**Present. Crimson Dragon's castle**
Two women stood opposite each other on a rooftop. Milo, who towered over Ophelia, twitched a brow and fixed her green eyes on her. Ophelia looked up in defiance with her heterochromatic eyes—one dark purple, the other bright golden yellow.
Milo had been thoroughly pissed at the sight of her as she scowled at Ophelia's now revealed eye.
"I can't believe it. You're still so pretty. Is this some kind of joke?" she shouted.
Ophelia closed her heterochromatic eyes for but a moment, replying, "I have to confess one thing… I am not the 2nd Executive of the Black Wolves." She pulled out a packet of cigarettes from seemingly out of nowhere, opening her eyes again. "She is… I just carry the title on her behalf."
She took a cigarette out of the pack and lit it in her mouth, gently forming a symbol with her slender hands.
"This spell became unique to me after a tragic event… No one could ever recreate this. Though accidental… I'm grateful for it because I got to reunite with her."
Milo's eyes widened in shock as Ophelia made a quick hand sign and chanted,
"Full-Body Ghost Magic: Oculus Reverse Reincarnation."
When Ophelia cast this spell, a white pentagram formed from below her. Her arms dropped to her sides but lifted slightly upward, as if ascending. The pentagram glowed as it shone through. Her eyes closed again, and her hair began to change color. The black on top turned silver, and the long blonde layer underneath turned purple.
When the transformation was complete, she opened her eyes again, and the two colors had switched. Her right eye was now dark purple, and her left was that bright yellow. Her face carried a stern look as she set her bare feet back on the ground from her ascension.
Disappointed, Milo shouted from where she was, "Was that it, girly? You merely changed your hair color... Were you supposed to get a power-up from that or something? What a total waste of t—"
"What was it that you called her earlier?" the now silver-and-purple-haired girl interjected. Her voice was delicate but stern, matching the expression she took on, which could only be described as dead cold.
"What did you say, bitch?" Milo uttered in a pissed-off tone.
"Ah… that was it. But at least this time, you were referring to me and not her. Her eyes shot back a cold stare, uncharacteristic of how Ophelia naturally was. "Bitch, huh? I don't mind that at all. Though… if I hear you call my sister that again, I'll slit your goddamn throat," she said as she puffed smoke out of her mouth, cigarette still perched over her bottom lip.
"Oh, I see." Milo threw the eyepatch she still held to the ground. "You like improv too, dontcha?"
As she pulled out her massive club from behind her, she went on, "I don't care who you are. I still have the advantage here. So long as you breathe, you are powerless against my magic."
Milo swung her massive club in the direction of the silver and purple-haired girl. She stood there with an expressionless look on her face. Unshaken. Unbothered. Then, when the blast drew near, she took one last drag from her cigarette, held it between two fingers, and flicked it out in front of her. From where it flew, she reached back out for it with her palm, and the cigarette sliced clean in half.
She grabbed the long snath of a large weapon that suddenly appeared in front of her. It was a large scythe of gunmetal that seemed to emanate and glow darkness from its sheen. The blade curved in dramatic angles, giving it a haunting form. Etched from the surfaces of hell, its outline glowed a soft, secondary crimson hue.
She had slashed toward the incoming blow of Milo's swing, countering it entirely. Splitting the blast to the sides of herself as if she were cutting mere paper.
"What? How? How could you—" Milo said, surprised that her attack had been countered. She couldn't even finish her sentence.
The scythe that appeared had flown out from the same pentagram where this girl had been summoned. She wielded the oversized scythe as if it weighed nothing—like it was lighter than air.
Milo clicked her tongue, then bolted toward the girl with her massive club skidding on the ground behind. When she reached her, she swung down, and the girl dodged swiftly, like a blur. Milo swung again and again as their close combat sent sparks flying off the rooftop from the clash of their weapons.
Just a little more. Keep breathing in the air. The result is always the same. However, Milo thought to herself, but realized something strange was happening. Why? Why does it seem like she's getting… faster?
