Chapter 86: Acid

Tenrou can’t help but be pissed off at his lot in the guild. After suffering several setbacks and having to creep out of the city. The beginner’s guide list a number of levelling zones. While it is awesome to given this information for free. These zones are dangerous for new players. Other players and higher level monsters hunt the teams constantly. 

He slams his red bottle of wine on the table. Gregor and Kaya have left the guild already like many other new players. The step challenges only make Tenrou believe that Sunken Reef is even more cunning than he initially thought. This guild is filled with leaders who operate on a much higher level. Tenrou himself feels like they are treating the newcomers like a Megacorp. This sort of recruitment method is both vicious and brilliant. 

Tenrou smiles bitterly he has to put in an earnest effort or leave the guild. Besides his own tactical blunder the way Sunken Reef fields its teams speaks to him. As a leader he can already see the benefits, people like him who are in the guild for easy benefits are quickly learning lessons. Also, those who stay will undoubtedly be loyal and more skilled than the average player on the street.

Tenrou even realises he is being passively manipulated he thinks to himself, ‘those strategic and structural dynamics classes are good for something after all.’ Instead of being mad at the guild, he is angrier at his friends. This binds more to the guild as without any other people he has to put his faith in his fellow guild members who stayed. Sighing he opens a channel to find teammates. The channel also has recommendations on team builds and while not law most players abide by them. This means that the newly formed teams are more cohesive and less likely to fail. Soon he is joined by two other players. These two players stories are identical to Tenrou. This is not surprising to him as the players who have stayed all in one way or another can tell that the guild leaders are quite smart. 

Tenrou says, “Nice to meet you Hargvar and Pansi.” Hargvar is a massive gritty looking boy his player card stated that he is a level eleven Spiritcaller. This advanced class is a mix of the summoner who advanced with the bard class. What makes this particular class good with his charlatan class is that the spiritual warrior it summons allows him to use his more stalker-like skills to do high DPS damage. Best of all is the Spellsong Pansi has support skills that boost regen health damage and staying power. 

Pansi the soft-spoken yet excitable girl says, “Ja man, so like where are we going.” She wants to see if she can survive now. early her sisterhood of fighting wigs got wrecked by some players. They had focused too much on the fighting classes which is why she choose Spellsong with its wide area of effect spells. She could heal all four other members of her sisterhood unfortunately whenever anything happened they would her since she is the only one with healing. No matter how she advocated for reasonable changes they didn’t listen. Many players are still blinded by the low skill ceiling of the open areas. Pansi quickly realised that the rank 0 dungeons are a prelude to the game scaling. This insight which her sisters refuse to see left her feeling disenfranchised with them. Once they formally had to join and split into a team of threes. Their demise was ll but set in stone beside her mate now of the other have even tried to change. They made a huff and posted horrible things about Sunken Reef before leaving. When Pansi expressed her want to stay her friends lambasted her and blocked her from their contacts lists. 

Hargvar says, “Not too quick now we just met.” Like Pansi he is also excited but a few things have to be sorted out first. The crew sit and discuss with one another how they plan to fight and where they will be going. Since somehow each of them is already level ten. They have come to the conclusion they would rush to Red Iron Island on the free Rafts provided by the Reef Company. As a new set of players as long as they bring the small number of necessary products. They will receive a raft for twenty-some basic provisions. Hargvar is especially on the guild for this reason. Most guilds in Odyessy would take advantage of low-level players to quickly build up their strength. Hargvar is clear on the fact that Sunken Reef isn’t doing this out of the goodness of their hearts but rather to fulfil a specific set of goals. Chief amongst those goals is to raise their power which is why they are so many opportunities for new players. 

Tenrou finally happy with his new teams mates sets off west with them. They still have a number of places to go to gather all the materials needed. With Poppi and Merz holding down the beachfront where the players can swop materials for rafts and goods. Plus with his new team, they can basically steamroll the ambushes. Even if someone targets Pansi leaving Hargvar and Tenrou to attack is just as dangerous. Best of all Tenrou smokescreen doesn’t affect the spiritual warriors at all. 

Scenes like Ternous’ have are constantly happening all over Sunken Reef. This has thrust a lot of chatter onto the guild mostly negative. Which Medium Bunz doesn’t mind at all the three-hour channelling ceremony is only just starting. The Arrival of the Mint is at hand and in the mean, she can kill some time by looking at the activities of the guild. The leaders in particular are of intent to her since she formulates agendas based on what happens with them. Their general sense of ease whenever she talks to any one of them makes her think she is a cog in a much bigger plan. Checking over her notes she has markers for each leader. these indicate her observed notions on their personalities and interactions. 

Her current assessment of the leaders leaves her thinking that she has to provide the guild leaders with options. Since she isn’t able to see what exactly they need for their goals given how each chapter is pursuing its own needs. Which they haven’t discussed with her. Whether they discuss it amongst themselves is something she still has to figure out. She will provide them options her trust in Tyr is something she can’t explain herself. She feels like she wants to prove her value to him for whatever reason. She watches the manager of Merchant Guild do his thing as he starts chanting. 

Servers and Clerks place at set intervals cion that fades into the ether. The value increasing with each interval. The ritual doesn’t tear to ripe this one, supplements an ethereal force that gently replaces the existing space. Going back to her leader observation Tatiana needs help with combat inclined newcomers. Hers is not the only team to be wiped but since Tyr is not saying anything it must be okay or within his expectation. Tatiana on the other hand has a distinct lack of combat inclined forces she has to convince a number of new players to go her side.

Styx and Frey have strict requirements for any new players making it more difficult for Medium Bunz to organise their chapter. Unlike the others, they have a more hands-off approach to each team in the Black Ocean Chapter is expected to be self-sufficient. Styx must have spent time thinking about what he wants from his chapter since he is the only one with an exact list of demands for players. The commando-like attitude Styx wants from his chapter is probably why none of the five-man teams qualifies to join his chapter. She places this difficult chapter in the back of her mind for now. As the storefront counter starts to appear. 

The first thing to appear is the three golden coins in a sea of emeralds and jade. The stone edifice of the counter is not normal. It is much smoother than granite yet it has a soft quality to it. The counter itself is massive standing at six feet tall. 

The thing that appears is a tall slender man. Wearing a suit of diamonds and a latticework of magically enchanted rubies. His face has no eyes ears, or nose in fact besides the basic shape of a head there is no matching to a human face. Yet he moves it like he is looking at them. His arms are knives with deadly sharp edges. His chin has thin sharp strips of valuable metals the simple silver streaks of metal give him an aura of reality. 

Fading into this space he towers above everyone else in the room. Waving his sharp arms around platinum chair appear. He sits with speaking behind his counter ready to expand the power of the Mint. Outside the building, everyone is frozen. From people to bugs they are at a complete standstill. As a high ranking force nature has moved to protect itself from this incursion into its space. 

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep