Asher let out a long breath. Calming himself he sent a group invite to Tosh, Keera, and Nadir. They accepted. Opening his quest they were only an hour and 45 minutes late. He picked Y.
| CONGRATULATIONS YOUR PLANET HAS COMPLETED THE TUTORIAL |
| The System's protection of your planet will end in: |
| 1,340:22:15:13 |
| 3 Trials for your planet will be conducted at random intervals during this time |
| to help introduce Earthlings to the Systemic League |
| This ensures that if Champions do not perform well, at least other individuals |
| may be able to catch the eyes of those in the League |
| Due to the quantity of Guilds on your planet, decisions on these Trials will be |
| made during Guild Conferences. |
| First Guild Conference will be held in: |
| 0:00:00:00 |
| As your planet's Champion you are invited to attend. |
| You may take 3 other people |
| Restriction: Must be on Earth to attend |
| Accept Y/N |
A white light enveloped them. Then they were sitting in chairs on a small platform. A new screen popped up.
| WELCOME TO EARTH GUILD CONFERENCE #1 |
| The System's protection of your planet will end in: |
| 1,340:22:15:10 |
| During this conference 3 major things will be chosen: |
| 1. Your Planet's next Trial |
| 2. An agreed upon currency for your planet. |
| 3. A Planetary Sponsor |
| The Conference will be for the next 18 hours. After the 1st 6 hours there will |
| be a 6 hour recess. For the last 6 hours votes will be taken and tallied. |
| If a clear decision can not be decided upon, the Champion or highest ranked |
| guild will make the decision. |
| Current Time: |
| 16:15:10 |
| Open Platform |
| Y/N |
Keera, Tosh, and Nadir appeared around him. Asher minimized the screen. They were in a large metal dog food bowl. Distinctly like the platforms on League Prime where Asher had his Trial. Around them was an opaque white dome.
“What now?” Nadir asked. Then the audio outside their dome kicked in.
“There is no guarantee that anything you say is true,” a faceless voice said.
“We did not start this, you did.”
“After you encroached on our land.”
“This is getting us nowhere.”
“Loud noises!”
“If you want to air this out here, then fight it out.”
“Enough!” A familiar man said. It was Wayne Tyler, and his voice sounded rather close. “We are here for 3 reasons people. None of it is to bicker over land or point fingers on who did what.”
“Easy for you to say. You all at Community started this whole thing with the Champion. Where is he anyway?”
“The Champion is still at his trials,” Wayne said. “He will be back when he is back.”
“And what if he doesn’t come back?” A new voice asked. “These high humans are tight lipped about him. Maybe he’s dead.”
“Asher Whitmore is not dead,” an angry woman’s voice said. Asher thought it was Joon. He was about to open the hatch when a new voice stopped him.
“What does it matter? Community can’t even handle one Red Quest target. I hear they grabbed this Superman originally and didn’t kill him. Now he causes them problem after problem. Why should we listen to a guild that can’t handle one System User?” Asher clicked Y. The screen dropped. He threw the severed head into the open space in front of him.
Without looking he jumped out. They were in a much smaller room than where his trial was held. There were platforms lining the walls, but only about a hundred instead of the thousands there were before. Asher landed at the center of the platforms on hard metal. The place quieted. He kicked the severed head of Raul Luis. It splattered on a wall. He looked around at all the different faces and Systems. IDing many he was impressed by a few levels, but not worried. Moving his hair from his eyes he made eye contact with many men and women from other guilds.
“Superman is dead,” Asher announced. “And I am back.” The room was dead quiet. He looked around from face to face. Joony leaned over the edge of her platform to stare at him. She smiled and waved, he gave her a wink, but kept his game face on.
“I have been nearly killed countless times since I’ve been gone. I have been in duels to the death. Been put on trial for all the league to judge me. I have freed slaves, and been enslaved. I have seen firsthand what will happen to this planet if you all don’t stop bickering.”
“I understand that all of you have been through a lot,” Asher said. “But I have been through so much fucking worse.”
“I doubt that,” someone whispered. Asher jumped up to the platform where he heard the voice. He was on it in an instant.
“Lawful Good!” Someone yelled. Asher turned to see a High Human on a floating platform above. “I am the moderator of the conference. No one may approach another platform.” Asher looked him up and down. He was a dark haired high human. He looked much like Sera who showed Asher around when he came to League Prime the first time. Perfect face and muscles. He reminded Asher of the Matt Damon puppet from Team America World Police.
“Fuck off,” Asher ordered to the high human. The man didn’t say anything but slowly his platform moved up and out of the way. Asher heard a girly laugh. He recognized it as Joony’s.
“You doubt me?” Asher asked. “That’s fine. It’s your funeral.” The stranger didn’t appear scared, he was a military man. He wore camo and some medals on his chest. Ash was about to jump back to his own platform when he noticed 2 of the people behind the general.
