Author's Note

I decided to drop both 99 and 100 at the same time. There is a blog for the pictures, as a commercial break is a little bit away still.

Episode 99 — Headquarters Hunting

Episode 99 — Headquarters Hunting
Twenty-Fifth Day in the Month of Bush Clover (June 25) in the Year of the Griffon
Floor 50 — Algade — Front Line Floor 63

Bladescape sat down across the table from Argo, who was eating whatever was in the bowl in front of her. It was the same dingy cafe in Algade that they usually met in, which meant it didn’t look like the ramen it supposedly was. Ramen in SAO could taste right, but it never looked right. Argo wasn't going to stop eating and Bladescape wasn’t going to try to stop her.

"The Wondercolts need a new headquarters," Bladescape said, trying to keep her voice low enough to not be overhead. Only two other players were in the cafe, but it was a tiny restaurant. "Mishe isn't impressive anymore. We have fallen behind in that regard."

"No, it isn't impressive." Argo stated in between bites. "And you have."

"We want, need, something grand, big even," Bladescape said, trying to not tip Argo off about the merger. "We need plenty of room for things like crafting, cooking, practicing blade throwing, and other things. A full forge would be nice."

"A full forge is asking a lot," Argo said. "I think I know where to send you, but it's just a rumor, not solid info."

"How much?" Bladescape asked.

"Five-thousand col since it's a rumor," Argo said. Bladescape pulled it out of the guild's funds and passed her the money. "Floor Sixty-One is mostly water with mountainous islands, but it has that gorgeous marbled city, Selmburg. Head to Selmburg's docks. You will find an old man with a small sailboat, just big enough for him and two full parties. It will take some convincing, but he will take you east to Thorn Island. All I know is that completing its quest allows you to purchase property on the island. It seems to be a one-shot quest, which means one piece of property. If you want grand, nothing is grander than a private island."

"No idea what is on it?" Bladescape asked.

"Nope," Argo shrugged. "Look, I went to the island, but stopped when a quest screen popped up. I wasn't ready to take it on solo and I had no reason to. You now have all the info I know. I don't do property quests because they don't get me the info I need, but the quests for property that I do know always come out with very, very nice property as a purchasable reward. As to having all that you want, well you're talking to me because nothing publicly listed fits your needs. A quest property is your only option. All of the good stuff is from quests. A full forge is a lot to ask in a guild headquarters. You would be better off buying a forge separately, cheaper too, but I get why you don't want to. Grand or big isn't hard to find, especially with Selmburg's offerings, but the forge is. Good luck."

"Alright," Bladescape nodded. "We will check it out."

Bladescape let Argo go back to her meal and went back to their headquarters for a meeting. She relayed the information to them and they decided to go for it. They ensured they were ready for a quest and then teleported to Selmburg. The man at the docks wasn't hard to find. He refused to take them because the island was cursed. After a long conversation that went nowhere, they ended up bribing him to take them.

The boat took its time sailing on the calm waters. Floor Sixty-One had been easy to clear since it only had three dungeons and lacked solid ground. All of the islands were mountainous, like the ring of fire I.R.L. where each island was actually a volcano sticking out of the water. The quick clear and no grinding spots contributed to the clearing effort stalling out like they did on the next floor.

"I just remembered this floor," Diemond said. "It was bugs. Slimy, icky, nasty, bugs."

Bladescape nodded. "Yeah, it was. I don't doubt that our enemy will be bugs, however, I think it will be worth it."

Soryuto also didn't want to face the bugs and neither did Doombunny. That wasn't unexpected for their usual crew. Bladescape didn't either. Bugs were the one thing she hated fighting in SAO, but she kept her mouth shut about it, gambling that it would be worth it. She wouldn't be surprised to find out the others were like her, masking their feelings in hopes that it would pay off. Plus, as their leader, Bladescape couldn't afford to let the others know she didn't want to fight bug monsters. She was supposed to be fearless, at least in her image.

It was clear what island they were headed to, but their angle of approach prevented them from seeing much except that it was surrounded by tall cliffs and it had the obligatory high mountain peak. It wasn't a small island, that was evident, so it might have enough space for everything they needed. It was at least partially curved and more elongated than it was wide.

