“Seeeaaaan. Hey kiddo, you in there?” Ellie's voice called, finally reaching my ears and snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked up with a brief confusion, and then recalled where I was. We were in the club-room at school for our lunch break. I had been in a nearly zombified state since logging out early this morning after my encounter with Lysandra, the she-werewolf who had literally torn through her competition in the preliminaries for the Grand Tournament.

“I'm here,” I replied, bringing a sigh of relief to Rachel's lips.

“You've been about comatose since we sat down in homeroom.” she said to me with a worried look.

“On the day we get an extra hour for lunch, too.” Ellie added. Apparently there was a faculty and staff meeting that had been scheduled for today, and they were giving the students an extra hour for lunch while they met in one of the conference rooms. Of course, the downside is that we would have another hour of school, but hey. Whatever.

“What in the world happened to you last night?” Mary wondered all too astutely. I had to smile as she fixed me with a very piercing gaze; it was kind of scary how readily she and Ellie had attuned to being “older sisters” to me over the past couple of months.

“I met that Lysandra girl while trying to walk off all the excitement and hype I built up from watching the prelims.”

“Oooh...!” Ellie intoned with interest.

“You saw her in person?!” Anhe exclaimed in an unusually excited voice.

“What happened?” Rachel asked me.

“Was she super scary...?” Andrea wondered in a meek voice.

“Ehh, it was more like...”

***

“So you're Lana Windstrider.” Lysandra said to me in a voice that I could only describe as sultry. The tone was one that spoke to me of great interest. “Odd to see you by yourself.”

“I guess that's true,” I agreed. “The others logged off. I was just trying to wind down a bit before I head off myself.”

“In that case, come with me.” she said with a wink. I accepted her offer, and she led me down the very street I had been thinking of walking along.

Most of the shops here were decoration shops, and I could see that a ton of them had all sorts of stuff for the Yule-slash-winter festivities that were due in December. One of them was a chandler's shop, and in the window were quite a few amazingly fashioned candelabras and other assorted candle-sticks or lamps, along with the candles themselves and several lanterns. The next one was a toy-shop filled with all sorts of stuffed animals and wooden nutcracker figurines, along with several other kinds of renaissance-slash-fantasy style kinck-knacks.

“Cute, huh?” Lysandra remarked as we went past them.

“Definitely.” I agreed.

Eventually we ended up in a very quiet part of the district, where she stopped at the door of a run-down shack and knocked three times. The door opened, and we were ushered inside. A staircase leading downward was to our left. My companion headed for them, and I followed her down. There was an unusual but not unpleasant fragrance coming from below, and when we got to the level below I could see quite the amount of smoke. I coughed involuntarily at the strength of the smoke and the sweet scent, and Lysandra looked back at me.

“You'll be fine. It's just incense, nothing to worry about.” she said as she took my hand, leading me through the tables and chairs to another downward staircase, which led us to a sauna and bath.

There were all sorts of NPCs here, enjoying the steam or the hot water. Lysandra disrobed at once, setting her weapon to one side. I divested myself then, and she led us to a quiet corner of the bath, where we settled in to the welcoming water side by side. The werewolf-girl then took a deep breath, and let it out with a soft smile on her face.

“This is a little hideaway I found during the beta-test. Almost no one comes here; they all go to the big one on the other side of the district.” she told me.

“It definitely has its own unique thing.” I remarked.

“I found it way strong when I first came here, werewolf senses and all, but now it's very soothing. Sometimes I fall asleep here until my roommate shakes me awake.”

“Hm? Oh right, you can do that with the Dream Machine,” I remembered. You could even unplug someone right in the middle of their using it, but it had the more respectful option of notifying you when you were nudged, in addition to being hooked up to the internet and your phone, as I've mentioned before.

“It's a handy feature, but she super hates doing it. Can't imagine why,” Lysandra said with a mischievous smirk. I think I understood what she meant, but I'll spare you the details -- which you'll probably figure out anyway. Then something else struck me.

“Were you... looking for me?” I wondered. “I mean, with those senses you have and the way you seemed to light up on finding me, I can't imagine it was a complete coincidence.”

“Gotta hand it to you, girl, you're as sharp as they say.” she winked at me. “I'll get to that a bit later, though. Right now, just enjoy the bath.”

“R-right,” I replied somewhat anxiously.

