Some of you may or may not be a little pissed as this chapter brings up even more questions and I apologize for that. But I hope I make up for that with the sheer badassery of Guinevere in this chapter.

Big thanks to cyberbeast for the stat table code, because it was INCREDIBLY difficult to figure out, so thank you so much for that.

Chapter 3 – Leader of the Pack

“Sit.” commanded Yuri. The six wolves arrayed in a neat line quickly complied with her orders, tails at rest as they remained petrified in a sitting position. “Lie down and roll over.” said Yuri authoritatively. Again the orders were followed impeccably, the wolves flopping onto the ground as fast as they could and rolling over. Their eyes were fearfully attached to Yuri's placid face for any hint of her displeasure.

Yuri frowned and the wolves flinched before freezing in place, eyes darting to the side to see if they were doing anything different compared to their companions. Honestly, 'Killing Intent'? How rude! I would never EVER hurt any of these dear animals. My 'intent' was simply to show that I am the dominant partner in this relationship. Yuri looked at the wolves and her frown softened, the animals were quivering in fear as Yuri walked over to them.

Uncharacteristically, Guinevere was silent which Yuri thought was because she was probably confused by the situation. It was understandable, even Yuri knew that her way of dealing with animals was a little unique. But Yuri firmly believed that like humans, animals were afraid of the unknown, although they tended to react more often with violence than fear. Establishing clear roles in a relationship is the best way to overcome that fear of the unknown; this was Yuri's dogma for dealing with animals.

Her feet carried her to a stop near the largest of the wolves, a lovely creature with beautiful and glossy silver coat with fierce looking yellow eyes and sharp looking fangs. Smiling, Yuri knelt on the grass and started lightly scratching the belly of the beast. Initially the alpha wolf was trembling from fear, but soon it was squirming with pleasure from Yuri's expert ministrations.

“Aww, who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?” The alpha wolf barked happily in response, enjoying the attention and the massage it was getting. Yuri repeated the process with each of the wolves and moved through the line of animals in rapid succession. She made quick, efficient work so that by the end of it, none of the wolves were trembling in fear and were instead looking at Yuri hopefully, tongues lolling out the side of their mouths and tails wagging excitedly.

“Guinevere.” said Yuri, “Aren't you going to pick the herb?”

“What?” she replied in a somewhat dazed manner, “Ah...right.” Awkwardly shuffling over to the base of the tree, Guinevere knelt down and gathered the herb, placing it into her inventory with a small flash of light. The wolves followed Guinevere's movement avidly, but remained quiet as they saw how Yuri approved her actions. Their business concluded, Yuri had the wolves get up and go back to their hunting. The beasts gathered in a tight circle around Yuri; though it wasn't a threatening gesture, all of them waited for a final scratch behind the ears before leaving. Yuri happily complied before sending the gentle beasts on their way, leaving Guinevere and Yuri alone once again.

“Shall we keep going? Or take a break?” asked Yuri.

“...Let's take a break.” answered Guinevere, still looking at her with a funny expression.

“What is it?” Though I probably have a pretty good idea.

“Anyone ever tell you that you're a little bit weird?” said Guinevere bluntly.

“Not recently.” replied Yuri casually, though she was a little bit hurt by the remark.

Guinevere quickly noticed her gaffe and hurried to apologize, “Sorry! I don't mean that in a bad way. You got us out of that situation a lot better than I could have. I was just a little surprised...” trailing off lamely, though it truly seemed that she didn't mean anything malicious by the remark. Years of studying at an all-girls school had given Yuri the wrong conclusion and she immediately felt bad about questioning Guinevere's good nature.

“I'm sorry too, I should have told you what I was going to do.” said Yuri, smiling in regret. She was relieved when Guinevere returned the smile. They both seemed to be out of their element with the other, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

“Hungry?” she asked, though her growling stomach answered her own question before Yuri could reply. Yuri raised one eyebrow and was about to tease her when her own treacherous stomach betrayed her with a growl of it's own. The two girls both blushed, caught the other one's eyes and started laughing.

“I thought this game didn't have things like hunger or thirst.” commented Yuri as she tended to the small cook-fire they had set up.

“Well...that's really a 'yes' and 'no' answer. Yes you'll feel the pangs of hunger and thirst, but even if you have the pain function turned on, it will never turn to something as extreme as starvation or dehydration.” said Guinevere, busying herself with a earthenware pot she had fished out of her inventory.

“So if I don't eat or drink anything, the most that will happen is a negative status or something like that?”

Guinevere laughed, “You're pretty good at asking these 'yes and no' questions. Yes you'll gain a negative status and no that won't be the most that will happen. Your character will start to lose hit points if you go without food or water for a long time and eventually die. It's just that it would take a very long time to happen, compared to your real body that is. When you're losing hit points that's not due to a curse or a physical attack, you'll feel progressively more and more light-headed.” explained Guinevere as she filled the pot half-way to the brim with water pulled from a mottled leather canteen.

“For the most part, Royal Road basically follows the same rules as the real world.” A flash of light and a stack of meat appeared in Guinevere's outstretched hand, though a flash of concern appeared on her face, “Do you have any problems eating meat, Yuri?”

“I don't, though thanks for asking. Do you need some help with that?” offered Yuri.

“Are you a good cook?” teased Guinevere, though she was already handing over half of the meat to her, along with a rather sharp-looking dagger.

“Maybe even better than you.” shot back Yuri, though she giggled a bit as she did so.

Guinevere stuck her tongue out at her, “Ah but you forget my dear hoobae; this is Royal Road and I am experienced in this world's ways.”

Yuri scowled at her, “Well then my dear sunbaenim-”

“Sunbae will work just fine.” winked Guinevere.

Yuri was heartened that Guinevere considered her to be a good friend and let a small smile slightly dampen her scowl, “Guinevere sunbae, I propose to you that we each prepare a dish of our own creation and leave it to the other to judge the taste.”

“Yuri hoobae, do my ears detect a challenge in your tone?”

“Guinevere sunbae is most adept at being able to pick out my carefully concealed undertones and this Yuri hoobae would be doubly honoured if you would participate in such a competition with her.” expressed Yuri eloquently.

“Game on!” declared Guinevere brusquely.

The sun was setting in the continent of Versailles, painting the skies in such glorious hues of orange and red that many players, no matter how long they had been playing, stopped what they were doing and marveled at the sight.

