After Aurora successfully managed to stop Ophelia and Seth from arguing, she turned her attention back to me. "So, Lu? Which guild do you choose?"

I hesitated for a moment. I mean, I did accept Seth's offer to join Inanis, but having Ophelia also ask me to join Helianthus...that was unexpected. I had my sights set on Helianthus from the start after all.

"I'd like to think about it for a bit," I said, glancing over at each of them. "There's a lot to consider, you know?"

"Of course," Aurora nodded understandingly. "Take your time. We'll all be here."

I was a bit surprised by my sister's lack of insistence, considering she had moments ago urged me to take Seth's offer. But then again, I had known her for a long time and understood that she was always supportive of my decisions. Even when they weren't the ones she wanted me to make. That, or she was confident I'd choose Inanis.

"Well, now that that's somewhat settled," Gigi clapped her hands, seemingly eager to change the subject, "what do you all say we proceed with today's schedule? Celine and Luquier both need to be assigned to an Enigma party."

"Wait," interrupted Seth, a sly grin spreading across his face. "What if...what if we let them choose for themselves?"

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "And why would we do that, Seth? I thought you and Chronia had already determined where they were going to go."

"I didn't," Seth smiled wanly. "Chronia took control every step of the way. I was just content with letting her do all the thinking and working."

Ophelia frowned slightly. "You make it sound like I never let you have a say in our discussions, Behemoth. In truth, you essentially nodded along to anything I suggested. I even suggested we place them in more than one party, and you agreed without thinking."

Seth shrugged. "Maybe that's because I never really wanted to think about it. I just...didn't want to make a choice." He glanced over at Celine and I. "But now...I think it's only fair they get a say in it. They've earned that much, at least."

"If that was the case, then what was the point of meeting up to discuss the best parties for them to join?" Ophelia sounded fed up with Seth. "You've been nothing but wishy-washy this entire time."

"Sorry, sorry," Seth grinned. "You know how it is, though. Me, Aurora, Wrynn... we're just used to doing things on the fly."

"Well, in that case," Gigi interjected, "why don't we go ahead and tell Celine and Luquier what their party options are? That way, they can decide between themselves and then ask us for advice if they need it."

I nodded in agreement. "I second that."

"If we must," Ophelia sighed, then turned to Celine and I. "Well, initially, I- we had planned for you both to be in different parties considering the gap between your strengths. Obviously Celine is more support-oriented while Luquier is more offense-oriented. That being said, there are a total of three different rookie parties within Enigma you both have the option of choosing from."

She paused, glancing back and forth between the two of us before continuing. "The first party consists of a tanker, a support mage, and an offense-oriented DPS. They are quite well-rounded, but may not offer you as much room for personal growth as you might like."

I raised an eyebrow at this, wondering who she was talking about. Ophelia didn't seem to notice my curiosity, and continued. "The second party, on the other hand, is composed entirely of offense-oriented DPS. They are very powerful, but lack support and defense. This was the party I had originally planned for Celine to join."

She paused again, glancing at me expectantly. "The third party is very similar to the first, but with more emphasis on defense. They are in need of a dedicated DPS, and would be an excellent opportunity for you to shine, Luquier."

I nodded slowly, thinking about it. It sounded like a good fit for me, but I didn't want to make a decision just yet. "That sounds interesting," I said, looking at Celine. "What do you think?"

Celine bit her lip, clearly thinking it over. "Well," she began, "I do appreciate the offense-oriented aspect of the second party... but I'm not sure if I'd be able to keep up with them." She glanced at me, then back at Ophelia. "I think the third party you mentioned, with more focus on defense, would be a better fit for me."

I considered her words carefully. It seemed like we had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to end up now. "I think the third party sounds good too," I said to Ophelia. "I mean, I doubt we'd need the defense if I'm one-shotting everything in sight."

[Jeez... arrogant much? You would've lost to Seth if he didn't choose to take it easy.]

I ignored Sephera's message, continuing, "So, yeah, I think the third party would be a good fit for us. And who knows? Maybe with my help, Celine will finally be able to shine on the battlefield." I couldn't help but smirk at her as I said it.