From being a blur to now disappearing with every move she made, the girl was in front of Milo now, with her large scythe ready to swing from the right. In reaction to her sudden swiftness, Milo inhaled a gas from her wrist to accelerate herself, but it was barely enough. She met her where she was, opposite her, with the same frontal swing as well.
It was like slow motion when they advanced toward each other, inches away now, but just as the other girl's bare foot was about to land, she disappeared entirely again and reappeared behind Milo in a blink.
No way! She thought.
Catching the movement barely, Milo arched her back in an attempt to dodge, but the blade of the scythe looked as if it extended, still slashing her and ripping a bit of her clothes. She gasped out a wail and dashed off a few feet away.
Looking back at the girl, Milo noticed her dead calm demeanor. She didn't even care to give chase, even though she could have probably caught up to her again just now. Stoic. Elegant. She embodied all these things.
She held the head of the scythe inches from the ground with the long snath elongated up and behind her. Her bare, porcelain leg stepped over her left, slightly on her toes, barefoot. Still in the same attire Ophelia had been wearing since she arrived—a tied-up white oversized crewneck, black thong, and nothing else. And yet her presence was like nothing Milo had ever seen.
"How can you breathe in the gases and not be affected? Are you even breathing at all?" Milo shouted in frustration. This time, it was not improv. Her magic should have gone into effect by now—slowing the girl's movements and nulling whatever magic she had. But it didn't seem to be doing that. In fact, it seemed that the opposite was happening.
"Oh, I'm breathing just fine," the girl said in a cold, bland tone. "I have to thank you. This air… It's really quite wonderful."
Milo became confused as she felt an odd warm feeling from deep within. It was like the feeling of acceptance—from an enemy, no less. It felt contrary to the frustration she should be feeling.
Why do I feel this way right now? Who is this girl? she thought to herself, then shouted, "Who are you!?"
The girl in front of her tilted her head up just a bit. Her heterochromatic eyes glinted in the high sun above. She looked majestic as she said, "My name is Raeyn. But you can continue to call me 'bitch' if you like."
***
**Five years ago**
The young girl with the heterochromatic eyes had fled her small home just outside the Rain Kingdom district. She had become a stowaway, traveling from village to village, scavenging and stealing for herself and for others less fortunate.
She had traveled a great distance and had done this for a long time, developing her abilities along the way. She had become accustomed to other cultures, making many friends among the poor and unfortunate throughout her travels. Eventually, she became known as a vigilante in some places, as her thieving skills had honed through the years. And as her body matured, she even sold herself for eterna just to get by. Time passed, and she adopted an eyepatch on her right eye so as not to garner too much attention to herself.
By the time she was eighteen, she had made it all the way to the Valley Kingdom, where she met a group of mages that would forever change the trajectory of her journey for the time to come.
Near the South Gate entrance, a group of three males was soliciting the area.
"Hey, brat, are you ready yet? This mission was supposed to start an hour ago," an older male said, perhaps in his late thirties. His waist-length black hair was tied up, leaving his long bangs loose around his dark gray eyes. A white streak colored the right side of his bangs.
"I was ready way before you, you stupid old man. You're the one who took a nap while waiting, and now we're delayed on stocking up supplies!" a younger male answered, maybe the age of twenty-one. His hair was medium-length and black, with bangs above his right eye. He wore dangling cross earrings in both his lobes and had a distinct tattoo of a half-wolf's face on the front of his neck. His eyes were a piercing black as they shot back to the older male.
"Yeah, and who's eterna you spendin' to get them supplies, huh? You earn that? I think not. Don't go spendin' eterna you don't got—especially when it's not yours! That's mine, you damn brat!" the older male retorted, flaring his nostrils back at him.
"The fuck? I did, too, earn this shit. I was part of the last mission. We split the earnings! That was the fucking deal!" the younger male countered.
"Says who, huh???" the older male boasted obnoxiously.
