Healer Book 4 -- Chapter 41

Chapter 41

“YOU.  ARE.  AMAZING!” Corinna shouted, jumping toward him as soon as he entered the Guild headquarters.  He felt a bit uncomfortable when she hugged him tight, going so far as to bodily lift him with her arms around his back; even though he wasn’t touching the floor at the moment, he didn’t break out of her grip, despite knowing that he was strong enough to do it.  She let him down a moment later and stepped back, a huge smile on her face.

“You should see your face right now; coming back as the resounding hero really gets the blood pumping, doesn’t it?”

Thaden ignored Sadia’s remarks as he cleared his throat.  “Uh, well, sure.  I’m amazing and all that.  But did, uh, someone already tell you how we did?” he asked lamely, unsure of what was happening.  He had been hoping to come back to the Guild Leader and tell her about the results of the dungeon, as well as the variation, like he had last time with Corinna, as he had enjoyed seeing Rachel’s shock at the news.  But it seemed like the information had already filtered out to everyone already.

“The Rankings just updated about an hour ago,” the Guild’s Lieutenant revealed excitedly.  “I’m assuming you haven’t seen it yet?”

He shook his head.  While he’d checked it a few times on their trip back to the city, nothing had changed; he hadn’t realized that it took a little while for the Rankings to change.  Without saying anything else, he opened the Rankings and received a little shock.  A pleased shock, but a shock, nonetheless.

Guild Progression

1. Guilded Glory

Tier 7

Strength Rating: 71

28,452 Members

2. Vengeance

Tier 5

Strength Rating: 55

9,117 Members

3. Hallowed Rise

Tier 5

Strength Rating: 51

18,255 Members

4. Doom Lords

Tier 5

Strength Rating: 50

16,890 Members

5. Hellrazers

Tier 5

Strength Rating: 49

9,552 Members

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

The Ranking list had been shaken up a bit, with some of the others in the top 5 rising or falling a place or two, but the big winner was Guilded Glory, which had not only risen to the top over everyone else, but it was now Tier 7 compared to the other top 5 Guilds’ Tier 5, and its “Strength Rating” had shot up to 71.  If he remembered correctly, the last time he’d looked at it, Guilded Glory’s Strength Rating had only been 50, so it had shot up considerably.  Whether it was just because of this last dungeon or because of all of the Intermediate dungeons that he’d run with various Raid Parties, but the end result was the same. 

“We’re number one!  No one can possible catch up to us now!” Corinna practically crowed, seeing his wide eyes as he took in the new Ranking.  “And it’s all because of you!”

“Uh, well, we were actually all a whole Raid Party; it wasn’t just me—”

She smacked him on the arm.  “Stop being so modest; you need to own up to your capabilities and admit how badass you are.”

He didn’t respond with anything but a sigh.  As much as he knew she was correct, he still had a bit of trouble accepting a compliment when he heard it, especially when it painted him as some sort of powerful badass.

“Come!  Rachel wants to see you.”  She practically dragged him through the bottom floor of the building toward the stairs leading upwards, and he followed her, letting some of the excitement that the Lieutenant was showing leak into his thoughts.  Why shouldn’t I feel good about all of this?  It was my own contributions that made it possible, after all. 

As Corinna pushed open the door to the Guild Leader’s office, he let the infectious smile the Lieutenant had on her face transfer to his own, as he began to really enjoy what he’d accomplished.  His grin only grew wider as the Guild Leader looked up from the paperwork she had been working on when they barged in, the smile on her face even before they arrived growing wider at the sight of Thaden. 

She got up and moved around her desk, before taking his right hand in her own, giving it a vigorous shake.  “There he is – the man of the hour!  Do you even comprehend what you accomplished here?”

“I’m starting to,” he admitted.

“Starting to?  Well, let me explain exactly what you’ve just done for the Guild,” she said, before ticking things off on her fingers.  “First, as the number one Guild, we’re going to see a surge in potential candidates for joining as a member, which means more people who are able to go out and earn more Guild Tier Progression points by farming Intermediate dungeons with Raid Parties and completing Quests.

“Two, with our Ranking, our Guild members now have a 50% discount with local crafters, up from the 25% we possessed before, which means we have a means of creating items at a much cheaper price than we’ve ever had access to.  That, in turn, lets us sell those crafted items in the Contender Market while undercutting our competition, and still make a tidy profit.

“Three, with the heaps of money you’ve helped us make and is currently flowing into our accounts, we’ll be able to invest in other lucrative Contender-focused enterprises, even going so far as to invite many of these crafting-focused individuals into our Guild.  Did you know that approximately a fifth of our current member count is comprised largely of individuals who spend most of their time outside of dungeons?  No?  Well, that brings us to my final point, point number four.

