The next day, school nearly passed in the blink of an eye, only slowing down around lunch. We gathered in our club room as usual, where Ellie then told us that she wouldn't be able to join us again until Saturday.

“We'll have to record the fights for you again!” Andrea smiled.

“Ehh, but there's only a few more I really want to see, so don't stress over it.” the other girl replied.

“It's starting later as well, isn't it? Like around ten in real-time,” Andrea then noted.

“I think so, yeah,” I nodded. “There's only thirty-two fights after all. And after the eighth match on Saturday, the victors of that round will face off to end the tournament.”

“Hmm...” Mary sighed. “I think Angelfire and Timidator are the only two left besides Lana that we really know.”

“It got super pared down after the Grand Brawl anyway, but yeah.” Ellie said. “I think Angelfire ended up with that Valkrysti character tonight.”

“I know Mad Dog is gonna fight a druid-type, I think... that should be interesting.” I said, taking a drink as I pondered how such a fight might go.

“And Timidator issued a challenge to Myanihia.” Ellie told us.

“Really?” Rachel wondered.

“Heh, I was there when he sent it, and of course it got accepted seconds later. That person is so hard to get.” she returned, shaking her head.

“Hmm...?” my girlfriend remarked, then turned to me. “We're showing Belle and Lysandra the houses when we get on, right? Before the tournament, that is.”

“Eh? Oh, right,” I remembered.

It had already been announced that the tournament would start later on this day before we logged out last night, so we decided to take that time and show our new guildmates the houses we had. Belle had agreed instantly, and Lysandra nodded her head a moment later, gently smiling. It feels like ages since we were at either of them, I thought to myself.

“Anyway...” Ellie then began, affecting a sly grin and looking over at Andrea. “So what was in the note?” she asked the red-haired girl, who immediately blushed and looked away.

“N-nothing...” she said in an unusually shy tone.

“Hmm?” Anhe remarked as we all looked at her curiously.

“Note?” Mary wondered. Rachel then smiled.

“Oh! It's from him, isn't it?” she said.

“R-Rachel!” Andrea returned with a hesitant laugh.

“Oh! Rachel knows too!” Ellie beamed.

“I mean, he came to the house--”

“R-R-R-Rachel!!” Andrea stammered anxiously.

“What? He's a nice guy, you should say yes!” my girlfriend remarked, and Andrea turned as red as her hair.

“Andi!!” Ellie exclaimed. “He asked you out?!”

“Y-yes... yes he did,” the other girl said with a laugh.

“What did you say?!”

“I-I haven't answered yet! I mean, it's the first t-time... th-that a guy...” she stammered again, blushing furiously.

“Of course you have to say yes!” Ellie retorted, gently shaking her.

“Ugh, geeeez! Elisabeth Drew!” the red-haired girl sighed.

“Andrea Paige!” the other girl smirked back, still gently shaking her friend.

“Wh-who are we talking about anyway?” I wondered.

“Oh! Thomas Matthews, the runner-up for class president next year, chess extraordinaire and amateur magician who got on to a couple late shows recently!” Ellie said excitedly.

“H-heh? Magician, huh?” I remarked with interest.

“I m-mean... I-I-I d-don't... dislike him...” Andrea remarked demurely, still faintly blushing as she spoke.

“See?!” Ellie poked her.

“Has this been a thing for a while?” I quietly asked Rachel.

“I think Ellie even set it up, behind the scenes or so,” she nodded.

“Hmm...? So she can be subtle when she wants to be!” I softly grinned back, and Rachel quietly giggled, nodding back. “Hmm? He plays chess... and he's dealt with the media... wouldn't that kind of qualify him to be a part of our club?” I said in a louder voice. Andrea hiccuped and gulped, turning red again.

“Heh...? There's you coming up with a nice idea again! Twenty points!!” Ellie grinned. “Come on, you play chess too, and Mary does also, don't you, Mary?” the blonde girl continued.

“I have a couple of times, yes. I don't have a problem with more members... but that doesn't really have anything to do with him going out with Andrea, does it?” the older girl returned with a grin.

