CHAPTER 5

Things required for creating a guild in the world of Terra:

A deposit of ten thousand gold coins A deed of landed property. At least ten players signed notes to join the new guild.

There were other things a player needed to make a successful guild like individual respect and popular but right now these were the necessary things, that night after logging out Leah had agreed to fight monsters to get the money needed while I would be in charge of recruitment as I would be the guild master when the guild is created.

For an hour now I had been checking the game forum looking at the rankings to see if any name with a low respect stat would interest me enough to warrant a search when I went back into the game.

So far there were three names that caught my attention, a level 41 dwarf whom was wanted in the dwarf kingdom of thranduil with a bounty of two hundred gold coins and two elves with levels 38 and 40 that had a joint bounty of three hundred gold coins after they murdered half the royal family of one of the elf kingdoms.

Seriously I don’t understand red players advertising their usernames on rankings when they can decide to not be on the rankings.

The only problem with finding said players was that while people were after them all no one knew where they had been staying so it was more of a search mission first before I could even think of asking them to join me.

Ping, looking at my mailbox I see a message form Leah “if you are trying to find hidden players send them a message through the game forum maybe they will reply” the message says.ahh what would I do without Leah ii think as I go to each prospects profile and leave a message each of them and waited for a response.

Thirty minutes later the elves had sent a reply saying they were in a desert in the Elf continent, no wonder no one had found them yet I doubt many players will go into a desert just to kill someone. After another thirty minutes the dwarf replied saying he was on his way to the elf continent too as he needed somewhere to lose the heat his bounty was bringing him. All I need now is money to pay for the journey, I mull as I wear my Nerve Gear and log into the game.

I appear in the forest three days walk from my prison and according to my map a week’s walk to the house I owned in the forest around Ritz. The sound of dogs barking alerts me to the people coming my way before I even hear their voices, casting illusion I hide in plain sight and hope that the group coming doesn’t have a strong mage that can detect me .

”Hey, are you sure we should be hunting this guy I mean he slaughtered everyone in the prison even Arthur and his sister were killed by him” a voice says as the barking gets closer.

“We can’t kill him alone so that why we have five hundred of the guild top players here along with two hundred soldiers from Roland” the second voice says. “Shut it both of you before you scare away our prey” another voice says as a player steps through the bush around me then another and soon there are more than hundred players passing me.

Some of the players are mages some carry bows while most of them carry swords or axes with them. Time to have some fun I whisper as I equip a dagger I picked after the jail break, waiting for fifteen minutes I step behind the last person in the column.

With a quick move I place my left palm across the players mouth and stab him twice through the neck avoiding his armor .I kill two more players this way before the group notices the dead behind them

“He is here fall into formation mages at the centre with archers and swordsmen at the front” a player wielding a staff yells as the players scramble to follow her orders.

Seeing that my sneak attack would work again I switch to a bow and begin shooting arrows into the swordsmen at the front averaging a kill for every two arrows I use as I move around the place to avoid been traced from the path of my arrows. Suddenly an ice spike stabs into my shoulder stopping making my spell to fall, “mages fire at the murderer in turns level 5 spells” the leader yells as I watch another spike come at me from her staff.

Summoning my fire golem I watch as it charges into the group and burns most of the swordsmen to a crisp.”Call for reinforcements a male archer yells as I charge my favorite lightning spell THOR and fire it into the cluster of mages killing at least ten of them. What was at first a large group of about a hundred and fifty is now a small ragtag group of thirty as my golem causes havoc on their forces.

The mage I have identified as their leader shoots a flare from her staff into the sky where it explodes into a shower of bright lights, less than ten seconds later a group appears a few yards away from the battle and soon there are more groups appearing.

“good show the grim reaper what you have to offer in his feast” I roar as I summon a wind and lightning golem to face the new groups forming up and rush into the first group stabbing the first player that approaches me with a hand covered in mana.”How is this possible” the knight says as his body falls to the ground.