“Urp.” An unladylike sound escaped from the mouth of Guinevere as she patted her stomach in satisfaction. For her part, Yuri managed to refrain from such things, though a gentle smile defined her face, eyes closed in contentment and she appeared to be the picture of refinement. On the outside anyway. Oh my gosh, that was soooo yummy! I think I could get addicted to this taste, hehe! I wonder if I can get the recipe from Guin; I'm sure Mama and Papa would love this.

Yuri opened her eyes to see Guinevere grinning at her, one eyebrow raised as if to say 'Well? It was pretty good right? Admit it!'. Yuri placed a hand over her heart and bowed before Guinevere, “To the clear victor, I offer my heartfelt admiration and sincere wish to get the recipe from you.”

Guinevere laughed, giving a lofty wave with her hand to allow Yuri to stop bowing. “Glad you liked it! I have to admit though, I was surprised by what you made; it tasted great!”

“Thank you. To be honest I really thought I would win, but your dish pretty much blew mine out of the water.”

“Hehe, that's one of the more game-like aspects of Royal Road. My cooking skill is higher than yours, which basically means that the food I make comes out in higher qualities.” declared Guinevere proudly as she puffed out her chest.

“And outside of the game?” asked Yuri slyly.

Guinevere visibly deflated, “I'm alright, I guess. My cooking's definitely improved from playing this game, but I can't make anything of this level outside. Though a nice feature is that you can get the recipes of the food you make in the game to try in the real world.”

“That is pretty nice!” exclaimed Yuri, already wondering how much she could expand her cooking repertoire while she was here. She made a mental note to improve her cooking as much as possible. They sat in a companionable silence for a few minutes; digestion wasn't much of an issue in this world, but the post-meal feeling of good food still lingered. Guinevere broke the silence first. A strange tone was in her voice though, but Yuri didn't take too much notice of it.

“So...do you often make Western food Yuri?”

“Just on special occasions: My dad loves exotic cuisine; Italian mostly. Most of the time though, my mother and I make pretty traditional meals. You know, bibimbap and the like.”

“Ah...I see. So you're parents are both Korean?”

“Yeah...?” said Yuri uncertainly, not sure where Guinevere was going with this line of questioning, “I think that's obvious, right?” laughing as she gestured to her face and hair. Her laugh was forced and broke down into a nervous cough as Guinevere didn't respond. She seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Silently, she filled the pot that was once filled with her delicious stew with clear, sparkling water from her leather canteen. She gave the pot to her and sat back down. This is kind of freaking me out.

“I know I'm probably freaking you out right now, but maybe it's nothing. And if it is something...well it still shouldn't mean anything.” rambled Guinevere

“Guin-”

“It'll be faster if you look in the pot.” Perplexed and more than a little worried, Yuri was relieved when she stared into the pot and saw only clear water. Though she wasn't sure what she was expecting exactly.

“What do you see?”

“Just water. Guin...what's going on?”

“What do you see on the water's surface?” urged Guinevere, not answering her question. Yuri's eyes once again dropped towards the water sitting in the bowl. The exquisitely made bowl was a deep brown color holding a pool of clear water, sloshing around from the slight movements of Yuri's hands. But it wasn't the water she should be looking at. Nor the bowl. Not the rays of fading sunlight that bounced off the water and dazzled her until she turned it away. She knew what Guinevere wanted her to look at.

The movement of the water stilled as the tremble in her hands faded, the blurry image of the woman staring back at her slowly swam into focus. The larger, more obvious details were recognizable. Long straight black hair that fell down past her shoulders that was slightly disheveled which she chalked up to waking up in a cave and nearly drowning. Clear, white skin as the picture sharpened a bit more. A bit more pale than usual, sure, but still pretty much the same. The image finally stilled and a stranger stared back at her.

She had clear blue eyes; they weren't a deep blue that might've blended in with her dark hair, but a bright sparkling sapphire blue color that was both captivating and alluring. I think I'm turning into a narcissist she thought with a faint blush. The slight reddening of the cheeks served to more clearly define the alien face that stared back at her. The shape of the eyes could be said to have a hint of Korean descent, though that was still a bit of stretch. Slightly thick eyebrows, full cheeks and full lips. This was a face that could only make Yuri say, 'Who are you?'.

“I don't know what it means.” said Guinevere quietly.

“All part of the prank, right?” responded Yuri with a dry chuckle.

“...When you start the game, you're given the option to change your appearance. You might not have noticed, but I slightly altered my hair.” They laughed. While her slightly spiky, short electric-blue hair was eye-catching; Guinevere looked like a tomboyish pretty girl. Yuri set the bowl down by her side and pulled up her knees, hugging them to her chest. “Best we can do is make guesses and that's not really going to be of much help.”

“Yeah...yeah you're right.” Yuri exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Why should her appearance freak her out so much? Who cares right?.

“I don't suppose you recognize, uh, your face, do you?” Yuri shook her head. Guinevere shook hers in frustration, “Damn.” she cursed.

“Can you log in to other people's characters?” asked Yuri.

Another negative answer, “No. When you enter any pod, it does a sort of scan of your body which enables you to access the character you created. Impossible to hack, so there's no danger of losing your character.”

“But in my case...”

“Right. Maybe they did something to your pod or...something.” Yuri nodded, the explanation was as good as any. “There's a way to get some more information though, now that I think about it.”

“How?”

“We can check your status window. It's like a summary of your character's details that shows your attributes and things like that. More importantly, the top of the window shows the name of the character.”

“So we could...”

“Find out whose character this belongs to. Yeah. Sorry I didn't think of it before though.”

“I'm just glad you're here.”

Guinevere flashed her a quick smile, “Well, no time like the present. Go ahead and say 'Status Window' to open it up.”

“Status window!” intoned Yuri.

Stat WindowCharacter NameAlyne Fainesworth TEMPAlignmentNeutralLevel5RaceHumanTitleNoneProfessionNoneFame10Health150/150Mana180/180Strength11Agility14Vitality15Aim5Wisdom16Intellect18Luck0Leadership20Attack21Defence0Killing Intent50Magic ResistanceNone

A larger window than any other previous one she had seen materialized in front of her eyes. Yuri briefly scanned over some of the terms, though most of it was utterly foreign to her, and settled on what she was looking for. “Character name: Alyne Fainesworth and the letters T-E-M-P.”

