I just stepped out of the Guild Hall when I heard a sound to my right. I turned to look and there were three young people standing there staring. “Is there something I can help you with?” I asked. They looked at each other and then just stared for a second. Just as I was about to walk away, the boldest of the three stammered, “M… M... Mr. Porter? Mr. Calvin Porter?” I nodded and said, “Yes, I’m Cal Porter. How may I help you?” As I said that, I took a good look at them. I said, “You’re all new to the System, aren’t you?” They all hesitantly nodded. I said, “Well, then, what are your names and how may I help you?”
The bold one stepped forward and offered his hand. He said, “I’m Josh and these are my friends Tim and John.” I shook his hand and shook hands with his friends. “It’s nice to meet you, gentlemen. Is there something in particular I can help you with?” I asked. “I’m somewhat retired from the whole adventuring thing but do keep my hand in once in a while.” Josh started to reply but, before he could, Tim blurted out, “Is it true you were the first System user from Earth?”
Josh looked miffed and I laughed. I said, “I’m sorry to burst your bubble but no, I wasn’t. I wasn’t even in the first one hundred. Do any of you even know the history of the System and Earth?” They all shook their heads and looked curious. “You all look like you’re under level 10, right?”, I asked. They hesitantly nodded. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s go into Guild bar and I’ll set us up with a round or two and tell you a bit about how I became an initiate into the System and some of my adventures. What do you say?” I asked. Tim said, “Hell yeah!” and they all nodded.
I turned back to the Guild door and they eagerly followed. Once inside, I headed to the right and, as soon as I walked through the entry, Chuck, the bartender, called out, “Hey Cal. I thought you were done for the day. Yet here you come back, and with newbies, no less.” I nodded to him and said, “Yeah, well, you know how much of a sucker I am for helping to newer initiates and helping them to learn from my mistakes. Set us up for a round, would ya, Chuck?” He nodded and I led the three low levels to a booth towards the back. Once we were all seated and Chuck brought us a round, I looked carefully at each of them and said, “Guys, I’m more than happy to just sit here for a bit and shoot the shit. I’m not exactly sure what the guild is releasing about the early days and I’m sure it’ll be a bit of a shock to you. In other words, I’m giving you an out, a free drink or two, and general bullshitting as opposed to telling you what happened when I was inducted into the system and how shit went south.”
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They all paused as they were taking their first drink and looked at each other. Josh hesitated and then opened his mouth to reply. But before he could, Chuck called out from the bar, “Hey Cal. Try not to scare the shit out of these newbies, huh? Once a century is more than enough to have to deal with your fallout.” And then he stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at me. I laughed as all three of the young initiates looked at each other with very wide eyes. I called out to Chuck, “At least it wouldn’t be as bad as that booze experiment you tried last month. How many did you put in the infirmary?” He laughed and started wiping down the bar. I looked at the kids sharing the booth with me and laughed too. I said, “Ignore Chuck and his peanut gallery commentary. He just likes to stir shit when he can.”
They all laughed and Josh said, “If you wouldn’t mind, sir, we would be very interested in hearing about your induction.” I nodded and said, “Well, don’t forget your drinks. I’ll try not to bore you too much.”