~Beta~

One extremely important piece of information regarding guilds within the game, was that they weren't free. Not free to start, not free to maintain, and they were definitely difficult to lead. Especially when you were dealing with people who couldn't hide who they really were outside of the game aside personal information which they might not even be able to hide depending on how careful or not they were. Personal information was unfortunately open between the original members of Beta.

As they left the guild building, there was a storm of message windows filling up the vision in front of all of the members. They didn't stop filling their vision, no matter how much they were blocked. At least, until Ana set their communication as a guild to guild only filter. Unless the people were smart enough to try and contact with private messages in request to joining the guild, they wouldn't be considered. It was incredibly difficult to get out from the crowd, but with Ana's anxiety, she had two settings. Either she was exhausted and sick from her anxiety, or she was near inhuman. Ana escaped the crowd with a set of powerful jumps, up to the balcony of the second floor to the guild building, and then to the alley outside of the effective area of the crowd. She ran away like a flash.

She taught another guild ability in the next moment, sending a teleport option to the rest of the people within the guild to where she escaped, an inn out of the effective area. The group still needed to have their dinner. It was when everyone warped into the inn, that they realized the event announcement had happened at the same time as it had before, starting at five thirty in the evening. They had a very busy day, clearing through the boss of the third floor, and the entire dungeon of the fourth floor to arrive at the fifth floor so quickly. Then, they were even interrupted by the event announcement as expected when they would have preferred creating their guild peacefully before such a mess could have occurred. Now that Ana had a moment to register what they had gone through, the anxiety she faced and performed as she had been through, she slumped onto a chair in the corner of the restaurant. While everyone else was still surprised from the sudden introduction of a guild power, to teleport, Ana gave the permissions everyone needed to be able to use it. So long as people were on the same floor, a person could be given teleport permission directly to a person requesting their teleport.

When everyone stopped thinking about how excited they were, they noticed how exhausted Ana was from the backlash of her anxiety. She had an anxiety attack in the form of a huge adrenaline burst which allowed her to move as she had and let everyone escape the scene of the massive crowd begging to be part of the guild. Ana's previous anxiety attack experience had already made those who knew, frightened about what an anxiety attack could do even if they already had some experience with anxiety.

Ana only needed a little more time to rest, she told them through a message window. The others only need wait for her to recover a little bit. Truly though, she had received a call from Ryra. Because regardless how strong or calm a person was, even with an anxiety attack, as soon as adrenaline was introduced to the system, the heart rate soars. It had only happened once before that Ana had experienced adrenaline, and only then Ryra had a chance to witness Ana having anything other than a normal heart rate.

Ana accepted the communication from Ryra, and she sighed as she heard repeated exclamations of concern.

"Are you okay Ryra?! What the heck made your heart rate shoot up?! Something happened to cause need for an adrenaline boost, didn't it?! It wasn't a floor boss was it?!"

Ryra was interrupted by a text window from Ryra.

"Just an anxiety attack like back in Shibuya. Never mind that. I'm fine, just recovering. I'll be back to normal in a minute or two, just tired. Anyway, how is your whole Christmas event going on your end, getting the communication app available to all the other hospitals involved?"

Ryra wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"The Christmas event preparation is going great. Now tell me why the heck you had so much of an anxiety attack you had adrenaline! Unless you're in such a dangerous situation like Shibuya, I can't think of another reason for such a big anxiety attack!"

Ana rolled her head over to press a cheek against the table she sat at in the restaurant, and she typed her response, no need to hide anything from Ryra.

"Guild registration was unlocked, and because of how that idiot planned everything, everyone wants to be part of our guild, and swarmed us outside of the registration building. I could have very well had a normal shut down, but maybe it's the number of people there that made the adrenaline kick in. I think I remember jumping up a floor worth of height and then down into an alley and sprinting off at a speed nobody could keep up with...and now I'm here and everyone from the guild is safe from that nonsense of a massive gathering."

Ryra was horrified at the idea of how that could have turned out. Ana, the person with the worst case of anxiety she knew, swarmed by hundreds...even likely thousands of people outside of a building, was probably the most terrifying thing that might happen. No wonder there was an adrenaline rush.

"What did that idiot do this time, by the way?"

Ana sighed again and began explaining. She was full of sighs from her exhaustion.

