FEROCIOUS (2)

Walking to the Information guild was a cinch in the beginning. Ferocious had a good standing with the people of Bellen so his questions were greeted with niceties and congratulations for getting the Knight requirements. Knights themselves were rather uncommon so that gained him an even greater fame to the small town.

The roads were packed with sullen looking Players who kept trying to strike up conversations with NPCs. The initial starting of the Game was a complete disaster in Ferocious’ opinion. The people who had bought the Terra Consoles and the game mainly consisted of people who had read the information that NPCs were marriageable. These single people and loners had started the game in swarms and the pretty Female NPCs or hot Male NPCs were continually harassed by these groups. Unlike Ferocious who started by actually playing the game, these people went and immediately started by asking out NPCs on dates and the like. Failure after failure could be seen whenever a person turns their head.

A group of three pretty women were following a handsome guardsmen and trying desperately to strike up a conversation with him. Another group of five guys were surrounding a duo who were then saved by the roving guardsmen. Another gaggle of men and women could be seen getting thrown out of a bar. Did they even have enough money to buy alcohol?

Every one of these events further depressed Ferocious and his mind started to wonder about the future. His thoughts were about the future and the increasing dissent that is growing between the NPCs and Players. In the real world, such dissent would cause incredible problems that would be solved by wars most of the time.

This time was going to be different though. The average NPC could easily take on a number of new Players while not even breaking a sweat. Players like Ferocious were few in number and the amount of people who seek the help of the Combat Series numbered only 20 in the city. If a war ever occurred then the Player Population will be easily destroyed. At the very least the strain between the two would mean that Players will grow extremely slowly in comparison to the NPC and the ‘Heroes’ that Terra had announced would be a part of the game.

Ferocious placed these thoughts aside when he arrived in front of the Church of Information. He had avoided this place since he was told that this Goddess was the strongest deity and he didn’t feel like trying to bungle around in his interactions with them. The large cathedral took up a large space and looked comparable to a Noble’s mansion with glass stained windows that looked kind of like the ones Ferocious had seen in the Churches outside of the game. He couldn’t make out any specific details from outside so he placed that thought aside and walked up to the two guards that were on either side of the wide open entrance.

The guards were quite resplendent but they didn’t match. The one on the left was dressed in bright blue and yellow and had a cape with the golden sign of some bird while the one on the right was in Grey and Purple and had a purple distinct cat on his left chest. Ferocious had heard that Janira didn’t have a Paladin group so he assumed these were Paladins from different churches. Again it was a display of the power of Janira if other churches were used to guard their buildings.

Ferocious wasn’t able to get into eye contact with either so he just gave a short bow to both and entered the building. Immediately a young man in pure grey clothing faced Ferocious and gave a low bow which Ferocious promptly returned.

“Welcome sir, may I help you in any way?”

The young man had a polite tone and a dignified aura. His long blonde-white hair reached his shoulders and parted in front of his face and his cool eyes switched from grey to ice blue in the light. His handsome features made Ferocious grow slightly nervous but the gentle smile relaxed Ferocious and he made his tone quite respectful.

“I am an ‘Otherworlder’ by the name of Ferocious and I wish to get a class.”

“Ah, you are Ferocious? Your fame precedes you and we have been expecting you for a little while. Please, step this way.”

Slightly pleased but incredibly embarrassed by the fame, Ferocious followed the man through halls and up stairs towards an obviously new part of the building. The wood was a different colour, the paintings were few a sparse and the furnishings were too new and clean and the overall smell of the place said it was recently made. Ferocious didn’t know whether to keep his mind on the path ahead or consider about how real this game was.

Passing a few doors, Ferocious was led to a hall that was somehow the length of a football field. He didn’t think the building was big enough to have such a room but the sight was before his eyes. Was this a game bug or something? Walking into the room, Ferocious was greeted by a stooped old man.

“Greetings, I am one of the Bishops here. You are here for your class change yes? Please tell me which class you would like to have and Janira will see if you have the requirements to change into it. If you do not or you choose a class lower than expected, she will choose one for you. Do you accept?”

There was no accompanying status screen so this was mostly just a social interaction. Ferocious only took a few seconds to ponder this before nodding in agreement. He already had the proper Honor and Strength stat amounts and his ‘Sword Mastery’ had also reached ‘Intermediate’ after the training at the dojo and his grinding outside of the city. There should be no reason to get denied the Knight Class…

“I accept and wish to become a Knight.”

Immediately a bright light surrounded Ferocious and disappeared just as quickly. It was reminiscent of the old games he had played before and he wasn’t as shocked as he should have been. The light was what he had expected at the least when he class changed. At the most he had thoughts of an embarrassing ceremony complete with trumpets and a red carpet and some king doing a Knighting ceremony.

You have successfully changed your Class to a Knight. The following changes has occurred

You have gained the following from the Class Change.

[p=left]Health now increases by 20 for every Vitality Stat and 10 for every Strength and Honor Stat.

Mana now increases by 5 for every Intelligence Stat and Wisdom Stat.

Stamina will be valued at half the rate of Health.

Warrior and Knight Combat Skills will be 20% faster to train.

Honor is permanent at 50.

You have gained 100 Honor.

You have gained 30 Strength.

You have gained 20 Vitality.

You have gained 20 Agility.

You have gained 10 to all other stats.

Cannot gain Infamy but doing negative deeds will quadruple the loss of Fame.

Heavy Armor will not give a Weight Penalty.

Light Armor will passively increase agility when worn.

Generated the Charisma Stat. You have gained 20 Charisma.

Generated the Righteousness Stat. You have gained 20 Righteousness.

Generated the Justice Stat. You have gained 20 Justice.

Generated the Shield Bashing Skill.

Generated the Power Strike Skill.

Generated the Attack Combination Skill.

Generated the Steel Body Skill.

Generated the Heavy Armor Mastery Skill.

Generated the Shield Mastery Skill.

Generated the Unarmed Combat Mastery Skill.

Generated the Spear Mastery Skill.

Generated the Horse Riding Mastery Skill.

Generated the Battle Regen Skill.[/p]

The large amount of skills rather overwhelmed Ferocious and he decided to find out the details later. The Bishop smiled at Ferocious and took out a large bag. Where he got it was a complete mystery to Ferocious but he quickly put it out of his mind when the Bishop pushed it towards him.

“Ah, this is good. You are the third to gain a class in Bellen and the first to get a specialized one. The other two were both Warriors and seemed to have just trained outside of the city instead of gone to the Series. Here. These are simple items that a Knight should always start out with. ‘Otherworlders don’t own much beginning items so these should help a bit.”

Passing over a large bag that gave off some muffled noise, the Bishop smiled happily at Ferocious and waved at the young man from before. Walking forward, the young man also gave off an envious smile that creeped Ferocious out when it was pointed at him and Ferocious was motioned to follow him. The walk was quite quick and Ferocious was hurrying to catch up.

After getting hustled out of the cathedral, Ferocious stood in the streets with a small befuddled expression. The Class Change was rather anti-climatic and quite quick. Probably just in case too many players class changed at once. A future problem that really didn’t look likely. He shook himself out of it and opened the heavy sack while he was still near the Guard Paladins. Each of the items were padded tightly with clothes when he opened them, each of the items opened a status screen in front of him and gave simple information.

Knight’s Bronze Burgonet[p=left]Common

Durability: 30/30

Defense: 10

A simple bronze burgonet made with Intermediate Skills. Quite heavy and isn’t valued very highly.[/p]

Knight’s Bronze Cuirass[p=left]Common

Durability: 80/80

Defense: 15

A simple bronze cuirass made with Intermediate Skills. Thin but still heavy and cheaply made.[/p]

Knight’s Bronze Greave[p=left]Common

Durability: 20/20

Defense: 7

A simple bronze greave made with Intermediate Skills. Small and light, it offers slight protection.[/p]

Knight’s Bronze Gauntlet[p=left]Common

Durability: 50/50

Defense: 15

A simple bronze gauntlet made with Intermediate Skills. Tight and padded, made with care and is well oiled.[/p]

Knight’s Buckler[p=left]Common

Durability: 100/100

Defense: 20

A well padded wooden shield. Small and light, this buckler is used to block simple attacks.[/p]

Iron Longsword[p=left]Common

Durability: 100/100

Attack: 10-25

A well balanced Iron Longsword. Made with only iron, this weapon cannot stand up to incredible stress and will break easily. Should not be used to block with.[/p]

Smiling, Ferocious equipped the equipment and was both surprised and happy to see that it all fit. The Combat Series had a large assortment of uniforms so it was easy to find fitted uniforms for him so there were no problems there. Did the Church already have his measurements? Definitely not called the Church of Information for nothing.