The NPC steered them over to a dock and the Wondercolts disembarked. They were immediately presented with a quest screen. The quest was called "Crenellation Infestation," which certainly sealed their enemies as being bugs. Bladescape accepted it and they told the sailor that he could leave. He was very willing to leave them there. The NPC clearly didn't like being so close to the cursed island.

Bladescape led everyone down the wooden dock to the inset stairs. She stopped at the bottom, causing a pile up. The stairs had some fifty steps and rose some thirty feet. What was more concerning was that at the top of the stairs was grass; grass that was taller than they were. While she went up the narrow staircase, she would be unable to see anything and, at the top, the grass would still block their vision. Search would be her only way to not be surprised.

"Looks like we need to do some gardenin, y'all," Malus said.

Bladescape expanded her search field to see what lurked out of sight. It lit up with multiple warnings. "Yep, plenty of hostiles,” Bladescape reported. “At least twenty. I'll head up and cut the grass to establish a foothold."

No one objected and Bladescape climbed the steps. When she finally got to the top, the bladed flora was twice her height, making Bladescape feel like a small insect. This quest was off to a great start.

She drew her sword and cut down the grass in front of her, sweeping her blade low. It shattered into polygons, leaving a well-manicured lawn in its wake. She made the next cut higher. The grass shattered to the same, well-manicured height. She made several more cuts, establishing plenty of cleared ground for them all to organize on.

Bladescape looked back to call the others up. Search warned her that an enemy was eminently close. Bladescape shifted her view and saw a giant, brown cricket hop out of the grass. It headbutted her in the chest and she shrieked in terror. Bladescape fell backwards, down the steps. She didn't stop until she slammed into the others, knocking most of them down.

The bug stopped at the top of the stairs, but it didn't hop down. From her spot in the pile, Bladescape could see that it was called a "Giant Weta."

"Is anyone not tangled in the pile?" Natora grunted from the bottom.

"I'm on the pile," Konpeito stated. "Does that count?"

"GET OFF!" Doombunny yelled, pushing at Konpeito. "You tackled me because I wasn't trapped!"

"Cause piles are fun!" Konpeito protested.

Konpeito got up with another shove from a crushed Doombunny. She fished through a pouch and pulled out one of her hira-shuriken. It glowed as she triggered the skill and threw it. The circle of steel bounced off the wall, off the head of the bug, and then off the wall and a step before it returned to Konpeito's outstretched hand. She dramatically blew on it like it was a smoking gun. The bug was gone from getting hit with the weapon, a critical hit was scored by their Viking comrade.

Back on their feet, everyone headed up together.

Malus whistled in shock. "Gardenin is gonna be an interestin chore. I've pulled weeds before, laid down sod, grown grass from seeds, but I ain't never bushwhacked like this. We need a weed eater. No, gotta go with a tractor pulled mower."

"Fresh out of any and all of those," Natora said. "Swords will have to do. Blade, how many enemies are we looking at?"

"Ten off that way, East," Bladescape said, pointing. "West has another twenty. Something is off in the Northwest too. I don't know if it is a geological feature, or a building, but there is a lot more behind them and to the north. It's on the edge of where Search fades out."

"We will have to map it," Natora said, playing with her map, which didn’t show much. "This won't be an easy quest because of the limited visual information. The grass is tall enough that it is blocking us from seeing even the top of the mountain I glimpsed as we approached. We also will have to make sure we don't fall off the cliff. With gear on and no swimming skills, it will be a bad result if we do."

"Then we should pair off and tackle this grass while we hunt down the bugs," Bladescape decided. "The East seems small and well contained, with the West stretching along further, judging from the spread of the enemies. Natora, take three and go East, mapping and eliminating those enemies."

"I'll take Thunder, Doom, and Malus with me," Natora said. "Doom will be able to give us an edge with her Search Skill. Thunder and Malus can handle anything big we might face."

"Kiefer and Reisenki will make a good pair," Bladescape said. "The same with Diemond and Soryuto. That is a sword and a tank in their pairs, allowing for easy cutting. I will take Konpeito with me. We just have to cut the grass and it will automatically trim to what is under our feet."