"Well, he introduced a lot of things since we just reached the fifth floor this afternoon. He started this crazy Christmas event that runs until the end of the day on the twenty sixth where there was basically this promotion for violent and murdering players. There was this introduction of this under dungeon, one hundred floors expanding below the mural building where everyone's names are, and below the prisons. Prisoners have a possible method of escape. At least he had the mind enough to have an absolute risk for anyone who decides to murder, setting an immortal instant kill monster to the under dungeon to hunt them down until they either die or escape. The event has certain details in it that make it so the individual who gathers the most gifts will get this item we received for clearing us to floor five, a revive item which has to be used within ten seconds of a person's death within the game. He never explained the effect of the item, but everyone wants it regardless since he said it was game breaking. Otherwise, as a guild, all present items collected and kept until the twenty sixth are essentially free items, and the guild with the most present has a special item for every person in the guild. Plus, being part of such a strong guild like ours right off the hop is essentially protection for the less experienced people in here. It's basically a damn trap from that guy."

Ryra was speechless on the other end of the conversation for a whole minute. When she finally cut her silence, she was angry.

"How the hell does that monster think any of that is okay in the slightest?! I'm bringing this up with the authorities as soon as we're done this conversation! They need to get right back to searching for him and end this game before anyone dies because of his sadistic view of the game and everyone in it!"

Ana had no complaints if there were really a chance for Kayaba Akihiko to be found and the game shut down. She would rather that far more than facing another mob of people like that again. It wasn't likely to end until the event would end, probably not even after the event. As terrible as he was a person overall, he was actually being quite fair if considering it as a game alone. As a game, everything had been fair so far. Ana couldn't deny that it made sense from a video game perspective. As a moral perspective, as a life and death perspective, he truly was a monster. Some idiot with a God-complex.

"Well, I'm feeling better now. Might want to give me some headache medicine for your end though. You were pretty loud when you got mad there. I'll close it from this end. Good night. I love you."

Ana ended the call only after Ryra calmed down enough to put together a good night close. When she stood up, the rest of Beta looked at her with concern and curiosity.

"I'm fine now. I'm just very tired. Let's have dinner and get to bed early tonight. We all worked very hard today, so let's take it easy tonight. Prepare yourselves mentally for tomorrow though. It's very possible that some time tonight, we might be discovered here and hounded by the people who swarmed us outside of the guild registration building."

After sending the message window, she walked to the kitchen, and she didn't leave for a while. Kirito and Asuna had joined her almost right after she had entered.

"Are you really okay, Ana?"

Kirito was insistent on checking if Ana was okay. Without everyone else around to hear it, she thought maybe Ana would tell more about it.

"Just...tired. I already told you that though. Ever heard of anxiety attacks coming in many forms? Well, for me there's two forms it's shown up as in my past. Either the sickness and immediate exhaustion, or a ridiculous adrenaline rush. I had the latter kind before when we were swarmed outside of the guild registration building. Why I'm so tired and insistent on heading to bed early, is because of how tired an adrenaline rush leaves me. I'm fine for a little while after recovering from the immediate after effect, but I'm far more exhausted after the slight recovery is over. Really, I'm fine. Let's get dinner ready, I'll eat in here, and everyone can rest easy tonight."

After Ana's explanation, it felt that there was no further reason to question what had happened before. Kirito and Asuna sighed in their relief, and they set to helping Ana as much as they could. Lighten her load of work, since she was still incredibly tired. Since they went through and entire new floor and arrived on the next in a day, it would be the first new day of experimenting with new food normally...and still was. Ana decided on the dish being a stuffed curry bun, with a side of a soup from new vegetable stock with some of the extra grease of the curry for broth, and then a finishing touch of a berry bread. Kirito and Asuna were confused at the beginning like every other new meal Ana introduced, but they always ended up impressed. Just how many meals did she know? And how could they all be so delicious and work so well together?

Ana leaned over a counter with her meal while Kirito and Asuna brought out everyone else' meals like promised before. Ana had some time to relax like that against the counter. She even regained a little energy. But only from the food consumption. As soon as the hunger settled and no longer effected her energy enough to make a difference, she was near ready to fall asleep.

After cleaning her dish and returning it to the kitchen's stock, she left the kitchen in a near stumble, hurriedly making her way to the inn keep and registering herself a room before heading up. Of course her stumbling would catch everyone's attention. She hadn't even noticed that someone other than Beta were in the restaurant. When she received a message as she plopped down on the bed in her room, she sighed in her exhaustion and frustration of the name of the person who had shown up. Klein. Well, it wasn't just him, but the rest of his group as well. They had formed a guild called Fuurinkazan. Apparently Klein wanted to tie their guilds together for the sake of the Christmas event. Ana's immediate and only response as the guild leader was a cold no. She remembered Klein for one thing mostly, his perverted one track mind. Regardless how relaxed a mind he had, there was no logical thinking to his perversion being showcased after hearing that he was in a life or death situation, and realized that the two people who taught him in the few starting hours were girls. He flirted with them and disturbed them when they caught up with someone personally involved. He even flirted with Ana when he saw her blind eyes.