“Oh, true!” Ellie nodded, and then began gently shaking Andrea again. “Andiiiiii... go out with him!!”

“M-m-m-maybe...” the other girl replied, and then Ellie patted her shoulder and sat back into her seat.

“Good enough!” she beamed as Andrea gave her a look that was both grumpy and amused at the same time.

“You two are so fun!” Anhe said with a giggle, and the rest of us laughed as well.

“Aren't they though?” Rachel agreed. Andrea then coughed, recovering herself a bit, and resumed her lunch.

“Hah... we'd better hurry up. Lunch is flying by,” Mary said as she looked over at the clock.

We took her advice, finishing up with lunch and then heading out to get ready for afternoon classes. There was nothing of any real note that happened for the rest of our school day, except that our theater teacher announced that tryouts would start next week and would reflect on our mid-term grade. Which got some of us, including yours truly, to start paying a bit more attention to the musical in question. After school was over we headed on home, promising to meet over video-call for homework before heading into Panarena--as was usual for us.

***

When I had gotten through my usual afternoon routine and dinner had been eaten, I made my way upstairs to head into the game for the night. Ariana arrived in-world just as I did, and we found the two older girls waiting for us in the room, Belle as excited as she could be and Lysandra -- well, she was probably excited also, it just didn't show as much.

“Hey!” the pixie-girl said as we materialized. “So I guess we have practically the whole day, huh?”

“Until four Panarena time, ten in real life.” I nodded.

“Hmm... eight whole hours,” Lysandra remarked, and then stood up. “The tele-pad station is near the arena; come on, I'll show you.” she said, and the four of us headed out, leaving a note for our other three members who were showing up tonight.

First, we went to Queen's Haven Estate. I don't know if it was because we were in the area or if it was some algorithmic compulsion laid upon him, but we found that Dracuoatlax had stopped by for a visit, the golden-red dragon looking almost pleased to see us.

“I see you still live,” he said to us as he sat himself down to talk with us face to face, “And that your company grows.”

“It's true,” I nodded back to him.

“I came by for a visit to this place on instinct; I am glad I have. How goes the Tournament in Kingsmark?” the dragon asked.

“Th-that's an amazing NPC-AI,” Belle remarked softly, and Ari nodded.

“It... has been a mixed bag of defeat and victory,” I said with a wry grin.

“Hmm...” Dracuoatlax said in a disproving manner. “It is a wide world, after all; but I expect the master who tamed me without bloodshed to manage something as trivial as winning a tournament.” he said with a cunning look.

“I'll do my best.” I replied, and he grunted in approval.

“Fyu and I have conversed; he speaks highly of you. This is good. I shall return to my abode for now, but I look forward to our next meeting. Mayhaps even a battle together?” the dragon said with a gleam in his eyes.

“We'll definitely be counting on you in the days after the Tournament, Dracuoatlax.” I replied, reaching over to touch his fore-claw.

“I am pleased. Then I bid you farewell, for the present,” he said, and then took off into the air once more, heading for the Torching Mount that was his home.

“I totally forgot you girls tamed a dragon.” Lysandra said with a stunned expression.

“It's been a wild few days, huh?” Ariana remarked, and she nodded.

Fyu Dongtian was also pleased to see us, as were our NPC staff and guards. The older girls very much enjoyed our seaside manor estate, Lysandra gazing out towards the Jade Sea for a few moments at one point and Belle happily exploring every inch of the main building.

“It's a spacious place, huh?” Lysandra said later as we shared some tea inside.

“Definitely,” Ari agreed. “I can't wait for the winter-quests so we can get more cute decorations!”

“Hmm... maybe I should work on my crafting skills and make some... if you like,” the other girl said.

“Oh! Absolutely! I'd love to see what you can make!” Ariana implored her.

“Then I'll see what I can do,” Lysandra smiled back.

“It's certainly regal and splendid!” Belle remarked as she took a sip of tea, having changed to human-size for a bit. “I can see why this is going to be the main estate. It's on an excellent spot,” she observed.