Celine rolled her eyes and punched my arm. "You're not the only one who can one-shot things, you know. I just need the right opportunity." She turned back to Ophelia. "So, when do we get to meet this third party?"

"Soon, Celine," Ophelia calmly replied. "For now, we'd like to see where your skills lie currently." She glanced at me. "Or rather, I think we've yet to see how Celine fares in combat, seeing as Luquier has already demonstrated his strength."

I felt a slight thrill of anticipation at the thought of watching Celine fight. Of course, I had fought alongside her before, but she had been focused on supporting me, so I hadn't really gotten to see what she was capable of.

"I'm fine with that," Celine said, nodding. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "Then, I'll do my best to show you what I can do."

"Your opponent will be the Technomancer," Ophelia nodded towards Gigi. "If you would."

"Sure." Gigi swiped the air a couple of times, prompting Celine to mimic the same gestures. In a couple of seconds, the both of them turned into translucent forms of blue data as they were transported to the dueling realm.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Huh. So that's what everyone else sees when I'm dueling someone," I muttered to myself, watching their holograms dash into action.

I watched as Celine crouched, preparing to go on the offensive. Gigi, on the other hand, merely snapped her fingers, conjuring three golden turrets around her. They began to spin and shoot beams of energy at Celine, forcing her to dodge and weave.

Both of them were pretty close in level, with similar numbers in Health and Magic. However, possibly due to Celine investing 1000 points into Risk, her Strength and Speed were about ten-thousand points higher than Gigi's sixty-thousand, enabling her to dodge attacks relatively easily.

From what I learned the few times I fought alongside Celine, her Saint of the Phoenix Title enabled her to basically act as a walking healing beacon, with a side of fire attacks. As far as offensive strength, I assumed that Gigi and her turrets would be able to handle her, since their output seemed far greater than Celine's. However, I was soon proven wrong.

In a sudden burst of crimson flames, Celine became the aggressor, quickly closing the distance between herself and Gigi. The turrets, spinning wildly, created a maelstrom of destruction around her, but Celine was somehow able to dodge every single one with ease. Her movements were fluid and graceful, like a dancer weaving through a storm of deadly projectiles.

I blinked, seeing the unmistakable glimpse of fiery wings emitting from Celine's back as she charged towards Gigi.

"Oh? She has a transformation Skill too? Your sister's pretty impressive," I overheard Seth talking to Ophelia.

"It's not a full transformation like yours, despite her only being the only Phoenix Saint," Ophelia explained to Seth, "but it does work in a similar fashion."

Celine closed in on Gigi, who was starting to look worried as the distance between them grew shorter. The turrets continued to spin, but their attacks seemed to lose effectiveness as Celine's movements became impossible to predict.

"She's doing well in mid-ranged combat," Seth continued. "I thought you said she was more of a supporting Player?"

Ophelia shrugged. "She can be both. Celine has always been adaptable. It's one of her many strengths."

Hearing how fondly Ophelia was talking about her made me wonder just what Celine thought of her older sister for her to relate to me in my situation. While I did find it weird that they spoke to each other formally, even though they were sisters, I didn't want to pry or make assumptions. There was clearly a lot of history between them that I wasn't privy to.

"Crazy, right?" Aurora quietly said as she came to stand next to me.

I glanced at her, a bit surprised that she had joined me. "Yeah... she's pretty amazing." I nodded.

"Before you came back, I didn't really know Celine all that well. From what I saw, she was only hyped up in rumors, though in reality, she wasn't very good at clearing floors or dungeons. Her support Skills were disappointing, too," my sister continued. "But I assume around the time she met you, her abilities drastically skyrocketed, almost as if you had ignited something in her. I can't help but think your existence has an important impact on those in your life, little bro."

Her words made me think. Was it true that Celine only became this good because of me? Or was it just her natural talent? I didn't know. I only knew of the Celine I had met prior, not the Celine that Aurora had spoken of.

The duel continued, with Gigi struggling to keep up with Celine's assault. The air around them crackled with energy as they danced through their battle, both showing off their mastery of their respective arts.

