Joining A Guild

It had been about a week since the battle of 700th Stage when everyone in the game came to know the existence of a third GM skill. Since that day, I have been practically hiding from everyone in the game. Currently I was staying at Neetto's residence in the 130th Stage, since my home was queued out by players after The Cat published the info on the daily Arcadian newspaper.

The headlines read 'Union's hasty attempt on GM failed' and 'A guy taking down the GM single-handedly using an attacking shield and alternative arts off two weapons'. I still had to wonder how they found my home back in the 65th Stage where I hoped they'd forget that a clearer would be living there.

"I've got to move out. I'll find a real secluded, out-of-the-way floor where no one will find me," I muttered, as Neetto grinned from ear to ear. "C'mon, big shot don't be like that. Everyone deserves his fifteen minutes of fame. Give them a live demonstration! I'll just handle the ticket sales and—" "In your dreams!" I playfully tossed the teacup in the direction of Neetto's head, aiming a foot or two to the right, but the motion was so familiar that my Offensive Shield art kicked in. The cup flashed brilliantly and shot across the room, exploding against the wall with a deafening crash.

Fortunately, the building itself was indestructible—all that happened was the usual system warning that popped up reading IMMORTAL OBJECT —but if I'd hit any of the furniture, it probably would have been blasted to splinters. "Whoa! Are you trying to kill me?" the builder screamed. I apologized, my hand raised, and sat back down sheepishly. I didn't tell anyone where I would, yet there was something that didn't fit right.

Though officially no one knew where I was, a lot of messengers usually came to Neetto's place only to be chased out by the burly builder out of the house. "You got any idea how do these messengers know my location?" I asked the builder who was now sitting on a table in front of me. "No, but most probably some of your friends must have been helping them."

"Open your map and try to locate me." I sighed and challenged him. He pulled up his menu and opened the in-menu map, after toggling it a few times exclaimed, "Man, I know you are here but can't locate you even in the city." It was due an ability modification, also called mods. It was called 'Full-Conceal' a mod that is available when Hiding ability is completely mastered. It hides a player from his friends and enemies alike, meaning no-one would stand a chance finding me without visual confirmation and marking on the map.

"Someone must have seen me here and later sold the info." I wondered, I was in Neetto's workshop helping him out. The door clanked open, "Welcome to…" I stopped in between as I saw a burly man wearing a golden and silver metal armor with a heavy 2-H sword on his back. Certainly he was a member of the most elite guild, 'The Golden Knights'.

"Mr. Naperjet, I have come here with an invitation from our commander to join our guild." The man was another messenger with an invitation from a guild. I sighed and offered him a seat for a conversation. "May I know who are you?" "I am a member of the elite guild 'The Golden Knights' and right now I am nothing more than a messenger."

It was a well known fact that the messengers always avoided revealing their identity. "Well, you must have known that till now I have not been in any guild, do you know why?" I looked at the messenger who looked particularly troubled and broke up the minute of silence, "It goes way back to the first Stage, there I was labeled as a hoarder or as you must have heard 'The Rogue Swordsman'. Then on Stage 230, I was assigned a group of mine but later they ended up dying in battle, this event strengthened the belief that I cared only for myself. So all guilds, even yours who claim to put skill above everything else had seen me as an outcast. Now except for my skill what has caused your leader to put so much interest in me?"

"So should I take it as a no?" The messenger got up and began moving out. "Take it whatever you want, I don't care now. But your sub-leader would explain it better." The messenger went away. I don't know what would come next, but as of the moment I was the most wanted person in the game. I decided to go back to my home in 65th Stage and face everything head-on.

I messaged Chi to meet up at Volintron Castle to answer everything. I went down there putting up a black cloak over my armor and waited for Chi to arrive. She came – alone and we went inside an empty home and began our conversation. "I am ready to give you all the info I know about it, and in return I want to know two things." The Cat furrowed her brow and nodded, "Number one, how did the guild leaders find me, when I was using the best stealth to hide from the system as well? And second, why am I getting so many invitations from the guilds which once had closed their doors for me? I know it's not about the ability or my strength, I was the highest leveled player right from the start."