“It really is,” I nodded. “We're near a trade town, we can make a little trade outpost of our own if we want, Stormwraith Hold and the Firelands aren't too far away, and we have the Jade Sea nearby for a harbor, if we get ships or something.”

“Ships are definitely gonna be a big part of the next competition, which is going to be more of an on-going challenge than an actual event,” Lysandra nodded. “But you have a huge bonus already.” she said with a wink.

“Hmm?” Ari and I both wondered.

“The dragon, sweeties. Dracuoatlax.” Belle clarified for us.

“Ahh! I get it!” I smiled at once.

“Lana?” Ari wondered.

“Air superiority!” I said to her.

“Oh! True!” she nodded.

“Mm! That was good!” Belle said as she finished her tea, reverting to her normal size. “Lovely! What about the other place? Or do we have time?”

“Five hours.” Lysandra reported.

“Goodie!”

“Hotspring?” Ari said to me.

“Hotspring.” I returned with a nod.

A few minutes later, we moved on to show them Cloverbell, ending up at -- you guessed it. The hotspring. Belle, in her pixie form, floated on the surface lightly or swam around in the warm water, content as could be. The rest of us bunched up together, almost falling asleep in the soothing sensation of the spring. Fortunately Belle had set an alarm for us, and it jolted us awake.

“Ah! That means we have an hour left... ahh, this thing is always soo good... I hate to leave it!” Ariana said as we got out.

“Right?” I agreed with her.

“That was definitely too good.” Lysandra nodded as well.

“Too true!” Belle nodded. We dried off, redressed ourselves, and then returned to Harmonia City through the wayport.

“Still... three hours might have been too much,” Lysandra said with a faint grin as we stepped back into the capital of Harmonia.

“Ah-heh, probably true...” I agreed. As we got to the arena, we saw Maryn, Heali, and Anhe waiting for us, the latter waving when she saw us. Heali and Maryn turned to look, and the three of them came to meet us halfway.

“How was the tour?” Heali asked.

“I could live there forever!” Belle replied at once.

“They were lovely; I'll be glad to get back to them once this is over.” Lysandra answered in a softer voice.

“So will we,” our shield-user returned with a smile.

“Come to think of it, are any of your wager-marks still going?” Healina wondered as we made our way towards the colossal arena.

“Hmm... besides that person,” Lysandra replied, “There's Valkrysti... and that's it, unless I missed Skeletor surviving one of his matches as well.”

“Was he still around?” I wondered.

“Hmm... Ironsides beat him, I think.” Ari recalled.

“Oh right,” I nodded.

“So... two.” Lysandra remarked, her expression distant. Then she turned back to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Rayna. You know about their skills by now, this late in the game, and you know they also work on female players.” she told me, and I nodded.

“I'm not sure how to win if she tries any of those Siren Skills on me,” I returned.

“You're not gonna thank me much, but I was able to break free from her once in the Borderlands,” she said.

“Heh? Of course I'd thank you if you gave me a hint to break out of that daze!” I returned.

“Bite your tongue. Hard.” she told me.

“Gyeck...” I recoiled slightly.

“Told you.” she grinned.

“Anything preventative?” I returned in a semi-grumpy tone.

“Not that I know about,” she replied, scratching her head. “B-Belle, what do you think?” she turned to our smallest member, who frowned for a moment.

“I was so focused on debuffing her that I forgot to buff myself in that fight. There's a pixie skill that gives strong resistance to all Siren-type skills, and immunity if you're a female; I can make it a potion, but it will only last for fifteen minutes.” she said, holding up a finger in warning as she mentioned the last part.

“Tricky.” Lysandra nodded.

“That's half the length of the match, but with two assassins it shouldn't last longer than five.” Maryn said. “What do you need for it?”

“A bunch of rare herbs from the Marshes of the Wyrd, some special salt from the Mines of Mordune, and a flower from Serenade Hollow.” she said with a wry grin.

“Where in the heck are the Mines of Mordune?” I wondered.

