"What the hell is this?" Astrid asked, looking at the enormous phoenix in front of her.

"This is what you asked Marissa to retrieve, right?" Helen said, smiling. "Or could it be that she acted on her own? Hu-hu-hu."

"If you're complaining, I didn't ask for your help, okay?!" Marissa shouted, arms folded.

Astrid turned to her, perplexed. "Did you steal this from Jason?"

"Yes. It would have been a waste to just kill him," Marissa said apologetically, getting a squinting look from Astrid.

"Marissa... You've impressed me! I didn't know you had it in you. This was a fantastic idea to recover some of the stolen gold."

Marissa blushed instantly and raised her chin proudly. "O-of course it was! I'm always full of good ideas!"

"Although if I hadn't been present, your genius plan would have failed miserably." Helen giggled, leaving Marissa with her mouth ajar.

"How much did it cost?" Astrid asked.

"8 million."

"Could we sell it, Guild Master?" Helen frowned as Astrid got close to the bird to caress its feathers.

“I have two people in mind who would not bat an eye to spend that much gold.” She glanced at both. “But they would do it as a favor for me, and that means I would have to kiss some asses. I’m not in the mood for that. Helen, give the Summoning Gem to Oscar, he’s in charge of the Guild’s Vault now. And Marissa...” Astrid got close to her and grabbed her shoulder. “Good job. You have exceeded my expectations.”

“Guild Master.” Tamara approached the group and bowed slightly. “The aspirants are here.”

“We’ll talk later,” Astrid said to Marissa and walked away, as Helen made the phoenix disappear.

“So was it worth it in the end?” Helen asked, hugging Marissa from behind. “How much gold did you sacrifice to get in our boss’ good side?”

“I wasn’t holding much,” Marissa shrugged. “Besides, I had fun. I could finally fight William the Stoic.”

“Who kicked your ass.”

“Shut up.”

***

Astrid walked to the Headquarters’ front yard, where a group close to fifty people awaited. They shared whispers and stared at her expectantly.

It’s a good thing that my fame holds to this day. Not bad for something we announced just yesterday.

“Welcome, everyone, and thank you for coming!” she shouted. “I presume you're all here wishing to join Shooting Stars, correct? In that case, we will hold some preliminary rounds where…”

“Sorry to interrupt you, oh, powerful Golden Comet,” a lanky guy wearing mage robes shouted with a smirk on his face. “But before you continue, maybe you could tell us, what the hell happened here?” The man pointed at the half-destroyed building in front of them.

People around Astrid frowned at his cockiness, while others looked at her, intrigued.

“What do you mean?” Astrid asked patiently.

“Well, Shooting Stars is the guild that protects this city. Shouldn’t we be alarmed that you’re suddenly accepting new people? The announcement doesn’t even state how many open positions are available. 10? 20, 50? Should we be worried? Does this speak about your leadership skills?"

Astrid stared at him with a serene expression on her face before snickering. "Guys! You know about me, right? I’m sure you have watched my Battle Streams." She gazed at nodding heads and looks of approval. "Then you know that I have zero tolerance for useless people. So, do you want to join me, or do you want to listen to this asshole all day?!” The crowd cheered at her, and those closest to the failed instigator pushed him out of sight. “Very well! Tamara will give you the details for the first test.”

As the aforementioned mage took a step forward and gave indications, Astrid got a message notification.

* Email from Alan Warden. *

Huh?!

She opened it immediately and read: ‘Thank you for writing to me almost daily. I’ve read all of your adventures here in The Novus, and I’m glad to know that you’ve enjoyed a very fulfilling life, as a Guild Master, and as a fellow adventurer. Keep living your life to your fullest, and never forget to have fun!’

Wh-what do you mean by adventures?!

She pondered about it for a couple of seconds before rushingly opening her Social Tab. Although she had deleted Alan from her friend list, which I regret immensely, her old open chat was still available. All the messages she had sent to him for over a year and a half had the ‘Read’ mark on them.

She half-gasped, almost out of breath, before screaming out loud. “Kyaaaaaaah!”

Everyone present turned to her, some startled or amused.

“Hey.” A man in the crowd elbowed his friend. “I’ve been watching most of her Streams, and I didn’t know she could sound like that… You know what I mean?”

“Girly?” His friend chuckled. “It sounded cute, actually. It makes me want to really join her.”

“W-what is it, Guild Master?” Tamara asked, alarmed.

“He read them all!”

“Who read them all? Wait, read what?”

“I had forgotten all about those messages! Oh, my—!” As she was finishing her sentence, a late candidate landed her mount a few feet away from the crowd. Astrid stared at the blue pelican for a second before screaming again. “KYAAAAAAAH”

“What’s happening here?” Helen dashed to her boss’ side, weapon in hand. “Are you hurt, Master?”

Marissa also joined them, calmly strolling. “I haven’t heard that sound in a while...”

“Change of plans, everyone!” Astrid shouted. “You’ll all be sparring against me! I’ll measure your value myself! And you!” She pointed at the startled newcomer. “You’ll be the first, for arriving late! You’ll face me while I’m full of energy. Come to the backyard, NOW!”

While the crowd shared whispers, the pelican’s owner rushed to keep with her pace. “Hi, Shooting Star’s Guild Master. I’m Brenda Hannes, and I—”

“I remember you,” Astrid interrupted, gritting her teeth. “Or better say, I remember your bloody bird. What are you doing here? You have your mount back, right? Or are you looking for compensation?”