The Cat sighed and began, "About first, you were spotted in the 65th and the 130th Stage. We knew that all clearers including you must have a home in some city. The guild leaders had their men gone to each stage and asked a city navigational NPC to guide them to your home. After you disappeared from there, they pinned down a few friends of yours. One of your friends is in the Golden Knights; he gave the info about the builder guy saying it was the best place to look for you."

I was amazed at the revelation, I never thought that all guilds would co-operate for me. The Cat continued, "The reason for second is different for every guild. For instance, The Golden Knights has two GM level skill users and almost complete monopoly over these OP skills. The BDA however wants something to leverage the power gap between them and the Golden Knights. It's not about you particularly; it's a race for leadership amongst the clearers. Now it's your time to answer about the GM skill of yours."

"You were after this for about five years. All right, here you go." I called up my menu and set the ability screen to visible and opened the skill.

Category: Combat Name: Offensive Shield

Description: Allots active damage to the equipped shield. The shield is designated a system level 'IMMORTAL OBJECT' and its durability becomes infinite. More than one weapon art allotted and unlocked may be used simultaneously and cool-down of the art shall be reduced to zero with increase in proficiency.

Proficiency: 10.000/10.000 MASTERED

Weapon Arts allotted:

1. All Throwing Knives Arts Lv. 1 – 200

2. All Stabbing Arts Lv. 300 – 500

3. All Smashing Arts Lv. 600 – 800

4. All Piercing Arts Lv. 900 – 1,100

5. All Slashing Arts Lv. 2,300 – 3,000

6. Full Fortification Lv.4,500

7. Strike Turn Lv. 6,000

8. Duo Lv. 7,500

9. Infinite Loop Lv. 9,000

10. Solar Strikes Lv. 10,000

Class: GM User: Naperjet

Special:

ATK: +20% DEF: +50% AGI: +45

Level-up Requirement: Must use the ability to cause 10% to 60% DMG on an enemy.

After she was satisfied with the trade, I went back to my home in the 65th Stage. I wasn't there for about a week and the house was almost about to fall into the category of ghost house. 'Next time, I'll remember to put the conservation mode ON.' I thought while cleaning up the almost ghostly house, since I left in a hurry I didn't put the 'HOUSE CONSERVATION' that prevents degradation of buildings in case absence to on.

That night, I lay on the bed thinking how situations changed in these days. How an outcast like me became the most famous and sought after person. Lost completely in my thoughts, I dozed off. Next day, I was awoken by my alarm at 8 o clock. As I went to the kitchen to cook some food, I heard a knock at the door. It was Liza, and before I could ask her anything she stormed inside my home.

"What are you doing here?" Liza gave a worrisome look "You are in deep trouble…I have come with a summon from the guild's high command." I sighed and returned to the kitchen, "I am not coming, thanks for the concern. Want to have a breakfast; I am just preparing one for me?" A second later an arrow shot right past my ear and dug into the wall in front of me. I turned around and saw her summon another arrow on her bow, "Sorry, Naperjet. I have authority to use paralysis poison and drag you back to HQ."

I understood the situation and agreed, "Looks like my breakfast has to wait until I get back." She called off the arrow and hung it on her back. "Good, let's get going." She swung around and walked out of the house. I called up my home menu and toggled the bar of House Conservation. Following her to the Stage's transportation gate, I finally asked her, "Before we go, tell me why Heathway is interested in me so much."

"You must have got the answers from The Cat." She said before pushing me into the gate and called 'TRANSPORT GRANDDAME'. Granddame was the main city of the fifty-fifth floor, known as the "City of Copper." Most of the towns of Arcadian were built of whole stones and bricks, but the countless buildings of Granddame were gleaming brass. It was full of blacksmiths and engravers, and while the town boasted a considerable population, there was nothing in the way of greenery within.

Something about the city was strange, despite being the month of Braham which notably hot, Granddame was autumn cold. We crossed the transport gate square and walked down a main street made of polished brass plates riveted into place. Liza's pace was slow – maybe she was wondering about her decision to pull me here. After nearly ten minutes of winding through the towers, one came into view that was much larger than the others.

