Eternal Dominion Book 2: Traction Page 2

  “Excuse me, Excuse me.”

  “Oh, huh, are you talking to me?”

  “Yes, do you have a few minutes?”

  “Um, give me a bit to finish this, then I think a few minutes will be fine.”

  Xeal waited as Taya finished prepping the materials for what looked like a basic arcane robe. This was what players doing an apprenticeship quest typically did after the basic instruction was complete. Had Xeal used this route, he would have been doing tasks such as heating metal ingots and turning blades for the smith as he worked them into finished products. Once she had completed her task, she came over to Xeal.

  “So, what can I do for you?”

  “Hello, I’m Xeal and I lead the guild FAE and I am currently expanding into the outpost around Dragon’s Heart. At the same time, I’m looking to invest in crafting players, and I was wondering if you would be interested?”

  “Hmm, I don’t know. What benefits would your guild offer, and what would you expect of me?”

  “First, can I get your name?”

  “Ah, sorry, it’s Taya.”

  “Okay, Taya. The benefits my guild would offer are mainly once you reach level 20 and can enter Dragon’s Heart city, as once there you would have access to our guild facilities and the resources that are gathered by our members. Now, what we would expect from you is to improve your crafting, meet any production goals set, and if you are interested and able to work, to be involved in guild administration.”

  “It sounds like I would have to wait for a while before your guild would do anything for me. With that, how the hell are you already at level 20?”

  “You are mostly correct as a guild’s benefits are ambiguous at best until they are established inside of a city with a guild hall. That said, my guild is taking extra time to grow our crafting department and we already are secure where smithing is concerned, but we still need to expand all our other crafting areas. The main benefit that comes from joining right now is seniority when the time comes for distribution of resources and promotion. In fact, if you are interested in a provisional vice guild leader position, I still need one for this outpost, but that would require you to work on recruitment as well. As for my level, I just fight foes that are higher level than myself.”

  “Hmm, why me, and why would you offer a vice guild leader position to someone you just met?”

  “I know what those glasses are. The fact that you have them means you have a great chance to rise in the crafting world, and I’m only offering a provisional vice guild leader position. Think of it like a job interview that involves a trial run. That said, if you accept, we will need to talk offline about pay.”

  “Wait, it’s a paid position? How much?”

  “Hmm, If you accept, it would be 5,000 credits every two weeks until you reach level 20 and have been with us for at least four weeks. After that we will review your performance and if we find it satisfactory, 240,000 credits a year would be your base salary with performance bonuses available if we are exceeding expectations.”

  “Where do I sign?!”

  “That depends. Do you want ED to take five percent, or get a direct transfer?”

  “Direct transfer, please.”

  “Ok, then first sign the contract and pass me a way to call you in the real world. From there we will set up a direct transfer for you.”

  Xeal handed her a simple contract that stated that she would serve as a vice guild leader until further notice and that she would not do anything to purposely harm FAE. Once she read it over, she quickly signed it and passed Xeal her phone number in real life and they arranged to get in contact at 5:30 am after she logged out. With that, Xeal guided her to the guild outpost and recruited a few players along the way. She agreed to try to recruit around 1,000 promising players. Xeal stayed a few hours to help with the first few as his level was a great recruiting tool and he needed the news to spread to ensure good results. By the time he left, FAE had 30 members in Dragon’s tail, but he knew the best time to recruit was when players were just logging on, or returning to town to log off, and like him most day one players were still on the 6:00 to 4:00 schedule in real life. With that Xeal made his way to Dragon’s Wing to set up a guild post there and hopefully find someone to become a vice guild leader. Unlike the last two stops, he didn’t have any players tapped that he remembered starting in that area, but he was sure a few of his old friends must have and he just forgot.

  As Xeal walked around Dragon’s Wing, like the other outpost, players were gawking at his level and speaking in hushed voices. This time Xeal decided to just spend the remaining time before he took a rest doing an open recruitment, so in a loud voice, he announced that his guild FAE was looking to expand to this area and was recruiting teams and crafting players. Only a few players came over at first, but as time passed, several more came over as he repeated this process for 12 hours and managed to recruit 240 players. While several showed promise, none of them were players he remembered from his last life. Finally, he found a player he knew, Souh Takeshi, or Kazuyuki in real life, who was walking by with his party. Each was level 16. Standing at six-feet-tall, Souh had on light armor and at his waist was a katana. His green hair was tied behind his head. Xeal quickly made his way to intercept him. While Souh had never been a member of Xeal’s guild in the past, he had become a vice guild leader in a small guild that had some success in the first few years of ED, before being absorbed into a larger guild. Souh had been one of the few who could exploit the samurai class at its highest tier, and was one of the few eight tier players he had been able to meet in his last life. Xeal reached his side before politely getting his attention.

  “Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time?”

  Souh stopped and assessed Xeal before responding.

  “What would Bluefire-san of FAE like from this one?”

