[Olympus]
[The largest and foremost leading guild in the world. Their main layer has already united the races and they have set on consolidating layers. They are unmatched in scope, scale, and power]
Blake had secluded himself to meditate, and most of us took that as a sign to set up camp.
Thankfully, putting the tent up a second time was a lot easier.
For the raid, we had a less than ideal party composition, most of us were below the level I would have liked, and our equipment wasn't the best we could possibly get.
It was good equipment. I'd spent enough time making it to be a little defensive about that.
But it was still gear we'd put together in two weeks.
Maybe I would have to call Epic good enough.
I sat on my bedroll and opened my messages.
[Whisper to Lance] "New World is selling buff potions, right? Do you have any spare ones for tier four? Intelligence mostly."
[Whisper from Lance] "Been a while, buddy. We have a stash in the guild bank. Still only at twenty members?"
[Whisper to Lance] "It's where we want to be. What are you going to charge?"
[Whisper from Lance] "Twenty-five hundred each for the +15 Intelligence elixirs. We also have willpower, regeneration and barrier potions, if you're looking."
[Whisper to Lance] "Mana or health regeneration?"
[Whisper from Lance] "Both. We're a serious guild, Tero."
Of course he had to add that.
[Whisper to Lance] "Twenty of each. Intelligence, willpower, mana regen, health regen, and barriers. Two hundred thousand for the lot."
[Whisper from Lance] "Trying to knock a little off the top?"
[Whisper to Lance] "Not many people are buying that tier in bulk yet. You could use two hundred thousand right now."
So could I.
It was nearly everything we had in the bank.
There was a decent chance we could recover it by selling some of the things we'd found in here. Hell, selling the Legendary drops would probably do it.
But the power was the whole reason I wanted them.
Selling that to buy something we could only use once felt a little fucking backward.
[Whisper from Lance] "Can you arrange the portal?"
[Whisper to Lance] "Don't ask stupid questions."
[Whisper from Lance] "Then give us twenty-four hours to craft what we don't have on hand. We won't empty our own bank for you."
[Whisper to Lance] "One hundred potions. Two hundred thousand. Twenty-four hours?"
[Whisper from Lance] "Agreed."
I leaned back against the tent wall.
That would help.
Hopefully enough.
Making potions like these took time, dedicated alchemists, and equipment that didn't fit neatly on somebody's lap beside a campfire. We had people who could make useful things. New World had the facilities to make useful things in quantity.
Annoying as he was, Lance knew exactly what he was selling.
[Guild Chat
[High Magister Tero] "Secured T4 buff potions from New World. Twenty-four hours to rest, repair, and prepare while they finish the order."
]
A few messages came back thanking me. Someone asked what kinds. I posted the five descriptions and let them look.
The responses I really wanted were from the other leaders.
[Whisper from Mara] "Hey, Tero. Blake says it's a go."
[Whisper to Mara] "For Legendary? For real? Have him say it in guild."
I looked at what I'd sent.
[Whisper to Mara] "Please."
A moment later, another message appeared.
[Guild Chat
[Magister Blake] "I'm signing off on Legendary difficulty."
]
Inspiring, man. Thanks for the effort.
I read it again anyway.
That didn't tell me how the fight would go, or what he'd actually seen. It wasn't even everyone else agreeing.
But it made the difficulty button I wanted to press feel a lot more reasonable.
I wished he would tell us more. Maybe saying too much changed whatever he was looking at. Maybe there were things he couldn't explain without making them worse.
Modern media had done a decent enough job of making time bullshit sound risky.
I didn't actually know which of those rules applied to Blake.
Nobody pressed him for more right then.
I didn't either.
Instead, I opened a different conversation.
[Whisper to Mei] "Hi! What are you up to?"
[Whisper from Mei] "Nothing much. You safe?"
[Whisper to Mei] "Yep. How was the hunt?"
[Whisper from Mei] "It went well. Your dungeon?"
[Whisper to Mei] "Good. Bought some pots from New World for the raid."
[Whisper from Mei] "/:"
[Whisper to Mei] "I'm not a fan either, but I have ties to them. We're from the same layer, after all."
[Whisper from Mei] "Have you been keeping up with global?"
[Whisper to Mei] "A little? What's up?"
[Whisper from Mei] "Olympus has people at level sixty, and apparently they can't go any higher. They're planning to take on the demons soon."
[Whisper to Mei] "Feels low."
Sixty was a lot closer than it had been when I first heard about the raid.
I wasn't sure I liked that.
[Whisper from Mei] "Maybe. Do you think they'll be able to do it?"
[Whisper to Mei] "About a week ago, there was a meeting I got to sit in on. They seemed pretty set on it."
[Whisper from Mei] "Oh. How mysterious~"
[Whisper to Mei] "Hardly. It was mostly them trying to consolidate smaller guilds into their own."
[Whisper from Mei] "Did it work?"
[Whisper to Mei] "Yah, kinda. People are dying. Quickly."
[Whisper from Mei] "It's so sad. And now beastmen have killed fifty-seven humans here for the expansion quest."