“Notepad.” said Guinevere who adopted a pose like she was at a keyboard and started moving her fingers in a similar fashion as if she were typing something. “Can you spell the name for me?” she asked. Yuri said each letter clearly and had Guinevere repeat them back to her for confirmation.

“This was actually kind of helpful.” said Guinevere, “Besides the name, the level and stats all point to this being someone's character that you've temporarily inhabited. Or at least its more likely that that's the case anyway.”

“Is the 'Fame' thing any good?” asked Yuri.

“Might be, yeah. Fame is how well-known you are to the NPCs. High amounts of fame gets you stuff like special quests and discounts. 10 isn't a very high number, but some people might recognize you.”

“And that 'TEMP' thing? Is that anything?”

“That 'TEMP' you see stands for 'Temporary'. It's a clickable icon in the status window that lets you modify the name of your character. Normally your name is set from the moment you create the character, but some items will let you change things like your name or appearance.”

“Can anyone else see my status window?”

“Nope. But if you register at a guild, you'll be automatically signed up under the name you have on your status window. There's also some NPCs that can more or less 'sense' that you're hiding your true name from them, which can cause them to mistrust you quite a bit.”

“But apart from that, there's not really anything bad about it?”

“Not really.”

“Might as well change it then.” decided Yuri. She pushed the 'TEMP' box and was gratified that she was able to change this much at least. Satisfied with the revision, Yuri clicked OK on the text box that had appeared and the status window was updated: Now it simply read 'Yuri' next to the character name icon; the 'TEMP' box had disappeared.

“Guin?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

They were once again on the hunt, Guinevere took point, making sure that Yuri stayed close behind her. They had fashioned torches out of the dying embers of their campfire. The torches wouldn't last long, but the light they provided was very welcome in the darkened interior of the forest. Guinevere thought it would've been better if they finished the quest as fast as possible, which is why she suggested they continue their search during the night. Dawn shouldn't be too far off, though the night seemed to have reached it's darkest point.

Still, even if monsters are stronger at night, there are mostly only animals in this forest. And I think I have a pretty good animal repellent with me. Guinevere glanced at Yuri who was being diligent with her duty; restlessly scanning the ground within their limited field of vision. Guinevere caught a flash of something blue in the periphery of her vision as her torchlight passed over it. “I think I just saw one.” she said.

“Where?” asked Yuri.

“Just over here...” carefully picking her way through the trees. Guinevere considered herself to be pretty dextrous, but it was easy to trip in such a dark area. She quickly found the tree where she had first spotted the glimmer. Where is it?...Ah! Smiling, Guinevere crouched over where the flower lay, nestled between the roots of several trees and almost completely obscured by the bushes; she was surprised that she even noticed it. “Halfway there.” Guinevere dug around the flower, carefully lifting it out of the soil, so as not to damage it.

“Inventory” The familiar 64 slot window opened up and she tossed it towards the screen. The second it made contact with the box, the herb disappeared with a flash of light, the small white numeral indicating the quantity of the amoranthus changed from a 4 to a 5. She cocked her head to the side and slowly stood up with clenched fists.

“Guin.” warned Yuri.

“I hear them. Thanks.” Guinevere was prepared for it this time as Yuri's crazily powerful killing intent spawned in the atmosphere. “You seem to be popular with these guys.” joked Guinevere. It was a little bit unsettling to see Yuri sporting a wide smile while letting out that monstrous aura.

“Yeah! I didn't think I'd get to see them again!” she agreed happily. Just a few feet away from them was a pack of wolves, their yellow eyes burned in the darkness, though Guinevere could feel no blood lust from them. But that might've been because they were currently being overwhelmed by Yuri. Evidently they were the same wolves they had met earlier. Normally Guinevere would've killed them without hesitation, but she sensed that might not be met with so much good cheer with Yuri.

Hold up. I only ever met wolves in this forest whenever I found a herb...I wonder... Yuri was crouching, making crooning noises and gesturing for the wolves to come closer. The killing intent had dissipated and the wolves were slowly skulking out from behind the trees. They looked almost guilty for sneaking up on them, their eyes were downcast and tails were pressed flat against their bodies as they meekly shuffled over to Yuri.

“Awww. Hi! How are you?” Yuri was simultaneously scratching behind the ears of one wolf and hugging the silver alpha wolf they had met earlier in the day. Guinevere shook her head in amazement, the wolves might as well have been golden retrievers, they were panting happily and tails were wagging furiously as they pushed towards Yuri. Even a warning growl from the alpha wolf didn't deter them from trying to get closer to her.

Her inventory window was still open which was convenient as she reached towards the twelfth slot and made a grabbing motion. A flash of light and a single amoranthus herb materialized into the air, gently clutched between Guinevere's fingers. As if they were all attached to a string, all of the wolves turned their heads towards the amoranthus herb.

“Guin?” asked Yuri uncertainly.

“Just want to test something. We might be able to finish this quest in one go if I'm right.” She moved the herb to her left. The wolves followed the movement. She moved it to the right. Again, they followed the motion of herb unerringly. Satisfied, Guinevere asked Yuri with a smile, “Do you think you can teach them a new trick?”

“Mind if I ask something?” said Yuri, puffing a little bit from the speed at they were traveling.

“Why you're getting tired in a game world?” guessed Guinevere.

“No, well, yes that's a good question too, but I had another one.” said Yuri, stumbling a bit with her words.

“I can only answer one of those questions.” replied Guinevere solemnly, though she ruined it with a giggle. Yuri scowled at her, nearly tripping over a root and was only prevented from falling over by when she caught her. “Careful. These woods can be dangerous for scowlers.”

“Charming.”

“So I'm told.” laughed Guinevere. The wolf they were following paused in it's tracks and started sniffing the ground, the trail had been momentarily lost. It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time for Yuri to get the wolves to track the scent for the amoranthus herbs. In the time that they had separated from the rest of the pack, who had continued to hunt, they had found themselves two more herbs. Guinevere gathered her thoughts before answering Yuri.

“When you start Royal Road as a level 1 character, the physical abilities represent the average person's abilities. For a while you won't really notice a change, if any at all, because they're so gradual. Stamina is the first noticeable improvement, usually when you hit level 20 or so. Ah, I'm level 23 by the way. When something like an extended jog doesn't tire you out.”

