Soul Art Online

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 26: The Best Wingwoman

- Arthas -

We walked to the Blacksmith's shop where Kurumi's brother was apprenticing.

A Blacksmith Class was quite rare for several reasons.

First, was that it was considerably harder to master than something like say Herbalist.

The reason for this is the higher cost of materials for making equipment when compared to the price of herbs when making herbal mixtures or pills. This also meant that in case the crafting failed, the amount of materials lost would be expensive in case of Blacksmiths. It also took a longer time to make one piece of equipment when compared to making a bunch of pills or herbal mixtures which also made it more probable to make mistakes in crafting.

Another thing to consider was demand. Medicines and consumables were always in high demand so people could either use what they made or sell them. This was not exactly the case with Blacksmiths. There were two reasons for this.

First being the kingdom we lived in was known for the Alchemists and medicines it produced. This meant that it was easier to get the recipes of the medicines for the Alchemists in this country.

Equipment… those were not easy to come by for players. The NPCs held most of the better ones so it was better for players to buy equipment from the NPCs rather than players. Therefore, Blacksmiths just had excess low quality equipment which they couldn't sell to get back any of their investment. One could also get the Blueprints from the NPCs but that needed a lot of reputation grinding and no one had time to do that.

For this reason, the Blacksmith class was extremely money draining in the beginning phases for players of this Kingdom and we had almost no players who continued to level this class up. The highest I knew of was someone at Level 14 Apprentice Blacksmith but even he had levelled it in combat and his Skills were all low leveled.

Obviously this changed in the later phases of the game when the players were of high enough level to go to other kingdoms to get better blueprints for equipment to sell here.

There was also the fact that it was incredibly hard to level the Skills of the Blacksmith class as making even one equipment took several times more time than making one pill and gave around the same experience gains. This problem just got worse as higher grade equipment needed more time to make.

That's why I was a bit surprised when Kurumi said that her brother was a high Level Blacksmith with maxed out skills.

We reached the Shopping District in the Outer City. The place was far busier now that it was nearing noon.

Kurumi stopped at a shop nearby to buy some food before walking again.

She led us to a shop slightly away from the center of the market. We had only walked around the central market area so we didn't see this place earlier.

"I'm back." She shouted as she entered the side of a Blacksmith's shop.

"W-w-welcome back!" A girlish voice was heard.

"Oh girl, you are back. Did you bring lunch?" Another rough voice, probably that of an old man, followed.

"Yup. Are you two taking a break?" She asked as she placed the packet of food on a table in front of her.

By now, we had a full view of the place too.

It was a modest shop. Nothing too fancy but nothing of low quality either. The place was very clean unlike the Blacksmith shops I had been to before.

There were two people inside, the first was Kurumi who had entered just before us and the other was an old man.

A quick Scan showed that he was a T5 Level 50 Master Blacksmith called Gustav.

I however couldn't spot Kurumi's brother anywhere or the owner of the other voice I had just heard.

"Oh, a customer?" The old man, Gustav, asked, looking at me.

"They are friends here to visit."

"Oh your friends? Take your time to look around the place, lad. Tell me if you like anything. Since you are a friend of my little apprentice, you can get a 5% discount."

"They have come from the Inner City, old man. Don't you recognise him? He's the winner of the Greenfrost Tournament, the same guy whom the Prince made a City Lord in front of the whole crowd yesterday."

"Eh! Wait wait, let me see him closer. Oh yeah, he does look familiar. I guess I didn't recognise him with a noble's clothes instead of a Knight's armour. Well I'll be. Who would have thought that your friends would be such a big shot?" He laughed at Kurumi and then turned towards me. "That was some great fight you showed yesterday."

I nodded. "I am glad you liked it."

"Ahahahaha you know what? I'll make the discount 20%. Just choose whatever you want to buy." He laughed.

…damn, did we buy stuff too early.

We could have saved quite a lot if we had waited for later.

I didn't even need to look at Rose's face beside me to know how depressed she was at the missed opportunity.

"Umm, we don't exactly need any equipment for now. We just purchased a lot of new gear a month ago at Sabaody so we are all done for now. I thank you for the offer though." I apologised and gave the man a bow.

"Sabaody eh… yeah, I can see why you would be done. That place is… expensive for sure but no one can deny that it also holds some of the best products out there. Anyways, you are a Lord now. You shouldn't bow to us commoners. It won't look good on you."

