by Edward Brody
I reached in my bag, grabbed a health potion, and chugged it. My health bar started filling back up, and the wound began to heal.
“So…” Jeremy said. “We’re not going back in there, right? This whole ancient weapon thing is finished… right?”
I took another breath and every ounce of me wanted to protest, but I couldn’t go back on my promise. After the failed Dragon’s Crest run and the near instant wipeout at the lich tomb, what more could I do? I couldn’t keep dragging my guild mates back into unreasonable situations, and even if I did, I wouldn’t know where to go next, nor did we have time. “Yeah, I guess we’re done.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry it didn’t work out,” Ozzy said. “Give us another 20 levels, and I’m sure we’ll be slicing liches down like they’re nothing.”
I was mostly silent on the ride back to Edgewood.
The trip to the tomb had ended so quickly that Ozzy still had time to ride off to Highcastle for some training. I should’ve went off to do my training as well, but I just couldn’t muster any will to do anything after another failure.
It wasn’t even so much that I had failed, but the fact that I had failed Adeelee.
I was sitting on a log near our campfire when Aaron came to sit beside. He placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Cheer up, homie,” Aaron said. “It’s not the end of the world.”
I shook my head from side to side as I sulked. “What if they kill Adeelee?”
Aaron looked off into the distance and shrugged. “A waste of a fine piece of ass, but let me remind you again that she’s an NPC.”
“I know,” I said. “But that still doesn’t help.”
“Yep,” Aaron said sarcastically. “You’re gonna regret that you didn’t bang her.”
I huffed, leaned back, and elbowed Aaron in the shoulder. “Now you’re just being a dick.”
“Okay, okay. That was fucked up for me to say,” Aaron said. “Adeelee is a strong girl, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes it out herself.”
“Nah,” I replied. “Those Magi were too strong. I just wish I could’ve done something. I feel so fucking helpless.”
Aaron stood up and moved to right behind me. He pressed down on my shoulders with both hands and started massaging vigorously. “Look on the bright side, man. You did what you said.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t remember?” he asked. “When I first met you, you said you were going to climb Dragon’s Crest. You did that, right?”
I raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder at the same time. He did have a point there. Even if Dragon’s Crest had been a fail, climbing it had been a goal of mine.
“And do you remember what else you were planning?” He released my shoulders before I could reply and waved his hand towards the village. “Build a castle and make a name for yourself in Eden’s Gate. Look how close you are to accomplishing all of that.”
I perked up a little and nodded slightly. “Yeah, I guess.”
“You know what your problem is, Gunnar?” Aaron asked. “You care too much!”
“I care too much?” I questioned.
“When you came into this game you were obsessed with finding your girlfriend. When you came back from the Sands, you would stop at nothing to prevent some guy from crossing the Serpent Sea. And now you’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off, because of Adeelee.”
“Sorry, I care about people,” I said mockingly.
Aaron groaned. “That’s not what I mean. Just realize you can’t always be the hero. It’s just impossible. Sometimes you’re going to fail, and if you get upset over one or two failures, it’ll mess up all the good you have going for you.” He pushed me hard, almost causing me to fall off the log.
“Hey!” I shouted.
“Get up!” he barked.
“You get up!” I said as I stood to my feet, and then realized how stupid the order was considering Aaron was already on his feet.
“Look at that,” Jeremy said, pointing towards our unfinished castle, then he waved his finger over to a dark elf who was carrying a stack of ore into our guild shop. “And over there.” He motioned towards Jeremy practicing throwing a dagger into a nearby tree, then towards Trynzen who was rubbing his claws curiously across the crafting grindstone. “You created a living, breathing, village... or at least the beginnings of one. No matter what happens with Adeelee or anyone else, Unity still needs you. Don’t give up on the bigger goals.”
The bigger goals... He was echoing much of what Darion had said already, just in a different way. I was glad to have his support.
I still needed to build a castle, to protect Unity, to level my magic so that I could be the badass that I had told Eanos I was ready to become. I still needed to fight in the Arena and work towards finding Rachel. I had done everything I could to try to save Adeelee, but I couldn’t lose sight of everything else.
Maybe I should’ve listened to Councilor Elloryn and left the situation to the High Elves all along.
“Yeah,” I said, finally agreeing with him. I stepped up to Aaron, patted him on the shoulder, then pulled him into a warm hug. “Thanks, man. You’re right. I won’t give up hope Adeelee makes it out alive, but I won’t give let Unity fall to the wayside no matter what happens.”
“That’s why you’re our leader,” Aaron said. He looked down and plucked the center of my robe. “And don’t you need a belt, Mr. Mage?”
I nodded and blew air between my lips, creating a funny noise. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll give me a new one.” The thought made me a little nervous, as I remembered I still owed Darion 5,000 gold.
I glanced over to the guild shop. “Are you doing anything with the Vorporite yet?”
Aaron shook his head. “Not yet. I’m not skilled enough. I’ve smelted a some of it down, but my first couple attempts to make something blew the materials.”
