---

Enrique gave a sigh of relief upon stepping through the teleporter to Lobria, glad to finally be back somewhere safe after some training on floor 3. To his sides stood Mjoll and Flamio, two players he'd met before the fight against Asterios, the Taurus King. In the week since, Enrique would like to believe that the three had grown closer. He and Mjoll certainly had, since lately she'd been telling him more and more stories about herself and her life outside the game, but he wasn't quite sure about Flamio.

Before the boss fight, Flamio was not too different Enrique himself; a fun-loving, seemingly carefree guy who did his best to enjoy the game despite the circumstances. However, another similarity was that neither had ever been on death's door before. During the boss fight, the three of them focused on battling Asterios' minions to keep them away from the stronger parties taking on the King himself. Unfortunately, when its health grew low, the King switched to quicker, more mobile style like Illfang did. The three had been too focused on the adds to pay much attention to the boss, believing that the higher-leveled players had him in check, and they failed to notice that he'd grown far too close until Flamio took a heavy hit from its sabre. It was a miracle that Flamio even survived the hit, but it soon became apparent that Asterios intended to finish the job, its blade sweeping in for a blow that would hit Mjoll and Enrique as well.

Just then, the attack was repelled by a powerful combo strike from a small, cloaked person wielding an utterly gigantic axe and an asian guy with a katana who wore a leather duster. The latter promptly looked back at the trio and said, "Don't worry, I'm not letting anyone die on my watch!" Enrique couldn't believe how cool the guy was, with his long coat and his hair spiked back to a point, but Flamio could only look forward in fear as if his mind were trapped in that moment where he almost died. "We need to get moving, but I'll have one of my guildmates get you healed." With that, the man and the axe wielder rushed at the boss, while a woman approached them from the side telling them to give the higher-leveled players some space before handing them all some potent health potions.

Mjoll found herself inspired to become strong, kind, and heroic like their saviors as well as the hooded woman who gave her life against the PK, and Enrique left the situation mostly unchanged, but Flamio became unhealthily obsessed with levelling himself. He spent nearly all his money on health and stamina potions, and now he grinds day and night with a dead look in his eyes. He joined a levelling guild to train more efficiently, and while he's still willing to spend time with the two of them he does so only if the activity is, again, training. Enrique was concerned for his friend, but wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to bring up the topic just yet, and Flamio getting stronger would benefit everyone stuck in the game, right?

They had recently come back from one such training bout to rest, as Enrique and Mjoll had grown tired, but as soon as they stepped into Lobria Flamio said, "I'm going to go meet up with my guild. See you guys later," and didn't even wait for a response before heading back out the teleporter. Enrique saw him off with a wave and a smile, but Mjoll only crossed her arms and frowned.

After a few moments, Mjoll turned to Enrique and said, "He really needs to calm down with that or he's gonna get himself killed. I don't think he's slept for days."

Enrique shrugged. "Unfortunately, I'm not too sure there's anything we can say to him that would get him to slow down."

"Yeah, I guess, but…" Mjoll thought about it, but she couldn't really think of anything she could do either and ended up sighing in defeat. "Whatever, let's just get to the market to restock." The pair went on their way to restock their supply of potions and get their equipment repaired. Despite having supposedly closed the case just a minute ago, Mjoll continued to talk about Flamio as they walked. "You know, he might not think of us as close friends or anything, but maybe if we somehow found that guy who saved us, or even his guildmates, we could try getting them to talk some sense into him. He'd listen to them, right?"

Enrique looked up pensively. "Hmm… Actually, you might be right!" They soon happened upon an armored man with glasses at a stand who they learned was a blacksmith and handed him their armor and weapons to be repaired. Mjoll browsed the man's wares while Enrique searched for something in his inventory. "Aha!" He chimed as he found it, pulling out a pencil and paper. He took it to a wall and started scrawling something until Mjoll finished with her business.

Tapping on Enrique's shoulder, Mjoll said, "Hey, our stuff's gonna be ready soon." She noticed the paper and peeked over at the boy's drawings. "Wait, what are you doing? Is that…?"

