[The High Order
Guildmaster: High Magister Tero, of The High Order
Auction House & Market Tax: 1%
Members: 0/410]
[
[Stats][Magic][Inventory][Skills][Help]
Class: Adventurer 20, Leyline Strategist 20, Leygate Magister 1
Strength: 10+10
Body: 10+10
Agility: 10
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 115+9
Willpower: 22+1
Charisma: 16+3
Stat points: 0
XP: 278/330
]
[
[Stats][Magic][Inventory][Skills][Help]
Mana: 6200/6200
Spells:
Magic Missile: 5 Mana
Magic Force: 5 Mana
Missile Binding: 10 mana
Mana Fist: X Mana
Fireball: 50 Mana
Wall of Fire: X Mana
Locate: X Mana
Locate (Map): 100 Mana
Inter-layer Teleport: 5000 Mana
Summon: Skinning Knife: X Mana
]
The High Order was the name I settled on.
We were going to be a shining light in this world, a guild meant to push humanity forward into the unknown.
My first order of business was simple.
"Merlin, I took a guild making class," I said as we crossed back into The Meadows.
"You? Alright, man. I'm assuming you're going to ask me to join?" he asked plainly.
"Yah, you good with that?"
"Sure, send the invite."
As soon as he accepted the invite, I gave him a title, The Magisterium.
I had already decided how my guild would be run. I would take a high seat, unmovable and unremovable.
Next, there would be a small ruling council, currently limited to three seats. This group would be The Magisterium.
They would generally run the guild on a day-to-day basis.
Below them would be the masses, the Magisters.
I had no interest in bringing weak members into the guild. That's not to say I didn't plan on helping the weak, but the guild was supposed to represent only the highest of humanity.
So that's where the power ranking stopped, and each group had equal authority, with some caveats.
Of course, the High Magister could overturn any decision, but considering the power gap wouldn't be that high, doing so might be a bad idea.
Other than that, the High Magister's vote counted as one, The Magisterium's vote counted as one, and the Magisters' vote counted as one.
It took Merlin only a few moments to read the description I had written out about how the guild worked.
"I don't want to be part of The Magisterium man."
"Huh? Why?" I asked, a little surprised.
"Way too much weight on my shoulders. I'd rather just spend my days chillin' out."
"Damn, okay then," I said, demoting him. "You know any other mages that are worth a damn here?"
"Ehh, maybe, but just like you, me and her were part of the first group through the tutorial. So we're probably still on top."
"Dang, I lost that position early."
"Yah, but you abandoned your group. That's on you," he said, hitting my back with his staff.
"Sooo, are you two gonna keep talking without me?" Jane finally cut in.
"Oh shit, sorry Jane. What's up?" Merlin said, looking back at her.
"Yah..." I said after.
"Well, I'd like an invite to this guild if you're looking for new people."
"Ohh, um, it's mostly for mages."
"Ohh come on, a druid is a mage," she said, giving me an annoyed look.
"I mean... kinda? Umm... I'll invite you for now, okay?"
"Good," she said, accepting the invite.
After that, we chatted as we walked back into the city.
Jane and I got at each other a little about whether a druid is truly a mage, but how could I say no to her?
[Whisper to Zach] "Going to invite you to my new guild."
[Whisper from Zach] "Joined New World bro."
[Whisper to Zach] "Leave."
[Whisper from Zach] "It's a gold fee to leave, bro."
[Whisper to Zach] "I'll pay it when I get back."
After that, I sent the invite, and he joined shortly after.
We already had three members in such little time. Felt sorta nice.
What I had to do next didn't, mostly because I hated typing in global chat.
[World Chat
[High Magister Tero, of The High Order]: "Recruiting the best of the best mages. Send a whisper to join the new age of humanity! Passing all boundaries and all restrictions! Including layers!"
]
Almost instantly, I got a few people whispering me, but I took the liberty of ignoring the vast majority of them.
Any message that just said "I'm interested" or "Hi" was not enough.
If they were truly the best, then they could at least write a resume of sorts.
Things like level and class at least should be given, at the very least.
As we got back to town, I left the group and went to the mage tower.
It had the softest couches and the best atmosphere to study that I'd seen here.
I was going to read deep into the new information the system gave me access to, because while I liked being here with Merlin and Jane, I would like to get home eventually.
It took a while to get through the new information about portals, then how they could interact with leylines was another demon.
Both of these concepts were far more advanced than anything I'd seen on Earth, but I had already started working on them to get here in the first place.
It turns out my method was one of many ways to make a portal, and what the system gave me the most info on was a method using a Leyline Anchor.
A Leyline Anchor was an impossibly fine leyline, one that slipped beyond the boundaries of ordinary space and hooked itself into another layer. Once fixed, it formed a bridge between locations, allowing a portal to lock onto a destination without tearing itself apart.