Glancing at my mana bar I see that I have half of my mana, remembering a skill I wanted to test before I got captured by Arthur and his sister I yell “lightning blade” and a blade made of lightning thirty meters long appears on my fist. With the amount of mana the spell consumes I know I can only keep it going for maximum a minute before my mana drains completely.

Spinning in a circle I cut down all the remnants of the first group and yell out three spell for my golems to execute before they run out of mana ”burn to a crisp Vulcan, fury of the west wind, Rajin “ and the three golems fire off high level spells before they run out of mana and disappear leaving me with at least two hundred soldiers and no mana .

At least I still have my stats, I reason as I chase away the sliver of fear in my mind and use my speed to virtually teleport in the midst of the mages and archers.

With the fear of hitting their allies they fire low level stun spells at me which have n effect for someone of my level while I dodge the arrows and rip the small army apart, so for the next twenty minutes I dance around them and pick off the mages and archers one after the other running away from any swordsman that comes close to me.

When my mana gets back to one quarter I cast the lighting armor on myself and my speed doubles changing the fight into a one sided massacre and after an two hours of fighting the last person standing is an elderly man in chainmail with a long sword in his hand trembling from the fear of what I have just done.

“Leave this place and spread word of my strength make sure you bring more offerings to the feast next time” I say as I pierce his heart with a lightning blade. Going round I select all the high level equipment and pick the coins littering the ground “this should be enough to fund my journey” I say as I gather a total of two hundred gold coins in total and check my player profile.

Name: Michael

Race: Human

Level: 63

Title: Most wanted

Mana: 3600

Strength: 370

Speed: 220

Agility: 195

Stamina: 240

Luck: 10

Respect: -200

Buffs: none

Intelligence: 170

I gathered some of my magic books from my house then travelled the port city that was aptly named Newport. The npcs didn’t attack me on sight so it seems news of my criminal activities hasn’t reached here though the people of the city act.

Walking into a the office of the docks master I pay twenty gold coins for the trip to the elf continent along with two other players who wore robes and held staffs that indicated that they were players that focused solely on being mages in the game.

“You really need to be conscious of your surroundings” a voice says beside me as I watch the city shrinks slowly away and the ship begins its journey. Turning to see who it is I see a human player with the small green diamond floating above his head indicating the person is a player. Taking my time I evaluate his armor from the heavy chainmail that seems to sparkle to the short sword sheathed at his side and the shield strapped to his back that gives a faint glow.

Has to be a high level player”sorry but it isn’t your business what I do or don’t do” reply and turn my attention to the sea around us.”I know who you are Mr. Michael” the player says drawing my gaze back to him. Quickly I begin to run mana around my body with little sparks on my skin in preparation for my spell lightning armor. “Don’t worry I won’t hunt you yet” the player says and leaves me to go talk with other players.

Great now I have a potential bounty hunter on my tail I think angrily. Throughout the journey of six days I stay in my room reading the books I brought with me and at the same time avoiding the player whose name I found from one of the crew for the ship to be Joe.

For days I thought of strategies to use in defeating Joe after the third day when he defeated most of the pirates that attacked the ship single handedly. By the last day of the journey I had lost all hope of escaping if Joe decided to kill me or even capture me, that was until we reached the one of the ports in the Elf continent and found it under attack from a large amount of ships with pirates landing by the dozens.

“Captain please try getting the ship as close as you can to any of the pirate ships” Joe yells as the crew of our ship begin to panic at the sight before them. “Sorry good sir but I can’t risk been boarded, not with the amount of pirates around” the captain yells back. “If you can bring the ship close to them will pay you two hundred gold coins” Joe says. “Pay up front before I do anything” the captain replies. After watching Joe pay the captain I wait for the ship to move and jump onto the nearest ship I can find.

“Enemies on board” a pirate screams as he runs at me with his sword raised. A quick punch to his chest drops him and I pick his sword as Joe also lands on the deck of the pirate ship. “We will meet again when your bounty has reached a sufficient amount” Joe says to me as he grabs his shield and unsheathes his sword charging into a group of five pirates.

