Phyllis settled into her chair and glanced at the paperwork that was pilling up. The children had settled down for now, and with Misaki off doing something she had some free time. Sure it might be better to catch up on her sleep or eat something. It was just that she was not feeling hungry, and frankly, she was too awake to actually sleep at the moment. She was just about to grab a piece of paper when she sensed a familiar presence. She sighed just moments before a gorgeous naked woman materialized in the middle of her office. When she saw who it was she asked, “I’m guessing you don’t want me to catch up on my paperwork or something?”

Dewari moved closer and laughed, “Uh, no. I actually came here to talk to you about something, and to do one other thing. Already finished that second task as it was nothing more than a little push.”

She suddenly deposited an object on the desk that came from nowhere. Phyllis looked over the object curiously. The object was a small blue gem that glowed slightly and sat snuggly in a silver ring that looked perfectly sized to fit her finger. Phyllis even felt a strong urge to put it on, and that rang a few alarms in her head. Cautiously asked, “What’s with the ring?”

Dewari materialized a comfortable looking chair and settled into it. Getting comfortable in a manner that drew Phyllis’s gaze to her bouncing naked breasts, she responded, “That is a Guildmaster’s ring. The kind worn by the masters of any primary guild. Your guild, thanks to its location is naturally a bit in the grey area, but we gods came to the conclusion that yours qualifies as a new adventuring guild. Now that your guild has grown to a decent size, it’s time you got your ring. It also means I have a few things to teach you. I am one of your patrons after all.”

Phyllis was not sure what to think, but she was still worried about the ring. “It isn’t cursed is it?”

Dewari gave her a look, and replied, “I can see why you would be worried about that, but no it’s not cursed. Though being magic if you do something stupid, it might have unwanted effects. Anyway, the main purpose of that ring is to grant you access to the Guild System. It is one of several organization focused system tools out there. Knight orders, temples, and kingdoms also have their own system aides. At the moment that ring will only grant you a basic level of access. The more advanced functions of the ring have been locked. Don’t worry you can use them later after meeting the prerequisites for using those features. Now why don’t you put the ring on, and we can go over the features.”

Phyllis glanced at the ring, and hesitated briefly. Her fear of the ring was fading. She knew that Dewari was not like a certain goddess, and she had a feeling that Dewari was acting with her interests in mind here. A strong gut feeling in fact, and she had learned to trust her instincts as they rarely let her down. Slipping the ring on, she felt nothing but a slight warmth that quickly went back to normal.

Dewari smiled, and said, “Alright, now that you are wearing the ring. It will be fairly simple to access the Guild System. You open the menu the same way you do your status. So go ahead and take a look at the guild menu.”

Phyllis had flashbacks to when her mom had taught her how to use the system. She had used a similar tone to instruct her. Still, she was curious about this guild menu, so she took a look. With a mere thought, a holographic menu appeared before her. She was not sure what she was expecting, but it was just a simple menu with dark text on a light blue background. So visually not all that different from every other aspect of the system, and her choices proved disappointing.

The disappointment of seeing nine options with eight of them being locked out must have shown on her face. As Dewari spoke up, “I know the initial menu can be quite disappointing. Those other options will unlock later, and while they are quite self-explanatory I will go over them later. For now, go ahead and select that Initial Guild Setup. So I can walk you through it.”

Phyllis felt a rush of emotion as she mentally selected the option. Based on the name it was clearly a one time only option, and the moment she selected it she felt a tingle. Then a small blue box appeared in front of her, but before she could read it Dewari was speaking again.

“Now that you have activated it, the system is going to scan your membership and charter. This allows it to determine your guild archetype and configure traits suited for your guild. It will also give you a small initial balance of Guild Points. Those are the basic currency for the guild and are used in every purchase from the system. Although some items will require special resources, I will get into that later.”

Phyllis noted that as the first box vanished, a new one had taken its place.