“Hansen! Franks! Good to see you made it,” Asher said. The boy and girl military personnel were Asher’s old guards before he left planet. “The rings do you well?”
“They did, sir,” Hansen said with a slight smile. “Glad to see you made it too. When did you get back?”
“Landed planetside on our Ethership about an hour ago,” Asher said. “Let’s catch up at the recess.” They both nodded. Asher jumped back to the platform he had arrived on. “Keera, roll the tape.”
Keera poured mana to the center of the room. “Here is a taste of what we went through,” Keera announced, her voice projected throughout the hall in a whisper. “More videos will be made available later on. If you don’t find it useful, let me know and we can stop.” The screen began with the explanation from the Helion captain of how space travel works. No one spoke. Everyone simply watched the movie play.
They moved from the explanation on the Ether Streams to videos of the Majoris Guild Headquarters. Huge ships floated in the air as they were constructed. There were a few shots from Asher’s trial that showed the variety of people represented in the League. She moved it to explanations on how their planet could be taken over by Sponsors. What could happen. They discussed Alliances and the importance of doing well in trials. Also the big players to be worried about like the Aartilliak Empire and Seinsterf Pirates.
She brought a light note up by showing their training with Isyant. Him speaking about their misuse of Mana. Simulations of what was talked about showed with her CGI skill. Tyranis’ voice as he talked about the Spectrum. Then Asher in the 2nd Trial as he talked about the different Mana Types. It showed the map and different options for people.
It moved to the processing hall as the gnome dug through monster parts. Tosh spoke about the importance of dungeons and what they bring to the economy. How you shouldn’t close them, or simply attack whoever is on the other side. There were images of the first dungeon they delved in. The importance of colonies was discussed. This was one of the major reasons Asher wanted to make it to the guild conference. Dungeons were more of a resource than they suspected.
Next the video moved on to the cities themselves. Showing the natural beauty of Elantontrin and other planets they went to. The plentiful resources and goods to purchase at the merchant mall. All the different accessories. Kytor did a long explanation on the value of things, and how the System Store was basically a ripoff. The importance of currencies for each planet.
After that she did a nice montage for everyone. The screen showed Tiffany flying around setting monsters on fire. Nadir and Keera casting their illusions to distract the Gone in the last trial. Vincent using his Climhazzard skill on a crystal monster in the 1st trial. Ming jumping from tree to tree with her Light Step. Ria tanking the giant Meowster. Bishop healing the group as they were bombarded with crystal shards. Abby casting a kamehameha against the Momma Centra. Batman disappearing in a huge shadow and using his Shadow of Death to kill a horde of Gone. Atalanta taking the hit of the Grav elephants in the second trial. She easily used her Invulnerability and Energy Absorption to take the blows.
Last she did a much longer montage of Asher. Him beheading Fetince Burill, he didn’t know she had seen that. Him jumping at Tiberion out of his Roktai Trial. She showed the guild master’s level of 122 over his head, then him getting hit and knocked out. He thought there was a screen of him facing the boulder full of prostitutes, but it was too quick to see. It moved to him and his warnings about Mana Corruption on a planet. Pics of what mana branches looked like. He was in his Berserker Armor tanking Crystal Boss after boss. The groups frustration as he pulled one after another.
The Crystal Deth roaring, and him flipping it off. The group running to him as he soloed it. His Judgment attack making it break apart. The screen moved to his interview with the other races. Him being arrested. His trial, and the Avatar of the System showing up. Everyone cowering but him. Asher being let go with a smile on his face.
She shifted it to their group talking with the other races at the second trial. She showed the foes levels and Systems. Them all working together. A quick overview Asher gave them on how to fight bosses. More of them fighting the bosses and hordes of monsters. There was a screen from outside their tent as the succubus made the girls scream in pleasure, he saw that one for sure. He would put money on it that Tiff made Keera put that in there.
Then they fought the dragon. A view of them posing in front of it. Asher said he’s keeping the head for a trophy. He was glad he remembered to get that. It would look great in the guild hall. Then their fight with the Havoc boss. Asher hadn’t noticed but they were hit with shockwaves from the Havoc mana as he dodged the attack. He sliced it in half with his glowing sword. They won the trial.
They jumped to the last trial. A quick explanation on a Wist. Asher taking control of the kingdom and kicking the royals out. Them fighting hordes of undead on all fronts. Then the Momma Centra. She was able to capture the chaos of everything going on at once. Groups of Gone, him taking on the Centipede. Cutting off a section and plugging the hole. Then all of them attacked it for hours. Finally she showed the Destruction Boss blowing them up. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it went right for Tiff and Dea. It was hard to dispute Dea’s claims with that proof.
Asher then attacked the boss, she was able to add the level and Risk of the boss above it’s head. He attacked it relentlessly. Both of them flying around and attacking one another. Him on death’s door. Bishop and Batman saving him. Then finally killing it and being thrown away.
