Login Accepted: Incipere Online Book One

by R J Triveri

  “Guilds have rank?”

  His white-haired friend simply nodded as he raised his hand to knock. “You’d be surprised how little people know about the guilds. Really, A guild’s just an extension of their members. Their rank’s the average of all the members. If your guild’s rank ten or above, you get the best designs and automated vendors. It came with the integrity update.”

  Well, at least that explained the differences between what he had been told and what he experienced with the grouchy old Inciperian. “So, the lower your members, the lower your status.”

  His fist connected with the door, but instead of a knock, a new window appeared in front of his hand and emitted a soft, blue light. “Pretty much. If you aren’t at least a rank 15 and have one Grand, you aren’t even allowed to advertise. Makes no sense to me.”

  Grand? His mind flashed for a moment at the sender from earlier in the day. Avalon was a grand nox vergo. “Have you heard of anyone named Avalon?”

  The blue light faded as a lock audibly clicked from within the coded door. “Can’t say that I have.”

  Swing and a miss. “Does Nox Vergo mean anything to you?”

  “Not the most common class, but I’ve met one before,” Torrent explained as he opened the door. “Most just call them gray hunters. They specialize in gray magic and tracking.”

  Words unspoken echoed in Athos’s mind, I will find you. They had a power to them that sent a familiar chill through his spine as Torrent motioned for him to follow. “What’s gray magic?”

  “Well, it isn’t healing, and it isn’t directly harmful. More like manipulative magics that work to either end.” Before Athos could continue his never-ending quest to understand the world around him, Torrent simply waved him off. “Look around, the guild house of the Moon’s Aura isn’t something everyone gets to see.”

  Or would really want to see from the look of the outside. Despite himself, Athos looked around. To his surprise, the inside wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d feared. The walls weren’t cracked or decaying. There wasn’t a gang of digital mice ready to take his wallet, and there was a decent amount of light despite no visual source. If Athos had to pick something he enjoyed most, it would be the fact there were only three others waiting for them when he was ushered past the front door. “It’s not bad.”

  Of the three waiting on him, the largest of them, a tall, lanky woman with a shaved head and no discernible eyebrows wearing dark pinks, waved. “Who's the newcomer, Torrent?”

  “Athos, a rank 4 Alchemical Arm.”

  On her left, a man with a beard worthy to be called such set his mug down on the table and smiled. “Out on the hunt again for new members?”

  The hunt? Athos shook his head and tried to smile. “Just here to hear what the guild is going to do against the Suits.”

  “Why?” the bearded man asked before his cup vanished back into the code it came from. “Damn, I liked that cup.”

  “Then be more careful with it, Allen,” the woman said, scolding him. “Lay off the buffs a bit, and you won’t keep breaking my glasses.”

  “Sorry, Trina.”

  Stepping forward, Torrent took the lead and gestured to his new ally. “Athos,” he began before motioning to the table, “these are the founders of The Moon’s Aura. The tall, bald one is Trina.”

  At her name, Trina simply waved. “Rank ten martial magus. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “The hobbit-like creature next to her with the iron gut is Allen.”

  The iron gut was melting something foul at the moment as he belched something forth from the bowels of Hell’s dump. “Rank six life mage.”

  “We just call him the party starter.” Athos wasn’t sure whether Torrent was being serious, but the white-haired man continued. “And last is our eldest member and founder, Silent Ran.” Looking at the man, it was like looking into a crypt. Silent Ran lived up to his name. He said nothing and looked back with dark, almost glass eyes before giving a slight wave. “Don’t let him fool you. In his old age, he just doesn’t like wasting his integrity on something like speaking. Thinks it’s beneath him. Doesn’t like private messages either, but man, he can move like lightning.”

  “What’s his class?” Athos asked, curious how a man could become so drawn, so hungry looking.

  “Honestly? He hasn’t ever said. All we know is he’s a magic user. Must have been some pretty intense spell-slinging to end up so warped.”