She seemed to doze off then, and I let myself relax a bit more as well, observing the quiet yet friendly atmosphere of the place. An Elven girl came down to serve a round of drinks to a party on the other side; considering her outfit, which was very showy, I had to wonder how I had not gotten a notification of “adult venue only” like Anhe had. But I soon stopped dwelling on that thought to look around some more.

The lights that illuminated the place were mostly red in color, or at least shaded with something red. Smoke from incense altars and candles wafted upwards, or hovered in place near other bathers who were happily zoned out from its scent. I looked over at Lysandra; her human-form body was shapely, not too curvy, not too toned or muscular. She opened an eye as I continued to stare, and then I blushed.

“What? You don't think I was eyeing you up as well?” she quipped with a faint smirk.

“F-fair 'nough...” I managed to reply.

“Best not tell your girlfriend, though.” Lysandra then added. I couldn't reply to that. “Ahh, but anyway. Yes, I did 'sniff you out', to put it literally. I didn't think you'd actually still be on; you're a high school student, I guess.”

“And you're either a college student or out in the workforce.” I returned.

“Both.” she shrugged. “I wanted to make you a proposition.”

“Oh?” I asked her, and she grinned, coming closer to me. I could feel my heart pounding as that exceptionally pretty girl brought her face close to mine.

“A wager.” she whispered seductively.

“Yeah...?” I returned with all the confidence I could muster, but it still came out with a semi-anxious tone.

“On the outcome of the tournament.” she continued.

“Interesting,” I then said more composedly.

“I can tell you already have some targets you're after. But what if I get to them first?”

“I think one of them has a fair chance of one-shotting you, if you know what I mean.”

“Hmm...? Ah, him. The claw-wielder. Pfft! Don't think so little of me,” she giggled.

“Are you proposing some sort of bet about how many targets or certain and specific targets in this tournament?” I then asked her.

“Something like that.” she nodded, settling back down and putting an arm around me. My bravado went away again, and I felt my heart-rate going up once more. “To be more accurate, my targets are five: Skeletor, Valkyristi, Myanihia, Tobias... and you.” she told me, whispering the last two words in my ear. Two of the other names I recognized.

“What do you know about Myanihia?” I said on reflex, and her smile crinkled to a wicked smirk.

“That one and I used to be in a guild together, but then when the game went live they ghosted us and became even more like the way they are now. Of course, I left my beta-guild, too, but I still keep in touch with some people.”

“You were in a guild with them and even you don't know their gender?” I wondered.

“Nope.” she sighed. “I tried to get them in a bath with me so many times it probably constituted harassment. They're perfectly androgynous, as far as I know. And they always wear a loose set of armor or clothing, which makes me suspect they're a girl trying to hide their bust, but it could just as easily be a guy going for that effect to keep the mystery going.”

“And what about Tobias or Valkyristi?”

“Tobias is considered the best tank in the game. He's solo-tanked world bosses. To give you an idea of how hard that is, the orthodox strat so far is to have four tanks at least and to rotate the aggro between them.”

“Wow.” I remarked, recalling our own difficulty with a world boss.

“And Valkyristi... she's a warrior-priestess who based her name off of 'Valkyrie', in case you didn't pick it up.” Lysandra then said.

“And I'm guessing she lives up to the adaptation of her namesake.” I noted.

“Not so dull after all, are you?” the other girl replied. “But now, I can guess some of your targets... that Tyman, Skeletor, and from the way you inquired about them... Myanihia.” she said to me with a clever grin.

“At least Tyman and Myanihia; I don't know about Skeletor, yet. Angelfire might be fun to go up against... and who knows, maybe I'll find a couple other interesting targets in the next couple of days.”

“Wise.” she nodded. “So here's my bet. Let's say you'll end up with five targets on your wishlist as well. If I get three of them and also you in this tournament, I want to be your guild leader. If I only get the three, I want to be your second.” she declared.

“And if it goes the other way around?” I asked her.

“If you get my three and myself, I'll join your guild as a basic recruit. If you only get the three, I won't join your guild but I'll always come and help you whenever you need.”

“And what if we can't get the three due to some unforeseen knockout?” I then grinned at her.

“Oh-ho, thinking that far ahead, huh?” she grinned back. “Then we'll meet up and decide on new targets.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded back.