The tall, brunette young woman of blue eyes stuttered. “W-what? No! I’m here for the same reason as everyone else. I’m looking to join your guild!”

“Why?” She turned, confronting her. “Are you here to mock me? To ask for money to keep quiet after what you saw?!”

“I think you’re misunderstanding…”

“Yeah, right!” Without warning, Astrid dashed to attack her, but the young woman abruptly jumped aside, making her hit the ground instead, cracking it.

“W-wait!” Brenda cried. “I’m telling you the truth! I’m just here to apply!”

“And I said that I’ll be testing your worth!” Astrid shouted, feet in the air.

The resulting stomp made the ground tremble and created a 10-feet wide hole. Brenda looked at it as she made some distance between them, knowing she could have died there. “Are we going to fight without equipping ourselves?” she asked, sweating cold.

“Fine. Go ahead,” Astrid said, emanating a red aura. “Otherwise you won’t stand a chance.”

“Dammit, how did it come to this? Equip Set A!” Brenda shouted a command to her User Interface, and a set of monster hide armor materialized over her body. Once she got into a battle stance, she blinked, astonished, looking at Astrid changing into regular spandex workout clothes. “Aren’t you going to…?”

“You have terrible luck,” Astrid said, dashing and getting in front of her in a second. “Because I’m in a very bad mood right now.” She threw a punch, which Brenda barely managed to block. “Interesting...” Astrid grabbed her by the back of her neck and attempted a knee strike to the stomach, but Brenda blocked again using both hands. “Where is your weapon?”

“T-these are my weapons,” Brenda said with closed teeth, using all of her strength to push Astrid back in vain.

Gauntlets? Astrid thought, squinting. They're not like the ones I usually use, and she’s not fighting back.

Astrid head-butted her. As Brenda retreated, the bar displaying her HP got cut in half.

I knew it. Her Vitality is not that high, and yet, something is strange about this gal, Astrid thought, giving her precious seconds to recover. Are her gauntlets mitigating my attacks?

“If you’re trying to impress me, you’re doing a terrible job,” Astrid teased. “Come on! Give me everything you have!”

Brenda stared at her, bleeding from her forehead. “I can’t! At least not yet!”

“A Conditional skill, huh?” Astrid said in a soft voice, as she gathered mana into her fist. “How about this, then? Dragonfist!”

Brenda opened her eyes wide, not expecting such a sudden attack, and stretched out her hands forward.

From her position, Astrid observed as half of her burst of fire dissipated. “How did you…?”

“Wasn’t enough, huh?” Brenda muttered, clinging to the remaining 5% of her HP. A trail of scorching ground was in front of her. “Y-you didn’t even channel your attack… Isn’t that too much for just a practice session?”

Astrid tilted her head to one side, folding her arms. “Did you use a Unique Talent?”

“Y-yes… I can a-absorb any elemental magic and m-mitigate any physical attack, as long as I’m on my guard...”

“And as long as you can withstand it,” Astrid added while strolling to her.

“Is the test not done yet?” Brenda asked, half-smiling. “Because I don’t think I’ll be able to take another hit…”

“Can you absorb ANY elemental magic?” Astrid asked in front of her. “Even ice?”

“Any element… Although I don’t have experience fighting Light and Dark—”

“You’re in,” Astrid interrupted, reaching out a hand.

“Seriously?! Oh, man! Thank you, Guild—”

“On one condition,” Astrid said in a deep voice, pulling her closer to her. Their eyes were inches away. “Have we met before?”

“Y-yes… Back in—”

“WRONG. This is the first time we speak to each other, got it? I’ve never been to Icebard, and you never lent me your Mount. Understood?”

“Y-yes, Guild Master...”

Astrid opened her Social Tab and called Tamara. “Send the rest to the Main Hall and make them save there. Set the Gold Penalty to ‘off’, I may end up killing a lot of them.”

“Why didn’t you let me save first?” Brenda muttered, faintly smiling.

“Why do you want to join me, anyway?” Astrid asked. "You were already in a guild."

Brenda stared at her before correcting her posture. “Because you’re the strongest warrior I’ve ever seen! And this combat practice has proven it!” She then kneeled, this time in a knightly fashion. “And I've fallen in love with you from the moment I saw you!”

Astrid grimaced before laughing out loud. “If that’s the only reason you’re applying, I recommend you look somewhere else!”

“Oh, that’s…” Brenda mumbled.

“And clear the area! I have others to test!”

Frowning and head low, Brenda stood up and strolled back to the main building, shaking her head. “I was rejected in just a second, wasn’t I?”

“Don’t take it personal, handsome, that you’re a woman has nothing to do with it. This happens to everyone,” a girly voice said, walking alongside her. “Hi! I’m Marissa Laflamme! Congratulations on passing the test!”

“Nice to meet you, and thanks. I’m Brenda Hannes. Wait, did you hear everything?”

Without losing her smile, Marissa grabbed her by the arm. “You got rejected, right? I have a good ear. And trust me, she got rid of you in the nicest way possible. The last guy ended up 30 feet underground after she laughed in his face for over a minute.”

“I… That sounds…”

“Aww, don't give me those puppy eyes. You're too cute to look gloomy,” Marissa said, pouting her lips and squeezing her cheeks. “Forget about her. She already has her eyes on someone else. Hey, I know what will cheer you up. Would you like me to show you around?”

After glancing at her new Guild Master for a last time, Brenda smiled warmly. “Yes, I’d love that.”

From atop the Main Hall's rooftop, a giggling Helen was watching her boss’ performance. "Is it my imagination, or is she in a good mood?"