Plopping onto the plush seats of the VIP lounge in the Iron Scale Guild's Berkhamsted Branch Guild House, Deacon let out a long, relieved sigh as he sank into the soft, self-massaging cushions. The material practically swallowed him whole, molding to his shoulders and back in a way that made him question why every chair in existence wasn't made like this. Esmerelda dropped into the seat beside him a heartbeat later, her own sigh joining his in weary harmony.
"These seats are amazing," Deacon muttered, eyes half-closed.
Esmerelda responded with a lazy hum as she drew a long sip from the straw of her root beer float, kicking her boots up onto the low table in front of them. "We're stealing these," she said without shame, as Deacon slowly turned to her and gave her the most deadpan look as his gaze traveled to the obvious camera in the corner of the room. "Or—fine, adding them to the billing form we're gonna send them for our Guild Base once we win."
"Already added on the list," Jass said as she flopped down on Esmerelda's other side, looping an arm around her shoulders while balancing her own float with practiced precision. "Ten VIP self-massaging seats for our Guild Base. I factored it into the projected furnishing budget, right under the movie theater section of the list."
"And how much are the Iron Scales going to be bleeding for the entire build of your Guild Base?" Bjorn asked as he settled into the seat behind Deacon, one large hand clapping Deacon's shoulder as he eased back with a groan. "With you lot mentioning theaters and all that, I'm a bit afraid that you might bleed them dry."
"Somewhere between three to four million credits," Sam answered, sinking into the seat on Deacon's other side and giving Bjorn a tired look. "We're only five at the moment, and I don't foresee our Party getting any larger than ten members any time soon – not until post Floor 25, maybe."
And where we'll have to create a second Guild Base. This, however, was left unsaid to Bjorn, since he wasn't a member of the Ravenlight Party.
Bjorn blew out a low whistle and leaned back. "When I was your age, I don't think I had three thousand credits, let alone three million. But even then, that's too low for a Guild Base – even one with your Party size. You're all lowballing the cost of a Guild Base; you need to keep in mind that a Guild Base is a fortress that should survive Guild Wars, sabotage, raids, and the like."
"Which means you need to make sure you get the best of the best wardstones, sturdy walls that can provide ample physical durability and toughness, anti-scrying, and a thousand other wards and protections that go around your base," Bjorn yawned as he ticked up fingers to emphasize each factor. "And, that's not even accounting for the cost of the Vow of Silencing Contracts you need to get the workers and enchanters to sign in order to build and fortify your Guild Base."
"… So, how much should it cost?" Jass asked, glancing toward the door as she heard the latch click.
"You guys think you're going to win the Group Tournament and get at least 2nd Place?" Bjorn asked with a growing smirk across his face as he saw a frown take over Deacon's face at his words.
"Ye who holds little faith," Bonehead declared dramatically as he closed the VIP lounge door behind him and marched into the VIP Lounge Box while holding up a purple ice pop of the undead variant.
"Of course we'd win, Uncle," Deacon scoffed as he looked up at Bjorn. "We're the best Party ever."
"Hey, hey, I'm not saying you're not going to win— hell, I put money on you guys getting into the top three." Bjorn chuckled, pulling out his manaphone and turning the screen for them to see. "And look at what I could get when I win."
Jass, Deacon, and Esmerelda all went silent.
Then their jaws dropped.
"… Instructor," Esmerelda managed.
"You bet how much on us?" Deacon asked, staring at the number in pure disbelief – he'd never even seen such a number on a screen before.
"A decent amount. So, with the odds so heavily against me, and the knowledge of how skilled you lot are, I should be looking to quite a sizeable fortune by the end of the Reward Ceremony." Bjorn just smirked and slipped the device back into his pocket.
"Anyway," he continued, as if he hadn't just stunned the entire room into paralysis, "you should be asking for thirteen to fifteen million credits for your Guild Base if your Party size is going to cap around ten. That'll let you be able to get top-grade materials, cover the cost of wardstones, and hundreds of other protections."
"I'll make sure to hook you up with some really good craftsmen I know," Bjorn added with a wink and a lateral click of his tongue.
