I hovered in the contacts lists over Mia’s name. We’d chatted several days ago, and I really wanted more information. Yet, she had been really busy, and I didn’t want to be a bother. The warning she had given me had to be enough.
It was enough that my mother sat across from me in my tiny office, wanting more information. Everyone had nodded and smiled at Adam and I when we had first gotten home. My warning then, based on the vague concerns from Mia, had fallen on deaf ears, but still I tried. While we certainly weren’t poor, after all we managed part of a planet with billions of people on it, we didn’t compete to be the wealthiest either. We had a responsibility to make sure those people were safe, and we had to use our resources to do the best we could by them.
Then the first bubble appeared, not here but on a different planet.
Then another.
Finally, it happened.
One hit here, surrounding Adam and I. He took it pretty badly, but was doing better now. At the moment, he was out in the courtyard teaching my siblings how to fight.
I was stuck in here with my mother.
“So, anything else you can think of?” she asked with a concerned look on her perfectly symmetrical face. Her assistant Wendy sat next to her, and had been taking notes.
“As long as you started stockpiling food when I asked, and we made the changes to the southern farms, I think we should be good.” I paused, thinking about the endless lists I had sent over. “We need to be prepared in case monsters show up. I know we have the militia, but right now none of them have classes.”
Wendy nodded, along with my mother. “At least we all have classes, and are working on leveling.”
That was true. The bubble couldn’t have had better timing. We were at a family BBQ, of all things, celebrating Adam’s and I getting engaged. Though, the wedding was on hold now. At least my whole family had been there, along with Adam’s family. Plus several of the more senior executives in the various family holdings. I’d grown up with many of them, and those who weren’t related were just like the uncles and aunts who were.
Everyone believed us now. The white room, and class selection, and having interfaces of their own pretty much made disbelief impossible.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure if that was better. I frequently wished Mia had been wrong.
“I haven’t heard from Mia, and she said she is working on the problem,” I hesitated, then continued. “My concern is that the solution, whatever it is, will spread this to the rest of the galaxy.”
“Our outside sources say ships caught in bubbles stop working, as do most electronic certain technologies,” said Wendy. “Anything we source off-world is being stockpiled as we speak, no matter the cost.”
“Our people come first,” said my mother. It was the family motto, after all. Hard to imagine that a company that produced the finest liqueurs in the galaxy would care about its people, but we did, and it didn’t just extend to family and executives. Our family had applied our motto to every worker, and their families, as best we could. We took good care of all of our people, way more than most corporations in the galaxy.
“Our people first,” I echoed as my mother stood up.
They both headed out, the meeting finally over. I turned to stare out the window at the courtyard below. Adam held a shield, showing others how to use the protective gear. It wasn’t as nice as the one he’d had in Revivium, but it was something. My mother must have been worried we were telling the truth, even if she doubted us in public. As soon as the bubble hit, she’d had Wendy open the armory, which was stocked with swords, shields, and other gear. Anything that didn’t use batteries, technology, or exotic power sources.
I held up my hand and opened my character sheet. There was one line item I was confused about.
Guild Status: Warhog Paladin
Somehow I was still part of the guild, even though I wasn’t on Revivium. What did that mean?
I concentrated, and wisps of ice formed along my fingertips. “How is this working?” I asked no one. My ice abilities should have vanished, since I didn’t have an ice stone. I had left the necklace and my glove with Mia. Adam’s earth abilities didn’t work, yet my ice abilities did. “Mia, what did you do?”
My contact list froze. Then everything went white.
Welcome to Full Integration, Paladin Shift.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
I appeared in an empty white room, just standing there. This was the room I’d appeared in when the bubble had appeared. My character sheet had changed, and I’d lost levels and some skills, and had to pick a new class.
“Why am I here?” I asked.
“Integration is completing across the Universe. Once this is complete the system, will fully cover your planet, and within hours will cover the human-settled galaxy. Given that you are one of the highest leveled people on your planet, you are getting some additional information.”
The soft voice paused.
“Your world has been classified as a mid-tier world. Monster nests and Dungeons will start forming within 7 standard days.”
“Does that mean monsters will appear at that point?”
“No, monsters are appearing as we speak. Monster nests generate higher leveled monsters, most with magic.”