Malus grunted as she took a swipe at it with her hammer. It blasted apart the grass with ease, leaving the grass at the same height. "Well, y'all, that’s some good news. At least we can all be useful."

"Be careful," Bladescape said. "We don't know what exactly is lurking in the grass."

"We already lost Konpeito," Diemond said with a sigh.

Bladescape looked around, easily finding the trail of cut grass that Konpeito had left in her wake. It almost immediately took a sharp turn, meaning she was no longer in view. She could be heard from the tinkling sound of the polygons and because she was letting out one long "weeeeee" in her joy.

"She will be fine," Natora said. "Probably. She's adaptive and great at handling herself. Blade, you can handle this part solo too."

Bladescape let out a sigh, annoyed at herself for not ensuring Konpeito didn't wander off. "Right. If I can snag Konpeito, I will, otherwise we will gather together after the West is cleared of enemies so you can find us. At worst, I send a guild wide message to assist in the regroup. Let's focus on eliminating the enemies and not worry about gardening until after."

They all agreed and broke off into their teams. Bladescape went due North, cutting her way across to the other side. It didn't take her long to get to the cliff.

Bladescape paused there. Nothing was in her immediate threat zone. She wasn't in need of a break, but from her vantage point, she didn't have the grass blocking her view. They were on a large, crescent shaped island and it was dominated by what could only be described as a castle. A castle was considered grand and this one was also spectacularly huge. She could see multiple buildings inside the exterior walls. It should have enough room for everyone, plus plenty of space for the rest of their activities.

Bladescape began to clear West, along the cliff. She soon found Konpeito's trail but it bounced off the cliff, cutting Southwest across the island. Bladescape had to kill three other Weta bugs as she cleared. She had enough heads up that she could clear plenty of space ahead of their arrival, forcing them to emerge from the grass before they could attack. They couldn’t ambush her from the grass. All they tried to do was headbutt her, but it was still disconcerting. Harmonic Salvation stopped them rather easily. She kept tabs on the others through Search and her map, and watched as they each eliminated the bugs.

Bladescape got to the forward wall of the castle and cleared due west, along it. The middle had a gatehouse and the walls were tall and sturdy. Worn, but solid with proper crenellations and machicolations. With the wall clear, she went back to the gatehouse to set up the rendezvous.

Konpeito jumped out of the grass. "Found you!” she exclaimed, pointing at Bladescape. “Now it's your turn to hide while I search for you!"

"Not yet," Bladescape said, snagging her by the black wolf cape as she tried to hop off. "We are getting together here."

"To clear the castle?" Konpeito asked.

"Yes," Bladescape said, resisting a sigh. "To clear the castle as a guild."

"Okay," Konpeito shrugged.

Diemond, Soryuto, Reisenki, and Kiefer were not far behind them. Natora soon came down Bladescape's path, leading her team.

"Hostiles eliminated," Natora reported.

"Same here," Bladescape said. "At least for outside."

"A castle of the size I saw will make a fine headquarters with plenty of space," Natora said. "We also found a teleport plaza on the west lawn. It couldn't be triggered since the quest isn't done yet."

"A private plaza will be crucial for making this place worthwhile," Bladescape said. "The boat ride to Selmburg was not quick or efficient. I have no doubt that this is going to be worth it. I'm a little concerned about being able to afford it, but assuming we can, we probably won't find a better place out there. There certainly isn't anything on the market like it."

"Quest first," Natora said. "It should be offered at a discount since the quest is part of the cost. We can worry about the finances after. What’s on the other side of the wall?"

"Search identifies fourteen hostiles,” Bladescape answered. “No idea what, but I doubt they are the same as the weta things."

Bladescape opened the doors to the gatehouse. It was empty, but it was clearly a place they could outfit to greet visitors and allow them to comfortably wait, sheltered from the elements while someone came to greet them. It was like their current foyer, but sized up for the castle. They would need to make it comfortable with the size of the castle. Upon receiving notification of a visitor, it may take a few minutes for someone to walk down to greet them.

They entered the castle's interior, lower ward. It was walled off and rectangular, with a building to the left and a cliff dead ahead. The north face had a rampart at the top of the cliff, meaning the center of the island was a plateau with buildings on it. The exit was in the northeast corner.