It ended on a happy note with views of their ship. Them flying home. Landing, and then he was fighting Superman. He didn’t think she would be able to add that so quickly. He screamed and yelled at the System User. Fighting with his fists. Asher won easily then as Superman tried to fly away Asher threw his sword and decapitated him.
The screen ended, and the room was still quiet. “I don’t think that last 10 minutes was needed, but thank you Keera.”
“Tiff told me to,” she whispered. He nodded, she probably wanted to start his brand.
“High human,” Asher said to the moderator. “Can we get that screen in the middle like you guys did for my trial?”
The moderator acted like he was going to disagree but then nodded. A screen appeared in the middle of the room. It focused on his face. “Good. Now we have a few hours left. We can start bickering again, or do you want to ask questions?”
“Asher Whitmore,” a woman said loudly. “Where is our husband?” The screen moved to Advika, Pari, and Maya.
“Right here,” Asher said, pointing behind him. His screen zoomed out to show his whole platform. Nadir stood up and looked over the edge of the platform to find his wives. He cast a manifested illusion of glowing stairs and ran down to them. They yelled happily as they were reunited. “Everyone that went off world made it back just fine,” Asher assured everyone. Wayne was a few platforms over, he caught his eye and nodded.
“Anything else?” He asked.
“Are you still part of Community?”
“I am,” Asher said. “We have come back with about 40 aliens that will become a part of it as well.”
“How much of your movie should we believe?”
“Believe what you want,” Asher said. “Won’t change the truth. If anything, Keera wasn’t able to capture the true chaos in the League. It’s us against them. I have been able to secure an Alliance with the Roktai, this will help a little. This will not be enough. We all have our work cut out for us in the next few years.”
“How did you secure an alliance?”
“I am engaged to the Roktai guild master’s daughter,” Asher admitted. “I saw what happens to our planet if we don’t have alliances. It is not a pretty sight.”
“What about Sponsors?”
“I have a sponsor. My sponsor agreed to protect our planet for the time being.”
“What do they want in return?”
“Nothing,” Asher admitted. He wondered if someone was being prodded to ask. Tyranis had admitted there were many interested parties in why the Queen of Death had resurfaced to sponsor him. “I notice that we will be voting on sponsors today. Do we have a list of them?”
The moderator spoke. “There are currently 23 groups that have offered sponsorship to your planet.” A list appeared in the middle of the room. Asher recognized the Aartiliak Empire at the top of the list. He was worried about that, they had way too much interest in Earth for his liking.
“I know the League. You rate everything. What are the ranks of these sponsors in the League?” Asher asked. Numbers appeared next to their names. The Aartiliak was at the top at 10,531. “What is the rank of my sponsor?” Asher asked. Tacitae appeared at the top. Her number was 21.
“All of these sponsors want to take over our planet,” Asher announced. “Maybe they want the people, but more than likely they have studied the resources we have. We are on a Tier III. There is much that could be here we don’t know about. I for one will not vote for any of these sponsors. I recommend you don’t either. We will have a few more of these conferences. Maybe we can get a better idea of what kind of resources our planet holds. With any luck we can keep it for ourselves instead of letting these outside groups gain all the profits.”
There were a few nods. He let them think about that. “Any other questions?” Asher asked. No one said anything. “Good. I will be looking for my wife, Zora Mlakar as soon as this conference is over. If anyone has information on her I will pay handsomely.” Asher found Joony staring at him and gave her another wink. “I’ll talk to you at recess too,” he said. She nodded and blew another kiss. Asher jumped over to Community’s platform after that. He waved Keera and Tosh over. Tosh picked her up and jumped over.
“Can we silence this thing?” Asher asked.
Wayne nodded and pushed a button at the front. The white dome appeared. “Good to see you made it back,” Wayne said. He looked younger than the last time Asher saw him. “Tiffany ok?”
“Tiffany’s great,” Asher said. “Probably the 2nd highest level on the planet from what I see.” He had inspected a few people, a few were over level 40. The reps from Community were. He guessed that the people that had Systems before Initialization were the higher level people. Joony was the highest level at 45, but some had their levels hidden. “Congratulations on your newborn by the way,” he said. “You too,” he added, shaking Arnold’s hand. The Predator System User nodded.
“Joan darling, so good to see you. Scarlett, nice to see you made it. Amanda, my muse, you missed some fun trials,” he said. “Get the System you wanted?”
“I did,” she said. Her cheeks blushed as he winked at her.
“Lot’s to talk about,” Asher said. “Lots Keera didn’t show too.”
“Quite the shock,” Wayne said. “We’ve been closing dungeons in fear they would break.”
“Yep, first thing I want people talking about. I will talk to Joony, has she made contact with you yet?”
Wayne shook his head. “Haven’t seen her or Zora.”