“Constant PICK inflow.  Previously, at number three on the Rankings, we would see approximately 10,000 PICK flowing into our members just for being a part of the Guild.  Do you know what the number one spot gives us?  50,000.  Yeah, I know, it’s crazy, but it’s also why Vengeance had stayed at the top spot for so long even with fewer members.  With virtually all of its members focused on running Raid Parties and Leveling-up, and with the daily inflow of PICK, their average Level is around 10 Levels higher than any other Guild – but you’ve just shifted that dramatically.  It started with your previous Raids, of course, as you boosted quite a few of our members up a chunk of Levels, but this new inflow of PICK will make a huge difference in the coming weeks.

“In other words, what you’ve done is catapult us to the top and we’re not leaving – ever, if I have anything to say about it.  We’re the best and we’re going to stay that way, especially with your help.”  She held her hands up when he was about to say something.  “I know that you haven’t decided whether or not you’re going to join us permanently after your temporary contract is up, but give it a thought for the future.  You can’t go wrong with being part of the best Guild in the world, right?”

“Yeah, I know that many of us wouldn’t want you to leave, especially after seeing what you can do,” Corinna added, sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk as Rachel made her way back to her own chair.  “I, for one, don’t want you to leave, and there are others like Steven who would be lost without you.”

The outpouring of support and desire for him to stay made his heart swell in his chest.  “Well, I’m still thinking about it, but at the moment, I don’t see any reason for me to leave.”  He paused for a second before dropping his voice into something more serious.  “Though, my presence and my unique Class traits might have some unfortunate repercussions.”

Thaden told them about what happened with Boris and his followers at the dungeon, and how the annoying Mage had ended up not getting a reward for completing the Challenge.  He later learned that he ended up getting the Quest and Achievement rewards, as well as the PICK from Thaden killing so many of the undead, but the man was still sore from the loss of awesome equipment rewards.

“…and I’m afraid that this will keep happening, leading to a small faction within the Guild that will resent my presence.  I’m doing what I can to prevent the nullification of the rewards as much as I can, but there’s going to be some that can’t be avoided.”

Rachel and Corinna looked at each other for a moment before the Guild Leader sighed.  “It’s a risk that those coming with you will have to acknowledge if they want what you provide.  It’s undoubtedly horrible for those who have their rewards nullified, especially when it comes to Quest and Achievement rewards, but from what you explained, the benefits far outweigh these unfortunate drawbacks.  I mean, doubling the rewards?  That’s unheard of, but if you can keep the ratio of doubling and nullifying rewards at a net positive, everyone wins.”

She had a point, but after seeing the results of his Class trait affecting everyone differently, it was hard not to be pessimistic.  His 1% instant death trait was one thing, as it could be easily be reversed through a Resurrection, but rewards were permanent – especially from things that could only be obtained once, such as Achievements.

“I suppose so.  Well, it’s a fair warning, at least, just so you’re prepared for those like Boris to come complaining to you.”

Rachel and Corinna chuckled.  “That’s what we’re here for, remember?  Half of leading this Guild is taking care of complaints, as much as it can be a pain in the ass sometimes,” Rachel told him.  “So, don’t worry about it too much; if anyone has any issues, have them see me, or else they can suck it up and drink from the teat of PICK and gold that you’re providing us with.  And speaking of that, would you be willing to head back to The Ghost Town tomorrow with another Raid Party?  With your core group, of course.”

Thaden hesitated.

“You have to tell them something, Thaden.  Not everything, of course, but at least make your concerns known.”

Nodding, both to assure himself and to acknowledge that he head Sadia’s words, he shook his head.  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”  When the Guild Leader appeared like she was going to protest, he held up his hands to stop her.  “Hold on, let me explain.”  Thaden then told them in more detail about his solo visit to check out the dungeon and the variation that greeted him when he entered again.  “There’s something about the dungeon that is reacting to my presence, and I’m afraid that next time, it’ll change even more drastically – which could eventually be dangerous enough that I may not be able to stop it from killing everyone.”

Both Rachel and Corinna were silent as they contemplated his statement.  Finally, the Guild Leader nodded slowly.  “Okay, I can see why you might be a little wary bringing any other people into that kind of situation.  I’m sure you have ways to escape even the most dangerous of circumstances by yourself, but knowingly facing a danger that might be beyond you is just foolish.  Would you be willing to tackle a different dungeon, then?”

“Absolutely.  Though there might be some complications coming up that I hadn’t really considered,” he admitted.

