Sila stood motionless on the stage. Nix smiled at her obvious discomfort. Sila had been a dps-based marksman when they had first met. Since then she had taken the Scorched Earth Crowd Control path. The physical changes caused by the path seemed to vary greatly from person to person, there was Chael who only had minor ear changes, then there was Fajii who exhibited more substantial changes. Nix theorized that the amount of change had to do a lot with your current self-image.

Sila had the body of a swimsuit model, not the skinny plastic models that use to be popular, but the curved voluptuous type that caused you to bite your lip to keep from staring. Her short brown hair was now streaked liberally with red. Her ears had sharpened to a point, but besides that, there was no real physical change.

/Inferno: Nix: Take it to him Sila. Be first, Prey waits.

[Pon has invited you to a hidden channel. Men's Club,]

/Men's Club: Wind: Welcome Nix.

/Men's Club: Chael: Finally invited the boss?

/Men's Club: Pon: It's ultra-secret Nix.

/Men's Club: Nix: The hell is going on?

/Men's Club: Pon: Sometimes it's nice to chat without worrying about women listening.

/Men's Club: Banzi: Super secret Nix, don't ever mention it.

/Men's Club: Nix: Is this where you say that the first rule of Men's Club is don't talk about Men's

Club?

/Men's Club: Milat: How does he know that already?

/Men's Club: Wind: On behalf of everyone here, I'd like to thank you for inviting Sila into Inferno.

/Men's Club: Banzi: Seconded!

/Men's Club: Nix: Well... she is a man after all.

/Men's Club: Pon: Huh?

/Men's Club: Wind: What?

/Men's Club: Nix: Read the forums. 67 percent of the accounts are owned by men, but 70 percent of player characters are female.

NIx laughed and closed the channel.

You have left the Men's Club.

Sila bowed toward Shae and then faced her opponent. He could have been twins with the guy who fought Pon. "I'm Sila, please advise me."

"I'm Jespa, please advise."

[Silent Earth]

Jespa has been silenced.

Sila immediately dropped to one knee and pulled her rifle and started firing. Jespa moved further away, his face showing panic when he was unable to complete a summons.

[Scorched Dust]

Jespa has been blinded.

Sila calmly fired at the target who was flying blindly in the air. Within a minute, the match was over.

[Jespa has been slain]

The end of the match was met with complete silence. Sila had used her path to easily overwhelm her opponent.

/Inferno: Nix: Nice job Sila.

/Inferno: Wind: CC for the win.

Rhylia sighed heavily, her element operated best in a support role but she had hoped her people would do better. "Well done Sila, so this is the Scorched Earth Path? Very impressive.

Sila bowed, her pretty face showing a smile. "I would be happy to discuss the Scorched Earth path with you if you are curious."

Sila walked back to the holding area, her teammates all congratulating her. "Thanks, Nix, I was really nervous."

Nix accepted a quick hug from her, "great job Sila."

/Inferno: Wind: That was very impressive Sila.

/Inferno: Pon: Hard and fast, your opponent was reeling from the start.

[Whisper: Nix to Sila:] Were you hitting on the Air Nemesis?

[Whisper: Sila to Nix] Maybe... jealous?

[Whisper: Nix to Sila] Nope.

Nez walked onto the stage. She smiled nervously at her opponent who was already waiting before bowing slightly in the direction of the two elementals.

Her opponent was a female this time. Her feathered scalp had a ridge down the middle, making it look like she wore a mohawk. "I am Isadori, please advise me."

Nez bowed toward her, "I'm Nezbit, very nice to meet you. Please advise."

[Twister]

Nezbit has been captured by the wind.

The cleric's body immediately started spinning in place.

[Summons: Tulat]

[Summons: Peri]

Two Arch-Winds were summoned quickly and both of them started firing immediately at Nez. The Inferno cleric had lost nearly half of health when the spell finally expired.

