A Secret (Part 2)
"Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson." Christmas Night stood up and charged at Hidden Dragon before Bubblegum could even react. Some of the party members began to cheer as the brawl started.
Hidden Dragon was a Cleric with mediocre skills, but he was still a long time member of the party. His equipment was on par with the rest of the party, and with his abilities to heal himself, Christmas Night's attacks were not fatal. Even when Hidden Dragon could not fight back and was forced to frantically avoiding the attacks from Christmas Nights, his defeat did not come very soon.
Crimson Millions heard a commotion at the guild square as he left the conference room with Seductive Dance. It was the laughter of players and the sound of abilities that were being cast. Crimson Millions was about to dismiss the incident as a friendly match against players, but his eyebrows creased when he noticed the lack of the war banner that would appear during a friendly PK match. Is this an infighting between guild members?
Despite his questionable character, Thousand Sunsets was still the leader of a guild. He was aware of the taboos that must be avoided at all cost, which was why infighting was something that he prohibited in the Bloody Steel guild.
This is obviously not a friendly match. I don't know what is happening, but infighting must be stopped.
Crimson Millions immediately made his way to the guild square, followed closely by Seductive Dance.
With his standing in Steel-Blooded Battle Spear, Crimson Millions became an important figure in Bloody Spear. He was loyal to Thousand Sunsets, and his loyalty earned him a spot as an important officer of the guild. He was able to make his way to the front of the crowd with relative ease.
Some of the players were still cheering at the top of their lungs, but most immediately quieted down upon his arrival.
Crimson Millions could see a Warrior chasing a Cleric around with his two-handed sword. The Cleric was unable to fight back, but was very good at avoiding attacks. He was able to avoid certain death a few times by dodging and healing himself. This was putting a strain on his mana, which meant that he would soon die at the hands of the Warrior.
The frown on Crimson Millions' face deepened. He immediately began the incantation of a spell, and the duo were enveloped by a faint blue light. It was the result of a lvl50 Priest spell, 'Bind', that could root its target for the duration of a few seconds.
But these few seconds were what he needed.
Crimson Millions walked out to the duo and shouted, "What are you doing?"
Christmas Night was stunned when he noticed the presence of Crimson Millions, but he was able to quickly recover from his shock, "Boss Crimson, it's all his fault! We were leveling up in at the Black Wind Mountain as a party, but he left the party without permission just to talk to a useless NPC. It would be okay if he had stumbled upon a Unique Quest, but it turned out to be a waste of time! He's the only Cleric in our party capable of resurrecting our members, if someone died today, it would cause a great loss to the guild. I was giving him a lecture about his misconduct when he lashed out at me out of anger."
Despite his fear of Crimson Millions, Hidden Dragon could not hold himself back when he heard the obviously lie from Christmas Night, "I did not! He was the one who started the fight!"
The situation eventually devolved into a shouting match between Hidden Dragon and Christmas night, with the former being outmatched in every way by the latter. Hidden Dragon could only shake in anger as he was berated by Christmas Night. By then, the crowd had already dispersed. The members of the guild knew that infighting was strictly prohibited, and instead of reporting the fight, they have instead cheered the combatants on. Each and every one of them fled from the scene at the first given opportunity.
Even Bubblegum herself was pulled away by one of her female friends.
After getting a hold of the situation by listening to their arguments, Crimson Millions waited no time in cutting them off, "That's enough!"
Hidden Dragon and Christmas Night immediately quieted down as they stared silently at Crimson Millions.
"I don't care why you did it, but both of you were fighting in the guild encampment. Do you know that infighting is strictly prohibited by our guild?"
"Yes." the duo replied. This was something that was known to all members of the guild, and had happened frequently. These incidents, however, went unnoticed by the higher ups of the guild. This was why Christmas Night had the courage to start a fight with Hidden Dragon. He did not expect things to turn out as they were.
The penalty for infighting was heavy. Guild members involved in the offense might lose part of their salary, or even find themselves demoted. Some might even be removed from the guild.
"Well, since you know the rules, I don't have to waste my time. As this is your first offense, I'll settle with docking your salaries for this month."
"But, boss…" the punishment was too heavy for Hidden Dragon's heart to bear. His salary was docked right at the beginning of the month. How am I going to live for the rest of the month? Christmas Night was not satisfied with the punishment as well. To him, Hidden Dragon's punishment was well deserved for abandoning the party while he himself was caught in the fallout of the man's action.