"I'm trying to remember what the katana guy's guild mark looked like. His name looked Japanese so I can't really remember it that well, Shi-something, but I remember that his guild mark looked something like this." On the page were a number of squares, each with different, yet similar drawings in the middle of them of what looked like a strange, minimalistic bird-dog sort of thing. Mjoll gave it a skeptic look.

"Are you sure that's what it looked like? I don't think anyone would use that sort of thing as a guild mark. But what are we going to do anyway, put flyers with this up all over town? And now that I think about it, the axe person and the potion girl both had all their information hidden. Only katana guy didn't. One guy out of almost 10,000."

"Well I think flyers are a great idea, actually. And why not? It's not like it's that much effort. We just wait around until someone recognizes the drawing."

"Actually, I think the problem is the drawing," Mjoll said as she gave the paper another look. "I really think you're just remembering it wrong, because there's no way someone that strong would use a mark that looks like it was drawn by a five-year old. But…" Mjoll thought about it for a moment before looking up with a grin. "I can't really remember how it looked either, so that's really the best we've got. What the hell, let's just use that and see where it gets us." Enrique nodded and was ready to get to work making more when the armorer called out to them to come get their equipment. They'd both forgotten about it with the whole guild mark thing.

Fully geared again, the two began heading back to the second floor where they planned to relax under the Lone Tree for a bit before going their separate ways when they noticed a commotion in the distance. They were both curious and quickly agreed to go check it out. Pushing their way through the crowd that had formed, they saw that the cause was two people dueling. Both were pretty good, clashing repeatedly despite the fact that it was first-strike mode, and it gave Mjoll an idea.

"I bet 100 on the white-hair guy!" Mjoll's sudden outburst caused Enrique to look at her blankly for a moment. She grinned and looked straight at him. "The silly guy reminds me of you, so I'm pretty sure he's going to lose."

Enrique couldn't help but laugh. "Haha, fine then, I bet 200 on the other guy! Us silly people have to support each other, you know!" He joked back, and the two of them focused intently on the battle as it proceeded. Enrique shoved Mjoll teasingly when the silly guy dodged a sword art from white-hair and counterattacked, but he received his own shove when white-hair took advantage of the situation and stabbed silly's shoulder, ending the match.

The duelists chatted for a bit after the battle, joined by a hooded person who was too tall to be the hooded axe-wielder from before, and eventually the silly guy held his fist in the air and shouted, "ALL WILL KNEEL BEFORE THE MIGHTY GUY!" before leaving. It wasn't long until the rest of the crowd left as well. Enrique suddenly found a trade request screen pop up in front of him, and turned to see Mjoll with a huge grin and her hand held out in 'hand it over' gesture. Enrique happily accepted his defeat.

"Well that was fun," said Mjoll. "Oh! Maybe we should try dueling too! I don't think we ever have, have we?"

"Nope." With that, Enrique sent a duel request. "Let's do first-strike mode too." For some reason, he put on a sly grin after saying that.

"Sure. I bought a cool new battleaxe at that shop and I'm itching to try it out!" Not thinking anything of it, Mjoll selected 'first-strike' and accepted the request, but immediately after accepting she realized her mistake. "Wait no!" But unfortunately, it was too late and the timer for the duel had commenced counting down. She gave a disheartened sigh and asked, "Can I just forfeit right now?"

Enrique egged her on. "Come on, you're way stronger than me. Just give it a try, maybe you can do it after all." Mjoll sighed and held up her weapon.

The counter soon hit 0 and Mjoll shot forward, her plate armor not holding her back one bit, and she swung her axe with great force. Just before the axe could plow into its target, though, there was a bright yellow blur of movement, and in that instant it was over. The axe finally hit Enrique right in his side, launching him several feet and knocking him to the ground, but he didn't take any damage because the duel had already concluded. Mjoll looked down and saw the red mark of a wound fading away from her gut. Of course, there was no way she could beat Enrique in a first-strike duel when he had the fastest Sword Art she'd ever seen, his 'Sting' art. Although the art did barely did any damage, so it probably wouldn't help him that much against her in any other type of duel.