“Mines of Mordune are in Memphani, Lans,” a familiar voice said. Tyman was there, with a couple of his guildmates. “What's that y'all saying about salt? I got some here; dunno why the hell I have it, though,” he remarked, holding out a bag.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“We want to make a special potion so Lana stands a chance against Rayna's special skills,” Ariana said to him.

“Hrrn; yo, here! I got five more anyway.” he said tossing us the bag.

“Heh? Oh, thanks!” I smiled as I caught it.

“Yo! One of us gotta win this thing, Lans!” he said, gently bumping my shoulder. “What all else you need?”

“I think I actually have several rare herbs from our time in the Wyrd... which ones did you need, Belle?” Healina said as she brought up her inventory list.

“Hmm... fire-thistle, mud-flower... grenblu root, and... oh! Sun bloom.” Belle told her.

“Phew! Lucky!” Healina said, transferring her the items in question as I transferred the salt to her.

“Nice.” Tyman nodded.

“That Serenade Hollow flower is a different question, though...” Ari remarked.

“Hey, boss two, didn't we find some weird flower when we were helping Grimclaw back a couple weeks ago?”

“That damn ugly thing? I still got it, hoping someone knew what the hell this wack plant was,” he said, pulling it out of his inventory. It... certainly did look ugly. I won't torture you with the specifics, but needless to say, we all recoiled a bit.

“Hm, hm, yep, that's it.” Belle nodded.

“You guys are life-savers.” I said, putting a hand on Ty's shoulder.

“No prob! Just go easy on us when the guild competition comes up!” he smiled, patting my shoulder. “Don't owe me a thing! Just buy drinks tonight!” he called.

“So we do owe you something,” I called back in a flat tone, but I was grinning. I heard him laugh, and then I transferred 'that damn ugly thing', as Ty called it, to our pixie.

“Won't be but a jiff!” she said, and, true to her word, in about a minute she had the potion for me. “Remember: don't use it until just before the match starts,” she said to me, and I nodded back. “All our hopes are on you now, kiddo.” she added in a softer voice.

“I know.” I replied just as softly.

“We'll see you after the matches, then.” Maryn said. Ariana gave me a hug, and then the others hurried on ahead as we walked into the arena, with the exception of Lysandra, who hung around a moment more. I looked up at her, and she gently smiled.

“I won't kiss you again. I promise. I just...” she said, biting her lip.

“I'll win. And I'll keep winning. And I'll drive your feelings home... to that person.” I promised her in a determined voice. She blinked back tears for a moment, then wiped them away.

“I know.” she said, and without another word she went to join the others. I smiled as she left, and then saw Sun WuKong also heading into the stands. He paused to give me a victory salute, the ever-present smile gleaming cheerfully, and I saluted him back as I walked into the waiting area for the contestants.

There were definitely fewer of us in here now. I saw Angelfire and Mad Dog, along with Rayna, Timidator, and Myanihia sitting in a corner as usual. There were a couple others I hadn't really noticed before, but they were still kind of on my radar. Barbarianne, a Nordian berserker with wavy reddish hair, who dual-wielded a wickedly jagged sword and a bearded axe, stood idly in the background near the display-screens. And Ghostlord, a Rogue Shadowkin, who had calmly risen through the tournament with only a few displays of what he could really do. No one was even really sure what kind of player-type he was, not even the commentators.

Timidator and Angelfire waved me over. I was less hesitant about approaching the latter now, but it was still slightly difficult. The three of us shook hands, and sat down together on a bench.

“I'm glad we got this far without fighting each other.” Timidator grinned.

“Me too,” I replied.

“Same! Though if I get a challenge from either of you next time, or if I end up with one of you in the final match after round eight, I'm gonna smoke you!” Angelfire winked.

“H-how well I know...” I returned.

“They're calling you the Berserk Mage, you know,” Timidator said, and she affected a slight pout.

“I was thinking they would start calling her Tank Breaker,” I shrugged.

“Ooh, I like that.” she nodded proudly.

“Hah!” Timidator chuckled. “Though, it's likely you won't get the chance to face me,” he said to her.