She didn't like him. It was simple as that. She was even unlikely to make that kind of move with Midnight Black Cats, even with Sachi being in Beta, when she was originally with those people. For the sake of keeping their guild as controlled as possible, no ties until later when ties were absolutely needed. For the time being, she would only accept recruits who met certain criteria into the guild. Mostly people who were ready and willing to learn. Whether it be in crafts, helping out the fellow guild mates with keeping updated on their gear. Ana and Lisbeth would maintain the top team of the guild with their gear, but many others through the rest of the guild could also be crafters who support each other and the other more combat geared. She could even teach combat. Of course, she would end up spending less and less time with the friends who had become so close already the more the guild would expand, so at most she believed in having another three full teams. Enough for a maximum full raid. She would only train them as much as they had the potential for, then spread her time most between the more precious friends she currently spent her time with, then some time with the newer members of the guild.

Ana even typed out the whole answer. Klein only grew more upset that Ana was so against tying their guilds together even only temporarily for the event. He was depressed that he wouldn't get any of Ana's famous teaching. He was devastated that Ana only aimed to solidify a very powerful guild who could smoothly progress through the game at a strong pace. Basically, any guild outside of theirs wasn't being considered by Ana toward the progression upward and out of the game. There were a couple of voices against such a thing within the current Beta. Leafa and Sachi were against Ana's mindset, because Sachi wanted to be able to tie with her friends, even if she was still afraid of the idea going back with them. Leafa because she wanted to have a lot more people around. The rest considered it from a healthy and progression point of view.

In regard to the guild health, everyone had to be able to be healthy. Realistically, even bringing in three more teams was ridiculous considering Ana's anxiety, and she was the guild leader. The guild would need to be balanced to be healthy. To have good, positive and needed personalities which would mesh well together. To show the rest of the people outside of the guild that they weren't willing to work with just anyone. For a time, not tying with other guilds was the smartest thing to do. Eventually, it might even be a decent idea to connect with Fuurinkazan, but only after the time frame where the guild solidified itself passed. Ana didn't mind connecting with the Midnight Black Cats, but that would also have to wait for such time as well. Extending beyond the reach of the guild and blatantly helping others would only weaken the support of the guild. As well, extending beyond like usual would only deteriorate Ana's health and capabilities.

Ana set herself to sleep after sending off the message, deciding it was better to get her rest for the time being and worry about the other drama later. When the conversation tried to continue including her, the sleeping icon showed up next to her name and everyone shook their heads when Klein looked at them with a hopeful expression they would tell him they could continue talking about him allying with the guild.

In the end, Kirito explained to Klein that it was very possible that Beta allying out with another guild so early would only belittle the group. That the guilds should rely on themselves and show their strengths and develop themselves respectable names.

"See, if we ally with Fuurinkazan right now, through the Christmas event, other people will either criticize and say we need help for this kind of event, or you'd be putting your guild in a terrible spot for strength since most people know our guild already. It's actually better that Ana answered no right away to this. It only reminds me how fragile the situation is right now. We could gradually accept new members into our guild, build them up into a powerful raiding team and let everyone else ride our coattails out of Aincrad, or we could just have a couple of really strong teams in our guild for taking into those raids when more people are needed. The point we really need to consider though, is Ana. She has a condition that makes it difficult to form large groups around her. She also has a bad impression of you because of how you acted toward her on day one. Redeem yourself from the perverted role you gave yourself, and eventually she might say it could be worth it to work together. For the time being though, we just can't do that. For our own and your own sakes."

Klein nearly sobbed with his grief toward the situation. He tried to pick himself up right away, showing his personality through, and he smiled when he realized that it wasn't a forever no.

"So I might be able to win her over then?"

Even his own guild mates sighed at his words. No matter how he worded it, everyone heard the intentions behind those words. He was still fixated on getting a relationship in the game.

"Could you stop thinking between your legs and use your head? Seriously, this is why girls run away from your guild. It's not about winning Ana over. You're only setting yourself up with thoughts of a relationship with her, to get yourself very likely thrown into the prison over the harassment policy. Do you even remember her retort to you after your tone toward her back then? She's engaged to marry, and already pregnant with her fiancee."

Klein hung his head in shame. He had tried forgetting about it, and with the heavy reminder from Kirito, his hopes sank like an ingot into the ocean. He had no chance. He liked to think there was a chance, but Ana was also the most brutally honest person to him about how hopeless his train of thought was. They were in a situation where any second while in battle, being unprepared could lead to death.

