August 17th, X799, 10AM: Goblin Grin Training Grounds

"So… How are we gonna do this?" Carlos asked. He had already removed his jacket and gloves and was bouncing on his heels, his arms catching in the light of the summer sun. The four Goblin Grin mages had agreed to have a training session at the newly claimed Goblin Grin training grounds and now they were debating on how to start.

"We'll, we've got four people, so we could do tag teams," Salu suggested with a small smile on her face. "It think that would be lots of fun~" she added with a giggle.

"Would that be fair, though?" Nyxus asked. "One of us would get to work beside the guild master. Surely there would be an imbalance."

"Tch," Tik stepped forward, pounding her fist into the palm of her other hand, a devious smirk dancing on her face. "Why don't you three jus' try to take me on, then?"

"That doesn't sound fair, either, though!" Carlos protested with a frown on his face. "Then there are three of us and only one of you."

"She is a guild master, though. Logic would state that she is much stronger than us," Nyxus pointed out. Or at least that was what he was hoping for. Really, he had no proof that there was any kind of strength test to being a guild master. He could see that Tik was confident, though, so it gave him confidence.

"Damn straight!" Tik gloated. "So, hit me with your best shot!"

"Okay!" Carlos grinned. With that, the boy hopped across the battlefield, large holes in his hands bursting with pale blue magic as he reared back. In a quick motion, he fired a bright laser at Tik.

Tik jumped back and as she was in the air, she chanted, "Hazard Magic: Level 1!" Her cheeks swelled and she blew out a cloud of dark green smoke that covered the training grounds. When she heard the coughing from inside of it, she shot forward and gathered a ball of radioactive green acid in her hand, throwing it into the smog in the direction of the only feminine cough.

Salu had been thrown off quite a bit by the smog and was in the process of covering her mouth when Tik attacked her.

Luckily for her, Nyxus had noticed the incoming attack-which had stood out against the darkness of the smog and he cast a crystalline maroon magical circle in front of her, the seal having an eight-point star on the front of it. Just as the acid drew closer, a crystalline wall appeared, shattering on impact and causing Salu to cry out in surprise and inhale even more of the smog.

Carlos targeted Tik, facing his palms downward and firing wind and exhaust out of them, clearing some of the smog and then propelling himself forward in a swift dash. Tik didn't have time to react when she landed on the ground, as Carlos was on her, slamming a metallic fist into her abdomen and swirling around so that he threw her towards his team with the punch. "Yay! I like fighting!" He cheered, once again appearing like an overexcited puppy.

Tik coughed and stumbled back. "Damn metal arms," she exhaled out. She heard a high pitched ring and managed to duck in just enough time to dodge two throwing knives that were coming her way.

Carlos, however, didn't have time to dodge when the knives flew past Tik and towards him. He covered his face with his arms, not feeling a thing when the two knives bounced off of the metal of his arms with a horrendous metal-on-metal screeching noise.

"I'm so sorry!" Salu called out. "T-to both of you!" She looked worried about them.

"You shouldn't be sorry about me!" Tik said, hopping up. She jumped back and landed, getting some distance between her and the three mages. "However, ya need to watch out for your team more!"

"I know… I'm sorry!" She cried, burying her face into her hands.

"It's okay! I'm not hurt!" Carlos said, showing her his arms. The only sign that he had even been hit with the knives was two small scratches on his outer forearm.

Salu looked up from her hands and when she saw that, she smiled brightly. "Okay~ What a relief!"

Nyxus took advantage of the fact that Tik was distracted by the conversation between the two cheerful mages and he shot forward. "Arc of Gems: Shinigami Slash!" he called out as a magic circle appeared at his fingertips and produced dual, onyx scythe heads connected by a diamond chain. He swung them as he moved and closed the distance between himself and Tik.

Tik noticed him and hopped back again. "Hazard Magic: Level 3!" She called out as a large, radioactive green magic circle that took up most of the gap between herself and Nyxus appeared. It dissipated into a huge puddle of steaming, bubbling acid.

The moment Nyxus made contact with the acid, it bubbled up around his leg and burned through his pants and shoe. He winced and jumped back. He felt the scythe cracking in his hand and not knowing what else to do, he threw it at Tik, only to have it shatter into black and white sparkles before it reached her. He stumbled back, staring at the burns that were swelling up on his leg.

"So awesome!" Carlos cheered, clapping his hands together in a sort of awkward, clunky way. He then paused, confusion on his face. "But... Now I can't punch you! So, I'll have to do this!" He held his hand to the sky and gathered magic in the palm. The magic hardened into a bright blue sphere that he threw at Tik.

Tik hopped out of the way, only to be staggered by the explosion from the bomb that Carlos had thrown.

"Reverberation Magic: Sonic Blast!" Salu casted as her magic seal appeared a few feet in front of her. She threw her palms forward and with a ground shaking "BOOM!" Tik was hit and sent flying by an impact that sent paint through her body.

Nyxus chanted, "Arc of Gems: Crystal Storm!" and before Tik could recover from the first two attacks, she was pelted by a flurry of gems that burst on impact, causing small lacerations all over her body.

"DAMMIT!" she snapped, somehow managing to land on her feet. "Alright, time to play for real! Hazard Magic: Level 5!" She called out as she shot both of her palms for. With the appearance of a seal, she began to fire compact streams of acid at the three mages.

All three of them managed to dodge the initial bursts, but when she fired again, Carlos had to block with one of his arms, Salu was hit in the shoulder by the jet and Nyxus summoned his crystalline shield to take the shot again.

"Owwie…" Salu mumbled, wincing as her shoulder was burned by the acid. She looked down to see blisters forming. "That really hurt, Tik!" she called out, tears forming in her eyes.

"It actually did damage?" Carlos asked, looking at his forearm, which now had a large hole in it. "I'll have to find some materials to fix it," he said.

"Your magic is destroying the training grounds," Nyxus pointed out. There was a large patch of missing grass where Tik had created the field of acid earlier and streaks of missing grass from the acid that had been aimed at them.

"Eh… It'll be destroyed soon enough anyway," Tik said with a shrug. She then turned to Salu and Carlos. "I think that does it!" She walked over to Salu, who was now sobbing and placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder. "My bad. You ain't fought much, have ya?"

"Not lots of magic, no…" Salu admitted. "Your magic is really mean!"

Tik frowned and looked from Salu to Nyxus-who had went down on one knee because it was hard to stand on his injured leg, to Carlos-who was poking at the hole in his arm. A drop of sweat traveled down her forehead. Back in God Hand, most of the people she trained with were good at dodging or good at taking hits… Even hits that burned. She had never really trained with people who weren't around her skill-level. She hadn't even gone above Level 5 with her spells, either. "Yep. I dunno how to train people," she said with a shrug.

"So, you won't be training your mages?" Nyxus asked.

"Nope. I'll train you guys if y'all want," Tik continued. "But I can't make my magic not hurt, y'know?"

"It didn't hurt me!" Carlos said with a grin. "I don't feel pain in my arms!"

"It does hurt lots," Salu said. She stepped forward with a small sigh. "B-but I still want to train with you, Tik. You're probably really strong and your magic is really hard to fight. But if we can beat you, that means we're strong, too, right?"

"Yep," Tik said. She stretched. It wasn't like they hadn't hurt her. She had a bruise on her stomach to go along with the bruise on her back from Carlos's hug, and she had a bunch of little cuts all over her body. Her muscles were sore, too. She was just pretty okay with pain. She loved fighting, after all. "You all need to work on pain tolerance… Though. If this woulda been a serious fight, the enemy wouldn't have stopped fightin' jus' 'cause you started cryin'."

"I know…" Salu said, dropping her eyes to the ground.

"Tch," Tik let out another sigh. She wasn't good at this profound, encouraging shit. What would her grandma do in this situation? Or someone like Nero? Thinking about Nero brought his smug face back into her head and before she realized what she was doing, she gathered up a large mass of acid in her palm and slammed it into the ground away from the mages, burning a smoldering hole under herself. Fuck what Nero would do! Goblin Grin was HER guild! She was going to do this HER way! When she discovered what her way was. Stupid poetical bullshit!

"Tik?" Carlos stared at the steam rising from the ground. "You look really mad. But your muscles are really pretty right now!"

"That's weird, kid!" Tik snapped. She then sighed and ran an acid covered hand through her hair, which didn't affect her at all. "Let's head back to Poppy. We're gonna find some medical supplies and train again tomorrow."

"Okay~" Carlos said happily. He then turned to Nyxus and Salu. "You two are spectacular, too! I can't wait to see you guys fight more!"

"Hehe~ Yeah," Salu said. Carlos's words seemed to perk her up a bit.

"Thank you," Nyxus said. He had been calm throughout the fight and now that it was over, he still looked sort of somber, especially compared to his teammates. He waited until both of them had started following Tik before he followed behind them. He hadn't managed to do much with his magic and it bothered him.

The mages made their way back to town and when Tik saw how all of the traffic on the roads seemed to be directed towards the town square, she grinned. "The market must be open today!" she cheered. She had a bit of extra jewel after working around with Carlos and the market was one of the best ways to get food. And they could probably get some medical supplies for Salu and Nyxus while they were at it. And see if anyone knew anything about a mechanic for Carlos.

"The market?" Salu asked, tilting her head. Her eyes then lit up with sparkles. "I wonder if they'll have chocolate~"

"Chocolate sounds nice right now! I like food!" Carlos cheered.

"I think sweets would be pleasant," Nyxus said, looking around the town. He hadn't been in town yet so he kept close to his guild. "This town is so small…" he added.

"Isn't it adorable~?" Salu asked. "I love it!"

"Me, too!" Carlos chipped in.

"Yeah. It grows on you… I guess," Tik said. "Not the same as Gladiolus for sure." She still wasn't used to not seeing towering buildings. Or the clock tower. She mostly missed the clock tower-NO! She didn't miss anything. She was her own mage now. Fuck her old guild.

They made their way into the town square, which had market stalls set up everywhere. Carlos and Salu instantly ran to a nearby bakery stall, while she and Nyxus stuck together.

"What are we doing, Master Tik?" Nyxus asked, sticking close to her. He didn't know where the guild hall was so getting lost from them wouldn't be good for him.

