[The Warhog Paladins] - Book Two - Chapter 1 - LitRPG Adventure

Previously on The Warhog Paladins: Epilogue

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First Tusk of the Order - Chapter One

Bitz: 450

Days in Game: Fourteen

Level: Eleven

Upgrade Available - Level Thirteen!

“New recruits?” I asked, trying to figure out what he meant. “Wait - we can’t have new recruits.” I jumped up in my chair and moved around the large wooden desk. “Isn’t it past the time to sign up for a guild for the realm-wide quest?” The glowing pink figure of Hex was strange, but it was nice to see a physical representation of them. Talking to an actual person versus the voice inside my head was a nice change. At least I had more proof I wasn’t going crazy.

“We have less than fifteen minutes until the cut-off,” said Hex. “So, you have a little time to think about it. If you want, they can join as recruits. I’d recommend promoting Shift to Second Tusk from a general member. It will help with the organizational structure of the guild.”

“And I trust Shift.” I knew nothing about organizational structure but I needed to learn quickly. I needed a how-to guide for running a guild, stat.

“And you trust Shift,” echoed Hex.

“What difference does that make? Promoting her.” I stepped closer to the door and found the shrine empty. On my map, it showed that Shift was in the common room near the door. I quickly headed in that direction as Hex followed me, keeping up easily. It was hard to tell if their legs were moving or if the figure was just hovering.

“Well, new recruits are members but not yet full members,” said Hex. “Think of it as a trail run. Shift would be part of the leadership team with you.”

Before they finished speaking I opened the guild tab now in my menu and promoted Shift to Second Tusk of the Warhog Paladins. If I was struck being in leadership, she should be as well. The door slid open in front of me with a soft hiss. That needed to be looked at as most doors were silent.

Shift sat on a couch in front of the screens, which had information scrolling across them. Her eyes locked on the screen watching the list go by. “Shift, what’re your feelings on new recruits? Hex, says some are waiting outside if we want them?” Masi was resting on one of the giant wooden tables in a bright sunbeam.

Shift’s head jerked up at the question, and she froze before smiling. “Thanks for the promotion!” Shift sounded enthusiastic about it. I had to do a double-take. “There’s so much in the guild panel.”

“Focus! Recruits, yes or no?” I didn’t know what to think, but the time pressure felt like a ton. We also didn’t know if we could trust any of these people. Who knew if they were friends with the Ivory Dragons?

“Sure, I think we can limit access while we get to know them,” said Shift. “Wait, who’s this Abraham person?” He was the only person listed under members now that I’d promoted Shift. The system still listed his status as exiled. Before I could add some background detail for Shift, a red alert popped up in the corner of my screen. That was new, and I quickly opened it.

Guildmaster Lark, an injunction has been filed against The Warhog Paladins calling into question the status of the guild. You have three days to respond.

“Hex?! What does this mean?” I asked.

“The Ivory Dragons filed it,” said Hex. His image flickered a little as he said ‘dragons’. “They state that the Warhog Paladins is an inactive guild and should not be allowed to accept new members. That the guild should be closed.” The pink figure stomped across the room. “It's completely false. Abraham has been a member the whole time, keeping the guild in the active status.”

“Yeah, who is he?” asked Shift.

“Well, you’ll hopefully get to meet him. He’s a member from when Elizabeth ran the guild. He’s been in hiding for this exact reason, to protect the guild.” A sickening feeling rose in my chest. This guy had been kept away from Betty and Mary to protect the guild, for how many years? That wasn’t right.

“We’re down to less than ten minutes if you want to accept the recruits. A few have left the queue,” said Hex.

“Fine, let them in. Don’t say anything about the injunction or Abraham in front of them,” I added.

The door slid open and Masi poked his head up from where he was resting. I hadn’t noticed that near the ceiling were narrow windows, letting in the afternoon sunlight. Hex must have opened the shades for the cat. Shift moved off of the couch and stood next to me with a smile on her face.

Six people funneled inside the door mostly one after another.

Cale, level 17

Maverick, Level 16

Kora, Level 12

Brock, level 18

Dawn, level 11

Art, level 8

The names hovered in the air and I studied each person as they entered.

Cale looked like any fighter in Revivium with a sword. Brown hair and bright brown eyes, with broad shoulders. His armor was in decent shape, and I noticed he’d upgraded his shoes.