  “So, Torrent, what…”

  “Shh! Look and listen!” came the harsh response from Trina as the back wall flickered to life, split, and populated with a couple of faces he recognized from around Oenus. There was Sammi from the inn and, to his surprise, Auxi of the Tenebrae guard. Normally, he would have been excited about what he saw, but none of them seemed to notice, or care, that he was there.

  “Sammi Lase of the Oenus City Council, reporting.”

  “Auxi, Defensive Officer of Auxilium’s Guardians, reporting.”

  Looking from face to face, Trina seemed disappointed. “This is it?”

  Auxi, the most battle-hardened looking of the two nodded. “The rest are abiding by the arbiter’s ruling. They’ve done nothing wrong by the Unum’s standards.”

  “But you obviously see differently,” Sammi pointed out with a slight grin.

  Auxi nodded. “Tenebrae has spawned an official boss monster and is lost to us. There’s nothing more we can do here, and as a member of Auxilium’s Guardians, I cannot just allow another city to fall. The Moon’s Aura has our support to defend the city.”

  “Obviously, the Oenus City Council supports you as well, but we don’t have much to offer outside of supplies,” Sammi added. “We will help in any way we can.”

  Trina sighed looking from herself to the others in her presence. “We need numbers for those supplies.”

  “The city guard is all we can offer.”

  “You’re joking.”

  Sammi shook her head. “The rest of the council doesn’t want to get involved. The public outcry against the Suits is strong, but they own the land. There’s only one way to take it from them, and no one wants to go that route after what happened at Sierra Kat.”

  “Don’t sour the memory of Sierra Kat. They fell because the guilds wouldn’t rally against a world boss,” Allen spouted. “The world boss fell then, and men can fall now!”

  “That they can,” Auxi said before finally looking past the three at the alchemical arm, “but could you do it? Could you run one through?”

  “We won’t have to,” Trina pointed out.

  “You’ve not seen what a guild war brings, Trina. They aren’t just a local guild. If you declare war, you’ll be under siege within a few days. They won’t cede their lands, they won’t negotiate, and they won’t surrender. They will fragment you and forge your code into weapons to kill more.” The way Auxi spoke of their nature sent shivers down Athos’s spine. “Did you forget they have a grand necroforge stationed in Oenus now?”

  “Necromancy was banned years ago!” Allen practically vomited. “They were all forced into a class change.”

  “Dual classes couldn’t be converted by force,” Auxi reminded him.

  “Necroforge?” Athos almost spoke to himself, but loudly enough it seemed for others to hear.

  “For those that don’t know,” Auxi began, more than likely for the benefit of Athos. “A necromancer is a magician who specializes in taking freshly discarded core data integrity and turning it into minions to fight for him. A necroforge uses the same principle, but instead of making minions or casting spells, it converts the data into materials and cores for weapons or armors. Your core programming would be fully conscious and forced to kill or defend that which killed you.“

  That didn’t sound pleasant and only served to galvanize his hatred against the Suits. Who could do such a thing to someone? To be alive, to see and hear what you were doing but be unable to stop it… “That’s horrible.”

  His words drew the attention of his old acquai
ntance and nodded. “I’m not sure where you found him, Trina, but it’s good to see Athos made it there. Our leader has been looking for him.”

  Torrent opened his mouth to voice a question, but all eyes went to Athos before everything fell into place for him. “Avalon is your leader?” he asked in disbelief.

  A knock at the door punctuated his thought which only served to make Auxi smile. “That should be her now. Hopefully, you won’t disappoint me, Athos.”

  Avalon

  The knocking continued for only a moment more before being flung open by a surprised Torrent. From the moment Auxi said those words to that very moment, Torrent couldn't stop looking at Athos. In his mind and despite knowing so little, the alchemical arm knew what was running through his head, what had he done to get the attention of Auxilium’s Guardians? In all honesty, Athos wished he knew. He had done nothing really over the past weeks except practice his craft, deliver supplies, fail an escort mission, and cost a friend her arm. All in all, it wasn’t the most productive use of his time.