"Nice—wait, what the hell is wrong with your head? Why do you have eyes?" Deacon interrupted suddenly, his gaze snapping toward Bonehead in open confusion – causing everyone else to all turn to look at Bonehead.
Bonehead's previously unoccupied eyesockets now had residents; two dark, flame-shaped smokes drifted in his sockets, flickering like the flame of candles and moving just like how normal eyes would as Bonehead's gaze flicked between those looking at him.
"Bruv, I have no frackin' clue," Bonehead sighed as he plopped down into the seat beside Sam and took a slow bite of his purple, noxious popsicle. "I went to that room you mentioned in the Undead Kingdom's castle. Then I waited in line for like three hours and stood in front of some smoking flame basin for all of two seconds before the smoke formed a hand, dragged me into the basin, and smoke-gated me long enough to remind me how shitty swirlies were. Then I got tossed back out."
Bonehead lifted both hands and gestured toward his skull.
"Then, poof. I have smoke for eyes, and according to my Status Page that I quickly cooked up… no changes there."
"Hello Cadets!" a voice shouted from the speakers within the VIP Lounge Box the Ravenlight party was in.
Zooming onto the stage, the glass screen in front of the group shimmered for a brief moment before the view pulled forward, and they were able to watch the tournament announcer, Marnia Viller.
Almost immediately upon hearing her voice, Deacon, Sam, and Bonehead subconsciously leaned forward and went silent, while Jass rolled her eyes and began munching from the popcorn bowl Esmerelda silently placed in between them.
"You all did so well! So well that when you turned in your Tournament Bands for point collection, we were able to extract the data and quickly make a video collage with the wonderful and amazing skills of those employed by the Iron Scales Guild's Media Team!" Marnia cheered, her voice bright and theatrical as she threw her hands up, and perfectly on cue, the massive screen behind her flickered to life.
Hundreds of clips erupted across the display and began displaying various highlights of the War of Kingdoms Linked Quest; the human and undead armies slamming into each other in brutal collision, walls of shields breaking, skeletal spearmen charging through human ranks, arrows raining down onto both sides of the army. Cadet mages standing high above as spell circles bloomed at the tips of their wands, staffs, and or hands; fire, lightning, and stone rained down from the sky.
Angels dove through black smoke, wings aflame with pure radiance as they loosed barrage after barrage of arrows and spells at the undead winged horses carrying armored undead soldiers and sent them plummeting to the ground.
Elven cadets were shown sprinting through forests, twisting between trees as emerald vines and razor-wind spells tore undead apart. Then the view cut to the plains where Liam's massive party clashed head-on with an armored human battalion headed by a lieutenant.
And for a brief few moments, Deacon blurred across the screen as a streak of crimson flame; wielding the dual short sword form of Echofrom Reliquary with Ignis Sanguinem: BloodFlame Armament cast on them and carving through the soldiers in his path.
The moment his flaming blades carved through the necks of three human soldiers and sent three helmets, and the heads in them, spinning skyward, Bjorn barked a laugh and clapped Deacon's shoulder hard enough to jostle the seat.
Deacon let out a surprised exhale through his nose, saying nothing, though the tips of his ears reddened as his friends and uncle cheered.
The collage continued, now breaking into individual highlights.
Jass, roaring, carving through five soldiers in a single arcing swing before twisting and, with a clever transition, she showed her disarmament of General Obi while Gael and three others knocked him to the ground.
Sam was calm and expressionless as he stood atop a ridge and cast volleys of Ice Spears, Earth Spears, Wind Arrows, and Flame Arrows that rained down, opening wave after wave of paths for the undead to advance.
Esmerelda, mid-air, firing conjured Wind Arrows and Ice Spears as towering Manashields shimmered into place around clusters of cadets and members of the Ravenlight Party, stopping strikes that would've killed them if she hadn't cast them.
Bonehead rushing into the fray and pulling out mortally wounded soldiers and cadets, forcing various potions down their throat and wrapping up their wounds before supplying mages with Mana Potions and swapping to launching various alchemical bombs at the human soldiers.
The collage shifted back to displaying the feats of the hundreds of other cadets.