“Hmm? Ohh, right... you got them this time.” Angelfire remarked in a quiet tone. “To be honest, I wanted to try them, but they'd already challenged you.”

“Hmm... I think Maryn had the right idea, so I want to try what she did, with a few twists of my own. That's why I agreed,” he told us. “It's that one skill they do right at the end of their matches that I have to watch out for.”

“They always do it in Shadow World, too, so it's basically impossible to avoid.” Angelfire nodded. “What do you know about it, Lana?”

“I think it could be interrupted... but the timing has to be precise, which is why they do it in Shadow World.” I replied.

“So that no one can see when to interrupt.” she sighed. “If I get past Valkrysti, I'll challenge them and set the whole stage on fire so that they can't do a thing without me seeing it.”

“Ah-heh-heh-heh...”

“Th-that'd definitely work,” Timidator returned as I nervously laughed.

It was then that the fanfare to start off the fifth round sounded, and the three of us returned our attention to the crystal-displays that would be showing us the upcoming battles.

Barbarianne kicked off the fights with a hapless ice-mage who had blasted his way through many difficult opponents only to end up fighting someone with absolute cold immunity. Even if his spells hit her, they did no damage. She eventually caught him as he scampered away from her, ending the fight with a swift stroke and a deadly thrust.

The mysterious Ghostlord then took down a mace-using skirmisher in leather armor. As before, I couldn't really tell what sort of skills he was using to deal damage, but part of me was now suspecting it was his racial skills. It made me wonder what a Shadowkin assassin would be like. Next character, next character, I said to myself.

Then I watched as Mad Dog battled against his own difficult competition, a werebear druid player of equal strength and skill. This fight was, understandably, pretty amazing to watch. Even the commentators were uncertain what the outcome was going to be. Each of them had the capacity to resist or shrug the howls or roars of the other, and their stats were probably about equal. Gonna be one of those deadlock fights, huh? I thought to myself as I watched them tearing away at each other.

Then Mad Dog used an advantage I hadn't quite thought of at first. He was more agile than the werebear, and he suddenly demonstrated this by dropping to all fours as the other swiped at him, then knocking the werebear off balance. The other player fell to the floor, and Mad Dog leapt back up, mauling him with rapid speed before he could get back up. He punctuated his attack with a bite to the neck just as the other was getting back up, putting a massive bleed effect on the guy. He went down about a minute later, and Mad Dog howled in triumph for a fifth time.

“Hahh... nice.” I remarked, and then there was a twinkling sound for Timidator. He waved to us, and reappeared on one of the stages a few moments later.

“Here we go,” Angelfire said, and I nodded.

The match began with the usual fanfare, and Timidator pulled out a two-hander that was even more deadly-looking than the one we had rescued for him some weeks ago. He had no actual shield, per se, but his vambraces were crafted so that he could use them as shield in a pinch, or to give someone a really hard backhand.

His opening move was a leap combined with a heavy overhead slash that Myanihia barely evaded, and then the wily tank activated a variant of the Whirlwind skill, Steelblaze, to keep the assassin from daring to come too close. He then used Thurian Stomp, dazing Myanihia for a moment and allowing him to catch up to the assassin, who seemed thrown off their game this time. There was a clash of weapons, and then Myanihia leaped back to vanish into the shadows.

“So far, so good,” I remarked, and Angelfire nodded.

“That Myanihia seems really off their game this time.”

“They've been a highlight of the matches and a favorite to watch, it's no wonder people are starting to pick up on their moves.” I shrugged.

Timidator then activated Steelblaze again, whirling around that stage like one of those cartoon characters that always runs around in a whirlwind. Because of its damage radius, which was larger than Whirlwind, it forced Myanihia out of stealth and into running for their life. This time they were seriously off of their usual game. They couldn't even use their poison weapon against Timidator; every time they tried, Timidator came barreling toward them, still in Steelblaze, forcing them to keep running.

“Bah, is this a match or a cartoon show?” Lumpstein wondered.

“But Myanihia is finally being forced to the ropes this time,” Athena remarked.

“Unless...” the Dwarf GM began, his eyes narrowing.