"It's no fair~!"

Klein decided to leech on something and continue the conversation with that, even though he knew how bad it was.

"I mean, Ana-san has a fiancee waiting for her outside, you and Asuna-chan are all cozy, and the rest of your group get along great. You're all beauties too! No offence to my friends, but we're a bunch of average nerds with desk jobs. We don't have a chance in real life, so this is the better chance some of us will get in our lives to get close with someone!"

Kirito had become fed up with the attitude Klein was giving off.

"Well then. As Ana would put it, gather up your hormones and take them somewhere else. If you're so desperate for a relationship, why not try as Ana with Ryra? Or myself with Asuna? We're all in girl only relationships. You could probably let out some of this ridiculous frustration you're building up too if you open up your mind a little. Unless somehow we're not on the same wavelength, none of our guild wants to hear you go on about how empty your love life is."

All eyes in the restaurant of the inn looked at Kirito. The NPCs did because they were programmed to respond to sound. Fuurinkazan and Klein did in surprise and horror. Beta did with about the same amount of surprise and as well respect. Kirito handled the situation nearly the same as they imagined Ana would have handled it. For Fuurinkazan, that was extremely unfortunate. For Beta, it was another sign that Ana was having lasting effects that shouldn't be overlooked.

Klein stood up, which was followed by the rest of his guild standing up.

"Fine then! We'll leave! But just because you're all girls and it's fine for you to be together, don't think it's so easy for guys to be that way!"

Sinon retorted to that comment.

"You should meet my little brother then. He has an older boyfriend. Deny it all you like, but boys being together can be found in many places around the world. Just like girls being together. I wonder...how long will you last? Or will your hormones run out before you give another boy a try?"

Sinon adding on her own little joke to the situation only made Fuurinkazan run out of the inn faster than they originally intended. Some of them tripped over themselves. Some of them were out smoothly. Klein lumbered out like a camel without water.

The rest of the night was quiet, and Beta managed to rest peacefully. First thing in the morning, they surprisingly didn't have a crowd waiting for them. Instead, there was a tall unfamiliar man with dark skin, bald head and some decent dungeon drop equipment. He had the obvious look of a foreigner.

"I spread a rumour that you went down to another floor so you wouldn't be found here this morning. Don't worry, I'm here on good intentions, an acquaintance of Argo. My name is Agil. Argo had mentioned you might sooner or later have need to rely on someone to sell used equipment and items you don't use, and I'd like in on your guild. I run a shop in real life and would be happy to run a guild shop selling extra items from your crafters and other things you don't use. I want to be part of your guild more because I want to support the guild with the most promise of getting us all out of here. I don't need an answer right now, but how does this sound?"

Agil looked at the group, and realized three people were missing from the group from what he'd heard about them. The most famous of their guild, the leader Ana wasn't present.

"You're going to have to at least wait and talk to Ana-san...and she's making an extra dish for you, so you might as well sit down, Agil-san. At least to us you're a little uncomfortable just standing there."

Leafa awkwardly directed the conversation to a more comfortable position. Agil was sort of an intimidating man. He was one of the more impressive, built men within the game, so there was some base thought toward him that he might be someone who would make their way in with the guild with his skill even if he didn't obtain Ana's okay for handling a guild shop.

Minutes of awkward silence passed waiting for Asuna Kirito and Ana to finish in the kitchen, and the meals were brought out by Asuna and Kirito. Ana as per late stayed in the kitchen with her food. Kirito and Asuna took their seats, and the conversation continued while they ate.

"Your leader Ana-san isn't here?"

Kirito nodded toward the kitchen.

"You can talk to her when breakfast is done. Leafa told me about your request. Ana asked me to tell her a little more about you before you and her would talk. So, how about you tell us about your experiences in Aincrad so far?"

Kirito was blunt about it. She had been learning how to speak with authority and strength from Ana, and everyone had to admit being impressed with how well Kirito pulled it off.

"Same as some. Couldn't stand waiting in the Town of Beginnings, took it extra careful and sponged off of more experienced players. You must not recognize me, but I was part of the first floor raid group with you. I was apparently good enough back then to take along, guess I want a chance to work a little harder and do what I can to help our chances of getting out. If it means helping with gathering materials, so be it. If it means being taken into the main team, great! If it means I can run a guild shop, then I'd count it as the closest thing this game has to home."

Agil was promising. He had a good head on his shoulders, and he didn't have to correct his gaze once. He was determined, and he had only good motivations. There was a hint that he wanted to be able to be in contact with good merchandise, and whether that was just a merchant's soul to him or a collector, it was something that held good standing for him. He was making leagues better an impression over someone like Klein.