A number of silver spears jutted out from above the large front door, and a banner bearing a silver clover on a gold background hung rippling in the chill breeze. It was the headquarters of the Golden Knights, I was here a few days back recovering from my fatigue of battling the 700th Stage GM. Liza stopped in front of the building and looked up at the tower. "Before this, our base was just a tiny little house in a remote town on the 234th stage. We used to complain about how cramped it was. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing we've come a long way since then…but I hate this town. It's so cold…"

"Let's get this over with and find something hot to eat, then." I laughed off remembering my missed breakfast. "Is eating all you think about?" She laughed, swinging her hand over and lightly squeezing the tips of my fingers. She began striding toward the tower, and I hurried to keep up. We climbed a wide staircase to a large, open doorway, flanked by soldiers in heavy armor with frighteningly long spears. As the clicking of Liza's boots drew nearer, they raised their weapons and saluted with a clank. "Keep up the good work." She returned a crisp salute with one hand, walking briskly.

I hurriedly followed Liza past the guards and into the tower. The first-floor lobby of the tower was made of the same golden brass as the rest of the city, and it served as a giant stairwell. There was no one inside. I crossed the floor, a finely crafted mosaic of different kinds of metal, feeling that the building was somehow even colder than the rest of the town. The spiral staircase started at the far end of the lobby.

We climbed the stairs, our clanging footsteps echoing throughout. The tower was tall enough that a person with a weaker strength stat would give up halfway. We passed many doorways, and just when I began to wonder how much farther we could possibly go, Liza stopped. We were in front of a nondescript metal door. "Is this it?"

"Yep." Liza nodded hesitantly. But she eventually steeled her nerves, gave the door a high-pitched knock, and then opened it without waiting for an answer. I had to squint at the overwhelming light that poured through the doorway. It was a large, circular room that took up the entire floor of the tower. All the walls were made of clear glass. The gray light that streamed inside painted the entire room in a drab monotone.

A large, semicircular desk was placed in the middle of the room, surrounded by five chairs, each of which seated a man except one. I didn't recognize the two on the far sides, but the middle-ones were not to be recognized. It was Heathway the paladin with GM skill 'Strong-Arms' and Asrivast with GM skill 'Twin Sword'. I was wondering about the vacant position when Liza left my side and took the place, 'Vice-Commander' I thought.

"I have come to say the last time that I am not interested in joining any guild." I began but Heathway stopped me "There is no need of rushing to the conclusion. Let's have a little talk here." I didn't like the shine behind his eyes; it's true that my liking of him has been reduced over the years. "All right, go on." I was really feeling annoyed.

Heathway began, "You did ask the messenger why I am suddenly so much interested in you. Well here's your answer. The players down here call us the strongest guild and consider the members elites; but our abilities are always stretched to the breaking point. I decided to invite you when I first heard the report that you defeated two of our members in a many-on-one duel. And then came the news of a GM skill user who can attack using a shield, this had made my decision firm to recruit you."

I interrupted, "Is it? Or is the reason to dominate the frontline by monopolizing all GM skill users?" The burly man in the rightmost chair bolted out of his seat at my curt reply, his face under a dark cloak. But Heathway held up a hand calmly. "Let me be clear then, your future in the guild will be decided by a duel, with reverse conditions. If you want to leave, you will have to win against the top tier of the guild. Me, Asrivast and Liza, but…but…but if you lose to anyone of us; you'll have to join the guild."

All other council members were shocked with his disclosure, so was I. Heathway was a strange and mysterious man from the time I knew him, all the decisions in the guild was done by a vote where he always refrained to vote himself and used to say, "As a leader I want that my sub-ordinates have no fear in presenting their views and I must be impartial. So I decide not to vote." I recollected myself and looked into the cold eyes of his, "All right, our swords will decide it."

Heathway twitched his brow, and nodded. Suddenly Liza stood up, "Commander with your permission I would like to forfeit the battle." Heathway didn't change his expression and asked the reason, to which Liza said, "I have battled him a lot many times and got nothing other than defeat, and now with his GM skill it would be unfair for me to battle him. I think it should be the two of you to battle. It would be a fair fight between GM skill users."

He wondered for some time and asked, "Is there any objections." And everyone present there including me nodded in a 'NO'. "All right the battles will be held in two days time in the sparring ground of the city." Heathway announced and everyone left. Liza held my hand and dragged me to my home in 65th Stage.

