I ONLY OWN THE CHARACTERS AND SOME ITEMS AND WEAPONS THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

CHAPTER 2

"I'm back. Man that was exhausting."

"What took you so long?"

"Oh, I just had a little chat with the lords of the Sylphs."

"You mean 'that' Sakuya chatted with you?"

"Yep, 'that' Sakuya."

"And let me guess, you tried to hit on her."

"You're making me looks like a total fool for love Mitch, and how can you say that? You don't even know the real me?"

"Oh I do, as a matter of fact I know more about you than you know yourself."

" ~smile~ okay, okay you win."

Yep, Mitch knows me pretty well. You're probably thinking who Mitch is right? Well, she's a Leprechaun and also known as the Meister Schmied or in English, the Master Blacksmith.

She was the apprentice of the lord of the Leprechaun but after 4 months of being the apprentice she became too skilled and she surpassed him. It was also that time that her master gave her that title.

But not too long after, something happened that made her became an exile.

"So, how did it go?"

"Hmm?"

"The courting, did she say yes?"

" ~grin~"

" ~eyes wide open from surprise~ N-No way? Are you serious?"

"Yes, she accepted."

"Really!? This is a chance to celebrate! MUST…CALL..EVERYONE!"

I saw her tapping her menu list hastily, and probably going through all her contacts and messaging everyone. That's when I continued talking with a smirk on my face. It should be fun looking at her angry face, or so I thought.

"She accepted my friend request!"

I noticed her stopping right after I said those words.

" ….. Come again?"

"I said she accepted my frie.. Ouch!"

Before I could finish, Mitch swing her favorite weapon towards me, a freaking +10 forged mace. Her weapon is one of the best forge weapons I have ever seen. A lot of players have been bugging her to sell it to them; they even tried forcing her into giving it to them.

What makes her mace popular is the extra passive skill it possesses. It has a 30% chance to triple the damage dealt. Amazing right? And the parameter of the weapon is beyond belief for a forge weapon. It's now considered as one of the Legendary Weapons in Alfheim.

She's the only Leprechaun I have ever seen being in the front lines on clearing the dungeons on the floating castle Aincrad.

When I say front lines, I meant that she can hold out a fight with a dungeon boss.

"What was that for Mitch!?"

"Why don't you ask that to yourself?"

"God, I lost almost half of my HP."

"If you don't want that happening again then you better think first who you're gonna prank and what do you mean almost half of your HP? You clearly dodge that."

"I got gazed and that's still not enough reasons for you to use that OP Mace on me."

"Want another shot and without dodging this time?"

"No Way!"

I said those words while forming a cross with both my hands and then whispered.

'Who would want that you Sadistic Girl!'

She quickly glared at me, showing that she heard it and her face turns evil, I don't know how she did it but it really did. I shook the fear off from Mitch's scary face and kneeled towards a wall.

"So…"

"So? So, what?"

"Did she PM you since you added her?"

OH MY GOD! Now that she mentioned it, Sakuya haven't PM'ed me since I added her and it was 3 days ago. After leaving Sylvian, I made a prediction, which I clearly forgot, that after 15 minutes she would try and ask me some things. Squeezing some answers to her list of questions.

Now it made me think that maybe she just doesn't care. Guess she deleted my name on her friends list. Or maybe she's still thinking on how to ask me or.. maybe she reported me?

Hmm. Nah, the first two has a 40% chance of happening but the other one has 20% chance of happening.

But still, thinking about those things just made me feel …. depressed.

'Cupid! Please shoot me with that arrow of yours! …oh wait; it's the other way around… Cupid! Please shoot a girl to fall in love with me! Please! I'm begging you.'

"What are you doing kneeling in the corner?"

" ~sigh~ A popular girl like you shall never understand how I feel Mitch."

" ~Grin~ I never knew that you could give such an amazing complement."

"You wish and you know the meaning of what I said."

"I know, and aren't you popular in the same way?"

"We're different; no girls will ever adore a mask wearing thief. And as for you…Ms. Meister Schmied, you've been very popular with both boys and girls alike. And the Leprechauns worship you like a god while my race thinks of me as a bad role model and what's worse..."

"What's worse?"

"….no, never mind."

"Well, you have to admit, no one would ever like a thief and I told you the consequences of this job."

After hearing that, I got mad and shouted,

"You never told me about not being able to find a girlfriend!"

And what do you think Mitch did after hearing me shout in front of her? She holds both my shoulders, tightens her grip and …. Yes, you win a million Mithril Yurudo if you thought of this, she kick my golden treasures between my legs!

OUCH! That will surely hurt IRL. BUT! BUT! Thanks to my own reflexes I was able to block her knee with my own knee. I'm VERY SURE I would have died if it would have hit.