In the background, a third male with a cap and hood stood. His cap had an embossed symbol of a wolf on it. The tips of his hair were black, and rooted white. He wore round glasses with thin rims that always slid off his face, as they did so now, pushing them up with his middle finger and then dropping his hand back to his side as he waited with his eyes closed for the two bickering males in front of him to finish.
"Can you two shut the fuck up, please? By the Keeper… This is wasting even more time than we have already! Greed, let's ditch the supplies. If anything, you should have grabbed them while Asura was napping," he said.
"Yeah, what Code said!" the older male, Asura, followed up, feeling validated.
"And you," Code said, now speaking to Asura. "Why the fuck were you sleeping in the first place?"
Asura looked at him, stunned that he even asked that, "Seriously? You kids have no fucking manners. This is no way to treat your elders!"
Code and Greed both looked at him with jeering eyes and tightened foreheads.
By an alleyway nearby, a girl with an eyepatch watched intently. She didn't know why, but these three males who were squabbling with each other seemed interesting to her. She was quite acute to the feelings of others, so that, even though they were arguing, she noticed a strong, warm feeling emanating from them.
They were also quite loud, and there were many peering eyes on them as well. So, there was also that.
"Keeper, shut up! Now I gotta piss," the one with the wolf tat, Greed, said as he separated himself from the group temporarily.
The South Gate was a bit of a shantytown, so he made his way to an alleyway to take a quick leak. It was the same alleyway where the girl with the eyepatch was.
"Stupid old man," he whispered to himself.
"You guys seem close," the girl with the eyepatch said.
Startled, Greed stopped his leak and turned his body away from the girl who was there while shouting to her all the while, "What the fuck, chick? Why you just there watching me piss!?"
"Hehe, I was here first. You came to me," she said coquettishly.
Greed squinted his eyes and jeered at her, wondering whether he should continue or just leave.
"Well, don't let me stop you, cutie, carry on!" she continued cheerily, waving a hand.
He hesitated, scowling at her, then proceeded with his leak; the sound of his piss hitting the wall filled the alley awkwardly.
She stayed there smiling at him, one eye closed, the other hidden behind her eyepatch.
"If you're just gonna stand there and watch me, why don't you hold it in place while you're at it?" he said carelessly.
When he turned back to look at her, she was gone. "The fuck?"
Then, from the back, he felt soft, slender hands hugging him from behind.
"Don't mind if I do, wolf boy..." she whispered in his ear as she slid a hand down to where his exposed penis was.
But just as she was about to grab it, he grabbed her hand and zipped up his pants with his other hand swiftly, twirling to face her.
"It was a joke. Now what do you want?"
The girl gave him a wry smile, her one exposed purple eye focusing so intently into his black ones as she said, "This."
With her other hand, she lifted a black wallet.
"Hey, that's—"
"Pleasure meeting you, wolf boy. Bye-bye!" was all she said as she permeated out of his grip and went through the ground below, disappearing completely.
Greed then stood frozen there for a few seconds, now alone in this empty alleyway as he echoed, "Fuck…"
He looked frantically in all directions first, then ran out of the alleyway and continued his futile search. She was gone, nowhere to be found.
When he met back with Code and Asura, he told them what happened, to which they responded with yelling and a smack to the head.
***
Greed:
The three of us passed the South Gate and went on with our mission. Unfortunately, we'd have to deal with the wallet situation and the mysterious girl when we got back. There were more pressing matters at hand, and we were already late as it was.
Quite a few kilometers away, close to Forest Kingdom territory, there was a group of clerks that had been stranded and waiting for help to arrive—a.k.a., us. Their vehicle had broken down just outside a forest area in a vast valley clearing. They had been stranded in an area that was inhabited by many Grade 3 and below monsters and had posted an urgent mission on the Valley Kingdom board as a result. It just so happened that we, of all people, responded to the call.
"Took you lot long enough! We almost died on multiple occasions! Look, my fellow clerkmate's mana is running low from using protection spells! We were beginning to think you would never show up!" One of the clerks complained. There were three of them by the damaged vehicle.
