Ch 217 – Ravenlight
"Leon did seem pretty interested in the manor," Bonehead considered thoughtfully. "But I'm not sure if he'd be all that receptive to the idea of not being able to build our guild base from scratch – he looked pretty stoked about us not having anything fully planned out."
"That's true," Deacon nodded in acknowledgment. "But I honestly don't mind scrapping everything that's already here," he shrugged non-committedly. "Leon can tear down the whole Manor and build the base completely new from the ground up if that's what he wants to do. I don’t really care."
"I just want the actual physical space that the Manor has already carved out and dug into the Floor itself, because while yes I absolutely want those illusionary doors that seamlessly mesh in with the environment which are known to be the best of the best when it comes to hidden entrances, claiming this space saves us an absolutely massive amount of Credits and time that would've been spent carving out such a huge underground area from scratch, and there's also the definite lack of attention this Floor is going to have once the Hoarder finishes whatever he's doing here and fucks off to raid somewhere else.”
“Not to mention the gigafuck number of Tier 2s that will be rushing to this Floor because a number of us should have long since ripped Leave Tickets and bounced back to Floor Zero or somewhere similar and informed their families and or Guilds they joined about the Hoarder being alive and going ham,” Deacon added. “And with the sheer number of Tier 2s and Tier 1s all running about here, not a single person would want to come back onto this Floor – because it would most definitely be sucked dry.”
“Hell, I wouldn’t even be surprised if, by the time we get out of the dungeon and end up back in the radioactive pond, we’ll find it to be drier than a desert,” Deacon joked.
Bonehead stared at Deacon silently, clearly lost in his thoughts as he mulled over everything Deacon had just laid out and weighed the pros and cons of establishing their guild base right here and right now.
Claiming the dungeon upon its completion as their Guild Base would allow them to officially have a base of operations that they would be able to go back to in between Floors and both he and Deacon would have a place where they be able to make some actual progress in their research – both in making Esmerelda a body and in their studies in Alchemy and Ritualism.
Not to mention he would be able to set up his gardens, and it was best to do that before seeds and herb prices would shoot up as a result of the Great War erupting.
We also need to cash in the Guild Base Materials cost reward from the Iron Scales Guild before they decide to say fuck off to us for us not wanting to join them, Bonehead considered. While they are known to be a fair Guild, that was during times of peace – who knows what they might do if we don’t collect our rewards from them before shit hits the fan.
"Fuck it, why not," Bonehead finally decided with a shrug and a slight shake of his head. "Worst case scenario if things don't work out the way we're planning, we can always just repurpose this place to be our Guild's Storage House or maybe a secondary safehouse."
Deacon smirked as Bonehead agreed to the plan and raised the Guild Waystone up to be level with their faces before announcing clearly, "Guild Create."
The moment the words left his mouth, the squiggly runic text covering the onyx-colored Guild Waystone began glowing bright blue as a panel materialized in front of him.
[You have activated a Tier 1 Unnamed Guild Waystone.]
The first panel was immediately followed by two additional panels that appeared stacked in front of it.
[You do not belong to any current Guild. Do you wish to create a Guild?]
[WARNING: Regardless of confirmation or rejection of Guild Creation, the Unnamed Guild Waystone will be consumed upon activation.]
"I want to create a Guild," Deacon confirmed aloud, already having known about the warning beforehand.
He also knew that once the guild was created, he could no longer carry the Waystone inside his Spatial Sling Bag, he could only hold it by hand until they cleared the dungeon and from there before its destruction he would have to find a good place to stash it away and claim the dungeon's land as the Guild's.
All three panels blinked out of existence before a single new panel appeared in their place.
[Designate Guild Name]
"Ravenlight," Deacon answered immediately with a genuine smile spreading across his face, not a single shred of hesitation or doubt in his voice.
Bonehead mirrored Deacon's smile at hearing the chosen name.
The panel blinked out of existence before four new panels materialized before Deacon in rapid succession.
[Tier 1 Guild Created - Ravenlight Guild]
Guild Name: Ravenlight
Tier: 1
Number of Members: 1
Number of Waystone Tethers: 0
Capital: 345,512,312 Credits
Upgrade Main Guild Waystone?
Achievement Gained: [Guildmaster]
Guildmaster:
For we must band together. You have created a Guild, granting you access to the Guild Panel and the ability to control Waystones under your Guild's tether. Grants: +5% to all Stats.
Along with the appearance of all three panels, an influx of information suddenly funneled itself directly into Deacon's mind, taking him aback for a few seconds as he began going through the information the System bestowed him as he was now a Guildmaster which entitled with a number of new abilities.
At the same time as Deacon was assimilating the new knowledge, the onyx Guild Waystone in his hand began physically shifting and transforming, the glowing blue scribbles covering its surface starting to flow and merge together toward the center of the stone before reforming themselves into the image of a flying raven that glowed with a brilliant gold light.
