An early morning assembly was called at the Flyers guild hall related to the events of the duel yesterday.
Seated at a large table in one of the upstairs rooms, were 5 people, each of them top ranked members of the Flyers Guild. The ranked members who weren't there were currently on missions.
Hyo, rank 2 in the guild, had explained to them from his point of view what happened, not that they didn't already hear about it.
"How could you let this happen Hyo! Sujin was one of the most loyal and hardworking members of the guild and you let him get killed like that! You even gave the rank he earned away to the one who killed him!" yelled a young woman named Falutia.
Falutia was an archer, ranked 7th in the guild.
"Falutia, didn't you hear what Hyo just said? Sujin challenged the brat to a duel and lost. What was the Vice-Guildmaster supposed to do, join in and help him fight the kid?" said a young man named Raya.
Raya was a dual blade wielder, ranked 5th in the guild.
"Did you hear what I said, Rayu!? Sujin was one of our loyal comrades, and now all we're left with is his corpse and an outsider that no one knows! How do you think the Guild Master is going to feel when she returns?" said Felutia.
In a moment, silence filled the room.
This time another member broke the silence, rank 4 Briand.
"Regardless of how the guild master feels about it, she's reasonable enough to understand that Sujin made his choice. It was a bad choice but it was his. Don't dishonor him by trying to rectify the results of his will." Briand spoke.
Briand was the axe wielder who first spoke to Reon and told him how to register.
"Briand is right, Falutia. I know how much you cared about Sujin, hell he was like a younger brother to most of the ranked members, but he challenged a kid to a duel, and lost." said the final present member Waina.
She used a spear to fight, and was ranked 9th.
Falutia smacked her teeth, "What are you trying to say Wain?"
"I'm not trying to say anything Felutia, I'm telling you the truth. Sujin proved inferior to that kid, Reon, in a sanctioned duel, and lost his life for it." Waina retorted.
"Don't forget that the Trial of 10 is only a few months away, and we only managed to get 2 entries last time! If anything, I think we should welcome new strength in the guild right now, we can't just let the Raider Guild beat us every year!" she said.
"That he is." Hyo spoke, now grabbing the other four's attention.
Hyo sat at the head of the table where the Guildmaster would usually sit if she was present.
"Reon, he's a new strength in the guild. You all know about the duel yesterday, but what you might not have known is, Sujin advanced to 3-Star level during that fight, and still lost to Reon." he said.
The elite members turned heads at this comment.
"That's impossible!" yelled Falutia. "How could an unknown kid defeat a 3-Star elite member of our guild that's just-"
"Falutia." Hyo interrupted in a cold dominant tone.
"If you want someone to blame, then blame me. Reon had rejected the duel when Sujin challenged him and only accepted because I set the terms for it. I wanted to test the kids' metal, I didn't think things would turn out like this but this is the way things go sometimes."
"But that is… it's not fair. Sujin, shouldn't be dead right now." Tears began to flow from Falutia's eyes.
The room felt a bit awkward.
"We're all warriors of the Flyers Guild, and we put our lives at risk to bring honor to the Guild and to defend that honor. Sujin should be honored for doing his best until the end." said Briand.
"You are right Briand, his body has been recovered so let us give him a proper burial at the Sacred Ground." Hyo replied.
This seemed to appease Falutia, who calmed down a bit, no longer crying about her fallen comrade.
"Now that that is settled, there is something else we should discuss." Hyo said. "The Guild was assigned to an important task by the Village Lord that we can't refuse."
"Wow, it must be serious if the Village Lord assigned it, and we can't refuse." Raya smirked.
"This is serious Raya. Crux is going to be receiving some visitors from Daimo." said Hyo.
These words caused a sudden shift of the energy of the room, a bit of animosity leaking from each member.
Daimo was a neighboring country of Akram. Where Akram was known as a country of warriors, Daimo was known as a country of mages.
Both countries had a long history with each other, causing a bitter rivalry between them.
"That damn country! What do those fucking wizard folk want here in Crux of all places, for me to knock them all off their high horse?" Briand said surprising Rayu, he rarely saw Briand express himself with such obvious dislike.
"I know Briand, but that's not all, we're going to have to have to send at least 2 of our elite members, and this is a joint mission with the Raider Corps Guild." Hyo said begrudgingly.
"Not it, I'm out!" yelled Briand.
In a flash the others looked at each other.
"Not it!" yelled Waina.
"I'm out!" yelled Falutia.
"Not it!" yelled Raya.
"Raya and Felutia, you two were the last to say it." said Hyo.
"Damn it." said Raya.
"No way Hyo, Raya was the last one to say it, and don't forget there is still another elite member of the guild somewhere in the village. If anything, make him do it. He needs to prove his worth anyway." Felutia rebutted.
Hearing this piqued Raya's curiosity. He was interested to meet the newcomer that caused so much chaos in one fell swoop.
"Well you're not wrong. So me and the new kid will take the vital mission Hyo." said Raya.
"Alright then, it's settled, Raya and Reon will take this one." Hyo said, getting up as the meeting was coming to a close.
Everyone started walking out of the room, when it was just Raya left and he was about to walk out he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Turning around he saw the Vice-Guild Master Hyo smiling at him, "Raya, during the mission, be on your best behavior, or I'll duel you."
Feeling Hyo's energy, Raya's heart skipped a beat, he heard the message loud and clear. He couldn't mess this one up no matter what.