I looked at Asura, and he looked back at me as we scowled at each other. Code fixed his glasses and closed his eyes, shaking his head at the same time.
"Apologies. We had a minor… 'hiccup' on the way here." Code scowled at both me and Asura, though mostly at me.
"Well, that's going to cost you a pretty nic on your pay! We were told it would only take you thirty minutes to get here… It took you two hours!!" the same clerk went on.
I stared at Asura with my chin sticking out and started walking over to the group of three clerks and their busted-up vehicle. Now, a few feet away from both Asura and Code, I then felt a hand on my ankle from the ground…
Huh?
I said to myself as I looked down. When my eye caught it, the hand went back into the ground and ticked its index finger back and forth, as if telling me 'no.' Asura and Code didn't see this hand at this time.
Hands in my jacket pockets, I stayed in place and didn't move an inch from where I was after that.
"What the hell are you waiting for, you foolish boy?! Come over here and help us now!" That same clerk shouted a few feet away from where I was. The sound of his voice became more annoying as he went on.
Code exchanged thoughts with me then.
Snap…
Hey, idiot, what are you doing? he said in my head.
I kept the thought and thought up a reply.
Someone gave me a warning. Stay back.
Code looked at me in silence and discreetly shared the thought with Asura. One thought exchange was enough for him to deduce the situation completely, as he said aloud, "Seems you're not really clerks, are you?"
They straightened themselves and gave us all violent looks.
"Sorry I'm late, guys! I was just making sure their loot was secured," a mysterious girl's voice echoed around us. I had recognized her flirtatious tone.
Then, from behind them, she surfaced as if walking up nonexistent stairs, permeating from underground. Her hair was black on the top, and blonde layered under it. She wore a dark denim cropped jacket, a black tube top, black short-shorts, ripped tights, boots, and fingerless gloves that showed off her black nails.
And, of course, she had a stash of bagged goods, including all our supplies and eterna…
When she emerged, both Asura and Code checked every pocket and bag. Everything was gone. We had just been looted.
"Shit! Greed!" Code yelled, but it was too late.
Just then, one of the clerks, or rather bandits, cast cages around each of us. Code and Asura in one, and me in another. The bandit kept his hands in place in a hand sign, keeping us locked in.
"So, this was your plan all along, huh?" I said to the eyepatch girl before us now.
She simply stuck out her tongue and winked at me, shrugging as she did. Disregarding what I had just said entirely.
One of the bandits cackled heinously, then said, "Such fools. You know, the only thing I hated about all of this was waiting for you all to finally show up. I was dying of boredom just waiting to capture you." He and the other bandits shared a laugh. "But don't worry, we're not going to kill you. Rather, we're going to sell you for fresh scraps at the black market. Do you know how much Valley Kingdom knights sell for in such places? Especially freshly severed parts?" He looked at us with an ugly face. "So no, you may not die yet…" He cackled again. "We're going to be rich!"
I stared at him disinterestedly through the bars of my cage, and Asura and Code behind me remained calm while in theirs.
The bandit then grabbed the loot from the mysterious girl and began counting the spoils. However, he stopped momentarily, realizing something odd.
"Hey, now that I think about it, this bag is pretty big… Was this really all from them? I mean, I'm not complaining, but—" Stopping mid-sentence, the bandit's eyes widened as he looked closer at the contents in the bag. "Hey, girl! These are OUR things in here as well!"
When the bandit looked up, the girl had a pistol pointed at his head. The look on her face was blank and innocent as she pulled the trigger.
As the shot sounded, the bandit's head blew off entirely. Where his head had been, only smoke seeped out now.
"Oh? Full-Body, huh? Just like me… Whoopsies!" the eyepatch girl said, reeling her pistol back in.
The bandit next to her reacted, protruding a cluster of chainsaws from his left arm, and taking the form of a giant, roaring club. He swung it down onto the girl, hoping to hack her to bits, but it went through her completely and crashed into the other headless bandit, pluming him wholly into smoke.
