Azrael was tending to a small fire when Sophie returned. There were a few small trees and shrubs that managed to make their home amongst the cracks in the cliff, their roots spilling down into the canyon below.

Sophie sat down beside him, but he ignored her. Now that he knew that she belonged to Holy Empire he recognised her. Not from when he’d been there, but from the TV, way back when he’d first started the game.

She had been the white fox kin girl fighting the ogre. Which meant that Melissa had been the priest. Why was she here now? How much did she know? Was she here for him and how much of what he knew about her had she lied about? Could he trust any of the information she had given him?

A hand waved in front of his face impatiently. “Hello-o” Sophie called. He turned to face her.

“Finally!” she said. “I’ve been talking to you for a minute and you haven’t been answering.”

He pretended to smile. “Sorry, I’ve been in thought.”

“I was asking if you had any of that jerky left. There’s nothing to hunt around here.”

He handed her some jerky from his pouch. There wasn’t much left.

Gazing back into the fire he realised he was overthinking things. The fact that he didn’t know her meant that she had joined Holy Empire since he had left, which meant she’d only been with them around two years, max.

The fact that she had used Melissa’s name in the conversation meant that she was higher up in the guild. This was further confirmed by the fact that he had seen her fighting the ogre with Melissa. He thought back to the fight. Only being with Holy Empire for two years meant that Sophie was the rookie in the group. During the fight Melissa had cast a late heal. For all of Melissa’s faults timing was not one of them. She was an expert [Healer] with a fantastic sense of timing. This skill had gained her the Ranker title ‘The Saintess’, in every VR game she played, due to the number of players that she could simultaneously keep alive. It had practically become synonymous to her character.

Azrael knew the late [Heal] treatment well. It was her way of reminding people that she was in charge. The fact that Sophie was receiving that treatment meant that she had done something to anger Melissa. Not that that was hard to do.

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Be prettier than her and Melissa would let her full jealousy fall upon the unfortunate victim. Steal the spotlight and Melissa would find a way to humiliate you. In anything and everything where somebody was better than Melissa, they suddenly found themselves under assault from Holy Empire’s forces. Even her own team were not protected from her pettiness. The game was just a way for her to stroke her own ego.

The entire Guild in fact was funded by her father’s business and money. Sophie being here, despite being part of the main team, was a punishment for her. Sending someone to the edge of the world for a rumour sounded exactly like the type of thing Melissa would do. Azrael wondered what Sophie had done to deserve it.

Despite feeling mild pity for the fox girl, he knew she would have to go. Before she had been a danger. Now she was the enemy.

Turning his gaze from the fire, he watched Sophie lie down on the hard stone ground and try to sleep. The thought of Melissa stirred all sorts of old memories. Everyone in the team was a Ranker and had a Moniker.

Although some Rankers had different Monikers in different games, Holy Empire’s elites kept theirs through every game. ‘The Saintess’ Melissa would probably at the Holy Empire’s seat of power. ‘The Spymaster’, the [Rogue] of the group, and tactician, was probably nearby. The Paladin, ‘Son of Virtue’ was probably out somewhere looting, burning and conquering in a holy crusade for the ‘Glory of the Empire’. The last two, he shuddered, were a little more… eccentric. ‘The Heavenly Archer’ was probably with ‘The Alchemist’ somewhere.

Both of them had the sadistic hobby of torturing people (In secret of course). The [Archer], she claimed that she liked to see the faces of people break. And the [Alchemist], pursued knowledge, using other people and players for experiments. He claimed it was the best way to get results.

Despite their personalities all of the main team were high rankers.

Letting the unpleasant memories fade, he turned to look at Sophie again. She was fast asleep now. It would be so easy to kill her. By the time she respawned and returned he would be gone. Or if she found him he could blame in on a beast, or cave in.

He stopped himself from reaching for his daggers. Sophie presented less of a threat than any of the others in Holy Empire. It was likely that she didn’t even know that he existed. He had changed his in-game name and appearance.

His old avatar, while in Holy Empire, had had short blonde hair, flawless pale skin and sky-blue eyes. Azrael had darker skin, gold eyes and wavy black hair. There was no similarity between the two in that regard.

It was highly likely that Sophie had been sent out here for the dragon. Even if it was punishment for her, a dragon presented the possibility of rare and powerful materials. Even punishment had a purpose, and once they knew where they could find the dragon it would be little problem to raise an army and subjugate it.

The mountains would present a logistical nightmare, but magic could solve many problems. That and money. Melissa had nothing if not money.

Azrael sighed. He would get there when he got there. Letting the fire die down, he prepared to sleep.