"Medical supplies," Tik answered, finding her way to a stall that was ran by a traveling doctor, who greeted them with a polite smile and then went right back to helping other customers while they looked.

"Not to offend, but you seem quite rugged for a guild master," Nyxus said. Tik shot him a glare, but he didn't notice since he was looking down at the contents of the stall. He continued to speak, "but I can already tell you care about the guild." While everyone else was concerned with foods, Tik had went straight to medical supplies for the injured members.

"Of course," Tik said, taking a medium-sized medical kit and paying for it. "You guys are a part o' my guild. I gotta look after y'all."

Nyxus's lips quirked like he may actually smile, but her next sentence made him frown.

"And I'll gladly melt anyone who fucks with y'all," she added with a devious smirk.

"Master, please watch your language~!" Salu called out. She and Carlos both had small bags of various fruits and sweets in their hands. "It makes you sound really bad when you use such mean words!"

"I think it makes her sound tough! She looks like she's supposed to be tough, too!" Carlos said in her defense.

"It's mean, though!"

"Salu, I ain't nice," Tik said with a shrug. "And I rightfully don't give a damn if I sound mean."

Salu pouted at her, but didn't say anything else about the matter. She took out a large chocolate bar and broke it into four pieces. "Here you go~" She said, handing out three of the pieces and then keeping one for herself.

"Thanks," Tik and Nyxus responded together.

"You're so sweet, Salu! You're gonna give me cavities!" Carlos complimented her.

Tik noticed a stall that was selling gardening tools and stopped at it. "Do you know anything about a mechanic or something around here?" she asked. She figured if they sold metal tools, they may know something about people who dealt with metal. It wasn't that illogical, was it?

"Oh, you haven't heard?" The woman behind the stand asked. Her name was Winona and she ran the Muffin General Store of Poppy Village. Tik recognized the older, chubby woman with lots of freckles and graying brown hair. "Ms. Sorne opened up her smithy yesterday. If you're looking for any kind of metalwork, she's your gal She can work with mechanical stuff, too!"

"We have a blacksmith now?" Tik asked. That sounded useful. She would probably eventually get some mages who were good with weapons and maybe they could go there.

"Yep…" The woman responded. She then laughed. "My… My… Poppy is growing. It makes me happy! I never thought I would get to see the day…!"

"It's gonna keep growing! 'Cause Goblin Grin is here now!" Carlos announced cheekily.

Winona laughed lightly. "I do hope so… I would love to see many, many more travelers come to the village. Though a little old woman like myself may have to hire the help of some cute mages around the general store…"

"We're always here! Until we get so big that we have all the missions coming in!" Tik said with a grin.

Winona chuckled. "I'll be awaiting the day… Oh… and Sorne's Smithy is just a few feet away from your guild hall, across the street."

"Thank you, ma'am," Nyxus said with a small bow of his head.

The rest of the mages said their thanks and then headed away from the market and back down the southern street in search of Sorne's Smithy.

It took them no time at all to find the small white building with peeling paint and a fading black roof. There was a wooden sign hanging out beside the door with an anvil and hammer on it, so there was no mistaken the building.

The door was opened, so the four mages walked into a rather cramped storefront. There was a small electrical buzzing when they walked. In front of them was a counter with a cash register with a small rack displaying chainmail jewelry, to their left was some crates with everyday tools from watering cans and shovels to pots and pans and to their right was a display with armor, weapons and other combat gear. Overall, the building was pretty typical to Poppy, with wooden walls and flooring and a quaint feeling to it.

"Good afternoon," a tired female voice spoke from a doorway that led into the rest of the building. From said doorway walked a woman of 5'7'' height, with a muscular, darkly tanned build and sharp facial features. She had really messy, short ashy gray hair that was cut unevenly and arched, dark gray eyes that had circles under them, making her look exhausted. She was dressed rather simply in a white tank-top that looked like it has some ash stains on it under a dark brown vest, along with black cargo pants that were tucked into black, knee-high combat boots. Thick, brown leather work gloves covered her hands and there were currently a pair of tinted, brown and black work goggles on top of her head.

Carlos was the first to speak. "Hi, Ms. Sorne! Pleasure to meet you!" He ignored the woman's unamused blinking and continued. "I'm looking for some scrap metal, preferably of a darker shade, to purchase. And maybe a set of rentable tools!"

"Okay… What do you need 'em for?" the woman, Sorne, asked, tilting her head and folding her arms over her chest.

"Oh," Carlos quickly pulled off his jacket again and showed her the large hole in his metallic arm, which he could see right through. "I need to fix my arm!"

Sorne gawked for a few seconds before she shook her head, obviously dismissing the fact that it wasn't every day that she dealt with someone with metal arms. "I should have somethin' to fix ya right up," she said. "Just give me a moment, okay?" She then vanished back into the back again for a few seconds.

"She looks tired. I hope she's okay," Salu commented worriedly.

"Setting up a new building ain't fun," Tik said with a shrug. She and Nyxus were both looking at the weapons. She picked up a small, simple short sword from a weapon rack and held in her hand. She was never much of one for weapons, so it felt odd to her. "Maybe I should take up a weapon to help train mages with weapons…" She commented.