“Joon’s here, we will get answers from her. First is gifts I guess. Then down to the nitty gritty.” Asher pulled out 4 Timeless Bands. “These are supposedly infinite,” Asher said, passing each to Wayne, Amanda, Arnold and Scarlett. They were the replacements for he and his team in Community so they deserved rewards. The other 2 had infinite space abilities, so he wasn’t about to try to compete with that.
”These are Comms,” he said. “Cycle mana in them to bind them to you. Then push them against one another while you cycle mana and it will save the Comm ID. They work planet-wide.” He handed one to each. “Last, a vehicle. Wayne, Tiffany has one for you. But this should help you all get around. Enough for 1 person they go about 200 miles per hour and work on mana.”
“What the hell, Ash. This Christmas?” Joan said.
“It is, and don’t think I forgot you owe me my cut from our dungeon dive Joan.”
“What? Anthony was supposed to give you your cut,” she said. Asher looked over to Anthony. The jolley old man was now much thinner and stronger looking.
“I forgot about that,” he said with a laugh. “It was 50 Syscos if I remember correctly.” Joan nodded, Asher took the money gladly. He had kids to provide for. Every Sysco counted.
“Good, now give me the rundown on the big players out there. The biggest named guilds.”
“There are some big named individuals not here,” Wayne warned.
“Let’s stick to who is here. I am sure we all have days worth of stuff to talk about.”
Wayne nodded and began. “In the states there is the Old Glory Guild. They are one of about 5 old government guilds. Old Glory is the biggest and is making moves to absorb the others. They are who you confronted when you got here.”
“I am sure they will want Vincent. Let’s be sure to get what information we can.”
“Then there is the Junak Guild. They’re in the mountains somewhere.”
“Junak?” He asked. That name sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it. “Who runs it?”
“An old administrator out of Colorado. They boast some of the highest levels. Their strongest is someone with the White Knight System,” he said.
“White Knight? I thought Systems were only one name?” He looked to Tosh.
“There are rare instances of two name Systems other than Heros. Depends on the world, but they are considered just below Hero Systems in the scheme of things,” Tosh answered.
“Oh sorry, everyone, this is Tosh. He is from Earth originally. He was reborn on Elantontrin with a System,” Asher said. Tosh bowed a little. The others took it in stride. “We can explain later.”
Wayne began again. “Last big one in America is the Seven Sins Guild. Their higher ups are supposed to have Systems with names of one of the seven deadly sins.”
“Cool,” Asher said. “Who’s the leader?”
“Wrath,” Wayne said. Asher hoped to meet this wrath, he sounded fun. “There is the Northern Guild. They are out of Canada. It’s run by an Australian jedi, and a boxer girl. They made a name for themselves by fighting against the clones during their tutorial.”
“Yeah, those guys are dicks. Have you met any of these people you’re talking about?”
“No, just word of mouth. Hope to do that during the break.”
“Good, I plan to give them all Comms and we can link them,” Asher said.
“That would help. Next is the Juego Guild out of the south. Don’t know much about them. The rest are across the ocean. There is the Yong guild out of Korea.”
“Joon is probably part of that.”
“Songoku guild out of Japan.”
“You gonna want to touch base with them Tosh?” The elf nodded. He was from Japan originally, all Isekais were.
“Ziyou Guild out of old China. They are run by a Vampire System.”
“Vampire vampire?” Asher asked. Wayne nodded. “Sunlight work on him?”
“From what I hear, a little. They haven’t really caused problems though. People still get freaked out dealing with him.”
“I bet.”
“Lyudi Guild is out of Russia or Poland or something. They are considered the strongest after us. Their leaders were stuck in a hell hole of a tutorial. Run by a guy with the Witcher System.”
“Neat, gonna have to fight that guy,” Asher said excitedly.
“There's the Wigan guild out of England. Run by a Samurai, but his second is supposed to be really strong. Rouge guild out of France is another. I hear they had it pretty bad too. They had some drama with their guild master and they’re run by a young girl now. Everyone seems to respect her. The last one I can think of is the Akhar guild. Out of the Middle East. Their guild has been pretty quiet, but after the tutorial a huge sandworm boss was causing havoc. The Akhar guild killed it, and united pretty much all the guilds in their area.”
“Guess we have our work cut out for us,” Asher said. “What about monsters? What levels are we looking at?”
“Lots and lots. Our guild was taken over by a horde of goblins. Took us a week to kill them all. Although we should probably thank them since we were one of the few buildings left standing. There are giant boss monsters roaming the landscape. Huge lions, tigers, and bears.”
“Oh my,” Asher said, looking forward to traveling the countryside. “Levels?”
“Anywhere from 1 to 60 so far.”