The lower ward had a bunch of giant green insects with strong shells that peaked up like a spike. They were appropriately called "Thorn Bugs." They noticed the Wondercolt incursion and began swarming them.

Bladescape had a few seconds to issue orders. "Same teams!”

Konpeito whipped out her special horn and gave it two clear blasts, buffing their defense and attack.

Malus took the first bug head on. She swung her hammer, triggering one of her spike skills. It pierced its shell, but ended up lodged there. Before she could pull it out, the delay hit. Doombunny jumped out, thrusting savagely into the bug’s face. The attack destroyed the last of its HP.

Bladescape lost track of the others as she was forced to deal with one on her own. Konpeito had skipped off, swinging her axe and mixing in martial arts Sword Skills. Harmonic Salvation was heavy enough to crush the armor, breaking it as she brought it down on each bug. The thorn bugs were no match for the ten of them.

The building was locked and they wordlessly moved towards the exit, which was a natural choke point. They had to pass under the gatehouse, which spanned from the top of the cliff to the other side of the wall. It served as a barrier, stopping the eastern lower ward's wall from going further up. In a real castle, blocks like that prevented the entire castle being taken from a single point. A steel gate was visible above them, but it probably couldn't be lowered.

On the other side of the gate was another section and it was on a gradient. It wasn't a steep angle, but it was enough to help get them closer to the buildings that sat above them, on top of the center plateau. They were along the interior curve of the island now.

A dead tree was immediately to the right, past the gate. Off it came two oversized caterpillars. They had faces with mandibles. The three tanks blocked and Natora and Thunderborne made quick work of them by executing thrusting sword skills over the shield wall.

A little further up, the ground leveled off. There was a teleport plaza to the right and two long buildings to the left, each three stories high. The cliffs still rose above them with its own wall. The wall ran above the buildings, despite their height.

On the flat surface in front of the buildings was a sea of the caterpillars. There was no need for any orders as the Wondercolts were noticed. The Wondercolts charged into battle, hacking apart the giant larvae. They wouldn't grow up to be any beautiful butterflies because they were not designed to do so in SAO.

Once they were clear of enemies, they checked the doors to the buildings, but they were locked. There was no way to go inside which meant there were no bugs inside to clear out. That was a comforting thought. They wouldn't have to remember that the place they slept or ate in once had bugs nesting in it.

The second building of the middle ward ended below a circular battlement. Further ahead, on the outside wall, was a circular tower battlement as well. The tower was nestled up against a building that curved outward a bit and also had a central tower that rose above its four stories, like a little observatory. Back on the inside wall was another long building that was four stories as well.

The sloped area between the buildings was filled with black and orange “termites.” They were called Magmamite Soldiers and their glowing stomachs were not for show, but actually reservoirs of lava. The Wondercolts needed their tanks as they hid behind their large shields until they could attack. Bladescape stayed back, directing the battle. They had to be careful of the giant mandibles as the damage dealers jumped out to blast the Magmamites with whatever sword skills they could. Doombunny stayed back, launching her throwing knives with an unmatched accuracy.

"That was incredibly disgusting and disturbing," Diemond immediately stated when the last magmamite soldier was killed. "I hate feeling as small as I do."

"I think we all do," Natora said, saving Bladescape from having to make the admission. "But look at this place. If we clear it and buy it, it's going to be amazing for us on so many levels. Try keeping that in mind."

"I will," Diemond assured them all. "Let's move on to get it over with so I don’t have to keep it in mind. Once I decorate everything, I won't remember.”

There was no complaint there as they continued north. A very large building was dead ahead, with massive double doors, but it was locked, just like every other building. Off their right, due East, was a rear gate and a smaller building north of the building with the tower. To their left was a way to go up to the center plateau.

Bladescape headed to the left and the others followed. It was a sloped path up to the top area, but it was narrow and flanked by walls. The narrow part was filled with more Magmamite Soldiers. As they neared the top, Magmamite Enforcers replaced the soldiers. They were red instead of black and slightly larger than the soldiers with a bit more HP. Bugs or not, the Wondercolts made quick work of them because of the level discrepancy.

The center of the upper area had a massive termite mound. Out of it came soldiers and enforcers. Every time they finished a wave, another came. After the fifth, a very big termite came crawling out. It was The Magmamite Emperor and it had three health bars.

