Victoria pointed her hand at her guild members and introduced them.
"There are 60 members, and all of them after above level 50," she said.
Zach looked at them and asked, "What's their classes?"
"10 of them are Healers (evolved to Pope), 10 are Witchers (evolved to Warlock), 10 are Bandits (evolved to Assassin), 10 are Bowmans (evolved to Gunslinger), and 20 are swordsmen (evolved to Paladin)."
"Highest level of each class, step forward and introduce yourself," Zach uttered in a solemn voice.
Six guild members walked forward and stood in front of Zach.
The Paladin nodded at Zach and said, "My name is Huralk, and I am level 67."
The gunslinger walked forward and said, "My name is Kecocan, and I am level 65."
The Warlock stepped forward and said, "My name is Nero, and I am level 51."
The Assassin looked at Zach and said, "My name is Darrel, and I am level 63."
The Pope walked forward and said, "My name is Patrick, and I am level 61."
Another pope stepped forward and said, "My name is James, and I am level 61."
Zach nodded at all of them and said, "I hope you are strong enough to protect yourself."
The Paladin— Huralk, who was the highest level of all, shook hands with Zach and said, "We all are indebted to you."
"Don't be…" Zach sighed.
"If it weren't for you summoning that beast, we all would have died. I can't thank you enough," Huralk said with his utmost sincerity.
"I was just trying to save myself, and my…" Zach glanced at Aria and Victoria and said, "And them."
It has only been a few minutes since the floor was cleared, so there was still some time left before the floor reset and the boss to respawn again, the original boss in this case.
The guild members decided to prepare themselves for the next floors while Zach talked with Aria and Victoria.
Lord abomination bowed down to Zach and said, [Please, name me and take me as your servant.]
Zach raised his brows with a curious and judging look on his face. He shot a glance at Aria before turning to Abomination again and said, "Are you sure?"
[Indeed. It would be my honor to serve you,] it replied.
Zach pondered for a name for a while and uttered, "I know it doesn't quite fit the description, but I will go with the legend and name you 'Cerberus'."
The moment Zach named Abomination to Cerberus, it vanished into thin air.
"…"
"…"
Zach glanced back and forth at Aria and the dragon, hoping they would know what just happened.
"Did it die?" Zach asked with a baffled expression on his face.
"When you named it, it was registered as your servant," Aria uttered.
[Unlike me, who is your pet, Cerberus, is your servant,] the dragon said.
"What… the difference?" Zach felt stupid asking that question, but he truly couldn't understand a thing.
[How much MP do you have?] the dragon asked.
Zach looked at his MP and said, "Zero…oh!!"
That was enough for Zach to realize what the dragon was trying to say.
"Could it be that summoning it takes MP?" Zach asked the dragon to confirm.
The dragon nodded its head and said, "Just like you summon your magic weapon, and they take 10 MP per second, summoning any monster would take the same amount of MP.
[You can summon it again when you have enough MP, but I would suggest summoning it only when it's necessary,] the dragon added the last part in a little annoyed tone.
"I see…" Zach rubbed his hand on his chin and muttered, "Interesting."
'But when did I tell you about my magic weapon ability?' Zach asked the dragon via telepathy.
[Do you remember the masked man I told you about?] the dragon sked with a hint of curiosity in its voice.
'Yeah, the one who killed you and many other players,' Zach nodded as he said that.
[He was also using the same technique. However, he had a physical sword which he used with the technique.]
'Oh. Well… It's not surprising since there can be players in this game who are not human like me. But I would rather not encounter them to avoid unnecessary trouble,' Zach uttered with a soft groan.
[I see…] the dragon muttered in a low voice.
Zach could easily feel the disappointment from the dragon's voice.
'Don't worry, I will find the masked man and avenge you,' Zach said with a grin on his face.
[Thank you, master.]
Zach turned to Aria and Victoria while grinning, and they gave him a weird stare.
"…what?" Zach asked. "You said I looked stupid talking to myself even though I was talking to the dragon. So this time, I decided to talk without speaking."
"Yeah, and that's even more creepy," Aria remarked.
"Agreed," Victoria nodded and seconded Aria. "People grinning for no reason always freaks me out."
"Wow." Zach clapped his hand and shook his head in disbelief as he said, "You two already teamed up, huh?"
"Since I am not the official member of your harem, it is my duty to mess with you to keep our relationship healthy and spicy, right?" Aria said with a mischievous grin on her face. "That's what Aurora had told me when I asked her why she messed around with you so much."
Zach facepalmed himself and rubbed his hand on his face before saying, "Don't teach them weird things, Aurora."
Zach felt like taking revenge on Aria, so she smirked at her and said, "Yeah, we are lovers now."
Aria still felt strange and embarrassed by that. She couldn't believe that she was truly a couple with Zach.
"Say…" Aria kissed Zach on the lips and said, "Since we are lovers, and I am now in your harem, how about you marry me too?"
"…!" – Victoria was visibly surprised after hearing that.
"You are already going to marry Aurora after the raid, so marry me too," Aria said while hugging Zach.
***
Total players in the game- 1,297,769
0 new players logged in.
22 players died.
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Author's Note- Aria shows her affection without holding back. Now, she might even rival Aurora for Zach's attention.
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Thanks, @anthony_carlson, for the gift!