…

"I was just doing what was necessary. I was a commoner too. Politeness is not something that would ever look bad on anyone."

"Hahahaha well said. I like you already. Much better than most of those stuck-up nobles."

This man really had no filters.

"Anyways, we are joining a Guild." Kurumi spoke up, breaking the awkward moment.

"Oh, will you be moving away from Greenfrost then?" He asked, probably wondering if her brother would be leaving his apprenticeship.

There was no way we were going to do something that foolish. Gaining a Master Blacksmith to directly teach someone would require high skill and a large amount of grinding for reputation. Leaving all that… no way.

"No. He wants to conduct business with Greenfrost, and I can stay here to represent the Guild." She informed him. "He can still continue his apprenticeship."

"By the way, where is your brother?" I asked, looking around and not finding anyone around there.

"Oh… he… is a bit shy. I told you that, didn't I?" She replied awkwardly.

I mean, she did say that, but she didn't say exactly how shy he was, but what did that have to do with that now?

"Well, I have to invite him to the Guild, so I need to know where he is."

She turned around and looked at a box beside the old blacksmith with an awkward look on her face, making all of us look at the box.

"H-h-hello-o." A girlish voice sounded from inside the box once more.

I was taken by surprise, but now that I was looking closely, I noticed two eyes peeking out of the box.

…

"Umm… he is a bit anxious around strangers. Give him some time; he will come around to get to know you better and come out." She said, looking a bit embarrassed.

I didn't know what to say. This was the first time I had encountered such a situation.

Was this the so-called hikikomori?

Severe social anxiety was a psychological problem. Many people took to online gaming as a solution to escape having to communicate with the real world.

This kind of situation, while uncommon, wasn't exactly unheard of. In fact, it was increasing more and more as life became more stressful in some countries.

But what could a person do if the world they escaped to became the equivalent of the real world? How would a person survive then?

Suddenly, several of my doubts became clear.

It suddenly made sense how he had managed to max out all his Blacksmithing Skills. It also made sense how he could grind the reputation with a blacksmith to learn from him.

This guy… he had been stuck inside a shop the whole time.

"That's… fine." I tried to use Scan looking at the eye in the box.

To my surprise, it worked.

Boy in the Box

…

…

…

…

Seriously…

That's your IGN?

I did, however, add him to the Guild.

"Welcome to the Guild. We have one more member with us, but she is busy taking care of some business right now. I will bring her to visit next time. Today, we have several other appointments for the day. In case you need anything, you could message us in the Guild Chat. Our main Guild Base is in Llyne, and you can talk to the members there too. Talk to any of the officers or admins of the Guild in case you have any doubts. Even just joining the Guild gives you bonus experience gains due to our Guild's Blessings. This will be especially good for people who level up using production classes." I added, taking another look at the box.

There was something about the whole situation that was familiar to me; I just couldn't recall what, but I knew that it wasn't bad.

"Oh, when can we go out to hunt?" Kurumi asked excitedly.

"Hunt… yes. We can go out tomorrow. I haven't hunted in the last few days either due to the tournament. I need to catch up with my level quota too."

This is something I had asked Sir Ralph, and he did point me towards some of the places where the Knights of the Knight's Academy hunted.

While the tournament did give me far more than I had expected. My skills had risen considerably, and the new Skills I had gained due to the references were more or less broken; I hadn't been able to raise my level in the past few days.

This was making me very uncomfortable. I didn't want to miss out on the first T6 Player Achievement either.

Veena, Rose and I were going to go there tomorrow for hunts and try to get some levels in. Kurumi joining us would only help out more.

Maybe when we get back, we can go to Loguetown or maybe Sabaody to level up? I will talk to Shiroe about this.

We talked to them for a bit and got ready to leave early.

It was near sunset, and we had dinner in the evening with the Prince of the Country. I couldn't afford to be late there.

"I will contact you about the hunt tomorrow. Get ready around nine in the morning."

"Alright, I will wait." She waved us goodbye, and we left the place.

The journey back was quiet, but Rose did seem to be in a good mood so it was all good.

We reached the inn about thirty minutes later.

Veena wasn't back yet.

I decided to go ahead and take a bath and get ready before she returned. The inn did provide hot water at all times, so it was convenient.

"I'll go and take a bath, or do you want to go first?" I asked.

"No… you can go first." She denied.