"I have considered purchasing one myself," Nyxus commented. "My magic can be quite unstable and having a weapon would be reassuring on a mission."

"Sorne is really talented~" Salu commented, looking around. "I wonder if she made everything by herself."

"Yep," Sorne responded, returning with a few sheets of metal and a small bag of tools. "Forged it all myself over the past couple o' years. Impressed?"

"You're amazing~" Salu commented.

"I bet you've got tons of guys falling for you! Maybe I could be one of them!" Carlos flirted in a rather cheesy manner, a cheeky grin on his face.

Sorne wrinkled her nose. "No, thank you," she said. She then set everything on the counter. "Sure you don't need help?"

"Nope," Carlos said, pulling out a jewel pouch and fumbling with it. "The person who gave me my arms taught me how to repair most parts of them, and the forearm is the part that gets damaged the most so I can do it!"

Sorne shrugged and rang him up. She then watched them all for a few seconds. "You guys are from the local guild, right? Goblin Grin, isn't it?"

"Yep," Tik said with a huge, cocky grin. "Why? Need some work? Lookin' to join?"

"Neither," Sorne said. "Though, if you need much of any help with anything, lemme know. This town is peaceful and I like it, but it isn't too good for the business, y'know?"

"Totally understand," Tik said with a small frown. "Why would you come to a place like this for business when you got Narcissus just a few days away?"

"I like the quiet life or some bullshit like that," Sorne responded lazily.

Salu puffed out her cheeks and Tik chuckled.

"Watch blondie here. She doesn't like bad words," she said, placing a hand on Salu's head. "Not that I give a damn. She'll adjust."

Salu huffed. "So mean!" she pouted.

"Do you use magic?" Carlos asked.

"Are you just gonna ask everyone that?" Tik instantly questioned. He'd only really questioned two people, but it was still a random question, considering they were in a town where magic wasn't as common.

"Yep~ It's the best way to find mages, right?" Carlos started. "So, do you?" He asked, turning back to Sorne.

"I do," she said. She then pointed to one of the sheets of metal on the counter and when she lifted her finger, it slowly lifted up. "Electromagnetism. Or Electromag as I like to say. Really useful for someone like me. Sucks near water, though."

"I'm not any good near water, either!" Carlos said. He then smirked. "Maybe we're meant for each other! You could draw my hand right to yours!"

"Hmph. Interesting… But dumb…" Sorne responded, her brows furrowing. She was certain that Carlos was a good bit younger than her and she had no interest in romance with the boy.

"Your magic is really neat!" Salu commented. "I bet it's fun to work with."

"Don't mind these two and their showers of compliments," Tik said, placing her free arm on top of Carlos's head now and leaning on the two mages. "I'm sure they got a compliment for every situation. But, your magic is fuckin' rad, so if you… Y'know, ever wanna become a mage for a livin', we ain't far away!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Sorne said, taking jewel from Carlos and handing over the metal and tools. "Have them back within a week, otherwise you owe me! And sign this." She pushed a small slip of paper and pen towards Carlos.

He looked down and read over it before taking the pen and almost instantly this time, snapping it in two. "Um… Oops…" he said with a small laugh.

Sorne stared for a moment before shaking her head again. "Whatever. It's cool. Just sign the paper. It's just statin' that you'll get my tools back to me by next week."

Carlos complied and then stood. "Thank you so much, Ms. Sorne! I really hope you'll join our guild one day! You're really wonderful!"

"Hm. Maybe," Sorne replied with a shrug.

August 24th, X799, 2PM: Goblin Grin Guild Hall

Over a week passed with no sign of anyone else joining Goblin Grin. Still, though, it seemed like Poppy had picked up a little bit of tourism. One more shop had joined the usual end of the week market and people had been stating that business had been very gradually picking up. Whether it was due to Goblin Grin's founding or Sorne's Smithy opening, or both, was a mystery. Nyxus, Carlos, and Salu had settled into the guild, with Nyxus getting his guild mark over his left hip in a dark maroon color. Additionally, the mages had healed from the first training session, but Tik was still covered in bruises from sparring with Carlos. Carlos had also paid for another week with the tools so that he could tinker with his arms some more. He also spent time with Sorne on slower days as he liked mechanical work in general.

Apart from helping around the town, the mages hadn't managed to get any work, but just helping around the town and saving up had helped. They had a good amount of food in the kitchen and didn't have to work for food from the Sprout Café anymore. Apart from food, though, the guild hall hadn't changed at all. All four of the Goblin Grin mages remained hopeful that change would happen and was just a really slow process.

They were all lounging around after a small training session currently. Carlos was tinkering with his arm, adding some more metal to weaker points in it, Salu was sitting across from Carlos in a booth with him, currently reading a book of song lyrics to get inspiration of her own for lyrics, Nyxus was sitting at a table nearby with a mystery novel that he had picked up from the market and Tik was sitting across from him, doing absolutely nothing.

Everyone froze when there was a loud knocking on the door, though.

"I wonder if that's Sorne telling us she wants to join?" Carlos pondered, hopping up. He had still been hopeful that the smithy mechanic would join them one day, though she still didn't seem to have much interest in it. "I'll get it, though!" He bounded over to the door with a piece of metal that had not been welded yet hanging from his arm. He opened the door to be faced with someone who was not Sorne.