Yuri was slightly leaning against a tree, catching her breath, though she wasn't breathing too hard, “So, if someone has asthma or something like that, it won't be reflected here?”

“Right. Basically everyone starts off the same and everyone can reach the same level as BardRay-he's the highest leveled player in the game at the moment-if they work hard enough. Anyway, supposedly around level 50 is when the real changes start rolling around. Speed and strength are already well above the normal person and the enemies and quests you face reflect that increase. One thing that won't rise up is your reaction speed though. That's why martial arts practitioners and other such people have an advantage at higher levels as they can better cope with these abilities.”

“But if your speed and strength keep on increasing, would you really be able to keep up with it? I mean there has to be a limit to how much you can tolerate, right?”

“There is: The system set in place will eventually cap players at a top speed and strength. So you won't see people jumping over buildings or anything like that. But the damage they deal and can receive will be strengthened. I think the cap occurs around level...150 maybe?” The wolf stopped sniffing and straightened its nose in the direction of the scent in a very cartoonish manner. It barked once to grab their attention and set off through the woods at a steady lope once again. “But unfortunately for you, that means you still need to suffer through this run.” Yuri groaned, but she started running after the wolf without further prompting.

“What was the other one?” asked Guinevere.

“What?” repeated Yuri blankly.

“Your other question. What was your original question?” reminded Guinevere.

“Ah! It's nothing much. I just wanted to know a little bit more about you.” she said bashfully.

“Oh yeah? I won't be telling you my three sizes if that's what you're after.” quipped Guinevere.

“As if!” retorted Yuri. The wolf leading them briefly paused and looked back at the source of the disturbance and only resumed the hunt at Yuri's insistence. “I just wanted to know why you named yourself Guinevere.”

“So my three sizes are...”

“Oh come on, it shouldn't be that embarrassing of a question. Ah, watch out for that root.”

Guinevere lightly hopped over a root that was sticking out almost vertically from the ground, “Thanks. And it is a little bit embarrassing to be honest.”

“It can't be that bad.” reasoned Yuri.

“Well...” began Guinevere, ducking underneath a low-hanging branch, “I've always been interested in the whole sword and sorcery kind of thing from a young age, you know? Before my mom passed away, she used to read me all these adventure stories of knights slaying dragons and rescuing princesses.” Guinevere chuckled and smiled fondly at the memories that were being brought up. She noticed Yuri's look of sympathy and quickly reassured her, “Don't worry about asking, it's not because of that that I didn't want to answer the question. She's been gone for almost ten years now.”

Guinevere got the explanation back on track, steering away from a rather painful topic. “I loved those stories as a kid. Heck, I still do. My mom and I were both big fans of the Arthurian lore in particular; my favorite characters in particular were Merlin and Mordred. So when I was picking my character name for Royal Road, the characters from those stories were the first things I thought of.”

Guinevere felt a slight blush rising up in her cheeks, “I also really liked the romance between Arthur and his queen Guinevere.” she quickly glanced at Yuri and was relieved that she wasn't showing any signs of derision, “Some stories have Guinevere purposely betraying Arthur before his defeat, but I always loved the version where she was enchanted by the witch Morgan le Fay into having an affair with Lancelot. A strong beautiful woman whose love could only be affected by the most powerful of magic.”

She laughed at the absurdity of it, “Weird right? Wanting a name that I thought symbolized beauty and sophistry?”

“I don't think so.” said Yuri quietly, “I think you're living up to the name quite well if you're going for just those two qualities.”

Guinevere's blush deepened when she realized Yuri wasn't being sarcastic, she only gave Guinevere that gentle smile of hers. “What kind of school do you go to, Yuri?”

“An all-girls one; why?”

“...No reason.” She's probably quite the lady killer there. “Looks like the night is ending.” pointed out Guinevere, they had come out from a particularly dense cluster of trees into a lightly populated glade. The lack of trees being closely packed together allowed a bit more of the light that signaled dawn to filter in through the glade. The wolf that was leading them stopped when they were in the glade and sauntered over to Yuri's side, tilting it's head so that it rested against her hip.

“What is it, girl? Why'd you stop?” cupping her hands underneath the wolf's chin and lightly rubbing it. The wolf made an odd noise that sounded like it was clearing it's throat, a low rumbling noise emanated from it as it jerked its head off to the right somewhere at the end of the glade. Yuri evidently understood this signal as she nodded her head. Apparently satisfied, the wolf slowly started walking towards where it had jerked its head; none of the speed that it had displayed earlier could be seen.

Guinevere caught Yuri's eye and raised her eyebrow. The girl shook her head and put a finger to her lips, motioning for Guinevere to follow the wolf. Guinevere shrugged; she trusted Yuri. They soon left the glade and entered the thicket of trees, the brief light that they had bathed in was cut off as soon as they entered the darkened expanse of trees. The only sound that could be heard was the soft crunching of leaves, both Yuri and Guinevere were careful not to step on any wayward branches on the forest floor. The she-wolf lead them on a winding and twisting path that occasionally looped back on itself in a manner that seemed almost entirely random.

The trees began to become more and spaced the further they progressed, shafts of light shone down through the gaps that became more and frequent as the forest slowly woke up. She could hear the sweet melodies that birds merrily chirped out as they greeted the new day and the rustle of branches overhead as squirrels raced across their length. Once or twice, Guinevere spotted a deer hiding behind the trees, though it took off running as soon as the wolf that was guiding them paused to look at it with hungry eyes. A fresh, warm breeze managed to penetrate the barrier of evergreen, carrying with it the delicate fragrance of lilacs, roses and several others, but no less pleasing, that she couldn't identify.

They reached the treeline and paused; both Guinevere and Yuri let out a small gasp of wonder at the scenery that was displayed before them. Surrounding on all sides by a thick grove of trees and a wall of imposing cliffs was a bowl-shaped valley that was filled with flowers. There were a few trees here and there along the valley floor, though the majority of them were heavily laden with fantastically colored fruits of all shapes and sizes. The other trees bore pink and purple blossoms, the occasional gust of wind that blew through the valley sending petals to dance in the currents of the air that carried them to and fro.