Bladescape directed the Wondercolts into a triangular pattern, issuing a tank for each point. Reisenki, Kiefer, and Soryuto went to the right, Diemond, Natora, and Thunderborne went to the left. Konpeito and Doombunny stayed with Malus and Bladescape in the center.

They hit it with everything they had, retreating behind the tanks whenever the emperor's abdomen began to glow. It shot out lava with a lot of heat and force and it did so often. Doombunny sniped it with throwing knives whenever she could. She had to refill her holster several times, taking the time to move them from her menu to the holster. Natora clearly claimed the final blow, but the quest was still open. None of the buildings on the plateau were able to be accessed and the peak was a steep cliff, also off limits.

"Looks like we need to head out the back to clear it out," Bladescape said once they were finished checking everything.

They walked back down, meeting no respawns, and made a beeline for the rear gate. It opened up into a sloping, grassy ward that had wooden walls backed by packed earth palisades. At the bottom, a stone bridge spanned the water to a smaller island. From their position, they could see the island had a bunch of dead trees and a ruined tower. To get to it though, they had to deal with giant Dead Leaf Mantises. Each one looked like a dead leaf: crinkled, blotchy brown, and at least seven meters tall. There were only sixteen of the predatory insects, but they were all being perfectly still and none had acknowledged the Wondercolts' arrival. It wasn't like they had been sneaking around either. The bugs were going to wait for them to engage, hoping the Wondercolts would walk by without noticing them like a normal, unsuspecting insect.

"I don't like em bein taller than us," Malus said. "The rest I could handle, but this is creepy. Just plain wrong, y'all."

"Their spread is set up so that, if we don't watch our backs, the others can snag us," Natora advised. "We will have to be very careful in how we engage them. I’m thinking small strike teams."

"Yeah," Bladescape said. "Malus, Reisenki, Thunder, Konpeito, Natora, and I will go for the one on the left. The rest of you, stay alert but in reserve. Konpeito, stay close to Malus. Use her for cover. No wandering around."

"Okay!" Konpeito happily exclaimed, twirling her axe for fun.

Natora stayed with Malus and Konpeito. Thunderborne was with Reisenki and Bladescape. The two tanks were side by side as they slowly advanced, using the wall to protect their backs.

They edged up, moving into the mantis' striking range and then closer to get to theirs. It was unbelievably fast as it struck. It went over the tanks and grabbed Natora in its raptorial legs, the thorns piercing clean through her armor and snagging her across the torso. It yanked her off the ground towards its head as she screamed in terror.

Konpeito leaped out, swinging her axe. She severed the foreleg, landing in a roll. She came out of it and hacked off the other one as well. She spun, fluidly transitioning under the mantis where she hacked off its abdomen with a critical strike.

Bladescape snapped out of her initial shock and jumped in, followed by Thunderborne. Thunderborne went for piercing the thorax as many times as she could as fast as she could, while Bladescape focused on the legs. As it fell to the side from the loss of half its legs, it shattered, having run out of HP.

Bladescape looked back at Natora, who had been dragged back to a safer spot by Malus with Reisenki guarding them.

"Fall back to the others," Bladescape ordered Konpeito and Thunderborne.

Konpeito was furthest out and had to dodge two strikes to get to them, but she got away cleanly. Bladescape saw the red line across Natora's chest. It was leaking red polygons. An antidote potion was administered to stop the DOT from the thorns and then a health potion was downed.

"How are you doing?" Bladescape asked.

"A bit better," Natora said with a shaky voice. "Still scared and my heart isn't going to calm down for a while. The pain wasn't bad, but the speed…” She shivered at the thought. “I wasn't ready for that, despite being ready. I'm very thankful for Konpeito's quick thinking and heavy hitting axe. She saved me. Nice work finishing it off."

Konpeito was in her own world, twirling her axe.

"We need a new plan," Bladescape said, moving on. She was not going to let these oversized bugs get the better of them and stop them from owning this castle.

"Blade throwin," Malus suggested. "I know, it’ll probably take a lot of em to finish each off, but with poison, it might work."

