December 20th, 2030, Floor 38, Cyrkensia.
"Everything here looks amazing!" Leafy shouted as she and Nino ran into town, "We're not here for sightseeing, we're here to find a guild." Nino said as they walked to the center of town, "Come on! Stop being so serious! It's almost Christmas!" Leafy whined, "Don't care. I need to get out of here. Plus, you need a Master Seal and some new weapons. That Iron Katana won't be helpful for long." Nino looked at the billboard and checked for guild openings.
"Ooh! How about that one!" Leafy pointed to a guild needing two more players. "For once, you were helpful. Just kidding! We meet them in a little bit. Let's go get that Master Seal." Nino giggled and headed toward a shop. There were Christmas decorations everywhere in town.
Meanwhile in the 38th dungeon, Rue was at the door to the boss room with her guild dubbed, Pure Heroes. "We must win! The reward is too much to pass up!" she announced, "What's the reward?" Jericho asked, "Demon's Blood. Drink it and get unimaginable power if you are compatable. If not, you die." Rue replied, "Sounds risky, I like it!" Markquez declared as he opened the door. "Wait! I'm not ready yet!" Reburst shouted.
Inside the room, was a tall demon that resembled a pig, "Prepare to lose Porky!" Sabre yelled as he drew his sword. Jericho did the same as Markquez took out his axe and Reburst grabbed his Thunder. Rue stepped back and aimed Fujin Yumi at the pig.
Jericho jumped at the pig with her sword and did 20 damage, "This is too easy!" she shouted before being smacked by the pig and losing 50% of her HP. "Jericho!" Reburst cried before he was crushed by the pig. "No..." Reburst moaned as his HP slowly drained.
"Astra!" Sabre yelled as he sliced his sword at the pig five times, leaving it with only 5 HP. "Time to wrap this up!" Markquez announced as he raised his axe. The demon used Vantage and slammed into Markquez and he fell to the floor. "I got you guys covered. Rue! Finish it off!" Sabre yelled as he healed Reburst and Markquez with Mend.
Rue aimed Fujin Yumi and fired, but missed, "Damn it!" she yelled as the pig ran towards her. Before the demon could strike, Jericho finished it off with her Killing Edge. "Yes! Level up!" Jericho put her sword away and drank a concoction. "Another victory for the Pure Heroes!" Sabre cheered as he put his equipment away.
Jericho picked up the demon blood and handed it to Rue, What do we do?" Jericho asked. "Yeah, how do we split it?" Reburst asked. Rue poured the blood into four vulneraries and handed them out. "What about you?" Sabre asked, "I already had some and was compatible. Now drink up!" Rue smiled. The four guild members looked at each other and exchanged nervous glances.
Meanwhile, back in Cyrkensia, Leafy and Nino were grinding on ruffians in the opera house. Leafy had changed to a Swordsmaster and Nino began to use Nosferatu. "Hey! We got the last of them!" Leafy shouted. "Good. We need to start saving up for Eternal Seals." Nino said as she closed her tome and walked over to Leafy.
"My Steel Katana is holding up well." Leafy commented, "Did you hear that a guild just cleared the floor?" Nino asked, "The Pure Heroes? I've heard of them. They have like twenty members. There's a rumor that their leader is really an AI linked to the plot." Leafy said as the two walked towards the golden door that led to the exit.
The Christmas decorations still flashed around Cyrkensia in the evening snow, "It's beautiful still." Leafy gazed off into the sky. "We're meeting our guild right now, so we can just wait for a bit." Nino said as a boy ran up to them. "Wanna join the Pure Heroes?" he excitedly asked as he jumped up and down. "No. Go away." Nino replied. "Awwwwwwwwww, okay!" the boy said as he ran to another person.
"That kid is way too excited." Leafy shrugged, "Hey! Are you Leafy, Nino, and Sol?" a teen asked followed by two other players. "That's us, but Sol is not here." Nino replied. "Umm... that would be me." a nine-year old girl said as she got off the bench. "Okay, then welcome to our guild! The Shadow Knights! I'm Shotput!" Shotput said as he stuck out his hand, "These two are Yin and Noplo." Shotput said and pointed to the teens behind him.
"Wow, nice to meet you all!" Leafy said as she got off the bench and shook Shotput's hand, "We all have a better chance of living now. I shall not be a liability." Nino said, "Neither will I!" Sol added. "Awesome! Let's go take on Floor 40!" Yin cheered and ran with everyone else to the staircase.
Thank you for reading. Today's chapter was sponsered by Great Scott Films. Go look at their website Threatlevelmidnight for info on their latest movie, Threat Level Midnight. Have a nice day. Please review!
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The four guild members all drank their cups at once. Rue smiled as another Pure Hero walked to the group as they yelled in pain. "Testing out more of them?" ? said, "Yes Marya, we need more power." Rue said. Jericho began to choke and fell to the ground. "So only they were compatable it seems." Marya noted.
Reburst raised his hands in the air suddenly, "Argh! I can't control myself! What is this?" he cried as he caught on fire, "No! I'm gonna die!" he cried as he burned. Sabre completely exploded and Markquez disappeared into thin air. Jericho opened her eyes, which were pure purple now, Marya kneeled down and said to her, "Merry Christmas, you're one of us now."