“Heh?” I wondered, and then it hit me again. “Ahh!! That's the decoy!” I exclaimed.

“What the--?!” Angelfire almost swore, then shook her head. “Ugh, that is too good!”

“But where the heck is the real Myanihia?” I then said, frowning at the display screen.

The answer came with the sound of a gunshot. Timidator suddenly reeled, and the real Myanihia stepped out of the shadows to fire again, then they shot a third time to knock the sword out of his hand. The plucky tank dropped his sword in shock, and then grinned up at the number three assassin, letting out a sigh as Myanihia ended the match with a final shot.

Angelfire didn't even have time to make a comment, being next in the lists. Once again, I was by myself in the contestants' hall. I watched as Myanihia was teleported off the stage, letting out a sigh of my own.

So they have that kind of trap up their sleeve, huh?

My speculations cut off as Angelfire reappeared, with Valkrysti appearing on the opposite stage. She had a spear that seemed to glow with an angelic light, her long, flowing hair was a golden blonde, and she had soft yet strong blue eyes that looked as if they might cut through your soul.

As soon as the fight began Angelfire set up her flame ward, casting fire-bolts twice as rapidly as she had when we sparred. But Valkrysti deflected them with a simple ward that she activated with a raise of her spear. Then she activated an aura of her own with a yell, and ran to challenge Angelfire in a melee.

“Angelic Defense, huh? We've certainly got a lot of overpowered players, here... but then that's what the world bosses are for!” Lumpstein remarked.

“We're not even at the final rounds yet.” Forseti said.

“I'll be glad when we are; paring down thousands upon thousands of players is making me cross-eyed!” the other remarked.

Meanwhile, Valkrysti's aura and Angelfire's wards were wearing down the other's defenses, inflicting minor damage on their target as they continued to combat each other, Angelfire punctuating her strokes with a flame spell every now and then that Valkrysti repulsed with her own skills, sometimes even reflecting it back. Of course, fire did no damage to our friend from the Aldholt.

“But her light magic might,” I remarked softly to myself. Light magic is a special cross-discipline of holy and healing magic that you can unlock through an arduous series of cross-regional quests. Valkrysti had obviously spent a lot of time in this game to get it as high as she had, to the point where she was literally compared to a Valkyrie. Maybe she had even been a beta-tester like Lizzy and Lysandra.

Wait. Now don't tell me Lysandra was trying to go after all her old guildmates? I suddenly wondered. Hrrmm...

My thoughts were again disturbed as Valkrysti began to use offensive spells herself. Beams of light and scorching sun-spells pierced or singed Angelfire, who suddenly began to waver. Then she recovered herself and fought back like a demon, unleashing her most potent flame-spells against the battle sage she had been pitted against.

But Valkrysti's other advantage with light magic was, as I hinted at just now, that it could also heal. She quickly restored her health, momentarily shocking my compatriot from the Aldholt and sending her into a literal flaming frenzy.

As she had sworn to do for Myanihia, she set that whole stage on fire with her spells. Yet still Valkrysti held fast, settling into a pattern of one heal for every two attacks she made. Angelfire, on the other hand, had no healing. She screamed in fury, calling down flame-spells that were definitely her ultimate skills.

A combustion of flame went off with a force that shook the whole stadium. Whirlwinds of fire began hurtling around, and the battle sage found herself hard pressed to keep up her rotation -- but she kept it steady, to the amazement of all of us. Angelfire then fired several flaming DoTs on her target; several of them were blocked, but a couple of them did get through, and Valkrysti's health began lowering at a faster rate. But Angelfire herself was almost spent. She was in a worse position than she had been with the tank who had the chaos blade.

That fiery mage did everything she could to evade or deflect Valkrysti's attack for the last minute of the fight, but then her opponent activated a skill that Athena referred to as Purifying Light, an ultimate skill that negated enemy magic or status ailments. When all of her fire spells went out at once, Angelfire's own flaming spirit was quenched.

She fell to her knees, weary and out of options. Those massive skills of hers must have had massive cooldowns as well. Valkrysti blew a gentle kiss towards her, and then ended the fight with another lightbeam. Angelfire was beaten.