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“My PICK.  My body is starting to complain at the amount I have in reserve; it’s not painful yet, but it’s uncomfortable enough that it’s constantly on my mind.  I might be able to handle one more dungeon, as long as I don’t gain too much PICK, but more realistically, I’m going to have to Level-up before I hit my limit.”  He briefly explained what happened before when he was Level 70 and was forced to Level to 189 when he nearly burst with the PICK he’d accumulated.  “I don’t want that to happen again; what’s worse, though, is if it happens in a dungeon, because we’re not allowed to Level-up inside of one.  I’m not sure what would happen, but I don’t want to die because I exploded from too much PICK filling up my body.”

“Yeah, we don’t want that, obviously.  So, why don’t you Level-up, then?”

That was a good question.  He’d originally held off increasing his Level after reaching 201, because he wanted to maximize the amount of rewards he collected from the dungeons he would be facing while he prepared to rescue the Guild leadership from the Descent into Darkness dungeon.  Now, though, the issue was that he was going to greatly outpace the Levels of the rest of the Guild, even those who had just greatly benefitted from this last one.  If he did his calculations right, then many of them would be approaching or had reached their next Class evolution, and while that was catching up with his current Level, if he spent even half of his accumulated PICK, he’d end up pushing the threshold of being 50 Levels above his Raid Party – which could reduce or nullify the rewards that they received due to the System’s Party rules. 

Obviously, he could always go slower, only raising it a few Levels at a time, but his previous experience being overloaded with PICK made him a bit paranoid to risk that happening again.  For instance, if he only raised his Level by 10 or 15, using a little over a million PICK, what would happen if he did another dungeon and ended up being rewarded with 3 or 4 million PICK as a result?  With the potential for doubling his rewards more likely to happen as opposed to nullifying them, he could see this unfortunately happening more often than not.

Though it sounded strange even in his own thoughts that he considered obtaining millions of PICK as “unfortunate”.

He shuddered to think what his body would do if that happened.

The Omenic Drifter shared his concerns with the two of them, and they seemed to take his concerns seriously.  After some discussion that sadly didn’t come up with a perfect solution, they tabled it for the moment as Rachel had an announcement.  “We’ll figure it out one way or another,” she began, “but I have something more important for the time being.  Tonight, I’m throwing a Guild-wide party in your honor, which should see at least 80% of our members here in the city.”

“In my honor?  No, no, please, don’t do that,” he protested, not wanting the attention.  He knew that he wasn’t likely going to get out of this, so as a compromise he offered, “How about you dedicate it toward the entire Raid Party?”   

“Oh, come on; just take the praise and move on.  Besides, this should hopefully ingratiate you to members you haven’t even met yet, and who will look more favorably on you, countering the malicious rumors those like Boris are likely to generate.”

Malicious rumors?  He hadn’t even thought about that, but now he could see that as being a real probability.

“Too late!  I already sent out the invites Guild-wide, so you’ll just have to suck it up,” Rachel replied with a self-satisfied grin aimed toward him. 

Thaden began shaking his head in denial, when something occurred to him.  “Did you say 80% of the Guild will be here?  Aren’t most of them spread throughout the Region?  How will they get here so fast?”

The self-satisfied grin disappeared as the Guild Leader looked a bit sheepish.  “Uh, well, I may have sent out the invites a few days ago when I assigned that dungeon to you.”

He barked out a laugh.  “You had that much confidence in me?  I seem to remember you telling me that it would be fine if I thought it was too difficult, and that you’d find something else.”

She pointed toward him with another grin.  “This isn’t my first rodeo, Thaden.  I’ve got a lifetime of experience in the high-stakes business world to know well enough when something is beyond the capabilities of my subordinates, and how to properly motivate those who I know could do more than they’re currently doing.  Tell me, were you properly motivated to prove to me that the dungeon wasn’t too difficult, that it was well within your capabilities?”

He thought about it for only a second before nodding.  He remembered being slightly offended at the time that she thought he might not be able to handle it, and wanted to prove that he was more than capable.  She’s been manipulating me from the start, hasn’t she?

“She’s good, I’ll give her that.”

“Exactly.  So, I only took a slight risk by sending the invites out early, because I trusted that you’d be able to do it.  Of course, even I was shocked at how well it went, and the results blew me away.  Which simply justifies why I’m throwing this party, and why you are the one we’re honoring tonight.  Now, go rest up for a bit, because in about 6 hours, I expect you at the Coalition Meeting Hall just after sundown.”

Thaden knew when he’d been outplayed, so he didn’t bother to try and protest any further.  With an overly dramatic, put-upon sigh, he got up with a huff.  “Fine.  I’ll be there.  But don’t expect me to have any fun.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Thaden, I’ll make sure you have a great night,” Corinna said with a wink, before laughing at the blush that he could feel suffusing his face.

“She seems like a good girl; you should give her a chance and stop being such a prude.”

Ignoring both Sadia and the chuckling now coming from both women in the office, he exited the Guild headquarters a little quicker than normal.