Afterwards he decided to check out his new stats as well.

“Show Status. Show Righteousness. Show Charisma. Show Justice.”

StatusNameFerociousLevel12ClassKnightFame104TitleNoneWorld Ranking874GuildNoneFree Stat Points0Health3300Mana210Stamina1650Righteousness20Strength84Dexterity28Vitality48Intelligence20Wisdom22Honor150Luck20Agility43Charisma20Justice20

Righteousness[p=left]Your actions speak louder than words! Whatever you do will be viewed in a good light and people are not prone to mistrust you. However if your actions lead to negative consequences then this stat will lower and you may gain an undesirable fame.

Cannot add stat points to this.[/p]

Charisma[p=left]The glory of ability. When people look at you they will either see a weak man or a strong being. This value represents the power of your bearing. The higher the stat, the more people will notice you. However this will also have a negative impact if your infamy is high.

Cannot add stat points to this.[/p]

Justice[p=left]The path to Order! The Justice stat is used to cooperate with local Military and Policing forces. They will be able to automatically check the Justice stat of a Knight, Soldier, or other Military Rank. The Justice stat will determine how much influence the user has with the local Military or Policing forces.

Cannot add stat points to this.[/p]

Ferocious read and accepted the stats and then walked off into the city. The Justice stat was relatively useless for straight up grinders and the Charisma stat looked only like a stat that increased how one look. In the back of his mind he contemplated how high the gravity ring man had in his Charisma stat.

Ferocious wandered through the center of the city when a female Player just entered the game. She was looking around in wonder just as he had in the beginning before she made her way with some familiarity. Probably meeting friends in the game. Giaa had stagnated quite a bit but was picking up recently as word got out. There also seemed to be an announcement from Terra but Ferocious hadn’t been out of the game for a while. It had been 9 days in game since his last break so almost 2 days IRL and Ferocious decided to logout after he thanked the Series and the people who helped him.

Wandering through the streets, Ferocious saw a familiar sight.

“Ah! Ferocious! Welcome back. Nice armour set. I assume you managed to get the Knight class you wished? Sit sit, we need to catch up a bit.”

Wilhelm Porter’s stall was still in front of the ‘RAINBOW BED INN’ and he seemed to have more boxes than usual. Ferocious had figured that Wilhelm’s job was a Merchant like he thought but he also had a side job of ‘Keeper’. He kept items and gold that people needed kept safe and they needed to pay a small fee in order to do so. The boxes were blessed and enchanted by some Lock/seal god and were near impossible to open without Wilhelm.

Wilhelm produced a set of chairs and they both sat down beside one another with the wall of the Inn to their backs. The Mercantile street was near empty of Players since they had next to no money and couldn’t get good service and instead, NPCs were much more prominent and the gold flowed freely and easily.

“Yes, I just got the Class Change a moment ago. Rather quick if I may say. I was just about to go around thanking the people who helped me as well as the teachers at the Combat Series area. Then maybe go on an adventure out of town.”

His goal was the beat the Foxes and Wolves around the city first and then go to the next city. After grinding weak and pathetic rabbits for a long time, Ferocious wanted some tougher foes. Wilhelm was nodding and took out a long pipe which he promptly filled with some tobacco and lighted. He puffed a few times before responding.

“This is good. Actually you are good. You are probably the only one of your kind to actually do anything in the city. You come from a very perverted place it seems.”

That caused Ferocious to blush as he thought about the problems the other Players were causing.

Various Male Players had taken it upon themselves to stalk and follow the NPC women and try to show off in front of them. Whether by flexing muscles or smiling too widely, they were rebuffed and turned away constantly. In the end the clothing they wore had rotted away and they were walking around in the nude doing the exact same things as before.

The women were even worse. They didn’t become nude in the end since a few had taken to sewing and clothing was distributed but they went around in swarms. Groups and groups of the women were chasing and piling on top of male NPCs and when any of the NPCs showed any interest in one of them, the women would attack and kill their own.

Needless to say, relations had degenerated between the two sides. Only Ferocious and the members of the Combat Series had escaped this. Maybe even the other Series had a few members but the ratio was absolutely against them. For every one serious player, there was about 20 loners who were desperate to get a partner.

“Its rather embarrassing even for me and it seems that most of them were just following the majority. It has become commonplace for your people to chase after the NPCs and this is a problem in and of itself. The few who go outside are too inexperienced and they die quickly and they don’t even try to get the help from the Series.”

Wilhelm’s points were completely accurate and they both settled into an uneasy silence. At this rate, the game may dissolve into a mess where the NPCs spurn the players and the game gets ruined. Ideas travelled through Ferocious’ mind and he skipped through them all. He couldn’t just beat up the Players and force them to behave. And he couldn’t get the NPCs to like the Players just through his actions. One idea flew to the forefront of his thoughts.

“Wilhelm, no, Mr. Porter. How do I go about making a guild?”

For a moment Wilhelm continued to smoke his pipe in deep thought. Then it seemed Ferocious’ words finally got to him as he jumped out of the chair, spitting the pipe out and turning towards Ferocious. The clatter as Wilhelm’s chair turned some heads but the onlookers were ignored as Wilhelm stared down at Ferocious.

‘T-th-this. This is a great idea. A Guild will solve most of the problems. If you can teach a small group the proper way to live in Gaia, then they can go on to teach others. Over time the Guild can grow larger and hopefully the rift between NPCs and ‘Otherworlders’ can decrease!”

The enthusiasm in Wilhelm’s eyes took on a feverish light and Ferocious was slightly overwhelmed. He was also rather embarrassed at the increasing stares being pointed towards him and he started to make soothing gestures to Wilhelm in order to calm him down.

“Alright alright, calm down. I still don’t know the specifics of a Guild and how to make one.”

Placing the chair back into the proper position, Ferocious held it until Wilhelm could pick his pipe back up and sit. Cleaning the pipe, he started his explanation.

“A Guild is a group that is created for specific tasks. In the past there have been only five Guilds in prominence and each of them represents the 5 Series. There was the ‘Sons of Battle’ for the Combat Series, ‘Shadows of the World’ for Silent Series, ‘The Factory’ for Crafters, ‘All-cure’ for the non religious faction of the Healing Series, and ‘The Merchant’s Society’ for the Merchants of the Neutral Series.

"Recently however this has changed. In other cities there has been 12 Guilds that have popped up in the last 10 years and have made progressive movements in recruitment. There are the ‘Taskmasters’, ‘Battle Gloried’, and ‘Rising Phoenix’ who were all mainly of the Combat and Silent Series groups. ’Duty’ is another Guild and has the most influence among the newer guilds and has the largest work force. If you do make a Guild, these five will be the main opponents. The other Guilds consist of groups that combine the different Series and probably won’t be as much of a problem as the others.

"Yes, yes, I’ll get to Guild Creation soon. It’s still the middle of the day anyways.

"Now, Guilds have a limit of 10 ranks and a minimum of 4. Generally they have 6 and consist of the following.

1: Regular Members. Commonly known as grunts these folks are the most numerous and can be assigned different tasks. Ranks are not based off level so there can easily be high leveled and strong grunts.

2: Officers. The widest range of abilities these officers take care of groups of grunts during battles or Dungeon Exploration. It is better to have an experienced leader than a high level grunt so choose wisely.

3: Administration. Keepers of the data the administrators are the ones that keep the Guild running. Without them the distribution of Guild funds and rewards for the new Quests would stagnate and lower the Guild’s ability to function. It was due to this that the Big 5 were the main Guilds for a long time. With ‘Duty’ though, the other Guilds fight back. Duty has the largest Administration might and that means very high influence among the other guilds.

4: Enforcers. No Guild doesn’t have stragglers of its own and Enforcers were introduced to handle them. This is actually a more recent rank and was properly done by the Mercenary Guilds. They gained greater and greater prominence as a faithful source of security and managed to last against the Big 5.

5: Sub Leaders. Sub Leaders actually mean the different city members that take care of the Guild’s business in that city. Bellen is rare in that only the Big 5 have any worthy influence inside the city but there are small representatives of the Guilds in each. They are called Sub Leaders but their actual power if generally restricted by the Guild Leader and they call themselves Representatives instead.

6: Guild Leader. Usually the creator of the guild, the post can be passed down or inherited if the Leader dies and the person with the highest Guild Points takes the post. Guild Leader has the most authority in the Guild and the Leader should never abuse that power. Especially when he is a leader of a large powerful Guild.”

All of that information overwhelmed Ferocious so he only took small notes in the beginning and then none at all. He just listened and made sure to know the basics of everything.

“Now to make a guild...just go to the Church of Information and request a guild creation.”

Ferocious couldn’t help but sigh at the simple information.