“Maybe we should sell some of it,” I suggested. “We’re running low on gold. Almost all our earnings are going to pay off the miners.”
“No way!” Aaron said. “I’m going to need a lot of material as I level up. If and when we start selling Vorporite items, our business is going to explode!”
“Okay, well in the meantime, I need 5,000 gold to pay back Darion—my teacher in the Mages Guild. I’ve only have a few hundred or so stashed in my crate, and he’s going to kill me if don’t pay him back soon.”
“5,000? Damn, bro! That’s a lot of cash!” Aaron whined. “And you complain about me wasting gold on Pig?”
“Yeah, well, I hadn’t considered the increased cost of buying the ore.” I turned to make sure Trynzen was nowhere in hearing distance. “And I thought we’d have 20,000 for Trynzen’s return by now. I didn’t expect this whole orc dilemma.”
“Hmm,” Aaron said. He pooched his lips and rubbed his chin. “Have you registered the guild yet?”
“No, but what’s that have to do with anything?”
“Well, once a guild is registered, the guildmaster is eligible to take out loans at the Guild Hall. I suppose you could get a small loan from there. We’ll have another 5,000 gold in no time.” Aaron scratched his chin. “I’ve got around 800 gold I can spare. With your gold, that’ll be enough for you to register.”
“A loan, huh? What’s the deal with that?” I asked.
Aaron shrugged a little. “Only a guild master can take out loans on behalf of a guild. But just like back on Earth, the terms of loans depend on the circumstance. You’ll have to check in the Guild Hall to see what they offer you.”
I nodded a little. “I guess I’ll go check it out then.”
Chapter Forty-Five
2/12/0001
I gathered up the gold I had in my crate, combined it with Aaron’s, and recalled to the Mages Guild.
Liam was sitting behind the desk that I usually sat in with his feet propped up on his desk. Darion was standing in front of the desk reading off something to him fro
m a book. I immediately tensed, hoping he wasn’t going to mention the money I owed him.
“Oh, Gunnar,” Darion said. “I thought you wouldn’t show up for any training today.”
I gave my best fake smile. “Um, actually, I just needed to visit Highcastle. I’d like to take the day off.” I turned to walk towards the door. “Tomorrow or the next day, I’ll definitely be here to train.”
“Did you survive the lich tomb?” Darion asked.
Liam pulled his feet off the desk and quickly sat forward. “Lich tomb? You must be kidding me… He’d be dead if he went near a lich.”
“Um…” I turned around and started to stutter.
“There’s a hole in the back of your robe,” Darion observed. “Looks like it was made by magic.”
“Well, I didn’t die, but I didn’t succeed either.” I turned back around towards the door and took big steps toward it, again trying to avoid any harassment for the return of gold. “See ya!”
I made it through the door and scuttled down the stairs until I made it out of the Mages Guild.
I pulled my hood over my head as I started walking down the paved streets of Inner Highcastle. It had been a while since the events in the Arena, but I was unsure if anyone would recognize me, and without a belt around my waist, I knew there was more opportunity for someone to scrutinize me.
Though I had never visited the Guild Hall, I had seen it a couple times as I travelled through the city. It was a large, squared-off, boring looking building that was just past the Arena but before reaching the Fighter’s Guild. A wooden sign with a picture of balancing scales hung right outside the door.
When I walked inside, I was surprised at the size. It looked bigger indoors than it did from the outside, but that may have also been because of how empty the whole place seemed. In the center of the room were several rows of low benches. On the closest wall was a table with a quill and a small stack of papers. On the left-hand side of the wall was a window with the word ‘Magistrate’ etched in the stone above it. On the wall directly ahead were two other windows, spaced several feet apart. One read “Banking” and the other read “Registrar”. The right-hand wall looked like a bounty board with four large, neatly placed papers hanging from it.
There was only one other person in the room—a guy dressed in fine linens, sitting patiently on a bench nearest the banking window.
I almost started to walk towards the registrar window, thinking that “Registrar” would relate to registering a guild, but I had a vague recollection of Aaron telling me that I actually needed to talk to the magistrate. I turned and headed for the wall on my left.
Behind the magistrate window was dark-haired, mean looking man who seemed like he would be better suited as a soldier rather than doing office work. He was built like a fighter, had a strong jaw, and his skin was covered in deep acne scars.
“Report a crime, issue a bounty, or mission?” the man asked harshly as soon as I was in range.
I shifted my eyes from left to right nervously. “Is this where I register a guild?”
“Ahhh,” the man said. He turned and grabbed a massive book that was sitting at his side. “Name?”
“Unity,” I said.
“Last name?”
“Last name?” I questioned.
The man flipped open the book and glared at me. “What’s your name? I need to check if there’s a bounty on your head before I can register your guild. You’re the guild master, right?”
“Oh, sorry. Yeah, I’m the guild master. My name is Gunnar Long.”
“Gunnar Long…” the man muttered as he flipped through pages in the book. “Gunnar Long…” He looked up at me and squinted. “I recognize that name from somewhere. Take that hood off, so I can see your eyes.”
