Shino and Sera step out of the water, water dripping from their hair and clothes. The smell of food draws their attention. Burgers, pasta, sausages, and drinks all laid out temptingly.
I wonder if Sera will even eat with Adrian and Risto here. Shino is with us.
"Shino's an avatar, right?" Risto asks as she continues eating. "Do you hate her?"
A flicker of emotion crosses Adrian's face. I can't tell whether it's disgust or pain. A mix of both.
"Right," he says, gripping the tongs tighter. "Everyone saw that video."
He doesn't answer the question, though we all know the truth. Adrian isn't the type to hate his friends for their choices … or at least I hope not.
He wasn't angry when he lost his eye. He was there for us whenever we needed him.
He lost infinitely more in that fight than we did. Calder. His friend. 40% of Shino. And what did we lose?
Shino walks over and sits beside Risto.
"Are you here just to get information?" Rei laughs.
"No, no," Risto says, shaking her head slightly. "But I am curious. From what I've seen, you and the Slime Queen merged one-on-one. Other avatars I've seen usually have two souls in one, but you were different."
Adrian slides a plate toward Shino. On it is only pasta and a soda, the label marked FG. Next to another guild's emblem is a small cog with a yellow core.
"I am the Slime Queen," Shino says quietly. "I have all her abilities and weaknesses, but I am mostly human."
Adrian passes her a straw for the soda.
"Do you still have infinite mana?" Risto asks.
Shino sets her plate down and opens the soda container, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"If you think about it, my mana is like this container," Shino says. She snaps her fingers. A small glowing blue orb appears. Water begins to pour into a cup of soda. It quickly overflowed. She slides the straw into the drink.
"My mana constantly overflows. When I try to use a spell, it's like sucking through this straw. No matter how hard I try, I can't draw it all at once. I can only sip. I'm wasting most of it."
Risto tilts her head.
Shino continues, "I also have to be careful not to draw too much. The straw might break."
"What happens then?"
"To be honest, I don't know."
She stops the spell. The sand beneath her absorbs the spilled mixture of soda and water.
"That's just a waste," Adrian sighs.
Risto and Shino step aside to talk quietly, leaving me to watch from a distance. Sera stands beside Adrian, quietly observing him cook. He says nothing, letting her watch. I can tell she's hungry. Her eyes betray her emotions. She watches the food, I can almost tell she's drooling.
Sera has always wanted to be part of the group. She only speaks up when we're around people from the guild or people she trusts. Lately, though, she seems more comfortable.
As the day stretches on, I wonder if it's less about people seeing her scar and more about men seeing it. People she doesn't trust, mostly men.
Sera sits next to me. She eyes the burger I've taken a few bites from.
"Do you want some?" I ask.
She nods eagerly, her distilled moss-colored hair catching the light. In the sun, it almost looks white. Up close it's a pale, pastel green.
"Hey everyone!" I call out, breaking the conversation. "Can Adrian, Risto, and Shino turn around so Sera can eat?"
Sera tugs on my arm. "Shino can stay."
Adrian smiles. "I want to talk with Risto about the summit anyway. We'll step away for a moment."
Risto stands, leaving her plate behind. Adrian and Risto walk down the beach until they are too far for us to see. Sera removes her mask.
I've seen her scar before. It doesn't bother me.
It's hard to think of a time before the world tree before the first few days. When she didn't have her scar. She always thinks that people would be disgusted by it and that is why she hides her scar.
Shino notices it too. Her reaction is subtle. A small smile flashes across Shino's face.
"Thank you," Sakura says softly, "for not being uncomfortable with me."
I have been a while without seeing her with it off, her mossy green eyes fully visible. She ties her hair up so she can eat.
We should probably talk about the summit, Viri says, looking at Rei.
"That's true," Sakura adds. "Who's going with you?"
"Sho requested that Teruki come with me. I'm not sure why, though."
Hearing her name, Teruki lifts her nose from the book. She sets her pen down and leaves the book on the chair. She walked over to us, drawn by the smell of food. She sits next to Shino, who is eating pasta salad.
"She… requested me?"
"While you were out, Sho came to visit you."
"Me? Are you sure it wasn't Adrian?"
"Funnily enough, she didn't seem to care much about him," Viri remarks.
"Something must have happened," Shino says.
"Why's that?" Rei asks.
"You used Sho's private rune to reach us. She hasn't used it herself yet, so how did that happen?"
"Teruki saved Selene's life, and in return, after the boss died, she helped us find you," I explained.
"Hmmm," Shino thinks for a moment.
"Will you be going?" Rei asks. She continues, "Last time, I believe Tank went with Adrian."
"I think I have to go. I merged with one of the Ten Suns. The other guilds probably want to make sure I won't go rogue with as much mana as I have. Even small spells can be devastating when you have infinite mana," She says.
"Not to mention continuous spells," Rei adds.
"What's it like?" Shino asks.
"Yeah," Teruki asks."What's it like, Viri?"
"It's boring," Viri says bluntly. "Just a bunch of top-ranked elites who pretend to like each other for Sho's sake."
"Is that why you didn't get invited back?"
"Probably," Viri shrugs. "I don't remember much, but I do remember how blunt Sho was."
"What about you, Rei? What was it like?"
Rei thinks for a second, as if trying to find the proper answer befitting a guild leader. Then she sighs.
"There were no notable events. I don't even remember any of the guild leaders' names or faces, except for Crusaders."
She pauses. "Actually, that's not true. There was a guild that wore cat ears, which I thought was odd."