“I guess I need to try and figure out some members for the Guild then. Wanna join Wilhelm?”

That request seemed to surprise him but he quickly got over it and argued about various Players and NPCs that Ferocious could approach.

Dante got out of the capsule and relaxed a bit. Then he jumped when he heard an incessant knocking at the door. Quickly he got up and started running only to fall flat on his face. Almost 2 days of playing and his legs were wobbly and his body felt weak. Slowly he half crawled and half walked to the door.

“Excuse us, we are employees of Terra and we are going around to current buyers to do a one time software and hardware update. Here are our credentials.”

A group of 5 introduced themselves to Dante and handed a pamphlet to him. Confused, Dante read through it and was happily surprised. It showed a growing concern from the Players and the people hearing about the game and it introduced several ways to help the Players, namely the implementation of a software change and hardware change.

The software change was to include lessening the how much time a person can stay in the game. The actual consoles had game exclusion incorporated inside of it and when the person died, the game would tell the console to lock itself for whatever time is stored inside it. The time was supposed to be 24 hours but the software change would make it 18 hours instead.

The Hardware change would be more different. Based on the problems of numerous Player deaths, Terra would add a new component to the console that would lengthen the playing time of Players. This new hardware would do some kind of technical thing that would allow the Player’s body to sleep as they play and rest easier. It won’t provide sustenance to the body and the game would tell the Player how much time passed in the Real World when needed.

Impressed, Dante let them in and brought them to the Capsule. Watching, he noted their quick and coordinated pace and experience. In no time at all they were out the door and Dante quickly took a shower and ate. While eating he went on the web to check out the problems.

Googling various sites, Dante found the Terra Forums and found several threads by disgruntled players.

WARNING DO NOT GET GAIA[p=left]The game GAIA is HORRIBLE! Nothing u do in the gme works and u die soooo easily. The stupid npcs are so uncorpertiv to us. Wht kind of gme is this? MODS FIX THE STPID GME UP AND LET US PLAY PROPERLY!!![/p]

Defficult NPC chicks[p=left]I am a single student and I started playing in order to get an NPC waifu. Instead ALL of the npc chicks avoid me and beat me up. I got several limbs broken one time by this little girl and she didn’t even break a sweat! Stupid game. Fix the game or no one will play.[/p]

These types of threads filled the entire forum to bursting and Dante was extremely tempted to type a response. Instead he went to the Terra site and read up on their response.

Based on the disgruntled problems, Terra added a video section as part of the Hardware and Software update. Since the Consoles have their own internal connection to the net, the Company took advantage of that and added a video recorder to the game. Players can use the net to cut and paste several parts of their adventures and then upload them on the powerful site. Their response to the problems being told was to upload the problem users and the videos generated several million views.

For the person who warned people away from the game, it showed a man with a 14 year old’s face trying to attack a rabbit. Only he tripped over his own feet and stabbed himself with his knife. As he was rolling over in pain the rabbit jumped on him repeatedly until he died in a squeel. For the flirter it showed a group of men surrounding a little girl. One of them was about to grab the girl but then she broke most of his limbs and moved onto the rest of the group. In the end the group was lying bloody all over the ground and the NPCs around them gave approving looks to the girl.

Dante spent the next few hours laughing at every uploaded video until he figured it was time to sleep. Then he looked back at the Pamphlet. He was pretty sure the Sleeping system was properly implemented...if he could play while sleeping.

Reading more on the topic he found that it was a lessened version of sleep. The body would repair itself and the like in the same way a sleeping body would, but the mental strain would still be prevalent. It was advised to either sleep properly IRL or sleep a long time in game.

Dante was about to play the game anyways, mental strain and all, when he remembered a rather large problem. He didn’t have the coin needed to buy an Inn room and he disliked sleeping out where others could see and find him. He didn’t know what Rogues and Thieves could do yet but he didn’t want to test and see if they could pickpocket the clothes he wore.

Dante went to sleep for almost a full day and after a quick shower and meal he entered back into the game. He figured a proper Guild name after the videos he had watched and the future of the Guild.

Ferocious entered the Combat Series building to see Levi sparring with Master Kern using dual swords. Strikes rained down from both sides and Levi’s usually good natured expression was twisted in a slight snarl. Kern on the other hand had a patient face as he blocked Levi’s blows and delivered the occasional random counterattack.

Whether by some rule beforehand or something, Ferocious wondered about their attack styles. Master Kern seemed to be predominantly defensive and he used his long blade to occasionally attack Levi’s legs and break his stance. Levi was on the full offensive as he used both of his short swords to attack Kern in the openings being shown. He hopped out of the way of the occasional lower attacks and his ferocity didn’t diminish even once.

Ferocious kept watching until finally Levi accidentally over swung his sword and twisted into one of Kern’s counter. The blow flipped Levi over and the leg twisted with a snap. Immediately one of the watching warriors went up and applied a quick heal as he set the leg properly. Training in this building built up a sort of stoic resistance to screaming like a baby, even if the pain was still there, and Levi took it in stride. He lay on the ground breathing hard and Ferocious approached him and the Master.

“Ah, welcome back Ferocious! I hear you managed to get the class a few days ago! Congratulations Sir Ferocious.”

The words were very warm and welcome. Ferocious was a rather respected ‘Otherworlder’ to the NPCs and his class made them welcome him even further. As a Knight he deserved some semblance of respect which would increase over time.

“Hello Master. I’m just here to talk to Levi for a bit.”

“Of course, take your time. He has the rest of the day off and he needs to get a Class. So take as much time as you want.”

With that, Kern left the two alone. Ferocious opened his pack and took out a skin of water which Levi promptly took and drained. After a few moments relaxing Ferocious spoke first.

“Wanna join a Guild I’m creating?”

Ferocious wasn’t the only one who had noticed the disaster approaching. Levi had gone out a few times and returned angry at the problems outside. It seemed a group of girls had tried to gangrape him until he beat them up in return. They didn’t seem to mind as they cursed their weakness and Levi returned in both fright and anger.

Ferocious immediately grabbed Levi when he received the nod and ran as fast as he could towards the Church of Information. Within the hour they arrived at the doors of the Church where the same two paladins were stationed to guard. They eyed Ferocious and Levi but otherwise didn’t obstruct them as they entered.

When they passed the doors the same young man interposed himself in front of them.

“Ah, welcome back Sir Ferocious. How may I help you this day?”

Levi was pushed forward and he haltingly explained about what he needed. The young priest - Ferocious really needed to get his and the Bishop’s name - led them to the same hall as before. Levi was staring at everything he passed and Ferocious also took a good second look. The furnishings inside of the Church seemed to not follow any specific pattern of Art work and instead looked rather haphazardly added. He was sure he saw some bloody artwork and even a few Lecherous artwork that heated up his face quite a bit. Did the Church put up everything they were donated without even a care?

A different Bishop greeted the pair and Levi went through the same quick ceremony. Ferocious didn’t see a bright light surrounding Levi but when he covered his eyes quickly, Ferocious knew he got the class. Levi spent the next few minutes reading his personal information and then got a large bag from the Bishop. Again the young man led the two towards the door but this time Ferocious forcefully slowed down their steps.

“There was another topic I wished to speak about.”

Ferocious started the conversation with the young man but then stopped.

“Ah, I guess I should properly introduce myself. I am Ferocious, an ‘Otherworlder’ with the class of Knight.”

“I am Levi, an ‘Otherworlder’ with the class of Weapon-Master.”

“I am Jerome. A Priest of the Church of Information and 5th in the hierarchy here.”

Ferocious was somewhat impressed that he was fifth but he didn’t know that it just meant that he was the 5th ranking Priest and that there was 2 more levels above priests so he was rather low in the way of power.

“Ahem. I would like to talk about creating a guild…”

“Of course. Here. ‘Create Guild for Ferocious’.”

Immediately an information box appeared in front of Ferocious.

Guild CreationGuild Name:-Guild Master:-Vice Leader-Sub LeadersNoEnforcersNoAdministratorsNoCity LordsNoOfficersNoMembersYes

It was a simple set up so Ferocious thought of the different ranks. He didn’t have or need a Vice Leader or Sub Leader at the moment since it was a small guild. Actually everything but Officers and members was practically useless. So he made his decisions and made the guild.

“Set Guild Name to ‘Feral Code’. Set Guild Master to myself. Activate Officers. Add Levi to Officers.”

Guild CreationGuild Name:Feral CodeGuild Master:FerociousVice Leader-Sub LeadersNoEnforcersNoAdministratorsNoCity LordsNoOfficersYesMembersYes[p=left]Members:

Ferocious (Master) Online: Bellen.

Levi (Officer) Online: Bellen.[/p]

So it showed the members as well. With that thought Ferocious decided to try something.

