After relaxing, the party pulled themselves back up before making their way toward the treasure chest. But before reaching it, Astaroth stopped and pivoted toward Jaxx.
"Before we divvy out the rewards, I have a bone to pick with you."
Before Astaroth could keep going, Jaxx dropped to one knee, bending his head toward the floor.
"Sir. I know I was less than ideal as an ally until now. I know I made questionable decisions and acted out of line more than once.
"I will take any consequence on myself with dignity and leave the guild without a fuss if that is your wish. But please. Let my sister stay.
"She deserves to be a part of this strong guild you are building. Jeanne is an exceptional player, and a formidable healer and asset. Kicking her out because of my actions would be a great mistake.
"I implore you, let her stay amongst Paragons!"
And with his last phrase, Jaxx slammed his fist into his chest, right over his heart.
His eyes closed, Jaxx waited patiently as the silence became heavy around him.
Not a sound left Astaroth's mouth, as he looked over at the warrior with a smirk. Jaxx waited, his eyes closed, body unmoving, for two long minutes.
He started squirming uncomfortably, the silence weighing on him like a boulder on his back.
Peeking up, Jaxx opened his mouth to beg once more.
"Sir, I—
But when he met Astaroth's gaze, the words escaped him.
Standing right in front of him, Astaroth flicked him on the forehead, leaving a red mark.
"Lovely speech, dipshit. I wasn't going to throw you out. You redeemed yourself enough with your actions in this fight that I was only going to give you an earful. But your self-reflection, and how you care about your sister's future, changed that."
Jaxx gulped loudly.
Had he worsened the situation by insisting so hard?
"Listen, I'll be frank with you. From Violette's attitude alone against you, and the arrogance you showed at the start, I don't like you very much."
"Understandable sir. But—
"Shh. I'm not done talking," Astaroth interrupted him.
Jaxx lowered his head once more.
"I don't want Paragons to be a strict guild, where even the slightest mistake gets you thrown to the curb. I want my guild to feel more like a family.
"And a family has disagreements. It's how we get through them that counts. Prove to me you can be more than just a loudmouth and a dickhead, and your place amongst us will be assured."
Hearing Astaroth's words, it left Jaxx speechless. He looked up at the man, eyes wide and mouth agape.
Jeanne walked over to him, slapping him behind the head.
"Thank you, Guild master Astaroth. Your generosity and lenience will not go to waste. Jaxx may be an idiot, but he has great potential."
The rest of the party stood to the side, looking away, trying to act like they weren't paying attention.
But Phoenix smiled at Astaroth's words. He was showing the kind of attitude that made a great guild leader.
Violette walked next to Jaxx, shooting a small stream of water into his ear, while he was still wordless.
His ear suddenly filling with water, Jaxx twitched, his head snapping toward the culprit.
"Hey! What was that for?!"
Violette smirked at him.
"You had dirt in your ear. Just trying to help."
And she walked away.
This caused the bystanders and Astaroth to laugh, which Jaxx and Jeanne eventually joined.
The situation had resolved peacefully and with haste, making the tension in the party slowly vanish.
Astaroth walked over to the treasure chest, kicking the lid open, too tired to lean into it.
"Alright! Let's see what this angry skeleton left behind for us!"
It disappointed him that no Exp came with its defeat once again. But he expected as much.
A list appeared before his eyes, with the contents of the chest.
*Boss Reward Chest*
1) Potions of Purification x 5
2) Scroll of Resurrection
3) Robes of Dark Desires
4) Skillbook; Darkness Domain
5) 50,000 Gold
6) ???
**
Scrolling down the list, Astaroth looked disappointed again. There was nothing really worth it for their party in this.
But the last item caught his attention.
'A mystery item? Let's have a look.'
Pulling it out, Astaroth had a scroll appear in his hands. He opened it, curious what it would contain.
*Jestal's Last Will*
Unrolling the scroll entirely, Astaroth saw what was a long letter, with, at the bottom, just over the signature, a series of numbers.
'Those look like coordinates. But why would a will contain coordinates?' he wondered.
He figured now wasn't the time to read this, as they still had a dungeon to complete. So he stashed it away in his inventory.
He wasn't sure if he would hand it out as a reward, or keep it to himself yet. That decision would have to wait.
He shared the loot list with the rest of the party, since there was nothing much interesting for them.
"I think this set of loot should go into the guild treasury for later use if it becomes useful to someone. Unless one of you wants something in here?"
As he said that, he shared the gold equally amongst everyone, divvying up six thousand gold pieces to each person present, including himself.
The party members looked at the loot list now available in the party chat, and most of them shook their heads negatively.
The skillbook seemed interesting to a few of them, but no one was that keen on building themselves into dark mages. So he just sent everything directly into the guild treasury through the interface.
As the loot disappeared, some disappointed sighs echoed around him, and he chuckled lightly.
"I know, right? That was the worst loot chest ever. The six thousand gold each wasn't too bad, but the rest was just no good for us," Astaroth said, shaking his head.
But he wasn't too worried, either. Sometimes, some loot was better off sold or traded than wasted on the wrong user. And the loot that the chest had could very well sell at a high premium in the auction house.
Looking around, Astaroth couldn't find the portal that would lead them to the other zone, and he frowned.
'That's strange. We got the notification… Where is the portal?'
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