"Okay." I nodded and was about to go towards the bath when Rose spoke.

"Umm… thank you… for today."

"You don't have to thank me. I did promise this and I enjoyed the date too… If you are fine with it, I wouldn't mind going on another one later." I added.

I was initially hesitant because of Veena. While she did tell me that I would need to take other lovers, I had assumed that that was some kind of test from her, and I hadn't really thought about actually getting another lover.

Rose however, had changed these things as it had clarified several things to me.

Veena was actually serious about setting me up with other lovers.

Well, since Veena really didn't mind setting me up with other girls, it would be rude to not take advantage of this.

Rose… she was amazing.

Smart, talented, and extremely beautiful.

I wasn't joking when I said that she would make any man feel lucky to have her as a girlfriend.

As expected, she blushed red at my words.

"Oh! You don't want to?"

"N-no, it's not like that but… Veena… You are with her, right?" She whispered that last part faintly, and I was sure I would have missed it if I hadn't been at a high level.

"Veena doesn't mind. In fact, it was she who asked me to get more lovers. It's apparently something normal in the supernatural world or something? If she pushed for this date, I am sure she wouldn't mind us going on another one either or... make it something more for that matter... and neither would I." I added later.

Her blush deepened, to the point that it looked like she could faint anytime.

I chuckled at her reaction and left the room, not pushing her any further today.

The bath was relaxing.

I took the time to check on the activities of the Guild during this time.

Shiroe was managing everything back there.

Neither Star nor Suikazura-san or Whistler were the management type to help him out. Thankfully, there were also Bina and Elaine helping him out with everything. Both of them had more than enough experience with these kinds of things

"We are out on a hunting spree. Suikazura-san is getting near her level cap and will probably reach there in another week or so. How long will it take for you guys to return?"

"No idea. I will have to go to the capital with Arnold. As for how long it will take, I will know after today's dinner later today. Man, these things are tiring. I just want to go back to leveling up again."

"Aren't you getting rare skills and items there? Those things are far more difficult to get than just some levels. Just keep holding on. "

"Hmm. Can we please go to Sabaody after we return? Or Loguetown. I miss the exp gains there."

"Will depend on when you will be transferred to your new city. We can make plans then."

"Okay."

"Anyways, there are two new additions in the Guild."

"Kurumi is the girl who helped Rose. The other one is her brother. He is a Blacksmith with maxed out skills."

"Maxed out?!"

"Yeah… I was just as surprised. Turns out he has severe social anxiety and has become a shut-in… then got caught in the game. You can guess the rest."

"That… must have been difficult."

"Hmm. The boy is working as an apprentice for a Master Blacksmith in Greenfrost."

"Let him stay there and learn. I will try to talk to him in private chat. Didn't you get a new equipment blueprint as a reward? If he is trustworthy you can take that to him. Having a skilled Blacksmith in the Guild will help a lot."

"I know…"

My words stopped as the door to the bath opened and Veena entered the bath in a towel.

Now, I had seen her enough times in all states of dress to not be phased by that.

It was the figure behind her, in a similar white towel that attracted my attention.

Rose!

When did Veena return?

And what did she do to bring Rose here?

The girl was blushing even more, as if it were somehow possible.

I knew it had to be Veena's doing, or there was no way Rose would do this by herself.

Still, there was no way I could ask her that in front of Rose. So in the end, the only thing that came out of my mouth was...

"When did you come back?"

"Just a minute after you entered the bath. I wanted to take a bath too and we would have been late if we took turns, so I decided to join you. I brought Rose in so that she didn't feel left out." She replied with a casual smile as she came near the bathtub and removed the towel.

I stared at her stark naked form as she came and sat down beside me.

And as if that wasn't enough, she looked at Rose, who was watching the scene in awe and embarrassment, and spoke. "Come on in. The water is nice and warm."

Rose was taken aback at being called out like that all of a sudden but nodded shyly and in front of my shocked eyes… dropped her towel, revealing her body for us.

White hair cascaded down her shoulder over her bountiful chest, being parted only by her pink nubs, which were standing proudly, unlike her embarrassed form. There was a small patch of silver white above her pink lower lips.

As expected, my blood flowed down to my lower head, and it rose to full length in moments.

Now, both Veena and Rose were extremely beautiful. But there was something very different about Rose's embarrassed and shy demeanor, which was completely new to me.

This was a stark contrast to what I had been used to with Veena's confident, upfront, and proactive behaviour.