Following him was Maverick, who swaggered in like he was something special. He eyed me up and down before narrowing his eyes. Something about him made me want to punch him in the face. He was bad news. I’d cross a street in the real world to not walk near him. The hair on the back of my neck raised, and he reminded me of the sleazy guys from the club. They didn’t have a ton of money to spend, but liked to pretend they were important.

After him was Kora. Her hair was a shocking blue, and she pulled back into a tight bun. Her eyes almost looked pink, but I wasn’t sure. Either genetic manipulation before she’d been born, or some modification afterwards. It was hard to tell. Either way, she had to come from money in the real world. She had a giant sword strapped to her back along with some decent armor and only okay shoes. Kora gave me a nod and kept a serious look on her face.

Brock again had a sword, I was definitely noticing a theme here. Nothing stood out about him besides his level. Eighteen was high, he must have come in pretty early to the game this season. His hair was cut short near his head and he must be getting it buzzed regularly in Revivium to have it still be that length. That meant he was doing well enough to spend Bitz on vanity items. He had a little stubble, so it’d been awhile since he’d gotten a shave. He walked with his head held high, and his eyes brightened while glancing around the room.

Dawn was right after him, and she had a bright smile but no sword. Her eyes were a brown color, maybe hazel, and freckles covered her face. She had a face that could get anyone to trust her, she just had this adorable look about her. The freckles, smile and eyes were distracting enough, I had to pull my look away to get a better picture of her. Several daggers ran across her chest in a row. Maybe a thief, but I wasn’t sure. I knew nothing about the ninja classes. She was probably dangerous.

The last person made me pause, but I forced myself to not react. I recognized him. Art, who’d been on the shuttle that I’d taken to get into the game. His goal had been to get enough money to pay for his passage and get out of the game. The only reason he’d even gone in was to get his arm healed. Overall, he still looked like he was in one piece and I wondered why he was still here. He still had his short bright red hair, though his armor was basic and needed to be cleaned. His boots were the game issued ones, and that puzzled me. Those things were heavy.

“You need to accept them as new recruits fast,” said Hex, knocking me out of my thoughts.

“Alright, so you all want to be new recruits of The Warhog Paladins?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.

Most nodded, and a few said yes. I sighed and tried again. “Raise your hand if you want to be a new recruit for the Warhog Paladins.” Six hands rose into the air and a notification popped up asking if I accepted them all as new recruits. I hit yes. I knew Maverick would be trouble but Hex could monitor him.

“Shouldn’t they need to swear in?” I asked Hex.

“It's not required until you are a full member. You need another guild member to vouch for you to be a full member. You swore Shift in as a full member, not a recruit.”

“Congratulations, you are each now a recruit of The Warhog Paladins,” I said.

Hex stepped forward. “My name is Hex, I am the AI assistant for the Paladins. I sent each of you the guild rules, and a handbook on how to advance within the guild. You have 3 months to prove yourself as a Paladin and be sworn in as a full member.”

Maverick stepped forward, and I resisted the urge to yank my bow off my shoulder. “I challenge you for leadership of the Warhog Paladins,” he announced. Before I could get my thoughts straight, Hex chuckled and Shift stepped forward, glaring at the guy.

“If you had read the handbook, you would know that is not how this guild is run. Other guilds allow leadership challenges, but we do not,” said Hex. “If that doesn’t sit right with you, I’d advise you to leave.”

Maverick pulled his sword out and Masi growled from his position on the table. Shift tensed next to me.

“I’d advise you to leave, Maverick.” My voice came out strong and in my menu I booted him from the guild. “We do things differently here, and I don’t think you want to get into a fight you cannot win.”

The door slid open on its own and Maverick glanced around. The other new recruits had taken a step back, except for Brock who turned to face him. His hand was on his sword. “The Guildmaster has spoken,” Brock said. It came out as a low growl, like something was wrong with his vocal cords. When he spoke, his words also appeared over his head.

Maverick put his sword away and squared his shoulders. “Pff, who wants to be in a guild where someone so weak is in charge.” He marched toward the door with his head held high.

Masi jumped off the table in a fluid motion, landing near the player.

He moved faster toward the door after that, before exiting the building. The door slid shut behind him, and I turned toward the new recruits.