"What kind of shop do you run in real life? A general goods store? Pawn shop? Those are the first which come to mind when thinking of a guild shop being involved."

Asuna asked that question. She wanted to be sure what kind of store owner he was from the merchandise he sold. The rest of the group focused on the conversation, taking a small break from their breakfast to hear the answer.

"I run a coffee bar. A cafe. During the day, it's a comfy hole in the wall coffee shop. Bar in the evenings to the late night. Nothing more, but it's home and it does me and my wife well."

Some more about him. He seemed the type to know the online etiquette, but it didn't matter. He was more concerned with making a good impression with people who could end the game.

Everyone continued eating. They were happy to hear that Agil was so honest. Also to hear that he had a wife waiting for him. That kind of information reinforced that he would be better for the guild than someone like Klein. His business was more of the consumable variety though, so it was questionable how he would do with the kind of business in handling selling equipment and other odds and ends.

Everyone finished breakfast before the conversation continued. Asuna and Kirito gathered up the plates, and brought them back to the kitchen. Eventually, the rest of Beta left the inn, Asuna Kirito and Ana left behind to speak with Agil. About a minute after everyone else left, Agil began to feel tricked somehow, but Ana Kirito and Asuna walked out from the kitchen area. They sat across from Agil at the table where everyone else had been, and Agil straightened himself in his seat when he saw Ana. Ana had her visor on, so Agil felt more intimidated by her.

Ana observed Agil's demeanour and eventually she progressed as usual with her text windows.

"Do you want to run a restaurant, or do you want to help fight?"

Those words were a test. Agil had already answered the question before, "whatever I can to help us get out of the game".

"Argo-chan mentioned the likelihood of you needing a shop soon, someone who could handle customers. Since I'm not caught up to your guild in levels and experience in battling, and I do have experience serving customers, that fits the bill perfectly for me since I could fill that role at any time. But if you'd rather me work with you, raise my level and have me learn how to battle these stronger monsters, then that works too. I'm ready to do as much work as you're ready to give me."

Asuna and Kirito looked at Ana after Agil finished answering her. A smile crossed her face and the atmosphere lightened in the room.

"Well, we're not busy enough for now to worry about setting up a shop. I'd suggest we hold off on that until we reach a later floor when we could fully establish our guild with a full store, perhaps something attached to a guild home. Until then, I'd like to first have you assist with the Christmas event. Through the Christmas event, I'll be checking on how much I can trust you to be able to handle the belongings of the guild, since we're likely to need to set up a storage soon with our large amount of bulk. After the Christmas event, because of how full our inventories are, if you earn our trust, then I'd let you show more by running a stall with goods ranging from consumables the three of us make, to uncommon drop items, even some of the crafted equipment we don't use. Of course dungeon treasures and special items from there would be included in the store inventory. This is just an outline of the possible future though. For today, we're splitting Beta into two groups. The four of us, and the rest as separate groups. We'll be doing some map filling exploration and search for the dungeon. We kill every monster in the path of our mapping, and build up our present collection. If we find the dungeon, we clear it and defeat the boss monster as our full guild if it's the boss monster alone. We won't unlock the teleport gate of the sixth floor when we get there, so that we could monopolize it. If we make enough progress with the sixth floor and it's safe to proceed to the seventh floor, after defeating another lone boss monster, then we could monopolize even more chance at the present item drops. We could keep this up and build up our event earnings as much as possible. That way, you'll have plenty to sell from the stall we'd start out with. Keep in mind, we've already been selling our items. This doesn't mean we couldn't appreciate someone experienced in retail selling our extras. It just means we could keep on doing so as we have been regardless our decisions with your interest in our guild."

Agil realized just how big a difference it was, between dealing with Kirito, Asuna or Leafa before, with dealing with Ana. Certainly the teenagers were shaped well by Ana's influence, but she was multiple steps planned ahead in everything. He had a small sample of how strong the group really was, and he was ready to latch onto it, and ride it out. To do whatever Ana's plans led to. He couldn't imagine any scenario other than a bright future for the guild Beta.

When the invitation arrived to him to be invited to the guild, Agil didn't hesitate to accept.

"I'm ready to follow."

He stood from his seat and showed his resolve. Asuna and Kirito smiled when they saw the determination on his face, and the guild tag beside his name above his head. He was a giant of a man in comparison to Ana. Seeing such a giant beside her made him feel more like a body guard as far as appearances, but it was most likely still the other way around, Ana being the stronger of the two.