While I was busy staring at her, she quietly entered the bath. The bath wasn't that big to allow all three of us a lot of space, and since Veena had already taken one side, the only place left was my other side, which is exactly where she sat, her thigh touching mine.

I wasn't an idiot to not realise what Rose doing all this meant, nor was I dumb enough to reject it after the amount of courage she has gathered to do something like this.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

My hands wrapped around the waists of both ladies and rested there quietly.

I didn't make any more moves, just keeping my hands there unmoving.

This was already enough as my answer to her approaching me.

But just because I was talking things slow didn't mean Veena was going to be slowing down too.

She rested her face on my chest as she wrapped her hand around me, snuggling into my side. Her leg rested on mine, and I could feel the heat from her core on my thigh while my length was snuggled between her thigh and her calf.

I looked at her in surprise, but it seems that it was too early for me to be surprised as she pressed my length between her thigh and calf and was massaging me.

The sudden move made me tremble and grip Rose's waist with more force.

My action must have hinted to the girl to follow Veena's actions as she too took the same position as her, although much more hesitantly.

The smile on Veena's face widened too and she stopped her actions, having already achieved her purpose.

…

Well, as they say, in for a penny, in for a pound.

I too relaxed my grip on their waists, instead taking to slowly caressing their backs as I basked in the soft feeling of their bodies in my embrace.

Veena, as if agreeing with my actions, started some small talk to ease the atmosphere.

I, having found a way out, joined in too.

x_

"I have sent a message regarding Arthas' promotion to the City Lord. When are the two of you planning to go to the capital?" Prince Arthas asked Arnold and me.

"In a week."

"Good. Normally we would have asked you to come with us to the capital, but both Sir Uther and I have to make another detour. I apologise for not being able to accompany you there."

"Please don't apologise for something like this. It's not a problem." Arnold said. Then hesitating a bit, he asked. "May I ask something from you, your Highness?"

"Yes."

"I have heard some news of unrest in the border towns. Is it... that time already?"

The prince sighed, and on his side, Uther closed his eyes, a calm look on his face.

"Yes. We have indeed found such information. The number of bandits is increasing in the territories, and the number of skirmishes on the border is increasing slowly. There have even been news of weapons and armour being ordered into Baweth from the Dwarven Kingdom as well as Sabaody. Everything is pointing to such a situation. If the past is any indication, then we might very well be looking at a war in the coming months."

…War?

My ears perked up at the news of a war.

War in this game might be a World Quest, and as seen in the previous World Quest, getting advance information could make a world of difference between players.

"But isn't this earlier than usual? Normally, another war wouldn't have started for another couple of years. Baweth needs more time to recuperate. How did they even get funds to get all the equipment?" Arnold asked.

"That's the problem. Normally, Baweth accumulates wealth through banditry. This means whenever they want to launch a war, we see an abrupt rise in pillaging of the surrounding counties a few months earlier. This time, however, that hasn't happened. Instead, a large amount of weapons and armour, even supplies, was carried towards Baweth through surrounding counties. We suspect that an outside power is providing support to Baweth to start a war. That's why, this year, the war might be... different from other years." Uther explained, probably seeing my look of confusion and expectations.

"Different how?"

"The only reason Baweth stops a war is when they are out of supplies. This time however…"

"Do we know who is providing them with support?" I asked.

"No. This is exactly why we are travelling through the kingdom and meeting with the kings of the surrounding counties to find out the mysterious backer of this war."

"This is also why several experienced T6 Knight's are being slowly shifted to the frontline and newer people are being given their position as City Lords." Prince Arthas added, throwing me a glance. "And new Grand Knights being appointed is also to show a stronger front."

"I will not let you down." I said with a slight bow.

"I trust you. We obviously wouldn't pass on the position to someone who wasn't worthy. You were not given this position only due to your victory in the tournament. The previous defence of Llyne, where you and your team secured a victory with a considerably small amount of people, was also considered. This time around, we need such people holding the fort in case someone slips by our defences."

"I will contact my team and tell them to start preparing in advance."

"Good then. We also need to meet with other important people so we might not be able to stay in one place for a long time or return to the capital quickly." He brought out a letter and passed it to Arnold. "Please hand this to my Father, the King."

Arnold nodded.

