Chapter 14: Part 3

- Akeno Himejima -

A week had passed and their team was doing quite well.

Their new member, Arthur, turned out to be an extremely good swordsman. He could keep up with strong enemies even without any skill, just with his swordsmanship alone.

It was something which both intrigued and bothered Akeno.

How was someone like him just a level 5 before meeting them?

He had gained an average of one level per day since joining them. Even when everyone rested, he continued practising his Skills or doing quests on the side.

In just a week, he had paid Naotsugu back for his equipment and was now working on slowly improving his existing ones.

The progress and talent he had shown could have gotten him a place in any team, in fact, he could have been one of the top players in the game.

Moreover, something about the way he moved told her that he was not a novice.

Arthur was trained and not just casually either.

He was trained in real combat. His moves were sharper than Yuuto's, similar to Souji-sama's, from the times she had seen him fight.

There was no way he was someone common. If so then, what exactly was his goal?

Until now, everyone liked their new member.

He was a straight laced man, very much like Yuuto, a perfect knight in his skills and behaviour. Even Akatsuki-chan who was generally wary of new people liked him and appreciated him.

Naotsugu, although often annoying him, got along well with him, especially during fights when they seamlessly complemented each other without even talking.

Mari was worried about him because he was always pushing himself too hard and that's why she often sent someone from the team to accompany him when he hunted overtime.

Today was her turn and they were returning back from the hunt.

"Who exactly are you, Arthur?" She asked as they saw the gates of the town in the distance. "You are obviously not someone inexperienced who doesn't know anything about the game. Then why are you so low levelled and why exactly have you approached us?" She asked, while keeping a spell ready in case things went bad.

She was still far above his level to assure that she could take him down but one could never be sure as the other side could have some kind of trump card, some item of some kind of skill.

The guy stopped and then breathed out a sigh. "I haven't lied about anything. My name is indeed Arthur and I approached your team because I saw your request at the guild. I needed a party to work with as progressing solo is nigh impossible at this stage of the game." He confessed.

"Your moves are not of a player. You are trained in combat, not even simple combat. What exactly is your identity?" She asked.

"Isn't it good manners to introduce yourself before asking others for their identities… Priestess of Lightning, the Queen of Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima?" He said, looking directly into her eyes.

Her eyes widened and she jumped back, summoning her staff in front of her, ready to make a move.

The guy however didn't make any moves.

"Who are you?"

The guy just shrugged. "I guess since the cat's already out of the bag then there's no point in hiding it either. My name's Arthur… Arthur Pendragon."

Her mouth hung open at the name.

"The reason I am here is to find my little sister who is stuck in this game and bring her out. The reason I am so low level is because I joined the game just a month or so earlier. As for why I joined this team, I really didn't know you were a part of the team. I saw their request and joined them since they seemed to be a good party from the information I got about them. My only goal is to become stronger and find my sister and friends in this game and bring them out."

"Wait wait, you entered this game a month ago but that's… Why is no one trying to stop this game from the outside? You are from the Pendragon family so why haven't you or anyone else from the supernatural side has done anything to stop this game? Why hasn't Sirzechs-sama or any of the Satans done anything even after such a long time?" She asked hurriedly.

A look of resignation came up on his face.

"The reason they haven't done anything is because… they couldn't do anything, because at this point, no one dares to do anything."

He then proceeded to tell her everything that had happened in the outside world. The Game Master, the end of Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the warning given to everyone in the Supernatural side and the current state of things.

"The Three Factions under a temporary truce, are working together and have sent many people inside the game with the purpose of completing the game and rescuing people stuck inside, including the little sister of Sirzechs Lucifer and her peerage as well as his mother Venelana Gremory and Queen Grayfia Lucifuge."

"What! Venelana-sama and Grayfia are inside too?" She exclaimed, stunned at the reveal. "But why would they…"

Her words got stuck in her mouth as she remembered Rias suggesting Venelana-sama to play the game and her saying that she has been bored and actually giving it a try.

Did they actually…

Arthur continued. "Even your father was about to join the people entering the game and would have definitely entered had it not been for Azazel personally holding him back."

She froze at the words and then a frown came to her face.

"I don't wish to talk about my father." She replied coldly.