“Oh... and if I get all five of yours and you...” she whispered, licking her lips. “I not only want to be your guild leader, but I also want you to be my girl instead of Ariana's.” she told me softly, and my face turned the same color as my hair. Some sort of squawk came out of my throat, but it was totally unintelligible. “Needless to say,” she then said, “If you get my five and me, I'll let you do the same... if you want.”

I coughed at that moment to try and recover myself, and then sat back in the bath with a sigh. Whatever else this girl was, she knew what she wanted and she was devious enough to create a scheme that might successfully get it.

“I'll settle for having someone as skilled and ferocious as you in the guild,” I said to her with a weak smile a couple moments later.

“That's fair.” she replied in an innocent tone. “I have to head off now, but you should linger here a couple hours more. I think I've wound you up a bit more,” she added with a grin.

“I-I'll think about it.” I replied.

“And just as a tease...” Lysandra then gave me a kiss on the nose. She then waved, picked up her sword, and logged out.

“N-not even redressing, huh?” I remarked bemusedly.

After that encounter, I did spend a few hours more dozing off in the underground bath and sauna before heading out to walk around the Arena District. I stopped at a coffee shop (it was now six in the morning, one AM in real time) to have a breakfast, and then went to go window shopping before actually heading in to a couple of the shops to get something for Ari and the others.

I was definitely feeling guilty, even though I hadn't actually done anything. Or maybe it was just that I had actually considered it. I shook my head vigorously. Ariana -- Rachel, is the one and only girl I want a romantic relationship with. Well, more than just romance, when the time comes for it, anyway... I thought to myself as the sight of a little bear caught my eye. I then smiled, and selected it as one of the gifts. This one's definitely for Ari.

***

I left out certain details when I recounted this experience to the girls, but they got the gist of it. Basically I had wagered my position as guild-leader. Or as Rachel put it:

“You wagered the guild?!”

“N-not exactly! Just my position in it!” I argued back at once.

“It's the same thing to us!” Mary exclaimed heatedly.

“Duuude. What is going on in your head?” Ellie sighed. Anhe looked slightly disappointed as well, as did Andrea.

“Now you have to win. No matter what, I am going to make sure you get through Friday alive.” Mary said determinedly.

“Duuude. Why did I get a job??” Ellie groaned.

“It'll be basically up to you after that, but I'm gonna take down as many as I can to make sure no one I beat reaches you. Grrrrrghh! You make a really cute girl but in the end you really do have that guy-mentality!” Mary said to me.

“And what would you have done in my position?” I asked her.

“I wouldn't have wagered that far!” she snapped.

“I doubt she actually wants to mess us up or anything,” I then said. “More like... she wants to join the guild anyway, but just can't bring herself to actually come out and say it.” I continued, leaving Mary stuck for a reply this time.

“Hmm? One of those girls, huh?” Ellie nodded.

“And who's to say she wouldn't be a better guild leader anyway...” I then muttered. Rachel gave me a grumpy look, and softly struck my shoulder with her fist repeatedly.

“I will--dummy! Big dummy!” she quipped back while attacking me. I sat there and obligingly took it like a man, waiting until she stopped and then laid her head on my shoulder instead. “You didn't wager anything else, did you?” she asked me in a sad voice.

Snap.

“N-no, not a thing, nope.”

“You mean it?”

“I may have gotten a little cocky last night, but I'm not loose!” I said in a more convincing tone.

Snap. Now I have to win everything, huh?

“Come to think of it, we never decided what would be won or lost if one of us got knocked out of the Grand Melee and Magic Event...” I then realized.

“That means she's confident neither of you will be knocked out of it.” Ellie said in reply. “And I bet if you ask her tomorrow, she'll say almost exactly that.”

“Now you're betting.” I dared to quip back.

“Uuugghh.” the blonde girl groaned, and then sat up. “Minus eighty points for wagering the guild and possibly getting smooched up by a hot college girl!!”

“Guhyeck!” I tensed up.

“Sean!!” Rachel cried out.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I didn't do anything!! I never do anything!! It's not my fault all these girls keep hitting on me!!” I retorted in a hurt tone. Rachel then gave me a sad look, but then gently smiled. Oh snap. Now I've done it.

“I'm sorry. You're right.” she said softly, to my surprise, and then pulled me close for a hug. I heard two of the other audibly sigh with relief.

“I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to snap at you.” I said, and she squeezed me.

“I know.” she replied.

“S-so, basically, things just got more tense and interesting.” Andrea said after a minute had passed. Rachel and I then let go of each other, only to take each other's hand.

