Main Hall, Gaming Sanctuary
"You look like crap, man," is the first thing that Sherry says when we meet up before logging in.
Honestly, I'm feeling it. I ended up oversleeping this morning, as well, but I don't really have any room to complain with how hard I've been pushing myself lately. It's entirely self-inflicted, and I know it.
"I know," I suppress a yawn, "I've got too much to do and not a lot of time to do it in. Patch day is coming, and we need to have a foundation in place to capitalise on it."
"The world won't end if you take a fucking break, man," Sherry frowns, "It's just a subpar VR game doomed to sink in less than a year."
Personal experience suggests otherwise, "I know what I'm doing."
She jabs my chest with a finger, "That just makes it worse."
Rubbing the sore spot, I cock an eyebrow, "I'm surprised you care, with how you've been acting around me."
"Me wanting to pry your mouth open with a crowbar whenever you start acting like a know-it-all wannabe schemer, and you acting like an obsessive gambler lookin' to hit it big with 'just one more go' on a game of russian roulette with five rounds in the cylinder are separate issues," Sherry retorts, "I'm still an employee here on top of that, so stopping you going overboard is my responsibility as well."
"I appreciate the concern," I rub my tired eyes, "But I really can't afford to stop yet. I do intend to take a break when I have a chance, but my schedule has been pushed up dramatically because of Henna's imprisonment and subsequent rescue. This mess with Geronil and Arevas needs to be dealt with first - I can relax once the Guild is formed and doesn't need my constant presence."
"Hey, is there a problem over here?" A male voice cuts in before Sherry can snap back, I think his name was...Henry? Sherry and Winfrey's friend.
"Yeah, this jackass isn't behaving responsibly," Sherry tattles, "He needs to take his stoic ass back home and sleep for another 20 hours."
He sighs, "Well, not that I don't believe you, but you know as well as I do what Gaming Sanctuary's policy is - if he can pass the Fitness to Dive Test he can play."
She frowns, "Really? Come on man, just look at him, the bags under his eyes have intercontinental luggage. You really going to give him a chance?"
Henry shrugs unhappily, "Rules're rules, Sher. The manager might barely show up, but I don't want this to be the one day he looks at the security footage and finds out I didn't follow policy - same for you, even if you're off the clock."
"Ughhh...fiiiine," Sherry admits defeat, rolling her eyes, "But you're paying for his cab if he fails."
"I don't know about that," Henry shakes his head, "Sorry to talk like you're not here, sir - could you step this way? This won't take long."
"I don't mind," I agree, following him to a more open space and obeying his instructions from there as we go through a few simple tests. Walk the line, memorise and recite a sequence of numbers...basic and easy.
"Well, against my better judgment, you've passed the FDT, and we are free of all legal responsibility that may result from you coming to harm by playing in your condition," Henry sighs, "I have to ask, though, are you absolutely certain you wanna keep going like this? You've been in here all day, every day for...what, two or three weeks now give or take? Our models aren't equipped to handle that kind of excess, and its showing."
"I'm sure," I smile apologetically, "Believe me, if I could get away with a nap, I'd already be asleep."
"Legally, I can't stop you," He scratches the back of his head sheepishly, "But you should take better care of yourself, sir. You passed the FDT for today, but I doubt you can handle much more than this."
"Guilds don't make themselves," I shrug.
"Oh, yeah, Win mentioned something like that," Henry's eyes flash with recollection, "How's that working out?"
"What fuckin' Guild?" Jade calls out unhelpfully.
I roll my eyes, "Four people - maybe five - including myself, and if I had to estimate, I'll be able to register as the first Official Guild - that's a Guild recognised by the game's system - within the next week. An Event started a few hours ago that'll give the last bit of Reputation and Fame I need, hopefully."
Henry smiles, "Cool, take it that's an impressive achievement in Astral Reckoning, then?"
I nod, "Very. Starting a Guild is a pain in the ass for new players."
He gives a thumbs-up, "Nice. Could you save us a spot if you pull it off? I'm taking some time off with my girlfriend to explore the place in a couple days."
Eyeing him critically, I shrug, "If you meet my standards and decide to stick around, I don't have an issue with that. Otherwise, I can pass along some basic info on sightseeing spots near Meteo City if you want - not that there's very many if I'm honest. Fander Field isn't particularly remarkable as far as landmarks go."
"Might take you up on that," Henry replies thoughtful, "Depends how blind Jinx wants to go in, really."
"You know how bad she gets about spoilers, dude, on your own head be it," Sherry warns, tapping at her phone.
"Yeah," he laughs, a tinge of fear creeping in, "Anyway, I'm gonna leave you both to it."
The man walks off to handle a customer at the front desk, leaving me with an irate Sherry giving me a judgemental stare. Her opinion on the matter is pretty easy to figure out, for a change. I'm not interested in continuing the argument, however, so I keep my peace and walk in search of my capsule for the day.
Barracks, Former Ulis Farmstead
"Yo," Jupiter greets us as we enter our Vessels, twirling the staff we loaned him - closer in size to a walking cane, with three tiny gems embedded at three equidistant points in the paddle-like head, "Did you see the forum this morning? Meteo City is going nutso."
"Yes," I stretch and roll my shoulders as I stand, "That would mean that the Empire is on the move, then."