  The woman that walked past the threshold was as out of place in there as much as knowing Sammi actually had a place of importance in the city. Armored from neck to toe in shimmering opal plate, the woman was one of the first people he had met that fit the title of a warrior. Forgoing a helm for an almost ridiculously puffy hat, it didn’t detract from the presence the woman had. It sauntered around her more than anyone he had ever met. At her side was what could best be described as a glowing leaf on an almost too straight stick about the length of a forearm and a small leather pouch while on her shoulder sat a small, long, black ferret-like creature that twitched as though it were in the throes of a wonderfully active dream. For Athos, it was almost a bit too much when she barely came up to his chin.

  “I’d say you’re a hard man to find, Athos Aramis, but you really aren’t.” The words were a bit harsh, but he didn’t think they were meant to be as she turned her attention from him to Trina and the screens, “Auxilium’s Guardians will devote all of our resources to the Moon’s Aura to protect the city without the need for the city council to be connected. Trina, Auxi, Sammi, thank you for your time. Auxi, please report here with Martin as soon as you finish with the Sol Arum Bombs.”

  Trina nodded while Sammi’s screen blinked back into being a simple wall. Auxi, however, was a different story. A smile crossed the projected guard's face as she nodded. “You mean it?”

  Avalon nodded. “Collateral damage is the least of our worries now. Even if the bombs are set off, I doubt it would do much structural damage anyways. We just don’t want to make it too easy for the boss to escape.”

  “Understood, Sir. You’ll see us as soon as we can get there.”

  “See you soon, Auxi. Send Martin my regards.”

  The screen went dark a moment later, leaving the group alone once more. Alone as they could be in each other’s company. Trina towered over the smaller Avalon but knelled. To Athos, it looked as though it was either to show respect, or just as likely, to see eye to eye.

  After a moment, Avalon smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Trina. How are things going?”

  “If you were going to just give us aide in the first place, why not just join the fight yourselves?” Just the smallest bit of her perturbment leaked into those words. Friends, allies, whatever they were, Athos wasn’t sure, but this seemed like a bad time to be asking questions.

  She looked at her for a moment, then to Athos, then back to her. “Two reasons. The first is I don’t want to risk my guild’s safety, Trina. When war is declared, they are free game for any of the Suits throughout Incipere. If we station ourselves, we can defend the city without getting directly involved to their knowledge. They know our reputation, and we won’t seem out of place on the defense.”

  “And the second?”

  The grin on her cherub-like face darkened like a devil in shadow as she spoke. “The Suits have crossed too many to ask for assistance from any of the Big Five. If we can hold the ground here, so far from our home against their antics, we can recruit more and take back what they’ve stolen from us.”

  To Athos, the explanation seemed to make sense. The same realization seemed to wash over Trina’s face as she nodded. “We will take whatever you can give.”

  “I expected no less,” Avalon simply stated looking at Athos. “As for you, we have business.”

  “What sort of business?” Athos asked when what he really wanted to say was, how the hell do you know who I am?

  As if it were obvious, Avalon simply smiled as she took a step closer. “Don’t act as though I’m making you do the impossible, Athos. We need you to supply our forces out here with a few potions. Nothing too serious since you’re a stand-in. I’d rather not risk my own.”

  Her attitude, her posture, her insinuations of what she could ask of him made him uncomfortable as he responded. “I don’t have many recipes.”

  Her response was as quick as it was sharp, and that was saying something considering he words were as sharp as they could be without cutting him. “We do. I will supply you with what you need, and you’ll craft them for us. Knowledge for supplies sounds like an equal exchange, doesn’t it?”

  Athos thought for a moment, there had to be a catch. There always was with a deal like this. “That’s it?”

  She nodded. “That’s it. I’d like to have this wrapped up before the Starlight Festival.”