“That was close” I whisper as I watch Joe kill each pirate with a maximum of two hits blocking with his shield only when he can’t dodge their attacks and finishing them off with a stab through the heart or a slit throat. Coating my body in lightning I feel my speed increase and hop from ship to ship killing pirates as I move closer to the docks of the city. Boom, the sound of a cannons firing echoes around the area and mixes with the cries of the people and pirates as they die. Looking at the city that will surely have loot in it I give a small smile and change course from running into the surrounding forest I make my way into the city.

Everywhere there are pirates going into the houses dragging out men and killing them there on the streets while the women and children are dragged back to their ships but I pay no heed to the chaos around me and continue running deeper into the city as the houses begin to become more fancy with large gates and some elf soldiers with bows and arrows running towards the docks.

Choosing a house at random I run towards the fence and leap across the fence landing with a thud in a small garden with a statute of an Elf wearing armor at its center.

The compound is devoid of sounds but I equip my orc sword just in case and move into the house and begin my search for anything small and of great value. After three houses seven dead bodies later I have a pouch filled with diamonds and other gems. Running through the forest I pass survivors of the attack as they flee the city into the forest.

The best thing to do would be to move in the opposite direction as the people will generally head to the closest city when been attacked I reason as I leave the npcs and players alike, moving deeper into the forest. By the time my mana is half way from the armor usage I am already out of the forest and in front of a mountain range, finding a hidden spot at the foot of one of the mountains I open my player menu and log out.

In a cave far away,

“What do you think we should do about that” a voice says in a dark cave as an elf tries to make a fire to warm the cave that has ice along some part of its walls. “We let that guy meet us then we see if he can offer something we need” the elf says as the fire bursts from her palms and the wood she gathered begins to burn.

“What can he offer us; we have an army what more do we need” the voice says as the fire shows the second speaker to be another female elf. “What will we do if a group of high level players find us, remember three deaths and game over for us Jade” the second elf says. “How will he find us if we keep hiding Paige” Jade asks.

“send out some of your minions to the village nearby and order them to burn the place to the ground” Paige replies “if he can’t find us in two weeks time then I won’t even consider join forces with him” Paige finishes. “Good, my zombies have been getting hungry for live flesh some time” Jade says as hundreds of pairs of red eyes begin to glow inside the cave.

“Have you heard Broken sorrow guild is going to hunt a dragon that has been destroying small villages” an elf player said to his drinking partner in a pub. “Really wish I could go with them Finn” the partner replies.

On the elf continent there were plenty of guilds popping up around the place and one of the more prominent ones is Broken sorrow lead by the guild master Zero a mage. Days after the pirate attacks began at the port cities at the western edge of the continent there appeared a dragon that burnt down villages going as far as to attack people fleeing the burning places.

All attempts by the attack kingdom of Elfienhiem were without success so due to the recent goblin subjugation carried out by the Broken sorrow guild got the quest to defeat the dragon. “Me too but they are only accepting guild members and even with that the member has to be above level 70” Finn says.

Back in the broken sorrow headquarters which was a three storey building with a hall attached at the back the top members were busy preparing for the upcoming dragon hunt. “What information have we been able to get” Zero asks the players sitting around him in what is called the conference room by the members of his guild.

“So far there hasn’t been any survivor, because of this we have learnt nothing about the dragon” says Blue man a level 101 player that focused his fighting style in archery. “All that we have found out is that the dragons attacks villages within three days ride from the kaledera mountains” iron fist a level 92 player that was ranked in top 500 by the player even though he used only his fists and foot as weapons.

“So how many people are we using for the hunt” Zero asks. “Including personnel for cooking and other chores three hundred elves not counting the mercenaries and soldiers that the city has provided for us” an npc called Dave that had joined the guild in its infancy reports. “Good gather the group we will leave the city in two days time” Zero announces to his officials thus ending the meeting.

The members of the meeting leave their guild master alone in the room as he ponders the dragon hunting quest, due to the structure of the game he didn’t know the rewards for this quest and if he declines the quest some other guild may get the quest along with great rewards.