“Like Hex said, make sure you read the handbook and the oath that you will be expected to swear in with. If it doesn’t sit right with you, no worries or hard feelings. You can leave.”

“Hex, what do I do with them now?” I asked.

“I have assigned each of you bunks in the bunk rooms, and you have been given access to the Training facilities, the Shrine, and the Temple,” said Hex. “If you have questions, please message me or just ask out loud. I’m still working at getting the kitchen facilities up and running, they’ve been dormant for a while.”

Shift: We need to chat.

Mia: Yep. To my office.

“Does anyone have any questions?” I asked.

Brock nodded. “What rules do you have for the realm-wide quest?” This time the words appeared in the air as his lips moved but no sound came out.

“You should follow the guild handbook. As for team formation, you are free to join teams, but the Ivory Dragons are off limits for the moment. Keep your space from them. Don’t start trouble or pick fights.”

“Are they enemies of the Paladins?” asked Cale.

I shook my head no. “No, they just seem to have a beef with us and I’d like to keep things civil. Not to mention they all are assholes from what I’ve seen.”

Brock chuckled at that, as did Dawn. Kora just nodded.

“Any other questions? We’re working at getting the guild in better shape after several years of disuse.”

Kora glanced around. “Can we invite non-guild members to use our training grounds? I’ve looked through the book and don’t see anything mentioning it.”

“I don’t know much about the other guilds besides the Azura Tribe. We have some teammates over there and they seem to be good people. Run the guild your friends belong to by Hex, and they'll keep watch when they’re inside.” The answer satisfied Kora. “Alright, if you have any other questions please message me.” I gave everyone a nod and walked back to the doorway that led to the Shrine and my office.

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” said Hex.

Shift followed me down the hall and eventually into my office. The screens behind the desk were still dark and the surface of the desk appeared to be wood. When the AI had spoken, it’d glowed. The door shut behind her. “Thank you so much for the promotion! Also, we are being watched by so many people. My follower count has skyrocketed. I think we made it into the top ten, but I haven’t checked.”

I sat down in the chair behind the desk and gave Shift a small smile. While I didn’t care about followers and subscribers, she did. “That’s cool. Did you see the injunction?”

“This is fancy…” Shift sat down in one of the leather chairs, then ran her fingers over the material. Then she looked up, as though just realizing what I’d asked. “What?”

I sent over a copy of the message.

“That’s not good,” she said. I considered it an understatement.

Bright pink light formed into the shape of Hex. “It’s nonsense. Per our guild charter, as long as we have a member, no matter the status, we’re active.” Hex paused then continued. “Other newer guilds do not have that clause. Based on the research I’ve done so far, it’s been disallowed since the incident with Elizabeth. Our rules are grandfathered in.”

“So do the Ivory Dragons know that, and this is some intimidation tactic, or do they really think this is going to work?” I asked.

No one answered my question. It was the big one, and we needed more data to figure that out. My bet was they didn’t know our rules and thought this was going to work. Either way, we weren’t going to let it interfere with the guild.

“That’s the Abraham dude, right?” asked Shift. “The only member?”

“Yes, Abraham has been in hiding, and it’s time to go find him,” said Hex. “If we send proof of life and he’s back at the guildhall, the injunction has no standing with the terms of our charter.”

“Do we need him?” I asked.

“It would be a closed case if he’s here,” said Hex. The pink figure leaned against the desk. It was strange having body language from them. “And I know where he is.”

“How? I thought he was missing?” I asked.

“I’ve updated my systems, and I now have access to all the information for the guild. I can track any member and get an approximation of location.”

“That’s a little creepy,” said Shift.

“It’s an upgrade. I didn’t have it before, but after last time I’m not taking any chances with your lives.”

I didn’t know what to say to that and Shift kept her lips shut as well. Being the Guildmaster could lead to my death, same for Shift as a part of the leadership. But then again, we could die at any point fighting a monster or even going about a normal life outside of the game. This didn’t change anything, but somehow it felt like it did. “Alright, so we need to find Abraham before the deadline is up and deal with the new recruits.” My fingers tapped on the top of the desk. My to-do list was getting long, and we hadn’t even checked out the city yet. Not that I had money to spend.

“Don’t forget, we need to register our team in the marketplace for the quest,” said Shift.