“I guess they did.” I nodded.

“I will also do everything I can to make sure we stay alive Friday night.” Anhe then said.

“Me too, Anhe.” Rachel nodded over to her. The younger girl nodded as well. “And I'll take down everyone I get matched up with in the tournament once we clear the maze, no matter who: Tyman, Wildeye, Angelfire, Magisteria, Deathscythe, Skeletor, Sky Belle, Timidator, Lysandra... even Myanihia.” Rachel continued in a determined voice.

“I know you will.” I said, and she smiled back at me.

“That being said,” Anhe then smiled anxiously, “They have nearly a thousand matches to coordinate even after the first event. It would not surprise me very much if some of us get knocked out of the tournament by getting paired up with someone unexpected,” she pointed out to us.

“Two-hundred and fifty-six matches to start off with on Saturday.” Maryn nodded. “They'll probably try to squeeze in the first two rounds over the weekend, paring down the five-hundred and twelve to one-hundred and twenty-eight.”

“Leaving the best of the best to keep up the fights during the week. I bet they do at least seven matches at once again over the weekend, too, until the numbers get more manageable and the fights more interesting.” Ellie said.

“Oh definitely,” I agreed. “With the four hour spike in real-time they get on those two days, I'd be surprised if we don't get through the first two sets of brackets in the tournament proper.”

“Hmm... four hours here, sixteen hours there, fourteen matches every hour or so...” Andrea mused aloud, her face scrunching up in thought. “They may start early or go late on Saturday, at least, to make sure they get the numbers right, but basically you'll at least get through your first official fight.”

“Ooh, I see what you mean,” Ellie then remarked. “No, I bet they go eight or ten real-time hours on Saturday, starting around seven and ending things up at least by two in the AM.”

“D-daaanng,” I remarked.

“They might even do some initial matches after the 'Grand Brawl' tomorrow.” Mary said.

“Oh true!” the blonde girl agreed. “That'd give them more time for Saturday and enough time on Sunday to at least start through the second bracket of fights.”

“Second bracket probably won't finish until Monday.” Andrea said.

“But really, how many more prelim matches are there?” Rachel wondered.

“It definitely feels like it's going on forever, even though some are probably going on right now.” Ellie sighed.

“It's still only Wednesday.” I nodded, leaning back against the sofa.

“We're meeting up with Jannie and her friends tonight, right?” Andrea then asked.

“Oh definitely!” Rachel smiled.

“I wonder if we'll get any other surprise guests,” Mary said with a knowing look towards me.

“W-who knows...” I remarked, avoiding eye-contact.

“Let's get through homework and stuff before thinking about that.” Rachel said.

“Let's.” I agreed hastily.

School went by pretty quickly after that, and soon we were back home, helping each other do homework over video-call, after which we went to do our respective to-do lists, then of course dinner, and as usual after dinner I was finally released into the wild.

When I logged in, I found that the girls had located their respective gifts, and sighed in relief when Lizzy decided I had gained forty points back. Ariana showed her appreciation with a kiss, and then we went to meet up with Jannie and her friends. On the way there, we came across Lysandra, and I went over to ask her what would happen with our wager if one of us got knocked out of the Grand Brawl, as people were calling it. She smiled, and shook her head.

“You won't get knocked out. And neither will I.” she replied, blowing a subtle kiss at me. Ari made a face, but she could see for herself this time that I definitely wasn't instigating or asking for anything, so she settled for making a show of grabbing my arm and heading off with me in tow.

We met with Jannie and the other girls, Tabitha, Winnie, and another one whose name was Sapphire, at one of the restaurant and tavern squares, settling on one with an autumnal feel to it. The place was run by an Elf and his family, who were delighted to have customers and obligingly set up a crystal display close to our table. We gave them our orders, and then settled in to watch and wait.

Just then someone else came in. Or rather they flew in. A figure who wasn't even a foot tall came in as if blown on a swift breeze, hovering at the counter to talk a few moments with the proprietor and get a drink (served in an astonishingly small cup) before they noticed us at the tables. With a flurry of jingling sounds the little figure then flew over to us.

“Oh my Gaw--you're Sky Belle!” Maryn recognized her immediately, and we at once invited her to sit with us. She smiled, taking a seat on the table between me and Jannie, who was on my left--Ari was on the right of me--and raised her little cup in a toast.