"Gigi's definitely more experienced and has a higher Magic stat, but why does it seem like she's losing ground?" I murmured to myself. "Even with her turrets, Gigi shouldn't be having this much trouble..."

"Have you not seen her Title, Lu? While it's true that Celine's Title seems more fitted for long-range support, her Phoenix transformation swaps that role for a more offensive-style. Gigi's Title is pretty weak against pure offense." Aurora explained.

"Oh, what?" I took a closer look, realizing that the duel allowed me to check both Celine's and Gigi's information. I already knew what Celine's Title did, but I was curious about Gigi's, tapping on it and raising an eyebrow.

[Technomancer (S)]

[Acquired by obtaining more than 1000 Items, creating/synthesizing/destroying 1000 Items, conjuring at least 100 summons at once, & creating 50 different types of summons.]

[Effect: User’s summons granted portion of user’s stats & allows a chance to control the non-sentient summons of other users. Enables user to increase maximum Health limit via adding half the max Health from active summons, passively doubles Health regen rate, & allows user to regenerate Skill usage. Passively allows user to create inanimate objects.]

"Wait, she's like a tank support of sorts?" I was surprised. With her conjuring abilities, I had expected Gigi to be more of a damage support, though I guess it depended on what kind of summons she chose to take out.

"Something like that," Aurora shrugged. "Gigi usually handled the control of mobs, spawning an army of drones and robots to help us clear them better. While she does have some potentially strong attacks, her main strength relies on summoning familiars to help turn the tide."

As she spoke, I watched as Gigi summoned a couple of aforementioned drones along with what seemed like two golden humanoid robots, one with a futuristic sword and the other a similarly designed shield. Celine didn't seem phased, though I suspected that was how she always was as she threw bolts of bright red flames at the machines.

"Against Celine, who can switch between long-range support and mid-range damage, Gigi isn't a good match-up against the Saint," my sister finished up. "Though Gigi isn't trying her best in this fight either. Ugh, sometimes I hate how soft she can be."

I wisely decided not to point out that Seth essentially did the same thing to me.

The duel continued, with Gigi struggling to keep up with Celine's assault. The air around them crackled with energy as they danced through their battle, both showing off their mastery of their respective arts.

I was mildly surprised to see Celine perform so well in combat. Granted, I had always thought she was more of a back-line support/damage Player, so I'd have never known she was a good close-range fighter too. Her movements were graceful and fluid, her attacks precise and deadly. On the other hand, Gigi was struggling to keep up, using her conjuring abilities to summon various familiars and drones to help her defend and attack, but it wasn't enough against Celine's onslaught.

At one point, it seemed as though Celine just needed one decisive hit in order to win the duel. A white screen popped up in front of us, signaling the end of the match. Damn. Just like my match with Seth, there was no definite winner.

Celine's and Gigi's holograms slowly rematerialized as they crossed over from the dueling simulation. As the white screen faded away, Gigi slumped over against the wall, clearly exhausted from the fight. Aurora smiled at her, a look of respect in her eyes. "Good fight, Gigi. You're still one of the best."

"These new Players are so full of energy. I was actually debating going all out against Celine," Gigi panted, a small smile playing on her lips despite her exhaustion. She had a youthful charm to her, her cheeks slightly flushed from the exertion. Ah, what a goddess...

"Well done, Celine," Ophelia said as she walked up to her younger sister. "You've shown a lot of growth." I don't know which was weirder, the fact that Ophelia and Celine didn't treat each other as siblings, or the way Aurora wouldn't shut up about me being her little brother.

"Thanks, Chronia," Celine replied with a polite nod, not showing any signs of exhaustion from the fight.

"You two have a lot of promise when it comes to clearing Last Stand," Seth smiled as he joined us. "That being said, I think we have enough to give our impressions of Luquier and Celine."

I stood next to Celine as the other four conversed to themselves quietly. I couldn't help but shoot her a quick glance.

"I didn't know you could fight at close range too," I murmured to her.

"That's cause you always steal the spotlight," Celine replied with a slight smirk.

I returned her smile as we waited with bated breath to hear about our performance.