Hex interrupted Shift. “More importantly, you both need to level up in the temple. Since you are guild members, you will get a discount.” He turned to look at me, which was a little intimidating since they didn’t have eyes, only a blank face. “Mia needs to stop hoarding skill points.”

Shift’s lips parted, and she joined in, staring at me. “Hoarding skill points? How many unspent skill points do you have?”

I blinked. “Not many. I have the ones from our most recent two levels…”

“And thirteen other points,” added Hex.

I glared at the pink glowing figure, but they didn’t seem to care. Traitor.

“Thirteen skill points? What about your stats?” asked Shift. Her face got that look like she was looking at something on her screen. I assumed she was looking at my stats since we were friends. “Woah, you have a lot of points in constitution…”

I ground my teeth a little, then forced myself to relax. I hated being judged, but I reminded myself that it was only because they cared. “Well, I don’t want to die. Or get sick. OR be unable to keep up with everyone.”

“Yeah, but you're an archer. You shouldn’t be getting hit by anything. Though, I’m not an expert at stat building. Hex, do you have any insider info?” asked Shift.

“Both of you have low strength, and Shift, your intelligence is low for having a magical item.” Hex’s figure glowed a little brighter, like they were happy to be asked for input. I hadn’t asked them about leveling and now I felt like a dumbass. They were right there, and they’d been in the game much longer than me. “I’d spend your pending level stat points stat evening out those areas. Not to mention, neither of you are being creative with figuring out new skills. You should combine skills in new and exciting ways to expand what each of you can do. Both of you stalled out on that.”

“I mean, we were running to save our lives from a major boss battle.” The sarcasm slipped out without my really intending it. But, we had been running to save our lives...

“Yes,” said Hex, “and you each received levels for that, but you need to be intentional about your builds. Mia, think about it. What direction do you want to go with Masi? Will he be fighting beside you, tanking in the front, or sneak attacking from the shadows? How will that change your fighting style and areas that you need to focus on?”

Hex was several levels ahead in this conversation than I was. “Okay, we need to level and be more intentional about that. Got it. Let’s move on. The recruits. Brock is much higher level than us and most of the other recruits. I’m going to see if he wants to lead some training sessions for the guild. Art, Dawn, and Kora, plus us, are much lower than everyone else.” At level 13 we were at the top of the short list, but with Brock at 18, and Cade at 17 there was a gap.

Shift looked a little uncomfortable. “Maybe we should get more info on why each of them joined before we show off our skills to everyone. Build some trust first.”

I had gone back and forth on if we should trust them outright and I completely understood that point of view, but I didn’t know what to do with these people. “I joined because I believe in the mission and in Hex, but not everyone knows about the mission.” Maverick didn’t, and his challenge made it clear other guilds did not run the same way. My glance through the handbook showed we valued teamwork, helping others achieve their goals, and providing a hand to those lower level than us.

“Most people join guilds for the benefits,” said Shift. “We get discounted shelter, leveling, food and sometimes training. Plus, it's easier to form teams you can trust. The guild gets a cut of our rewards.”

I nodded.

“Not to mention, Professional players have a safe place to stay in the long-term,” said Shift.

That all made sense. I hadn’t thought about where Professional players stayed in-game or how they lived in their day-to-day lives. All my research had been what to do to earn money and get out without getting majorly injured.

“Okay, so we need to level, talk to the newbies, find Abraham, and register our team in the market-place. That’s the list,” I said looking first at Shift, then Hex.

“I can talk to a few of the recruits,” said Shift. “And I’ll message the team to set up a time to go register. You don’t need to do all of this.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“We need to find Abraham within three days,” reiterated Hex. “He’s a little out there, so we might want to see what a shuttle would cost to the closest town.”

I nodded. We hadn’t used any shuttles because of the expense. Horses were expensive enough, and shuttles went for an even higher price since they were faster. “I don’t know if we can afford shuttles.”

“That’s what the guild funds are for,” said Hex.

I quickly pulled up the guild tab. I somehow was going to find some space, and even more important, time to explore what I could do and read the information I had access to. I had to, but right now wasn’t going to be it. As I looked over the guild tab, I saw under accounting, there was a Bank Balance Section:

Guild Bank Account: 32,595 Bitz

Guild Investment Account: 98,575 Bitz

“Book the shuttle,” I said.

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