“Sounds about right. I doubt they will stay low for long. Before this thing ends I want us talking and working together. Here is a quick run through of our plans. We have to unite everyone here, and this is why…”
Asher let out a long breath. Calming himself he sent a group invite to Tosh, Keera, and Nadir. They accepted. Opening his quest they were only an hour and 45 minutes late. He picked Y.
| CONGRATULATIONS YOUR PLANET HAS COMPLETED THE TUTORIAL |
| The System's protection of your planet will end in: |
| 1,340:22:15:13 |
| 3 Trials for your planet will be conducted at random intervals during this time |
| to help introduce Earthlings to the Systemic League |
| This ensures that if Champions do not perform well, at least other individuals |
| may be able to catch the eyes of those in the League |
| Due to the quantity of Guilds on your planet, decisions on these Trials will be |
| made during Guild Conferences. |
| First Guild Conference will be held in: |
| 0:00:00:00 |
| As your planet's Champion you are invited to attend. |
| You may take 3 other people |
| Restriction: Must be on Earth to attend |
| Accept Y/N |
A white light enveloped them. Then they were sitting in chairs on a small platform. A new screen popped up.
| WELCOME TO EARTH GUILD CONFERENCE #1 |
| The System's protection of your planet will end in: |
| 1,340:22:15:10 |
| During this conference 3 major things will be chosen: |
| 1. Your Planet's next Trial |
| 2. An agreed upon currency for your planet. |
| 3. A Planetary Sponsor |
| The Conference will be for the next 18 hours. After the 1st 6 hours there will |
| be a 6 hour recess. For the last 6 hours votes will be taken and tallied. |
| If a clear decision can not be decided upon, the Champion or highest ranked |
| guild will make the decision. |
| Current Time: |
| 16:15:10 |
| Open Platform |
| Y/N |
Keera, Tosh, and Nadir appeared around him. Asher minimized the screen. They were in a large metal dog food bowl. Distinctly like the platforms on League Prime where Asher had his Trial. Around them was an opaque white dome.
“What now?” Nadir asked. Then the audio outside their dome kicked in.
“There is no guarantee that anything you say is true,” a faceless voice said.
“We did not start this, you did.”
“After you encroached on our land.”
“This is getting us nowhere.”
“Loud noises!”
“If you want to air this out here, then fight it out.”
“Enough!” A familiar man said. It was Wayne Tyler, and his voice sounded rather close. “We are here for 3 reasons people. None of it is to bicker over land or point fingers on who did what.”
“Easy for you to say. You all at Community started this whole thing with the Champion. Where is he anyway?”
“The Champion is still at his trials,” Wayne said. “He will be back when he is back.”
“And what if he doesn’t come back?” A new voice asked. “These high humans are tight lipped about him. Maybe he’s dead.”
“Asher Whitmore is not dead,” an angry woman’s voice said. Asher thought it was Joon. He was about to open the hatch when a new voice stopped him.
“What does it matter? Community can’t even handle one Red Quest target. I hear they grabbed this Superman originally and didn’t kill him. Now he causes them problem after problem. Why should we listen to a guild that can’t handle one System User?” Asher clicked Y. The screen dropped. He threw the severed head into the open space in front of him.
Without looking he jumped out. They were in a much smaller room than where his trial was held. There were platforms lining the walls, but only about a hundred instead of the thousands there were before. Asher landed at the center of the platforms on hard metal. The place quieted. He kicked the severed head of Raul Luis. It splattered on a wall. He looked around at all the different faces and Systems. IDing many he was impressed by a few levels, but not worried. Moving his hair from his eyes he made eye contact with many men and women from other guilds.
“Superman is dead,” Asher announced. “And I am back.” The room was dead quiet. He looked around from face to face. Joony leaned over the edge of her platform to stare at him. She smiled and waved, he gave her a wink, but kept his game face on.
“I have been nearly killed countless times since I’ve been gone. I have been in duels to the death. Been put on trial for all the league to judge me. I have freed slaves, and been enslaved. I have seen firsthand what will happen to this planet if you all don’t stop bickering.”
“I understand that all of you have been through a lot,” Asher said. “But I have been through so much fucking worse.”
“I doubt that,” someone whispered. Asher jumped up to the platform where he heard the voice. He was on it in an instant.
“Lawful Good!” Someone yelled. Asher turned to see a High Human on a floating platform above. “I am the moderator of the conference. No one may approach another platform.” Asher looked him up and down. He was a dark haired high human. He looked much like Sera who showed Asher around when he came to League Prime the first time. Perfect face and muscles. He reminded Asher of the Matt Damon puppet from Team America World Police.
“Fuck off,” Asher ordered to the high human. The man didn’t say anything but slowly his platform moved up and out of the way. Asher heard a girly laugh. He recognized it as Joony’s.
“You doubt me?” Asher asked. “That’s fine. It’s your funeral.” The stranger didn’t appear scared, he was a military man. He wore camo and some medals on his chest. Ash was about to jump back to his own platform when he noticed 2 of the people behind the general.
