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On his arrival to the inn, Aidan found a group enjoying drinks around a wooden table.
Vulcan, Gale, Azrael, Arella, Spector, Bushi Aidan mentally listed off, his arrival meant that all members of Vigilant Wings were present. The largest man at the table called out to Aidan.
"You're late."
This was Vulcan
the man in gold lined armor and leader of the guild. Well into his thirties, he sternly stared at Aidan. Feeling the tension from being late, Aidan slowly worked his way to the seat next to the large man. Vulcan pulled a glass of spirit and drank it happily. With a warm smile he passed a glass over to Aidan.
"Merry Christmas."
Taking a sip of the drink, Aidan slipped back into his relaxed composure. He let his neck relax and slouched into his chair.
"Merry Christmas. What's the plan for tonight then?"
Arella cut in while placing her hand out to Aidan, "Well first you've got to pay your dues." It was this
young yellow girl's duty as the guild merchant and treasurer to hold money for the guild and make purchases seeing as her skills all focused on merchantry. Though she also had quite the talent when it came to haggling, further making her fit for her role. The money usually returns to the guild members in forms of potions and crystals, coming at much better rates than usual. If Aidan had to guess regarding her age, he's place her as a bit younger than, probably something around 14 or 15.
"Yeah, yeah." Aidan said while sending Arella a percentage of his own money in exchange for some stock items Arella had on her person. With a cheerful grin she accepted the trade thanked Aidan while and allowed the guild resume its business. Vulcan began speaking, "Tonight, we're gift giving. It is Christmas after all, "I'll start."
With that the armored man opened his menu and after a few seconds, six gift boxes appeared in front of him. Circling around the table he passed each of the items to each of the guild members.
Going around from the left of Vulcan, the first person to open their gift was
the young Gale. This girl was probably a bit older than Arella, probably somewhere around 16-17. She was the quietest member of the guild and only seemed to talk in the presence of Vulcan. As such, she's filled with mystery and only Vulcan really knows why she joined the guild, but as the first member to join the guild, ignoring the two founding members, she's a very much appreciated member and a core to the success of the girl. Despite her apparent anti-social behaviors, Gale has dedicated herself to becoming the guild's cook and had a wide range of recipes available to her.
The timid girl tapped at the gift, letting the top pop itself open revealing a brand new spear. Her eyes gleamed at the object and quickly equipped it. "Thank you, Vulcan!"
She hummed at her usual muted volume while holding the weapon up.
The girl was followed by Azreal who sat next to her.
The girl had a dark and eerie presence and was clearly the second oldest at the table, sitting somewhere in her mid-twenties. Guild members usually described her as a sultry seamstress, since she specializes in sewing and often made (lewd) clothing for guild members, be it for battle or just casual wear. As one might have assumed from her appearance Azrael is an ex-player killer. When she first joined the game she had a group of friends, including her boyfriend, who wanted to play the game as an assassin's guild. However even with the disappearance of the log out buttons, the guild had decided to continue their act as it was an effective means of getting by in the game. The group eventually died after an ambush turned on them and every member of the guild died, leaving Azreal alone to find her place in the Aincrad. Fortunately for Azreal, she had not killed enough players to receive a permanent orange cursor, but the stigma of being a PK still clung to her from everyone who knew her. No one would accept her once word got around that she was an ex-PK, up until she saw a goofy kid with an orange afro advertising a guild that wished to help those that were lost. A simple conversation lead to simple introductions and eventually the girl wound up here, a member of a happy guild and accepted despite her flawed past.
The dark woman tapped at the box, revealing an incredibly detailed dagger, made from a black metal that sparkled much like the night sky. Azreal starred astonished for a few moments before looking at the armored man.
"Thanks Vulc." Her voice carried a sense of casualty, but the appreciation still rung clear. She coolly returned the dagger to her inventory and messaged for the next person to open their box.
This time it was Bushi, the newest member of the guild.
Adorned in Japanese armor and various shades of blues, he stood out as a unique character, though not nearly as much as Aidan. Though his avatar may initially make someone believe he was cool and collective, the truth was this boy was a bit hyperactive and immature, though that seemed to be part of his charm. Aidan assumed the boy was probably younger than him, standing somewhere around 15. Much like the other guild members, he never bothered to ask. Bushi never revealed to anyone why he joined the guild and nobody so much as troubled to ask force him to reveal it. The boy was incredibly excited to open his gift, grabbing it quickly and throwing the top of the box far behind him. Inside was handmade katana, modeled to have similar colors to the blues the boy is known to wear. The blade shined black matching Bushi's armor. "Wow Vulcan, this is amazing!" the young samurai picked up the sword and began swinging it around, forcing a few of the guild members to duck their head, "I think that's enough!" A green knight called out from next to him.