"You jerk! You stupid, stupid jerk!" I was desperately trying to calm Liza down. "You could have just said yes to join the guild. Why did you make that bold dueling move?" She was sitting on the armrest of my rocking chair, thumping me with her little fists. "Sorry, I said I was sorry! I just couldn't help it…" I grabbed her wrists and held them lightly to make her stop.

With this method of venting denied her, she settled on puffing out her cheeks instead. It was hard not to laugh at the difference between this Liza and the one who was all business a few hours ago. "Don't worry about it. We'll be safe—it'll be inside the city boundaries after-all. Besides, it's not like I'm guaranteed to lose…"

She groaned and crossed her slender legs, still sitting on the armrest. "When I saw your Offensive Shield in action, it seemed like you were on another dimension entirely in terms of power. But that goes for the commander's Strong-Arms ability, too…His aura of invincibility practically destroys the game balance. I honestly don't know which of you will win. Besides, what happens if you lose? You'll be forced to join the guild!"

"Hey what's all about that commander stuff, to get to him I must defeat Asri first." She puffed away and replied, "I know that you will win against him and his 'Twin Swords' but the commander is somewhat different. He won against him in a similar duel and damaged his swords to the extent that it took the guild blacksmiths three sacks full of repairing materials to repair them."

"Depending on how you think of it, that might satisfy my goal as well." "Huh? Why?" I had to force myself to continue. "I mean, as long as I'm with you…that's all I need." Previously, you couldn't have held me upside down and shaken those words out of me. Liza's eyes went wide with surprise, and her face blushed red so fast it was practically audible. As the pause stretched on, she got up from her chair and went to stand by the window. I'd told her the honest truth, but I still didn't want to join a guild. 'I won't go down that easily', I told myself. I got up and joined Liza at the window. After a few moments, I felt her head rest lightly against my shoulder.

The day of duel was today. Granddame was bustling more than ever. The place of duel was a stadium like building in the north of the city.

"Fire-grilled corn, just ten Dor!"

"Nice cold white ale here!"

The entrance to the coliseum was buzzing with merchants hawking food items to the lengthy lines of visitors hoping to see the event. "Wh-what's going on here?" I asked Liza, completely stunned. "I…don't know…"

"Hey, are those your guild members selling tickets over there?! Why has this turned into a huge event?!" Liza stammered "I…don't know…" "This wasn't what Heathway was planning all along, was it…?" "I'm guessing this is The Cat's handiwork. I tell you, info brokers know their business and spread every great news." She chuckled. My shoulders slumped. "Let's run away, Liza. We'll find a nice secluded little village down around the lower stages and tend to some fields."

"I wouldn't mind," she said, straight-faced. "But I have a feeling that if you run away from all of this, you'll be absolutely infamous. Well, you made your bed, and now you have to sleep in it. Oh, hi Chi!" I raised my head and saw a girl with cat-like ears and whiskers, it was Chi The Cat. "Thank ye kindly, thank ye kindly!" she called out, a wide grin plastered across her face. "We're doing a brisk business on account of you, Naperjet! The only thing that'd make this better is if you decided to hold it every month!" "In your dreams! Chi."

"Come, the changing room is right this way. Go on, my friend!" I dejectedly followed after the girl. My mood was quickly growing fatalistic. The changing room was a small chamber that bordered the arena grounds. Chi showed me to the door, then said something about adjusting odds and disappeared. I couldn't even muster up a snappy reply. The stadium must have been full, since I could hear the crowd from there. Once we were alone, Liza squeezed my wrist in both hands and looked me straight in the face. "Even in a one-hit match, you have to watch out for the critical hit on a heavy attack. There are aspects to his sword skills that even I don't know about. If you feel endangered at any time, just resign. And if you push yourself like the last time, I'm holding it against you!" "Worry about them, not me." I gave her a wry grin and patted her shoulders. On top of the distant thunder of the crowd, an amplified voice was announcing the start of the match.

I came out in the circular arena. It was filled with spectators numbering in thousands. I could see Neetto, his friends and Koruko in the front seat cheering for me. I stopped right at the center of the arena and Asri came from the opposite side. We both have seen each other's GM skill with our own eyes and knew each others' strengths. "Never thought, I would have to fight you Asri." He grinned "Aah…I just want a good battle. Don't hold back."

