Opening the door to his apartment, Katsuya walking in before slumping on the couch.
"Oh come on. You're not that tired." said Sora.
"Yeah, I'm not. I'm just suddenly in the mood to go fight monsters." He stated.
"Those guys you fought probably triggered you instincts."
"They sure did."
Katsuya closer his eyes, holding a pillow over his face.
"I'm just going to sleep through the boredom."
He fell asleep quickly and the night passed onto day.
Morning…
Ring.Ring.RING.
Katsuya jerked awake, jumping from the couch. His phones ringing had woken him.
{Caller ID: Guild}
'The Guild? What do they want?'
Answering it, he held the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Yes, Katsuya, this is the Beast Slayer Guild. You are due for a meeting with the guild master today."
"Meeting? I wasn't told about this."
"It was a last minute decision. It's urgent and your rank is on the the line."
But why? What did he do wrong? And why was it so urgent?
"W-What? Why?" Katsuya asked.
"I do not have the details on that. I'm sorry. You'll have to ask the guild master, yourself."
"Okay. If you can, let him know I'm on my way."
"Sure thing."
Beep.
Katsuya hung up the phone and threw on his jacket in a hurry.
'My rank is on the line? And the meeting is urgent? What the hell for?'
His hand twisted the doorknob, swinging the door open. As he stepped foot outside, he jumped over the railing, landing on the floor.
Swsh.
His movements brought him running through the neighborhoods and towards the city.
Moving at speeds faster than Norms could see, Katsuya passed many people on the street, shaking the wind. Withing moments, he arrived at the guild headquarters.
He rushed inside and over to the counter. His face was sweating and his expression was intense, frightening the guild worker.
"Uhh...Can I held you?" The worker asked.
"I'm Masazumi Katsuya. I have a meeting with the guild master. I'm due and need to go right away. I was told it's URGENT."
"Oh, of course. Clam down first. Mister Jonathan will be the only room at the very top floor."
"Thank you." Katsuya bowed before heading over and stepping inside the elevator.
The soft music along with the slow vibration of the elevator moving up, he had time to think. His mid couldn't think of any reason his rank was at risk. And he didn't do anything that would make the meeting urgent. Whatever was going on, he was going to find out soon. The best he could do was act presentable. Katsuya wiped the sweat from his face and took a deep breath to calm his nerves and face.
Ding!
The elevator stopped.
'Okay, it's time.'
He walked into the room and was greeted by a man in a brwon suit who had short brown hair.
Shaking eachothers hands, the man spoke.
"Hello Katsuya, I am Mister Jonathan, the guild master. Sorry to frighten you, have a seat and I'll explain everything."
Katsuya sat down and froze when his eyes spotted a certain someone in the same room.
'What is she DOING here?'
It was Harley Vale, also on a seat. But she wasn't dressed in uniform so, she had to be off duty today.
'Damn. Am I in trouble with the law now?' Katsuya. thought to himself.
Jonathan sat down and leaned forward, begining the explaination.
"I see you alreayd noticed miss Harley Vale. You see, your rank isn't necicarily on the line. Well it is, but in a good way. I'm thinking about re-evaluating you and raising your rank."
"Raising my rank? But why" Katsuya asked.
This was the opposite of what he wanted? Attention was something he was looking to avoid.
Jonathan continued.
"Miss Harley Vale explained a certain situation to me, taking place yesterday. She said that your speed and reaction timing was unordinarry among most adventurers. So, it caught my interest. She also wants to make a request."
Harley shifted her gaze from the floor, over to Katsuya. Then, she went on to speak her mind.
"Yes, I have a request. I..want to form a party with you. A long-period party."
A long period party, this phrase was commonly used among people who were going to team up for at least half a year at minimum. It was very common for people among guild to form groups, called Long-period party's
"A party? But why? Don't you have a job a a gaurd?" Katsuya asked.
Harley Vale shook her head before replying.
"No, you are mistaken. Being a guard is only a hobby of mine. A part-time job. As of today, I am also an adventruer of this guild and if you accept my request, I will also be allied with you."
It strange and sudden request. But what were her motives? Katsuya stared at her, observing her body signatures but, nothing seemed off. In fact, she was calm. No matter he reason, having a long term partner like her could possibly be a bennifit down the line.
"Who will be the leader of this long-term party?" Katsuya asked. If he, himself wasn't in charge, we would decline the offer as some things could possibly grow out of his reach to make decisions.
Then came the reply he was waiting for. The reply he wanted.
"You, of course." said Harley.
"Me?...In that case, I accept."
Jonathan clapped his hands together once and happily spoke.
"Great. Time to make it official. I'll go ahead and type it out in paper."
Katsuya cringed at hearing it spoke like that.
'Why does he make it sound like me and her are getting married?'
Jonathan handed out a form, which both Katsuya and Harley had to sign. Afterwards, Harley bowed, and softly shook Katsuya's hand.
"I look forward to working with you?"
Her atitude and way of speaking was entirely different form previous encounters. When She had beaten Katsuya to a pulp, she had on an intense, strong atitude, even yesterday when fighting all those criminals.
But now, Katsuya could almost say she was sweet.
Jonathan pulled out a 'Scanner' and walked over to Katsuya.
"Is it okay if I asses your stats now?" Jonathan asked.
Finally, Katsuya murmured a reply.
"Go ahead."
The scanner's point touched Katsuya's forhead, and a reading came upon the screen with haste.
{Power Reading: 10/10
Level: 479/479
HP: 2,789,900
MP: 456,901
ATK: 234,490
INT: 178
Speed: 800
Endurance: 1,230 }
Observing for a good minute, Jonathan gave the news.
"Not bad. I'll be putting you at the bottom of Legendary-rank for now. You can come back some other time to fill out what skills you have."
"Thank you." said Katsuya, bowing.
He then turned away and walked towards the elevator but was stopped by a hand grabbing his shoulder.
'No...don't tell me..'
Harley leaned in and gave him at kiss on his cheek.
Smooch
'..I knew it.'
"Well, I'll see you around." said Harley.
"Yeah…"
Ding!
Katsuya rushed inside the elevator and pushed the button to go down. The doors slowly close, untill he could no longer see the sweet smile on Harley's face.
'She must not be as bad of a person as I thought. But does she really have to kiss me?'
A blue light appeared and flashed and Sora appeared.
"Supprise."
She leaned in, resting her lips on Katsuya's check.
Smooch.
Standing in disapointment, he wore a blank face.
"...Seriously?"
"What? I mean, you let that Harley girl kiss you. I was feeling left out."
Katsuya patted Sora's head, letting out a sigh.
"What are we? Dating? If it was up to me, I'd rather not get kissed by anyone."
Sora went further to tease.
"Anyone besides Harley?"
"Enough. We'll hang out later. Just stop teasing me for now."
Sora pouted before closing her eyes and sighing.
"Fine…"
Katsuya thought back on how the way his stats appeared on the scanner.
Each stats had come out dramatically lower than they actually were. This was the work of a skill Katsuya had recently picked up. A skill called 'Faker' and it worked by letting you lower the appearance of stats for showing.
It would've been troublesome if his stats came out how they actually were.
{Level: 479/479
HP: 18,740,667
Defense: 100,000
Int: 189
MP:1,513,044
ATK: 3,125,127
Speed: 814
Endurance: 13,110}
'Yep. If I showed my real stats, I would've been on the news. And I don't boubt the fact I would've gotten alot of unwanted attention.'