At the campfire before the big fight, Nero listened intently to Jason's botched stories. The translation system was faulty, at best, and his slang didn't translate. So every few moments, he would repeat a word with a heavy Japanese accent under his breath, furrowing his brow in concentration. The tension was a bit thick, but the group's ability to relax was a bit unexpected. Then again, some time had certainly passed... As long as they remained steadfast, Nero knew this group could make it to the end. They had to. He was the first to turn in that night, his back to the others as he slipped into his sleeping bag. He'd paid Sasayuka a lot of money to hide the fact that his group had long-since entered the caverns, meaning it would be a while before anybody would come scrambling after them. In the dark, damp air of the cave, the material hunter knew that Yuna would be back at his house, waiting for a message when they finished, but he couldn't send one from inside the dangerous zone.

----- After the fight -----

Nero stared in horror at the place where Kenshin had vanished as Alphard broke down. Not again... Not another one so soon... His fist visibly shook at his side and he shut his eyes tightly, the world spinning around him. This was no boss fight... It couldn't have simply happened to anybody - he chose to bring these people with him and he knew it was dangerous. Yet, instead of inviting more of his contacts, he brought only them to prevent splitting the loot more ways than necessary. He was so sure they could handle it, but without Yari to keep them rallied or the extra shielding from Fitch, they had lost somebody. He watched Jason darkly as the others all had their own reactions to the event before them. His blade slashed an infinity symbol into the air before smoothly slinking back into the sheath at his hip. He placed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose and let out a long, ragged breath. How could he let it happen? The game hadn't shown such an unfair glitch before... Unless it wasn't a glitch and it was some sort of finishing move, but that kind of algorithm would be extremely unfair in a game like this one.

He stoically scrolled through his list of spoils - as the head of the party, he got the parts that he wanted and everybody would be given quite a chunk of the reward. The kill would yield a large amount of experience for each of them, but it was a hollow victory. Just as with Yari, everybody would cope in their own way and Nero cleared his throat, trying to grab their attention. He opened his inventory and tossed each of them a teleport crystal - they were quite expensive, limited in the shops, and rare as monster drops as well, so typically they were used sparingly. However, Nero was amongst the players with an almost disposable number of them. He didn't mean for them all to use them right away or to go to the same place, he just thought it was his job to make sure they were all safely able to get out after the tragedy. There was little for him to say and as he moved to use his own, a voice called out from the entrance to the room.

"Stop!" It cried, striding purposely into the room. The figure was small and cloaked, a signature sign that Sasayuka, the information broker, was beneath. She was covered in midnight blue as her cloak remained firmly fastened around her, keeping her identity as one of the most sought-after secrets in her her treasure chest of knowledge. "Don't think you can escape me, Nero," She almost hissed.

The material hunter looked at her quizzically before nodding, "Oh, right... Here, the log. Here," He said, opening a menu and sifting through it expertly - the information took a rather trained hand to find, as most people didn't care to find that it existed. What was pulled forth finally was the information on the kill; once dead, a monster's information would be revealed to the killer. Everything from the drops you'd received and yielded experience to the level and total hitpoints of it. Information brokers typically joined a frontline guild to gather this in person for a small fee. Once compiled, they could release it to the public so that other players wouldn't be left behind with each advancement of the clearing group.

The girl took it and skimmed through it, "Good, if we find one of those on any of the upcoming floors, we'll have the jump on the info. You should know that there's going to be a flush of angry players who didn't get the quest quite soon. A lot of people think that you're material hunting has gotten a bit selfish, by the way; They think you aren't shar-" Her flat voice was cut off as he rose his hand.

"I know. Don't you have better things to be doing right now?" He asked with a sigh, crossing his arms as she shrugged, her face covered in the shadow of her cloak's hood. She turned and began to head for the door again as another figure was made clear in a long, black coat outlined in red. There was a rapier upon her hip as her medium-length black hair fringed over one of her eyes and she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Wait, [i]that's[/i] Nero?" She asked, snerking slightly as she covered her mouth. "I imagined him... Erm... I don't know - seems a little more plain than everybody says."

The boy furrowed his brow and looked to the new girl, "Hey, weren't you at our inn the other day?" He asked. She nodded and shrugged her shoulders as Sasayuka cleared her throat.

"Come, Kimigami. I appreciate your escort greatly, let's get back to Tarbinol and I'll give you the second half of the payment," The information broker stated firmly. The girl nodded with a small smile, not quite assessing the mood of the room as she spotted Suto, "Congratulations on the win, guys! We're gonna need that power at the bo-" It was now that she spotted the white-haired girl sobbing over a ring. She shut her mouth and looked down, chastising herself silently as she followed after the small, cloaked person. "Sorry," She said, darkly glancing over her shoulder as they left.

Nero turned to the others as several silent moments passed. He looked apologetically to each of them in turn before landing on Alphard, "This isn't going to happen again," He promised before looking to the crystal in his hand and quietly speaking, "Tarbinol." In a flash, he was gone, and like that, the remaining members of what was among the happiest and most powerful parties of Aincrad were left in the cavern in shambles with a strange American student.

----- Several hours later... -----

Nero stared defiantly at the man before him. The hall of the building was quite magnificent, adorned in reds and whites, but Nero was no stranger to the elegance of it after having visited on invitation multiple times.. He wore a collared cloak of forest green over a black jacket and pants with a slight purple trimming. He stood at the foot of a short staircase, looking up to a red-haired man covered in red and white, much like his hall. The two were clearly locked in a battle of pride of will.

"So, do I hear you correctly, Nero? You've changed your mind?" He asked with a small laugh, his white-gloved hand dancing along the hilt of his katana as he slowly descended the stairs.

His boots made an audible tapping, their echoes filling the hall. When the distance between them was closed by the few steps, it was clear that Nero had nowhere near the height of twenty-something male.

"Why? Twice now you've been invited to join us... It was hard enough getting you to accept simply coming here for discussion, but then you would reject us with little thought anyway... So... I ask again, why?"

Nero's lip curled back slightly - it was only fair. He'd spoken condescendingly to this man twice before, rejecting the request to join the guild. Now he stood here, asking for a place among their ranks. "There was nothing to discuss before," He said, working hard to keep the malice out of his voice. "We were doing fine in our advancements, were we not? All of us worked hard and results were clearly produced. But things are... different." The boy shifted, "I'm sorry for my rude behavior before... I've more to offer the guild than I did back then, though. I don't want to be too involved, though. I just want to help; I've never disagreed with what the Knights of the Blood Oath stood for, Kazaro... I only stayed distant because I disagreed with guilds in general. That's why I think conditi-"

The man rose a hand, "Stop with your conditions. Those negotiations were taken off the table when you made yourself out to be a god. We'll see how things go and maybe later we can discuss the terms, understood? If you want to join us, you'll be listening to me for a while. It would be a waste to put you in with any of our regular parties... So you'll be under me - but don't mistake this for you having power, either. Let's see how serious you are," The man said after a bit of contemplation. "Though, at any point, if you want to leave, feel free. Just remember that you've come to me this time," He stated, pocketing his hand.

Nero let out a slow breath as he nodded. "Yes, sir." The invitation was accepted moments later and Nero resisted the urge to shudder. Yuna was proud of him, but he felt caged. However, he was relieved to have his fortune left alone until he chose to contribute or gathered while on guild business.