Chapter Forty Three

"Maple Grove eh? Fucking terrible name for a city." A large hooded figure spat as he sighted the makings of a city in the distance.

Accompanying him were three other hooded figures. They all sat on a cart being pulled by two horses.

"I don't know, kinda sounds nice if you ask me." One of his female companions smiled. She spurred their horses as they pulled their carriage.

The other male figure changed positions so he was seated in the driver's seat along with the female. "We ain't here for nice. We're because Malakar's new 'guardian' is bad for business."

"Yeah, yeah we know." The large male figure whined. "When do I get to bash some heads?"

The other male figure groaned. "Seriously, why did they think you would be able to go on a covert operation? We're not bashing any heads."

"Besides, the bitch took out Varkos. You ain't got nothing on her." The female figure driving snorted out a laughter.

The large hooded figure scowled, his face hidden in the shadows of his hood. "Shut up, Pila. You think you're so funny, but you're not. And yeah, I know Varkos got taken out. That's why we're here, to take care of the problem."

The male figure sitting beside Pila spoke up, his voice calm and collected. "We need to be smart about this, Grimgar. We can't just barge in and expect to take out the guardian. We need a plan."

Grimgar snorted, his hood falling away from his face, revealing a gruesome scar above his left eyebrow. "Plans are for the weak. I'll take care of this bitch, and then we can get back to business."

Pila rolled her eyes, her gaze fixed on the road ahead. "You're not even listening, are you? This isn't just about taking out the guardian. It's about undermining Malakar's authority. She blocked off a good source of the organization's income. We need to be subtle, not some blunt instrument like you."

Grimgar's face twisted in a snarl, but before he could respond, the fourth hooded figure spoke up, their feminine voice low and gravelly. "Enough. We're approaching the city. Let's focus on the task at hand."

The group fell silent, their attention fixed on the city of Maple Grove as they drew closer. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the city, and for a moment, it seemed like a peaceful, idyllic place. But Grimgar's scowl deepened, his mind fixed on the chaos he was soon to unleash...

////

Entering the city was rather easy, as soon as they finally made it to the gate after a four hour wait with an extremely long que of carts and carriages and the ones on foot.

Of course, since the city was still getting back on its feet, the security wasn't even close to being tight.

Making their way in, Pila took notice of something. "Hey guys. Wasn't the city busted like a month ago? Where did all these people come from?"

The others were shocked as well. The amount of people in the city was vastly more than they expected.

As they made their way through the crowded streets, Grimgar's scowl deepened. "This is not what I expected. Where are all these people coming from? This city was supposed to be a ghost town."

The male figure sitting beside Pila, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. "I think I can answer that. I've been listening to the chatter of the people around us. Apparently, the guardian has been actively recruiting people to rebuild the city, well, whatever she hasn't fixed anyway, look at the buildings, these should take months. Yet she's offering them protection, food, and shelter in exchange for their labor."

Pila's eyes widened in surprise. "That's genius. Safe to say she's building an army, and if this keeps up, a loyal one at that."

Grimgar snorted. "It won't matter. We'll crush her and her little army."

The fourth hooded figure, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. "And how are you going to help with that. There are ways to defeat a Sin, with the right preparations and under the perfect circumstances, sure. Either, the new guardian just got lucky, or, she was able to beat Varkos fair and square. Either way means some capability, so simmer down, get what we need, and then we can leave with our lives if we're lucky."

As they made their way through the crowded streets, they couldn't help but notice the looks of hope and determination on the people's faces. It was clear that the guardian had inspired something in them, something that Grimgar and his group aimed to crush.

But for now, they had to blend in, to become ghosts in the crowd. They pulled their hoods tighter, their faces hidden in the shadows, and continued on their mission to take down the guardian and destroy the city's newfound hope...

////

"Oh dear God." Sally whispered in fear. "It finally happened. Maple has mobility now." She trembled, her eyes glued ahead of her.

Chrome nodded. "We were afraid of this. Back in the game, the chat room would always give thanks to whatever deity existed, that Maple was as slow as she was. Maple with normal agility? That was a nightmare we never wanted to see. But this?"

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

Chrome and Sally watched as Maple 'ran' in circles, breaking the sound barrier, before slamming her shield into a dummy target.

*BOOM*

"She's almost half as fast as I am. What do I do? If Maple is now mobile, my advantage is now gone. I don't stand a chance. How can I stand by her side now as an equal?" Sally bit her nails.

Sally's eyes teared as she knelt in mock horror. "Oh no, the world is ending! Maple's finally got some speed!"

Chrome chuckled, shaking his head. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? You're secretly thrilled that Maple's finally caught up."

Sally's expression faltered for a moment before she regained her composure. "What? No, no, no. I'm terrified. Absolutely terrified."

Chrome raised an eyebrow. "Save it, Sally. I know you too well. You're happy for Maple, but you're also nostalgic for the good old days when she was slow and clumsy."

Sally's face turned bright red as she tried to maintain her fake anger. "Shut up, Chrome! I'm just...concerned about the balance of power in our little group."

Chrome laughed. "Balance of power? You mean your own superiority complex?"

