables.”

There were several nods of agreements and grumbling among the players for this reason. The game did become harder the more the players went forward.

“To solve this problem, our Guild has decided to open up dorms for the Guild members.” And just like that the crowd erupted in discussions once more. Several questions were thrown at me.

I raised a hand to calm them down.

“Let me finish. Most of you can get the answers by then.” The crowd was slightly placated and I continued. “Currently the charge of living in the Inn with food served is eighty gold coins per day. This amounts to two thousand and four hundred gold coins a month. We are offering the same for twelve hundred gold to two thousand gold coins a month depending on the room you choose. We will have room for eighty people in less than a week and for the rest in around two weeks. You can register for the places in the guild tomorrow morning.”

“We will be putting up a list with all the rules and queries on the guild board and you can read them from there.” Shiroe added too.

At this time, Veena stepped forward. “Apart from this, we are opening up shops with the Fairy Tail Guild’s name to sell the items made by our guild members. I would like to clear it out before anyone asks anything. You will not be forced to sell your items through the guild but you can do so if you desire. We will take a smaller cut than the ones taken by the Alchemist Guild for the sales. The details will be put up on the board too. But if someone has any questions, they can talk to Elaine, one of our Guild Officers.” She added.

“That brings me to the last announcement. Our Guild will have dedicated roles. I as the Guild Master will be at the top. Below me will be the Guild Administrators. Under them will be the Guild Officers who will manage the day to day affairs of the Guild, basically the staff of the Guild. Then comes the Veterans of the Guild, basically people who have been in the guild for a long time. Finally will be the new recruits. There will be privileges for Veterans which will be added later on. This is just a basic structure for now. We will expand more of this as time goes on. Thank you all for joining our Guild. Let’s all work together to make Fairy Tail, the best guild in the game.”

“Yeah!”

The crowd cheered.

The party ended a while later and we all left for our homes.

- Rossweisse -

She held her spear above her head to defend against the swipe from the tiger. The attack was heavy. Far heavier than she had been expecting as she was flung to the side from the impact and hit a rock.

They were out to hunt a T5 Boss, the Gray Striped Tiger.

They had gathered all the information they could about the tiger, which was not that much. It was not hard to understand why either.

Their group was the strongest in the town and probably the entire game right now. Other players wouldn’t even dream of confronting T5 Monsters let alone a T5 Boss.

As they fought, they realised that this tiger was no less troublesome than the Rhino which Arthas keeps complaining about.

In fact, she hadn’t seen him complaining about anything else. Too bad that none of the participants of that fight ever speak of what they did to defeat the Rhino. The only clue she had was the blanching of Arthas’ face whenever that topic was brought up… which was a big testament to something crazy happening.

Arthas apparently had muted emotions that improved over time but the effects were still there.

He didn’t easily show off his emotions, always tending to remain stoic. It reminded her of Bina in a way.

This tiger however, while not as sturdy as the Rhino, was equally troublesome. The first move it used was a Roar Skill which cast a strength and speed debuff on them, making it hard to deal with its already insane speed. Second, the longer they fought, the darker the stripes on the tiger became and the stronger its attacks.

And when the stripes became completely black, it let out the roar again, recasting the debuff on them.

The tiger didn’t stay in one place either and was always on the move, often jumping behind the lines to attack the ones at the back.

This made it harder to pin it down somewhere.

The solution they had thought for this was to create Walls of Earth or Ice in front of it whenever it was about to leap forward. Right now all three Mages in their group had the skill, Bina having learned it using a Skill Book.

Obviously the wall didn’t trap it. It just made it fail the leap and fall down on the ground, stunned for a while, a chance they exploited by raining their strongest skills on it.

The impact against the rock disoriented her slightly and the tiger didn’t miss this. It jumped on her and she tried to put her spear in front of her to defend or at least reduce the damage. But at that moment, a figure appeared in front of her.

Arthas raised his shield and faced the tiger’s attack. The clash between the two sent shockwaves around the area, blowing her hair. Arthas however didn’t move back and held his ground. His sword lit up with a golden light as he used a skill directly on the tiger’s leg, making it howl.

He then raised his hand and a ray of light fell on him and illuminated them both and she saw her health rise back to the green.

Rose also noticed the damage that attack had caused to the monster. It was almost equivalent to a dozen of her own skills… He really is the strongest player in the game.