"Train and gain strength as soon as possible and prepare for a big wave this year. Our goal is to protect our kingdom. Don't worry; the kingdom will not forget you either. We always honour our heroes." He added looking towards me.

Probably to give me some motivation to work harder for the coming war.

Not that I would have ignored it otherwise.

Even if he didn't say anything, this whole plot seems like a World Quest.

I would have prepared for it regardless.

x_

"A war?" Shiroe asked in the Guild Chat.

"Yes." I replied.

"It's a World Quest, if I have seen any." Star added.

"Same." Whistler chimed in.

"We need to work for the defence of your new town, don't we?" Shiroe asked.

"Yes, I would think so. Llyne is already under Arnold. How long do you think it will take for us to move there?"

"I have been looking into the city since you told us about it. It will take five days for us to get there if only our team marches. If we take the Guild, provided most of them agree, it will take us at least a week."

"Try to convince them. We will need as many hands as possible." I asked.

"I will."

"Actually, why don't we recruit players from that town?" Star asked. "I am pretty sure they would love to join the Guild for the same reason as the people of this town."

"That is because we cannot be assured of their loyalty. They must have groups of their own by now. Every town more or less has that. Even if they join the Guild, the chances that they will follow our plans are quite low, as we will basically be new players who have taken over their turf due to NPC support. If anything, they might hold some grudges against us and would likely work against us in the World Quest. We cannot let that happen and will thus need more of our people to take care of any fallouts. Sure, this might also just be my paranoia, but I'd rather err on the side of caution."

"Man, this shit just keeps getting more and more complicated." Star replied.

I could feel the roll of his eyes through the chat.

"We still have a few months for this. Throw the idea and see how many are willing to move to Alverton. Veena, Rose and I are also recruiting NPCs to help. Let's aim for small goals first. Let's get all our team members to T5 before the World Quest."

"Hmm."

We left for our own work after a bit more chat

Everyone suddenly got busy.

We will also be going out for a hunt tomorrow.

I lay on the bed, thinking about the whole situation. Man… I just can't catch a break.

Just when the entire tournament fiasco was over, this shit started.

The very next day too.

"No need to worry about it, dear. What is going to come will come regardless of what we do. All we can do is prepare our best and face it together." Veena spoke.

Rose too nodded on the side.

They had gone to the Magic Tower while I was having dinner with the Prince and Uther to meet with the Vice President of the Magic Tower.

Veena was a Witch, and Rose was planning to become a Magic Warrior and the Magic Tower was the place that dealt with both.

"Anyways, enough about work. Tell me, how was your date? Did you two have fun? Although I can already take a guess..." She smirked, looking at Rose, who blushed again. "I'd like to know the details."

I rolled my eyes. She was having too much fun in all this.

Rose, however, looked excited despite her embarrassment. I guess she has never had anyone to talk about this kind of thing before? And now that she did, she wanted to take full advantage of it.

I took this time to undress and lay on my bed.

Today was quite eventful, and I wanted a shut eye to destress.

"Oh! New armour. These look nice. I will have to check out that store too."

…girls and shopping.

"But really? Was that all you guys did? No kissing, no making out? How is that a complete date? At least one kiss to complete the date was needed. Arthas, this was Rose's first time. She might not know, but you did."

No, no, I didn't either.

Your concept of date is vastly different from mine. Although I thought this, I didn't say it out loud. I did, however, notice a quick glance Rose had thrown though

"This won't work. Come on. This is Rose's first date. We can't have anything missing in it. Kiss, you two."

"Huh?!"

"Don't huh me. We did decided to give Rose a proper date, didn't we? We can't have such an important part missing, can we? Go on, Rose."

…

I looked at Veena with a look of disbelief.

Come on.

I know you want us to get together, but there is no way this would work.

The girl was blushing so hard at just the topic of being my girlfriend that it looked like she would bleed out of her nose. And now you want me to kiss her... and that too in front of you?

But apparently today was a day of surprises.

In front of my stunned gaze, Rose actually stepped towards me.

My eyes widened as I realised what was happening. Just what the fuck did Veena teach her when I wasn't looking?

"Go on, Arthas. Don't keep her waiting. It's rude."

…

Well, fuck it.

Rose was already on the bed, actually waiting.

She was actually afraid of being rejected.

Those morons in Asgard really did a number on her confidence. Not to mention the two incidents in the game didn't help either.

Maybe she was trying to get past all that and gain some confidence in herself? Or maybe it was actually something more…? I didn't know.