“Hi, peeps!” she said in an adorably high pitched voice. “I could switch to a more human size if I wanted to, at least for a couple hours, but I don't have any outfits that size!”

“N-no problem, you can stay like that,” I replied somewhat bashfully.

“Good! Because it's more fun!” she grinned. “Oh Lana -- can I call you that? You can call me Belle!”

“Sure, you can call me Lana,” I nodded back.

“Great! I actually entered this tournament to test myself, or rather convince myself I was good enough to be a Silvernight Queen... so when it's all over, would you let me in...?” she asked me with the most adorable puppy-dog pout I'd seen in my life. And Ari had some good ones, let me tell you.

“Y-you don't have to wait, we'll let you join right now if you want,” I told her.

“Definitely!” Ari nodded.

“Aww, too bad. Although we already have dozens of players -- time for you girls to grow your guild also!” Jannie winked.

“You were my close second!” Belle said to her with a smile. “But, no doubt about it... I really like the Queens. Let me win at least three more fights to convince myself, and then I'll let you bring me in!” she then said to me.

“Hrrmm... I mean, I get it, I do,” I said, and she gave me a smile. “All right. But even if things don't go according to plan, we'd still love to have you.”

“You got it!” she exclaimed happily.

“Now you definitely have to win. I mean more than before.” Maryn said to me.

“I-I know that!” I winced, and Jannie and her guildmates looked over at us.

“What's this about?” Winnie asked.

“You know that one girl we were obsessing over last night?” Ariana said to her. “Lana wagered her guild-leader status against beating her in the tournament.”

“Say whaaa??” the other girl exclaimed.

“Oh my!” Belle gasped. “Hmm... I won't be too quick to judge, though, so long as she agrees to uphold your little deal with me just now.”

“That's the least she'll do,” I nodded back. “She's not malicious or anything... just a touch devious.”

“And possibly a -- not a tsundere... what was it again...” Ellie started, frowning as she tried to recall. “Eh, I don't really remember, but the kind of girl who teases people they want to get close to, sometimes mischievously.”

“Ooh, I gotcha.” Winnie nodded.

“It's a long word,” Sapphire said with a grin. “I'm not sure I could pronounce it right, but I know what you're referring to.”

“Nice!” Ellie grinned back.

“People are complicated, huh?” Belle remarked.

“True.” Anhe agreed.

“Oh they're starting!” Tabitha then said, and our attention was summarily torn from the conversation and then riveted once more to the prelims.

***

So we spent the next few hours watching at the restaurant, then a couple more hours watching them together at a bathhouse (where Belle changed to human form until we left it), and then finally we went to a tavern around the area I had met Lysandra last night (in terms of real-time). Here we watched the rest of the prelims for the day, toasting the victors and making note of potential rivals.

The one I knew to watch out for was a heavily armored knight who went by the moniker of Ironsides. It wasn't that he was heavily armored. It was that he had some incredible reflective damage. His first opponent tried to zerg him with what looked like a one-shot magic spell from hell, but ninety-percent of the damage got redirected to him, one-shotting him instead of the knight. After that, his next seven opponents were more wary, but none of them succeeded in thwarting the reflect, and the one person who focused on defense accidentally triggered the reflect with a ward-spell. The backfire on that was so spectacular I actually burst out laughing.

Another person I decided I had to watch out for was a Mumban assassin. Her name was Rayna, a name I had seen on the forums a couple times. She was said to be the deadliest assassin character in all of Harmonia. To give you an idea of what that means, I rank at eleven on that list. That's right. There are ten people in Harmonia ranked as more deadly than I am, and she stands at the top of that list. Not that it really bothered me, to be honest. I could live with being the eleventh most dangerous assassin-type on this side of Panarena. The pressure of being number one, after all, is always excruciating.

What made her especially dangerous was that she used a rare branch of magic known as Siren Magic. Or more colloquially, seductive sorcery. Basically she could lull you into a spell-induced daze if you weren't ready for her, and then finish you off quickly. Her first two opponents went down without understanding what got them. Her next six put up more of a fight, especially the last one, but she still overcame them.

By the way, about that assassin's list: Myanihia is ranked third. I said I wasn't disgruntled by being eleven, and I meant it. But now that this Myanihia character had piqued my interest by stonewalling Maryn and beating Jannie, their being third really rankled me.