“Hansen! Franks! Good to see you made it,” Asher said. The boy and girl military personnel were Asher’s old guards before he left planet. “The rings do you well?”
“They did, sir,” Hansen said with a slight smile. “Glad to see you made it too. When did you get back?”
“Landed planetside on our Ethership about an hour ago,” Asher said. “Let’s catch up at the recess.” They both nodded. Asher jumped back to the platform he had arrived on. “Keera, roll the tape.”
Keera poured mana to the center of the room. “Here is a taste of what we went through,” Keera announced, her voice projected throughout the hall in a whisper. “More videos will be made available later on. If you don’t find it useful, let me know and we can stop.” The screen began with the explanation from the Helion captain of how space travel works. No one spoke. Everyone simply watched the movie play.
They moved from the explanation on the Ether Streams to videos of the Majoris Guild Headquarters. Huge ships floated in the air as they were constructed. There were a few shots from Asher’s trial that showed the variety of people represented in the League. She moved it to explanations on how their planet could be taken over by Sponsors. What could happen. They discussed Alliances and the importance of doing well in trials. Also the big players to be worried about like the Aartilliak Empire and Seinsterf Pirates.
She brought a light note up by showing their training with Isyant. Him speaking about their misuse of Mana. Simulations of what was talked about showed with her CGI skill. Tyranis’ voice as he talked about the Spectrum. Then Asher in the 2nd Trial as he talked about the different Mana Types. It showed the map and different options for people.
It moved to the processing hall as the gnome dug through monster parts. Tosh spoke about the importance of dungeons and what they bring to the economy. How you shouldn’t close them, or simply attack whoever is on the other side. There were images of the first dungeon they delved in. The importance of colonies was discussed. This was one of the major reasons Asher wanted to make it to the guild conference. Dungeons were more of a resource than they suspected.
Next the video moved on to the cities themselves. Showing the natural beauty of Elantontrin and other planets they went to. The plentiful resources and goods to purchase at the merchant mall. All the different accessories. Kytor did a long explanation on the value of things, and how the System Store was basically a ripoff. The importance of currencies for each planet.
After that she did a nice montage for everyone. The screen showed Tiffany flying around setting monsters on fire. Nadir and Keera casting their illusions to distract the Gone in the last trial. Vincent using his Climhazzard skill on a crystal monster in the 1st trial. Ming jumping from tree to tree with her Light Step. Ria tanking the giant Meowster. Bishop healing the group as they were bombarded with crystal shards. Abby casting a kamehameha against the Momma Centra. Batman disappearing in a huge shadow and using his Shadow of Death to kill a horde of Gone. Atalanta taking the hit of the Grav elephants in the second trial. She easily used her Invulnerability and Energy Absorption to take the blows.
Last she did a much longer montage of Asher. Him beheading Fetince Burill, he didn’t know she had seen that. Him jumping at Tiberion out of his Roktai Trial. She showed the guild master’s level of 122 over his head, then him getting hit and knocked out. He thought there was a screen of him facing the boulder full of prostitutes, but it was too quick to see. It moved to him and his warnings about Mana Corruption on a planet. Pics of what mana branches looked like. He was in his Berserker Armor tanking Crystal Boss after boss. The groups frustration as he pulled one after another.
The Crystal Deth roaring, and him flipping it off. The group running to him as he soloed it. His Judgment attack making it break apart. The screen moved to his interview with the other races. Him being arrested. His trial, and the Avatar of the System showing up. Everyone cowering but him. Asher being let go with a smile on his face.
She shifted it to their group talking with the other races at the second trial. She showed the foes levels and Systems. Them all working together. A quick overview Asher gave them on how to fight bosses. More of them fighting the bosses and hordes of monsters. There was a screen from outside their tent as the succubus made the girls scream in pleasure, he saw that one for sure. He would put money on it that Tiff made Keera put that in there.
Then they fought the dragon. A view of them posing in front of it. Asher said he’s keeping the head for a trophy. He was glad he remembered to get that. It would look great in the guild hall. Then their fight with the Havoc boss. Asher hadn’t noticed but they were hit with shockwaves from the Havoc mana as he dodged the attack. He sliced it in half with his glowing sword. They won the trial.
They jumped to the last trial. A quick explanation on a Wist. Asher taking control of the kingdom and kicking the royals out. Them fighting hordes of undead on all fronts. Then the Momma Centra. She was able to capture the chaos of everything going on at once. Groups of Gone, him taking on the Centipede. Cutting off a section and plugging the hole. Then all of them attacked it for hours. Finally she showed the Destruction Boss blowing them up. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it went right for Tiff and Dea. It was hard to dispute Dea’s claims with that proof.
Asher then attacked the boss, she was able to add the level and Risk of the boss above it’s head. He attacked it relentlessly. Both of them flying around and attacking one another. Him on death’s door. Bishop and Batman saving him. Then finally killing it and being thrown away.
