“Before you start tinkering with all the guild mechanics, send me an invitation,” she said.
I looked at her in surprise.
“You didn’t think I’d let you do it alone, did you? Might as well give me sub-leader rights too.”
“So you can take my place if anything happens to me?” I asked, but sent her the invitation all the same.
“Don’t be silly.” Her eyes lost focus for a moment before I got another notification.
* * *
Aphrodite has accepted your guild invitation.
You can view the status of all available guild members through the guild menu.
* * *
I pulled up her guild member page and examined it.
* * *
Name: Aphrodite
Level: 55
Role: None
Guild Order: 2nd
* * *
I changed her role to sub-leader, which—after a quick glance at the explanation the Dark Energy provided—I discovered gave her all the same rights that I had in the guild, save for being able to kick me out. No matter how much I liked her, it felt good not to relinquish control completely.
“Will you let me check the guild skills now, Sub-leader Aphrodite?” I joked.
“I want to see them too,” she said immediately. “Send them to me, Leader Zeus.”
I grunted and pulled up the first skill.
* * *
Name: Thunderous Souls
Level: 1
Type: Guild Buff
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 100
DP Consumed: 2
Power: -
Range: All guild members in a radius of 50 miles from Zeus.
Prerequisite: Have at least two members in the guild.
Description: Zeus, the god of thunder, can summon a special bolt of lightning, which ignites hope and power in the hearts of all guild members who witness it. Boosts the Physical Attack and Physical Defense of all guild members and allies of the guild who are in range by 5%.
* * *
“Looks like you can buff me too now,” Aphrodite said, as I shared the skill with her.
“Only this one costs two DP, instead of one,” I replied.
I knew that one extra DP might not be such a big thing once I managed to raise the number of my followers but at the moment, it didn’t make much sense to use it. A boost of five percent on both of our Physical Attacks and Defenses was very good but it wasn’t good enough to justify losing a DP I could otherwise use to blow something up.
I tried not to give it too much thought for now and pulled up the second guild skill I’d unlocked instead.
* * *
Name: Locate Guild Member
Level: 1
Type: Active
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 150
DP Consumed: 1
Power: -
Range: Anywhere in the realm in which the skill is being used or the realms adjacent to it.
Prerequisite: Hasn’t been used in the past 7 days.
Description: The guild leader can locate any of the guild’s members simply by focusing on the pact they have sealed with them. The location of the target will be revealed to the guild leader by the Dark Energy in great detail and using terms they will find most useful.
* * *
“I guess this is similar to the skill your father used to find you,” Aphrodite said.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Yes,” I agreed, “so I think we should be fine for a while longer. It hasn’t been seven days yet.”
“Unless he’s somehow upgraded the skill?” she added. “Or maybe the cooldown timer is completely different on the non-guild member version of it.”
“Oh, to the crows with it,” I sighed. “I hadn’t considered that. Just when I thought we might be able to take a break.”
“No rest for us yet,” Aphrodite said, and cast her speed boosting buff on both of us. “What’s the third skill?”
“Right,” I said, and pulled it in front of me.
* * *
Name: Real Time Communication
Level: 1
Type: Passive
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 0
DP Consumed: 0
Power: -
Range: Anywhere in the realm in which the skill is being used or the realms adjacent to it.
Prerequisite: Have at least three members in the guild.
Description: The most important facet of successful raids, covert operations, and bonding between guild members is communication. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Instant remote communication becomes available by means of the Dark Energy as a way to promote interactions between individuals.
* * *
“I remember using this with my siblings when we were younger,” I said. “We used to sneak down from the mountain and go hunting monsters.”
“Only when you were younger?” Aphrodite asked.
“Once we grew up, we found different ways to communicate with each other,” I confessed. “Magical ways, which our father could not intercept.”
“He was really that bad?”
“Not as bad as he is right now,” I said, and resumed walking up the mountain. “In any case, it doesn’t matter. We can’t use the skill unless we find another guild member.”
“Let’s focus on getting higher up than the peak of Mount Orthys,” she said, “so that you’re unable to be magically located. Then we can worry about building our defenses and recruiting more people.”
“All right,” I said, starting to jog. “Try to keep up then.”
“Don’t forget,” she said as she ran past me, “I’m the one who’s buffing your speed.”
The ascent up the mountain went relatively smoothly. The temperature as we climbed was pleasant to say the least, while the occasional cloud was a welcome relief from the sun. As time went by, it started to get chilly and the more overcast sky was perfect to help us keep pace up the mountain. It was so good in fact that we eventually started running, making good progress in our ascent, though we still couldn’t see past the clouds that hid the mountain’s peaks.
