Healer Book 4 -- Chapter 43

Chapter 43

The Coalition Meeting Hall was apparently originally made for larger meeting centered around Adventurer Coalition members, but he’d heard that it had essentially been commandeered by the Guilds and rented out for special functions, reminding him of corporate training events back on Earth. 

But the party he entered was more like a rock concert than any corporate training he’d ever seen or heard of before.

Vaulted ceilings hovered over the wide open space that he estimated was at least 700 feet wide and perhaps a hundred feet longer, and he counted something like 20 large, square columns placed around the large space holding up the roof 100 feet above his head.  Along one side of the Hall were stacks of tables and chairs that had obviously been moved to make room for the sea of people that assaulted his senses as soon as he walked inside, along with the music playing with such volume and bass that it felt like he’d just entered a nightclub.

It didn’t take long for him to notice the stage at the far end of the Hall, which held a massive band of both Human and Charee musicians, and they were playing an assortment of instruments that mimicked ones that could be found on Earth, even digital instruments such as synthesizers, by utilizing the magic of this world and the System.  And what music were they playing?  He wasn’t exactly an expert on dance or electronic music, but what was playing was something that was extremely familiar, even if he didn’t know the name – and he wasn’t the only one familiar with it, as thousands of Guilded Glory members were practically gyrating everywhere around the massive dancefloor, really getting into it and letting loose.

If there was something to say for a high Physicality and Celerity, it certainly aided in dancing, as most everyone he saw was able to move with a smoothness and grace that likely wouldn’t normally be possible without the higher stats.  That didn’t necessarily mean they were better dancers, as there were a few that he noticed didn’t exactly have the best rhythm, but they made up for it with their enthusiasm. 

When he added in the fact that the lighting inside the Hall was relatively dim and they had multicolored light beams somehow shining around the place, he felt like he’d just walked into a movie set where the main character just got to the scene in the high energy dance club on his search for information or looking for the villainous mob boss who orchestrated the hit against his family…

…or whatever the cliché story plot ended up being.

Thankfully, everyone was too focused on dancing and drinking—he saw a long bar along the right side that was packed with Contenders, ordering drinks from the overworked-looking Charee bartenders—and enjoying themselves to notice him enter.  Moving along the far edge of the frantically dancing crowd as the music transitioned to yet another vaguely familiar song from the House genre of music, he wandered around, wondering what he was expected to do.  He didn’t really feel like dancing, nor was he all that great at it if he was being honest with himself, be he committed to being here, so he figured it would be good enough to simply being present. 

Unfortunately, Steven and his core Raid Party found him before he could wander off and hide in the corner away from all the people.

“Thaden!  There you are!  We’ve been waiting for you!”  The Blade Stalker grabbed him by the arm and started leading him through hundreds of dancing Contenders and telling him something, but the beat of the song being played was so loud that Thaden could barely understand that he was even talking.  That didn’t seem to bother the man – who he just noticed was Level 189 already, though he didn’t appear to have evolved his Class as of yet – as he excitedly brought him toward the center of the Hall, smiling all the while.  Steven’s infectious enthusiasm, which was such a contrast to when Thaden had first met him, was starting to positively affect him, and he felt his own smile starting to creep out on his face. 

While he wasn’t one for parties and dancing, as they weren’t really his idea of a good time, he couldn’t deny that being around so many people enjoying themselves was making him start to enjoy himself as well.  Strangely enough, when he began to recognize many of the people he started to pass, it made him feel even better about coming, as he was finally led to a large gathering of couches and side tables, where he discovered the Guild leadership was hiding.

“Look who I found!” Steven shouted once he was close enough to the central area.  “I caught him trying to sneak into some corner,” he added, elbowing Thaden playfully in the arm. 

“There he is—the man of the hour!” Rachel said, getting up off one of the couches where she had been sitting with a few others.  When she stood up, he realized for the first time that she – as well as almost every other woman in sight – was dressed to impress; the Guild Leader was wearing a dark-red colored, tight-fitting, low-cut dress that seemed like it would be perfect to go clubbing in – if they had that kind of thing here.  Looking around, he recognized Corinna sitting nearby, talking to someone he didn’t know, and she was wearing a similar dress, though hers was a blue color so dark it was nearly black…

…and she, he had to admit, looked quite beautiful with her hair all up in some complicated hairdo using sticks shoved into places here and there.

