As the city began to brighten, the walls and its decorations being visible once more, the main castle no longer shrouded in darkness, adventurers, knights, independent mercenaries, and guards all began to rise, ready for the day before them.
Even with the city blanketed in snow, gaps began to form in the ever-present clouds in the sky, letting in golden rays of sun peek through, blessing the citizens of the ice cold north to feel a touch of warmth.
With a moderate wind still blowing, the sky behind the gaps between the clouds were dyed pink, orange, among a number of other colors, pushing away the darkness of the night as the sun peeked over the mountains.
Throughout the castle, the S-Ranked Adventurers of a number of countries all began to rise one by one, each prepping for the long day that would be ahead of them.
Kaitlyn, rising as light began to creep into her window, having stayed up late into the night, sat up with a long yawn, squinting her eyes at the light visible outside. However, with a sigh knowing that breakfast was soon coming, she slid out from under the blankets, shaking the dust off her long black coat before beginning to get dressed for the day.
In another room, Dexter, having gotten up long before everyone else was wrapping up a grueling workout in the middle of his room, counted out the last of his 200 pushups before standing up, drenched in sweat, looking out at the still brightening morning scenery with a smile.
Another pair of adventurers, Jayce and Sasha, began putting on their shoes, strapping on their weapons, and sharing a kiss before they began to make their way down to the dining hall.
With the sun rising, Chelsea who had been doing some early morning training shaded her eyes as she looked at the colorful sky peeking through the clouds, set down her sword, wiping some of her sweat before striding towards the dining hall, preparing to get there before the morning finished brightening, before the world truly woke up.
As people woke up one by one across the castle, one by one across the city, the dining hall in the castle began to fill with adventurers one by one.
Having gotten dressed, checked her weapons, splashed her face with some cold water, Kaitlyn pushed open the two great doors to the dining hall, being greeted by a number of already awake adventurers.
Nodding and murmuring morning to several people, Kaitlyn walked by several sturdy wooden tables, making her way to a table by a large glass window on one side of the room.
“Morning~”
The smile on her face illuminated by the sunbeams coming through the window, Kaitlyn squinted at the animated Rachel, a little bemused at how she seemed to radiate energy, with energy beaming off of her.
Having also all gotten up a little earlier, Oliver, Damien, and Josephine also greeted Kaitlyn with a smile, scooting over so that she could take a seat with them.
“You... all are so energetic,” Kaitlyn sighed, sitting down before laying her head on the table, “Morning though...”
Josephine handing Kaitlyn a cup of water as Rachel pried the potato that Kaitlyn had become off the table, a servant lowered a few trays of steaming food onto the table from a cart, greeting them, “Breakfast for the group of you esteemed adventurers, feel free to wave a servant over should another person sit at the table or you need anything else.”
Receiving a chorus of thank you’s, the servant gave a bow before walking off, pushing his cart towards another table.
Gaining a little more energy from the fragrance coming off of the food in front of her, Kaitlyn picked up some utensils, beginning to eat as conversation continued around her.
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“Did you buy more clothes?” Oliver asked Josephine as she was chewing some food, “Your wardrobe was... ill-equipped for the weather after all.”
Eliciting a nod from Josephine, Oliver nodded in approval as Damien congratulated with a teasing smile, “Congratulations! You’ve earned an achievement: ‘Not Freezing to Death’! Congratulations! Only an overwhelming majority of players have earned this achievement!”
With Josephine then picking a fork and shaking it at him while eating another bite of food, Damien pulled Kaitlyn in front of himself, “Protect me please! I know you’re strong!”
A little surprised at Damien’s actions, but also happy to participate in their antics, Kaitlyn then, without missing a beat, pulled Rachel in front of herself, with a nod and small smile towards Damien.
Getting a suppressed chuckle and a thumbs-up in approval from Damien, Kaitlyn replied with her own thumbs up as Rachel laughed, pointing towards Josephine seeing as no one else was sitting on their side of the table, “Well... I, Rachel, challenge you Josephine!”
Quirking an eyebrow, Josephine looked around, pulling Oliver in front of herself, “I summon you! Oliver! Go defeat the Rachel!”
With a sigh escaping his lips, Oliver looked back towards his plate of food, an expression of pure longing towards a lover of many decades appearing on his face, “I’ll end it quickly...”
“Rachel!”
“I’ll beat you, Oliver! Just you watch” Rachel laughed, a confident smile on her face.
“You’re afraid of your professors because you’re afraid that they’re going to judge you and remember you even though they definitely won’t since there are 50 students in our classes! Especially that one attractive professor!”
With an exaggerated wounded flourish, Rachel, coughing and clutching her chest, went limp in Kaitlyn’s arms, wiping a fake tear while moving back to her own seat, “I-I... I can’t win against that... that’s super effective against Rachel!”
A smug expression on both Josephine and Oliver’s faces, they high-fived before returning to their food, ““Number one as always!””
Their impromptu little battle coming to an end, Yesin, having just walked in and saw that a fair number of adventurers had all gathered their attention on the group, walked over, greeting Kaitlyn with a warm, grandfatherly smile, “Morning, did you sleep well?”
Nodding with her mouth full, Kaitlyn swallowed before answering, “I did, did you, gramps?”
“I did as well, thank you for caring about this old bag of bones,” Yesin chuckled with a smile before walking off towards Jayce and Sasha, “I’ll be seeing you, I got to go say morning to the others.”
Meanwhile... two adventurers part of a different group at a nearby table, Mercadia and Jerod, having spent a fair amount of time working under the Guildmaster ‘Demon’ that was Yesin, both almost spit out their drink and soiled themselves seeing the new side of the guildmaster...