A/N: New week, new chapter. Have fun reading it everybody.

A few days had passed since Dagger had joined the guild. After watching her fight in the fields, I saw that she was definitely able to hold her own in a fight. But for some reason, I still didn't completely trust her. Some of my items had been disappearing from my inventory overnight. They were simple items that I didn't use, but it still bugged me.

While we were in the field training, we got a message from Asuna that the boss room had finally been discovered. It was still only noon, but it was decided that we should challenge it tomorrow. I told everyone that they could spend the rest of the day doing what they needed to prepare. We split up and went our separate ways when we got back to town. However, I had another reason for this.

I followed Dagger as she left. I wanted to see if she was really trustworthy. As she got on the teleport gate, I hid behind the tablet there and heard her destination.

"Teleport! Town of Beginnings!"

After she teleported, I waited a minute and teleported there as well. Once I arrived, I pulled up my window and tracked her location. I followed her to the fields outside the town. She stopped in the middle of the fields. I was hiding behind a nearby tree. A few other players popped out from bushes, and walked over to Dagger. With my decent listening skill, I could hear their conversation.

"So Dagger, what do you have today?"

"How about this?" Dagger smiled, showing a sword. Something about it seemed familiar. Then it hit me. That was the sword I got from a monster drop the other day. I was going to sell it to Agil later, but it mysteriously disappeared overnight.

"So whose it from?" one of the players asked.

"This was used by Ren, from Wyvern Inferno."

"Woah! Really!" multiple players gasped in shock and awe. Judging from their gear, they seemed to be around lvl 40. These must be those front line fans she talked about before.

"How about we start the bidding at 50,000 col." Dagger smiled innocently.

"Geez. You're as greedy as ever." one of the players sighed.

"I call it good business." Dagger responded.

"And we call it highway robbery." smirked one of the players behind her, putting a dagger to her throat. Dagger widened her eyes in shock as all the other players' faces turned to an evil grin.

"Now boys, is this really necessary?" Dagger said, calmly as ever. I'll give her one thing: she knows how to keep her cool.

"We're tired of your ripoff deals" the head of the group said. "Now how about we start the bidding this time. All your items in exchange for your life."

Dagger was in a real bind. She had no ways of escaping without guarantying her throat being slit. I knew I couldn't sit still. Sure she had stole some of my items, but I couldn't just let her be killed.

"You should have called for some bodyguards." said the guy holding the dagger at her throat.

"I agree. Now if you would be so kind, please remove your weapon." I said, having my sword drawn and millimeters from his back.

The players gasped. "No way! Ren from Wyvern Inferno?!"

Dagger smiled. "You followed me, huh Ren? Guess I need to be more careful."

I smiled back. "You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do later." I moved my gaze to the players in front of us. "I apologize for her, but please let her go."

The head player glared in rage, knowing there was little he could do. "Fine. Let her go."

The player with the dagger removed his weapon from her throat and walked over to his group of friends.

"We'll be on our way then." I said. Dagger and I began to walk away, but the head player called out to us.

"I never said we would let you leave" he said. He then snapped his fingers, and several other players came out from hiding. We were quickly surrounded. In total, there were about 15 players.

"What you lack in strength you make up for with cowardice I see." I sighed.

"We'll see if you're still so calm once you're dead." the head player smirked. He gave a command to his friends.

"Kill them."

At his command, players charged at us one after another. We deflected their attacks and slashed at them, killing a few, but this wouldn't work for long.

"We need to smash through them." I told Dagger. "See any openings?"

"None." she replied. "What about you?"

After a few seconds, I saw a small opening in their formation.

"Turn towards your 5 o'clock on my signal and run." I whispered. One player charged at me and I knocked his weapon out of the way with a sword skill.

"Now!" I yelled. Dagger and I ran in the direction I pointed out and charged through the group of players.

"Where do you think you're going?!" one player yelled, throwing his dagger right at us. By the time I noticed it, the blade was a few feet from me. There was no time to dodge.

"Look out!" Dagger yelled.

She ran between me and the blade and took the attack in her shoulder. I skidded to a halt as Dagger fell to the ground with a paralysis icon on her cursor. There was no danger to her life, but she was unable to move. The group of players ran towards us. I stood between them and Dagger. They came to a stop, with their weapons ready to attack. There were about 10 left. Their boss walked in front of the group.

"I'd move out of the way if I were you." he smirked. "This is your last chance to run."

"And this is your last chance to stay alive." I replied.

The boss laughed and ordered his friends to attack.

"So be it." I sighed. I activated a sword skill and charged at them. My blade became veiled in a red aura. The distance between us was about 30 meters. A normal sword skill would close that distance in about 5 seconds. But this wasn't any ordinary sword skill.

The players gasped as I closed the distance between us in a mere second. My blade slashed one player and he lost the rest of his hp. My sword still had its glow, ready for the second part of the skill. I spun a full 360 degrees and the players around me were blown away. The slash had a 5 meter radius. A few of them hit the ground and shattered. There were only a few left.

The leader's eyes widened in fear.

"Y-You'll regret this you bastard!" he yelled as he ran away with the rest of his buddies. I walked over to Dagger and used an antidote crystal to heal her paralysis.

"Why did you take that attack for me?" I asked her.

"Rule number 1 of being a merchant: always protect the client." she chuckled. She got to her feet.

"By the way, what the hell was that skill just now?" she asked.

"It's an extra skill." I explained. "I got it about a month ago. It's called Crimson Flash."

"An extra skill! Amazing! Those are super rare!" Dagger exclaimed. "Imagine the money I can make by selling that info."

"Speaking of money, you still need to explain why you were stealing my items in the middle of the night."

"Hey, I only took ones you didn't use." Dagger argued.

"Next time do me a favor and just ask."

"Does that apply to the other members of the guild too?"

"Yes. Well maybe except for Helios. He's the reason we're stuck with you." I said.

"Oh I don't steal from Helios. He's paying me 1,000 col a month to keep me from doing so." Dagger smiled.

"Damn it." I muttered.

"Well don't worry. I'll play by your rules. But can we keep it a secret from Helios so I can keep getting that col each month."

"Deal."

A/N: That's it for this week folks. I hope everyone enjoyed it.