At the end of the day's prelims, Lysandra joined us at the tavern. Well, joined me, to be accurate. I was standing off to the side near the bar, half-expecting her to walk in, and sure enough she did. Belle and Ariana both looked up as she came towards me, taking a seat at the bar next to me and ordering a drink. She took a sip of this, and then finally spoke to me.

“Find your targets, lover-girl?” she asked me with a subtle grin.

Tyman, definitely. Myanihia, definitely, despite them being on her list also. It'd be fun to test myself against Rayna as well, so I'll go with her. I also want to beat that Ironsides guy, and part of me wants to beat Skeletor... but I don't want two from her list, so I'll settle for...

“Tyman. Myanihia. Rayna. Ironsides. And Mad Dog.” I said. She raised her eyebrows at the last name.

“General Mad Dog? Leader of the Night Wolves?” she said in disbelief. I nodded back.

“Ooh...!” I heard Winnie exclaim from the tables.

“You saw my fights, didn't you?” Lysandra demanded, and I nodded back. “And you saw his? You have to know he's more dangerous than me.”

“Then if I can beat him, I can definitely beat you.” I replied with a shrug. She looked at me in surprise for about ten seconds, and then burst out laughing. She practically howled with laughter for nearly a minute, cackling and clapping her hands before she regained her composure and took a drink.

“Ahh, Lana! I like you. I like you a lot. You're adorable, desirable, deadly, quick-witted, and you have absolute confidence, don't you?” Lysandra grinned. I didn't reply, but she chuckled. “I accept. I definitely accept. Just make sure you have your back-ups in case any of them get knocked out on Friday.” she told me, and then I finally grinned back.

“You're confident about us making it through but not them?” I returned with the wit she apparently admired.

“You're cute, but not that bright.” she replied, finishing the rest of her drink in one go and then kissing me on the cheeks, walking over to Ariana to do the same. “Nighty-night, lovebirds.” she then said, heading out of the tavern and returning to wherever she was staying. I gazed after her bemusedly as Ari came up to me.

“Sh-she's really something, huh?” my partner asked me, blushing. I could only nod back.

Thursday passed by in the blink of an eye, as did the prelims on that night. By that time I had gotten a handle on a few more names I noted down. I won't bring them all up now, but suffice to say I think I had my bet bases covered. By that time, Belle had joined us in our lodgings, and I discovered that Lysandra was on the floor below us. I wasn't quite sure how to take that. Friday morning then came, and school passed by in an agonizing slowness compared to Thursday, but it finally did pass, and when we had gotten all of our more necessary to-dos out of the way, we reunited in Panarena, minus Lizzy, for the opening event.

***

“I'll team up with you for now to raise our survival odds!” Belle informed us as we gathered together.

“Thanks, Belle!” I said with no small relief.

“I bet there's a lot of other people who might try to do the same; be careful that you don't get caught up in some sort of trap or trick that'll force you out.” Healina cautioned us.

“Can't predict everyth--” I started to say, but then I thought about it again. “I wonder if Shadow Vision will work in there...”

“I'd bet my armor it won't.” Maryn replied.

“And if it does?” I said with a faint grin.

“I still have my tunic.” she grinned back.

“Naughty. Teasing your big sister like that.” Healina scolded me. “Minus ten points!”

“Hyeck!” I squawked.

“You deserved that one.” Ariana patted my head.

“You walk into all sorts of verbal trouble, don't you?” Belle quipped as she sat on my lap.

“I guess I do...” I returned with a defeated grimace.

“Lana is adorable that way!” Anhe grinned.

“True!” Heali agreed. “Now hurry up, the Grand Brawl starts in twenty minutes!” she said to us, and as soon as we had equipped ourselves we set off for the Arena.

Someone mentioned earlier that these prelims have basically been going around the clock to deal with all the contestants who entered. Call it a first-year thing, if you will. I'm sure next year the process will be more streamlined and less chaotic. Or maybe they'll just roll with it again. But anyway. Even with all the eliminations, there were over three-thousand people assembled for this event. And barely sixteen percent of us were going to make it out of this event.

“Three-thousand people; or about half of one-percent of Harmonia's total player base.” Maryn said as we picked a spot to stand in.

“Meaning that there's around an equal number of people in Onyxus,” I mused.

“Pretty much.” she nodded.

“That means there's around a million people who play this game,” Belle remarked.

“Makes you wonder exactly how many people signed up for the prelims.” Anhe said.