Some petals fell into the river that occupied the middle of the valley, carried by its gentle currents into a dark cave over to the far left of where they were standing. Steady streams of water poured from many smaller tributaries leading into the valley that coalesced into an almost seamless whole to create the illusion of a waterfall that poured into the valley. Catching the light streaming from the sun that now loomed high above them and scattering it created a lovely rainbow that appeared near the base of the waterfalls.

Still this was nothing that compared to the floor of the valley which might've been a field of flowers with every combination of colors that Guinevere could possibly think of. The enticing aroma she had smelled earlier was amplified several-fold and made her giddy with joy. But there were signs of habitation, wooden cages and tables were lightly spread throughout the valley, though they were more concentrated near a cave where an orange glow could be seen. The girl's delight was short-lived when they saw the inhabitants of the valley.

“Guin...what are those...things?” asked Yuri hesitantly.

“Things? I thought you liked animals.” replied Guinevere.

Yuri gave a weak chuckle, “Animals don't dress up in mail and wear swords at their waists.” The two girls were making sure to keep their voices low, not wanting to alert the creatures that were in the valley.

“They're called kobolds.” There were about five of the creatures that Guinevere could see, milling around by the pond. Standing a little taller than a human, these anthropomorphic creatures appeared to have the head of a slightly less furry wolf with a less prominent snout. Grey-black fur covered the parts of their bodies that wasn't already encased in chain-mail armor. The armor in particular looked ill-fitted and mismatched, indicating that they had most likely scavenged it from other wayward travelers. Guinevere doubted that they had traded for them. “Kobolds are some of the creatures that populate this game, their intelligence is high enough to wear equipment and some of the smarter ones can even communicate with other people. But they're a pretty vicious lot and they're a lot more dangerous when they're in a group.”

Yuri knelt down and stroked the wolf gently, who had started trembling the second it had noticed the kobolds in the valley, “Shhh, girl. It's okay.” she crooned, “What's wrong?” Yuri got her answer in the form of the pack of wolves that they had parted ways with last night who had appeared picking their way down a treacherous path into the valley.

“What are they holding in their mouths?” asked Yuri, placing a hand over her eyes to reduce the glare from the sunlight.

Guinevere had a pretty good guess of what it was and why they had been brought here. The silver alpha wolf whom Guinevere had acknowledged to be a proud and powerful creature, was kowtowing towards the kobolds who had noticed it's presence. They greeted the wolf with jeers and what seemed to be harsh tones as the wolf had it's ears pressed against it's forehead, while it shivered uncontrollably.

“Hooh?” Yuri was once again letting out that terrifying killing intent, her eyes cold as ice.

“Reign it in.” warned Guinevere, “They might notice us, and we don't know how many of them there are.”

Yuri clicked her tongue with dissatisfaction, but she continued to glare at the kobolds in the valley. The alpha wolf deposited a bundle of herbs at the kobolds' feet, who quickly gathered it up and shooed the wolves away. “Amoranthus herbs...damn!” cursed Guinevere.

“Why? They're right in front of us, aren't they? Can't we just kill them and free the wolves?” asked Yuri.

“Just basic tactics; kobolds are around level 20 or so, which wouldn't be bad, but these are smart creatures. If they attack in a group, I'm not sure I'd be able to survive.”

“Do you think there's more than just those ones?”

“Probably, though I'd wager that there aren't too many more: Kobolds aren't nocturnal creatures, so I doubt they'd be in a cave, although there definitely could be more. Also, in order to be able to control the wolves so effectively means that their leader is probably pretty strong which would make up for deficient numbers.”

“But if I'm here with you, couldn't we do something about...?” Yuri stopped as soon as she Guinevere shaking her head.

“As a level 5, you wouldn't be dealing a lot of damage to these guys, just a lot of attention.”

“Couldn't we just go back into the forest and level myself up then?”

“We could, but the majority of creatures we're going to find in there are animals like those wolves. And in order to get experience we would have to...” Guinevere trailed off as she got her point across.

“Right...” responded Yuri glumly.

“But that doesn't mean that you can't do anything.” Yuri looked up at the confident tone of Guinevere's voice.

“But you said I couldn't damage them.”

“You probably won't be able to. But-” she added with a fierce smile, borne out of the stress that had steadily accumulated since she had started this quest, “You can grab their attention and I can take care of the rest.”

Yuri was hidden by the dense foliage of the tree she climbed up on, perched on a branch that was several meters off the ground. She could hear the feral snarls of the kobolds searching for her, which despite sending a momentary thrill of fear through her, only served to fuel the anger she felt towards them. Apparently Guin thought she would have some reluctance in killing those horrid creatures. Because their head looks like a wolf's? Ridiculous. How could those things ever be as beautiful as those wolves.

Her only regret was that she wasn't the one dispensing out the punishment they so rightly deserved. That enviable job would be left to the blue-haired girl in the tree opposite to Yuri, who was doing a much better job of concealing herself than Yuri was. The growls were getting closer, the kobolds had apparently found the trail that Yuri had “accidentally” left behind in her “panicked” escape.

The plan had been cooked up by Guinevere in order to effectively draw out the kobolds that were ensconced in the canyon. Yuri's admiration of the girl had increased even further when she outlined the details of the plan. Essentially the core element had boiled down to that Yuri was not a real threat to the kobolds, but she could be a major annoyance. In this fashion, some of the kobolds would be sent up to get rid of her, but because of the lack of challenge she would have posed, it would only be a few of them. If it had been Guinevere firing the crossbow, she would've done quite a bit of damage to them, which would've warranted a large mobilization of their forces.

As a result, only three of the five kobolds they had seen in the valley were sent to deal with her. Like they had expected, there were several paths for the kobolds to get out of the canyon, though the one they had chosen was also well within range of Yuri's crossbow. She missed more often than she hit, but the times she did hit managed to deal a small amount of damage and thoroughly enrage the kobolds. There was a howl of frustration somewhere off to her right as the group of kobolds that were hunting her burst through a cluster of bushes, viciously hacking away at the branches that blocked them with a chipped short, curved sword.

It was hard, but Yuri tried picturing the kobolds as the wolves she had seen earlier, trying to let loose the dominant spirit she used when establishing dominance with the animals she met. Ehhh, this is pretty hard! They're not horrible monsters, they're just...exotic wolves, yeah. It was a weird thought, but she was able to focus enough to start releasing her dominant spirit (or as Guin called it: blood lust) towards the exotic wolves. Their growling did not cease entirely, but it had diminished remarkably as they looked around nervously for the source of their unease. Their weapons were being brandished freely as they milled around on the ground with their noses constantly twitching as they attempted to pinpoint her location.