Just think, if this was the real world then not a single guy's Dragon Balls would be safe. Well, thank God it isn't.

Mitch grin evilly, I don't know why she's angry anymore. Is it because I shouted at her face or is it because she missed hitting her target twice in just a single conversation or …. is it both?

"But I clearly told you that you're going to be hated and how is not being able to find a girlfriend my fault? Why don't you just admit that you're a late bloomer Xayne? Everyone in the guild already knows that you are. But, if you still blame me I could try and fix it."

She finish with a killing intent at the end and her mace on her hand, it's like she's telling me to try and shout again and I'll surely get hit for real this time.

"Whatever, can't back out now, can't i?"

I sighed real hard, it's my lost again. I can never win in any argument against her. And as always she finishes with an innocent looking evil smile while saying,

"Nope, you can't."

There was silence; Mitch continued doing what she was doing before I arrive and I sit on the couch, turning the VTV on. If you're wondering what's VTV is, Virtual Television. Weird right? Believe it or not, they actually updated the patch of this game and made Alfheim's very own TV stations.

The programs are commonly focused on what's happening on this game though. The top news is usually about the front lines from Aincrad, Alfheim Online's incoming events, the top group (guild) and some random stuff.

I pressed and pressed the remote, changing from channels to channel and stop at a certain channel. I was shocked, I hurriedly called Mitch, which she hurriedly stop what she was doing and came to me asking,

"What? What? What happened?"

I didn't answer her and just pointed at the television with shock still visible at my face.

"I'm here today at Ygdrassil to report about the sudden meeting of the Lords of each race that was called by the Salamander's Lord, Mortimer. It is said that the topic of this meeting is about the … ah .. here they are. The 9 Lords are appearing."

The crowd was howling, clapping, cheering and whistling as the Lords seated in their respective seats except for one. It was Mortimer, as always seeing him even from the television makes my blood boils.

I gritted my teeth while squeezing my weapon tightly; I would have used my weapon to destroy the television if it wasn't for Mitch touching my shoulder.

But Mitch wasn't comforting me and I didn't stop wanting to destroy the television because Mitch woke me up from my agitation. It was because I saw Mitch's expression. 'Pure hatred from the bottom of her heart' that's what she said before.

Yes, this isn't the first time this happened. It's actually the 5th time and the reason for it is kept a secret within our group. It's a banned topic and should never, ever be brought up.

My hate for him was shallow than Mitch's hatred for him.

I took Mitch's hand and guided her to her room. After guiding her to her room I quickly returned to the couch and continued watching the news.

Even if I hated him I couldn't stop watching, for I have other things to worry about.

It's rare for the 9 Lords to gather and on top of that it seems like they're gonna' make an announcement.

The crowd was still being loud until Mortimer raised his hand to silence them.

"Good evening my dear players. You must be wondering on what we, the 9 Lords, were discussing during our meeting. We usually don't tell the crowd about this but this time is an exception. We decided to hold a competition between guilds or groups, the best of the best. Any guild/group can participate, no exemptions. The winner shall receive this ring."

The spectators Ohh'ed and Wow'ed at what they saw. Mortimer was showing the image of the most powerful ring in all of Alfheim. It gives +10% to all stats and has an extra passive skills. Yes, skills. 5% chance to activate ice attack, 5% chance to activate fire attack, and a 5% chance to activate lightning attack.

Yes, that's the passive skills it has and that's why players call it the Elemental Ring.

"The competition will be held at the new arena in the first floor of Aincrad. More info will be given to you shortly."

As Motimer leaves the stage with the other lords a new Salamander showed up and spoke.

"Registrations can be done through online or through the website. You can register at your home town or at Yggdrasil's capital, Aarun. A guild that participates must have a 5 active people and 1 to 3 substitutes. No level or status on the game requirements. A Lord of any of the 9 race can enter with his/her guild/group. Registration will only be open, 5 days before the tournament. Any further questions will be answered by your registrar. Thank you."

After the Emcee spoke, a group of Salamanders flew above the crowd and bombarded a lot of flyers. Talk about loitering. But I guess no one minded that other than me.

Now that the program was done, all I have to do is to wait for a certain someone's message.

10 minutes after the announcement, I was already sitting at the table and checking some news on the paper. I could have just continued watching the VTV but, I wouldn't want to see Mortimer's face twice in one day.

It has been three days since I went to steal from Sakuya, or should I say, borrowed. During my absence, a lot of things have been happening without me knowing. I scanned the paper, looking for a certain article and there it is on the second page.

