"While I do agree, I don't think it's realistic for all seven of us to meet up on an even remotely regular basis," I pointed out objectively.

"Yeah, I agree. The only reason why this was even possible in the first place is because the Dungeons have stopped appearing, and this is almost definitely a temporary break, I'd be surprised if it wasn't," Added Jin with a nod of agreement.

"True, we can't just leave our respective Sanctuaries whenever we want, we've gotta shoulder our responsibilities as X-Aces. That said, we might be able to manage some of us visiting one or more of the others from time to time," Reasoned Beatriz thoughtfully.

"Mhm, unless we start seeing Calamity Level Dungeons pop up all over the place on a fairly frequent basis, which would be disastrous, at least a few of us should be free at any given time," Chimed in Aria.

Careful, don't jinx it...

"Yeah, I guess you guys have a point. Let's hope more X-Aces appear in the coming years," Replied Jaden with a wry smile.

"Unless I'm mistaken, isn't this the most number of active X-Aces there's ever been at any given point? Based on that, it seems kinda unlikely that more will show up while all seven of us are still active, at least speaking statistically," Mused Aarav in response.

Since he's cracking less jokes now, I wonder if that means he's gotten relatively comfortable around the rest of us?

"I don't know about that, Kai and I are pretty unusual cases. I only crossed the threshold into X-Ace territory thanks to a bit of luck, and Kai's got the ability to keep increasing his Potential by consuming Monsters, so we're kinda outliers as far as X-Aces go," Remarked Aria with a wry smile.

"I mean, even before we fought that Archdemon, you were at X-Ace level whenever you used Blaze Ignition: Flare," I reminded her.

"Yeah, but only for about two and a half minutes at a time."

"It really sucks that we were knocked out of commission halfway through that fight, it would've been so dope if we'd gotten that Demonic power boost too," Beatriz sighed as she glanced at Jin.

"Agreed."

"I'm gonna have to work hard to keep improving. Since you can keep getting stronger, I gotta find a way to keep up," Jaden said to me with a grin.

"Well, you can certainly try," I replied with a slight smirk.

"By the way, all you guys are Guildmasters, right?" Aria asked the others.

"Yeah."

"Yup."

"It kinda sucks though, it's a lot of work."

"Mhm, the paperwork is hell."

We should probably keep to ourselves the fact that the Union is going to assign someone else to handle paperwork and administrative stuff, so that we can just focus on Hunting.

"Let'sh do shomething fun...that'sh enough talking 'bout Hunter shtuff," Suggested Iseul, her face slightly flushed as she slurred.

She's looking pretty drunk now, but she's not completely wasted.

"Sure, I don't mind," Nodded Jin, as he took a sip of beer.

"What should we do?" Responded Beatriz with a look of intrigue in her eye.

"How about a game or something? In the interest of getting to know each other better, something like Never Have I Ever could work," Replied Aarav, after mulling it over.

"Sounds good, I'm game-...," I began, before tensing as Aarav's face lit up.

Think I know what's coming next...

"Hi, Game, how's it going?" He grinned, before letting out a laugh.

Yup, exactly how I thought he'd react. Guess I walked into that one.

"So, how exactly do you play this game? I've heard of it, but never played it myself," Remarked Jaden curiously.

"It's simple, we hold up one of our hands and each go around taking turns saying things we've never done before, and anyone who has done that will have to put a finger down.

Once all five fingers are down, you lose. It's pretty easy to get the hang of once you play a couple of rounds," Explained Jin, as Jaden nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright, let's start. Who wants to go first?" Inquired Aarav, looking around at the others.

"I'll kick things off. Let's see...oh, how about this? Never have I ever kissed a girl," Remarked Beatriz, looking around as all of us guys put a finger down, along with Iseul.

"Ohh, I get it, you wanna say something that you haven't done but that the others likely have. It'd be pointless to say something super specific or unusual since that could result in no one losing any points," Surmised Jaden, a fascinated look on his face.

"Mhm, pretty much. Let's go clockwise, which means, I'm next. Never have I ever fought Jaden," Remarked Jin with a slight smirk, forcing me, Aria and Aarav to put a finger down.

"Ohh, that's kinda playing dirty, this is fun!" Grinned Jaden, before glancing at Aarav, whose turn it was next.

"Alright, if that's how you wanna play it, let's go...never have I ever been a Ranger!" Huffed Aarav, docking a point from Jin.

"Targeting just one person isn't a great way to play this, you know," Responded Jin, as he put a finger down.

"Yeah, whatever, I feel good about it, and that's what really matters," Shrugged Aarav indifferently.

"Hm? Oh, it'sh me next...neber have I eber been shober for more than two daysh after I firsht shtarted drimkim," Slurred Iseul, after taking a brief pause to think it over.

"Uh...what?" Responded Aria in bemusement.

"I think it was...never have I ever been sober for more than two days after I first started drinking," Surmised Beatriz after a brief pause.

"Yup, that," Nodded Iseul with a grin.

Naturally, all of the rest of us put a finger down. Hm. I'm kinda getting destroyed here, I've only got two fingers left.

"It's my turn, right? Alright, let me think...never have I ever, uhh...slipped on a banana peel? Sorry, I kinda blanked and couldn't think of anyth-...," Began Jaden sheepishly, before trailing off in bemusement as Aarav put a finger down.

"Seriously?" I responded incredulously.

"Well, it was on purpose, I was doing a bit," He replied with a wry smile.

Yeah, that tracks.

"Exactly how long ago was that?" Inquired Beatriz curiously.

"In high school."

"I see..."

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