But I did know that if I were to reject her right now for any reason, it would absolutely crush her confidence.

So, I did exactly what I had decided before.

Moving over, I took her hands in mine and felt a slight tremble in her hands.

I leant forward towards her and actually brought her into a hug.

Letting her rest for some time in my arms, I caressed her back, giving her time to calm down. After some time, sensing that she was calmer, I spoke softly.

"If you ever want this to stop or if it feels uncomfortable... please... please tell me. I will stop immediately."

"Umm." She nodded her head.

"Good. Now relax." I pulled her in for a soft kiss. It wasn't a kiss full of passion, just our lips touching, getting a feel for each other. She got more comfortable after a few seconds and actually relaxed in my arms.

After a few minutes, I licked her lips, slowly prodding her lips to open.

She did provide it without any resistance, and my tongue invaded her mouth.

My hands slowly reached around her, caressing her back.

While we were doing so, her towel came loose staying there only being held by our chests pressed against each other. I could feel two cherries poking my chest through the towel.

I didn't make any move to remove it, lest it spook her.

But it turns out that my fears were unfounded.

A minute later, her tongue was actually responding to mine, twirling with mine in a dance of passion.

She was obviously inexperienced, but she was actually doing her best too.

When I pulled back, breaking our kiss, there was a strand of saliva connecting our lips.

Her towel had completely fallen as we broke the hug, revealing her milky white breasts with her pink nubs, standing proud.

But more than that, there was this glazed, glassy look in her eyes that was just too hot.

"Want more?" I asked, and she actually leant in with her eyes closed.

This time, I took the initiative to be more proactive, directly pushing my tongue into her mouth. She quickly returned the favour too.

I removed the towel from between us slowly, and to my surprise, she actually lifted her ass up, helping me move the towel from under her. At the same time, her arms snaked around my neck, pulling me more into the kiss.

We separated again when she was breathing heavily. Before we realised it, I was on top of her, one of my legs between hers, my knee pressing on her core.

"That was... amazing." Our thoughts were broken by Veena's voice. "See, it was better this way, wasn't it?"

Both of us looked at the third person in the room almost at the same time.

Damn… I had almost forgotten about her for a moment there. and from the looks of it, it looks like Rose did the same. The worst part was that Veena realised it, and there was no way she was going to let it go. Knowing her as I did, she would absolutely tease the two of us about this.

As expected, Rose went back from the wild cat mode to the blushing virgin mode once more, while I made my usual aloof face I had perfected as a defence against Veena's teasing.

"I know it's easy to get lost in passion, but take your time to enjoy all aspects of the relationship rather than directly jumping into the final action." She teased, although her words carried seriousness in them.

Even Rose realised this and nodded.

I, however, wasn't convinced.

There was no way she was going to stop just at this. I knew her enough to know this.

As expected, she dropped her towel on the floor, revealing her body to the two of us, and slowly moved onto the bed and directly between my legs.

"For now, watch and learn."

…

I knew it!

– Rias Gremory -

She sat in front of the City Lord of the city they were staying in.

Lord Mervin Vale was an elderly gentleman who gave off the feeling of a jovial uncle.

She, however, had seen his information and knew that this happy-go-lucky old man is a T6 Holy Knight, one of the best warriors of the Kingdom. He had been a Holy Knight for over thirty years already and could have been promoted to be one of the King's personal guards but chose to stay in this town, his hometown, to protect and raise the new generation of Knights.

He was very respected among the Knights of the Kingdom as a veteran who had led the Knights of the Kingdom to victory in many wars over the years till now.

As for how she was here...

The Knight's Academy had informed her that one of the people she had rescued during her Knight's Exam was a relative of the City Lord and that he would like to meet them personally to thank him.

Unfortunately, he had not been around back then, or else he would have carried out the rescue himself when his relative had gone missing back then.

The man had gone to the capital and then to some other place and hadn't even known that his cousin was in trouble.

Now that he was back, he had sent for her to thank her.

"Thank you for saving Rio's life." He gave her a deep bow. He then slid a small book, a Skill Book, towards her. "This is something from my side to show my appreciation."

She took a quick look at the Skill Book. It was the Parry Skill, something she already knew as Chief Nyanta had received two drops of the Skill and had given her one when she had started levelling up her Squire Class.

Let's see if this can be used to grind some reputation points instead. After all, he was a Holy Knight, and Rias was aiming to become one before she could become a Paladin.

