Chapter 23: Signing the Guild
Name Chase Class — Marks 0 Guild — SD 984
The weeks passed with increasing regularity as Island life became more common place. Soon Chase found himself signing up for the coming Sunday Exam which saw the entire island take a rest as the students who had decided to gradate and head to the mainland prepared themselves. It was tradition on the island that no classes were to be held during exam day and so most of the students were either exploring the forest, swimming in the sea, or lounging on the field. This meant that the courtyard of the town was largely empty, and gave Chase and Amelie plenty of freedom to chat.
“Do you ever have dreams of your past life?” Asked Chase.
“Me?”
“Well there’s no one’s else here,” said Chase.
“Right. Well…no, not that I can recall. Did you have one?”
“Not exactly. It was more of a feeling than an exact dream. Like my parents were looking for me.”
“Do you have these often?” Amelie looked at him curiously.
“No. I was just wondering because Brent told me he had one the other day as well.” He thought for a moment. “You’ve really not had one? What about a sense of familiarity when awake? Sometimes I have the distinct feeling I did something in a past life. Like the other day when Thaddeus served us those ribs. I had a feeling I used to eat ribs with my family.”
Amelie was listening intently and when Chase finished she sighed.
“No, I can’t say I have ever felt that way. Does this mean I’m not normal?”
Chase grinned. “Oh you’re definitely not normal but not because you can’t remember you’re dreams.”
Amelie returned his smile.
“Funny, Mr Chase,” she said. “So, what job should I take?”
“Right, that’s why we are here. I was thinking something magical. You have shown the brains for it, despite your reluctance to talk.”
Amelie blushed. “Well, I find it more enjoyable to listen most of the time.”
“Don’t get me wrong, listening is a fine trait. One which this lot will likely need a lot of I am thinking. A guild this size is basically a small family. We are bound to get on one another’s nerves and if you can be seen as a neutral party to talk to it may well dissuade infighting later.”
“So you want me to keep listening?”
“More than that. If someone comes to you with a problem give them an ear. Try to understand what the problem is before passing judgement. Also, don’t share what people tell you to others. Even me. Got it?”
“Got it. But what makes you think they are likely to come to me for advice? I am just as newly spawned as they are. You are the one with decades of experience.”
Chase laughed. “You make me sound so old. I am only around 35. When I first spawned I was around Thomas’ age. That’s only 2 decades of experience but I get your point. Frankly speaking I am the boss, and there will be many things they don’t want to tell me. They may lie to keep me happy or improve their standing with me, you know, kiss my ass.”
Amelie’s eyes widened. “Why ever would they do that?”
“No-I mean…It’s just an expression. It means to flatter in an insincere way.”
“Ah I understand.” Amelie looked out across the courtyard with a distant look. “Kiss my ass,” she repeated, savoring each word. “I like that.”
“Its a good one.” Chase looked down at his notes. “Anyways, I think you should go for a magic job. We need a healer. Especially since Alexander is refusing to take on the Mage II role.”
“Yes he was telling me he wants to fight like Brent and Claire. Will his refusal put us at a disadvantage?”
“Not at the moment. He may even decide to change jobs once he sees what a battle mage can do. But this is why we need a healer. I have some notes for you to give our advisor. Being a mage is tough work. I think over half of players who choose magic as their first job never complete their contract.”
“And you think I will be different?”
Chase nodded. “I can tell you and Marlon think differently than the others. Magic isn’t just about raw intelligence but also intuition. I’ve known smart players who had trouble with it and seen categorically dumb players master it on their first contract. But I think you have both-intuition and intelligence.”
“Did you ever learn any magic? As your past self?”
Chase rubbed his left forearm where his past contract marks had been.
“No, magic was never my bag. I was what you call a specialty player. Again, as the youngest member of the Old Guard I had to take what I could. I began as a thief and then my second contract was mercenary. Solomon was pretty upset about that and so rushed me through that one and had me sign for assassin for my third.” He shook his head. “That was an intense experience. The Old Guard needed a stealth player who could aid in some of the newly found quests. They were obsessed with beating them before anyone else had a shot.”