"It will be very slow," Bladescape warned. “Assuming they don’t have a resistance to poison.”

Bladescape called Doombunny and Kiefer over. Konpeito’s circular hira-shuriken were not going to pierce the mantises enough to deliver the poison. The two of them examined their stock of weapons. Bladescape had twenty-four picks; a set of six on the pouch with three backup sets inside, but none in her inventory. Doombunny had just upgraded her set, but she hadn't gotten rid of the others. Even after the fight with the Magmamite Emperor, she had over 150 knives on her, in varying conditions and poison strength. Thunderborne was using picks as well, but only had one set, forcing them to dismiss her for this task. Kiefer had four-pointed shuriken, three sets. The next question was if they could pierce the mantises’ exoskeletons.

Kiefer, Doombunny, and Bladescape formed up on Reisenki and slowly got into throwing distance. Doombunny threw a mid-level knife, scoring a hit and successfully transferring the poison effect. It didn't move, a perfect hunter, even as the poison depleted its HP. It finally shattered. They slowly proceeded to eliminate the rest of the praying mantises in the same manner. It took time, a lot of time, but it was safe.

Even with the back field cleared, the quest was still active. The last place they could go was across the bridge to the smaller island. The stone bridge was worn and cracked, even having a hole in part of it. They avoided it and stepped onto the island of dead trees. A weathered path wound its way to the broken tower, which was bedside a small peak on the island.

Bladescape started to lead them down the path but stopped as a round thing popped its head around one of the dead tree trunks. It floated out on wings. It was soon joined by a blue and a pink one. They were colorful balls with eyes, wings, and mouths. The name "parasprite" popped up beside them.

"Konpeito, Soryuto, pull out your instruments," Bladescape said. "The legend of the parasprites is clear. They love music and follow whoever is playing it. That is how you get rid of an infestation. In our case, you two will draw them in with your song while the rest of us surround them and then start exterminating."

"Okey-dokey-lokey," Konpeito said as she whipped out her fife.

Soryuto pulled out her ukulele and the two of them quickly decided what song to play. The parasprites began to bob to the music and more came out of hiding. Bladescape directed the others into flanking positions. They had to let the parasprite audience assemble before they could surround them. Otherwise, they would block some from going towards the music.

It took three songs for them all to assemble in front of the musicians. When they had them encircled, Bladescape ordered the attack. As soon as they were attacked, the swarm stopped paying attention to the music. Konpeito and Soryuto joined in the melee. The parasprites had very little HP and were weak enemies, however their agility made them difficult to hit. Even Konpeito missed a few times. Without knowing their weakness, rooting them out of their hiding places on the island would have been extremely difficult and time consuming, if not impossible.

They didn't even get a break when the last one was finished off. They heard a loud buzzing. From the other side of the tiny mountain came a swarm of oversized bees that were yellow with blue stripes. They were identified as "flash bees." Their stinger was shaped like a lightning bolt.

"They probably have shocking paralysis attacks," Bladescape warned.

The flash bees descended on them with exceptional speed. They were agile, making them hard to hit, but not to the same degree as the much smaller parasprites had been. Kiefer was the first to get stung and he was paralyzed from the attack. Malus stood over him, blocking him while the effect wore off. Everyone else was fending for themselves, trying to avoid the stingers as they set up their attacks. It was madness for a bit, until the swarm was reduced to a dozen bees. Then the tables turned and the bees were on the defensive.

Bladescape killed the final flash bee. The fight wasn't over as a thunderous buzzing sound rolled over the island. From the other side of the peak came an extremely large flash bee. "The King Flash Bee" was clearly nothing to be trifled with. It flew straight at them, stopped a short distance away and shot lightning from its stinger at Bladescape. She had killed the last of its soldiers, so she was the target. Bladescape couldn’t dodge the attack and was paralyzed.

The others charged into battle, not allowing it the opportunity to prey on a defenseless Bladescape. Soryuto jumped over to Bladescape and used a yellow crystal to immediately end the paralysis. The King Flash Bee’s two attacks were either shooting lightning from the stinger or going in for a melee strike with its stinger. A shield stopped the stinger and it was easy enough to avoid if you lacked one. There was plenty of "wind up" before it charged, stinger first. The lightning attack was harder to avoid, having a wider area of effect, but it only targeted one player. Spreading out, the wise tactic, fixed the area of effect issue.