"What? Is the punishment too light for you? Or do you perhaps want the guild leader to hear about this?" Crimson Millions glared at the duo.
"No."
"Leave then." said Crimson Millions as he motioned with his hand. He then tipped a wink at Seductive Dance, who immediately went after the duo, "Hey, you! The Cleric!"
Hidden Dragon turned around to find Seductive Dance behind him. He could not believe his eyes. There was no way one of the guild's elites would have business with a low rank member like him. He looked at his surroundings for signs of any other Cleric, and then at Seductive Dance, "Are you talking to me?"
Seductive Dance shrugged, "What do you think?" he said with a smile.
He originally a member of the second squadron, but was then promoted as an elite in recognition of his skills. Being an elite meant that he received some of the best equipment available to the guild, and enjoyed huge benefits from the guild. A player like this was highly respected by guild members, and Seductive Dance himself was an idol of Hidden Dragon, who was nervous but excited at the same time.
He immediately made his way to Seductive Dance and asked in a hushed voice, "How can I be of help, boss?" perspiration was beginning to form on his nose.
"No no, don't call me that. I'm not the one who is paying for your salary." despite his status as an elite, Seductive Dance had no interest in involving himself in the management with the guild. He held no post in the guild, but was still respected by the members of the guild.
"Crimson Millions is looking for you." Seductive Dance pointed at Crimson Millions who was heading to the conference room with a smile.
"Eh? Boss Crimson is looking for me…" dread immediately filled Hidden Dragon's heart. Was it because of the thing just now? He won't be kicking me out of the guild right? Being kicked out of the guild after having a month's worth of salary docked would make an already bad situation worse for Hidden Dragon.
"Don't worry about it. It's not because of the fight." Seductive Dance read Hidden Dragon's thought through his worried expression. He patted the man's shoulder with a bright smile and continued, "Go on. I'll be taking my leave."
Hidden Dragon stared at Seductive Dance as he headed to the teleportation crystal. He then took in a deep breath, and jogged towards the guild conference room, knocking on the door only after he had managed to calm himself down.
"Come on in." it was the voice of Crimson Millions.
Hidden Dragon pushed past the door to find Crimson Millions staring at a screen. He was watching a video about a high level dungeon. Crimson Millions immediately turned around when he noticed Hidden Dragon's presence, and he said with a smile after turning off the video, "Have a seat."
The attitude displayed by Crimson Millions came as a surprise to Hidden Dragon, who did not expect such a treatment from one of the guild's officers.
Crimson Millions wasted no time with pleasantries and went straight to the point, "You were involved in a fight with Christmas Night because of a seemingly useless NPC am I right?"
"Yes…" even when Hidden Dragon held a different opinion, the three Black Iron Dwarves did appear to be nothing special.
"Just what sort of NPC are they? You violated guild regulations just to check them out." even when Bloody Steel was a shadow of its former self, it was still a guild with more than a hundred thousand members. Crimson Millions who was the officer of such a guild possess strong observation skills, and the incident had certainly attracted his attention.
Why would a coward like Hidden Dragon risk his neck and broke guild regulations because of an NPC?
Even when Ye Ci was delivering her story slowly, Timely Rain, who was still in shock, found it hard to process her words, "Wait wait wait…" he held out his hand and motioned for Ye Ci to stop.
Ye Ci raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "What is it? Are my words that hard to comprehend?"
"Oh please, I'm shocked by this, alright?" Timely Rain grabbed at his hair.
Ye Ci lowered her head, cleared some dirt from her nails, and smiled, "You can take your time to process what I've just said, but there's something that I need you to do."
"What is it?" Timely Rain was anxious. Not many things in this world could cause Ye Ci to be so cautious.
Timely Rain immediately understood the gravity of the situation when Ye Ci recounted her run-in with Hidden Dragon, "You mean to tell me that Bloody Steel is suspecting something about the Mithril ore vein?"
"Yes. The quest is locked, so I'm not worried about them finding out. But if this attracts attention, I'll have trouble with proceeding to the next stage of the quest. Besides…" Ye Ci continued with a grimace, "Even if I could, I don't think Upwards Ho! can defend the Mithril mines."
"Alright. Leave it to me. I'll be ready for any further instructions too."
"Are your men dependable?"
"I'll only send those who I trust. Don't worry about it."
Ye Ci nodded, "The only thing we have to do at this point is to have some Rogues stationed around the area. I want to know if somebody else other than Bloody Steel knows about this."