In fact, the person was not even the same gender of Sorne, being a young man who stood at 5'9'' with a lean, rather average build. He had fair white skin, slanted, onyx colored eyes, and messy, unruly black hair with a few strands sticking up at the top and a prominent fringe across his forehead. His hair stopped just above his shoulders. There was a thin scar running horizontally across the bridge of his nose. He was dressed in a brown kimono that left the left side of his torso exposed, but under the kimono was a bronze-plated, black chest plate that coiled up his neck and left his shoulder exposed. His forearm was covered by a black armguard with a white cuff and there was a wide white sash that looped around the left side of his body and tied at the right hip, leaving white cloth hanging over his puffy, black pants, which tucked into black ankle boots.

"So cool… You have a scar! And I love your outfit!" Carlos commented.

"Is Tik here?" The man asked in a quiet, deep voice, not seeming to pay much mind to Carlos's compliments.

Tik stood when she heard the voice, staring down at the table for a few seconds before she shot across the room and tackled the man, hugging him tightly. "Fuckin' hey, man!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Ack. Get off of me, you fiend," he mumbled, his face pressed into her bosom. "You're sweaty. So gross…. Please…"

While Nyxus remained in his seat, Salu was curious and had skipped over, standing in the doorway with Carlos.

"You know him, Master Tik?" Carlos asked.

Tik let go of the man and grinned, slapping him on the back so hard he stumbled. "Damn straight. This is Dylan! And he was a good ol' rival of mine back in God Hand!" She then froze and glared at Dylan. "Did that son of bitch Nero send you? Tell him to go to hell if he did!"

Dylan sighed and rubbed his back. "No… I left God Hand."

"Really?" Tik blinked. "Why?"

"I hate Nero. I hate the changes. I wanted to leave."

"Does that mean you're here to join us?" Carlos asked, practically developing a tail to wag it at the boy. He had come outside with Tik and Dylan now and was staring at Dylan with puppy dog eyes.

"I am, yes," Dylan responded, making Tik's jaw drop. "I heard you up and left and I thought that was just enough motive to leave, too. I respect you a hell of a lot more as a guild master than that good-for-nothing bastard, even if I can kick your ass."

"Nero's not that b-" Tik started and then her eye twitched. No, she wouldn't defend him! "Yeah, you're right! Not about the ass-kicking, though! I got six years on you, boy! I can take you down any day of the week!"

"Tch. You speak though you're already covered in bruises."

"That's because this kid has no self-control!" Tik said, shoving her fist into Carlos's hair and messing it up. "He hits like fuckin' truck with those arms!" She was bruised up, but that was common. The sad thing was that most of them were from hugs, not actual sparring. She wouldn't admit that, though.

Carlos laughed. "'Cause I'm super-strong!"

"You guys have such mean mouths," Salu pouted. Her face then lit up. "But are we really getting another member again~?"

"Looks that way," Dylan responded. "My name is Dylan, in case you didn't get that."

"I'm Salu~ And Nyxus is in there, too!" Salu said.

"I'm Carlos!" Carlos said. "And once you've met Nyxus, you've met us all!"

"Haven't gotten that many members, yet?" Dylan asked. "I guess it'll be quiet sometimes, at least…"

"That's wishful thinking with these two around," Tik said with a laugh. "Plus, you know I don't like the quiet!"

"I guess it's also wishful thinking to hope that you'd mellow out with being a guild master, also?" Dylan mumbled, following the group into the building.

Once again, Tik gave the tour of the guild hall and once again gave someone the guild mark, Dylan's being white and on his left shoulder. Unlike the rest of the mages, Dylan didn't give a straightforward answer as to where he would be staying for the time being. He said he'd do whatever he felt like. After the tour, Tik plopped down on top of one of the tables, while Dylan sat in a chair at the table and Carlos and Salu sat at the booth where Carlos had been working on his arm earlier.

Tik looked around for about a good minute before she tilted her head. "The fuck is Nyxus?"

Nyxus instantly poked his head out from in the kitchen. "I'm making tea for everyone. I think it would be good after such an excited day."

"Oh," Tik said. "Thanks," she added.

"So, Dylan-"

"He's a Poison God Slayer, kid," Tik said, knowing what was coming from Carlos next.

"A slayer?" Carlos and Salu spoke in unison. "Wow!"

Dylan looked at them like they were crazy for a moment, but then sighed, a small smile on his face, though it was hidden by the fact that he was resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "You two… Sure are rays of sunshine…"

"That's an understatement," Tik said with a laugh. "They're determined and already like the guild, so what more could I ask for?"

"Understandable…" Dylan said. He then stood. "Tik, you really don't know how to keep things organized, do you?" The guild hall didn't really look that bad, though. He was speaking about the fact that many of the tables were positioned crookedly or had chairs that were left only halfway pushed under. He got up and began to tidy up.

"Do you need help?" Salu asked, standing.

"I got it," Dylan responded.

Tik smiled at him. "It's nice to have someone familiar in the guild," she said, falling back on the table and looking over to him. "Even if does have to be a punk like you."