I replied with thumbs up and Asri sent a duel request in half HP mode. I accepted and a count-down of one minute appeared in the middle of us. I took a deep breath and maintained my cool, 'Asri used two swords together. I can easily win if I use both my abilities but would open up for a counter from Heathway. I must save my GM skills for him and not use them on Asri.' I was lost in thought when Asri charged upon me and came back only after suffering a hit.

"Had it been single strike, I would've won already." Asri taunted me. "Yeah whatever!" I shrugged him off and took the semi-defensive stance I usually had before battle. His swords glowed bright and it was identified as 'Circular Charge'. I put my shield in front to tank up the attack and as the attacks' last hit came, I hit the sword away with my shield and thrust the sword into his defenseless torso.

Our HP's were now even at nearly 10% down from full. I initiated the Hyper Vortex weapon art but Asri parried it with extreme precision and then initiated a heavy damage art 'Opal Beat', I again deflected it with my shield but still had my HP go down by a few percent due to the recoil. "Your speed and defense is so strong. Why don't you use the GM skill of yours?"

I smiled and pulled my sword at my shoulder, initiating the Sonic Dive I smirked, "I have won the duel already." The art began and I dived towards him with astonishing speed. Asri used his two swords to form a cross block and my victory was assured. My sword hit the cross right at the center and again the same phenomena happened that was part of my rogue legacy – Weapon Destruction.

My Caladbolg felt a jerk and passed right through his twin sword breaking them, his light armor and dealt a heavy blow to him. His HP began plummeting and went into the yellow warning zone and lost 50% of total health. The system declared me the winner and from the corner of my eye, I saw Asri looking at the parts of his swords, half of those in his hands and rest flung in the ground.

As the swords disintegrated into countless fragments, Asri turned towards me, "How'd you know beforehand that I was going to lose." I smiled and replied, "Liza told me that on your battle with Heathway, he almost broke your swords and you had those repaired in urgency. Well at the last parry, I saw that the sword had weakened and the cracks had shown up. So a heavy blow from Caladbolg was enough to break them apart."

He turned away saying, "The Rogue Swordsman needs to use his shield to attack as if the legendary sword does less damage." And moved out of the arena, I too got out of the arena happy about the victory. Liza met me in the changing room and congratulated me on my victory against Asri. "Well, it's about half an hour before I face Heathway. Can you tell me more about him?" Liza thought for a while and sat beside me, "Well, his axe is an L-class weapon with very high STR requirements. His paladin armor gives him excellent defense and agility. And just like you, he is fond of breaking opponent's weapons."

I knew she was taunting me, but I ignored it and began to collect the info she gave, "Strong defense…Excellent speed…Overwhelming attack. He chose the correct build-up for being invincible. Strong attacks will be nullified by defense; his speed will cancel any defensive advantage." She continued, "And you are not a fast attacker." I sighed and realized how much of a fool I was that I challenged him for a duel. "Hi Naperjet worried about your spar with Commander." Asri entered the room.

"Are you here to tease me that I may have won from you but not from Heathway?" I was irritated already with myself. "Don't lose cool, I have some info that might help you stand better against him." I gave him a skeptical look and then asked him to continue.

My duel with Heathway started at about 11 in the morning. When I entered the arena, I found him waiting there and the crowd was much larger than before. "Man, I never thought that I would ever attract so much attention." I whined and Heathway grinned, "May be you should start collecting appearance fee from now." He manipulated the menu and sent me a duel request. I accepted the duel under the victory condition of First Critical Hit or better known as First Strike.

We were at ten feet apart waiting for the timer to go zero. Asri had given me tips about the commander, 'It won't be easy but you must overwhelm his defense by a multi-pronged attack and through any means you must get him a de-buff effect. It is the only way you can win.' I noticed the timer go zero and the word 'DUEL' flashed.

He charged towards me with his battle-axe and I used my shield to block and parry his strikes. No doubt the attacks were quite heavy but they were extremely swift, I had almost no chance of a counter-attack. Continuous defense too had a price and moreover I was an attacker not a tank. He initiated a heavy three hit combo Triple Chop.