"You guys really remember nothing?"
"I remember Tank and Adrian talking about it like it was yesterday," Shino gloats.
"Well, that's easy when you have the memory of an immortal being, isn't it?" Viri yells.
"Well, what do you remember, Shino?"
"Adrian and Tank were giddy about it," she continues.
"Well, for one, this was when Affiliates were introduced. They are player-run groups that work with the world guild to make it more like earth. RG, NG, FG, CG, and AG, for example. Sho also made it so only specific guilds could attack the bosses, which was controversial. Adrian agreed, though, because it would stop solo players. This will be revered, though I probably shouldn't say anything."
"Black Cats said they were going to be a thieves' guild, stealing from players. Sho said it was fine as long as no one got hurt or killed. Sho also tried to remove bounties from the world guild, but the elites wouldn't allow it, causing her bounty to increase dramatically."
"Reapers were a player-killer guild. Sho was finally about to get evidence last week, so she challenged them to a guild war. Both sides bet their lives, and who would have guessed … Sho won."
"Order wanted to establish a military for co-fighting guilds to attack towers instead of individually, but that didn't matter since they disbanded."
"What? Sho was challenged to a guild war?!" Teruki interrupts.
"Sho found proof of the Reapers killing players and defeated them entirely," Shino says.
"How did she get proof?"
"Order Dante was killed by assassination, but he left behind a memory core when he died."
"Didn't he die a while ago? Why was she just doing this?"
"We only found it recently," Shino replied.
"Wait so if Reapers is defeated what are the updated rankings?"
Sakura pulls out two pieces of paper. She holds them up with a small, amused smile.
"I meant to give these to you earlier, Rei, but I forgot," she says with a light laugh.
I glance at the first sheets.
---------------------------------------------------
News Guild
Date: November 23, 2035
Top 10 Guild Rankings | Player Count | Submembers
Ascend | 50 | 0
Sho | 39 | 0
Black Cats | 200 | 10±5
The 10 Slayers | 10 | 1,000±500
Mana | 6 | 1700±200
Crusaders | 10 | 500±20
Glassthorn | 100 | 2,500±500
RG | 10,000 | 2,400 ±1,000
Cog and Core | 2,000 | 100±25
G2 | 5 | 1±0
---------------------------------------------------
I look at the second paper. I hated how NG kept updating the format for these. They should just stick with one and that be it.
------------------------------------------------
News Guild Update
Date: November 23, 2035
Due to multiple guilds disbanding, this months updated rankings will include the top 20 players.
Top 20 Player Rankings
Guild | Player | Rank
Sho | Sho | S Rank
Ascend | Valen | S Rank
The 10 Slayers | Thorne | S Rank
Black Cats | Hex | S Rank
Glassthorn | Arthur | S Rank
Pale Branch | Rhy | S Rank
Black Cats | Archer | S Rank
The 10 Slayers | Lilith | S Rank
Mana | Lyra | S Rank
Crusaders | Adrian Kundra | S Rank
Cog and Core | Veil | S Rank
Black Cats | Ryn | A Rank
[Guildless] | Silverleaf | A Rank
G2 | Reyna | A Rank
Ascend | Risto | A Rank
The 10 Slayers | Thousand-Eyes | A Rank
Ascend | Orin | A Rank
RG | Alexander | A Rank
The 10 Slayers | Chiyo | A Rank
Mana | Ashen | A Rank
----------------------------------------------------
"How did Cog and Glassthorn get ahead of us?" Teruki asks. "I thought you had to be in the top ten to challenge another guild."
"You do," Rei says. "But while you were asleep, a lot happened."
"Since you were out of commission," Sakura continues, "we were unable to accept any challenges."
"We have not had any in recent memory," Teruki says, shocked.
"I am sure once people saw the video," Rei says, "the rank ten guild at the time, Cog, challenged us."
"With only four members," Sakura continues, "we did not qualify, so we automatically lost."
"Which is why we allowed Shino to join as a sub member," Sakura adds. "To stop any more challenges."
"That still doesn't explain Glassthorn," Teruki says. "How did they get ahead of us?"
"Glassthorn challenged RG when they were still rank ten," Sakura replies.
"RG lost?" Teruki almost yells, surprise clear in her voice.
"They teamed up with a powerful solo player," Sakura says. "Because of that, they were able to challenge."
"RG is strong because they have so many members," Viri says. "They usually don't accept guild wars unless they know they can win."
"So Order and Repairs were disbanded," Teruki says. "That allowed the next few guilds to slip through. Since we only had four members, we fell to the bottom."
"Which is unfortunate," Sakura says, "because I am sure we will be challenged for our tenth spot."
"This next summit will decide if I can even participate in guild wars," Shino says.
"Or," Rei interjects, "we could take the initiative and challenge another guild."
"Do we know which guild is currently number eleven?" Teruki asks.
"Currently," Sakura says, her voice muffled by food, "it is Pale Branch."
"Isn't that the guild Rhy is part of?" I say.
"Who's Rhy?" Shino asked.
"You don't remember her?" Rei replied. "I'm sure she went to the last summit."
"She didn't," Viri said. "Solos weren't invited."
She paused, eyes narrowing slightly. "Rhy used to be Rank Three. Now she's down to Six, but she wields shadow magic like no one else. She's the only person Sho actually hates fighting."
"Why," Shino says, "isn't that Sho's whole thing?"
"Shadow's tricky to counter at high level; it doesn't directly beat air, but it can turn any fight upside down."