“She cleans up well, doesn’t she?  Nothing like the armor-clad Fighter you’re used to seeing, is she?”

He ignored the amusement in Sadia’s voice, while also nodding in agreement at her actual words. 

Rachel tapped Corinna on the shoulder and gestured toward Thaden, who suddenly felt extremely out of place.  A glance around showed that every other person in the Hall seemed to have a separate outfit in which they could let loose and dance, with the men in everything from dark dress pants and open, button-down shirts, to ones wearing shorts and loose, flowing shirts; he was the only one he saw wearing robes or still had all of his accessories equipped, including the Focus Stone that he almost constantly held in his hand.

“You owe me 100 gold, Cor,” he heard Rachel say as Corinna turned toward him, and his breath caught in his throat as he seemed to see the Lieutenant for the first time when she turned her smile on him. 

“Oh, you got it bad, don’t you?  Your heartrate just skyrocketed, and there’s blood rushing to—"

“Shut it,” he murmured, knowing that Sadia could hear her, but it was unlikely anyone else could with the music volume in the Hall.  She chuckled in response, but she mercifully didn’t add any other commentary.

“So worth it, though,” Corinna said as walked up to him, and he was practically mesmerized as he saw her move.  “Hey there, Thaden.  Wanna dance?”

His instinctive response was to say no, but he was tongue-tied for some reason.  Well, not for some reason; he wasn’t an inexperienced lovestruck teenager seeing a woman for the first time, but it certainly felt that way at the moment.

“Uh, sure.  Should I, um,” he began to say, indicating his robe, but she just chuckled and shook her head.

“No, it makes you stand out – like it should.”  Her hand on his arm pulled him more gently than Steven had dragged him toward the center of the Hall, but for some reason it was even more insistent-feeling.  He didn’t protest as she brought him to a relatively clear space on the dance floor away from the main gathering, and he did his best to keep up with her dancing, despite not being too skilled.

After a minute or so of moving around, he couldn’t help but ask her a question that was burning inside his mind.  “Did you make some sort of bet with Rachel?”

“Yep,” she said, smiling at him without saying anything else.  After he stared at her for a few seconds, she literally giggled and put him out of his misery with an answer.  “She bet me that you would show up without us having to track you down; I bet that you’d show up as late as possible so that it still counted as attending.”

“You really didn’t believe I would come on time?  Or stay for the whole thing?” he asked in disbelief.

“Of course I knew you’d be here,” she replied with a grin.  “But sometimes you need to let the boss win, and I figured this was the time to let it happen.”  She abruptly got close to him as they were dancing and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing up against him.  “Besides, I win either way, don’t I?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, his brain short-circuiting for a moment before he put his hands around her waist and continued dancing, enjoying himself even more than he expected.  The rest of the crowded Hall disappeared as he danced with Corinna, his entire focus on the woman moving against him, and he felt a cheesy grin on his face that he couldn’t make disappear.  Not that he wanted to, of course, but he imagined he looked more than a bit foolish.

Time seemed to pass in an instant as the hours wore on, before a sudden cessation of the music broke him from the veritable trance he’d been in when dancing with the beautiful woman in his arms.  Only slightly out of breath from the exertion, which all but disappeared as soon as he stopped moving, he looked around to see everyone else had stopped dancing as well and were lightly murmuring as they looked toward the stage.

“Thank you all for coming here tonight!”

Rachel was up on the stage, capturing everyone’s attention by using some sort of yellow box on top of a pole to project her voice throughout the Meeting Hall.  Her smile was infectious, though his face already matched it with the sheer fun he was having.

“I know some of you had some hard traveling to make it here in time, and I appreciate you all doing your best to attend this little soiree celebrating our accomplishments.  We couldn’t have done it without the hard work of every single member of Guilded Glory, though there are a few individuals that we all need to thank for getting us to this point – which I’ll get to soon.