The girl gave the chainsaw bandit an oblivious look, which pissed him off. And when he went for another strike, she disappeared into the ground and resurfaced just below the other bandit who caged us, grabbing him by the ankles and dragging him underground all the way to his waist. He undid his magic when he lost his footing.
Code caught sight of the opportunity and switched us all out of the cages in a snap before the bandit's hands slapped back together.
The cages were Nullifying magic cages, so unless the caster undid the spell or removed his hands from the hand sign, Code and Asura could not have escaped. Luckily, this girl had caused just enough of a distraction for us to get out. Though I would have broken out of there regardless, it was good not to show all our cards to these lowlifes.
Free now, the three of us gathered together from where Code had switched us with the specs of dirt. The girl resurfaced just a few feet away from us with the bag of loot. She hung cautiously to our right, facing the bandits now along with us.
"So, you on our side or what?" I asked her.
"Hmm… We'll see," was all she said before stashing the loot in some unknown space.
"Hm. Neat ability," Asura said.
"This isn't the time to go nerding out over someone's magic, old man," I replied.
In front of us now, the bandits regathered as the chainsaw one pulled the one in the ground out, and the one that turned into smoke formed back into his normal form.
"Backstabbing bitch!" the smoke bandit said to the girl. "All right then, we'll just go ahead and kill you all. We can still make good eterna off your corpses."
The bandit in the ground had been freed now, and he threw another hand sign different than the one he cast earlier.
"Careful. That one uses Item Conjuring magic, not Protection magic, but he has an item that can—" the girl shouted but was interrupted by the bandit's incantation.
"Item Conjuring Magic: Beast Summoner: Grade 3 Zonrogue."
Before she could finish, the bandit cast a large green pentagram on the ground that summoned a giant machine from within it. It sparked as it summoned a massive monster that crawled out of the machine. The monster was teal, with the tips of its fur shaded yellow. Its arms and hind legs were huge, with large, protracted claws that curved intensely into the ground. Its head was like a wolf's with thick, massive teeth, and a body like a mutated bear.
It was a Higher Grade 3 lyconbear called a Zonrogue. Bigger and stronger, it was more dangerous than a normal lyconbear, and it came with a magic ability of its own. From its spine, electricity surged, cindering whatever it touched.
"Well, sissy, looks like you're taking the reins from here," the girl spoke to herself. I was too distracted to realize then that she had chanted an inaudible incantation without us knowing.
I dashed toward the beast and met it with a fist as it did the same, fist of electricity meeting mine. When they connected, its fist threw me backward, where I was flanked by the chainsaw bandit, ready with a row of chainsaws on both his arms.
Code snapped his fingers and switched me with a grenade right on time for its set off, causing a small blast where I once was.
There with Code, I looked back and found Asura lying on the ground, to his side, elbow propping up his head, and his leg bent up, facing away from us. Completely disregarding the situation at hand.
"What the hell, you senile bastard!? You're not going to help us!?" I hissed.
"You guys got it." He waved a disinterested hand, not even bothering to turn around and face us.
Code sighed and fixed his glasses. "Incoming."
From the smoke, the chainsaw bandit flew out at me. Seeing him at the last minute, I didn't even block as the chainsaws drilled down onto my jacket and shirt, ripping them to shreds. My skin was still intact, and my muscles now showed. Unscathed and unbothered by the attack.
"Oooo! Somebody's quite hard…" the girl implied a little too seductively.
"I'll show you something harder if we make it out of here in one piece."
When I turned to face her, her hair had barely changed colors, and instead of that black top and long blonde she had, it turned to silver, and the long blonde became a dark purple. She had lifted the eyepatch she was wearing, but I didn't see exactly what she did. All I knew was that her left eye had changed colors.
"What kind of conversation did I spawn into?" The girl said disinterestedly. She sounded a bit different than just a few seconds ago...
I watched in awe as the chainsaw bandit was still trying to hack away at me. I had almost forgotten that he was there.