My muscles tensed. I was probably more nervous than I should’ve been, since the King had issued a decree to not discriminate against Reborns, but I didn’t want to put up with any hostility. As I pulled the hood back from my head, I wondered if going there had been a mistake.
The man scanned me up and down for a few seconds, but then just looked back down to his book. After a minute of flipping pages and scanning names, he looked back up. “Okay, looks like you’re clear. What’d you say your guild name is?”
“Unity.”
“Your home base is located where?” the man asked.
“Edgewood,” I said.
He looked up at me with suspicious eyes for a few seconds but then slowly turned away.
The man grabbed another book, then pulled a quill out of a hidden drawer below his waist. He dipped the quill in the bottle of ink and started scribbling furiously in the book. When he looked up, he said, “It’ll be 1,000 gold.”
I reached in my bag and pulled out 1,000 gold. Before handing it over, I cleared my throat and nervously asked. “Once we’re registered, I can take out a loan, right?”
“Oh, I see,” the man said angrily. “You’re just registering your guild so you can take out loans, aren’t ya?!”
“I um—”
“Check with the banking window after we’re through and they’ll help you with that nonsense,” he interrupted.
I nodded and handed over the 1,000 gold.
The man sat the gold to his side and started writing in his book some more. As he wrote, he shook his head and said, “What we need is gold reform! All these guilds borrowing money like it’s a free ride. Our land prices are out of control!”
I swallowed but did my best to ignore him.
Finally, the man sat down his quill and looked up to me. “Alright, you’re done. Just hold up your right hand and listen to me.”
I held up my right hand.
“I swear that I’m the guildmaster of...” He glanced back down to his book. “…guildmaster of Unity. I agree that upon registration, any members of my guild who are also members of another registered guild will automatically be removed from my guild and will no longer be able to join unless they disband from their previous guild first. As guildmaster, you may be held accountable for your guild members’ actions. Do you accept these statements?”
Alert: You are transferring your guild, Unity, from a rogue guild into a registered guild. This change may automatically remove members from your guild manifest. Registering your guild comes with perks but may give certain NPCs or factions information about your guild that they may otherwise not be able to obtain.
While I trusted my guild members, I wasn’t too happy about being accountable for their actions. But I figured it wasn’t too much different than being in rogue guild. Either way, anything that my guild members did would come back to haunt me eventually. I had already experienced it with Jeremy.
I nodded my head. “I accept.”
Congratulations! Unity is now a registered guild.
“You’re all set,” the man said. “If you want to take a guild mission, check out the board on the wall. Just keep in mind that guild missions are generally suited for ten people or more.” He flicked his hand towards the ‘banking’ window. “And you can get your damn loan over there.”
I glanced behind me. “What’s the ‘registrar’ for?”
“Titles and deeds,” the man said. “But the registrar here is for Highcastle and the Freelands only. Any deeds you hold in Edgewood would be controlled by the elves, I’d assume.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how the pointies do it over there.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
I walked up to the banking counter, and sitting behind it was a man dressed in a plain brown robe. He was doughy looking and had a perfectly circular bald spot at the top of his bowl cut hair. “What can I do for you? Looking to deposit?”
“I heard you can take out loans here?”
“Personal or guild?” the man asked.
“You can take personal loans?” I asked.
“If you own property in Highcastle or the Freelands, you can take a personal loan against that. I need to see your deed first.”
“And guild loan
s?” I asked.
“You’re registered, right?”
I nodded.
“How many members?” the man asked. “And what’s your average levels?”
I paused and pulled up my manifest. “There’s 9 of us, and we’re probably around level 22 on average.”
“Small guild,” the man snickered. “Do you have any trade income or major assets?”
“We’ve got a small village in Edgewood, and we profit about 2,000 per day from that.”
The man blew air throw his lips. “Property in Edgewood is useless, but 2,000 gold of trade income isn’t too bad, I suppose.” He bobbed his head from side to side then pulled out a large book, much like the one the magistrate had. “Your guild name?”
“Unity,” I said.
“Just gotta make sure you don’t have any outstanding loans…” The man flipped through the pages and stopped very quickly. “Oh, you just registered today!”
I wasn’t sure exactly how the man knew that. I could only assume the books that the banker and the magistrate had were linked somehow. “Yeah.”
“Alright, well, I can offer you a loan of up to 150,000 gold.”
My jaw dropped. “150,000 gold!?”
“A one-month loan with 20% interest,” the man said with a cocky smile. “Simple interest. We loan you 150,000 and you return the 150,000 plus 1,000 gold per day for each day the money isn’t returned.”
20% interest in one month was pretty much insane, but at the same time, it seemed like a good chance for us to really expand our village. If I was going to get 20,000 from the return of Trynzen and we put a stop to the Vorporite buying, we’d have 80,000 within a month. I wondered if we banded together as a guild if we could come up with an additional 100,000 in gold to pay off the loan? It seemed like a stretch.
“What happens if we miss the payoff date?” I asked.