Bladescape joined the fight as soon as the three-minute effect was over. She got it back immediately by slicing off one of its blue legs. The Flash Bee King was not happy and Bladescape became its sole target. She spent the rest of the time running and dodging, working to bring it close to her friends so they could get hits in. It ignored their attacks, intent on taking Bladescape down.

That changed when it entered the red. It retreated above them, too high for their throwing weapons to reach it as it reset itself. The dive wasn't at any particular player. It smacked into the ground, plunging its stinger into the ground. A wave of electricity rolled out from it.

Everyone was hit with a strong paralysis effect when the wave hit them. Soryuto survived because she was the furthest from the epicenter and was able to time a vertical jump to let the wave harmlessly roll under her. She charged the king bee, unleashing her best Sword Skill on it before it was able to take off again. She chained a second, risking the delay penalty, but it paid off as her sword's final strike was critical, dealing more damage than the oversized bee could take.

As it floated away as polygons, they were all greeted with fanfare. The quest was over. Soryuto quickly checked her drop menu before she used crystals to overcome the paralysis.

Bladescape immediately looked at her drop list. They hadn't been getting any info on the drops during the quest. The entire thing had been treated like one long battle. She had a lot of junk and odd items dropped. Her list was full of molten glass, probably dropped from the magmamites.

"Interesting," Konpeito loudly mused. "I got quite a few S class food items. They are just labeled as Thorn Leg Meat." Konpeito materialized one and caught it. It looked like a very long, brown crustacean leg."

"Ew!" Diemond shuttered. "I know what we fought. S class or not, Aincrad or not, that still is a bug leg. I'm not eating it. I got plenty dropped too."

"Aw come on, Die, cultures all across the world eat insects," Konpeito replied pointing the leg at her.

"Yes, but how many of them do so out of a lack of food compared to cultures where they have a lot of farming?" Diemond asked.

"I dunno," Konpeito shrugged. "I guess not many. There are better sources of stable food and easier to farm or raise than bugs. Does it matter though, if it tastes good? This is Aincrad, not IRL. They are not the same bugs and, even so, the bugs we killed dropped these, we didn't pull them off the carcasses. It's a separate item."

"I do have standards and that falls well below mine," Diemond said, snubbing her nose at the entire idea.

"Yeah, I have to back Diemond," Natora said. "I don't want to eat the bugs, even though I know they logically are not actually bug parts cause we are in Aincrad."

"Suit yourselves," Konpeito said, stashing the leg back in her inventory. "I'll find some use for them eventually. Everyone can give me the weird meat."

"Just promise us you won't feed it to us without letting us know," Doombunny said.

"I promise," Konpeito said. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Everyone pulled out the Thorn Leg Meat they had dropped and gave it to their chef. Konpeito would know who to pawn it off to. S class ingredients should sell well. The name wasn't too incriminating to the original.

Soryuto caught a longsword she had materialized. It was a beautiful, ornate, one-handed sword. The sheath was ivory, with a rich blue handle and a gilded crossguard and pommel. The crossguard was set with three sapphires and the etching of the gold was exquisite.

"Is that the LAB?" Bladescape asked.

"Yes," Soryuto said, not taking her eyes off the blade. "Its name is Rakurai, which means lightning strike. I was about to start my search for a new sword. I guess that is over now, especially with the stats."

"Draw it," Kiefer said, excited to see the sword.

Soryuto grasped the hilt firmly. She took a step back and drew it with purpose. The silver blade had a blue shine to it. Soryuto did a few test swings. The blade glowed blue and her eyes went wide in terror. The Sword Skill triggered itself and was a stab that ripped the air apart with a strike that mimicked thunder.

"Aptly named sword," Bladescape grinned. "And well earned. You survived the last attack and saved us."

"Thanks," Soryuto said as she sheathed the sword. "But we finished the quest. Now what?"

"I got a new objective," Bladescape said. She pulled up her quest log. "The objective is 'Purchase Thorn Island'." Bladescape clicked on the quest and a screen popped up, asking her if she wanted to purchase the island. "Natora and Malus, look at the screen. We need to evaluate if the property is worth the price. This isn't something that I should decide by myself."

