n

n

nChi's blue azurite eyes gleamed with a flash of lightning as she looked at the three girls. This look alone was enough to cause the three girls to take a step back.

"Stop it!

"

nYuki chopped the top of Chi's head, causing her to yell out.

"Ouch! Ryu!

" She bit her lip as she pouted. Yuki reached up and rubbed the spot she hit.

"Don't scare people. No one is going to steal me from you.

"

n

"Mm...

" Chi hummed as her ears twitched and her tail wagged. She couldn't stop the corner of her lips from curving up into a small smile.

nWhiteLotus looked at the two and smiled.

"You two are really a cute couple. We would like to join your mercenary group.

"

n

"Then we can go fill out the form and establish the new mercenary group right away.

" Yuki did not like to procrastinate on things. Since they had the members, she wanted to quickly get her mercenary group formed.

n

"Alright, sounds good!

" WhiteLotus nodded in agreement.

nYuki and Chi stood up and walked towards the old man to fill out the forms with WhiteLotus and Rose. Violet was the only one who stood still rooted in her spot. She was someone who always had an eye for detail, especially for the one girl she fell in love with. Although the girl always wore a facemask, her eyes were imprinted into Violet's memory. There was no way she would not recognize those eyes. She bit her lip and lowered her head.

"It's her… But...

" Violet looked up at the fox girl standing next to the handsome man. The two were holding hands, it was obvious they were a couple. Violet felt her heartache a little seeing this.

n

"Violet?

" Rose called out to her.

nRose calling her name caused Violet to lower her eyes away from the man and fox girl as she answered softly.

"MM… I'm coming.

"

n

"There you go. The mercenary group Shadow Squad is now formed.

" The old man behind the counter stamped the form and filed it to the side. He took out five tokens and passed them to Yuki without saying anything else. But when he realized that the five people were still standing there, he frowned.

"What the hell are you still standing there for!? Get lost!

"

n

"Sorry.

" Yuki apologized and quickly walked back over to the table she was sitting at before.

n

"So what now? Mercenary groups are different from guilds or sects. Guilds and Sects have their own chats but mercenary groups do not.

" WhiteLotus did not know what they were going to do now.

n

"You can just send me a private message when you need our help. Chi and I plan to finish up a few quests we have going and take on any mercenary request that might be on the board in the same area.

" Yuki explained. She only wanted the ability to take out requests. Unlike bounties anyone can take, requests need you to be in a mercenary group. From the start, she did not plan to team with others, but since these three were now in her mercenary group, she would not ignore them if they needed help.

n

"I see. Well, what if we at least hold a party for the five of us to celebrate the establishment of Shadow Squad and us becoming friends?

" WhiteLotus asked.

nYuki looked at Chi, who nodded her head.

"Alright, let's celebrate then. If I am correct, this town has an inn with food and drinks.

"

nThe group left the mercenary guild and went straight to a place called Sleepy Inn. It had a large first floor that held many tables for people to eat and drink to their heart's content. Yuki, Chi, and the other three girls walked through the front door to find the place was rather busy.

"Can I help you? Are you here for a room or are you here to eat?

"

nA young girl who looked around fourteen years of age with red hair braided up into two pigtails asked. Her big smile showed her dimples on her lightly freckled face. Yuki found the girl to be very cute and had to restrain herself from reaching out and patting the little girl's head.

"We need a private room for five if you have one.

"

n

"Sure thing! You are lucky because there is only one private room left at this time.

" The young girl said as she gathered some menus and was about to turn around and lead Yuki and the rest to the room when a man's voice came from behind them.

"Wait! We will take that room instead. Our Golden Sword Guild needs to celebrate our establishment. I hope you ladies won't mind. I will give you each a gold coin for the trouble.

"

nYuki and the other girls all turned around to see a young man standing there in plate armor behind him were four other men.

"Golden Sword Guild? You mean the top guild that came over from Fiery Desolation and is ranked number one on many other games?

"

n

"That's right. Our guild leader asked us to start up a guild here in this game, so everyone can slowly transition over. You are looking at Soul Fusion Online's future top guild. Why, pretty lady, do you wish to join? I can make sure you get a higher allotment of guild resources in the future.

" The man in plate armor said with a smile. The one he was talking to was WhiteLotus.

n

"Ahem...

" Yuki cleared her throat as she looked at the man in plate armor.

"I don't really care what guild you are from or what you want but trying to toss a few gold coins at us for the private room we were already promised. Do you think we would say yes?

"

nThe man in plate armor narrowed his eyes. He looked at Yuki, scanning her up and down.

"Do you really wish to go against my guild?

"

n

"Do I need to be scared?

" Yuki asked with a raised eyebrow. She hated people like this. And it seemed every guy she ran into had this kind of proud, overbearing personality that thinks all girls will follow them if they wave around a bit of cash. She could see the disgusted look in the three girls' eyes when he invited WhiteLotus just now.

n

"You! Do you dare to duel me!? I BurningToast will never allow someone to disgrace my Golden Sword guild!

" BurningToast yelled as he pointed his finger at Yuki.

nWhiteLotus looked at Yuki and then back at BurningToast. She then leaned over and whispered to Yuki:

"He is Golden Swords top Player Vs. Player. He was even in many contests and won a few of them. He is a well known player in the VR world for his insane combat ability.

"

nYuki only smiled and shook her head.

"All I see is an idiot. This game is much different from your average VR game, where the game assists you in combat. You need real world combat experience in order to survive well in this game. He might have some skill but not enough to care about plus… This duel won't be much of a show since he won't be able to stand much longer.

" Yuki's words confused WhiteLotus unsure of what Yuki meant.

nYuki was staring at the menu that popped up in front of her. It was a duel request from BurningToast. He was standing there looking at her with a mocking expression.

"Are you too much of a chicken ** to accept? If so, make way and give up the room!

"

n

"Oh? Now you want to call names? That's fine. I do not mind making you look like a fool.

" Yuki said as she hit the yes button and took a single step forward.

n*Boom!*

nThe wooden floor under her foot shattered into pieces causing everyone else to yell out in shock. But it was not just her foot that shattered the floor but also BurningToast.

"Shit...

" Yuki scratched her head. She never meant to use so much strength. She only wanted to try using her aura of the fortification realm as a cultivator to suppress the man like they do in novels, but it seemed she should have tested this idea out first. It was not said anywhere that this was possible. Yuki had only had this thought since she broke through. It was just one of those lingering thoughts that were stuck in the back of her head that she decided to try.

n*Ding!*

nAcquired Hidden Passive Skill: Cultivation Suppression

nActive: This skill allows you to use your aura as a cultivator to suppress those of a lower cultivation. Must be cultivating a cultivation method to use.

n