It would only be a matter of time before they discovered her. Yuri had already leveled her crossbow in preparation before they had burst through the bushes. She only needed to make a slight adjustment as she lined the head of a kobold that was giving orders to the other two in the wooden targeting reticule mounted at the end of the weapon. 'It helps if you breathe out slowly, just before you squeeze the trigger. Helps to calm any nerves you might have and steady your aim'. Guinevere's advice rang true as the crossbow snapped out a bolt that sailed towards the kobold's unprotected head.

It might've been because she had made some sort of sound or that the kobold's reflexes were simply that good, but the monster twitched out of the way of the bolt to avoid a critical hit. Though it couldn't fully dodge it as the wicked bolt left a long gash across it's cheek that immediately started to bleed. More from outrage that it had been fired at, rather than pain, the kobold snarled ferociously and shouted towards its comrades. The creatures stalked over to the tree, waving their weapons furiously in the air and screaming something unintelligible at her. Yuri responded by firing another bolt at them.

Enraged beyond reason, two of the kobolds had thrown down their weapons to the ground and jumped towards the tree, wrapping their bodies around the trunk; claws piercing the bark. However, Yuri decided to preempt them by climbing up even further up the tree. The spot for the ambush had been meticulously chosen for the tall trees, which were much easier to climb up when you were on the middle row of branches. Guinevere had helped her up to this spot before taking her own hiding spot. Now it was time for second part of the plan to start.

A discordant, scraping sound rang out from the tree that Guinevere was hiding in, quickly followed by a series of other harsh notes coming from what sounded like an electric guitar. It was an unpleasant noise that set Yuri's hairs standing on end, but it had a much more significant effect on the kobolds surrounding Yuri. A tremble ran through their bodies as they seemed to freeze in place as Guinevere's skill took effect – Paralyzing Verse; an ability that had the effect of stunning all creatures within a two meter radius for 15 seconds. Any attack that was delivered during this period would cancel the stun effect.

Yuri managed to reach the next branch before the song ended, giving her a prime seat for the show. “Equip 'Gauntlets of Pain'” shouted Guinevere as she rocketed from the tree she was hiding in towards the kobold that was still standing on the ground. Her foot connected beautifully with the kobold's skull and sent it crashing into the tree where it's companions were still hanging onto; unable to let go, thanks to their claws that were dug into the bark serving as a living anchor.

The brief contact that Guinevere had made with the kobold's head had given her enough leverage to pull off a backflip that looked as natural as breathing. Touching the ground, Guinevere pressed her advantage and charged forward, getting under the kobold's guard and putting her foot between his legs to throw him off balance. The kobold went down as Guinevere threw him hard to the ground. Spinning quickly to the right, Guinevere's fists flashed out in a series of rapid blurs as they attacked one kobold who was sticking to the tree like an oversized beetle. Bam! Bam! The tree even shook a little bit with the force that Guinevere was hitting the kobold, until its blood painted the bark of the tree red.

[p=center]You have leveled up![/p]

[p=center]You have leveled up![/p]

[p=center]You have leveled up![/p]

Yuri's jaw dropped as she watched Guinevere, moving as fluidly as water she delivered another series of rapid attacks to the other kobold on the tree. It had only been 15 seconds since she had begun her attack and Guinevere had already managed to incapacitate every kobold; even killing one. As if she had eyes on the back of her head, Guinevere converted the kick she was about to deliver to the kobold on the tree to leap off the trunk and sail towards the kobold that had previously been knocked to the ground by her and was now struggling to get up.

The kobold howled pitifully as Guinevere's spiked fist caught him in his temple and he once again went crashing to the ground. Yuri's was entranced by her beautiful movements that almost looked like a dance that drew on some primal aspect of her's. The she-wolf that had guided them was hiding in the bushes to leap out on Yuri's signal, but it seemed like neither of them was needed. The remaining kobold on the tree had extricated itself from the embrace of the oak, but it was still disoriented from taking so many of Guinevere's attacks that it tottered unsteadily on it's feet. Still it managed to wobble it's way over to Guinevere, hands swiping across the air.

Almost contemptuously, Guinevere flicked the paws away and trapped the kobold's arm underneath her own to toss it onto the kobold who was once again struggling to get off the ground. Both of the creatures fell like a sack of potatoes hard to the forest floor. Like a goddess of war, Guinevere stalked over to the two prone kobolds who lay helplessly at her feet and dispatched of them quickly with punches too fast for Yuri's eyes to be able to follow.

[p=center]You have leveled up![/p]

[p=center]You have leveled up![/p]

“Wow...” breathed Yuri in wonder.

Guinevere looked up at the sound and gave her a glowing smile, “Shall we see how our plan worked out, then?”

“Looks like they did have friends after all.” remarked Guinevere. They were in a new spot overlooking the canyon, which was a good thing as another group of kobolds were sent to investigate the spot where their companions had gone. There were three left in the valley, though one of them was a good head taller than the rest. “And that's probably their boss.” pointing out the taller kobold.

“Think that's all of them?” asked Yuri.

“Should be.” she replied, “I think more of them would've come out by now if there were any left.”

“So what now?”

“Hmm...” she mulled over this question. Maybe we should attack now...7 kobolds just left the valley and while I'm sure the ones left in the valley include the boss, we might have an easier time with them... “I think...” she said slowly, “That now would be our best opportunity to attack.”

“You don't sound very confident.” pointed out Yuri, “Even if the bigger guy is the boss, there's still only three of them.”

“They're most likely going to be a lot stronger than the three we just took down. It's not only the boss, do you see how the other two have slightly better equipment than the rest? I rate my chances at maybe 40-50 in their favor.”

“Can't we just lure them up here like we did the rest?”

“Doubt it, I think there's something down there that they want to protect at all costs. When that group finds those kobolds we killed, they're probably going to just barricade themselves down there. At that point they'll be much better defended and won't probably fall for the same trick twice.” explained Guinevere.

“Well what if we got some extra help?”

“? From where?” In answer, Yuri pointed at the group of wolves that had been placed in several of the wooden cages.