“Show Levi.”

LeviLevel9World Ranking1000+ClassWeapon-MasterPosition In GuildOfficerRanking in GuildHasn’t been set yetGuild Points0

Hrm, you needed to set guild rankings?

“Guild Rankings.”

Nothing happened and Ferocious took a glance to Jerome. Jerome and Levi were patiently waiting for Ferocious, although Levi was mostly interested in some of the detailed paintings. He was staring quite intently on a painting where a couple was embracing and another couple was...oh.

Blushing, Ferocious focused back on Jerome.

“You will need to change Guild Options with the Show Guild Option command.”

“Ah...alright. Ahem. Guild Options.”

Guild OptionsAssigned Gold to Guild Points0# of Guild Points for F Rank0# of Guild Points for E Rank0# of Guild Points for D Rank0# of Guild Points for C Rank0# of Guild Points for B Rank0# of Guild Points for A Rank0# of Guild Points for S Rank0

“Ummm what does it mean by Assigned Gold to Guild Points?”

“Every Guild Point a person acquires is equal to a specific amount of gold. In this way, a person can donate Gold and get a specific amount of Guild Points in return. Another aspect is for a person to cash in their Points and get an exact amount of Gold in return.”

Easy, simple. Ferocious loved people who made things easier.

Hrm. Ferocious did some simple math in his head to determine the points. It seemed that only in games could he do any sort of good math.

“Assign 10 gold to each guild point. Assign 500 points to Rank F. Assign 1200 points to Rank E. Assign 2000 points to Rank D. Assign 3000 points to Rank C. Assign 5000 points to Rank B. Assign 7500 points to Rank A. Assign 15000 points to Rank S.”

Guild OptionsAssigned Gold to Guild Points10# of Guild Points for F Rank500# of Guild Points for E Rank1200# of Guild Points for D Rank2000# of Guild Points for C Rank3000# of Guild Points for B Rank5000# of Guild Points for A Rank7500# of Guild Points for S Rank15000

With that done, Ferocious was pretty sure he didn’t need to do anything else so he closed everything. Straightening, he didn’t know why he was bent over for some reason, Ferocious gave a bright smile to both and deeply sighed.

“Thanks Jerome. All of that is done and over with. Levi. It is time to recruit! Show Officer Settings. Allow Officers to recruit!!!”

All around the city of Bellen, a ripple started to emerge. No, actually it wasn’t a ripple. It was more like a wave that engulfed the city. From the Information Church and outward the wave went around and a large buzz came over the city.

Ferocious and Levi had split after exiting the Church and the first person Ferocious tried to hire was Jerome. The Guild ‘All-Cure’ was the main Healing Series Guild but the Clerics and Priests of Churches had rather bad reception there. ‘All-Cure’ was mainly a group that consisted of Alchemists who made potions, Midwives and Wise Woman who were mainly small village healers, and Doctors and Specialists who had taken the mundane ‘First Aid’ skill and widened it to develop and master the sub skill sets like ‘Surgery’, ‘Stitching’, and ‘Blood Replacement’. There were many skills that the ‘All-Cure’ Guild developed but their feelings about Clerics and Healing magic were looked down upon. They favoured healing through Mortal hands so the Church Healers who depended on their deities were looked upon with distaste. Because of this, the Church members usually went around Guildless and focused mainly on their Church duties.

Ferocious noticed this of course. He had helped at several different Churches and some Alchemy shops during his Honor grind. He learned some minor prayers that would lessen the effects of diseases and he learned how to make some minor potions. None of these gave him the skill though and he thought it would really be better to buy potions or services instead.

What he learned was that the 5 Big Guilds and even the new Guilds all did not recruit from the Churches. The Clerics and Priests did not join ‘All-Cure’ - all Churches had some minor healing abilities although Ket had the greatest abilities and effects - and Paladins and other members did not join the ‘Sons of Battle’ or ‘Shadows of the World’. Actually it was more like the Guilds did not allow any Church members in since the Series actually trained Church apprentice members quite well. It was rather complicated but this rift was hard to not take advantage of.

What he had learned helped in his decision to make a Guild. If he could recruit Church members, that would bolster the Guild numbers and create a separate network that is detached from the Series. That is, the Church aspect of the Healing and other Series. Each of the Series already had quite a bit of a network with in the Guilds but the Church members had no such thing. If Ferocious could get enough of them in, then he could create a separate and large network that is virtually untouched.

Ferocious got into a quick but important conversation with Jerome.

“Hey listen Jerome. Ummm, I would like to ask, would you like to join ‘Feral Code’?”

Ferocious could have beat himself up with those blunt words. Still, better to end it all quicker and Jerome was looking rather surprised at his words.

“I don’t know. This has never happened before. Oh I’m sure the Church of Information members could join a Guild, I’m just not sure if it’s a good thing.”

“Please, it would help alot if I can recruit members of the Churches. It won’t be only the Church of Information. I wish to recruit whoever I could.”

That seemed to sadden Jerome a bit but then he gained a slight seriousness to his eyes. When you combine a long blonde haired handsome face with ice-blue eyes and an expression of seriousness, you end up getting nervous. Even if you were a man.

“What is the goal of your Guild?”

Ah, this topic. Ferocious’ nervousness dissipated in front of this question and he brought up the words that were stored in his mind.

“I wish to bridge the rift between ‘Otherworlders’ and NPCs. I wish to get ‘Otherworlders’ accustomed to Gaia and if they won’t, I wish to take them down with a feral violence. Feral Code is the name of the guild. Feral is for the wild ‘Otherworlders’ that are in Gaia right now and Code is a set of instructions that they must follow in order to stay in Gaia. Violence will be the response that will come if they do not change their ways.”

Slightly impressed, Jerome nodded in response to the advertisement that Ferocious gave. Ferocious himself was red in face and he was berating himself for the incredibly embarrassing words. They were words that only a real confident person could say without embarrassment and Ferocious was not that kind of person.

“Alright then, I’ll join. I’ll also try to recruit as many people as I could. There are quite a few who do not like the problems between us at the moment so this would help greatly.”

“Yes! Alright. Add Jerome to Officers.”

For the next few days Ferocious watched as the number of Guild members grew. Levi was tasked to take any newcomers to the game and help them with introductions to the Combat Series. The Players already being trained by the Combat Series was told to complete their training, get their class, and then join the Guild. The Players are the Series were approached by Levi and soon a small group of Class Players were joining the Guild.

Jerome had the highest recruitment rate of the two. He had gone to his Priest companions and recruited them as Officers. Since they were already well experienced in systematic recruitment and speeches - the Church of Information gave weekly speeches about the outside world and they recruited quite a few followers over time - the Guild swarmed with a great number of helpers. These helpers donated to the guild in small amounts and set up shops along the City Center and gave free items and advice to the new and old players.

They were also quite experienced at giving quests and the amount of quests being given and being received reached epic proportions. In only a week in-game there was a massive wave of Elvish, Dwarvish, and other races spawning in Bellen as Players heard about the Guild’s efforts. Humans were in the minority soon enough since they couldn’t choose their starting city and were randomly spawned.

Soon enough Ferocious had a network in every Church and at least one member in every city on the continent. The speed of the Guild’s growth astounded every member and he had to fix some of the Guild Options when this happened.

First thing he did was double the gold per point and point needed to rank up. There was also a prohibition from donating more than 10 gold per day and this was done to avoid present and future problems with rich members who wished to rank up by spending only gold. Ferocious needed to unlock the Administrator rank and get some clerks to keep track of the Guild accounts. This was quickly done with the help of Wilhelm who had quite a large network among the business sectors.

Still, the amount of gold flowing into the Guild coffers was growing but so was the problem of actual Guild Gold. If all of the members wanted to trade points for gold then the Guild Treasury would empty out immediately and be in debt. To challenge this Ferocious talked to several new Guild Officers and set up immediate Dungeon and monster hunters. The Dungeon group consisted of the greatest balance of high level and experienced players and went into any nearby dungeons to clear it out and acquire the treasure for the Guild. They never challenged themselves too greatly in the Dungeons since it was a plan to gain funds not renown and the Guild Treasury slowly increased due to it.

The other group was headed by Ferocious, Levi and another Officer named Hentaiking. Hentaiking was the man who had crashed the Combat Series during the early days of Ferocious’ training and now he had cured his earlier perverse attitude and adopted one similar to Levi’s; Fun and outgoing but serious when needed. He had also seemed to find his name in bad taste and everyone had taken to calling him King instead.

Ferocious’ group was the Hunting Group. They would enter and grind in the forests and fields around Bellen which was teeming with monsters. Systematic killing allowed the group to gather a large amount of experience and loot which was promptly given to Crafting Members to train their skills and sell for funds. Player Merchants started to travel between Bellen and the closest city Kiryun and they were protected by Guild Members who needed to level. The large hunting from the travels helped train lower leveled members and formed parties that learned to fight well together. Each party was headed by an Officer just in case.