  “Ah, you already know who I am? Can I please have your name for starters?”

  “This one goes by Souh Takeshi here. You may refer to me as Takeshi-san.”

  “Thank you, Takeshi-san. I would like to recruit yourself and your friends to FAE.”

  “Indeed Bluefire-san, I have heard of your exploits and as I can see you in front of me, I can tell the forums have not been completely off base. But what benefit is there in walking behind you?”

  “Takeshi-san, I do not wish you to walk behind me. I wish for you and all who join FAE to walk their own path. For it is only through pushing one’s self that you can come to know what you are truly capable of.”

  “You speak well Bluefire-san. Perhaps your path has promise, but that does not mean your guild’s path will continue.”

  “It is as you say Takeshi-san, without talented leaders and a strong foundation any guild can vanish in the wind. It is for that reason why I stand here laying down the roots which will hold us firm when that wind comes. While I know not what path you see before you, I can tell you have great potential, far more than any of the other players I have found here today. If you would be interested, I would be happy to extend a provisional vice guild leader position to you. I’m sure you would easily exceed my expectations and become a permanent one.”

  “You honor this one Bluefire-san, but what benefit is there to exerting myself for your guild’s benefit?”

  “It is a paid position Takeshi-san. You would start at 5,000 credits every two weeks, and once you become a permanent vice guild leader, the pay would jump to 10,000 credits plus performance bonuses, based on how the guild as a whole is doing.”

  “Your offer is most tempting Bluefire-san, however, how would that affect myself and my comrades here as we play ED?”

  “The only thing that would change would be that I would ask you to recruit players who show promise, and participate in guild operations when you are able. Beyond that, joining our guild will get you access to our guild coin system, and in turn, our crafting players at preferred rates. While both are a work in progress, we have already set up our smithing department to be one of the stronges
t in all of ED.”

  Souh looked to his friends, who nodded to him, before turning back to Xeal.

  “I will accept your offer with the condition that if you remove me from being a vice guild leader, my friends and I are free to leave and are released from all restrictions placed on us.”

  “That will be fine, so long as the reason for your demotion is not a breach of contract by you.”

  “Hmm, very well. Where do I sign Bluefire-san, or should it be Bluefire-dono now?”

  “Just Xeal, or Xeal-san if you must, is fine, Takeshi-san. In my culture we don’t use honorifics, but I will respect your wish for them to be used when addressing you and ask that others do as well.”

  “Thank you, Xeal-san. I hope that soon I feel comfortable for you to call me Souh-san, but for now, please continue to use Takeshi-san.”

  With that Xeal and Souh agreed to speak offline after the call with Taya, or if she was ok with it, at the same time. With that taken care of, Xeal made his way back to Dragon’s Claw to recruit some more players, and if he was lucky, run into Casmir. However, all Xeal managed to accomplish was recruiting another 40 players before renting a room in the inn to rest.

  Morning, August 6, 2266.

  Alex arrived for the morning run with his friends. For once, he was the last one there.

  “What’s going on? Why are you all already here?” (Alex)

  “Today’s a big day, isn’t it? The girls are moving out, so we all shifted our schedules by a half hour so we can help them move this afternoon.” (Dan)

  “Really now, did you tell your parents Nicole?” (Alex)

  “Yah.” (Nicole)

  “They are pissed, and she is staying with me right now. My parents are cool with it as it was only for a night, but yah, her parents might make a scene if they wake up while we are out here.” (Sam)

  “Well then let’s get moving, but let’s end the run at my place to give us a chance to talk for a few minutes.” (Alex)

  With that everyone started the run. Everyone looked a little awkward about the drama with Nicole’s parents, but they all kept up a good pace until the end. While everyone rested for a minute in front of Alex’s house, Alex told them about his results from going to the other outposts, and that he was going to create a new chat room for guild leadership. He wanted to keep the one they were using private as it was more of a place for them to casually talk than anything else. They talked about what was still needed for the move. Apparently, Nicole only had a single suitcase she had packed in case things went the way they did. So, she would need a bed, which the girls had bought last night and Dan was going to pick up, after using his dad’s truck to move Sam’s and Amanda’s stuff over to the apartment. The girls had found a used car. One of Amanda’s neighbors was selling and paid him 21,000 credits for it. It wasn’t anything special, but it would let them get around. They all agreed to meet at Alex’s house for the morning runs after today, and to change their route to avoid Nicole’s parents for a while.

  It was 4:46 when Alex walked back into his house after seeing everyone off and reassuring Nicole that everything would be ok. Alex’s dad greeted him as he poured himself a bowl of cereal and the two talked about ED and whether his mom would take the bait Alex had put out, but in the end, neither had a good read on the situation. After Alex’s shower, he ran into Anna who had just stopped playing for the night.

  “Morning Anna, how was it?”

  “Eh, it was alright. Still feels weird that it’s only been ten hours when I spent over a day in ED.”