“You are beginning to doubt us” a voice says form the small shadow at the back of the room. “What do you want Haden” Zero snarls when he sees the person coming from the shadow. The person is wearing black armor that absorbs the light around it and if one looks closely they can see a faint aura around the man.

With a black hilt sword at his hip and black hair shielding most of his eyes Haden has the look of a seasoned killer something that Zero isn’t used to seeing in people.”The leader wanted to remind you of the consequences if you fail in this task” Haden says with a smile as he notices the unease his contact is feeling.

His guild Grim reapers had at the beginning of the game acquired gullible npc youths, trained them and sent them into the world to form separate guilds as there was no distinction form the npcs and players. Four months in the real world almost a year in the game since the launch of the game started these youths have become powerful individuals but still serve the guild. “don’t worry if the dragon you guys tamed is any good the even as they are blessed by the elf goddess to revive after being killed then it would reduce their lives” Zero says. “Make sure it goes according to plan” Haden says as he steps into the shadow and teleports from the room.

Haden at first hadn’t like the fact that the game makers forced the players’ avatar to be erased after dying three times but now he could see the advantages it held for someone in the shadows after all if permanent death happens to a thousand people then that was a thousand less people in the race for the prize money and the leader had seen this hence the use of npcs.

Appearing in a dark cave that had been hollowed out by the slaves they bought then killed after the cave was transformed into an underground fort Haden made his way into a hall that had the feel of been a throne room as there was a large throne that like his armor absorbed the light but unlike his armor this light s converted to mana and is transferred to whoever sits on the throne.

“It is going according to plan” Haden says as he kneels before the figure on the throne with a staff in its hand. “Good then tell us your twenty brothers and sisters news of the world above us” the figure whizzes as torches flicker into existence showing the players sitting on thrones around the hall.

Haden shivered as he felt the intense gaze of his guild comrades, of the twenty members of Grim reapers at level 140 a level that would be applauded if he submitted his profile to the people in charge of the player ranking he is the weakest in this guild as the players were in range of 150 to 170 and the guild master was a whooping 190.

Even in their street gang back in the real world the guild master whom is also their leader there is considered somewhat of a fighting monster. Not wanting to anger those who could kill him for the smallest reason Haden cast the spell memory exchange transferring the visions of all he has seen and heard to the guild. “Soon my friends the world will feel our power but for now become stronger” the guild master says as he sinks into the ground and out of sight.

Elsewhere…

The sound of wings flapping disturbed the peace that was in the heart of the Kaledera Mountain range. a red dragon of about 30 meter s from the tip of its head to the end of the tail flew through the air with haste not bothering to rest from its journey into the elf lands around it.

Suddenly the dragon descends to the top of a mountain and enters the cave where another dragon this time the close to a hundred meters in length rests at the end of the cave” my king I have found the youth that was missing some months ago” the red dragon growls out as he arrives before the other dragon.

“Well why isn’t he here with you I can’t feel his presence nearby or could it be that he is dead” the golden dragon asks. “No my king he has been tamed by some elves and burnt down some of the villages at the edge of the forest” the red replies. Someone wants the elves to kill a dragon maybe advance into our territory in the process as well then they can use the fact that a dragon was the one who first attacked if I bring up the treaty I signed with their rulers seven hundred years ago the golden dragon reasons.

“Gather some of the warriors, ten should be enough in case the elves meddle in the affair and bring me back that tamed dragon dead or alive” the golden dragon growls with wisps of smoke coming from his nose as he remembers the humiliation the elves put his father when he was capture, made into a tame animal from his post as one of the highest predators in the world to the pet and pack animal tilling fields after his wings were cut.

“If the elves attack what should we do” the red dragon asks as he remembers stories of war from a time before he hatched and the resulting treaty that the dragon before him agreed to when it looked like they were going to lose the lives needlessly. “If it’s a war they want we will give them a war” the dragon says releasing an intense burst of fire at the ceiling of the cave.