“Hahh... I forgot about that skill,” Ricklelopes shrugged. “But even without it, it was looking grim for Angelfire.”

“Too true.” Wandreada agreed.

After another thirty-five or forty minutes of other people's matches, it was then my turn to face the music. I looked around as the twinkling sound began. Rayna and I were the only ones left in the room. I waited until I was on the stage with her, and watched the countdown. It was at one minute. I subtly got my potion ready.

Counting on you, Belle! I thought to myself. Opposite me, Rayna gave me a wink. I made no answer of any kind. She seemed amused by this lack of reaction, and tossed her hair back.

“Well, well, Lana takes the last spot again.” Lumpstein said as he saw me. “I think she got more than a bit lucky last time, personally.”

“Perhaps,” Forseti shrugged. “Rayna is noted as the number one assassin in Harmonia, though, from what the player polls say.”

“These last few matches will either confirm or readjust some of those polls. Hah!” the Dwarf GM cackled. A couple of his fellow commentators smiled as well, and some of the audience either cheered or booed the words.

Ten seconds were left. As soon as the counter hit two, I opened the bottle. As it hit zero, I raised it in toast to Rayna, who looked surprised, and drained it in one go. Immediately the bonus took effect, and I softly smiled to myself.

“Drinking early today, is she?” Ricklelopes quipped.

“I don't think that was an alcoholic beverage,” Wandreada said astutely.

Rayna opened up with one of her siren attacks, using a sing-song voice to try and lull me into a daze. The look of absolute shock and horror on her face when it failed was priceless to me, and she faltered, stepping back a pace.

“Let me tell you about being an assassin of any gender in this world,” I said to her in an echo of her words to me last night, “The first step: know your target. Shadow World!” I then cried out.

A look of anger crossed her face, and she tried to do the same, but before she could I unleashed that deadly combo of skills upon her: Doomstrike, and Crimson Heart-stinger. Her health went down to zero, and she screamed in rage as her avatar disintegrated. I heard a very surprised obscene exclamation from one of the GMs before I was then greeted with riotous applause, and then teleported off the stage to the victor's hall, as I had finally figured out it was called.

My friends met me a few minutes later, and several of them had tears in their eyes from laughing. Lysandra herself was cackling, almost doubling over when she saw me, and Tyman was absolutely cracked up.

“Day-ha-ha-hum, squirrel!” he thumped me on the back heartily.

“Oh my Gawd, her face! Did you see her face?!” Ariana asked as she put a hand on me to keep herself upright.

“Did I ever!” I finally started laughing as well. “I wanted to screen-grab it soooo badly!!” I replied, and the laughter redoubled itself all the way to the after-party.

***

A very sheepish Rayna joined us later that night, shaking hands with me and promising to get me back someday with a merry smile. We shared a drink with her, and then she went to mingle with the main crowd. Some of them showed her a screen-grab of the moment she realized I was immune to her skills, and she nearly bust a gut laughing.

“Ahh, she's actually really sweet,” Jannie remarked, wiping her eyes from all the tears of laughter she had let loose.

“Definitely.” Ariana agreed.

“Oh, for sure,” Winnie nodded. “You gotta laugh at yourself sometimes, might as well be in a video game!” she grinned.

As the party continued, a burly figure strode in to join us. It was General Mad Dog. He looked around the room, espying me in my little corner with Ari, Jannie, Winnie, and Lysandra, striding over with a grin.

“Hahh. I know where this is going.” I remarked.

“You think?” Lysandra quipped sarcastically.

The werewolf guild-leader in human form then sent me what I was expecting; a challenge. He grinned as I looked over at him with a curious look in my eyes.

“Valkrysti and Barbarianne both wanted to fight you as well, but I am doubly intrigued by you now. Ironsides, Sun WuKong, and now Rayna. You have jumped the ladder, my little girl, and I desire to see if your strength and wit is enough to overcome me... or if you will be another stepping stone to my next challenge.” he told me.