Enrique got to his feet and dusted himself off before pointing at the display that announced his victory with a wide smile. Mjoll walked up to him and punched him playfully in the shoulder, saying, "'Give it a try', you said. 'Maybe you can do it'. Jerk, haha."

"I mean, maybe you could have, but you didn't."

There was an awkward silence afterward that was eventually broken by another punch in the shoulder from Mjoll. "Come on, let's go chill a bit. I think we both deserve it after all that training." Enrique nodded and the two headed to the teleporter to get to the Lone Tree.
​

---

After five minutes, I became bored. I messaged my friend Garrot for something to do. After a few more minutes, he sent me information for a quest under the lone tree. I hopped to my feet and began to ran toward the teleporter, accidentally crashing into a couple walking in the same direction. "Oh, my bad." I said with an apologetic smile.

Enrique was walking towards the teleporter, looking forward to some relaxation, when he was suddenly rammed into by a random guy and knocked straight into Mjoll, who responded with a "Hey! Careful, man!" Enrique stood straight and apologized quickly before turning his attention to the guy who'd bumped into him, and once Mjoll realized that it was that guy's fault and not Enrique's, she did the same. He faced them and gave his own apology with a smile.

"Don't worry about it, dude," Enrique answered him with a broad smile.

"You should really watch where you're going, though," added Mjoll, herself already having gotten over it. "This game has some really edgy people you probably don't want to piss off."

I laughed, "I think it is a lot more fun to see who has moxy and who is passive." I looked the two of them up and down, "You two don't look like weaklings, at least, not right now. Are either of you in a guild by any chance?"

"Nope," Enrique said concisely. "Most guilds I've seen have things like leveling quotas, or item collection quotas, or whatever. I kinda like just being able to do whatever I want." Enrique looked towards Mjoll for her answer.

"Me neither," said Mjoll. "Why do you ask? Are you a recruiter?"

"Recruiter?" I shook my head, "I am the founder and leader of the guild Stars of Aincrad! Were a bunch of freelancers, and the guild's only criteria is spirit!" My voice got more energetic and boisterous, and when I said the guild name I pointed toward the heavens, and then poked the boy in his chest when I said spirit.

Enrique's grin grew wider. "I like the sound of that! You seem like a cool guy. I'll keep you guys in mind, but I can't make any promises." Again, he looked towards Mjoll. She didn't really like the way he kept making her answer all of the guy's questions, but she kept quiet about it.

"Aren't you a little too relaxed for a 'spirit'-centric guild?" She commented to Enrique with a nudge before answering the leader guy, whom she found rather over-the-top. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to a guild yet. I have to admit that it does sound interesting, though."

"We have some quiet guys. When I say spirit, I don't mean having tons of energy." I made a fist and placed it on my chest, "Its all in here. If you have the courage to press forward, and the moxie to do what you think is right, then you would fit in with our guild. Spirit is all about aiming high, and going for it as far as I am concerned." I stretched, "I respect your decision to decline the invitation though, where are you two heading?"

Mjoll couldn't help but chuckle. The guy's bright attitude was pretty infectious. "We're just on our way to chill for a bit on floor two," she said. Enrique nodded in confirmation.

"I'm heading down there myself to do a quest, say..." I looked the two of them over again, "Are you two interested in going with me? The reward is 30% xp, some potions, and a Christmas turkey! I'd be willing to let you two have the reward." The experience was the only thing that I cared about, and something to do, "I also kind of want to see you guys fight."

The pair looked at each other for a moment before shrugging in unison. "Sure, why not?" answered Enrique. "We were going to rest after some training we were doing on floor 3, but I think it would be better to enjoy some well-earned turkey while we do! Also, I'm always up for getting to know new people!"

"Count me in, too!" Chimed Mjoll. "Enrique over there didn't make for very good practice. I can try out my new axe on some monsters, instead. And by the way, I'm Mjoll."

"Call me by my real name, Kai." I said, "Nice to meet you both." I took lead and the three of us walked to the lone tree.

Upon arriving, I checked the details of the quest again,"We have to find a reindeer named Rudolf in a dungeon around here. We also have to take care of 5 Tauros and salamander warriors." I closed my menu and drew my sword, "Sounds simple enough. Mjoll, you look like you have spunk, you want to take lead?"

Mjoll pulled her axe off her back, but did so with a slight sigh. "As much as I'd love to take the lead, I think it'd be best if Enrique took the lead. He's got the searching skill to check for chests and traps and stuff, and he's also a lot faster than me if we ever find the need to scout ahead."

Enrique equipped his dagger and buckler, flipping the dagger in the air a couple of times for fun before asking, "On that note, what sorts of skills do you have, Kai?"

"Night Vision, Battle healing, tracking." I replied, "My combat skills are rather high though, oh, my level is 15 if you care at all. Lead on Enrique."

"Got it," said Enrique with a thumbs-up before walking into the dungeon. They wandered around for a bit, passing a few other parties training or exploring. The early areas of the dungeon were mostly clear because of other players, but Enrique figured Rudolph would probably be deeper in anyway.

They continued onward, Enrique keeping his eyes peeled, when he spotted a trio of Taurus standing guard in front of the opening to a narrow hallway, presumably leading into another area. Enrique looked back to the others and said, "Well, the quest said to take down five of these. I think we can take 'em."

Mjoll stepped forward and raised her axe over her head, letting it glow a pale blue for a couple seconds before slamming it into the ground in front of her. Suddenly, a shining pillar of light shot up from the ground yards away next to the trio of Taurus and slammed right into one of them, pushing it away from the others. "Alright, let's do this!"

With the encounter initiated, Enrique rushed forward quickly, charging straight towards another of the Taurus. It swung its hammer at him, but Enrique slid under it, a skill gained from much soccer, before giving it a quick stab with his Sting Sword Art. "Hey, over here!" Having provoked it, Enrique jumped back several steps, separating yet another from the group. "I'll keep this one busy until one of you guys can finish it, okay?"

"Roger!" Shouted Mjoll before she turned to Kai. "Since he's got the one on the right, I'll get the one on the left. You okay with mid, Kai?"

"I'd be ready if you told me to get all of them." I said with a grin. I began to feel the energy build up. I drew my sword and pointed it toward the ceiling, I began to glow red and then swung the sword down hard, taking away a significant amount of health from the Tauro. I sliced it a few more times until its health was low and then allowed it to attack me and drain my health. I watched my health drop to critical before finishing off the monster. I took a quick health potion and laughed. I looked over to Enrique who was still fighting his monster. I took a peek at his level, and realized how much lower he was than the monsters.

After blocking an attack from the hammer of the Taurus she was fighting, Mjoll spun around and delivered a cleaving blow right at her opponent's neck, taking away a large chunk of its health. Not wanting to lose momentum, she continued her spin and came around for another attack. Against a faster opponent it would have been a risky move, but it paid off against the Taurus. Her second sweep had added momentum that made it stronger than the first and hit before the monster could counter, successfully defeating it. She turned and saw that Kai had also defeated his foe.

Enrique was still taunting his enemy, dancing around its hammer while jabbing at it with his dagger repeatedly. It didn't seem like he was in any real danger, but it would be a while before his pokes took down the Taurus. Of course, his usual role was to keep the attention of as many enemies as he could to make the battle easier on his allies, not to actually deal any damage. Mjoll rushed up to the distracted Taurus and delivered a powerful chop right into its back. "What took you so long?" Asked Enrique jokingly as his blade glowed yellow for a lightning-fast jab into the monster's eye.

"Hey Kai!" Called Enrique. "You want to finish this guy or do I leave it to Mjoll? I mean, I could do it too if you want, but I don't think you wanna wait that long."

