“Hmph. If you’re tired, you should sleep more.” Jet announced, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding to himself in affirmation of his own resolve – completely ignoring the reasoning behind Nero’s lack of sleep. That being said, he was also running on fumes some days himself. Rose was indeed getting bonuses from the Boss battles she took on herself, but at the same time she was also taking on grinding at a level above Nero and Jet’s own. Even if they spent most hours of the day on it, she spent *all* hours of the day on it. Not only that, but it had become apparent that trying to slow her grinding down was an impossible task. Even if you would aggro some of her monsters away from her and attempt to take them out before her, she’d simply kill it before you could get a swing in.

Whipping a few stray strands of his silver hair away from his face, Jet continued after the couple as they progressed towards where they believed Alice and Jacob to be. He hadn’t met either of these people before – rather looking forward to it. Nero had been steadily introducing him to his friends, all of which seemed like nice people and easily ones he could get along with. The trio wandered through the festivities, which were only enhancing in size due to people’s growing abilities when it came to crafting and others becoming merchants. It was most certainly a sight to behold; people growing accustomed to the world they’d become stranded within.

The three found their targets amongst a small group of players, many of whom were a part of their Guild. Jacob had since left his own to join Alice’s cause – but mainly to keep her in check. The blonde Russian was a volcano waiting to erupt at a moment’s notice and it was already very evident that she had the resolve to kill if her logic found it necessary. Now, he was pretty much her counsellor and confidant – using this position to slowly shape her psyche into one where she wouldn’t be so recklessly agitated when it came to speaking of Rose. 

The three approached the group of festival-goers, offering their greetings and whatnot – introducing Jet to Alice and Jacob soon after. The blonde didn’t seem nearly as hard-headed and people had let on, Jet concluded after their initial greeting. Her stance was that of a confident woman and her expression one of tranquillity. Perhaps people just had the wrong idea of her?
“I hear you two are together now.” Alice began, her smirk growing into a cunning smile, “Wasting no time on the poor masses eh, Yuna?” she jabbed – laughing quietly to herself at her friend’s shy response. The three men had split off for a moment to talk about how things were going in regards to front-line activity. Jacob explained to the two that their guild would also attempt to participate in Boss battles from now onwards, though it would be difficult to deal with Rose’s complete power over when to strike. Aside from talking about Rose’s ridiculously high level and how she got there, Jacob mentioned that he was also in contact with several other Guilds and was thinking of proposing that they come up with a meeting of some kind in which the leaders could get together and make decisions based on the good of the many, rather than the few. Whether or not this system will work is entirely riding upon how selfish teenagers can be.

As they got into the festivities, something caused a rather large disturbance. If the shouting and crowding was any indication, Rose and the Masked Man had arrived on the scene. They had been merely passing through, but some of her devotee followers caught sight of her fiery red hair and approached her in all due haste.
“Rose! Rose! Please, guide us to salvation!”
“My heart is yours, my lady.”
“Your sword is the only sword that can strike down your oppressors Rose!”

Varieties of cheering, pleading and worshipping resounded from the rather large crowd – though they slowly parted to allow her to continue moving through. Alice now stood before her, the once kind expression now twisted into a desperate snarl of rage. Without even a single word of warning, Alice charged at the warrior with her weapon drawn. Of course, there was no damage calculations in towns such as this, so it was ultimately pointless form the start – but this didn’t stop her from attacking, logic having dissolved from her mind entirely. Before she could even swing once, Rose turned just slightly to grip the blade that had just barely begun pulling back to strike. Without hesitation, her fist closed and collided with the Russian’s cheek, knocking her off her feet and causing her to crumble to the floor. Rose’s thighs braced over her midriff, lowering to Alice’s level before beginning to hammer her with strike after strike of her fists – the crowd having gone entirely silent in awe over the scene unfolding before them. Finally, the Masked Man gently gripped Rose’s shoulder – signalling for her to stop. The two left just as quickly as they’d come, leaving Alice alone in the middle of this crowd; her expression still scrunched up into one of anger and despair. There was no fight any more between her and Rose – there was only Alice making a fool of herself every time.