Mrs. Bessie studied the man on the screen. He had long brown hair and intelligent blue eyes. The way he spoke showed he knew how handsome he was. Her brows furrowed as the man stared at her for a long, awkward moment.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. Have we met before?”
“I don’t think so.”
The man seemed unsettled. Mrs. Bessie checked a mirror. Is there something on my face?
The man shook his head and went to the point. “It has been brought to my attention that you’re offering free stats. How does that work? Are these consumables?”
“No, sir! The free stats we offer are a unique advantage of joining the Union Collective. They have nothing to do with consumables, guild museum bonuses, or flag bonuses. These are unique to us.”
“Our guild is interested to know more. Can I speak to the one who runs the union?”
“You can talk to Roth directly.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Roth Taylor?”
“That’s right! Didn’t he invite you to the auction already, Mr. BlueFire?”
The man stood speechless for a long time. “That’s where I recognized you from. You’re his…”
“Mother. Yes.”
“I was going to say, sister.”
“Your attempt at flattery is noted,” she said with a smile.
“You have an interesting son, BessieMamma.” He said the tag with a smile, now seeing its humor.
“He used to be a handful, but he’s changed a lot. He’s a good boy with a good heart, just like his late father. If you want these free stats, all you have to do is go to the auction and talk to my baby. OK?”
“OK, madam. It was a pleasure to meet you.”
She hung up the phone. This man had to be very observant to be able to tell the similarities between her and her son despite their changed features. Hopefully, he would use some of that intelligence to help her baby.
There was another caller. The filter identified them as being from the Phoenix guild. Mrs. Bessie put on a professional smile and answered the call. “Hello, this is BessieMamma from the Union Collective. How can I help you?”
*
“Guys, I just received confirmation from Mrs. Bessie that the Ogres and the Phoenixes are coming to the auction!”
Another round of cheers and celebration went around the room.
“Okay, Drake. So what's next?”
“Now, all you have to do is to go to the auction.”
“And you guys?”
“We’ll keep working on the union. You go ahead.”
Even though Drake kept a perfect smile, Roth caught the soldiers exchanging worried looks. Catching the exchange, Roth got a sinking feeling in his stomach. “OK, guys. What is going on? What are you not telling me?”
Drake and the sergeant looked at each other and seemed to reach an unspoken agreement using only their eyes. Drake nodded, and the sergeant stepped up. “Roth, we are all going offline. You’ll have to be alone in the game for now.”
“What do you mean? I thought we were going to get the Union started.”
“We already have. All that’s left is to get new members and have them join us. We can leave your mom to do that. She's doing a fantastic job.”
“Okay. But why are you leaving?” demanded Roth.
“We can't guarantee that one of the guilds will step up and save you. We haven't told you this, but all of us are staying in a hotel in your city.”
“What? But don’t you all live far away? I don’t…”
“In case none of the guilds step up, we will,” said Charlie. His friendly, neighborly tone was gone. He was speaking as a soldier, not a medical man.
Roth felt his heart skip a beat and a knot forming in his throat. “You came to New Lisbon for me?”
“And for that dinner you promised!” tried Benny. This time, no one laughed, and Emily even punched him in the arm.
“Read the room,” Roth heard Emily say to the chef.
“I can’t let you do this. What if Loki has guards on standby? What if he finds out you freed me?”
Drake jumped back into the conversation. “The soldiers will be OK. You can’t go around killing decorated veterans and expect the government to sit quietly. They will be okay.”
The idea of his friends going into that dingy apartment where Wilson had made him enter the pod and being ambushed by mercenaries or assassins was too much for him to handle.
“But… I… You guys… What if…” Roth’s brain went haywire. It wasn't just that he worried about his friends. Having to wait for hours on end alone, not knowing if his real body was about to be shot or stabbed, was terrifying. He felt the urge to vomit, and the corners of his vision darkened.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Drake grabbed Roth’s shoulder with his iron arm and held it tight. The pain brought Roth back from the spiraling emotions. “Listen to me, Roth. You have to be strong. This is almost over. I want you to go to the auction and do exactly as planned.”
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can, son.”
“But, Drake, you’ll do a much better job at the auction than I ever would. Am I not always messing up when I talk to the big shots? You said it yourself. I’m slow and stupid.”
“No. Of course not. Listen to me, you’re someone special. Look at all that you’ve done in this place. There’s something about you. You reach people. Even animals and bugs like you. That’s something I don’t have. None of us do.”
“What good does that do? This is just a game.”
“No. For you, it isn’t. We are what we do, Roth. Out there in the real world, or here.”
Roth managed to look up and found that the other soldiers had drawn in closer, and all looked at him with concern.
“You are special, Roth. The guilds must see this in you. Make yourself more than just a number, Roth. Make them see you as a person. Even though they have black hearts that only care about credits, they still have hearts.”
“OK. I’ll try.” As he calmed down, his mental faculties returned to him. “Wait, is that why you’re having my mom answering the guilds’ calls?”
Drake nodded.
“I see. Good. That’s for the best. If she knew about this death sentence, she would be worried sick.”
“You see? How could someone slow and stupid see that?”
Roth smiled weakly.
“We need to appeal to their emotions. For that, I want you to put yourself out there. Wait for the guilds reps by the door of the auction. Shake their hands. Look them in the eye. Thank them for coming. Let them see you.”
All this information was making Roth dizzy.