"Ah, my apologies. I understand. In fact, I am no longer part of the Pendragon family either. My sister and I left the Pendragon family around a year ago so please just call me Arthur."

They talked for another hour and she agreed to work with him as long as he didn't betray them. They made a truce to work together to find their friends.

- Rias -

"And that's all I was able to get from the Knight Commander." Henrietta reported, making her think.

"Is the news confirmed?" She asked after some time.

"Yes. It was obtained from the Captain of the Imperial Knights who came to reward us after the Raid. He himself was planning to change into this class. This is a very good opportunity, Rias…"

Indeed, it was a massive opportunity.

The way to obtain a T7 Class. Even in the black market, the news would cost at least ten million gold coins.

Methods to reach T6 Class were still known and in cases, even distributed by the Guilds and the countries.

The only restrictions were the number of achievements one had which basically meant they had to complete a certain number of missions before they could even take on the Class Change quest as soon as they were at the level cap.

All this changed however as soon as it came to the T7 Classes.

There was almost no information about these classes. Not even in the black markets. It was for this reason that there were so few T7 people in the entire country, with the King being a T8 and one of the strongest people on the continent.

If it was true, which it really looked like it was then…

She looked at the information again. The T7 Class, Paladin.

They were the upgraded class of the Holy Knights, the strongest weapons under the King. Only a handful of people could be called one.

One needed to get a Knight and a Cleric Class to get a Templar Class which can then be upgraded to the Holy Knight and finally the Paladin.

"I think we should try to get this. After all, we have nothing to lose. If we can indeed get to T7, it would be a great help to our team."

"Should we sell the information? We can get a lot of coins and might even be able to buy a Guild Order." Ley Fay asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Henrietta shook her head. "The Knight Commander said that the number of Paladins was very low and recently one of them had died. It was due to this that the guy was so confident in becoming one himself. We never know if there is a fixed number of these Classes. I think we should wait till one of us becomes a Paladin first before selling the news to the Black Market."

She nodded at the suggestion too.

Guild Order…

Everyone was chasing after the Guild Orders from the time they had heard the Global Announcement. The First Player established Guild, Fairy Tail…

Just how in the world had they done it?

Become a T5 while most of the players hadn't even reached T4…

It had shaken them all as they had thought that their progress was among the top in their town.

With the experience of Chief Nyanta and the management skills of Henrietta from her previous game, they had been working quite well, even establishing a group, preparing to establish a guild down the line.

Their group had done everything to the best of their abilities and there were hardly any places she could think of which could be improved and yet…

How was it even possible? Did Fairy Tails Guildmaster cheat?

Was it even possible to cheat in this game?

Chief Nyanta however had denied it.

According to him, they must have discovered some kind of glitch to abuse and get to a higher level. There could also be the fact that they had a good strategist and finally… something which irked everyone to accept… they were just that much better than the rest of the players worldwide.

Her thoughts were broken by Henrietta's words.

"Then comes the question of who will become the Paladin." Henrietta asked.

"Chief Nyanta, you should become one. You are our frontline fighter." She said after some thought.

"I don't think it would suit me. I am more of a swordsman, a swashbuckler. The playstyle of a Knight is very different from mine. Moreover, they seem to be a hybrid class who can use magic too. Not really my cup of tea." He shook his head. "Not to mention, I would have to train from the scratch to get everything. I think the one who has at least one class in common should become a Paladin so that way we don't have to level them up more than required. After all, it takes a lot of time to get either Cleric or Knight Classes."

She nodded and fell in thought. His reasons were on point and she couldn't really argue with it.

Cleric had similar requirements as a mage. The only thing is that they had to register in the Church to achieve it.

Their group already had two mages, Ley Fay and herself so they were the most suitable ones to pick up the Paladin Class quest.

She looked at Ley Fay and asked her but the girl denied.

"I am not sure I can fight in the close quarters." She said and Rias didn't want to make her do it either.

"Alright then. I will take the Cleric Class and then start from the Squire Class after that. We are going to be working overtime to catch up. Chief, can I ask you to instruct me in swordsmanship? I am a complete novice at that."

"I'll be honoured." The man smiled at her.

"Thank you."