Soul Art Online

- Arthas -

When we reached the Guild, the rest of the group were already there.

They were having a break in the meeting room on the third floor.

"Arty, come on. We have cookies." Star welcomed showing me a cookie before taking a bite.

This guy… he really had a big sweet tooth.

I rolled my eyes and took a seat beside him and took a cookie from the plate and took a bite. "Hmm, delicious"

"Right. Miss Bina is awesome. I could totally kiss her hands." He praised making several others in the room laugh while the woman in question was stoic as always.

"How were things on your side?" I asked, looking at Veena.

"Everything went fine." She summoned and returned me the Baron's badge. They had used my Badge and identity as a noble to buy the properties under my name.

"The first property can be put to use with slight adjustments and we can have people staying there in a few days while the other one will take a bit more time. I bought it because it was dirt cheap and can be sold for a profit after renovation if we cannot use it. We will have space for around eighty people in the first building while one hundred and twenty can be occupied in the next building after all the renovations. In the meantime, we can take the names of the people who wish to move to the guild dorms."

I nodded. "We will also need to arrange something for the food issue."

"That has already been taken care of. There are some people with the Cook Class. They are mostly those who do not wish to fight anymore and are looking for ways to survive in this game. We have hired them as the guild staff to cook. This way, they can gain experience and also some funds to support themselves without having to fight anymore. I was planning to use the profits from the dorms to build a place for the kids who are stuck in the game. We didn't have the means to help them before but now that we do, we should try our best." She added.

"That's… great. Buy another one of the abandoned properties and renovate it. That can be used as a Child Care Center. We can make an announcement about the dorms at the party tomorrow." I then turned towards Star. Whistler and Star had gone to scout the boss we were planning to hunt. "How did your task go?"

"Oh, awesome. We found the location of the next boss and investigated it. We can launch an attack on it in a week."

"So the tiger then."

"Yes. Unless you want to face the Rhino again." He smirked at the dirty look I gave him at the mention of the Rhino.

"Umm, what's the deal with this Rhino? You all seem to have a story there." Suikazura-san asked. "Is it too strong to kill?"

"Oh we killed it." Star replied, to her question. "We just didn't fight it." He then went on to explain what we had done and that finally made them understand why I was so disgusted by the monster.

"I have seen Arthas fight… and that monster. Yeah. We are not ready for that, at least not yet." She agreed.

"Well, a good thing we are going after the tiger, which in some ways is more troublesome. It's far faster than the Rhino. It also can jump to the rear and attack the ones at the rear of the team. To fight it, we need to restrict its mobility or we wouldn't survive." Shiroe suggested. "I will make a plan of action tonight."

"Well, I too found out some information about some T6 and T7 Classes." I told them what Kenneth had told me.

"So you already qualify for a Magic Knight, don't you?"

"Hmm. The strength of Grand Knight would suit my style more though." Especially with the Haki buffs. "I will try raising the level of my swordsmanship and shield skills on the side for the Lord Knight promotion and prepare to become a Grand Knight. We don't know any other suitable T6 Classes for me yet so this is the best I can think of." And now it was the time this game started becoming more about the grind.

Each Class will take other Classes or high requirements to unlock and even more time to level up.

Then again, this is what MMO's have always been about.

In all this, I have the advantage of getting rewards through references.

Going by the trend, if they have Goblin Slayer and Man Slayer then they might have other Slayer Classes as well.

Was there a Demon and Dragon Slayer?

I have tried quotes from those anime but they haven't worked. Could it be that the Game Master hasn't used them or is it just that I haven't used them in a proper situation yet?

I haven't given up and have been trying any and all references I could remember relentlessly at every opportunity I could. But that didn't mean I stopped looking for other methods. If that doesn't work out, I need to start working on higher Classes. The next bonus will mean 10% more experience for being the first T6 Class user. I cannot lose it.

"Hmm. By the way, what about the welcome party in the Guild?"

"We can have it tomorrow. I will ask some of my friends to help prepare for it. You can announce it in the Guild Chat and inform everyone about it."

"Alright then."

I posted the information about the welcoming party and within minutes the Guild Chat flooded with comments…

Everyone seemed excited about it.

Great then.

________________________________x__________________________________

"Good evening everyone. Some of you might already know me but for those who don't, I am Arthas, the Guild Master of the Fairy Tail Guild." I started as the crowd on the first floor calmed down.

"I know the last few months have been very stressful, even traumatic for most of us. We have lost things precious to us, our family, loved ones… our normal lives. But it's because of this that we must cherish the good moments we can have here so as to not lose hope. Thus we have organised this party for everyone to help bring some joy to us and encourage us to work hard together to win this game."

There was a bit of silence before someone clapped and then others joined the first person one after another.

"Can we…" Suddenly someone spoke, attracting the attention of the people.

I looked in the direction and it was a guy, around my age. He was wearing glasses and was actually looking comfortable with people staring at him. The ID name was Black Shooter.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Can we… really win this game? Can we get out after winning this?" He asked, hesitantly.

I looked at him and felt sorry. The guy wasn't trying to cause trouble. If anything, he just wanted reassurance. He wanted to hear someone say this.

I stepped on the railing of the second floor and jumped down to the first floor and walked up to him.

He looked a bit scared so I put a hand on his shoulder. "No need to be afraid. What is your name?"

"I am… my name is Keith."

"Keith… I won't lie to you that I know everything. In fact I don't. I don't know if we can get out of this game by winning… but… I am willing to try. I am not going to sit here and accept defeat. As for beating the game… I truly believe that as long as all of us work together, as long as we truly give it our all, we can win… so don't lose hope."

He looked sad but nodded.

I thought of something and added. "The most difficult thing in this world is not to win this game…" I said, making him look up to me. Please work. Oh, please work. "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live."

Congratulations Traveller.

You have discovered another secret!

Traveller.

A Special Title given to those who complete the Hidden Quests, Man of Culture.

+18 to all stats.

+36% to Exp Gained.

Note: The Effect of the Title can be enhanced the more secrets the Traveller discovers in the world.

Reward: Monster Slayer Class Unlocked.

I bit my tongue to control the urge to laugh and stop it with just a smile. I don't believe it. It worked.

It seriously worked. After trying so many quotes and acting like an idiot, this one was the one that worked.

Thank you, Buffy.

The guy nodded and the rest of the members encouraged him too. It was the start of a decent guild.

I took the time to get to know the members of the guild.

We had one hundred and ninety members as of now and it will only continue to grow in the future.

The members we have now, could go on to become the core of the guild in the future so knowing them was given.

I even took some time to talk to Gareth and his team who seemed far more friendly this time.

They have been working their asses off and the guy himself had reached T4 already and his teammates were getting there too. They had completed the most number of quests, just behind our group and contributed a lot to the levelling of the Guild so the decision of bringing them into the guild was not a mistake.

The meeting with Bina and Rose had made me realise something very important. There is only so much we can do by ourselves. Both Bina and Rose were very good players and yet they had been reduced to slaves because the other players in their town had not been on par with them.

We needed a group of strong players to face the World Quests which will be occuring in the coming days and that's why holding a grudge over a trade would be short sighted. That's why I had especially come to have a chat with Gareth.

As for Dwain… nah, fuck that guy.

At the end of the party, it was time for another announcement.