It ended on a happy note with views of their ship. Them flying home. Landing, and then he was fighting Superman. He didn’t think she would be able to add that so quickly. He screamed and yelled at the System User. Fighting with his fists. Asher won easily then as Superman tried to fly away Asher threw his sword and decapitated him.
The screen ended, and the room was still quiet. “I don’t think that last 10 minutes was needed, but thank you Keera.”
“Tiff told me to,” she whispered. He nodded, she probably wanted to start his brand.
“High human,” Asher said to the moderator. “Can we get that screen in the middle like you guys did for my trial?”
The moderator acted like he was going to disagree but then nodded. A screen appeared in the middle of the room. It focused on his face. “Good. Now we have a few hours left. We can start bickering again, or do you want to ask questions?”
“Asher Whitmore,” a woman said loudly. “Where is our husband?” The screen moved to Advika, Pari, and Maya.
“Right here,” Asher said, pointing behind him. His screen zoomed out to show his whole platform. Nadir stood up and looked over the edge of the platform to find his wives. He cast a manifested illusion of glowing stairs and ran down to them. They yelled happily as they were reunited. “Everyone that went off world made it back just fine,” Asher assured everyone. Wayne was a few platforms over, he caught his eye and nodded.
“Anything else?” He asked.
“Are you still part of Community?”
“I am,” Asher said. “We have come back with about 40 aliens that will become a part of it as well.”
“How much of your movie should we believe?”
“Believe what you want,” Asher said. “Won’t change the truth. If anything, Keera wasn’t able to capture the true chaos in the League. It’s us against them. I have been able to secure an Alliance with the Roktai, this will help a little. This will not be enough. We all have our work cut out for us in the next few years.”
“How did you secure an alliance?”
“I am engaged to the Roktai guild master’s daughter,” Asher admitted. “I saw what happens to our planet if we don’t have alliances. It is not a pretty sight.”
“What about Sponsors?”
“I have a sponsor. My sponsor agreed to protect our planet for the time being.”
“What do they want in return?”
“Nothing,” Asher admitted. He wondered if someone was being prodded to ask. Tyranis had admitted there were many interested parties in why the Queen of Death had resurfaced to sponsor him. “I notice that we will be voting on sponsors today. Do we have a list of them?”
The moderator spoke. “There are currently 23 groups that have offered sponsorship to your planet.” A list appeared in the middle of the room. Asher recognized the Aartiliak Empire at the top of the list. He was worried about that, they had way too much interest in Earth for his liking.
“I know the League. You rate everything. What are the ranks of these sponsors in the League?” Asher asked. Numbers appeared next to their names. The Aartiliak was at the top at 10,531. “What is the rank of my sponsor?” Asher asked. Tacitae appeared at the top. Her number was 21.
“All of these sponsors want to take over our planet,” Asher announced. “Maybe they want the people, but more than likely they have studied the resources we have. We are on a Tier III. There is much that could be here we don’t know about. I for one will not vote for any of these sponsors. I recommend you don’t either. We will have a few more of these conferences. Maybe we can get a better idea of what kind of resources our planet holds. With any luck we can keep it for ourselves instead of letting these outside groups gain all the profits.”
There were a few nods. He let them think about that. “Any other questions?” Asher asked. No one said anything. “Good. I will be looking for my wife, Zora Mlakar as soon as this conference is over. If anyone has information on her I will pay handsomely.” Asher found Joony staring at him and gave her another wink. “I’ll talk to you at recess too,” he said. She nodded and blew another kiss. Asher jumped over to Community’s platform after that. He waved Keera and Tosh over. Tosh picked her up and jumped over.
“Can we silence this thing?” Asher asked.
Wayne nodded and pushed a button at the front. The white dome appeared. “Good to see you made it back,” Wayne said. He looked younger than the last time Asher saw him. “Tiffany ok?”
“Tiffany’s great,” Asher said. “Probably the 2nd highest level on the planet from what I see.” He had inspected a few people, a few were over level 40. The reps from Community were. He guessed that the people that had Systems before Initialization were the higher level people. Joony was the highest level at 45, but some had their levels hidden. “Congratulations on your newborn by the way,” he said. “You too,” he added, shaking Arnold’s hand. The Predator System User nodded.
“Joan darling, so good to see you. Scarlett, nice to see you made it. Amanda, my muse, you missed some fun trials,” he said. “Get the System you wanted?”
“I did,” she said. Her cheeks blushed as he winked at her.
“Lot’s to talk about,” Asher said. “Lots Keera didn’t show too.”
“Quite the shock,” Wayne said. “We’ve been closing dungeons in fear they would break.”
“Yep, first thing I want people talking about. I will talk to Joony, has she made contact with you yet?”
Wayne shook his head. “Haven’t seen her or Zora.”