Getting help from him would make things much easier later on.

"You don't have to do this. I just did what I was supposed to do."

"And I am doing what I am supposed to. Rio has been very close to me in my family. Saving her life is a great debt to me. This is just me repaying my debt. Please don't deny it."

"I… thank you." She accepted the reward.

"It's good to see such talented newcomers joining the Knight's Academy. With talents like you rising in Whitevine, who knows l… maybe in the future, we can also have someone like the Monster of Greenfrost among our ranks."

She raised her eyebrow at the sudden name that was brought up.

"Monster of Greenfrost?"

"Oh yes. It's the title given to the winner of the Greenfrost Tournament this year."

Seeing her confused look, he explained further.

"Greenfrost is a territory in the north of the Kingdom under an old comrade of mine, Duke Black. A few days ago was his birthday ceremony, where, every year, he holds a massive tournament for the fighters of his province. Both independent fighters as well as those recommended by major institutions like the Knight's Academy, Magic Tower, and the Church participate in categories according to their tiers."

That sounds like a tournament-type quest.

Rias kept it in mind for later. Maybe they could go there and take part in the competition.

The man continued.

"It's an interesting show. We old ones often bet on the outcome, and the winner gets the bragging rights for a whole year hahahaha. The last two years, the church has been winning. It was fun to see the constipated faces of old Ralph and David." The man smiled happily, like an elder telling stories to children.

So she too played the part of an interested youngster and listened diligently. After all, these types of talks can often bring unexpected quests and rewards.

The man continued, happy with the attention. "This year however..." He paused.

"What happened this year?"

"Normally when organisations recommend someone, they choose their best of the best as they carry the face of the organisation. And in such tournaments, players are all in the upper levels of their respective tiers, like 47, 48, 49, and even 50 of Tier 5. That's how it has always been. Even the anomalies like Mountain Crusher, Arnold Straight, and Ogre Slayer Bradley Star, two of the previous winners of the tournament, who can fight Tier 6 individuals with Tier 5. These people were awarded the position of City Lords, something that is exclusively reserved for Tier 6 due to their incredible battle prowess… all followed this rule."

She took some time to take in all the information.

People can fight at a higher level than their own tiers.

Lastly, only Tier 6 individuals can become City Lords; the only exception were people who have the combat power of a Tier 6.

Arnold Straight and Bradley Star were both such people.

"So?"

"This year, however, the Knight's Academy pushed forward a Level 29 as a recommended player. All of us thought that it was someone who had pissed off old Ralph badly or maybe slept with his daughter or something for the old man to be so petty, but all that was thrown out of the window in the very first round of the games."

By now, she was actually listening with great interest. The City Lord was a great storyteller.

"In the first round, the participants have to face off against three T5 golems controlled by magicians. This is done to eliminate the riff raff. These golems are quite tough, as even level 50 T5 Knights would find it hard to go up against their team alone. This boy, however..." The man paused, creating suspense, and she leant in closer to listen, already engrossed in the story by now. "He ended the match in seconds... seven seconds. He sliced through those Golems in one slash each at such great speed that we all thought he was cheating. That he was someone of a higher Tier or level, pretending to be a low-level player. We were wrong."

She gulped.

She had seen the knights in the town, and they were strong, but even among them there were only two T5 level 50.

One was the Vice Captain of the Knights, Cedric Brown, and the other was the assistant of the City Lord, Brutus Summers.

Both of them were completely different beasts.

She had seen them fighting, and their skill and power are incredible.

The current her wouldn't last a minute against them. So this guy, he must be strong.

Could it be that he was a major character in the story in the future? His story did give the main character vibes.

"After that, he dominated every match with skill, actually holding off going all out and honing his skills against the different players. The boy had already proved his worth for every senior individual watching, and we didn't think we would even get to see him going all out until the finals."

She could see the look of awe on the face of the man as he spoke.

"He defeated a very... very talented T5 Stalker, someone who could even fight T6 individuals with his ambush. No, saying defeated doesn't do it justice. He destroyed him, broke his will and spirit until the man was left with no drive to fight."

"Is he… not a good person?" She asked with a frown at the sudden turn of events.