To counter it, I reinforced my shield with support from my shoulder. On the third slash, I thrust my sword towards him right at the moment the axe was to hit me; using the axe's handle as a guide and drove it deep into his shoulder while his axe went into my upper arm. I pushed myself away from him and regained the distance. I lost nearly 5% of my HP while he lost about 3% as I was hit by an active art and my attack was a simple thrust.

"Your control over the weapon is admirable. A simple thrust attack would cost me so much HP." Heathway smirked and I replied, "Your attack is overwhelming." 'Now, I must use it.' I thought and decided to let go of all defense for attack and mobility. I initiated my Offensive Shield's weapon art 'Infinity Loop' and brought out my dagger.

The shield flew towards the outer-rim of the arena and hit the boundary of the arena. I charged upon Heathway and utilized the same strategy as I used on Arthur the GM. Initiating alternating weapon arts with the dagger and sword, I bore down on Heathway who was now defending against the three pronged attack. It was just like Asri told me, a multi-pronged attack to overwhelm his defenses.

Though some stray hits from his axe cost me quite some HP, I was gaining the advantage, though the decisive or critical hit won't be counted from my shield I must wait unless his safe-zone HP runs to 10% or in red zone. As his HP ran into yellow, he pushed me away gaining a meter distance and commented, "Even your friend Asri couldn't have me fight so hard. I must show you my full ability."

I called back my shield and began wondering, 'He is a total warmonger, what else could he have hidden so far.' "Congratulations Naperjet, you'll get the rank of a senior member right upon your induction to the guild; for making me use it." Saying this he pulled his axe apart and it split into axes with single blades.

"Whaaat?" I almost screamed in shock, I nearly forgot the agitation I felt when he taunted me about joining the guild. "Huh…If that's so then I have a better advantage, you won't be able to use any weapon art due to irregularity in the equipped status of your weapon." But he just smiled, "You're so much eager to getting to conclusion." And the axes shone bright red on both hands. "Weapon Art" I was utterly shocked with what I saw and I'm sure that so was the public.

It was the seven hit massive-damage art Tornado. I barely avoided the slashes from the axe pair, a total of fourteen. It wasn't any Intel that was saving me, it was just my instincts that helped me brave those slashes that would otherwise have me outmatched. I recollected myself and tried to calm down, initiating the trusted Infinity Loop.

This time however, it was less effective but still I was reducing his HP along with losing mine at an alarming rate. I unleashed the heavy damaging Hyper Vortex and began altering the alignment little so that my art doesn't cancel but Heathway is caught in surprise. It worked and I had his HP at 15% while mine was at 35%.

I leapt back and initiated Sonic Dive, a long ranged charging art. Though Heathway stopped my charge by using both axes, I slashed him nearly half-dozen times with the dagger I had bringing his HP to 11%. I had both his axes blocked with my weapons and saw from the corner of my eye the approaching shield that was speeding up ready for the final strike.

If the shield happens to hit him, it will no doubt make the HP fall into the red and I'll emerge victorious. But something happened that was beyond explanation. My shield flew right through him, or as I felt but sensing my surprise he again unleashed the Tornado art. I was thinking about that when the art began. I couldn't evade the storming axe so I decided to parry.

Despite my high proficiency in parrying, I could only block ten strikes and the rest four hit me perfectly and my HP fell into red. The battle mode disengaged and the roar of the crowd rushed back into my ears, but I was still dumbfounded. "Naperjet!" Liza ran over and helped me up. "Y…yeah…I'm all right."

She looked pensively into my slackened face. I'd lost… I still couldn't believe it. That incredible speed by which Heathway managed to avoid my flying shield at the end was beyond the ability of any player—of any human being. It was as though his impossible speed actually broke his virtual model for an instant. I looked up at Heathway, who was standing at a slight remove. Despite his victory, his face was sharp. Those metallic eyes fixed upon me for a moment, and then the golden paladin spun around without a word, striding through the storm of cheers to his waiting room.

Asri came up behind, "Congratulations! You have now officially joined the Golden Knights guild as a senior member." I was confused, shocked, irritated and annoyed at the same time. I left the arena and headed back to my home. I was given a week's time before I would be on official guild duty and I spent most of the time wondering, 'was it a glitch, a mod in his Strong-Arms ability or a property of his weapons.'