"A guild under the control of the Lord of the Salamander, Mortimer, won the bout against the Imp's for the ownership of the 'Elemental Ring'."

"The Imp's guild almost won but was overpowered when Salamanders strongest Warrior, General Eugene, showed up. The battle was yadah yadah, blah blah blah.."

'Guess it happened yesterday, and to think it's only been hiding at Aarun all these time.'

Once again I sighed, I sighed way too much these days, especially during or after doing these tasks.

'I wonder if I'm the only one who hasn't completed 6 tasks yet. Well if it's those trollers then I guess…'

Just as I wondered those thoughts a player entered our guild house. It was a player hiding its face with a cape and a mask. It would have been a mystery if it weren't for a spiral tail with black spots all over.

"~sigh~ and here I am waiting for a message from someone but receives the person itself."

"Don't talk like you own this guild Xayne."

"Hahaha, what's with the attitude Boss? Were some dog's chasing you?"

Yes, the person that just came in is our boss or our guild leader. Her name was Disa, but we like to call her 'The Queen'. You'll know the reason sooner or later.

She's a Caithsaith. She's the brain of our group and the one that gives us our individual tasks. Like me and Mitch, she was also exiled from her race, though it's only because she wanted to.

While it's still early and I feel like talking, I'll tell you her weapon.

Actually, she has two weapons.

Frozen Thorns and Fiery Fist

She acquired these two are drops from a single event. Well to be more precise, she only acquired the Frozen Thorns from event and received the Fiery Fist from Mitch.

It was an event for a guild. Mitch got the final attack bonus from the other boss while Disa from the other.

Frozen Thorns is a pair of Katar and Fiery Fists is a pair of Cestus. Each of them has its own unique effects.

"Disa, here."

I handed her the ring that I got from Sakuya, and that's the end of this tasks. She accepted it, placed it on the guilds inventory and said her farewell.

Guess she's logging off no….

WAIT WHAT!?

"Hey! Wait Disa! That's it!? You just got back and now you're logging out? You won't even ask me what happened during my task?"

"Why do you think I came earlier than the others?"

"Ahh, you got to use the bathroom?"

She twitches when I said the word 'bathroom'. I guess I hit the jackpot? I expected her to retort with words but instead, she chanted a spell, a summoning spell.

'CRAP, this is bad. I got to get out of here quick!'

But before I could run, a bee appeared out of nowhere. But this bee isn't like any other common monster. It was a Black Queen Bee. A class S tamed monster that's only acquired by a high level Caitsaith.

Shit just got real! Why am I so unlucky today? I just got free from Mitch's fury and now I got to deal with piss off 'The Queen'. The reason she's piss is still a mystery to me though.

'God, why are women so difficult to understand?'

I was shaking nonstop. A class S tamed monster in front of me and a piss off Guild Leader behind me. And to make it worse, the tamed bee summoned some annoying class C Red Bees.

Yes, annoying. They might not be a strong enemy but their ability is quite annoying. You wanna know why? It's because after defeating them, they self-destruct. Yes, self-destruct. You'll be fine if you can move back fast enough before being caught on the explosion but what if they swarm around you?

If you're thinking using an AOE magic or like killing them one by one and waiting for an opportunity to escape then don't.

Because, when a single Red Bee explode it'll chained to the other Red Bees around it and explode immediately. Yes, Im-Me-Di-ate-ly!

And now, she summoned it here, on her very own guild house. Well, the furniture's are immortal object so they'll be fine…I think.. they are.. right? The furniture in the guild house are quite expensive… and if they are actually broken then she won't make me pay all of them right?

Crap, she will! I have to stop her!

"H..hey Disa, s…stop this already, I… It's my fault s…so, let's stop n..now.. okay?"

Disa is still enraged. I could clearly feel it. She's releasing this wavy red angry aura or something.

'This is it, I can't believe I'm gonna die at my own guild house. And it'll take all my fortune to buy back or repair all of these furniture's! I'm so unlucky.'

I was ready. I mean, like I can do anything else. I have my principles to never kill a girl. Yes, I can't kill a girl but I can hurt them though. But still, it's not like hurting the tamer will make the tamed monster to disappear, you have to actually kill the tamer to do that.

I kneeled. Ready to receive divine Disa punishment. Close my eyes and waited.. and waited.. and waited?

'What's taking her so long?'

When I opened my eyes, she was gone. I looked around and saw nothing, not even those Red Bees or the Black Queen Bee.

'Did she just …'

I quickly checked my friend list and saw that Disa has already logged off.

'She really did.'

I don't know if I should feel relief for being alive or angry for being left alone.

"Ohh.. I forgot to ask her something… ~breath~ maybe next time."

Story about the other members next chapter.