The math behind it was abhorrent, and it took nearly my entire notebook to work out, but oddly it was fun.
At this level of intelligence, I could look at an equation and graph it with perfect clarity in my mind, or I could model forces, or do any number of things that would require a human on Earth hours of work in an instant.
All in all, the math took me four more days to decipher fully. I didn't feel like risking my life again, so I made sure I knew what I was doing this time.
Once I had a guild house, I would make a full array so I could go back and forth easier, but for now I only wanted to teleport myself.
[Whisper to Sheral] "Whatcha doing?"
[Whisper from Sheral] "We're in The Nest looking for spider silk for a recipe."
[Whisper to Sheral] "I'll join you, can you get to a safe place?"
[Whisper from Sheral] "We're in one. Not going to kill yourself again, right idiot?"
[Whisper to Sheral] "I didn't die."
Then I started forming the spell.
Unlike last time, my natural mana pool was more than enough to teleport, not to mention teleporting was a good deal cheaper once I learned how to do it effectively.
Charging the spell with mana only took about twenty seconds this time, and upon activating it I could feel my body being taken from the layer.
Unlike last time, it was an okay-feeling trip, like being stuck in a washing machine for a bit. Thankfully, my willpower was high enough to offset the sickness that would usually cause.
It took a few seconds to appear in The Nest. It was a region that looked like a forest taken over by spiders.
Webs were everywhere and frankly, I did not like it.
"There you are, come here," Sheral said, hugging me.
"Glad to have you back," Jake said from behind her, his armor now a bit better since he had a full breastplate.
"Glad to be back," I said, hugging Sheral back before pulling away a bit. "So, what levels are we?"
"That's the first thing you're going to ask?" Sheral replied, rolling her eyes at me. "We're level forty. Me and Jake only level together."
"Yep."
"That's nice, I'm level 41," I said, bragging a bit.
"No shit, what class did you end up with?" Sheral asked.
"It's called Leygate Magister. I'm a guildmaster now. The other part is like, portals n' stuff."
"Good!" Jake said, enthusiasm very present in his voice. "We need someone to fight against New World."
"They're still a problem?"
"Ohh yah" he said, Sheral cutting in after.
"It's the same thing as before, but now they basically own the entire auction house. They're able to transfer items through layers with the guild storage, so it's really bad."
"Yah, that doesn't sound pleasant, but my guild isn't going to be about that," I said, inviting Sheral.
If a druid was a mage, I don't see why a priest wouldn't be.
As Sheral read the info for the guild, Jake sighed.
"Fuck me running."
"Is it really that bad?" I asked.
"Yes, they're pressuring their members not to buy from non-guild sellers, so you can't even sell shit anymore."
"I mean, honestly, why not join them?"
"God no, I'm a part of the Knights of the Golden Dawn. Jake, Knight of the Golden Dawn. It's a good name, right?" he said, giving hand gestures that complemented what he was saying.
"Yah man, suits you."
"I'm not liking this, boy," Sheral said, her tone telling me she was ready to rip into me.
"Only the best of the best? How is it structured? I'm not a comi or nothing, but this really pushes a 'we're better than them' mentality."
"That's not something I thought you would say."
It wasn't, but then again I never really asked where she fell politically. I just figured she was old and from Texas and stereotyped from there.
"Well yah, but it's for the people in the end. A strong leading body is good."
"But not when the strong leading body is based on class discrimination... That's funny, means something different here, but yah. It's not good, man."
"It's not discrimination, or, it's not bad discrimination. The smartest people should be in power."
"But that's not all that matters."
"Yah obviously, that's why there are checks and balances."
"I guess, man, but you need to be really careful with that."
"Okay, I'll be good."
"Sure." She rolled her eyes at me before sitting again. "Should we whisper Hunter that we're doing the dungeon again?"
"Yah, I will."
[Whisper to Hunter] "We're doing the epic difficulty of the sewer, you in?"
[Whisper from Hunter] "Tomorrow."
"Alright, he'll be coming tomorrow. You okay if I bring another mage I know?"
"The more the merrier," Sheral responded.
"Damn, so many mages," Jake said. "Won't you feel bad when I outclass you?"
I gave the comment a chuckle.
"You probably will, man, I'm kinda a not combat focused mage now."
"Damn really? That's a bummer. Do you at least get, like, more mana or a new spell?"
"Ohh yah, way, way more mana."
"Nice," he said, getting up. "Well, if we're doing the dungeon tomorrow, I want to rest, so let's head out."
"Sounds good," Sheral said as I helped her up. "I noticed the arm, by the way."
"What arm?" I said quickly, making her laugh a good bit.
"I'll figure out a way, I'm your healer after all."
"Thanks," I said, giving her a hug and following behind Jake.