"Sorry…" He then put the blade away.
It now was
this green knight's, or rather Spector's turn, though he seemed to have a disenchanted look on his face while staring at the box set for him. He operated as an alchemist and was always testing out new kinds of potions made from various ingredients. Spector is a slight bit older than Aidan and is known as the calm and collective type, though a bit of a square at times. Spector and Aidan usually get into petty quarrels over little things due to their conflicting natures, usually with Spector's lost as Aidan generally has a level advantage over him just due to the nature of their jobs for the guild. He has a great respect for Vulcan and was actually brought over into the guild by him. The story goes that he joined the guild after his old guild was killed off during a dungeon run on the first floor. He was saved by Vulcan who managed to happen on them just as Spector was about to die. After the horrifying event, Spector had decided that he was never going to go out into the fields and will only help with the effort from the sideline. Facing monsters was an option just not available to him; this naturally led to him being one of the lowest leveled members in the guild.
He looked at the gift and gulped. Based off the previous gifts he knew what to expect: a straight sword or rather a weapon, something he hoped never to hope again. In distaste he tapped on the gift, surprisingly revealing a skill book, with various alchemic ingredients written out. He smiled while putting the book down. "Thank you Vulcan."
Next to Spector sat the guild's young merchant: Arella. She tapped her gift right after Spector gave his thanks, revealing a well-crafted straight sword with a golden seem running down the blade. Bright eyed she laid her hand over the sword.
"Thank you so much Vulcan!" She would have ran over and hugged the man, but Aidan, as the last person to open their gift, already began talking about his gift,
"Thanks for the sword Vulc." Speaking well before opening his gift, Aidan already knew what to expect. With a tap of the box and a hidden grin from Vulcan, the box revealed a golden chain.
" …and my expectations just keep getting crushed today…" Aidan put the chain on in addition to the three he was already wearing. Happy that his pirate theme was coming together, Aidan spoke out to Vulcan "You know, this doesn't look too bad, thanks Vulcan."
Vulcan let out a laugh "Just so everyone I made each of those gifts from scratch, excluding Spector's gift of course, It was quite the job to be honest, but I'd be willing to do it again and again for my wonderful guild members." He held up his glass for a toast, which each member followed.
"For Vigilante Wings!"
"For Vigilante Wings!"
The gift giving continued from that point. Aidan ended up receiving a new coat from Azreal, a pair of binoculars from Arella, a katana that he would probably never use, from Bushi, a homemade book on how to be polite from Spector, and a new pair of gloves from Gale. In turn he gave Gale a fishing pole, Vulcan a new helmet, Spector a new set of glasses as well as a broken pair of glasses and a few other bruises, Arella a golden statue of a hawk, Bushi a blue cloth that improved defense, and Azreal book that would improve her sewing skill.
After the gift giving, the guild members spent some time chatting.
"Gained a level if none of ya noticed. Totally showed with how I beat Spec. "
Azreal gave a chuckle, while Spector gave an annoyed look. One thing he greatly disliked about his no monsters stance was the fact that Aidan could beat him in duels so easily.
"Good job Aidan, you're so amazing!" The sarcasm just oozed from her voice.
"Shut up Az."
"So did you get the map data?" Arealla asked curiously, seeing as Aidan usually informs everyone about his progress during the beginning of their meetings.
"Oh yeah, got a bit of work done on it, gave it out to people around Urbus too."
"Oh yeah I saw you in Urbus today giving your usual spiel, that fight yu had was pretty great." Azreal gave a little comment. Aidan turned a little pale in response to her words.
"Wait you were there for that?"
"Of course I was, I'm always there when something embarrassing happens to my little Aidan." She poked at the boys cheeks, "Did my lil' baby forget how to parry? it's okay momma will always be here to protect you."
The guild all laughed at Aidan's frustrations. The night went on with general merriment and only came to a halt when Vulcan gave a few final orders to the members, in particular telling Aidan to gather more dungeon data with the goal of finding the boss room tomorrow, after that everyone began to disperse. With a few happy goodbyes each member went off to their own rooms to sleep away the night.