She read the window over and started thinking about what she had read. She was not sure why it included the cost, given that she was supposed to be selecting her free trait pick. Thinking about it, she decided one of the more expensive options would be the better pick. That meant she could exclude most of the training options. They were quite cheap compared to everything else, and honestly, the bonuses were rather small. Past level twenty they were effectively meaningless. The Nude Combat training seemed interesting, and the Basic Quest guide would likely be invaluable. Sure she would not benefit from it herself, but it sounded like something that would help her adventurers. Well until level forty anyway, but that was still a huge help. As for the last option she was not sure why it was the most expensive. Looking up, she asked Dewari who was patiently leaning back in her seat, “Um, about this ‘Act Naturally’ trait can you tell me anything about it?”

She leaned forward and folded her arms in her lap, “Why of course. It is one of those deceptive traits. At first glance, it might not look like much, but it is quite powerful. It’s more of a social pick, but it will help those who aren’t comfortable around naked women feel more at ease here. Don’t underestimate the value of a good social pick. In fact, I highly recommend that you grab it.”

Phyllis leaned back in her office chair and started thinking. Looking it over, and rereading it. She came to the conclusion that Dewari was right. It was a social pick and a very powerful one. Might have been worth more if it was not for its slight double edge. She realized while reading it, that there might be some special cases where thanks to the Aura people might forget to put on clothes. Not that it made much difference. As there were people that walked around naked a lot of the time. Her mind flashed to Emily, and she decided that the trait was needed. For Emily’s sake, she decided to pick it. That way she would have an easier time with those who weren’t as understanding of her choices.

It occurred to her after she had selected it, that she had not yet viewed what her free trait Demonic Embracement (Lust) did. A quick check gave her a nice description, while at the same time a new window was opening to replace the old one.

Demonic Embracement (lust): Your guild has embraced Lust Demons as friends and companions in addition to sometimes being a foe to overcome. Some members have even bonded with Lust Demons as mates. Members of the guild benefit from increased contact with lust demons allowing them to better read them during a social encounter. Improves negotiations with lust demons. Improves interactions with lust demons. Members are more attractive to lust demons. Improves skill gains of the lust attribute. May have additional effects.

These seemed interesting, but rather than consult Dewari again she started looking over her options. Some of them were clearly more important to get than others. Again she dismissed the basic training options, and instead focused on the more expensive choices. This time they were not free, but they were the more powerful choices. Looking at it, she felt that the Quest Guide was too invaluable not to grab, and that would leave her with 750 GP to spend. So she could dismiss Nude Combat Training, but it seemed rather situational anyway. So no big loss there, besides if she did need it she could likely get it later. That left her with a choice between Sex Training and the Improved Guide to Lust Demons. Of the two she was leaning towards the guide, but before she made any picks, she decided to speak with Dewari.

“I’m thinking that the best use of my points would be the Quest Guide and the Lust Demon Guide. Unless there is something I am missing.”

Dewari smiled, and replied, “Those are good picks. The Quest Guide really is a no brainer. Very little initial benefit, but it is great for helping new members reach the all-important benchmark of level forty. Some of those advancement quests even grant small bonuses to stats, or skills and in some cases both. Now it actually pairs well with those basic training options, but those are fairly cheap. Not to mention not all that beneficial past those early levels. Sure they provide a slight boost to skill gain, but it’s really not all that much. Not to mention you get them cheaper by meeting the automatic unlock requirements. The other item is not as powerful, but a great choice as well. Seeing as how your guild’s main source of revenue is the dungeon you bonded with. It will prove invaluable in helping your members get deeper. Meaning more revenue, and that makes it a good economic pick.”

Dewari’s comments reinforced her line of thought, and without any hesitation, she turned back to the screen and purchased them both. As soon as she did, a window popped up informing her that she had completed the initial setup of the guild and that she had been awarded two hundred GP. 