I swallowed, thinking of my family and friends. “Got it.”
***
Adam darted forward, his shield held strong as he slammed into the side of the cat creature. It reminded me of Masi, but it wasn’t as friendly. The horned cat monster stumbled as it slid on the ice I had placed seconds earlier, and I leaped out of my hiding spot, shooting Ice Darts into its side.
A sword slashed downward, cutting deep into its side. My brother, Eric, Dodged the claw that came in response.
The cat stumbled again, then collapsed.
You have gained experience from the Horned Great Cat.
You have cleared the Great Cat Monster Nest.
The second notification was more important than the first. The cats had appeared near the eastern ranch and slowly had been taking out cattle, along with the ranchers. Hopefully, this problem would be solved, at least for now. We could then move onto the next.
“You weren’t kidding about monster nests,” said Eric. He wiped sweat from his forehead. His level was still lower than Adam’s or mine, but he was good with the sword. He was head of the militia and worked with Adam every day to get people ready.
“This wasn’t bad, I’m glad they sent a message in.”
Adam looked worried. “The lack of communication is the hardest.”
“That’s for sure,” said Eric. “We just don’t know who needs help until someone gets to us. We’re going to spread the militia out, and we’ve already got runners selected to travel between meeting points, but it’ll take time, and messages will be hella slow compared to what we’re used to.”
I moved toward the area where the horses should be waiting. “I wish we had a system like the guilds.”
“You’ve mentioned that before. Maybe we can set something up here. Use the militia as a base?” Eric marched on without paying attention to his surroundings. “See if any of the guys who got the weird classes can figure things out.”
“They are inventor classes for a reason,” said Adam, his eyes peeled as he watched the tree line.
I nodded, thinking back to Eric’s words. That line on my character sheet still bugged me. I was already part of the guild.
It took us most of the rest of the day to get back to the family compound. Eric split off to meet up with his wife. Adam stuck close after we handed off the horses.
“Are you still thinking about the guild thing?” he asked.
I paused, then nodded. “Yes. Your guild disappeared, but mine is still there.”
“Probably because the Paladins still exist, and you’re still held by your oath.”
He was probably right.
I found myself later that evening wandering the training space my mother had allocated for us. It was a large warehouse near the edge of the family compound that I’d been given complete control over.
The moonlight streamed in the windows, but the shadows didn’t bother me. A new skill called Dark Vision helped.
I stood in the center of the space and pulled open my character sheet. Though, was it really a character sheet anymore? It was more like a Me Sheet. I giggled, but then got serious. This mattered, even if I didn’t really know why. I just felt like it was going to help save our people.
“How do I start a guildhall?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
A male voice replied behind me. “Paladin Shift, it is good to see you.” Light flickered into existence and I spun around. Paladin stood there, yet he was different. More solid, somehow, but still him. Then he smiled at me.
“Paladin? How…?”
“Well, you were a Tusk of the Order, and your status is currently in limbo. You still have the ability to open a new guildhall. Is that what you want to do?” His pink eyes stared at me like he wanted to say more, but he couldn’t.
I smiled. “Yes, I want to open a new guildhall of the Warhog Paladins.”
“Fantastic, it will be the first guildhall opened off Revivium. Guildmaster Lark will be happy to hear from you. As the founding Paladin, you are First Knight of this Hall. Your status as a Tusk is still undetermined, but as a First Knight, you have full authority over this guildhall and, since it’s the only guildhall on this planet, authority to swear in recruits, promote them to full Paladins, and direct the Paladins on this planet.”
“Wait,” I said, trying to catch up. “How is that possible?”
“How is what possible, Paladin Shift?”
I stared, realizing that there were a lot of things that had just happened. After a moment, I asked the thing I most wanted to know. “How will Mia be able to hear from me? Communications don’t work anymore.”
“Well, she has a couple of different options for you. We have schematics for communication devices that work between guildhalls. You should probably establish smaller guildhalls on-planet and begin building those. I can help with that if you have any inventors who wish to be recruits. In addition, she could fly a ship this way.”
“A ship?” Ships weren’t flying anymore. All shuttles and space vessels were grounded, and no one could figure out how to get them to work.
“You have a lot to catch up on.”
Relief flowed through me. This, I could do. “It sounds like a challenge.” I grinned.