Memories of the past flooded his mind and for a moment he saw the faces of his friends, not as they were when they betrayed him, but all those years ago when life was still an adventure and all he wanted was to be one of them. Then he came back to the courtyard and the young girl sitting beside him listening.
“You really are a good listener,” said Chase. “That’s the most I have told anyone about my past life since I came here. If there was a job for listening instead of magic I would recommend it immediately.”
“Please.” Amelie leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. “Don’t kiss my ass.”
“Congratulations on passing your exam, Claire,” said Ghelion, looking over her results. “You did remarkably well.”
“Thanks,” she said.
They were sitting in his office just the two of them. He tried to put her at ease with some light conversation but she seemed ready to go ahead and sign the contract.
“Was it difficult for you to postpone your exam by a couple weeks?”
Claire shrugged.
“Not really.”
“That’s…good.” Ghelion smiled. “Well, I think I know, but which job were you thinking about?”
“The Fighter class.”
“Have you considered any others?”
“Nope,” she said simply. “It’s the fighter class for me. And after that I will sign up for the Warrior class.”
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“I assume Chase talked to you all about it, then?”
“Of course, but I already had read all about it in the Esem Survival Guide.” She finally perked up at the thought of the fighter class. She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and placed it on the desk. “Chase gave me a blue print for my first five contracts.”
Ghelion opened the piece of paper and scanned it quickly.
“He certainly knows what he is doing,” said Ghelion. “Fighter, Warrior, Knight, Paladin and…Martial Artist?”
“The last one was my idea. I wanted to go straight into Boxer or Pugilist after fighter but Chase told me that the strength buffs will be more helpful if I clear out the Avalon fighting Classes first.”
Ghelion checked all the Classes she had listed on her paper and saw the strength buffs and abilities she had meticulously written down. She had even marked the estimated duration of each contract.
“This is quite thorough,” said Ghelion approvingly. “I know with Chase you will have a leg up in how to train all of these, but I should warn you that most players never earn a second let alone a third contract mark.”
“I can do it,” she said sternly. “With or without Chase, even.”
“Very well, just had to throw in that disclaimer.”
“I understand,” she said. “So how do we go about this contract? I’ve heard a lot of rumors about it but no one will tell me how it actually goes.”
“There are two parts,” said Ghelion. He drew a large sheet of paper from his desk and selected his favorite pen. “First, I need to write this up for you. And then…”
“And then what?” She asked suspiciously.
“Let’s just say we make a blood oath together.”
Claire looked intrigued.
“Really?” Then she snickered. “Amelie is gonna hate that.”
“So how was the exam, Brent?” asked Chase. Amelie had just been called to do her exam and Chase’s was in an hour. While jotting in his journal Chase had seen Brent and called him over to the courtyard.
“Easy, here are my results,” said Brent. He handed Chase a piece of paper.
Chase looked over the sheet.
“Pretty good, Brent. Straight marks but for monster classification.”
Brent shrugged and took a seat beside Chase.
“I am a visual learner, to be honest. When we are finally in the field I’ll remember every last inch of any monster we come across.”
“I might be the same way, actually. So the exam was easy?”
Brent glanced at him.
“You’ve done it before, right? Wouldn’t you know?”
“It’s been 25 years,” said Chase. “Maybe they changed it.”
“Still,” said Brent. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead,” said Chase. Ever since he had revealed his identity to Brent everyday when there was a moment free of prying ears there was a new question about Chase’s past.
“Was Solomon a good leader?”
“Well…” Chase had to think about that one for a moment. “Solomon led by example, you could say. All of us wanted to be like him, and so he didn’t usually have to tell us what to do. There were times…well…we never wanted to cross him. He could be quite frightening when he was angry.”