  “You’ll get used to it. Just make sure you get some rest in game. It can make a huge difference.”

  “Will do. I might just log in after the mandatory break time for a few hours to sleep.”

  “Ok, well, I have a meeting in a few minutes. I’m glad you are having fun, but I have to go.”

  “It’s not even 5:30 yet. Who do you have a meeting with at this hour?”

  “A player who is interviewing for a vice guild leader position. Two, actually.”

  “Really weird. Why do they want the job? it’s not like it’s a paid position, right?”

  “It is paid, that’s why it’s necessary to interview them.”

  “Really, if I keep playing will you pay me?”

  “Only if you are a crafting player or a vice guild leader, both of which are a long way off for you.”

  “Why?”

  “Until you graduate high school you can’t devote enough time to ED to take a leadership spot, and crafting takes time to master. While my guild will help, it comes in the form of a loan essentially, as we make sure to take a larger portion of your profit from the items you make until we make back what we invested up front. Even so, it still works out great for the crafter as we can accelerate their growth.”

  “Huh, ok, guess I look at crafting in my spare time.”

  “You do that. Anyhow, love you sis, but I need to go.”

  Alex pulled out his phone and called the number Taya had given him and waited as it rang.

  “Hello.”

  “Taya, hi, it’s Xeal.”

  “Oh, hello Xeal. So how does this work?”

  “Well, I am sitting at my computer with my banking info pulled up. If you want to pass me the account info, I’ll send the test transfer, then If you are willing to stay on the line for an extra minute, I have another new vice guild leader who I need to call if you would like a chance to speak with him.”

  “What outpost is he out of?”

  “He is based out of Dragon’s Wing right now; he is more of a combat player.”

  “Sure, I’ll stay on the line for a few after I pass the banking info, also the name is Tara.”

  “Sure, thing Tara. I’m ready for your info whenever you want to pass it over. Oh, and I’m Alex out here by the way.”

  With that Tara passed Alex her info and he got her transfer started. He made sure to tell her to message him when the test transfer went through so he could send the rest of the advance. Once that was done, he informed her of Kazuyuki’s preference to use honorifics and put her on hold as he got Kazuyuki on the line.

  “Hello, is this Xeal-San?” (Kazuyuki)

  “Yes, Takeshi-san, although out here you can call me Alex-san.” (Alex)

  “Ok, Alex-san, then Sato-san will work for myself.” (Kazuyuki)

  “Hold on for one second, I am going to get Tara, back onto this line, … Is everyone still here?” (Alex)

  “I’m still here Alex-san.” (Kazuyuki)

  “I’m back as well.” (Tara)

  The three talked for about 15 minutes about ED and what they were currently working on. Alex passed them the new chat room’s info before he brought the conversation to a close as it was 5:50 and he needed to return to ED at 6:00 to meet with Casmir. After Tara was off the line, Kazuyuki passed Alex his banking info for the transfer and they both ended the call to return to ED.

  Tenbris Amplexus joined the conference call that had been hastily put together after a disturbing report was circulated. Anger welled within him as he thought about the smug Xeal who was the cause of this call and was responsible for most of Tenbris’s problems.

  “Tenbris reporting in.”

  “Good. Now that we have everyone, on let’s go over the report.” (Unknown 1)

  “Yes, as reported by all team leaders in the Dragon’s Heart city area, the player known as Xeal Bluefire has reached level 20 and has started to establish his guild FAE in each outpost. Furthermore, our reports say that he has already taken anti-spying maneuvers like requiring all recruits to sign a contract that bars them from passing any information they obtain from the guild for 90 days. To include accessing it while logged out, and it specifically bars any of their members from joining any guild put on, or allied, with the list of hostile forces for six years, and that list currently only has our guild listed. This also includes an auto withdraw if the system deems there to be an alliance. We are not sure how the system would judge this, but our members are hesi
tant to try to infiltrate due to this information, as there are some who think the system can read your thoughts and will know you have violated a contract, even offline.” (Unknown 2)

  “How have our experiments with this gone?” (Unknown 1)

  “So far it has been mixed. If the players signing the contract both know that it’s intended to be broken offline, the system only seems to hold the violator accountable one out of ten times, but if the punishment is harsher, it increases. So far, we have only done a moderate punishment, but even that caused two out of five to receive the consequences. Next, we had players who intended to break contracts sign them with unknowing players. That time around 19 out of every 20 were hit regardless of level of consequences. It’s almost like the system knows what we are doing and it is toying with us, and we can’t figure out any common links on avoiding the punishment as all test subjects experienced about an equal amount of failures.” (Unknown 2)

  “So, we can’t send spies in. Hmm well at least this has given us a useful tool to avoid spies as well. Saboteurs would probably fail as well for the same reason. How many other guilds do you think have realized this already?” (Unknown 1)

  “We are not sure, but if we started to have all of our members, including those who have yet to join, sign a similar contract, the others would quickly realize something and do tests of their own.” (Unknown 2)