Danika was distracted by ShinZing's sharp smile, and so she wasn't looking at Quicksilver when the nadia replied haughtily, "That remains to be seen."

"What else does it depend on?" Danika asked warily, turning her attention back to the nadia. She wasn't sure she wanted to accept someone who would ask if Endless Song was penniless anyway.

"That's none of your business!" the little assassin snapped. She suddenly seemed to realize that she needed them to approve her application if she wanted to join, and added more mildly, "I mean, I don't need you to try to meet my requirements, or promise me anything. I just want to understand the guild's situation. I thought Endless Song's decision to build a performing venue in the City of Sand was interesting, since Underneath announced right after that that they'll hold a concert within 'Living Jade Empire', and that all of their members are playing the game."

"Oh, you're a fan of Underneath?" Danika asked, with another glance at ShinZing.

"They are pretty interesting aren't they?" Quicksilver hedged. "I think they are very good at finding unique opportunities to promote themselves, and it's really impressive that they are actually maintaining their sales after switching to a smaller production company."

Danika gazed at the nadia with a confused expression, but ShinZing's smile widened and warmed. "So you're hoping that you'll find an opportunity to approach them, if you're part of Endless Song when they do their VR performance here this fall?" he suggested.

"I…" Quicksilver hesitated.

ShinZing asked blandly, with his professionally friendly smile in place, "What if I tell you that I'm Aichi Shinichi and you've already obtained the opportunity, and don't need to join Endless Song?"

Quicksilver stared at him blankly for a moment, and then her eyes widened. Her cheeks went pink, and her tension was displayed in her uptight posture. The changes were so subtle that Danika was almost certain her player was using a full VR system. Quicksilver's gaze moved to ZipZing, and Danika simply nodded.

"Oh," Quicksilver replied. The single short word contained an astonishing amount of disappointment. She didn't question whether ShinZing was telling the truth, and she obviously wasn't pleased by the news, even though her blush would normally indicate pleased embarrassment to Danika.

This time ShinZing was the one who looked confused, but Danika asked hesitantly, "Were you hoping to profit from the concert somehow? Or hoping that we are generally involved in game real estate development?"

Quicksilver looked at her helplessly, and then looked at ShinZing. "I was hoping to get my girls the chance to perform in the new venue before Underneath," she admitted ruefully. "But if it belongs to Underneath, that's not going to happen is it?"

"Why were you trying to join Endless Song?" ShinZing asked with surprising gentleness.

Quicksilver's shoulders straightened and she declared, "I thought that if I could personally contribute a lot toward Endless Song's projects, then I could ask for the favor. The Traveling Merchant told me that the guild is very supportive of its members, and has a lot of influence with many powerful figures throughout 'Living Jade Empire'."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Danika couldn't help grinning at the woman. With the Jade Empress and the top two programmers from the Seventh in their guild, their history of direct dealings with the Gods, and 'the great bard' writing songs about them that could be played by almost anyone with a musical skill within the game, a lot of influence could be considered putting it mildly.

Quicksilver looked confused by her grin, but before Danika could explain, ShinZing held out his hand and said, "Then join us. We currently have a mission to gather two thousand silver, gold, and copper Jewel Scarab Beetle wings."

The silver clad nadia had a dazed expression as her hand reached for the pixie's. She glanced at ZipZing again.

Danika nodded and agreed, "Yeah. MatchlessMinion is in charge of the construction project, by the way. And we really are poor, but only because we've spent everything."

"ZipZing is an expert at spending everything, in game," ShinZing said teasingly. "Her character is always low on consumables."

Danika opened her mouth to protest that she wasn't always the only one who used her supplies, but Quicksilver spoke up first. "Invested. When you tell people that you've invested everything, they know that you really believe in your project." Danika blinked as she added, "And very few people maintain different spending habits for their real and virtual resources, so I think you're going to be a pretty interesting person to get to know Captain ZipZing."

"Oh?" Danika replied hesitantly. She glanced at ShinZing again, she really wanted to ask what had made him change his mind and approve Quicksilver, but sending a message in front of the nadia would be too obvious.

--

The three tiny characters from Endless Song skirted the edge of the rainforest that snuggled into the hills around the delta that cradled the City of Cyan. Despite her shiny outfit, Quicksilver was the least visible one. ZipZing could go completely invisible if she needed to, but she was only using her Stealth skill for now, since she was trying to impart it to ShinZing.

ShinZing sparkled brightly as he attempted to mimic ZipZing's movements and increase the chances that her skill impartation would succeed.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be trying to learn my invisibility spell instead, now that you're on a magic path?" Danika questioned.

Quicksilver didn't ask anything, but her eyes were bright and attentive as she observed everything, and ShinZing reminded Danika calmly, "The learning boost from my reincarnation will let me master my old skills far more quickly than a new spell."

A large bird suddenly swooped toward him, as though it had spotted an especially juicy bug. ShinZing drew the tiny legendary sword on his back with practiced ease, and sliced toward the bird. A single wind slash sliced the bird's head right off.

Danika came to a halt mid air and stared as the bird's body dropped out of the air in a flutter of feathers. "We could have scared it off," she objected mildly.

"How can you have such a powerful strike at such a low level?" Quicksilver asked with interest. "Does your sword boost it?"

The little nadia assassin joined ShinZing in collecting feathers and talons, and didn't seem at all surprised when he sliced the remains into small pieces and tossed them into the surrounding underbrush as he explained, "It does, but I also get a boost just from being a pixie, since it's an air based attack."

"It seems like the sword was a better investment for the guild than I expected," Quicksilver said thoughtfully. "I didn't expect you to be able to one shot anything like that when you're still a novice, even if you are the guild's Conductor."

"What?" Danika asked blankly.

ShinZing eyed the nadia thoughtfully and asked, "You also have appraisal skills?"

Quicksilver nodded, and told them, "Even though most assassins in this game look down on thieves for some reason, their skills are pretty useful and there's quite a bit of overlap. I'm almost purely stealth based, so being able to gather information about my target's equipment gives me an extra edge."

"ShinZing's sword lists a value?" Danika asked with interest. Her own appraisal skill was limited to currency and the legendary weapons were 'cursed' and couldn't be stolen or transferred.

"Two million, with only two attributes, so they must be really powerful ones. Even if it was a quest reward, haven't you ever had it appraised?" Quicksilver asked in a scandalized tone.

"Yes," ShinZing replied with amusement.

"Why does it even have a value if it can't be sold?" Danika objected.

"It can't be sold? It's cursed?" Quicksilver asked.

"I always figured that it was what someone could sell it for after I died if I didn't revive, but now I don't know. And yeah, all of the Legendary weapons act like curse bound items as far as I know," ShinZing answered them both.

Danika suddenly spotted a glimmer of gold among the needles of the tree in front of her, and darted forward. She lifted the shiny beetle in her claws, verified that it really was a jewel scarab with her identify animal skill, and announced with triumph, "Found one!"

"Only nine hundred and ninety nine to go," ShinZing replied with amusement.