Brent took that in and didn’t say anything for a while. He had been shocked when Chase had told him about how his relationship with the Old Guard had led to him having to change his identity and respawn. Brent had assumed that part of the Old Guard’s success was the loyalty they shared among one another. Ever since Chase had told him that some of them had wanted him dead his world view seemed to have been kicked in the head. It seemed even thought his suspicions about Spade’s death had been confirmed, he had never really believed his private conspiracy.
“What kind of leader are you going to be, Chase?”
“Me?”
“Yes,” said Brent. “You have promised us all that you know what you are doing, and that you can help us with these contracts faster than anything else. I trust that you actually can, but I don’t know what kind of leader you are going to be. Have you even thought about it?”
“It’s crossed my mind,” said Chase. Actually it hadn’t at all. In the Old Guard Chase had never been in a leadership position. There had been a few times during certain contracts when he had been in charge of a few NPCs, but they weren’t particularly difficult to manage. “You know, I think I learned more about leadership from watching Karkren than Solomon.”
“Really?” Brent sounded shocked. Karkren was still his favorite Old Guard member despite the news about their betrayal of Chase. “What do you mean?”
“There were times when Solomon was…aloof, I suppose. He would tell us what we were doing next, but the why and how were always very vague. Karkren was always there to step in and make Solomon’s idea a reality. When there was a problem between guild members it was always Karkren we went to—Not Solomon.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Chase nodded. “Solomon was the guy who we looked up to—almost revered, I guess. We wanted to impress him and if he told us to do something we would without question. Karkren was the other side of that. He would figure out the best way to do something and he always took it upon himself to tell the rest of us. I suppose it rubbed a few of us the wrong way at times, but he was effective.”
“And which one will you be like?”
“I wish I was a singular genius and visionary like Solomon,” said Chase with a smile. “But I am not. I think I learned more about leadership from Karkren in the end. People will only do what they want to do. I plan to lead by example and make a fair environment for everyone to grow in together.”
“Ok,” said Brent, sounding uncertain.
Chase doubted whether his answer had been satisfactory to the brooding young man, but allowed him to ask the next question.
“How strong is Solomon, exactly?”
Chase laughed. “I am surprised it took you so long to ask me.”
“I figure you would know better than anyone.”
“True,” said Chase. He had been answering one version or another of this question for decades. “Solomon was the only player ever to become OP in five years—that’s a rate of a new contract every six months for a total of 10. Esem had never seen anything like it before. Most players who become OP—which is very, very few—spend at least 20 years to get to that point.”
“Is he just smarter than everyone else who has tried?”
“I guess,” said Chase. “Solomon is very intelligent. But I think there is another reason for it as well.”
“What’s that?” Brent was nearly on the edge of his seat.
“Solomon loves Esem,” said Chase. “More than any player I have ever met. He loves what AION has created and he loves to explore and conquer every challenge it offers. I’ve never even heard what his memory of the Old World is because I think he just doesn’t care.”
Brent looked confused.
“How would loving Esem help him become so powerful?”
“Love and gratitude is a more powerful force than most give it credit,” said Chase. He wracked his memories. “Actually, one time I asked him why it was he suffered so in order to achieve so much. Know what he told me?”
Brent shook his head. He was drinking every word that Chase said.
“He told me that suffering was what AION had intended for players, and than even in suffering he could feel the creators love and so felt gratitude for the opportunity.”
“Amazing,” said Brent, awestruck.
Or a little bit insane, thought Chase.
“You said that you were unsure whether Solomon wanted you dead, right?” Asked Brent.
“It wouldn’t matter if he knew or not at this point. I can almost hear him saying that if I wasn’t strong enough to defend myself from the others I had no place with the Old Guard.”
“He said that?”
“No,” Chase looked away from the young man. “But I am sure it’s what he thinks.”
“Thanks you for seeing me, Advisor Ghelion.”
“Of course, Marlon, welcome to my office.”
Marlon smiled and looked around the office.
“And what an office it is, Advisor.”
Ghelion smiled, recognizing the sarcasm. Unlike most NPCs sarcasm was something he rarely failed to pick up on.