And then, as the middle video showed Deacon quickly scaling the massive clock tower within Dawn's Breath, the arena went silent before erupting into cheers. A second later, hundreds of eruptions blasted from within Dawn's Breath, and the undead army breached the last human bastion and began their charge toward the Holy Sanctum — before everything cut to black and the spotlight snapped back onto Marnia Viller, who was smiling widely.
"That was certainly amazing! Can we have another round of applause for you!"
The audience down in the stands burst into cheers, whistling, and chanting that shook the arena. From above, the VIP Lounge Box echoed with celebration of its own as the Ravenlight Party whooped and hollered at the sight of themselves on the massive screens.
Bonehead and Jass were the loudest of the bunch; Bonehead slamming both palms on the glass while Jass pumped her fist in the air, while Bjorn quietly chuckled and lifted his manaphone, recording their unfiltered joy from his seat.
After a few long moments of roaring applause, Marnia raised her arm again.
"Now, let's get down to what you all are really here for: The Group Tournament Rewards!"
The crowd burst into cheer again, shouting out the names of the Parties that they belonged to in anticipation.
"In third place, winning a Tier 1 Guild Waystone with 261,792 Points is… Ashen Fangs! Numbering fourteen members!"
The spotlight shot across the arena and zoomed in on a cluster of fourteen cadets comprised of eight humans, five witches, and a single orc front and center, who jumped up and wrapped each other in a chaotic pile of limbs and victory cries.
"In second place," Marnia continued, voice rising with flourish, "winning a Tier 1 Guild Waystone, a Tier 2 Guild Waystone Upgrade, and full coverage costs to build or upgrade their Guild Base with 630,932 Points is… Ravenlight! Numbering five members!"
The arena lights swung back up toward the VIP lounges and landed on Ravenlight's box. Deacon, Jass, Esmerelda, and Sam sat upright and smiling while Bonehead, arms crossed, purple ice pop dangling lazily between two skeletal fingers, stared off to the side in a very poorly attempted display of disinterest as he saw that Marnia Viller was directly looking at their Party.
"And in first place," Marnia declared, her tone grand and booming, "the undisputed winners of the Group Tournament; winning a Tier 1 Guild Waystone, a Tier 2 Guild Waystone Upgrade, full coverage costs for their Guild Base, and a Year-Long Access Ticket to the Iron Scale Guild's Hunting Grounds with a total of 794,142 Points is… Noblesse Dignity! Numbering fifty members!"
The largest VIP box lit up in the center of the ceiling and spotlighted the winners of the Group Tournament.
Liam and the forty-nine other nobles in Noblesse Dignity did not cheer like many of the others; instead, they remained in their seats while smiling with composed grace and offering elegant nods to the crowd.
"Let's hear it for another round of applause for these three amazing Parties!" Marnia cheered, and the stadium responded in thunder.
"Your rewards will arrive to you all shortly after the end of the Reward Ceremony."
Without missing a beat, she pivoted and swept her other arm upward.
"Now moving onto our next section! The Solo Tournament Rewards – for those who have proven they are truly the pillars of this generation!"
The arena quieted, anticipation thick.
"In third place, with 92,214 Points, and winning a Full Equipment Upgrade Pass for 1 Full Year is… Samuel Ferros!"
Sam froze in surprise at seeing his name being shouted out and blinked owlishly before Jass and Bonehead, who gave up looking disinterested, immediately began shoving him back and forth in celebration while Deacon whooped in joy for his friend along with Esmerelda.
"In second place, with 92,214 Points, and winning a Full Equipment Upgrade Pass for 1 Full Year along with a Custom Tailored Artifact Upgrade & Enhancement, is… Liam Ross!"
Liam only bowed his head once, offering the barest of smiles toward the crowd, ignoring the confused looks of the members of his Party and the murmuring of confusion of those below – Liam Ross, who was first in their Generation, wasn't number one?
"And in first place," Marnia announced, her voice hitting that final crescendo, "with 191,587 Points, washing out everyone else and winning a Full Equipment Upgrade Pass for 1 Full Year, a Custom Tailored Artifact Upgrade & Enhancement, and an Apple of Iðunn is… Deacon Hayes!"