“Let's see...” Maryn mused, working it out aloud, “Three-thousand, six-thousand, twelve-thousand, twenty-four thousand, forty-eight-thousand, ninety-six thousand... eh, about three-hundred and eighty-four thousand people, so over half the players of Harmonia tried to get in.”

“And three-hundred and fifty-four thousand didn't make the cut.” Ariana noted.

“That's some serious round-the-clockage for the GMs, though,” I said with awe.

“I know, right?” a familiar voice said in reply. It was Wildeye. He and Tyman, along with a couple more from his guild, had just arrived. “My father isn't complaining, though; they all get a bonus for participating!”

“They deserve every penny of it,” I nodded back. “Corralling hundreds of thousands of players over a period of six to seven days!”

“Now they'll have a comparatively easier time of it,” Wildeye grinned.

“Good to see you, Wild!” Ariana smiled at him.

“Good to see you, too, all of you, my ladies!” he returned. Tyman came up and extended a fist towards me; I made a fist of my own, and we bumped them together.

“See you in the brackets, Lans, or I'll hang up these damn claws and quit!”

“If you get knocked out of this round I'll have my daggers melted down and turned into a bikini.” I quipped back.

“Damn, girl, now I kinda want to lose!” he returned without missing a beat. My face went red, and everyone else laughed heartily.

I looked around as the banter continued. Lysandra was standing off by herself; she caught sight of me, and gave me a smirk and a seductive wink. Angelfire and some of her guildies were discussing a strategy with Timidator, who seemed to be teaming up with them to get through this final test. Elsewhere I could see Skeletor and Deathscythe with Magisteria and a few others. Ironsides was standing alone, gazing up towards the sky. I guess that was where the maze was going to materialize. Another one I definitely saw was Rayna, alluring as ever, standing proudly in the midst of several admirers.

Further in the distance I could see the great silhouette of General Mad Dog, the legendary werewolf player who had made his name in the Mountains of Solitude. He had a couple of guildmates with him as well, though none were half as imposing as he was. All around us, the buzz and excitement was building up. I looked over at the clock; we had ten minutes left until the event began. My gaze drifted away from the clock, and then I locked eyes with one last face.

It was Myanihia. Slowly, the figure of indeterminate gender came towards me. Just as deliberately, I walked over to them, earning an inquisitive glance from the others that immediately turned to fright or shock when they saw who I was heading towards.

As I mentioned before, they wore all black. The clothing was somewhat loose, which aided in the confusion the player wished to give others who tried to determine their gender. The face was masked and hooded; a pair of gleaming eyes, a silvery-purple color, stared intently at me. There was only one race in this entire game I knew of that could have such a color. Myanihia Black was a Snow Elf.

Twin swords hung upon their back. The hilts were shaped in the likeness of dragons. Any buckles, buttons, fasteners, or other metallic elements upon their person were a faded silver color. We stopped less than a meter away from each other, each of us gazing intently at the other person's eyes.

“Lana.” a soft and muffled voice of indeterminate gender spoke to me then.

“Myanihia.” I said, pronouncing it in a Gaelic way. The eyes blinked.

“I see.” they replied. A gloved hand was extended towards me. I quietly brought up Shadow Vision; Ari was no doubt examining the scene as well, but since she didn't say anything and I couldn't see any sort of trick myself, I decided it was safe. “No tricks, not yet.” Myanihia then said, and I accepted the hand. We shook, and the mysterious assassin nodded.

“I'll see you in the arena.” I said to them.

“I know.” Myanihia replied, vanishing into the crowds just as suddenly as they had appeared. Ariana came up to me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“What was that about?” she wondered curiously. I grinned. It was a kind of grin that Ari knew well by now, one that meant I was fired up and ready to go.

“Just saying hello.” I replied. Lysandra then came up to us, giving me a look of surprise.

“You got their attention.” she said to me.

“Hmm?” I wondered.

“Myanihia doesn't talk to anyone. Anyone. Get it?” the she-werewolf told me.

“Th-that's kind of...” Ariana said with a nervous smile.

“Tell you what. I'll join your little party for the maze. Can't have them taking you out before I do.” Lysandra said. Ari and I glanced at each other.

“Let's invite her.” my partner said to me.

“O-okay,” I returned, inviting Lysandra to the party. She accepted, and smiled brightly. Then the fanfare of trumpets and drums sounded. The Grand Brawl was about to begin.