  “Starlight…” he shook his head. “Never mind, I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

  “You do not,” She said simply. “If you did, I don’t see how you would survive the bounty.”

  “Bounty?”

  Avalon nodded as she revealed the ace in her pocket. “Of course. You attacked one of the Suit’s lead guards in this area. Did you think you’d get away with it without consequence?”

  In all honesty, he had been hoping. “I didn’t think much of it after what he did to me.”

  “Of course, you didn’t. Newbies don’t think much about what a powerful guild can do to them if they mess around with the rules they set. Never mind that they only tried to rob you, let’s just shoot one of them and piss him off.”

  Athos sighed looking at the girl as the guild leaders behind him laughed to themselves. “You’re a bit of an ass, you know that?”

  “I don’t really see a reason to sugarcoat it. As it clearly says on the guild boards what you did.” With a few movements of her hands, her window appeared and with it, what looked like an old-style bulletin board complete in early 2000’s style. Another click brought up a rather ominous window titled bounty hunts. Her voice was steady, as if for her, a bounty was a daily thing. “Attention to any interested in a challenge, an alchemist by the name of Athos Aramis attacked one of our men running tolls for the dungeon. Whatever you may think of our methods, a Red cannot go without punishment. We are issuing a ten-thousand byte reward to anyone within the ranks that can either deliver him to us or bring proof of his demise to us via core data.”

  That didn’t sound like the best situation to Athos. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “It really is not,” she confirmed before pulling back the screen. “As you can see, it is your only real option to work with us. Experience, supplies, knowledge, and safety in one package. You’re lucky no one reputable works with them from the Five, but soon, who knows who will hear about it. So for now…”

  With a nod to Trina, a message soon appeared in his window in a soft green font.

  Trina Rorna [Moon’s Aura] has sent you a guild invitation. Will you accept?

  “You work for us.”

  Torrent, Trina, Allen, and Silent Ran looked at him as he accepted the invitation. There was a small celebratory horn sounding in his ear as he accepted the invitation. What else could he do?

  “Excellent! Now, you will report to Trina as the local liaison for Auxilium’s Guardians. Until you receive a message from me, you’re dismissed.” With that, her smile along with the rest of her body seemed to pu
ll like a rubber band until it released with a soft, almost thunder-like clap, and she vanished from the guild house.

  Silence persisted for a moment before Ran looked to Athos and sighed. “Bitch, isn’t she?”

  Splendid

  With a bounty that big, time was something Athos had plenty of. Trina had advised him to stay at the inn which Sammi was happy to provide for him once again. He hadn’t poked his head out for more than an hour since then, but it was at night while the city around him fought and raged against the invasion. Every night like clockwork, the dryads, sumac beasts, and other, stranger plantlike beasts fell upon the city, and every night, the guards left by Avalon could fend them off. There were the occasional groups that got through, but the Moon’s Aura seemed to have the interior well protected.

  Each night, Athos sat around his equipment and brewed. The supplies were constant, and the recipes were almost second nature after so many days of work. Each night, he supplied easily fifty or more Venefirous, a higher-grade, weapon-coating, throw-able poison, on top of a hundred Pyrothium. He would work until his integrity fell, sleep, then start all over again. Stir crazy didn’t even begin to describe how he was feeling. Even his conversations with Sally and Sammi were starting to blend together. The same thing, night after night as he worked, not that he minded the company, but the inability to share anything new drained him as he listened, or rather, read what was going on.

  Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: And Dad ended up ruining the cart wheels with the weight, so it’s just another thing on the list.

  Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: You’d figure he’d know by now. Wouldn’t you?

  Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: Yeah, you would. Another long night tonight, Athos?

  Looking at the clock, it was already well past midnight… again.

  Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: It’s about as long as every other one this month. Potions are just blending together now. I’d be surprised if I don’t just start to bleed Pyrothium. At least then they’d let me do something.