“Failing guilds sought desperately to change their fortunes. Inevitably, most would not succeed. People who spent time together and enjoyed each other’s company would seek out larger and more powerful guilds. The successful guilds often took smaller guilds in to provide a boost to their own strength and create teams that had experience working together already.”

  From “The Circle of Guild Life”

  Year 1, Month 2, Day 8, 07:00

  “You are Victorious! You have defeated all five waves of the Base Siege. Bonuses have been granted for having 89% of your Guild Members still fighting and 100% of your buildings still standing.”

  “All members of the guild are awarded 2,000 Free Experience. Additional experience for the combat has been distributed according to your individual participation. The guild has been awarded an agility course in the park. Players and NPCs may earn experience points in general skills such as running, jumping and climbing while training on the agility course. Obtain victory in additional guild base sieges to continue upgrading your park. Your guild has been awarded the Basic Wagon blueprint. The guild has been granted 5 teleportation passes to the trading city of Deep Harbor.”

  Torgon breathed a sigh of relief. This base raid went much smoother than the last time. The increase in the amount and quality of the available siege weapons let them handle the attacks with less stress. He glanced at the basic wagon blueprint, noting that it required a mount to pull it and it could handle two of the expanded blocks or 300 regular inventory slots worth of items. He passed it along to the budding transportation department in the guild and stepped into the library to await Hyperia and Dusty.

  Torgon had reached level 14 during the events of the previous days and assigned his attribute point to Presence. It lagged far behind the others as only the stealth skill boosted it currently. Torgon now had a free slot in combat as his dodge skill finally reached 10. He went over the available abilities and chose Physical Resistance. The skill would reduce incoming damage from physical attacks by 1 for every level. Higher levels would meet the prerequisites for other resistance skills.

  Dusty and Allestor both praised their resistance skills. They fought in the thick of melee and took hits often. Torgon decided it was time to broaden his offensive focus and add more defensive abilities to his repertoire. Large scale battles already threatened his health pool, and the new skill would help mitigate the problem.

  Hyperia and Dusty arrived together and Dusty dropped a thick book on the table. She said, “I found a guild quest for us in here. It requires a party of five with an average level of at least 10. You need a common rank adventurer’s hall, trading hall and library to accept it.” She pushed the book over to Torgon and he picked it up.

  “You have received a Quest! Advanced Guild Quest: A Part of the World 1. Requirements: Travel to Miller’s Crossing with a party of five that must include the guild master and help in the soup kitchens. Rewards: Each participant will have the cooking skill added to their character. This may increase the number of skills above available slots. Completion grants access to the next quest in the chain. Every guild member will receive 100 Free Experience and 10 Guild Contribution Points.”

  Torgon looked up, “Well, now I have a quest to do.”

  Hyperia blinked, “It’s been assigned to me as well.”

  Dusty cleared her notification, “Same here. It looks like the system picked who it wanted to go on the quest. The other two should be here soon.”

  Curious Kate strolled into the library, “Why do I have a quest to go cook in a soup kitchen? I was going to go out hunting.”

  Torgon laughed, “Plans change. We’ll start the quest line after the fifth shows up.”

  The four talked casually until they were interrupted by a message from Mark, “I need you all at the entrance portals. We have a situation.”

  Torgon responded, “We’re on our way there now.”

  They arrived and saw a gathering of a few hundred new people fresh to the guild. Standing prominently in front of the group were Thomas Cook, now renamed to Captain Cook, The Midnight Maiden and Alpha Flame. Torgon grinned, “It looks like the system approved the idea of a merger.”

  Captain Cook walked forward and offered his hand to Torgon to shake. “It did and it was quite forceful about it. We’re on a trial period to make sure we mesh. Only about 20% of our remaining members qualified for some reason.”

  The Midnight Maiden looked around coolly, “Torg. It’s been a while since we’ve been on the same side.”

  He nodded, “It has. It’s going to be a mouthful to call you The Midnight Maiden constantly, do you have a suggestion for something shorter?”

  She narrowed her eyes at Torgon then turned to Hyperia and Dusty, “If we’re shortening names, you can call me Em.”

  Alpha Flame watched the exchange quietly. Confusion painted his features and he eventually spoke up, “Why do I have a guild quest already, and why in the hell do I need to go to soup kitchens?”

  Torgon waved away his concerns, “We’ll get to that. It’s an important quest with major implications for the guild.” Hyperia gave Torgon a side eyed stare as he continued, “Right now I want to get everyone settled in quickly.”

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  Torgon addressed the assembled group, “The resource fields are open to everyone. You can earn guild contribution points quickly by farming and donating resources to the guild coffers. Quests are available at the Adventurer’s Hall. The library sells skills to players up to common rank for GCPs.”

  “We have an unusual guild quirk that I need to explain quickly. Everyone here has their pain threshold set at 100%” A skeptical murmur ran through the crowd. “I know it sounds crazy, but you will find yourselves in situations where your pain threshold has forced increases, like dungeons. One reason we’re getting all the first clears is that we’re used to fighting with higher pain levels. Another reason is that your combat experience is proportional to the level of your pain threshold setting. If you want to be the best, blood and suffering is necessary.”

  The Midnight Maiden pointed at Kate, “Doesn’t the guild have a bunch of kids in it? That seems crazy, even for you Torg.”

  Kate stepped forward proudly, “My pain threshold has been at 100% the entire time I’ve been in game. I fight a lot and I bet I could take any of you.”

  Alpha Flame laughed derisively, “Ok little girl.”