Sally playfully hit Chrome on the arm. "Shut up! I'm just worried about how we're going to keep up with Maple now."

As they watched, Maple continued to zip around the training area, her speed and agility leaving them both in awe. Sally's eyes shone with pride, and even Chrome couldn't help but smile.

"At least we know the training area still works. I'm not sure Malakar would still be standing if she used 'That' move outside." Chrome grabbed his shield as Maple finally finished testing her abilities.

The twins followed behind Chrome, hammers equiped.

"Oh definitely, Maple cannot use that skill, not without erasing an entire country, or kingdom in this case. How funny would that be?" Sally asked, setting the training stats to twenty percent of their original strength.

Chrome and the twins glowed red for a moment, as a debuff was applied to them. For the duration of the spar, their stat would be reduced by eighty percent.

Chrome propped his shield. "Now that I think about it, I did hear of something similar. A 'Pervert' kingdom...no the kingdom of Pelveria, yeah. Apparently, it was completely erased around the time we showed up."

Sally tilted her head in thought for a moment. "You're thinking whatever brought us here might be connected?" She turned to Maple who was now lifting a pillar that had been set to twelve thousand tons in weight. "Oh, come on." She whispered.

She turned back to Chrome and twins. "I'll look into it I guess. It'll take time but I'm sure I can create an information network for us."

The first hammer blow landed with a deafening crash, sending shockwaves through Chrome's arm. He gritted his teeth, his shield arm trembling from the impact. The second hammer swung in, aiming for Chrome's exposed side. He pivoted, his cleaver flashing in the light as he struck the hammer's head, deflecting the blow.

The twins recovered quickly, their hammers rising and falling in a booming rhythm. Chrome leaped around them, his shield absorbing blow after blow. He countered with swift cleaver strikes, aiming for the twins' arms and shoulders.

Yui stumbled back, her arm numb from Chrome's precise strike. Mai seized the opportunity, unleashing a flurry of hammer blows. Chrome's shield shuddered under the assault.

Maple, still lifting massive pillars that had now increased to seventeen thousand tons, glanced over at the spar. "Wow, Chrome's really getting hit hard!"

The twins found themselves on both sides of the great shielder, putting Chrome in a pincer attack.

Mai's hammer swung in a wide arc, aiming for Chrome's exposed back. Yui followed up with a swift strike, targeting Chrome's shield arm. Chrome gritted his teeth, his shield trembling under the impact. He pivoted, his cleaver flashing in the light as he struck Mai's hammer head, deflecting the blow.

Yui's eyes narrowed, her grip on her hammer tightening. She swung her second hammer, aiming for Chrome's legs. Chrome leaped, avoiding the blow by mere inches. He countered with a swift cleaver strike, aiming for Yui's shoulder.

Yui allows her hammer to pull her underneath Chrome, she then swings her rebound hammer.

Chrome twists, blocking the strike but is sent into the air, where an airborne Mai is waiting. "When did they... she launched off my shield when I was focused on Yui. I just assumed she'd create space for another attack, but this..." Chrome had a proud smile on his face.

*Boom*

Chrome smashed into the ground, creating a small crater. Sally walked up to him, helping him up. "So, with that said, you're gonna have to do all the heavy lifting."

Chrome chuckled. "Mai and Yui will be fine without me, Mai seems a lot more mature these days, and as much as I don't want them to, goodness knows they're going to need to."

Sally smirked, turning back to Maple who was now lifting a shocking forty one thousand tons. "I'm not really worried about their safety. This world is more dangerous in different ways, just keep an eye on them. They'll be fine, I mean look at me, I did alright by myself."

Chrome glanced at the twins, Mai was cheering Maple on, while Yui had already grabbed a pillar of her own, hers however was already set at six hundred thousand tons, and she was giggling. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Sally and Chrome walked up to Maple and the twins. "Hey Maple," Sally called. "After making the Maple Tree guild official, we're going to have to start giving quests out, you know, like normal guilds."

Maple dropped the sixty thousand tons pillar. "Ok?" Sally sighed. "That means, you can't kill the monsters around the city anymore."

Maple gasped. "What, why? Isn't that dangerous?" Sally nodded. "Yes it is. But, you're too strong, and the monsters are too weak. Normal guilds don't let higher rank adventurers take lower rank jobs. Otherwise, the lower rank adventurers can't make any money, and then we won't have adventurers, which means less money."

"But...but," Maple stammered, trying to think of something, but Sally cut in with a smile. "Don't worry, there's still lots of monsters in the kingdom, the kingdom, ones for higher ranking adventurers."

Maple sighed in relief, and Chrome chuckled. "Is that really a good thing though?"

The door to the training room slid open with a hiss and Yslaine walked in. "Breakfast has already been prepared. The baths are ready as well." She said with a slight bow.

The twins were the first out with a run, followed by Maple who walked besides Sally embroiled in a funny conversation.

Chrome called up the training room interface, and activated the reset function. Immediately the training room was restored to its previous state, the craters and broken dummies already restored.

He glanced at the 'maid' who just watched him as she waited. 'Still can't get used to this.' he turned off the lights and followed her out.

The doors slid close with a hiss.