Guinevere pictured the scene of her and the wolves tearing into the kobolds and a wicked smile appeared on her lips. “Sounds like fun.”

The skills of a bard could be broken down into two basic types: Songs or Melodies and Verses. Songs could be said to be the bard equivalent of buffs; special skills that applied a constant beneficial effect to the user and any member in their party (so long as they were within listening radius). Both songs and verses could either be used together with an instrument or simply sung as is; though a penalty would be applied if an instrument was not used together with the song.

On the other hand, verses were one-time use skills that had a limited duration of effect. While verses were as varied as songs in their range of effects, they tended to be more potent. In an effort to balance the class, verses were thus designed with a short duration of effect and longer cooldowns. The 'Insane Bard Gloves' were already equipped as she locked gazes with the kobold leader, whose lips were slightly raised almost as if he were grinning. Along with his two guards, they stood unmoving as Guinevere slowly made her way over to them, her arms at her sides with no obvious weapon on her person.

The kobolds started laughing. It started off as a small snort that escaped form one of the guards that quickly spread to the leader and the other guard. Their laughter was guttural, malicious and utterly unpleasant to her ears. Still she kept the doll-like smile on her face and gave them a theatrical bow that she tried to fill with as much sarcasm as she could. The leader seemed to catch this as his eyes flashed angrily, though he continued to laugh derisively at her, he jerked his head towards the guard on his right side and pointed at her. Her arms came up in a position that had become almost ritualistic for her as she murmured, “Electric guitar.”

The three kobolds still didn't stop laughing at her movement, though the guard that the leader had nodded towards drew a very sharp-looking longsword from his sheath with a metallic schick. He started walking towards Guinevere, the distance between them was still about fifty meters and was quickly being reduced. She took a breath and strummed her first cord with a violent movement, a harsh electronic sound that was alien to this world sprang into the air. The kobold moving towards her suddenly stopped and snarled at her, crouching into a defensive posture as he prepared for some unknown attack. Guinevere ignored him as she concentrated on the song that had already begun to flood her mind, fingers seeming to move of their own accord that played a catchy hard rock melody:

[p=center]There's a dangerous rhythm,

My hands start carving out a wild song!

My feet dance to an unheard tune

My body moves to an unseen melody

A terrible tango!

A bloody waltz!

A vicious dance that sets my soul

On fire![/p]

A brief glow enveloped Guinevere in a bright-red light and faded just as quickly as it had appeared. The smile Guinevere wore subtly, but significantly, morphed into one of cool disdain as she intoned, “Equip Spiked Gloves.” A small box briefly appeared in her field of vision indicating that her 'Song of Speed' was now in effect. Guinevere continued to walk towards the kobold who hesitated at the sudden change in demeanor of this seemingly fragile-looking human female. The kobold leader snarled at his hesitation which cleared this moment of uncertainty almost instantly. Galvanized into action, the kobold snarled at Guinevere and charged towards Guinevere, sword raised high. She did not increase the pace of her stride and continued to walk calmly towards the charging kobold as she settled into the breathing patterns associated with her first dance: Wandering River.

Let's rock!

Yuri didn't dare to breathe, for fear that the kobolds would somehow overhear her, even though they were so far away. So much of this plan depended on stealthiness which Yuri didn't think her inherently clumsy self was capable of. The she-wolf was guiding her down a well-worn and well hidden path that was situated the closest to the cages. Yuri glanced at Guinevere, who was already in the canyon, striding confidently towards the group of kobolds whose attention she had grabbed.

She accidentally kicked a rock loose and almost cried out before catching herself, wincing as the rock struck different parts of the wall as it fell. Ohh, be more careful you idiot! The she-wolf glanced back at her and softly growled, but said nothing more. Sorry...she wanted to say aloud, but she could only continue to follow the wolf silently down the path. They were about half-way down into the canyon when Yuri heard the kobolds laughing. This time, she didn't glance towards the disturbance and made use of it to quickly descend. By the time Yuri had touched the grassy floor of the bowl-shaped canyon she heard Guinevere's singing.

Like always, Yuri thought Guinevere had a very pretty voice and was confused why the girl herself didn't seem to think so. Yuri shook her head to rid herself of any idle thoughts. Come on! Daydream later! You got a job to do right now! There was very little cover in this canyon and if Guinevere hadn't been running distraction, Yuri was sure she would've been found out by now. As it was, all of the kobold's attention was on Guinevere who continued to sing her song.

Stealthily, Yuri crept towards the wooden cages, using the trees as cover whenever they were available and sometimes crawling on her belly; relying on the numerous flowers to cover her. The she-wolf had stayed behind to guard the passage they had just left, in case any of the kobolds from the investigating group returned unexpectedly. Her speed dropped when Guinevere's song finished and Yuri heard the kobold's snarling at something. Her heart froze, thinking that they had seen her and she waited frozen in position for several tense seconds. Nothing happened.

She forcefully repressed the instinct to sigh in relief, afraid that the small sound would give her away. Yuri poked her head above the flowers, her target was just a few steps away now: The wolves were locked in three different cages, with the alpha getting a cage to itself. They noticed her presence, but wisely they did not visibly react to her at all. Really, what smart children they are! Yuri glanced towards Guinevere who was moving, almost literally, fluidly around the kobold that was attacking her. She wasn't parrying his attacks, only placing a hand and foot here and there to reposition him in a more advantageous position for her.

Yuri forcefully tore her gaze away from Guinevere. She was giving it her best and Yuri had to be able to do the same. The kobold howled as Guinevere seemed to strike a particular sensitive spot. Yuri seized the opportunity to dash towards the cages, fearfully looking to see if any of the creatures had noticed her. They hadn't.

Phew. The wolves in the first cage still did not move, but their eyes continually rolled towards two different points in the cage. Yuri followed their line of sight and saw two simple wooden latches affixed to each corner of the cage. She smiled in relief: This was the most risky part of the plan; that they would need a key to unlock the cage. Yuri slowly stood up and unhooked the latches as quietly as she could, catching the door of the cage as it fell and setting it down gently on the grass.

The other kobold had joined the fray and Guinevere's workload doubled. She didn't look like she was being pressed, but every now and then, the kobold's got a strike in. The boss would soon probably realize he'd need to step in himself very soon and then the fight would be decided. Working quickly, Yuri undid the locks on the last two cages. The alpha wolf was the last one she freed, who gave Yuri a quick lick across the face.