"Oh no. No no no. On the contrary, he is as knightly as they come. It turns out that one of the players had had his companions kidnapped to have him throw the match. Thankfully we found them at the right time, but the boy kept holding back the entire match, not attacking until his companion was found; even when on the verge of defeat, he didn't attack. A remarkable quality. And apparently, from what I have heard, it was not the first time he has done something like that to save his companions either." He clarified.

That was a classic main character troupe.

She bet that the companion was some girl he will be getting together with later on.

The old City Lord, however oblivious to her inner thoughts, continued.

"It was when his companion was found that he started going all out. It was a wonderful fight. No, calling it a fight would be wrong. It wasn't a fight; it was a show, a show of dominance and brutality. The boy possessed the strength of a Tier 6 while being a Level 30 Tier 5. That's… absolutely unheard of." He finished and then shook his head with a smile.

"I'll be honest, I was hoping he would become a Holy Knight as he had used some Holy Knight Skills. He could have become one of the best Paladins with that kind of talent, but after that fight, I gave up that hope. He was a born Imperial Knight. Becoming anything else would actually do him a disservice."

"What is the name of the man?" She asked, hoping to keep tabs about him in the future.

Main characters always have the best missions around them.

"Arthas… his name is Arthas. He even has the same name as the Prince hahahaha. I wonder if there is some magic in the name. You should keep an ear out for his name. I think he even has a guild of his own. At least that's what his companion told us."

"Oh, what guild?"

"Fairy Tail."

…

…

…

…

"What?!"

x_

"That's some incredible story. Are you sure it's the same Guild as in the World Announcement?" Henrietta asked.

"I verified it with the City Lord… thrice."

"Wow… he must be incredible." Ley Fay said, looking awed.

"Strong." Was the only thing Koneko said, but it told her everything.

"He must be using some really good equipment and buff-type skills. I guess being the Guild Master of the first Guild does give you access to some good stuff." Chief Nyanta said after a thought. "I wonder if the kidnapping thing was some kind of timed quest?"

"That... makes sense. Still, if it wasn't, then he would totally be a knight in a shining armour from those stories, wouldn't he?" Henrietta said with a grin.

She did have some really adorable dreams.

Rias smiled at her words.

"I know, right? I even thought he was the main character of this world or something. His story did seem like one."

"Technically, all players are supposed to be main characters in this world." Koneko added with a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips.

Rias smiled at her words.

Knowing the truth about the whole Kuroka incident had done wonders for Koneko.

She was doing much better than before, as if she had again found a will… a goal to strive for.

Often times, she could even be seen making jokes like this and showing hints of a smile like now.

"Well, main character or not, it does prove that the Fairy Tail Guild is not just in name only if they have such strong players."

"Exactly. The highest level player we have in our team is Chief Nyanta and he is only level 30 of T4, while that guy is fifty levels above. Just how did they level up?"

She did have some ideas.

Maybe it was someone from the supernatural side of the world, like Ley Fay, Koneko, and her? Someone used to fighting and taking lives for real would find it easier to level up in the game... at least in the starting phase, when other players were still squeamish about taking the lives of other human NPCs.

Supernatural beings always had an advantage on this side. Even Koneko was the same with her hand-to-hand combat experience translating into the game.

Rias herself found it easier to learn magic than other mages. The same was true for Le Fay.

That would explain his initial growth over other players.

He must be a swordsman of considerable skill if he was praised so much by the City Lord.

"Umm… could he…" Ley Fay asked.

Rias understood what she wanted to ask and shook her head.

"The City Lord's description of him didn't seem to be similar to that of your brother. Not to mention, your brother wasn't even in the game when we got stuck here."

The girl looked down at the words, and she patted her head to reassure her. "Don't worry. We will get out of this safe and sound. I mean, if Arthas of the Fairy Tail Guild can get so strong, why can't we do the same? The City Lord has also offered to help me train, and once I become a Templar, he will teach me a rare skill." Looking at the rest of the team, she cheered them on. "We are going to win this game."

"Yeah!"

x_x_

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Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what is updated; a first Tier will not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.

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Author's Note:

I am back with another chapter of 'Soul Art Online'.

I am really sorry for the delay in the chapter. I am stuck with some irl issues.

I will try to get the next chapter out early.

Anyways, several things happened in the chapter.

We got to meet? the trap vampire.

Rose got what she wanted… at least a bit of it.

Veena is the bestest wingwoman.

Rias accidentally broke the fourth wall.

The Next chapter will be lemony and then we will see how things are on Akeno's side of things.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.