I stared at the number.
[Whisper to Mei] "Damn. When I left the layer, that quest reset or disappeared. I can't track it anymore."
[Whisper from Mei] "I want everyone to get along. But I understand."
[Whisper to Mei] "You understand?"
[Whisper from Mei] "They're just trying to survive. We can't all be herbivores, I guess."
Such a prey mindset.
The System offered a bigger layer and capital city for killing people, and she was trying to understand the people taking the deal.
[Whisper to Mei] "Yah, I get it."
Yah.
No.
[Whisper to Mei] "I don't, actually. If someone kills a beastman, you should kill them in turn."
[Whisper from Mei] "You sound like our protectors."
I sat with that for a second.
[Whisper to Mei] "I'm yours, aren't I?"
[Whisper from Mei] "Yah."
That was enough to make me smile.
[Whisper to Mei] "Our date in, like… thirty-six hours?"
[Whisper from Mei] "Yah. I'm counting them all."
Twenty-four hours waiting for the potions. Then the raid.
I hoped I hadn't just made a stupid promise.
[Whisper to Mei] "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, Mei."
[Whisper from Mei] "See you soon. Stay safe. I'll pray for your protection, okay?"
[Whisper to Mei] "And I yours <3"
[Whisper from Mei] "<3"
For a little while, it felt like a good night.
The campsite itself was pretty fucking lame. Stone walls, a basement ceiling, and people talking on the other side of a sheet of cloth.
But the bedroll was comfortable, the blanket was warm, and I had somebody waiting to see me.
I closed my eyes.
Then the tent flap opened.
Jane ducked inside and sat beside my bedroll.
"Tero…"
I pushed myself up.
"Jane."
She watched me for a moment, then looked down at the space between us.
"I'm sorry."
"What?"
What?
"Not for going on another date," she said. "But I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't want that."
"Well, um…" I looked away. "Thank you."
"I was thinking we could spend tonight together."
My eyes came back to her.
"See if what we had is still there."
For a second, I wanted to say yes.
It would have been so fucking easy.
"I…"
She waited.
"I can't."
"You can't?"
"I'm seeing someone. Mei. We're dating."
"Oh."
Jane sat back a little.
"Okay. Sorry. You never talk about her."
"I…"
"You hadn't even told Merlin."
"You asked him?"
"Yah. When you started being weird with me. I was trying to figure out what was going on."
"Ah."
I'd apparently made her ask other people what was happening between us.
That felt pretty shit.
She smoothed a fold in her robe, then got up.
"Well. I won't keep you."
"Jane…"
She paused by the flap.
I didn't know what I wanted to say.
"…Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Tero."
She left, pulling the flap closed behind her.
I watched it for a while.
Maybe my heart had already iced over, but it felt like she wasn't taking it that hard.
I couldn't decide why that bothered me.
The rest of the waiting period went into repairs, food, and talking through the plan until everyone was tired of hearing it.
At the agreed time, I opened a portal for New World's delivery.
We counted the vials before I paid. Twenty of each, just as promised.
Watching most of the guild's money disappear felt worse than agreeing to spend it.
Sheral checked the descriptions before helping distribute them.
"Drink up everyone. Lets stay safe. If you think your gonna die drink that barrier elixir, better wrong than dead"
Once the supplies were sorted, we gathered in front of the raid entrance.
Twenty people in matching green robes, looking down into a darkness our light didn't quite reach through.
I looked back at the four groups.
"Ready?"
The answers came from more than just Blake this time.
I selected Legendary.
Then we moved forward together.
[Elixir of Lucid Thought]
[Intermediate (4) | Epic Quality]
[Type: Consumable]
[A clear violet elixir that leaves a cool, bitter taste behind.]
[Increases Intelligence by 15 for 1 hour.]
[Does not restore mana. Does not stack with other Intelligence elixirs; a fresh dose replaces the existing elixir effect.]
[Duration: 1 hour]
[Mana Renewal Draught]
[Intermediate (4) | Epic Quality]
[Type: Consumable]
[A blue draught threaded with slowly rising silver bubbles.]
[Regenerates 10 mana a second for one hour]
[Does not stack with other mana-regeneration potions; a fresh dose refreshes the duration.]
[Duration: 1 hour]
[Regenerative Draught]
[Intermediate (4) | Epic Quality]
[Type: Consumable]
[A thick red draught with a sharp herbal smell.]
[Increases natural health regeneration by 1000% for 1 hour.]
[Does not regrow lost body parts or remove poison and curses. Does not stack with other health-regeneration potions; a fresh dose refreshes the duration.]
[Duration: 1 hour]
[Bottled Aegis]
[Intermediate (4) | Epic Quality]
[Type: Consumable]
[A pale gold liquid that briefly coats the inside of its vial when shaken.]
[Drinking the potion forms a barrier around the drinker that absorbs cataclysmic damage
[The barrier expires after 4 seconds.]
[Duration: 5 Seconds]
[Shared Barrier-Potion Cooldown: 5 minutes]