“Thanks,” said Ghelion. “So, you want to discuss your contract?”
Marlon handed over his exam results along with a familiar looking piece of paper with Chase’s hand writing on it.
“Yes, please,” said Marlon. “I think you will find I scored perfectly in everything but the physical portions. It’s these old knees, you know. I do wish AION could have done something about this things,” he added, patting his legs.
“Not a problem,” said Ghelion. He looked over what Chase had written. “So Herbalist, is it?”
“Yes,” smiled Marlon. “Perhaps in the old world I was a kind of doctor or whatever they have there. I have taken such an interest in the fauna of Esem that I would like to continue my research indefinitely. Apparently that perfectly describes the Herbalist class, or so I was told.”
“I would say it does, Marlon. As the Herbalist you will be mixing potions from nearly all the plants of Esem. One of the abilities even makes you immune to being poisoned.”
“Or from poisoning myself by accident,” said Marlon with a chuckle. “Also I have heard there is quite a market for many of these potions. I might be able to earn some coin for the guild.”
“How do you feel about joining with Chase and the others?” Said Ghelion. This was the first time he had gotten to speak with Marlon alone and he was curious as to his thoughts.
“I think its a marvelous idea, and I am glad that Chase chose me,” he looked at the table again and seemed deep in thought. “Sometimes I wonder whether it was actually Chase’s decision and not the ‘big guys,’ in a way.”
“You mean perhaps AION wanted all of you to meet?”
“Something like that,” said Marlon. “The truth is I feel as though I have a lot of practical knowledge from the Old World lurking beneath the surface that is going to come in handy to a young bunch of darling adventures. When Chase proposed that I join I was positively giddy, though I tried not to show it, you know.”
“I see,” said Ghelion. “Anyways how about we—.”
“One other thing before you cut my hand,” said Marlon. “And yes, I found out about the blood oath during some light reading a week ago. Who is it that created AION?”
“Created AION?” Said Ghelion. “You must be the first player to ask me that.”
“Does that mean you know?”
“Know that he was created? Or by whom?” Ghelion answered honestly. “I don’t know. I have theories but none of the other advisors share them with me.”
“I would love to hear,” said Marlon.
Ghelion thought a moment.
“Tell you what, I don’t have much time as I am seeing Chase right after you to sign his own contract. But before you ship off to the mainland I can tell you one or two ideas I have had about the nature of this reality. Ok?”
Marlon looked a bit disappointed but stuck his hand out cheekily.
“Very well, Advisor. Stick it there.”
The sun had already set by the time Chase was leaving Ghelion’s office. His left forearm had a familiar tingling sensation and his step felt a bit lighter, his legs stronger.
The streets were mostly empty as he made his way to the designated meeting place of the guild. He was the last one to sign the contract, and they had agreed to meet for a small drink (or “brew” as Marlon swore this one was) and celebrate their coming departure from the island.
It wasn’t a fantastic place to meet, but all had decided that the library would be as good a place as any. Chase knew that none of the NPCs lived in there and so the building would be deserted after sunset. He approached the building and silently slipped inside the door. He could hear the sound of voices coming down a corridor and followed the sound until he was at the library doors.
“Welcome, boss,” said Thomas as Chase pushed the doors open. “We’ve been waiting or you.”
The group all hailed him cheerily and he smiled at them all. Everyone seemed ecstatic, and the environment felt very jovial. Everyone was there. Marlon had been chatting with Amelie, Thomas had been bantering with Alex, and Brent was lounging against the wall while Claire sat nearby him.
“Before we begin,” said Chase. He pulled his sleeve up and thrust his left arm out to reveal his Hunter contract mark. “Show em’ to me.”
Soon six other bare forearms joined his, and the still fresh marks gleamed in the light, matching their excited faces.
Hunter, Mage, Thief, Herbalist, and three Fighters, thought Chase. All ready to take on the world.
“Let’s have a drink,” said Chase.