“Joon’s here, we will get answers from her. First is gifts I guess. Then down to the nitty gritty.” Asher pulled out 4 Timeless Bands. “These are supposedly infinite,” Asher said, passing each to Wayne, Amanda, Arnold and Scarlett. They were the replacements for he and his team in Community so they deserved rewards. The other 2 had infinite space abilities, so he wasn’t about to try to compete with that.
”These are Comms,” he said. “Cycle mana in them to bind them to you. Then push them against one another while you cycle mana and it will save the Comm ID. They work planet-wide.” He handed one to each. “Last, a vehicle. Wayne, Tiffany has one for you. But this should help you all get around. Enough for 1 person they go about 200 miles per hour and work on mana.”
“What the hell, Ash. This Christmas?” Joan said.
“It is, and don’t think I forgot you owe me my cut from our dungeon dive Joan.”
“What? Anthony was supposed to give you your cut,” she said. Asher looked over to Anthony. The jolley old man was now much thinner and stronger looking.
“I forgot about that,” he said with a laugh. “It was 50 Syscos if I remember correctly.” Joan nodded, Asher took the money gladly. He had kids to provide for. Every Sysco counted.
“Good, now give me the rundown on the big players out there. The biggest named guilds.”
“There are some big named individuals not here,” Wayne warned.
“Let’s stick to who is here. I am sure we all have days worth of stuff to talk about.”
Wayne nodded and began. “In the states there is the Old Glory Guild. They are one of about 5 old government guilds. Old Glory is the biggest and is making moves to absorb the others. They are who you confronted when you got here.”
“I am sure they will want Vincent. Let’s be sure to get what information we can.”
“Then there is the Junak Guild. They’re in the mountains somewhere.”
“Junak?” He asked. That name sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it. “Who runs it?”
“An old administrator out of Colorado. They boast some of the highest levels. Their strongest is someone with the White Knight System,” he said.
“White Knight? I thought Systems were only one name?” He looked to Tosh.
“There are rare instances of two name Systems other than Heros. Depends on the world, but they are considered just below Hero Systems in the scheme of things,” Tosh answered.
“Oh sorry, everyone, this is Tosh. He is from Earth originally. He was reborn on Elantontrin with a System,” Asher said. Tosh bowed a little. The others took it in stride. “We can explain later.”
Wayne began again. “Last big one in America is the Seven Sins Guild. Their higher ups are supposed to have Systems with names of one of the seven deadly sins.”
“Cool,” Asher said. “Who’s the leader?”
“Wrath,” Wayne said. Asher hoped to meet this wrath, he sounded fun. “There is the Northern Guild. They are out of Canada. It’s run by an Australian jedi, and a boxer girl. They made a name for themselves by fighting against the clones during their tutorial.”
“Yeah, those guys are dicks. Have you met any of these people you’re talking about?”
“No, just word of mouth. Hope to do that during the break.”
“Good, I plan to give them all Comms and we can link them,” Asher said.
“That would help. Next is the Juego Guild out of the south. Don’t know much about them. The rest are across the ocean. There is the Yong guild out of Korea.”
“Joon is probably part of that.”
“Songoku guild out of Japan.”
“You gonna want to touch base with them Tosh?” The elf nodded. He was from Japan originally, all Isekais were.
“Ziyou Guild out of old China. They are run by a Vampire System.”
“Vampire vampire?” Asher asked. Wayne nodded. “Sunlight work on him?”
“From what I hear, a little. They haven’t really caused problems though. People still get freaked out dealing with him.”
“I bet.”
“Lyudi Guild is out of Russia or Poland or something. They are considered the strongest after us. Their leaders were stuck in a hell hole of a tutorial. Run by a guy with the Witcher System.”
“Neat, gonna have to fight that guy,” Asher said excitedly.
“There's the Wigan guild out of England. Run by a Samurai, but his second is supposed to be really strong. Rouge guild out of France is another. I hear they had it pretty bad too. They had some drama with their guild master and they’re run by a young girl now. Everyone seems to respect her. The last one I can think of is the Akhar guild. Out of the Middle East. Their guild has been pretty quiet, but after the tutorial a huge sandworm boss was causing havoc. The Akhar guild killed it, and united pretty much all the guilds in their area.”
“Guess we have our work cut out for us,” Asher said. “What about monsters? What levels are we looking at?”
“Lots and lots. Our guild was taken over by a horde of goblins. Took us a week to kill them all. Although we should probably thank them since we were one of the few buildings left standing. There are giant boss monsters roaming the landscape. Huge lions, tigers, and bears.”
“Oh my,” Asher said, looking forward to traveling the countryside. “Levels?”
“Anywhere from 1 to 60 so far.”
“Sounds about right. I doubt they will stay low for long. Before this thing ends I want us talking and working together. Here is a quick run through of our plans. We have to unite everyone here, and this is why…”