[Blessing of the Goddess]

Nezbit has been completely healed.

Nez frowned at her opponent and then pulled her mace and charged at her.

[Entangle]

Isadori has been rooted in place

[Sins of the Father]

Isadori has been slowed by 40 percent.

[Gale blast]

A gust of wind slammed into Nez, knocking her to the ground. She quickly rolled to her feet and charged again.

[Gale blast]

A second gust slammed into her, she managed to side-step and barely stumbled as she closed on her opponent.

Arrows peppered the ground around her, Nez was dodging and weaving while she continued to charge ahead.

[Blessing of the Goddess]

Nezbit has been completely healed.

[Gale blast]

Nez stopped suddenly, skidding on the tile while the spell landed in front of her, unexpectedly she leaped onto the impacted area and shot high into the air. One hand grabbed the ankle of her opponent and dragged her to the ground. Nez kept ahold of Isadori and started bashing her with her mace. A moment later, Isadori slumped to the floor.

Isadori has fallen unconscious.

The cleric stopped attacking and put away her weapon.

[Blessing of the Goddess]

Isadori has been completely healed.

The moment was met with stunned silence, before the Inferno members started clapping.

/Inferno: Nix: Nice job Nez.

/Inferno: Pon: Clerics are such cheats.

/Inferno: Tess: Don't hate the healers. Way to represent Nez!

Nez helped her opponent up, and gave her a friendly smile. "Thank you for the match."

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] F*ck Nix... Did you know those two were heavy hitters?

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] Did you think I invited them to Inferno because of the way they looked?

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] Yep.

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] Know what advice Chiba gave me while I was training with her?

[Whisper: Pon to Nix] Don't say that name to me... What did she say?

[Whisper: Nix to Pon] Only a fool fights clerics.

/Inferno: Wind: Damn it... I should have gone after Pon. You did that on purpose Nix!

/Inferno: Nix: Don't blame me.

Nix approached the two elementals. He would still fight if needed, but it was obvious that the advantages of Air weren't suited to single combat. "I have a suggestion."

Rhylia had been watching the matches with great interest. Losing to a cleric didn't surprise her, no sane person wants to fight someone who can completely heal themselves over and over again. However, the Scorched Earth mage showed abilities that completely nullified Air Elementals. She offered Nix a tight smile. "What's your suggestion?"

"Partner with us," Nix spoke quietly, both Elementals stared at him. "You face the same fate as Shae, sooner or later you will have to face the other Elementals. Your choices are to hide away, or consolidate your power quickly and hope to survive a confrontation."

"You would have me take refuge in the Fire Palace? Or maybe the Scorched Earth Temple?" Rhylia's tone told him that she wouldn't consider it.

Nix shook his head, "We'll find you a temple, it's what we do."

Rhylia's dark eyes were impossible to read, "and then what?"

"Among the Nemesis, only Shae has a temple. The other Nemesis isolate themselves from outside contact. Earth, Wind, and Fire... Would they still dare attack us?"

Shae listened without comment, she had long understood that Nix was unpredictable. He did have a point, together they would be stronger. "There is no need to make a decision today, please consider my Champion's words carefully."

Rhylila shook her head. "This isn't the right move for us, at least not at this time."

The Air Elemental walked them outside and then escorted them personally to the gate. She bade goodbye to Shae and Inferno with a slight bow. "Thank you for visiting us."

Shae returned to Glory while the raid party exited through the gate.

Colonial System Message: Congratulations to Inferno for being the first guild to clear the third stage on the 5th floor. All raid members receive the Feather Fall ring.

Feather Fall

Ring: Rare

Description: When jumping or

falling from a great height, the wearer

descends slowly.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Great job guys!

/Inferno: Sharl: Tip of the sword!

/Inferno: Semmi: We are lost here Nix. How's your sense of direction?

/Inferno: Jun Li: Bring him in Mina.

Filamina has summoned you. Do you accept?

"Yes."