"Mjoll can handle it." I said with a grin, "You two are together, so it's natural that you share right?"

"Well there's nothing stopping you from being one of us, right? Anyway, finish him, Mjoll!" Shouted Enrique, blinding the Taurus by hitting its other eye before backing away. Mjoll pulled her axe out and backed away as well before raising her axe above her head for the same sword art as before. The Taurus could only swing wildly without its sight, not hitting anyone. This gave Mjoll plenty of time to charge her attack.

"Take that!" She shouted when she finally brought it down, forming a light pillar that drove itself straight between the Taurus' legs, defeating it. With the battle over, each received a results screen listing their experience and item rewards. "I'm liking this axe," commented Mjoll as she closed her results.

Enrique was going to say something when he noticed something in the distance. Namely, a small red light. Anyone who was familiar with the story of Rudolph could guess that the light belonged to the titular reindeer. Something had to be wrong though, for them to find him so soon, so Enrique made sure to look around the area carefully with his Searching skill. He managed to notice something on the floor right at the entrance to the hallway under false flooring. His skill unfortunately wasn't high enough to tell exactly what sort of mechanism it was, whether it was a pitfall, a spike trap, or a wall that would seal them in.

"Guys, I think Rudolph is past there, but something seems off. There's a mechanism on the floor there, though I don't really know what it is." Suddenly, he got an idea. He walked to the side a bit and picked up a rock off the floor. "I'm going to throw this in there. Get ready for whatever happens, okay?" Mjoll nodded, and Enrique tossed the rock. Immediately after the rock went in, a stone wall began rising out of the ground to seal the corridor. He guessed it was meant to trap them inside, but if they didn't move it looked like they'd be stuck outside. "Well, it's now or never!" With that, Enrique vaulted over the rising wall and into the hallway.

As Mjoll moved to follow him in, Enrique saw that the red light suddenly sped in a different direction. "He's running!" Enrique alerted his companions before dashing towards it. "I'll stay on his tail!" Running as fast as he could without waiting for his team, he followed the light in the dark hallway. After a bit, he was met with a group of five salamander warriors in a more open cave area that leapt down from the ceiling in an ambush. He took a hit from one of them, but with some fancy footwork and good use of his buckler he managed to weave his way through them and continue his pursuit of Rudolph. The warriors did not follow.

Back at the now-sealed entrance, Mjoll looked over at Kai and said, "We probably shouldn't leave him on his own too long at his level. He's fast, but there's not much he can do once he gets tired." I nodded and with that, we started down the hallway as well.

We came across the five salamander warriors, "This should be easy to beat, it may take a minute though. Can your boyfriend hold out?"

Mjoll looked at Kai with a scowl and a slight blush. "I figured that's what you meant by 'together' back there, I just hoped to god I was wrong. I mean, sure we're together, but we're not, you know, together together. Just friends who happen to make a good team. Not that there's anything wrong with him, I just-" Mjoll stopped mid-sentence and, after a short pause, sighed. "I'm talking too much. Let's go." She gave him a slight smile so he would know she wasn't mad. It was an easy mistake to make the way they were strolling around.

"Anyway, we stocked up on potions before coming here. He should have enough to hold him for a while if things do go bad." Admittedly, Mjoll was a little worried about him, but she couldn't do anything about it except fight here and now. "Make sure to watch my back!" she shouted to Kai, running into the fray. She swung her axe at the salamander farthest to the right, and though it blocked her attack it was still tossed aside, letting her target another one that leapt at her from the other side. There were still three behind her. Kai would need to take care of those, as there was no way she could fight all five at once. She wasn't sure how she felt about putting her life in the hands of a guy she just met, but trusting a stranger worked out well in Enrique's case so maybe her luck would hold out.

I was not far behind her as she charged in, "Hey don't worry about your relationship, I got tons of just friends that are girls. I'm kind of a romantic haha." I nonchalantly block an attack to her from behind and used my sword art to cut one of the salamander men down. "Look for the star the best suits you I say." I blocked another attack from our side and then stopped, "We could probably kite these guys to Enrique no?"