  Kate’s eyes narrowed, “Want to go right now?”

  Alpha Flame looked to Torgon, “Is she serious?”

  He nodded, “Yeah, she’s serious. It will also be a good demonstration for everyone.” Torgon motioned for everyone to move to the training yard. He leaned over to Kate, “Don’t be too rough on him. It’s his first day here and I think he’s nervous and unsure.”

  She bobbed her head, “I won’t make him suffer.”

  Alpha Flame pulled out a gleaming long sword and settled into a stiff stance on one side of the sparring area while Kate pulled out a short slashing sword and a smaller stabbing sword.

  Captain Cook and the Midnight Maiden stood with Torgon and the others. The Midnight Maiden said, “This isn’t going to be close.”

  Captain Cook snorted, “Of course not, my son has top tier gear and she’s just a little girl.”

  Em shook her head, “No, Alpha Flame isn’t in the same league as her. She’s going to wipe the floor with him.”

  Torgon chopped his hand down, “Begin!”

  Alpha Flame strode forward waving his sword and Kate darted towards him, blocked his blade, hooked her leg behind his and jerked him down. He was utterly unprepared for the strength disparity. His shocked expression turned to a cry of pain as Kate mercilessly slashed and stabbed him until the battle ended in less than twenty seconds.

  When the damage cleared away, she smiled brightly, leaned down and pulled Alpha Flame to his feet. “Don’t feel bad,” she said. “I’ve been training with Allestor and Ovarrix and fighting the entire time I’ve been in this world.” He stammered out a thanks then slipped back into the assembled players. Stunned expressions plastered the faces of the fresh recruits.

  Torgon spoke, “Another lesson. Notice that Kate is higher level than Alpha Flame. Never judge anyone by their size. Strength is taken from attributes and even children can be many times stronger than a full-grown adult.”

  Captain Cook asked, “How old are you?”

  Kate scrunched up her eyes and said, “I’m not sure. I was 8 years old when I started playing and my birthday was a month away, but I’ve been in game for over a month.”

  Torgon looked at the young girl, “We’ll figure that out soon Kate. I’ll set up a meeting with everyone that’s a resident and have Dr. Masters help us decide on how to handle birthdays.”

  He motioned Mark and Ashford forward, “These two will show most of your around the base and answer any questions you have. They can help you find the right teams to work with based on the direction of your interests and abilities. Captain Cook, go with them. I think you will find it enlightening. Your son will be accompanying me on a guild quest.”

  Em eyed Torgon, “What about me?”

  Torgon laughed, “We’re putting you in charge of a farming team. You can take whoever wants to work on fighting out in the Broken Hills. You can coordinate with Ovarrix, Markus and Dirk on locations and start trying to get caught up to where we are.”

  Alpha Flame groaned, “I really have to go work in a soup kitchen?”

  Hyperia smirked, “Yes you do. If it helps, Kate’s coming along too.”

  He shuddered, “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

  Torgon and his temporary party took the portal from the guild base to Miller’s Crossing and started traveling to the refugee district. NPCs and a few players from across the starting zones had migrated here. The influx of threats from monsters drove rural NPCs into the safety of the towns. It was crowded and food was a problem.

  They asked directions from the people on the streets and found a hastily constructed building with lines of men, women and children stretching out into the street. The queue moved slowly under the watchful eyes of a town guard. He noticed the party and his eyes widened and he spoke, “Sir Torgon, please come inside. We’re expecting you!”

  Inside the building, long low tables were filled with people eating from bowls with crude utensils. The air grew warmer as they approached the kitchen. The guard gestured for them to step inside. Waiting for them was Sir Malik.

  The knight beamed and spoke, “Thank you for coming. I wanted to show you the issues the starting zones are currently facing.” He gestured at five large cauldrons filled with water and warming over a fire. “Please, we can make a healthy stew for the people while we talk.”

  System notifications filled Torgon’s vision.

  “You have been awarded the Cooking Skill. You have 6 of 5 universal skill slots filled. You must clear 2 slots in order to free one up.”

  “You have been awarded the Hearty Rabbit Stew recipe.”

  On benches beside the cauldrons the team found carrots, potatoes, celery, barley, oats and chunks of rabbit meat. They quickly set to cutting the vegetables and meat before tossing them into the cauldron. Alpha Flame eyed the others for a long moment before starting on the food in front of them. Sir Malik hummed while they worked, clearly happy to be serving the people.

  Sir Malik spoke again, “We have many challenges facing the people. I wanted you to see clearly the suffering and need to help encourage you and your guild to work to improve the lives of the everyday citizens.”

  Torgon said, “You know we would always be happy to help Sir Malik.”

  The knight inclined his head, “I do. I feel that words don’t convey the need quite as well as seeing it however.”

  They continued to follow the knowledge provided by the cooking skill, stirring the iron cauldrons bubbling over the flames. The stew thickened and took on an appetizing smell. They added a sparing mix of pepper and salt to improve the taste and kept a watchful eye to make sure none of the food burned.

  “It’s not just food is it?” Hyperia asked.

  Sir Malik answered, “No it’s not. We have a multitude of needs and I have arranged tasks for you to demonstrate what’s required. Your guild has never failed to impress the Knights of the Sun and Rose and I am eager to see your response to these problems.”

  Torgon’s stew improved to a common quality and Sir Malik looked at him and then at his hands. “The gauntlets?”

  Torgon nodded, “Yes. They help a great deal with every crafting task including cooking.”

  Sir Malik nodded sagely, “This will be a fun series of tasks for you indeed.”