Dylan only snorted in response.

Later that night, once Nyxus had ventured off to Cumulus Inn and Tik, Carlos and Salu had went down to the wine cellar to go to sleep, Dylan fell asleep in one of the booths. He hadn't necessarily meant to, but he had been enjoying the quietness of the guild hall and dozed off. Tik really had picked a pretty unknown town to make the guild in. He wondered why.

The poisonous slayer had been asleep for a couple of hours when a loud knock was heard at the door. He snorted and shot awake. "The fuck…?" he said. He squinted at a clock that was on the wall near the hall to the restroom to see that it was three in the morning. "Seriously? The fuck…?" he mumbled, getting up. Dark black and purple magic surrounded one of his hands as he got up and walked over to the door.

He opened it and out of shock, his jaw dropped.

In front of him stood a huge man who stood near eight feet tall with dark, reddish tanned skin and lots of muscles. He had long, silky black hair that was pulled into a low braid and large, dark blue eyes with thick brows over them. His ears were large and pointed, resembling an elf. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of black shorts and slippers and there was an odd mark over his left pectoral.

Dylan quickly gained his composure and shook his head. "What do you want at this time of night?" he asked.

"Oh… This is a guild?" the man asked. "A mage's guild?"

"Yeah," Dylan responded. "Why? Is there trouble somewhere?"

"No. Well, yes. There is always trouble somewhere, but I am here to join. Is little man the master of this place?"

"No," Dylan responded. "I'll… Go get her…"

"Thank you."

Dylan disappeared into the guild hall and quickly rushed to get Tik, waking the hazard mage up in a jiffy and being careful not to wake the two cheerful mages. They were tiny and for some reason, he had it in his head that they would probably be scared of the man. Heck, he was pretty intimidating. Dylan would gladly fight him if needed, though.

"What the hell, Dylan?" Tik groaned and she followed him sort of absentmindedly. She was too sleepy to really argue much.

"There's a guy that wants to join…."

"In the middle of…" She yawned as she climbed up the ladder behind him. "…The night?"

"Yeah."

Tik was rubbing her eyes as she walked across the room to the doorway, so she didn't see the man until she got right up on him. "Holy fuck!" she gawked, stepping back. "You're fuckin' huge!"

"Yes," the man agreed. "Are you the master?"

"Ah… Yeah," Tik said, not even mustering her signature cocky grin. She was too tired for this. Was she dreaming?

"My name is Auroch Corvin. I would like to join this guild," the man, Auroch, explained.

"Are… Are you even human?" she asked, her eyes on his ears now. Definitely dreaming, right?

"Tik, that's rude," Dylan commented. However, his eyes turned to dots when Auroch spoke again.

"I am not," Auroch said. "I am of Vizen blood."

"The hell's a Vizen?" Tik asked.

"Hm… We are of elf and giant blood, little master," Auroch explained.

"I can see the giant… That's for sure," Tik said, rubbing her eyes again. "And what kind of magic o you use?"

"Not magic!" Auroch quickly snapped, causing Tik to jump. His voice was deep and loud. "Divination. I am of the Divination of Demetion… Earth and Order. I control them. Not magic."

"So… You use Earth? And what the hell is order?" Tik was utterly confused. She didn't have enough sleep to deal with this right now.

"We use our ties to nature to fight," Auroch explained. "Order is order. Structure in the world. Boundaries. Discipline."

"O-okay…" TIk said, stretching. "You can join. Come on in and I'll get everything set up. Is it okay if I give you the tour in the morning?"

"Yes, little master," Auroch responded, following her in. He then turned to Dylan, who had pretty much been staring at him this entire time. "Little man… You stare hard. Are you okay?"

"Ah, my bad… Yeah," Dylan said, turning away. He wasn't sure that he wasn't dreaming. The man didn't look human. Hell, he wasn't human, right? Vizen, was it? He had never heard of it. He wanted to ask questions… But he didn't know where to start. So, he just sat back down in the booth that he had been sleeping in.

"The furniture is probably too small for you," Tik admitted, coming back downstairs with a stamp and folder. She looked more alert now. "Maybe Carlos can build ya somethin'."

"I can do it," Auroch said. He then walked to the far corner of the room, near the booth and opposite to the counter and placed his hand on the ground. The area began to glow with a faint, lime green magic the wall shook for a few seconds before a large, earthen bench burst through it, taking up a good portion of the wall. It fit tightly into the wall, leaving no gap for air to travel into the guild from it.

"Oh… That works…" Tik said, while Dylan just watched blankly. Both of them seemed to be emotionally numb at that moment. Maybe they had both given up on reacting to him. Maybe they both still thought they were dreaming. However, once the gears slowly turned in Tik's head and she remembered the project downstairs, she shot over to him, placing her hands on his huge biceps. "I need you for something…." She breathed, her eyes sparkling similar to Carlos's or Salu's.

"Okay," Auroch said, seemingly unfazed by the guild master.

"But first, where do you want your guild mark and what color?" Tik asked.

Auroch pointed to the odd mark that was on his chest and Tik nodded. "Black, please."

"What's this mark?" she asked as she pressed the stamp to his pectoral.