"I'll try whatever if it helps us regroup faster!" Answered Mjoll as she sliced through a salamander warrior's abdomen, splitting it in half and killing it. There wasn't a moment of rest before the other warrior lunged at her again. "We'll do it on your call, okay?" She knocked the foe aside, but kept her eyes on it.

I nodded, "Keep running forward, kill in front, I'll run backwards and kill the ones behind us." I stabbed a salamander man, taking it down a quarter of its health, "I'm much faster with my weapon, and yours does much more damage, so this should keep us moving." I turned around and put my back to hers, "Go, go!" I was excited.

Mjoll nodded, though she flinched when Kai put his back against hers. She didn't expect him to get so close. It didn't matter though, since she had a job to do, so she gripped her axe and rushed forward, running towards the next area. Two other salamander warriors moved to block her path. "Can't let you do that," she said, spinning the axe in her hands while it begun to glow a blue-green color. She swung horizontally at both of them, but the moment she reached the end of her swing, the double-bladed axe swung back in the direction had come with the exact same speed. This was her Mirror Slice art, one that helped cancel out the long delay between swings that usually came with heavy weapons with an instantaneous second one. While the strikes weren't enough to kill the warriors, they were knocked out of her way, and with their health as low as it was now they might as well be dead already. Without a moment to lose, Mjoll sped past the severely injured creatures. I kept up and finished them off as I passed.

After the cave area was another narrow hallway that had several sharp turns before ending in another cavern. This one was much different though, because unlike the other one, the only solid ground was a narrow bridge shooting off from the hallway, and a small circular area in the center. The rest was just a fall into what looked like a bottomless pit. In the center was Enrique standing in front of a reindeer that could only be Rudolph, with two Taurus walking towards Enrique with their hammers raised. It looked like it was a good thing Kai had that plan, because Enrique was definitely in trouble.

Normally a pair of Taurus would be no problem for Enrique, but it looked like this part of the quest involved protecting Rudolph and he couldn't do that and dodge the Taurus' attacks at the same time. "Enrique!" called Mjoll, before letting out a loud yell in the form of her Howl skill to attract the attention of the monsters. It worked, and they turned towards Mjoll and Kai. "You protect Rudolph, Kai and I will handle these!"

"Yes ma'am!" answered Enrique as he climbed on top of Rudolph. "Maybe I can ride him! You know, in case I need some evasive maneuvers, 'cause there's no way I'm lifting him. Aren't these guys like 500 pounds?" Even in the face of danger, Enrique still smiled like he was having the time of his life.

Mjoll couldn't help but smile too. "I can't believe I actually worried about you, ya goof!" She then raised her axe against one of the Taurus, ready to face her foe. "Let's do this, Kai!"

I laughed a bit at the exchange, I found it cute, but I didn't say anything about it and raised my sword, "Lets finish then, and I'll have gifts for you two." I struck down the leftern Tauros and dispatched it quickly.I tossed Enrique a potion, "Reckless kid, you definitely have moxie." Enrique shined a huge grin at Kai's compliment and grabbed the potion, drinking it to heal off what he'd lost in the ambush.

It wasn't much longer until Mjoll had finished off her own enemy, and the trio was left with Rudolph. "Well, that was fun!" said Enrique. "But what now?" He looked down at Rudolph expectantly. Suddenly, the short ceiling of the cavern began to rumble. Enrique looked up in a panic, realizing that he forgot to scan the area with his Search skill, and attempted to figure out just what was happening. He had his answer soon enough, when a large section of the ceiling had opened up into a massive tunnel leading up.

Enrique then felt himself begin to wobble. He had been too busy looking above to notice what was going on below him. Rudolph had begun to sparkle, and was slowly lifting himself off the ground. Enrique couldn't believe he had forgotten that Santa's reindeer could fly! Mjoll stared at the floating animal with wide, incredulous eyes, and Enrique instantly knew that she didn't believe in Santa. He put a hand on his hip and pointed the other to the sky before saying, "To infinity, and beyond!"