“Remember, we don’t want gold. All we want is to save you, your brothers, and your mother.”
“What about you guys? You guys are putting yourselves in danger. And you're doing this for a stranger. You shouldn't, you…”
Maggie spoke up. “Don't worry about us, brat.”
H added, “The guilds will hesitate to accept taking you and your family in. What will happen if we demand they protect a squad of old soldiers? If they see that even soldiers like us are afraid of Loki, there's no way they will stick their necks out to save you. Do you get it, Roth?”
“What about Brian?” Roth asked. “He’s still in our house, right?”
“Don’t worry about Brian,” explained Drake. “We have him covered.”
Roth felt dizzy. It was all happening so fast. Pete, the quietest in the group, stood up and walked toward Roth. “You’re already saved. One way or another, you’re already out of that apartment. Get it?”
Roth couldn’t hold it anymore and began sobbing. “Thanks, guys. I’ll never forget this.”
“And don’t worry about your family,” said Drake, “I'll take care of them.”
“Look!” shouted Benny. “We thought it was the sergeant who was interested in Roth’s mom. But it looks like it was the captain instead!”
“Shut up, Benny! Me and Bessie have nothing going on,” screamed Drake, with a red face.
Roth’s ears perked up. “Wait a minute. Bessie? Since when are you on a first-name basis with my mom, Drake?”
The whole crowd started laughing. Roth felt his worries wash away. It was like Pete said. He was already saved. These soldiers sure knew how to lighten the mood.
“Very well, guys. I’ll make the finest auction the world has ever seen.”
“Now you’re talking, boy!” shouted Maggie across the room.
“We'll all log out and get ready to intervene if needed. Even if the auction doesn’t work, we still have a few hours to run a rescue operation. Even if they say they’ll help us, we’ll stay around just in case they go back on their words,” declared the sergeant.
“If everything goes well, ask Be… your mother to give one of us a call.”
“Thank you for not telling my mother.”
“You got it, champ.”
Everyone's bodies faded into light, and suddenly, Roth was all alone.
*
Galatheel studied the guild's blacksmithing library, looking for insights he might have missed. The top was a very lonely place. The more one progressed in a profession, the harder it became to make further progress. To worsen it, he was the best blacksmith in the guild. He had no rivals to freely compare notes with.
Being in a guild provided him with the resources that he needed to pursue his passion, but he wished that there would be a free flow of information between craftsmen from different guilds. If he were to share the guild’s secrets with craftsmen from other guilds, he would have to pay a fortune to the guild in fines, not to mention being kicked out of the guild and going on its blacklist. All these agendas and politics stood in his way as a blacksmith more often than he would have liked.
Galatheel received a message from his cousin and opened it. He had joined the game recently, and Galatheel promised to help him as much as possible if he decided to become a blacksmith. He had a knack for it. Perhaps it was something that ran in their family. The message was very simple.
“Hey, cous! What’s up? I'm nearly done with changing races and becoming a thumber.” Galatheel nodded approvingly. Thumbers were one of the best races to pursue crafting. He would have recommended he change into a dwarf, but that was a unique quest he couldn’t share. “Check this post out. Is this legit? Do you think I should become a unionized craftsman?”
“Unionized? What in the world is Kevin talking about?” Galatheel opened the post.
In the forums, he found the hashtag ‘Union’ trending. He selected it and was met with hundreds of posts about a new organization exclusive to craftsmen.
“Union?” He chuckled. As far as he knew, there was only the cyborg union. He hadn’t heard about a player-made union before. How would they encourage the players to join? The guilds hogged all the resources!
Galatheel found the most upvoted post. It contained the union contract. As long as someone signed it, they could become a member. At first, Galatheel saw it as a joke. Once his eyes landed on the part of the contract that required players to exchange one new piece of information to the library to join, he raised an eyebrow.
This was an excellent way of fostering competition and innovation among the craftsmen player base. Even though it would be easy to share something that wasn’t in the union’s libraries initially, the longer the game went on, the more difficult it would be. If the organization kept growing, in time, only the best craftsmen could join.
Additionally, it was a bold move to stipulate in the comments how guilds could have their members join but not interfere with the union's agendas. It made the union something untainted by guilds and a haven for the common players. Galatheel liked it. He wished someone had thought of this sooner.
Probably someone had but had been squashed by the other guilds. There had been previous attempts at starting craft-only guilds. They would often just become a normal guild after a while. Since many craftsmen also enjoyed hunting, and craftsmen needed to acquire materials for crafting somehow, after a while, the guild would splinter into the normal model for a guild with a team of craftsmen sustained by a team of explorers.
He was sure that would happen with this one, too. But then he came to the end of the contract and read about additional free stats. His eyes almost came out of their sockets. The amount of dexterity and strength was just what he needed to cross the bottleneck he was stuck on.
Guilds gave access to extra stats via the artifacts on display in their museums. The better the guild, the better the artifacts, and the better the stats. Then, extra skills were awarded to guild members through the flags. The assortment of stats that the Ogres granted was incredible, albeit more tailored for warfare.
But to be able to gain stats without being in a guild? This was something impressive. That meant players from different guilds could join this organization and receive exclusive benefits. Although some of the stats were useless to him, dexterity and strength were vital.
He told his cousin, Kevin, to join. Then, he messaged his guild master, requesting permission to join the union and asking for help in getting these extra stats.