With a series of hand signals, Yuri pointed at the entire pack and then towards the kobold leader. Yuri led the charge as she leveled her crossbow towards the stupid creature's head who was still oblivious to her presence. She slowly breathed out and squeezed the trigger.

Second dance: Whirlpool! Guinevere had made excellent use of Wandering River to get into her opponents blind spots and only suffered minor injuries from their blades. Keep moving Chun Hei. Never stop moving! Her grandfather's teachings rang true in her mind. The kobolds were so focused on landing a decisive strike on her that they never noticed that her movements were slowly drawing them closer and closer to each other. At a critical point, they had gotten so close together that they had to avoid hitting each other. Guinevere began to strike them in earnest then, any point that was not covered in arm was subjected to powerful, pinpoint strikes that was amplified by the spikes that sprang out from the knuckles every time she made contact.

Clearly these were stronger than average kobolds as they didn't seem like they were close to death yet. She had seen Yuri earlier and could only hope that she had unlocked all the cages by now. Though a moment's distraction could cost her the fight, so she didn't dare look. Still, she felt that now was a good time to disengage. The two kobolds had spread out a bit more and swiped towards her midriff. Guinevere leaned back as far as she could to avoid the blows until she was perpendicular to the ground until the blades passed over her and she converted the movement into a backflip.

“Equip 'Insane Bard's Gloves'” As soon as she felt the familiar silky touch on her hands again, Guinevere barked out another command: “Electric Guitar!” She was right-side up now and backpedaled as fast she could as the kobolds converged on her, clearly aware that she was trying to do another song. Too bad for you, this verse doesn't need me to make a good melody! Compared to the movements she had displayed before, her hands sawed the air chaotically as similar sounds pierced the air in a discordant jumble. 'Paralyzing Verse'.

Too late! The verse had been completed and the kobolds frozen in place. At the same time, Guinevere heard the familiar twang of a crossbow being used. She whipped her head towards the sound to see Yuri firing a bolt towards the kobold leader. Damn! So close! The leader's reactions were incredible as he reacted to the projectile in less than a heartbeat, swaying back almost contemptuously as he glared at Yuri.

The wolves had been freed, but as could be expected, they were a little hesitant of attacking the leader who was so hatefully glowering at them. Guinevere sprinted towards the leader, ignoring the kobolds who had been stunned as she re-equipped her spiked gloves. Whoosh! With one hand, the kobold leader swung the mighty glaive powerfully through the air; Guinevere was just barely able to dodge it. But the kobold leader had anticipated this as his hand shot out and grabbed Guinevere by the throat.

He started to squeeze. “Gah!” choked Guinevere, she started to flail wildly, hands and legs striking whatever they could reach. The kobold leader grunted in pain, but still his grip did not slacken as the pressure around her throat started to increase. Something barreled into the leader and knocked him to the ground with a surprising amount of force; allowing Guinevere to escape from the deadly chokehold.

“Are you alright Guin?!” shouted Yuri. Disoriented, Guinevere struggled for a few seconds to understand the situation. There on the ground, wrestling with the leader was the silver alpha wolf, both creatures were snarling at each other as they fought for dominance. The rest of the wolves were behind Guinevere, dealing with the two kobolds whose paralyzation had finished warning off; supported by Yuri who was occasionally firing off crossbow bolts towards them. A risky undertaking as she could still hit the wolves, but it was the only viable option as the leader was moving around too much to get a clear shot. She retained enough presence of mind to realize that this was an opportunity to get another verse in:

[p=center]I wanna go beyond that golden door,

I wanna see what no one's seen before!

I wanna go that extra mile,

Cause' I know that it'll be worth my while!

If I'm not afraid, I can do anything

If I'm not afraid, I can go anywhere

If I'm not afraid, I can be anyone,

Anytime, anyhow, anywhere;

I'm not afraid.[/p]

The familiar luminescent sheen once again surrounded Guinevere, though because she did not use an instrument, the effect of the 'Heroic Verse' was reduced by 20% and the time was limited to 30 seconds. The alpha wolf howled in pain as it was struck hard in the abdomen and thrown off the kobold leader. It looked furious at having the wolves betray it and voiced it's displeasure with an angry roar, glaive held high for a killing blow. Guinevere had already begun moving the second the alpha wolf had been thrown off. In it's blind fury, it did not notice Guinevere's rapid approach until it was too late. Bam! Her fist lashed out and struck the exposed armpit area of the kobold leader; spikes sinking deeply into the flesh as blood spurted out. The glaive fell from its nerveless fingers as it swayed back to avoid a crossbow bolt from Yuri once again. It's balance was off, Guinevere delivered a palm strike to the center of its chest to throw it to the ground.

Now's my chance! Following the kobold's descent to the ground, Guinevere mounted his chest and began to deliver precise strikes towards the temples.

[p=center]Critical hit![/p]

[p=center]Critical hit![/p]

[p=center]Critical hit![/p]

She was dealing massive amounts of damage thanks to the enhanced strength and attack effects of 'Heroic Verse', but the leader still managed to find the strength to throw Guinevere off with a vicious blow to her side. Twang! Yuri finally hit her mark, a bolt was sticking out of the kobold's arm; impeding it's progress to get up from the ground. The alpha wolf took Guinevere's place and viciously tore at any exposed flesh of the kobold leader. Guinevere picked up the kobold's fallen glaive; grunting from it's weight and held it in a stabbing position just above the kobold. On cue, the alpha wolf allowed itself to be hit off again as Guinevere stabbed the glaive downwards. The weapon pierced the breastplate and sank deep into the kobold's body, blood pouring from the devastating wound. The kobold leader howled at it's own mortality, hands weakly scrabbling around the glaive to pull it out, before the light in its eyes faded.

[p=center]You have leveled up![/p]

The battle in the canyon had ended; the two other kobolds were badly wounded, though three wolves lay dead at their feet. Seeing that their leader had fallen, they raised their hands in surrender; only for one of them to catch a bolt in it's throat as it fell gasping to the ground, clutching it's ruined throat. On a short signal whistled by Yuri, the remaining wolves fell on the last kobold; brutally mauling him to death. Guinevere raised an eyebrow towards Yuri who, catching her gaze, simply shrugged, “My finger slipped.”