The number of Hunting Groups increased to 3 by the end of the week and Ferocious had Levi and King take care of choosing Officers. The rule of thumb was that the person must be likable. Trying to lead a party just based on level was a recipe for disaster and ‘Feral Code’ wasn’t that type of Militaristic Guild.

A small problem appeared during that week as a group found a new Dungeon quite far from the city. They reported to the representative of Duty and they were given permission to form an Expedition and take it down. Ferocious knew Duty’s plan though. They would use the Player Expedition to tackle and ascertain the quality of the Dungeon. Players were rather expendable and they were seen as such by the newer NPC guilds so Ferocious forbid and Guild Member to join it.

A few grumbled but didn’t disobey but a few did and joined. 30 members in all disobeyed and joined the Expedition which had then numbered over a hundred. They had seen the recruitment posters and the Expedition Leader and decided to follow it instead and Ferocious kicked all 30 of them without preamble. Even if they came back with a King’s ransom in gold and jewelry, he knew he made the right choice.

For the next week Ferocious didn’t hear anything from that Expedition. Only when an Officer approached did he learn what had happened.

Getting out of the Console, Dante quickly went to the computer and booted it. His body felt rather relaxed even from his massive gaming time and he felt that the Terra company had outdid themselves with the new updates. He made himself a meal of soup and sandwich as his computer booted and then went to the Terra Video section. Immediately he saw what he wanted.

132 videos had been uploaded in the past few hours and all of them were about the Expedition. The failed Expedition. Leading the group was the same Paladin in each video, the french Renald who did look rather cool in his armor. Dante loaded 10 different videos from the aspect of different classes and watched them one by one. The Cleric one had the lowest time included.

For the first 10 minutes it was just regular traveling which was sped up by the uploader. Orders were given in proper time but there were lots of cuts as the uploader got rid of the useless stuff. The Group stopped at the cave which was in the shape of a large skull and that lasted a full minute as the different angles were given of it. The cave was enough to send a shiver in Dante but the cuts were all done rather awfully and it felt like it lacked quite a bit. When they entered the cave the cuts ended.

In the POV of the Cleric, the group entered the creepy cave with the Combat Series at the front. The Clerics were at the back and the Crafters were in the middle along with the mages. At the back of the group the uploader was grouped closely with the other Clerics. Soon enough the rest of the Expedition slowly got further and further ahead but the stat lacking Healers couldn’t catch up. Dante wondered why they didn’t shout for them to slow down but he attributed it to stupid Player pride.

The Clerics all of a sudden couldn’t see the Expedition anymore. Chills crept up Dante’s spine as panic erupted from the group and all of a sudden the POV of the Cleric leapt up. A giant furry creature had grabbed the Player and was attacking him without reserve. Screams erupted from the Player before dissolving to gurgles and then he stopped moving. Blood had splattered everywhere and the monster was greedily licking it off the Player and Dante saw that it was a Giant Bat. It was much larger than his imagination could have made and seeing it lick the blood off was too much. The video ended and Dante quickly looked at the next video.

For the rest of the night Dante watched Video after video and saw countless players die by the Bats. His meal had been consumed during the video marathon and he went to sleep when the sun came up. He slept for only a few hours since he woke to nightmares of bats and the like. He decided to spend a few days in Gaia instead of sleep.

When Ferocious got back into the game he was greeted with a few messages. One of the game perks was the implementation of the Letter system since the game speed was 5:1 and people could miss each other by days. The letters Ferocious got were rather interesting.

Sender: Tough. To: Ferocious[p=left]Dear Ferocious.

My and my peers were wrong in joining the expedition and wish to rejoin the guild. We did not enter the Dungeon as we were in the throes of guilt and instead we made our way back to the city. When we entered we found you were gone so we sent letters hoping for your mercy.

From: Loyal member Tough.[/p]

The other 20+ letters were the same and Ferocious grew a little more angry. Did these people not think he had watched the videos? Ferocious had seen more than a dozen of these people as one of the Dungeon Participants. Tough himself was one of the Combat Series members and he had pitifully died when the hoard of Bats came. Ferocious had laughed himself silly when he saw the Guild member he kicked get killed.

Ferocious dismissed all of the letters and then sent out a Guild wide notice that the kicked members were not to be allowed in at all. He went a step further to Blacklist the people who sent the letters. The few who didn’t send letters had the pride to not beg so he let them off from that. Blacklisting meant rather large penalties if a member associated themselves with the people that were blacklisted. This put a damper on what they could do in the city since Bellen was virtually a ‘Feral Code’ city.

A month later Ferocious heard news of an Event. It seemed to be the first one since the game started but that wasn’t strange since only a few weeks IRL had actually passed. Still an Event would do wonders for the Guild and Ferocious asked for more details.

The event would take place in Kiryun and it was open to anyone between the level of 70 to 150. Killing was allowed. Magic is allowed, poison isn’t. And items were not to give an unfair advantage to the wearer. The tournament style was a single elimination tourney and the prize is only given to the winner. This basically meant that every Officer and Sub Leader could participate and even a few Members. Ferocious himself was around level 89 and that was only due to being swamped with guild duties for a time. Travel to Kiryun would level him quickly and the tournament would give a few good legal PVP kills.

Quickly, Ferocious pmed all members online and described the details of the event. He then told anyone that fit that requirement and wished to go to meet him at the North-East entrance. He figured most would want to join but instead all he got was the Sub-Leaders and a few members. The members didn’t have the level to join yet but they figured the quick trip there would level them enough and he allowed it. Ferocious was in a hurry so he decided to make do and go.

The Sub-Leaders were Levi and King. The two were very well received in the city and were quite active in their recruitment. The number of Guild members had reached around 2000 in the city and Ferocious had sent out recruiters to other cities. Kiryun had only 10 members but it would be good for the ‘Feral Code’ if Levi and King could recruit there. Jerome had been promoted to Vice Leader and Bishop in the Church of Information and he was taking to his new duties with a fervor.

With the group of 7, Ferocious moved to the quick route. Usual time to finish the route was about a week in game but Ferocious wasn’t about to take regular breaks.

The foes they fought after exiting the ‘Forest of Dread’ was mainly goblins. The quick route from Bellen to Kiryun was a straight road that went right between 2 mountains. Unlike the safe road which was dug through and flattened and regularly patrolled, the quick road was rough and only a little even. This increased the repair costs of wagons from city to city but the quick road allowed for easy trade of farm goods without fear of spoilage and hiring mercenaries usually costs less as the quick road was an easy training spot.

Soon enough the party saw a large band of goblins heading towards them. Goblins in this path ranged from level 40-80. Since periodic travelers killed them the levels of Goblins didn’t go very high and the training from fighting a large number of goblins was very good.

Ferocious had led the Hunting team a few times but that was more systematic hunting than actual fights. This time they would be outnumbered 10:1 and there was no Cleric to heal them. Ferocious’ blood started to boil and his expression took on a wolfish grin.

Quickly, Ferocious got the group into formation. Ferocious would take point guard as he was the only real tank in the team. Levi and 3 others were Weapon-Masters and they plus an Archer took out their bows and fired from the back. King was to attack anyone that got past Ferocious.

When the Goblins got close enough, Ferocious roared and stunned them for a second. He had learned ‘Leader’s Voice’ from the Grandmaster of the Combat Series in Bellen. The old man was a retired Knight of some renown and he passed the skill to Ferocious. At the low level it was now, all it did was stop all movement from whoever it was directed at but that split second completely stopped all momentum from the goblins and half of them fell forward and on their faces. These were killed by Ferocious who immediately went forward and swung his sword through the pile. He didn’t even care to aim and the blood flew all around him as he wadded through the bodies and into the rest of the goblins. His sword never stopped and his shield was used to bash any who had the gall to charge him.

The arrows couldn’t reach and help Ferocious inside of the tight melee so they contended to hit any stragglers who came towards them or tried to run away. In the end though they barely got any kills and Ferocious stood alone amidst the bodies. The blood on his body slowly disappeared but before that they could see his blood stained grin and wild eyes and more than one of them got a Fear Debuff from that.

In a record 4 days the party reached Kiryun and entered the massive city. A place of trade and Adventure the surrounding areas were filled with Dungeons that were either untouched or difficult to complete. The City administration would also post warnings about Dungeons that had already been complete and should be left until it had regenerated its denizens and treasure. Kiryun was basically the only city at the moment that had such a detailed schedule for the Dungeons but this was mainly due to the recent creation of ‘Duty’ and the cooperation it had with the other Guilds.

The first thing the party did was get an Inn room and clean themselves up. While blood in the game disappears a few moments after battle, the accumulated dirt and grime from unwashed bodies and travel cause more than one person to grimace in disgust. Since they travelled through a mountain there was a limited source of water to use and they didn’t have any mage that could supply water at all. They were civilized people in a VR game. They knew and liked the feel of being clean more than being dirty.

The sign up for the tournament was still on for the next few days so the group rested up and replenished their stocks. Weapons and Equipment was collected and sent to be repairs and they took it easy in the city.

The closer one got to the center of the city, the more crowded it became. Procrastinating for a bit, Ferocious wandered the city for the next few days and bought a few items. His level had hit 123 after the blitzed trip and needed to relax a bit so he walked around the city and helped out a few times. He visited the Series and acquainted himself with various members there. He had gained a sort of rep from the Guild work and Levi, King, and the others had all started to assimilate themselves into the workings of the city. Jerome had earlier recruited a priest in one of the Churches in the city and that was also making some headway.

In the combat series he sparred with a few of the members there. He was taught different footwork for problems and the footwork was added to his ‘Knight Movement’ skill he had gotten before. The Grandmaster of the Combat Series in Kiryun was also a retired Knight and he gave some pointers to improve Ferocious’ ‘Leader’s Voice’. Screaming was fine and all but if you gave more air to your shout, used your chest to improve your sound, and say a phrase or word instead of nonsensical screaming, then the effects of the skill would increase. Ferocious tugged that piece of information away and learned a few offensive moves from him.

In the packed streets Ferocious walked slowly towards the signup tent. He only had a few hours but he was quite patient and didn’t feel the need to rush as his eyes partook of the sights of the cities. There were quite a bit of good leveled players in the city but the occasional skirt chaser could also be seen. In Bellen, Ferocious had spent the first few weeks assimilating everyone to the game but the people who didn’t change were forcibly thrown out. The Guard wasn’t allowed to do so and it was up to Feral Code to implement a strict anti-harassment rule and carry out the punishment. Leaving them in would cause a great deal of problems and Ferocious didn’t need any such headache.

Ferocious had never lead a Guild before in any of the games he had played. He was usually either an Officer or just a member and he felt he was good at following orders. As a Leader though there were countless problems that seemed to need his help all the time. Assigning Jerome as his Vice was a good idea since he could take care of the NPC aspects of the Guild but it was the Players that caused problems. Most had trouble getting used to the game and most were quite lazy about what they needed to do. The larger fellows had taken to telling smaller players what to do and ordering them around. The Player higher ups had different takes on how to tackle this.

Levi took the smaller players under his wing and personally taught them what was needed to play the game. He had his own veritable army of young folks and they were quite loyal to him. Actually it was more like Hero Worship than anything else and they followed where he led more than where Ferocious led. This was fine with Ferocious since he trusted Levi to keep them from getting into trouble.

King was a little more forceful. He was a security guard IRL and he had taken to actively enforce some of the Guild rules. He had been the first to tell Ferocious of the problem and Ferocious gave him permission to kick them out. King made several trips around the city every day in different routes in order to keep the order. Overall this surprised Ferocious who had seen him when he was at is more arrogant.

There were other officers of course but they haven’t been introduced yet.

Ferocious’ actions towards the bullies was quite harsh. He would view the scene, count the evidence with his head and eyes - he could always take the video and post it online for proof - and then he moved. Usually the entire thing ended with several arms broken and maybe one or two deaths. At first a person would wonder why he named himself Ferocious but scenes like this cemented the reason in everyone’s eyes. His mad grin as he beat them was the stuff of rumours and many Players and NPCs avoided pushing him too far.

All of these actions did serve to effectively make Bellen peaceful and Ferocious didn’t think he did half as bad a job as he thought. Especially when he compared Bellen to Kiryun.

“Hey! HEY MISTER!”

Wondering who that call was for, Ferocious turned around to check. To his surprise he saw the Noble from Bellen rushing towards him. He wasn’t dressed in any flamboyant clothing like before and Ferocious probably would have missed him if he wasn’t called out. Still a little shocked at the meeting, Ferocious barely noticed when they went into an empty bar.

“Its been a while milord. How have you been.”

Best to start off polite. Ferocious was pretty sure the relationship between the two was uncommonly friendly already so it would be best to strengthen this.

“Ah, I’m not really a noble you know. My family doesn’t own castles or land or anything. Just one really big house. Anyways, how have you been doing? I see you became a Knight yes? Or are you a Paladin?”

Not a Noble? The man can’t be serious. He walked with a straight gait and an attitude that disregarded anyone who he didn’t care about. The armour set he had worn before was made of Wolf fur but there was a quality to it that differed from normal armour sets. It was probably extraordinarily expensive and there was also the case of the Gravity Rings. Ferocious had asked around for information about Enchanted equipment but he was laughed at by the mages around. The Enchanting technique was incredibly secret and Enchanters and their items were the rarest of the rare. They had eyed his ring a few times during the conversation so he ended it rather quickly but he got the information he needed. Enchantments were very rare and that meant expensive. If this man wasn’t a Noble then what could he be?

“Yes, I’m a Knight. Paladins required too much work to get a Class for and the other Classes didn’t suit me much. Ah, I should thank you for your rings. They increased my strength quite a bit in the early days of training so I finished it quicker than my peers.”

“Good, good. Do you wish to upgrade? Trade those 2 rings for a 50% one this time? Oh don’t worry about bothering me, I can create stronger ones when I have the time. Here, here.”

This was not a normal non-Noble response. Adventurers were quite possessive of the items they obtained. Especially the NPC ones. They risked their very own lives to obtain items and most wouldn’t give any of the items away without a catch. Most go around to try and get the best haul they could and then retire in relative comfort. It was the Adventurer’s dream.

No one should just give things away like this. it was abnormal in and of itself. If he obtained the rings from his adventures then it should be stored and kept away from others, not given away freely. He said he wasn’t a Noble but only a very rich man could have items like this and Ferocious couldn’t see a Merchant giving things away for free either.

Ferocious traded his two rings for the new one and immediately noticed the different feelings. He had taken off the 35% rings and gotten lighter and his body relaxed itself. He didn’t even notice the tension that was released. Then he added the 50% ring and had to keep himself balanced properly. He had to go through all of that extra weight again but he had seen the stat gains and knew it would be a good choice. He had once compared his stats with Levi and King and seen the difference rather clearly with his higher Strength and Vitality. Besides, his stats now could probably take the extra 15% gravity.

“I just remembered that we haven’t introduced ourselves. My name is Michael Kane. I’m a...combat class like yours but I can use a tiny bit of Magic when I need to.”

Kane...Kane...that named sounded quite familiar to Ferocious. He couldn’t place it in his mind though so he just stored it for later.

It was the second bit that caught his attention. A Magic using Combat class? Was he a spellsword or something? The Combat Series had no magic users at all and Ferocious only knew that Mages were being trained by the Information Church. He had never heard of dual classes and he was rather sure that there was a distinct lack of NPC mages anyways. The few he found were old and wizened while the rest were shut-ins.

“My name is Ferocious. I’m of the Knight Class and I’m obviously an ‘Otherworlder’ unlike you. I’m going to be participating in the Tournament tomorrow, Will you be watching?”

Maybe he could impress Michael with his new Knight skills. Ferocious didn’t think Michael could participate anyways. It would be good to have a watcher see how you do in a fight. Kind of like how sport players play harder when they know theres a scout coming to watch them.

“Hmm? No, I’ll be taking part. I barely made the cut at level 71 so I hope to face you in the finals.”

Grah. Ferocious didn’t think he was actually higher in level than Michael. The man had what? Overall total of over 300% Gravity Rings on him? Ferocious was struggling with just the basic 50%. How strong was he anyways?

Ferocious had once compared his stats with an NPC. The difference wasn’t really bad but the other person had been training for a good chunk of his life. However, while the stat difference was rather minimal, the fighting experience was the biggest thing. Ferocious couldn’t handle himself against a 13 year old with training and that was a very sobering thought. Michael here had the experience of an NPC and probably higher stats than himself. Waay higher.

After a few hours the two broke up from their conversation and went their own way. Ferocious was in some low spirits as the talk went on as Michael explained about the Dungeon he had been in. The Dungeon had been a trap and he had wasted 2 months inside due to the time spell. He basically finished it in 3 days but his level had rocketed to 71 in that short time.

As Ferocious walked he took in the sights again and walked. The closing shop stands. The milling people that would soon empty out. The multitudes of posters and the ads for the Tournament. Kiryun was not a night city and only the ‘Otherworlders’ actually went out frequently at night.