“How forward of you. I'm only Ariana's little girl. But I accept your challenge.” I replied as he chuckled at the words.

“Indeed!” he agreed, reaching over a hand. I took it, and we shook hands. He then settled himself in another corner of the room with a couple of his other guildmates that had just come in, and our attention was redirected to a dance between Rayna and Tyman.

W-w-what did we miss that led to that pairing?! I suddenly wondered.

It was one of those sleepless nights for me, so after everyone else in the guild had logged off and gone to bed, I continued wandering around the city for another night. I did some window-shopping for a couple hours, and then stopped into a tavern for a warm drink. Then I slipped over to the baths, tiredly divesting myself and sliding into the warm water gratefully.

“Hahh... this is nice,” I remarked softly.

“It is.” a soft voice that was definitely female said in answer. I looked around, and I saw a shockingly beautiful character with pale skin, silvery hair, and silvery-purple eyes.

Oh, she's a Snow Elf... wait...!!! I suddenly froze.

“M-Myanihia...?” I said. They--she, smiled back.

“I can't tell you... how much Lysandra, had wanted to see me, like this.”

“And I get it without even expecting it...” I returned.

“And I get to see you in turn,” she said coming over to sit near me. “Even without love in it, there's an intimacy here, isn't there?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Baring our bodies, baring our souls. You're the first person I've allowed to catch me, like this, in real life or the virtual world.”

“For all that, you don't seem surprised.”

“No; there is... something, about you. I don't quite understand. Even your anger has no anger at its root. That much I noticed in our last talk.”

“I didn't expect to talk to you again at all after that, until we met in the tournament.” I said to her.

“I can understand. I'm different. Perhaps, I come off in a bad way. I never cared. It's who I am.” she shrugged. “And you are who you are.” she added in a softer voice.

“I can't be anyone else,” I said. The irony of saying so did not escape me.

“We think we're ourselves there and someone else here; but sometimes it's the other way around. I'm honest like that. I don't pretend about anything. It's too burdensome.”

“Can't argue here.” I again agreed in irony. She stretched herself out, and then pulled up a panel.

“My next fight; Ghostlord.” she said solemnly.

“I doubt he'll stop you.” I replied.

“No. He won't. And neither will anyone else stop me, from reaching you... so don't let them stop you, from reaching me.” she said to me. She then looked at me with a serious expression. “One more gift, if you want.”

“Gift?” I said, and she called up a few panels to pull a pistol out of her inventory. It was not the one she had used on Timidator, but a slightly smaller one.

“No one thinks about it, but, werewolves... the silver, is a lie. That was never part, of the original legend. But these bullets... they're coated in wolfbane. If you are about to be overwhelmed, use it.”

“So the game doesn't follow the classic trope but goes for one of its own,” I remarked as I looked at the pistol.

“Take it.” Myanihia said to me, and I accepted it with a nod, putting it away for now.

“Why have you offered me help twice now?” I then wondered.

“Because. You know.”

“I know what?”

“My name. My name is midnight.” she said, and I recalled again that I had suspected her name was a play on the Irish meán oíche, midnight. “And yours. Yours is blade.” she continued.

It struck me then that the way we had named our characters had at least a subconscious sort of impact on our play-style. I preferred the blades, Myanihia preferred the shadows. What kind of crazy coincidence is that? I pondered silently.

“True.” I nodded back. “I suppose I'll have to pay you back sometime for all this,” I then said to her.

“I would not ask. But since my sister has already taken one,” she then reached over to kiss me -- on the cheek, at least. “I would not be so desperate as she was.” she said in response to my mixed expression of relief and horror. “I honestly hope, I never see you again, after the tournament. But take care of my sister. And,” she added, getting up out of the bath, “If you tell her, about me, I will haunt you for the rest of your days in this world.” Myanihia told me with a smirk.

“I won't tell her. But I'm sure she'll find out in her own way without me.” I returned with a shrug.

“Who knows.” Myanihia replied, covering her pale body with dark hooded robes once more, placing the mask on before she headed out.

Hahh... how did I get into this again? I can't remember for the life of me...