Geronil caught wind of his exposure at some point while I was asleep, and now Meteo City is in chaos, with hundreds of NPCs across the city revealing their nature as his slaves, a large number of traps and barriers being activated, and the city itself effectively turning into a dungeon of sorts. The only places not under his control are the Cathedral - which is isolated by the excessively high number of traps and barriers around it, and the gatehouse plaza. Players have been trying to clear a path back into the marketplace with little success, in the meantime. Hadrian's been trying to get everyone to acknowledge him and Rambling Rose as the leaders of the counterattack, as well, only for people to go 'who are you?' in reference to me and that guy Windy enthusiastically emasculated.
Oh, and there are demons everywhere, can't forget about that. Dying to certain types of demon included in the lineup will actually increase the penalty from dying as their 'soul' is damaged, inflicting debuffs on the victim after they revive which makes recovering the levels lost harder - assuming they can even leave the Cathedral without dying again, which they can't.
If he's not dealt with in one Real week, he'll escape to cause problems sometime in the future, but I don't intend to run the clock that finely.
"Yep," Windy confirms, "They're waiting outside, actually, along with a huge amount of people here to run Farmer's Folly. Henna's been hiding out in the corridor to avoid the crowds begging her to fix their shit and so on."
Rubbing my eyes, I sigh, "Of course. Well, when the army arrives outside the city, they'll be setting up a temporary encampment to handle some of the city's normal operations. Consider it the system being merciful to us low levels."
Speaking honestly, this event will be a great chance for the people who've spent their time idling around the city completing menial Quests doing courier work and other stragglers to catch up with us here at the top, but what interests me most about the whole thing is the opportunity to farm up some Fame and Empire of Stone reputation. The only problem is that in the initial stages of the Siege, the rewards aren't really all that appealing to players at our progression level until Geronil starts escalating the conflict a day or two in, when compared with the effort required.
Better to let the playerbase handle it by themselves and gain some experience.
"Are we heading off now, then?" Angelus asks, leaning against the wall.
"In a moment," I turn to Jupiter, "A question for you first, though."
"My favourite colour is purple," he responds sardonically.
"Not what I was going to ask," I roll my eyes, "We discussed it last night after you logged off, and we're prepared to offer you a place in our Guild once I meet the requirements to create one."
Jupiter stands then spreads his arms grandly with a sly face, "But of course, for you recognise greatness in the arcane arts. Good, good, I, Jupiter Trail, Master Wizard (To be) graciously accept your off-ow!"
Jade kicks his leg from her cot, "Just say 'yes' like a normal person."
"Please have mercy on this squishy spellcaster and stop hitting me," Jupiter frowns, "My HP can't take this kind of abuse."
"Suck it up," Jade is merciless.
I shake my head, "Then the gear we lent you is yours to keep. If there's nothing else, move out."
We file out of the barracks in short order, finding Henna standing against the wall opposite the door, eyes shut and motionless. Hearing the footsteps on the floorboards, she twitches then opens her eyes and blinks twice, "Good morning."
"Hello, Henna," I greet her, "We're heading back to Meteo City with the army. I take it you're coming with us?"
"Yes," She nods tersely, "I might not be of much use, but it's better than sitting around here."
"As you wish," I smile, "Just don't go charging into the city the moment we arrive. Geronil's taken over most of it, and his defences are more than you can handle alone."
"I'm not that impulsive, Silver," She gives me a dim look, "Least not now I've had some time to calm myself."
"Apologies," I gesture toward the stairs, "After you."
Dungeon Observation Outpost, Former Ulis Farmstead
Pushing past the small line of people looking to speak to the Pioneers Alliance representatives about permission to access Farmer's Folly, it's true that there are a lot more people hanging around here than usual. The queue alone stretches a good thirty feet out the door, and a few dozen parties are loitering around the area, gawking at the Empire of Stone soldiers that were sent to deal with Meteo City's demon problem.
Over two hundred of them, including non-combat personnel and horse-drawn supply carts, led by a man with a green-rimmed cap with an Earth Crow feather - In other words, a Level 10-29 Troop Captain. I recognise him as Captain Jok Sheveret, a man who likely earned his position through family connections as a scion of House Sheveret rather than his martial skill or competence as a leader. He's here more to earn brownie points than actually deal with the problem, so when he turned up to the city in my past, he delegated most of the grunt work to the highly expendable Newborn after realising that it wouldn't be a simple case of just swaggering up to Geronil and taking a meek administrator caught red-handed to answer for his crimes.
Cowardice and laziness notwithstanding, I have to admire the pragmatism of the approach. Few forces in Merrow are as persistent or as unafraid of death as a playerbase motivated by the promise of payment.
"I guess we talk to the guy with the hat?" Jade queries.
"Yes, I assume so," I walk in Captain Sheveret's direction, drawing stares from the gathered players.
Captain Sheveret, a moustached man with deeply tanned skin breaks off the conversation he's having with his subordinate and regards us with arrogance, "Identify yourself and state your business or begone."
"Silver Nosster and company, we're the ones who rescued the Appraiser. We're ready to leave for Meteo City whenever you are," I inform him politely.
"Ah, the ones we've been waiting since dawn for," the Captain says, unimpressed, "You may ride with the supply carts. In future, I advise that you don't waste the Empire's time like this again. Not everyone is as magnanimous or patient as I, even if you were promised an escort by the Lieutenant."
I bow my head apologetically, "I will take your advice seriously, Captain. Thank you."
"Then go," Captain Sheveret immediately disregards our presence and turns to his subordinate, "Sergeant, rouse the men, we're marching to Meteo City."