All of a sudden Ferocious stops and stares at one of the posters. Posters. Tournament. Sign Up. Nighttime. LAST DAY!!!

Ferocious turned and ran towards the tall Coliseum. The clearing streets enabled him to run rather unheeded and he made it in no time but it was to no avail. The Sign up tent had been taken up and the list of participants had been posted. The Tournament information would be posted the next day and the Tournament would stat too. Ferocious was too late.

Last night had been the worst. When Ferocious told his Officers that he hadn’t been able to sign up he had to take their jeers and laughter for hours. He couldn’t even blame Michael either since he hadn’t told the man he didn’t sign up yet. Ferocious was the only one who knew he needed to sign up and he had forgotten so he deserved everything that was coming. Still, Ferocious was sad for most of the night and the next day he was melancholy as he seated himself.

His Guild members weren’t total assholes though. Once they knew he would need to watch them they used their various new connections in the city and obtained a spot in the VIP section of the Coliseum. The room had a high and open vantage of the arena and when the Officers lost or won they would join him in the room. If they didn’t die of course.

Sitting himself down in the spacious room, Ferocious listened to the loud cheers outside. The room was about 6 metres in length and was only furnished with several stacks of chairs for anyone who wanted it. Ferocious placed 7 chairs and sat down in the middlemost one which was in front of the door. The space that opened to the arena had a short wall that went up to Ferocious’ waist that he could easily lean on if he wanted to.

The screams and cheers of the arena nearly deafened his ears and Ferocious looked down upon the arena. He was situated on the far south of the Arena in one of the special boxes that were placed there. He could see people inside of some of the VIP areas when he tried to look but the overall privacy of each was assured. If he looked at the people above him he would only see a bit of their ceiling, the people below would be completely obscured unless any of them stuck their bodies out like he did.

The section he was in was void of any other sort of crowds and rest of the stadium was covered in people who had arrived early to take their seats. The actual tournament would start early and hopefully end by nightfall.

The ten rings in the arena field were placed in a circle where the 9 arenas were surrounding the centermost one. The rings were most likely temporary items since the Arena was usually used for training purposes but Ferocious couldn’t figure out how the rings could be removed that way. He figured he would ask later.

Soon enough the tournament started and the first set of people entered the arena. Ferocious looked for anyone he could recognized and happily saw Levi in the centermost ring. He had decided to go the dual sword route and he had on his leathers that allowed for quick movements instead of the armour he wore against monsters. He usually had a bow, spear, staff, 2 twin swords, 1 greatsword, and several knives on him. It seemed he decided that using only one type of weapon would be better in this case and he went the speed route. If Ferocious knew King he probably went the Power route and had light armor but a long sword and shield.

Levi’s opponent was a creepy dressed Player. He had gaudy clothing and a had the look of some fortune teller/mage. Overall he looked like a clumsy spellcaster and Ferocious decided that Levi’s fight was pretty much a given.

The gong rang out and Levi moved first. His charge at the other man was smooth and quick and he was in range in no time at all, his strike about to connect with the man. All the other man could do was lift his ball in response. No. Some black smoke went from the staff to the ball and then…

Ferocious jumped out of his seat and clutched the wall as Levi screamed in pain. The entire Arena stopped their noises and the deafening arena echoed the screams for what felt like a long time. When Ferocious saw the other man go to Levi he thought the man would end it quick. Then he saw the staff being raised and Ferocious cried out when the staff pierced Levi’s body. Ferocious’ eyesight turned pure red and he didn’t even notice the rest of the fights. He was quivering with an anger that he hadn’t felt before and the only thing that pierced it was the maniacal laughter the man continued until the end.

After a few rounds continued, Ferocious managed to calm himself down. Actually it was Levi who did that when he walked into the room looking no worse than usual. His half-eaten body had been fully healed by a watching cardinal and he was repaired fully. The only signs of damage was the haunted look in his eyes when Ferocious saw him.

“Hey man, you alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine. I don’t hurt anymore and I feel as good as ever. The memories though. I can still remember the pain from whatever he did and even the pain from where he stabbed me but…”

Levi grabbed his chest and shivered visibly. Ferocious didn’t say anything and waited for him to continue.

“I...I blacked out when he...chomped on me. Luckily I guess. I woke up to lots of healers and...I came here. Ferocious, please tell everyone not to fight Necromn. The pain...I don’t want them to feel it. So please…”

The agony on Levi’s face was too much and Ferocious nodded in assent. Ferocious opened up Guild Leader Chat Screen and set the receivers to be citywide.

“I am forbidding all members from fighting Necromn. I repeat, I am forbidding all members from fighting Necromn. This is the wish of Levi so do not fight him.”

Slowly Ferocious received confirmation from the members and gave Levi the waiting nod. The Guild would not face Necromn again. Instead, Ferocious set Necromn on his Blacklist and then wrote a letter to a Player Administrator in Bellen. The Player would then give the information to Jerome and Jerome can spread the following news around to the other cities.

Necromn is to be hunted down and killed on sight.

For the rest of the day Ferocious and Levi watched the rest of the matches. Whenever Necromn came on, Levi paled and didn’t look at his match while Ferocious quivered in growing anger. Unlike Levi the other NPCs who faced him each died from his hands and that added to his joy and Ferocious’ anger. Only two members of the Guild were about to face them and they both dropped out. Soon the space was filled with all of the members as they lost one by one. No one had any real bad feelings about it and instead they solemnly watched the continuation of the Tournament.

When the Tournament reconvened the next day, the 7 members were joined by 5 others. Each of them was an NPC and a ranking member of some of the Churches in the city. The one who took the lead was a male Priest who went by the name of Glen and was a member of the Church of Ket, the most prominent healing Church around.

“Greetings. If you don’t mind, may we join you today? It’s a little stuffy watching from the stands.”

“Of course, there is more than enough room for you and thrice your number. Please make yourselves comfortable.”

The niceties passed quickly as the Tournament was about to start and the five quickly got some chairs and placed themselves in front of the open space with Glen seated between Ferocious and Levi.

A little later the rings in the arena started to fill and once again the fights started. Necromn was the main topic of the Tournament since yesterday and the other matches were completely ignored when he was on the stage. His foes were always kills the same way; they screamed in pain from his magic and then he personally bled them and used the blood to create a monster that consumed them. There was one exciting match where a Weapon-Master went and used a bow against him but Necromn’s range was not limited. The Weapon-Master screamed the same as the others and died the same way.

Necromn’s death count was rather high but there were some odd survivors. Levi was one of 3 Otherworlders who properly faced him and the rest were NPCs. The ‘Otherworlders’ managed to survive but only 2 NPCs survived their injuries and the rest had died. His kill count had reached 4 before the Final came around.

“What manner of man is this?”

Glen was extremely agitated when he saw the spectacle. Glen hadn’t been able to see the Tournament the day before and so he missed the entrance of Necromn so his question was rather expected. Ferocious gave a grim response and Levi stayed silent.

“He is one of us, an ‘Otherworlder’. Necromn uses dark magics to cause pain to his foes and then kills them in the most grotesque way. I do not know why. I do not wish to know why. He is a menace and if he isn’t stopped then my Guild will do it. After this tournament he will be hunted down and killed. Repeatedly.”

The coldness in Ferocious’ voice caused a slight stir among the religious folk but when they heard another scream come from Necromn’s opponent they decided it was the right course. Levi surprisingly spoke up.

“The pain I felt seemed to be focused on my entire body. Every part was assaulted and it was all I could do not to faint. Instead I screamed. It was incredibly painful and seemed to be endless so I screamed. I barely even noticed when he stabbed me but I guess when his magic ate me it was enough to overpower it all.”

Chills rose up everyone’s spines as they listened and watched the quarter finals. After the fight ended, an announcement soon followed that seven of the semi-finalists had given up and that the finals had moved forward.

This time the entire stadium completely quieted as they watched the two finalists head for the center ring. All of them sighed in disappointment when they saw the last finalist though. Dressed in simple leathers and equipped with only a Sword and Daggar, the finalist was deemed a loss and everyone grumbled about the oncoming bore.

In Feral Code’s room however, Ferocious stood up straight and then laughed.

“Ar-are you all right Fero?”

King was sitting on the other side of Ferocious and he looked concerned at Ferocious. Not only him, everyone in the room looked as though he had gone mad and Ferocious stopped laughing with considerable effort.

“Haaa I guess I don’t even need to kill him. Necromn’s opponent will do it for us. This will be fun to watch.”

The first smile on Ferocious’ face for days and it was in the shape of a feral grin that caused his Guild to shiver. Ferocious focused entirely on the fight and ignored the questions that were directed at him. He just waved everyone to the match.