Dewari took that moment to speak up and start explaining things to her. “Now that your guild is set up, you can take a look at the other options on the menu. Let’s start with the Bank. It is pretty self-explanatory and can be upgraded later. The bank is where your guild’s funds are stored and can be accessed from your ring. Special rings you hand out and a safe that has been added to your office can also be used to access it. At the moment all you can store in the bank is GP, metal currency, and Crystal Mana. The bank also has a capacity limit, but that improves as you upgrade it. The upgraded versions can even store a wider variety of currency and precious minerals. Also, a similar item called the Guild Armory exists, but you don’t yet meet the requirements for that.”

Shifting her posture, she continued her lecture but on a different item. “Now Specializations and Traits allows you to review your guild traits. You can even upgrade ones you have, and specialize traits as well. For example, if you took warrior training, you could then specialize it towards a specific weapon like the sword. Doing so improves the bonuses when wielding swords, but other weapons receive reduced bonuses. This option is also where you look to buy new traits you have unlocked. As I alluded to earlier, costs of new traits can be reduced if you meet certain requirements, and in some cases waived entirely. The basic training options for example will automatically unlock if you meet their special unlock requirements. Not all traits can be unlocked for free.”

Phyllis found that interesting and even had a few questions. However before she could even ask them, Dewari was moving on to the next subject. “The guild overview is a rather basic tool that gives you a simple summary of the guild. Nothing fancy, just a plain window that tells you things like the current number of members. It can get more detailed on that with upgrades. As it is, you will get a basic list of what resources you have. Number of adventurers, number of guild workers, total member number, and a list of what facilities your guild owns. The Sub-guild overview is rather similar and allows you to check on your sub-guilds. You can see their status, membership, and resources at first. Again with upgrades the level of detail improves.”

Dewari shifted her posture again, and said, “Guild Relations is rather self-explanatory. It simply gives you an overview of your relationship with other guilds and even nearby nations that your guild interacts with. At the moment it won’t give you much in the way of information. It will tell you the general attitude you have towards the guild, and how they feel about you. Selecting a specific guild expands some of that information. For example, if you took a look at the Bordertown Merchants guild. It would tell you that you are both generally friendly with each other. That the Merchants guild is your supplier, and that your guilds are considered allies. 

Now the Policy Manager is a simple tool that I am sure you will love. It should help with the paperwork. It helps you set general policies and guidelines, update or change staff uniforms. You can also set regulations governing delves into the dungeon.

Anyway, it is about time I covered the shop. This is where you will spend most of your points. The guild shop cannot be upgraded, but it allows you to purchase tools to make your life easier. You can buy a lot of things in the shop, from simple guild rings that give staff basic access to the Guild System. To powerful equipment to use as rewards for your quests. Some items will require special resources to purchase. Like a mage’s staff will require Crystal Mana of the appropriate attribute and size to purchase in addition to GP. Some items even require gold and labor to purchase. Most such items are constructs like golems. Buildings also require gold and labor, but you can’t buy those through the shop. 

In fact, that brings me to the next item on the list, The Guild Planner. The Guild Planner is a useful tool that is mostly used for planning expansions for the guild. For example, let’s say you want a training yard. You could do it the normal way, collect some labor, give them a plan and materials, and set them to work. However, it can quickly get expensive and takes a lot of time to do that. That same training yard can be acquired through the system in half the time for less gold. Labor is still needed, but for the cost of some guild points and gold, the system will provide the materials and guide the workers to build it more quickly.”

Phyllis had a lot to take in, but she quickly understood that these basic functions were a major part of how guilds grew. She had known that towns could grow quickly, but now she was realizing that the system played a role in helping it happen. Shifting in her seat, she began to ask a few questions. Dewari seemed more than happy to answer them, and Phyllis was not going to pass up an opportunity to learn more about this Guild System.

Meanwhile, a group gathered at the entrance to the dungeon. Most of them looked a bit shady. Thugs really, brawny men that while not too bright knew enough to get jobs requiring brute force done. Not to mention it was obvious that they had really focused on their physical stats, but a couple of them were clearly rogues. The last figure who looked to be the leader, seemed a bit drained as if he had seen better days. Dressed in the attire of a priest, he would have been quite striking if it weren’t for the dark aura he exuded.