"Something from my past. It is of no concern anymore," Auroch replied.

Tik accepted that as an answer and shrugged. She then handed him a pen and the folder. "I need you to fill this out."

Auroch took the folder and pen, opened it and then stared for a good five minutes while silence filled the air. Eventually, he spoke and admitted slowly… "I cannot read, little master."

"Wh-?" Tik blinked. She was confused. "But… How?" she asked naively.

"Not everyone gets to learn how to, Tik," Dylan explained dryly. That was something that he had forgotten about Tik. Strong mage or not, her grandmother had did a wonderful job sheltering her.

"Not… getting…" It didn't register to Tik at first, but then it hit her and she frowned. "That… must suck…" was all she managed to muster, taking the folder from him. Now, she was wondering why he hadn't gotten to learn how to read. She wasn't one to ask people about their pasts… But for some reason Dylan's statement made her realize that maybe… not everyone had grown up with parental figures. The people in God Hand…? Many of them… Her face fell.

Dylan sighed. "And she's having a mental breakdown, now." He stood and took the folder from her. "I'll help him with this, Tik. Maybe you should go… Rest?"

"I hope you are okay," Auroch said, watching Tik warily.

Tik shook her head and grinned. "I'm fine!" she said, waving it off. "I was just thinkin' about some things, but I'm done now!" She wasn't the type to let things get her down and there was no sense in her being upset, she thought.

Dylan helped him with the form, asking him questions and then writing all of the answers in the blanks and handing over the forms. "So… Where is he going to sleep?" he asked.

Tik blinked, thinking for a moment. "I can put a bunch of the bedrolls together," she said. She then looked around. "You don't have any belongings?" Everyone else who had joined at least had a backpack with them when they joined. He had nothing.

"No," Auroch answered. "I do not need many belongings."

"Well, follow me," Tik said, leading Auroch over to the latch that led into the cellar. Instantly, she paused and dark lines ran down her forehead. There was no way he was going to fit. She looked back to him and then down to the cellar. "So… Do you got this like you did your seating?"

"Yes," Auroch responded. He walked over to the latch, opened it and then placed both of his hands on the part of the floor closer to them. In one swift movement, he pulled up a small chunk of the floor, causing a loud popping noise, which was followed by two surprised screams down below. Auroch stepped back, his brows furrowed. "There are people?"

"Down there, yes…" Tik answered. Once again, she wasn't surprised by Auroch. He was weird and honestly, at this point, doing something like a normal human would surprise her more. Now… They had a gaping hole in the floor, but he could fit through it, at least. "We'll have to make you a better ladder, too." She thought. The small wooden ladder would probably break under his weight.

"I can do that, too. He pressed his hands to the floor and there was a faint, lime green light from in the hole.

"Please don't kill my other guild members," Tik mumbled, watching with a rather alert expression.

There was the sound of stones and earth shifting around and slowly a stone stairway formed below. It wasn't a really fancy stairway and more of just stones jutting out of the wall leading down, but it was more than a ladder and wide enough for someone his side to fit on. He had also used his divination to form stone around the edges of the stairwell so that people wouldn't cut themselves on the jagged wood that was left there from him pulling up the floor.

Auroch leaned back and sighed. He was covered in sweat now and looked a bit exhausted. "It takes much magic to make a staircase…" he breathed.

"I… Bet…" Tik said. She peered down the hole for a good two minutes before she realized that she probably needed to check on Salu and Carlos. There was no way that they were still asleep. "C'mon," she motioned, hopping down the stairwell.

At the bottom, Carlos was standing near the stairs with an amazed expression while Salu was in the corner, curled up. When they saw Auroch, their attention went to him.

"This is Auroch. He's new and he made stairs for us," Tik said, hopping off the side of the stairs halfway down and landing. "And I'm happy to see you two still alive!" she said with a grin and a thumbs-up.

"He made the stairs…?" Salu asked, slowly standing and walking over to Carlos. "That's really impressive~" she admitted with a giggle.

"You're a giant!" Carlos commented. "Can I ride on your shoulder?!" he asked, staring up at Auroch with wide, sparkly eyes.

"I'm only part giant, little metal boy," Auroch commented. "And you should be able to transport yourself. I am not a means of transportation."

"But both of us could fit on your shoulders~" Salu chimed in. "It would be fun~"

"Little guild members should be independent," Auroch continued. However, his efforts were in vain as both of the small mages scurried up the stairs and then hopped off of them onto his shoulders.

"YAY! Now we're super-tall!" Carlos cheered. "And I like the stairs! I don't have to fight with my hands to climb anymore~"

Salu giggled. "I can almost touch the ceiling," she pointed out, reaching up to where her finger just barely missed the ceiling.

Tik laughed. "You guys sure are trusting, y'know?" she said with a grin.

"If you let him join, then he must be nice, right?" Salu asked. "And he made us a staircase, too!"

Auroch looked annoyed, but he didn't make the two mages get down. He turned to Tik. "You said that you needed me for something, right, little master?"

"Not right now 'cuz you look tired," Tik said. She then pointed over to the hole in the wall. "But I want you to help us get to the hot springs through this tunnel!" She, Salu, Nyxus, and Carlos had made decent progress on the tunnel, as the end of it could no longer be seen from the start of it, but they still had a while yet.