Coming back to after assimilating the information the System had given him, Deacon dismissed the floating panels with a thought and let out a small internal cheer at having gained the Guildmaster achievement, which he hadn't even known existed until just now, along with the permanent percentage-based stat boost it granted, before looking back at Bonehead and then down at the Guild Waystone that had transformed into the Ravenlight Guild Waystone.
“Always and forever,” Deacon said quietly. The five of them had come up with the name years ago when, back in their days at the Academy, they had planned that it would be the name of their Guild once they had the opportunity to form one.
There was no other name that would have been more fitting.
He received a light punch on the shoulder from Bonehead in response for his admittedly sappy words while his hands were busy carefully storing the Guild Waystone into an empty pouch secured on his hip, where the small opening of the pouch magically widened to accommodate the fist-sized stone before the entire pouch physically enlarged itself to properly hold it.
Good old self-enlarging pouches for the win, Deacon remarked internally with satisfaction, relieved that he now had a way to carry the Waystone on his person at all times instead of having to hide it somewhere in this unclaimed dungeon, which would have been an anxiety-inducing nightmare waiting to happen.
Staring at Bonehead, Deacon decided to use only of his most recently gained ability from being a Guildmaster; Invite Member.
["Bennett Hades Graves" identified to be a member of your Party. Invite Party to Guild?]
Yes, he answered mentally, and the panel immediately disappeared.
"You got the invitation?" Deacon asked aloud.
"Yup," Bonehead confirmed while looking off to the side for a moment as he presumably reviewed his own System notification before looking back at Deacon. "And accepted."
Smirking with satisfaction, Deacon mentally reopened the Guild Panel to confirm the change.
Guild Name: Ravenlight
Tier: 1
Number of Members: 3
Number of Waystone Tethers: 0
Capital: 345,512,312 Credits
Upgrade Main Guild Waystone?
Deacon's smile slowly began shifting into a confused frown as his brows furrowed while he stared at the member count.
Three? he thought in confusion. How does that make any sense when I invited those in the P–
His eyes suddenly widened in realization as his hands immediately shot to his Spatial Sling Bag and began frantically rummaging through it to find the most recent Status Page he'd created.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Bonehead asked with obvious worry in his voice, concerned about why his friend had suddenly done a complete 180 and was now acting like some kind of crackhead with the way he was searching through his Spatial Sling Bag.
Yanking the folded Status Page out of his Spatial Sling Bag and swiping onto the Party Tab at the top, Deacon's mouth fell open slightly as he stared at the information displayed there in complete shock.
It was only when Bonehead grabbed him firmly by the bicep and physically shook him that Deacon snapped out of his stunned frozen state, in that same motion his Status Page slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor.
Moving almost mechanically, Deacon reached down and unclipped the Soul Bottle containing Esmerelda's soul from where it hung on his hip before bringing it up close to his face.
"She's still here," Deacon managed to utter out, his voice barely above a whisper and filled with wonder and disbelief.
"What do you mean she's still there?" Bonehead asked in confusion, not understanding what Deacon was saying. “She never died, we just need to get her a body that is compatible with her soul.”
Taking a deep breath to calm the sudden overwhelming rise of emotions threatening to overtake him, Deacon created a thin mana string that extended from his hand down to grab hold of his dropped Status Page from the floor before bringing it back up and handing it to Bonehead.
Looking at the Status Page Deacon handed him, Bonehead remained confused. “What about it? We’ve always known that she was still alive.”
Party Name: Ravenlight
Members: Deacon, Bonehead, Esmerelda
Party Leader: Deacon
-
Bonehead – 100% HP
Esmerelda – 1% HP
"Alive yes – but she’s not just alive," Deacon said while bringing the Soul Bottle even closer to his face, pure amazement and overwhelming hope flooding through him as he stared at the faintly glowing soul contained within. “When I sent you a Guild Invite it got sent to the whole Party.”
Tearing his eyes away from Esmerelda’s soul he looked right into Bonehead’s eyes, "And she accepted the Guild Invite."
Words completely failed to form themselves in Bonehead's mouth as he could only stare at the Soul Bottle housing Esmerelda's soul in absolute shock.
Guild invites—or any kind of invitation at all—required consent from the individual as per mandated by the System. Even slave contracts required consent; while the person in question could be under duress, deceived, or subjected to a thousand other coercive factors, they still had to agree to it.
And despite being reduced to a soul without a body—one that would dissipate into thin air if released from the Soul Bottle—she accepted the Guild invite.
In the absence of any words he could speak, Bonehead's right hand slowly raised and extended itself toward the Soul Bottle, his skeletal fingers reaching out before stopping just short of actually touching the glass container.
"I swear to you, Esmerelda," Bonehead began, his voice carrying a solemn weight as his hand retracted slightly and his fingers clenched into a tight fist while he stared resolutely at the glowing soul visible through the glass, the memory of watching Esmerelda sacrifice herself to save his Core from being destroyed playing itself on repeat once again in his mind.
"I will create a proper body for your soul to inhabit and bring you back, even if I have to tear out my own Core and use it as the foundation to make it happen."
"And I, my heart," Deacon agreed, staring at Esmerelda’s gold and green soul.