Natora looked over Bladescape's shoulder and whistled. "We have the cash, barely. I said the price would be discounted because of the quest. Twice now we can barely skate by. We have such great luck.”

Everyone laughed. Obviously, buying this place was rather lucky, even if it would wipe their finances. The sale of their old HQ and the merger should pad them more.

“What are the listed amenities?" Natora asked.

Bladescape scrolled through the amenities. The whole island was marked as their territory and a safe zone. Thorn Island came with a visitor teleport plaza as well as a private one that guild members could use. There was a Guild Hall and a "Great Hall" which held the kitchen and dining room. Two barracks with individual rooms. They had an armory with a forge inside, plus a private arena and a stable, as well as the exterior "visitor gatehouse." The palace had a private council chamber and plenty of rooms for their council and senior officers. The things listed that they hadn't seen were the main garden, palace garden, swimming hole, lighthouse, two sailboats, Ward Gatehouse, and a tower.

"That's everything we need," Malus said. "And then some. It's got a full forge. It's a lot of bedrooms, way more than we'll ever need. Why not?"

"Hey, we are doing a big merger in a few days, more mergers might happen," Natora pointed out. "It's excessive, but I am excited about things like the arena and swimming hole. We couldn't ask for anything better than this. It has everything we need for our current selves, us after the merger, and still gives us room to grow if we need to. I say yes."

"Malus, your official vote?" Bladescape asked.

"Yes," Malus definitively stated.

Bladescape looked at the others. They were patiently waiting for them to make a decision. They might not be voting members, but their input mattered.

"Any objections from anyone?" Bladescape asked.

"We have the col, so why not?" Thunderborne asked. "It's a castle! We will never get another opportunity to live in a castle outside of Aincrad."

"It will make some serious buzz, in a good way," Kiefer added.

"It has a forge," Diemond said. "That is all I needed for me to be on board. That and being able to afford it. Because Thunder said it well, it's a castle! We can all be princesses!” She let out a squeal in excitement. “Oh, and princes for our gentlemen.”

Everyone laughed at Diemond's enthusiasm. Their current and incoming men were all very good gentlemen and understanding of the female pronouns collectively used since the guild was heavily skewed towards the women.

"Alright," Bladescape said with a sly grin.

BLADESCAPE: Level 85 — Two-Handed Sword — Searching — Weapon Defense — Leather Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Sprint — Blade Throwing — Extended Weight Carry — Acrobatics — Greatsword
NATORA: Level 80 — Two-Handed Spear — Purchase Negotiations — Sales Negotiation — Weapon Defense — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Acrobatics — Armor Pierce — Sprint — Extended Weight Carry
MALUS: Level 80 — One-Handed War Hammer — Greatshield — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Extended Weight Carry — Battle Regeneration — Fishing — Search — Martial Arts — Rend — Sprint
THUNDERBORNE: Level 80 — Rapier — Sprint — Acrobatics — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Armor Pierce — Martial Arts — Blade Throwing — Search
KONPEITO: Level 80 — Two-Handed Axe — Cooking — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — Martial Arts — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Music — Blade Throwing — Bard — Extended Weight Carry — Rend
DIEMOND: Level 80 — Mace — Greatshield — Sewing — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Light Metal Armor Forging — Heavy Metal Armor Forging — Extended Weight Carry — Jewelry Creation — Rend
DOOMBUNNY: Level 81 — One-Handed Dagger — Hide — Fighting Spirit — Blade Throwing — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Familiar Cooperation — Mixing — Listen — Reveal — Main-gauche — Search
KIEFER: Level 79 — One-Handed Curved Sword — Slash Weapon Forging — Light Metal Armor — Weapon Defense — First Aid — Katana — Battle Regeneration — Slash Weapon Forging — Blade Throwing — Armor Pierce
SORYUTO: Level 77 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Music — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Fighting Spirit — Armor Pierce — Acrobatics — Extended Weight Carry
REISENKI: Level 79 — One-Handed Axe — Greatshield — Heavy Metal Armor — Equipment Repair — Metal Equipment Repair — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Cooking — Metal Refining — One-Hand Weapon Creation