Chapter 68: Guild I Choose
Chapter 68: Guild I Choose
The sun peeked through the thick layer of mist and illuminated the small, quaint village in a warm golden light.
After a whole night of rain, the air was moist and the ground was muddy. The villagers emerged from their homes, ready to start their day of work in the fields.
The winter had passed only a month ago, the temperature was still cool in the early mornings, and it was currently raining season, causing mist to rise over the land.
At this moment, several horse-drawn carriages emerged from the fog, stopping in front of a three-story inn. The drivers wore thin-clothed cloaks; the hoods were pulled up over their heads, concealing their faces from view.
Inside the inn, the players were gathered around small tables, eating their breakfasts. Most of them were sleepy and exhausted.
It was quite early in the morning, after all.
Seth was the only one who looked relatively ready for the day. He went to sleep early, as his excited parents told him to.
His parents and brother were very excited about him becoming a mercenary and didn't want him to be tired for his first day in New World.
At that moment, footsteps came from the stairs, and Adam arrived with a calm look on his face. He didn't look tired, even though he didn't sleep at all.
For the whole night, he exercised.
In the real world, his body was extremely strained and exhausted, but in the game world, he felt invigorated and ready for any challenge that may come his way.
The VR Pod was currently revigorating his body as well.
"Adam." Ron raised his hand. He was sitting on a corner table alone.
Adam nodded and joined him at his table.
"Are you hungry?" Ron asked while stuffing his mouth with a dry-looking sandwich and sipping on a lukewarm cup of coffee.
"No, I am fine." Adam said with a shake of his head. "Are we leaving soon?"
"Yes, but first, I'll have to give y'all something." Ron wiped his lips with a napkin and saw that most of the players had finished their breakfasts.
He then stood up and clapped his hands loud enough that it sounded like a clap of thunder.
"Before we depart, some of you have some letters!" Ron shouted and headed over to the counter.
There, the innkeeper gave a few boxes to Ron, with letters stored inside. He quickly checked them out while the players nervously waited.
"Alright." Ron took out one of the letters and showed it to the players. "These are guild invitations. Some of you received invitations, but some of you didn't."
"Are we required to accept any of those invitations?" A bushy-browed man asked with his arm raised.
"No, but I suggest doing so." Ron said. "The new recruits have a difficult time finding guilds otherwise. There's a saying: If recruits don't get recruited straight away, they're most likely a waste of time."
"Are guilds necessary?" Another player asked. "What if we want to play solo?"
"That would be suicide," Ron said. "Solo players are easy targets for other players looking to take advantage of them."
The players nodded, praying that they received even a single invitation.
At that moment, Ron started giving letters to a few players. Most got only two or three, while Donald received eight and Ramon got nine. Hannibal also received eight, while Niko received three.
Then, Ron brought out a whole box, walked over to Adam, and placed it on the table. It shocked the players, as the box looked like it weighed quite a bit.
"You received a total of 391 letters." Ron said with a deep look. "However, if you don't want to read them all, check out the golden letters. Those are from subsidiary guilds of the Seven Ancient Guilds!"
'Seven Ancient Guilds!'
The players exclaimed inside their minds and looked at Adam with great envy. This basically secured Adam a safe future, and he would definitely become wealthy and powerful.
However, after Adam opened the box, he ignored the golden letters and searched for something in particular.
'I don't have any intention of joining the Seven Ancient Guilds and perhaps causing another Guild War. I had a few guilds in my mind that I would love to find.'
Ron's eyebrow jumped after seeing what he was doing, and he leaned close to whisper.
"You aren't planning on joining them?" He whispered. "Are you sure?"
"If I joined, would they allow me to do what I want?" Adam looked at him with a smile. "I would be basically in prison, groomed to be a powerhouse, and not allowed to go anywhere myself till I am at least Prime Mercenary.
"If I do it safely, sure, I can become powerful enough to be the successor of one of Seven Ancient Guilds, but will I enjoy being sheltered and controlled my entire life?"
Ron's eyes widened, and he nodded thoughtfully. 'Adam is basically an investment. Seven Ancient Guilds and all other top guilds wouldn't want their investment to die. They would never allow him to experience this world freely.
'It is a very shackling experience.'
'I would be stuck in the Imperium City.' Adam said with a frown. 'I wouldn't be able to take advantage of my other golden opportunities.'
"Who're you planning to join, then?" Ron asked. "If you don't want to be shackled, tier o and tier 1 guilds are out of question as they are only located in Imperium City."
"That's right, I'll choose a tier 2 guild." Adam said with a smile.
"Hmm, I see." Ron rubbed his chin and sighed. "Sadly, Crescent Serpents are only tier 3, but I don't think my guild master can handle someone like you."
'Crescent Serpents...' Adam shook his head. 'I'll pass on that offer, as that is slightly too weak of a guild. I wonder if I got an invitation from a guild I thought about...'
He continued checking the letters and then put them aside after checking their names, tiers,
and locations.
After reaching the bottom of the box with only around fifty letters left, he saw a glimpse of something and immediately snatched it.
As he saw the letter, his lips curled into a small smile.
'They invited me, nice...'
"What's up?" Ron leaned closer and checked out the name on the letter. "Oh, Crimson Hound
Mercenaries."
"Heard of them?" Adam asked with a smile.
"Yes, I have," Ron said while rubbing his small beard. "They're Tier 2 Guild, even though
they're bottom of Tier 2, they're still a pretty big deal."
"Anything more you can tell about them?" Adam asked curiously.
"The guild master is Digby Chaucer, Prime Mercenary." Ron said with a revered gaze. "He is a
great man."
'Digby Chaucer...' Adam chuckled. 'If the Second Guild War had happened ten years earlier, this man would've been another general of Star Faction.
'Unfortunately, he is currently 43 years old and is growing weaker by the day. If one reached the Royal Prince, they would be able to keep their youth and strength for much longer. 'Unfortunately, he never managed to do that one leap. When Second Guild War came, he was already 53 years old and was barely as strong as Archwarrior because his strength had depleted so much.
'However, in this current timeline, he is a great and powerful man. He also has great backing, as he is the son of one of the Imperial Palace's elders. It would give me good shelter and
protection.
'Digby is also not a man who would imprison me to protect me. He is a perfect place for me to grow strong enough to protect myself.'
"I'll choose this." Adam said and showed the letter.
Ron nodded. "You're thinking far, I see. Other younglings in your place wouldn't be able to think straight and just choose one of the Seven Ancient Guilds."
Adam pocketed the letter and said with a smile. "I'll be heading to Dawnwatch, it seems."
"Dawnwatch is also called the City of Guilds, as it has the most guilds compared to any other city. Hell, even all other cities combined wouldn't reach the amount Dawnwatch has.
"It is also a place where Crescent Serpents are located, so we might see each other. I'll be heading there, so we'll be traveling together."
Adam nodded with a smile, closed the box, and stored it inside his inventory. His decision has been made.