"Okay," Auroch said, walking over and pressing his hand to the wall of the entrance of the hole. He couldn't even fit in the hole while standing, but he still said, "This should be no problem once I rest. It may take me a couple of days, yet, though."

"Not a problem!" Tik said with a huge grin.

"We're gonna get the hotsprings really soon?" Salu asked, her face lighting up.

"Can I find some ice to put in it?" Dylan said, walking down the stairs and joining the others.

"Why would you do that?" Carlos asked.

"I don't like the heat," Dylan said with a shrug of his shoulders. "And they warmed up to the big guy fast."

"I'm pretty sure they would warm up to a rabid badger if I let one join the guild," Tik said with a frown.

"But we're all supposed to be like a big family, right?" Carlos asked. "Which means we should love each other, right?"

"Yeah~ I love all of you like my family…" Salu said with a soft laugh.

Tik chuckled. "I can't argue with that, I guess."

"You guys are too happy…" Dylan mumbled with a shrug of his shoulders.

Auroch seemed like there was something on his mind when family was brought up, but he didn't say anything.

Author's Note: Hi~ Hope you enjoyed! I think I may have said I'd introduce four characters, but this chapter is long already, so I only introduced three.

Matters to Address (IMPORTANT!) :

-DEADLINE: The deadline for characters is MARCH 1ST! Please, those of you with reservations, get them to me by then! I'm missing nearly a third of my cast! Also, my apologies for rushing, but we want to start planning around our casts. :I

-BE NICE! Am I really saying this? A matter about someone accusing another author of copying The Summit Project was brought to our attention and we DON'T appreciate that. Please don't be rude to other authors on our behalf. Or at all.

Questions for this chapter:

-What'd ya think? Any favorites? Creators, how'd I do?

Next chapter preview:

A pretty boy, a lost girl, a big-hearted alcoholic and a pyromaniac join the ranks of Goblin Grin next chapter! 4 characters will be introduced! Probably will be released in two weeks!

Credits:

-Sorne – Hikari-Chimedekina-Neko

-Dylan – DerekJay2000

-Auroch and the concept of Vizen – Origm2012

Review responses:

As always, lots of love from me! Thank you all so much for the reviews and I hope you all continue to enjoy the project!

-Dreadburner94 – Yep. :I I think this chapter was a bit better in terms of not being as happy. :3 Thank you~

-TheLonelyAnon – I'm happy I did okay with Salu. That makes me happy~ :3 And yeah. I think that's the overall consensus. Goblin Grin is a lot lighter than the other guilds for now. It probably will be for most of the intros, due to the character batch I got. :D But it's good that we all have our own little flavors going. :3 I know? Everyone is just so refreshing and happy. I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter~

-FrozenBlast13 – I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter~ I think MyDearWatson is also filled on slots. :3 Thank you~

-MyDearWatson – Thank you~ And I know~ I think that's going to be one of the funnest parts of the project~ Seeing how everyone does with all of the characters and then the moments where we all get to use the same character. :3 Carlos does have a lot of energy. X3 Thank you~

-puffypuffin3 – Yes! X3 Even the less happy mages still have a lot to learn about the world, I think. Just in a different way than the little cheerful ones. They're all so pure and innocent. X3 And I'm happy I did a good job with Carlos~ I think it showed more in this chapter. Poor Sorne. Who knows? I think the next meeting will be lots of fun. X3

-Sakura-Fiction – Yes~ O.O And yep. Optimistic characters are optimistic.

-KingKatsu – Yep. I can't start characters on missions when there are no missions to be had. OwO So Goblin Grin will be light and fun for now. :3

-AkumaXHwaorang – Yes! He is! Carlos tries to flirt with everyone, precious innocent baby. :P Yep. Nyxus was just traveling around. :3

-potentialauthor18 – Yep. Goblin Grin is so much lighter than Ragnarok's Call. So much innocence and naivety in this guild. OwO I'm happy you enjoyed the characters~

-PrinceOfTheMatrix88 – Mhm~ Goblin Grin is quite quaint and happy compared to the others. He reminds me of Genos from One Punch Man. :3 Thank you~

-Momochan77 – Yep~ I'm happy you like the characters! X3

-Origm2012 – I know what you mean! You have to match his energy! There's just no way not to. That was suggested by puffypuffin3 and I had fun writing it. I'll probably do another one once most of my cast has been introduced. :3 Thank you~

-Hikari-Chimedekina-Neko – I'm happy you liked all of the characters and I hope I did okay with Sorne~! She'll appear more later. :3 And I'm happy you love Tik. Going from Sorin to her is such a huge change. OwO

-DerekJay2000 – I think we're going to be trying to post on the same day most of the time, at least for now. :3 They are quaint. And he appeared this chapter! I think he's going to be tired, a lot. :P I'm happy you're enjoying the fic! :3

-Zades – Carlos is lovable~ And I'm happy I did okay with Nyxus. That's what I imagined. I don't picture him being the easily trusting type like the rest of his guild personally. Hope you enjoyed this chapter~ I think Nyxus has more people he can get along with easier now. :3