Michael readied himself when the match was about to begin but he didn’t charge. Ferocious had quite the high opinion of Michael and he believed Necromn would probably lose to him.

Necromn raised the ball and the smoke from the staff rose to it. There were some worried shouts in the stands as they saw Michael just standing there but everyone shut up when Michael laughed instead. Shocked and worried, most wondered if the man lost his mind.

When Michael stopped laughing they saw him casually signal the announcer. Michael took off his shirt and Ferocious was surprised to see a very tough looking vest underneath. Springs were placed all around and attached to various limbs and overall it looked incredibly tough to walk around in.

“Ah, that looks like something I read once before. The springs lengthen and then snap back if the user doesn’t keep tight control over their muscles. The tougher the spring material, the stronger the snap back.”

Michael removed the vest and gave it over to the announcer.

“Folks. I am pleased to show the following stats of this vest to you. Show to all watching.”

Immediately an information box appeared in front of Ferocious’ face.

Heavy Restraining Vest[p=left]Uncommon

Durability: 3,001 / 4,000

Defense: 20

A high quality restraining vest made for people with incredible strength. Most masters of combat avoid even using this vest since the strength of it would cripple them.

Restricts 60% of movements.

Loss of concentration will cause ‘Snapback’ which means that the limb being moved will snap back into place and damage you.[/p]

Ferocious was more shocked than he needed to be. He had already known Michael had Gravity rings on him but this was a little over the top. The audience was now a little more positive about Michael’s chances but Ferocious knew it wasn’t over and happily watched as Michael passed more items over to the announcer.

“Show to all watching. Show to all watching. Show to all watching. Show to all watching.”

Ring of Gravity V1[p=left]Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 10%[/p]

Ring of Gravity V2[p=left]Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 25%[/p]

Ring of Gravity V4[p=left]Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 100%[/p]

Ring of Gravity V5[p=left]Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 200%[/p]

Now this was what Ferocious was waiting for and his feral grin became near mad as his eyes showed the future of Necromn. This time the noise coming from the Audience was growing and Ferocious was pretty sure he heard more than a few shouts for gambling bookers and that nearly made him laugh as well.

Michael caught his eye once more and Ferocious took his eye of Necromn and focused on Michael. Necromn hadn’t even bothered to do anything once his spell failed and Ferocious was pretty sure he had no other skill.

Michael raised his hand over his head and then a dark light spread out from it. It stretched out and once it got high enough it stopped and then spread across the sky, covering the sun completely and darkening the city. There was still a little bit of light so people could still see and soon after the Arena lighted up. Ferocious saw torches being lighted automatically and he suspected magic but again he was distracted by Michael’s movements.

Michael raised his knife and stabbed himself in the stomach. Shocked, Ferocious wondered if Necromn had something to do with it but Necromn backed away in shock as well. Michael kept stabbing himself and stopped soon after. The audience was deeply in shock as they stared at the scene and Michael himself...changed.

Ferocious didn’t know exactly what happened, but the air around Michael seemed to warp as he grew larger. His hair seemed to lengthen and wave around and his muscles were more defined. His facial features became more clear and handsome, like he was initially covered with a dirty thin cloth which he then took it off to reveal what he really looked like. Whereas Ferocious and the audience had a far and hard to see look at his face, Michael now looked way too clear to be real.

All of a sudden a boom echoed from the arena and the ground beneath everyone’s feet shook and anyone standing lost their balance and collapsed. Shocked and more than a little scared everyone stared at the large split that came from Michael’s slash on the ring. There was a clear split in the ring and Necromn was definitely shivering in fear as he back up. Michael also seemed to notice his slow retreat.

Michael raised his hands and two large flaming tornadoes situated themselves by Necromn’s side. He further raised his hand and numerous balls of flame were created and situated all around Necromn. The display was fantastic and showed remarkable skill.

“Is that difficult to do?”

Ferocious and his Guildmates were only new players and really had little experience fighting mages. The few mages they saw were either new Players, Old Geezers, Shut-ins, or prideful weaklings. This was the first real use of Magic they have seen and they wanted to know if there was better things.

“Yk *ahem* Yes. Mages act under the basic principle of ‘One Mind, One Magic’ and only the really strong or experienced ones can use multiple magic. Even then they just fire the magic continuously and they don’t strain themselves trying to hold magic like that. The easiest ones are single type magics like Fireballs or Stonewall. You just create the Fireball and fire it and then don’t worry about it or you raise a block of stone and then hide behind it. Trying to hold a Fireball and control it would take a lot of strain never mind a Fire Tornado.”

The explanation went right through Michael’s disarming of Necromn and then the dismemberment of an arm. After a satisfying scream Necromn reached into his robes to take out a dark Red coloured crystal ball. Michael didn’t seem to care and let him do what he wanted and Necromn raised the crystal ball over himself and shouted something indistinct. Overall it looked like a really bad Supervillain line where the villain was fashion blind, incomprehensible, and distasteful.

Ferocious wasn’t sure but he thought Michael may have actually twitched. That thought was promptly ignored when Michael cut off Necromn’s remaining arm and Necromn humorously twitched on the ground. Necromn was writhing and Ferocious thought he screamed but the Fire Tornado was rather loud and the heat coming off it started to further warp the entire ring. He could make out melted pieces of the ring pooling around the pillars and the waves of heat made Michael and Necromn start to twist and bend like a mirage.

Ferocious could just make out Michael picking something up and then the loudest scream emerged from the ring. The scream carried and grew louder throughout the entire arena and soon it turned into a raging roar. Canceling out all noise the Roar rose and rose and Ferocious thought that it was actually rising into the sky. Soon the roar started to diminish and Ferocious noticed that he had been staring upwards. So had the rest of the audience it seemed and when everyone looked down at the ruined rings they saw only a pile of dust where Necromn was and Michael wasn’t to be seen at all.

The walk to the inn was a short and silent one. Levi had gained almost all of his colour back and was no longer a pale person. It seemed Necromn’s demise had lifted his spirits and he was walking straight backed and happily. He bought himself a BBQ flavoured wolf sandwich on the way back and had eaten it with a gusto that made Ferocious sigh with relief. Levi was fine and wouldn’t have any more problems in the future.

The religious group had parted with ‘Feral Code’ a few blocks when they reached the center of the city and they had promised their help with the Guild. It seemed Kiryun had quite a few problems that made Bellen look like kindergarten and they need as much help as they could. Problems like newbie sweat farms, illegal Dungeon taking, PVP trappers and massacres done by PVPers. The list was near endless. The Churches had somewhat hired a force of sympathetic or morally sound ‘Otherworlders’ but the Guilds didn’t dare do anything about it. They seemed to only care about their Guild standings and not about what ‘Otherworlders’ did or didn’t do.

With the Churches of Kiryun on his side, ‘Feral Code’ had a high chance of successfully integrating the Players of Kiryun into the same rules and community that Bellen had. All that was needed was to get the Series to cooperate and then start recruiting Players fully.

Soon enough all of the members thoughts turned to the Tournament. Necromn himself would have been the talk of the town and videos had probably already been posted of the match he was in but it was his opponent that everyone would remember. Michael had managed to twist his average appearance into one that was stuck in everyone’s mind. His actions were unbelievable for a level 70-150 tournament and his leaving meant that nobody could even interview him to see who he was. Without his super mode on it would probably be difficult to just notice him nevermind recognize him as that beast.

“H-hey boss. Who the heck was that?”

One of the officers asked the question with a wondering tone and most of them had the same wonder in their eyes. What they had just seen was probably the biggest thing in Gaia ever. The game had only just started and already it surpassed any sort of movie or game they had played before. Never could they immerse themselves in the tournament or fights or even become part of such a frenzied crowd and audience.

“His name is Michael Kane. I met him right after I started the game and he gave me one of his gravity rings. In the beginning it was the two low one, the 10% and 25% ones. I met him yesterday and I got an upgrade to a 50% one and...Hey King, what are you doing standing there for?”

King had paused his walking in the middle of the street and struck the common ‘consideration’ pose. That is, he leaned to the side, his head tilted and his hand grabbing his chin. His other hand grabbed the elbow of the arm and he had a concentrating look on his face. Ferocious could almost imagine the light bulb that should have went off when his face changed to recognition.

“Kane! If what you said was true then he must be -”

Alright my second SS about Ferocious. He has not gained the necessary Class and even made his own rather successful Guild. This is pretty much what Ferocious had been doing since Michael spent those months stuck in the Mountain.

Levi and Hentaiking are regulars in the Guild.

Sorry for not using the guild names that were given. I know I wanted Code but I wanted it to be more violent.

Hard to write about Ferocious' violent streak. Hrm...

Oh yes, Please rate me. Blatant Advertisement!!! I'm a petty man. Give me rates so I can rank better.