All the previous times they had seen him fighting, it was against enemies of a lower level so she wasn’t able to feel just how strong he was.

She had seen him fight against Kenneth, the Knight Captain of Llyne and that battle was a draw but then again, Kenneth was over twenty levels higher than Arthas and even then he was lacking in strength and speed. He was only keeping up with experience, something which Arthas lacked due to only being self taught for several months.

Rose had rarely seen such talent even among the warriors of Valhalla. In fact, if he had been a warrior, he would most definitely be the top of his class. Then again, with his manners, he would never fit in with that rowdy bunch.

Suddenly several vines shot up from the ground and bound the tiger in its place. She quickly used this chance to get up and rejoin the fight.

One of her skills had become available again and she used the Focused Strike, on the Tiger’s eyes.

It howled and tried to sweep her away but the vines got in the way and Arthas was there, shielding her from another attack, this time pushing it back before jumping away.

The tiger stumbled and at the same time several blasts of magic landed on its legs, both injuring it and destroying the vines, causing more damage to it. Next up was Suikazura who jumped and hit the tiger once more in the eyes, making it roar in anger. Suikazura was normally such a sweet and calm person but when fighting, she completely changed. She reminded Rose of some of the older valkyries from Asgard.

In fact, everyone in the team were people who could make great warriors even by Asgard standards and that was saying something.

The tiger tried to jump away but this time it suddenly stumbled back.

“It’s injured. Go all out.” Shiroe shouted and they began attacking in earnest.

Finally, Arthas thrust his blade to the ground as his fist lit up, lightning gathering around it. A sound similar to thousands of birds chirping sounded as Arthas disappeared from his place and thrust his fist directly into the tiger’s head.

The beast collapsed with a final howl.

With that, all of them collapsed on their backs.

She had trained with some of the best of the warriors in Asgard to hunt down fierce magical beasts during her Academy days. This was like living it all over again.

Only this time, her teammates didn’t try to talk her down for being boring or a bookworm or not having a boyfriend or…

“Rose.” She heard Suikazura’s voice and looked up at the woman who wouldn’t have been odd even if she were to sit among the valkyries of Asgard looking at her worriedly.

“Huh?”

“Are you alright?”

“Oh… yes. I was just caught off guard by the strength of the attack.”

“That’s probably because its strength increased as the stripes got darker. After it roared, the strength reset back to the usual level. It’s an annoying boss.” Shiroe replied as he stepped forward and looked at Arthas. “Is that why you were tanking all its attacks with skills later on?”

“Yeah… I thought it was going to do some other super charged move so I tanked it with Limitless the first time.”

“Hmm… I will have to change our strategy more to accommodate it.”

“Anyways, let’s check the loot. This is the first kill of this boss. The experience gained was good. Let’s hope we get something good.” Star added.

They checked the loot and Rose found a Skill Book.

“It’s a Skill Book. Intimidating Roar.” She read out the description. “Reduces the attack and movement speed of the opponents. Is this the Tiger’s Skill?”

“Yeah. Sounds like that. We got the Rhino’s skill after the first kill too. I guess the chances of dropping those skills are the highest on the first kill.” Star said.

“Hmm, another Skill Book. Stored Power, increases attack the more the user is in battle up to a total of 5%. Resets after 30 seconds if the user doesn’t attack the opponent in that time.” Arthas said as he read the description. He thought for a moment and then threw the book towards her.

She caught it hurriedly and looked at him confused.

“This skill will suit you better.”

“I… thank you.”

“A pair of boots. Increases Jumping Power.” Star said as he picked up a piece of equipment.

“Give that to Suikazura-san.” Shiroe said. “It suits her fighting style.”

Rose agreed with it too. She often used leaps and jumps in her attacks.

They harvested the Tiger’s fur and teeth which were quest items and crafting materials and headed back towards their home.

Rose looked at them, talking and joking with each other… and it didn’t feel bad.

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Author’s Note:

I am back with another chapter of ‘Soul Art Online’.

This chapter was mostly returning back to the usual pace after the Sabaody Arc.

I tried exploring some classes for a bit to add to the lore.

Feel free to drop any ideas for the lore or Class Trees which I can use.

I will be concentrating a bit on Territory Development next and then we will move on to the next World Quest so there will be some small time skips in between.

We will also see what other groups are doing and the condition of the real world and maybe get some development with the valkyrie and the maid.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.