When she finished her transformation, she pulled a large scythe out from the pentagram under her. All eyes were on her as she took the spotlight—even Asura turned his head a little to witness this girl's new form and weapon.
She dashed to the Zonrogue, engaging in close combat with it as she dodged its attacks and cut it up from all sides so swiftly and elegantly all at the same time.
"What the fuck are you made of punk!?" the chainsaw bandit said to me.
"Huh? You're still here?"
As I focused back on him, I threw a right haymaker to the side of his head, causing him to fly off and knock him out cold somewhere in the near distance.
Then, when more of the smoke cleared, Code switched himself with a speck of dust right in front of the other bandit that summoned the Zonrogue. The bandit, to his surprise, unsheathed a knife from his side. To which Code responded with one of his long swords and slashed the knife away, cutting open a wound on the bandit's hand, and then jabbed the bandit on his neck with the hilt of his blade, knocking him out.
But since the Zonrogue was a free summon from a conjured item, it didn't matter that the caster was out. We still needed to get rid of the beast. Though… it had seemed that the silver and purple-haired girl was already on top of that as she and it engaged in vicious close combat with it.
Aside from the beast, there was only one bandit left now. The smoke bandit and I had met in battle. Evaporating himself to and from as he plumed around me until only smoke surrounded us both.
He hit me from multiple angles, solidifying his punches as he did. Ineffective as they were, I couldn't see where he was coming from next. He let out a haunting laugh as he repeated this motion, bragging about his ability, "There's no way you can hit me! I'm made of fucking smoke, you worthless Valley knight!" he cackled.
I stood in the middle of the smoke-filled space, saying nothing. Doing nothing. I simply studied his movements…
Solidified punch after solidified punch, I let him unleash his flurry of pathetic punches until I finally caught on to where he was going to appear next.
He came from behind, and I met him there as well, swiftly sticking out my right hand to his face. His body flew forward as I grabbed him and slammed him onto the ground—his eyes shot white as I cracked the ground beneath us with the back of his head.
"How…? How could you," he barely got out as he neared unconsciousness, "get a hold of me?"
"Luck, I guess," was my only response as he knocked out, and the smoke around us faded.
Then, when I looked out through the fading smoke, the silver and purple-haired girl had already sliced up the Zonrogue to the point that its cut-up remains were fading away in the air around her. She stood there with her scythe facing down and her head tilted up, eyes looking upward as if sending away the beast with a silent prayer. I didn't even see the beast's demise. All that was left was the aftermath.
We wrapped up this quarrel, and the sound of a man clapping his hands filled the air. It was Asura, and he was geeked.
"Good job, my young pups! Mission completed! Though, no one who will pay us for it. The ones who posted this mission are… well… here…" he looked at the unconscious bandits.
"Yeah, and you were utterly no help at all. Thanks, as usual, stupid old man." I said insouciantly to him.
Asura snapped, and just like that, we began bickering again.
***
The silver and purple-haired girl had still been amidst the fading Zonrogue with her scythe, standing there silently pondering. Code met her where she was, patting down a box of cigarettes. He pulled one out, placed it in his mouth and lit it, then offered her one. She looked him up and down first with that bright yellow eye of hers and slowly took the cigarette with her slender hand. She put it in her mouth, leaned over a bit, and Code lit the cigarette like a gentleman.
As he flicked the metal lighter back, he smoothly added, "Thanks… Now, if you'd be so kind…" He was referring to our loot and eterna as he pointed behind her into the nothingness, knowing that she had stashed it somewhere in that 'place.'
"Not my business," she replied, her voice dainty and quiet, yet stern. Uncharacteristic of her personality earlier. If this were even the same girl...
"Hey now… If I were you, I wouldn't make this harder than it has to be. I know you took down that Zonrogue all by yourself, but we're no pushovers, I'll have you know," Code warned as she glanced over to Asura, who didn't seem like much, but gave off an overwhelming aura she didn't understand. And Greed, whom she sensed absolutely no aura at all... which disturbed her more.