The subtle uphill slope gradually became a steeper hike and we could no longer continue running at our full speed, even when Aphrodite kept renewing our speed buff. The temperature was starting to fall further and our shadows were becoming longer. I turned around to look at the harbor of Dion, the setting sun throwing impossibly beautiful orange hues on the small houses and surface of the Aegean Sea.
“It is a beautiful view,” Aphrodite said when she noticed I’d stopped following her and was appreciating the spectacle.
“You’d better get used to it,” I said, and turned around to continue climbing. “In a few days, all of this is going to be yours, Queen Aphrodite.”
“You know just what to say, King Zeus,” she said, returning the joke and resuming her own ascent.
The next couple of hours proved to be increasingly challenging. Visibility became worse by the minute. We weren’t afraid of getting injured while climbing or falling down a ditch—injuries like that would never pose a serious threat to a couple of gods. But we knew all too well that the existence of a legend was rarely the product of someone’s vivid imagination. There might not be a powerful goddess on this mountain, or else she would probably have claimed the place of power for herself, but that didn’t mean there was nothing here. And we definitely didn’t want to make our presence known to whatever this thing was yet. Not until we had taken control of the mountain.
“Should we find a place to spend the night?” Aphrodite asked, as we moved slowly through a bed of rubble.
“I guess we should,” I said, looking up at the moon that was now high in the sky. “But I wouldn’t risk a fire.”
“You don’t think what those mortals said is true, do you?” she replied. She pointed at a group of trees that looked like they would offer good cover from flying predators.
“I’m not completely sure it’s just superstition. If there really is a place of power up there, why has nobody claimed it before? There must be either a very strong monster or a guardian of some sort.”
Just as I finished speaking, there were a bunch of loud howls around us.
“Those wolves are really going at it,” Aphrodite said, trying to understand where the noises were coming from.
“I wouldn’t worry about them,” I said, trying to comfort her. “It’s only natural. Forests and mountains come alive during the night.”
“I’m not worried about wild beasts attacking us. They can’t harm us,” she said, and crossed her arms. “It’s just creepy.”
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a few wild—” I started, but promptly held my breath as the loud snap of a tree branch echoed from behind us.
We both spun around, retrieving our weapons from our inventories, and the blue glow of my spear shed some light on the source of the sound.
It looked like a bear but there was something more to it. Its jaws were open too wide. It was as if its mouth was hanging too far open on one side while having been completely torn away on the other.
* * *
Name: Brown Bear (Corrupted)
Type: Beast
Level: 21
Disposition: Aggressive
HP: 1236/365
Physical Attack: 53
Magic Attack: 38
Speed: 118
Attack Range: Melee
XP: 1113
Description: A malevolent force has plagued this brown bear, providing it with an excess of life even though it should have been long dead. This particular form of corruption differs from other methods of creating undead as it fills the body of the corrupted with immense amounts of life force without healing their injuries.
* * *
Aphrodite immediately cast the Rooted debuff on the beast. The vines made of energy wrapped around the beast’s limbs that was forced to stop approaching us.
“Just what is that thing?” she said.
I moved closer to inspect it and it roared in frustration, its jaw swinging like a pendulum while it moved its head around menacingly.
“Boy, you can’t even bite me, so shut your mouth,” I said, leaning forward to take a better look at its eyes.
They were there, perfectly healthy and moving around rapidly, but something was missing from them. It wasn’t in the coloration or the wetness, but rather the way it looked at me. You could normally see something soulful, even in the eyes of beasts. Yet I could recognize nothing of the sort here. Its eyes were empty.
A wet noise followed a spatter of blood directly onto my face interrupted my thoughts. The bear fell to the ground with a loud thump, and as it went down, I noticed a glowing arrow had buried itself deep in into one of the eye sockets.
“Uh oh,” I said, and jumped back, expecting trouble.
A steady flow of wolves moved between the trees.
“They’re surrounding us,” said Aphrodite.
“Who cares about a pack of wolves?” I said, preparing myself for real battle this time. “The bear fell dead from a single arrow. And wolves don’t use bows.”
Aphrodite nodded and immediately started casting buffs, starting with one that I knew increased her casting speed. I received a party invitation from her.
* * *
Aphrodite has invited you to a party.
Party Members: 1/9
Party Leader: Aphrodite
Do you accept the invitation?
Yes No
* * *
I mentally accepted the invitation and, just as she finished casting her first buff, another arrow flew from the darkness outside of our miniature forest and lodged itself into the trunk of a tree right next to her head.
“I wouldn’t continue with this if I were you,” a female voice said.
We were finally able to see who had shot the bear.