Almost as if it was at his command, Rudolph took to the sky, and with a surprising speed, for that matter. The whole way up, Enrique was shouting with glee until his echoey voice faded in the distance. Mjoll looked at Kai and said, "We'd better not be stuck here." Fortunately for them, Rudolph soon came back, ready to take another passenger to the surface. "You go first, Kai." Said Mjoll. "I still have to get over the fact that they actually put flying reindeer into this game.

I laughed and hopped on, "Tear down the heavens!" I called in similar suit to Enrique. We got to the surface and I messaged a friend of mine. "Can you two wait around for a few minutes?"

"Sure, why not?" answered Enrique. Mjoll arrived in time to hear Kai's request as well and nodded in agreement.

We waited for about five minutes and my friend arrived. He pulled out a red cape with a large star and a compass under it that had the north arrow shaded, "Is this what you wanted Kai?" He said.

I nodded, "Looks pretty good! From now on, all Stars of Aincrad will wear this cape!"

My friend nodded, "We will get people to gather the resources. Here are the three you wanted though." I took the three capes, I put one on, gave one to Mjoll, and finally one to Enrique. "You don't have to join our guild directly, but please accept these. You will be recognized as an honorary member as far as I am concerned. You will be helped by any member of our guild, and even offered discounts for our services."

"I...I don't really know what to say…" Trailed Mjoll, staring at the cape with a look of clear happiness in her eyes. She'd never expected a gesture like this out of a stranger, especially after she refused to join earlier.

"I do!" Piped Enrique. "Thanks! You know, Kai? You're a really cool dude, and this is a really cool cape." Not wasting any time he put it on. "I probably won't wear it for combat, but it's good for walking around town. I'm really considering joining your guild, but I'll see if I can't talk Mjoll into it first." Enrique then held up his hands, showing off his many rings. "If you guys ever need some bling, let me know and I'll make you some. I got some cool things from floor 3 this morning that might make for nice effects!"

Mjoll looked up from the cape. "I'll definitely think about it, though I can't be sure until I meet the rest of the guild. Enrique maybe being there might help a bit." She was about to stow the cape in her inventory when she decided that it wouldn't hurt to try it on, so she did, although she couldn't really be sure how it looked on her without a mirror. "Oh, and before I forget…" Mjoll sent Kai a friend request, and once Enrique saw it he did the same.

I accepted both requests and smiled, "Nobody gets into the guild without my approval, and I only take people who are great at heart! We have guild houses in Urbus and Tolbana, although the capes will be new, the symbols on it are ours. Feel free to stop by and chat, drink, eat, or rest there. Oh, and many of us like to fight, try not to look weak!" The last comment was only half jokingly. "So far I am unbeaten in the guild."

Mjoll smiled and said, "Well I'll just have to break that record then, won't I?" Her expression changed to one of surprise when she suddenly got a message. After reading it, her face changed again, this time to one of alarm. "Enrique, remember how I said I could only chill under the tree for a bit, then I had to meet up with some other friends?" Enrique nodded, indeed remembering it. "Well, I kind of lost track of time with this whole quest, and…" She then turned to Kai again. "Sorry, I have to go. Thanks for the quest, and the cape, and everything, really. Bye!" And with that, she was off.

After waving Mjoll goodbye, Enrique looked to Kai as well and said, "I might be able to take you in a first-strike duel, but probably not anything else." After that, he yawned and added, "But I've been looking forward to some r&r all day, so for now I'm going to go chill under the Lone Tree.You're free to join me if you want, but I get the feeling you'd rather find some more action. In which case, I bid you adieu as well. We'll probably stop by your guild hall tomorrow if we have the chance." With that, Enrique gave him a salute and began walking to the Lone Tree. Before he got too far, he shouted, "You can take Rudolph back to Santa, but don't forget to give us our reward when we come visit, okay?" and soon after, Enrique was gone.
​

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
January 1, 2023​