“Because, if for some reason you’ve had your head in a hole, you all know by now that we’ve not only surpassed every other Guild in this world, but we’ve practically blown them away in terms of the number of our members, which is growing exponentially even now, our Strength Rating, and our Tier – which has shot all the way up to Tier 7!  The additional opportunities this means for each and every one of you can’t be understated, as this monumental lead we have on our fellow Guilds will undoubtedly last for years to come – and that’s if we don’t take advantage of every second of our lead and strive to become even better!  I know that I, for one, will be working tirelessly to promote our superiority in not only the Contender Market, but become a force of envy in clearing Intermediate dungeons and beyond.

“And who do we have to thank for all of these changes?  As much as I’d love to take credit, I am absolutely not ashamed to admit that if it wasn’t for a dedicated team of dungeon delvers, as well as one individual in particular, we would never be in such a dominating position in the Rankings.”

The Guild Leader gestured off-stage, and the next moment, he saw Steven and the others of his core Raid Party walking across, waving toward the crowd, who was cheering for them as if they were some sort of celebrities.  Then again, he supposed that if celebrities existed in this world, then they would likely be those who accomplished such great feats.

Wait… does that mean that I’m a celebrity?

Before he could contemplate that any further, Rachel continued her speech.  “This here is the dedicated team of our honored benefactor, who have braved multiple Intermediate dungeons, including one just recently that involved monsters reaching such heights as Level 300 – and managed to come back alive without a single casualty among them.  From left to right, we have Maria, David…”  The Guild Leader went on to name all 36 of the main core of his Raid Party, one after another, and the cheers for each person just seemed to grow louder as the introductions went on.  Finally, Steven was named last, to the applause, cheering, and whistling of the crowd, and the Level 189 Blade Stalker raised his hands in a dramatic victory pose, which made Thaden chuckle at the display.

The humor he found took away the nervousness that had been creeping up ever since Rachel began her speech… for all of a few seconds until she spoke again.

“But of course, none of this would’ve been possible if it hadn’t been for our man of the hour, the individual that this party was put together to honor… the amazingly powerful and talented, THADEN!” she shouted, and a beam of light suddenly shown down on him, highlighting him in the middle of the dancefloor, standing next to Corinna.

The deafening applause and cheering made him feel conflicted.  On the one hand, he felt pleased to have been finally recognized for how strong he was and what he could contribute to the Guild; on the other hand, the attention made him want to retreat back into his shell and slink away without anyone the wiser.  Unfortunately, retreat was out of the question as Corinna slipped her arm through his, essentially trapping him there unless he physically extracted himself – which he was very loath to do at this point.

“Don’t worry, Thaden; I’m not going to make you come up here and give a speech,” the Guild Leader said with a laugh once the celebration had died down, which was echoed by at least half of the crowd.  “I don’t want to embarrass you any more than this, but you needed to see how much we appreciate your efforts and kick-assery, because everyone deserves to know who it was that propelled us to the top.”

There was another round of applause as the light on him finally disappeared, which was a huge relief for him.  He hadn’t realized how tense he was until the direct attention was off of him, and he felt himself start to relax as he smiled at Corinna, who squeezed his arm in response. 

“For now, enjoy the rest of the festivities for the next few hours; dance, drink, chat, and have fun!”  Rachel basically gave a mic drop at that moment as she jumped off the stage with a flip, landing with a smile on her face like she’d just landed a gymnastic dismount, and right at that moment, the music started up again.  There was another cheer before everyone got back to dancing, drinking, and talking to each other, ramping up the volume even higher than before. 

“Wanna keep dancing?” Corinna asked, her lips right next to his ear.  “Or do you want to go somewhere else?”

As much as he wanted to insist on the latter, he chuckled as he took her hands.  “Soon.  A little more dancing, perhaps, before we do anything else.  Can’t have the guest of honor leaving too early, after all.”

The smile she shined toward him was all he needed for a burst of energy as they resumed their dancing.