She shut her eye, took a puff of her cigarette, and removed it from her mouth. "I'm not. Otherwise, I'd be running… Those two over there are the last ones I'd ever want to fight against."
Code snickered. "You think you could take me then?"
She remained silent for a moment before saying, "Probably. Not without trying at least."
"I'll take that."
"Anyway, take it up with her," she said, brushing it off and facing away from him now.
Right then, a black pentagram formed beneath her, and her hair changed back to black and blonde. Her eyelid flickered, and her yellow eye had turned back to purple. It had all happened in a blink, unlike when she transformed the first time.
"Hmm? Is it over already?" the mysterious girl said curiously, putting a finger to her mouth. When she realized she had a cigarette there, she spit it out. "Ew! Sis! So gross!" Her personality was now back to what it was.
Sis? Code thought as he watched observantly. There was obviously more beneath the surface here.
"Hey, you!" Asura shouted from where he was.
The girl perked up. "Huh? Me?"
"Yeah! Say… Wanna join the Black Wolves?" he asked way too eagerly. He didn't even hesitate.
"The Black... what?" she asked.
"The Black Wolves! That's our Guild name!"
"Hey, stupid old man, that's the chick that stole my wallet in the alleyway earlier!"
"Oh, really?" Pondering for a second, then just as quickly switched his attention back to her, disregarding what Greed said entirely. "Anyway, what do you say?"
"Hey, don't ignore me, you senile old man! Are you even listening to me?!"
"Look, if she joins us, then we get both our loot and a new member at the same time! So, what do you say, missy? You got some crazy ability there. I think I can help you hone that even more. I'm an expert in magical combat. You saw these two fight, right? I trained them myself! What do you say?"
The girl looked at him with her eye wide-open, the other one hidden behind her eyepatch, and a dimpled smile. "Sure!"
Well, that was easy. Code and Greed thought simultaneously.
"Perfect! We only have four members so far… Well, five now if we include you. I'm Asura, the Captain. Code is 1st Vice Captain; Greed over there is my 2nd Vice Captain. Our 1st Executive isn't here—he's on a classified mission… But a Guild can have a total of five Executives, and the number 2 Executive spot is open, so it's all yours if you want it!"
I don't think that's legally how these positions should be granted… Code thought.
Sure, just give it to anyone, why don't you? Greed followed.
"I'm flattered, but…" the girl spoke up, "a role like that is too much responsibility for me. So I'll pass."
Asura blinked twice before uttering a word. She had just said yes… and now it was a no?
"But I have an idea!" she went on. "I don't mind being a regular member. My skills are nowhere near any of yours, but my sister's might be. If you offer her that position, we'll both join! Those are my conditions."
"Hm..." he thought as he brushed his goatee. "We got quite the negotiator over here. I watched your fight with that Zonrogue just now, so I'd hardly say you're lacking in any skill... But okay! That sounds like a great deal! So, where is this sister of yours? I'd like to meet her first."
The girl giggled, then said, "You just did! Hehe." She lifted her eyepatch, revealing her bright yellow eye underneath, in contrast to her dark purple left eye. "That yellow-eyed girl who beat that Zon-whatever-ma-jig, you know, the one with the silver and purple hair—that's my sister!"
All three of them were completely surprised as they shared the same reaction. "WOAH! REALLY!?"
"Mhm! It's a long story, but she's the better fighter out of the two of us, so I think 2nd Executive fits her a lot better!" she finished.
Asura, confirming his outreach, had the biggest smile on his face. He was elated. "It's settled then! But first, your names."
"I'm Ophelia, and my sister you met on the battlefield is Raeyn!"
"Beautiful names, young ladies. Welcome to the Black Wolf Knights, 2nd Executive Raeyn, and member Ophelia!"
On that day, rather than a mission reward, they gained two new members: a sly and stealthy girl and the other, a more soft-spoken but powerful girl within their ranks. It had seemed the Black Wolves' small family was growing one member at a time. But to this day, Greed's wallet and their loot had yet to be returned.