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The last rays of sunlight shone through the big windows of the crowded common room at the Hive & Harrow, Holgate’s one and only inn. The beams lit up the hair of the tall blonde girl sitting across from Phil, creating a halo around her head.

She looked like an angel.

It was either the magical sunlight light or the multiple flagons of ale Phil Gardner had quaffed—

“Hey, you guys, here comes Lukas. I think this is it!” The blonde girl grabbed the hands of the the recruits on either side of her and squeezed them excitedly.

A few hours ago Phil and three other recruits had returned from a long day of being twinked by some of the senior members of the Golden Hawks, the most popular and desirable fellowship in the game. There had been a kerfuffle first thing in the morning when their fifth recruit, a little twerp named Justin, somehow managed to get Chad killed and Tyson almost killed by bringing a psycho NPC into their camp. Luckily, there had been a ton of Hawks around the training grounds so Chad got rezzed and Tyson healed up pretty quickly.

After that rough start, they hit the quests hard, and by the end of the day, they had all earned their daily max, and everyone was well beyond halfway to level 2.

Phil couldn’t complain.

“Well, Dannay, how are our little pledglings doing?” Lukas strode over with a big smile on his face and put his arm around the tall blonde girl. “Anyone pass out yet?”

“Uh, Linds is looking a little green. She turned towards the mousy-looking girl sitting next to her. “You doing okay, honey?”

“Yeah, just a little tired,” Lindsey said.

“What do you have to be tired about?” asked Seth McCafferty. “You were in the back most of the day.”

Lindsey’s expression darkened. “I am a scout, Seth! I’m supposed to stand in the back!”

“Hey, kids, no drama, okay?” Lukas put his hands on his hips. “You all did outstanding today. Really outstanding. Chad’s very excited for all of you.”

He turned to Phil. “Phil, you did great too, but unfortunately it looks like we’re going to need to pass this time around. Sorry, bro.”

Phil couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Hang on, what are you saying, Lukas? I’m not in the Hawks?”

“It was a tough call. It really was, Phil. You have a lot of potential. It’s just that the slots we have open right now just aren’t a good fit for you.”

“I don’t get it. Tyson said you needed battle mages. I thought I was doing well. I did more damage than anyone else. I took out the ratkin boss—”

Lukas shrugged. “Yeah, I think it was more a chemistry thing. You know, Chad is looking for people who’ll fit in really well. We’re splintering off a few sub-fellowships and he needs everything to be pretty tight.”

Phil looked around at the other recruits around the table. The only way they could be ‘fitting in’ better was because they were young. This was bullshit.

He drained his beer and stood up.

Lukas said, “Listen, Phil. For what it’s worth, you can keep the staff and bracers. They’re good until you hit level 3.”

“What am I supposed to do now?”