MM - Chapter 145 - LIFEBLOOD OF A GUILD

Melani Feleday

- Raine’s Abode -

Mel waded through a dark mire of confusing impressions and vague feelings. There was no sky, sun, or landmarks to guide by. She was hopelessly lost and couldn’t remember why she came here in the first place. The worst of it was that she managed to get herself stuck while alone. She hated being alone more than anything.

There was no way to tell how long she wandered in that strange place. However, the longer she remained, the more comfortable it became. Something about the area called to her, almost like a—without warning, multiple changes occurred in the environment, one after another. First, the whole space shook gently, like ripples in liquid. Mel was tossed about, realizing she had been underwater the entire time. Before she could process that revelation, a baritone, masculine voice penetrated deep into her mind.

[It worked.] 

Raine’s words echoed repeatedly through the liquid around her. Each time, exciting memories sprang into being. The day they met, Romaxilians, her first night of brutal training that was unlike anything she ever imagined doing. With each adventure, her life had expanded in unique and unforeseeable ways, just as the liquid was rippling now, reflecting the joy she'd taken in each of those steps down her own budding martial path.

In particular, the raid had been the most thrilling ordeal of her life. Dying hadn’t been much fun, but they won in the end, and she learned so much, grew so much. After, Raine had held her, whispering how proud he was of her. The care and affection packed into his every word had nearly brought her to tears. 

How could I forget something so important?

Raine’s thoughts continued to tumble into the mire that was bogging down Mel's thoughts. She listened with rapt attention, though most of what he considered vanished from her memories shortly after it was heard. Mel desperately tried to hold onto her thoughts and feelings, but they were as slippery as the liquid all around her. Having so many precious things robbed in quick succession reminded her of what had been the most important thing in her life, until recently: her father’s legacy.

Even his cafe was gone now, stolen by CronGate.

That’s what this place reminds me of. It’s like losing everyone in my life all over again. This is how I felt every day. I wanted, needed to forget.

The first to say goodbye was Mel’s little brother, Waylun. She didn’t have memories of him, and the forgetful mire made them even more vague. She was young when it happened; the most prominent memory was her mother’s heartbreak. She refused to eat, growing more frail and sickly by the month. No matter what Mel tried, she couldn’t make her smile anymore.

Then, she was gone too. Mel’s father did his best to turn their lives around. He opened the cafe and even found Mel a stepmother who loved her like the daughter she couldn’t have. She was amazing in every way, filling the gaping holes in their hearts with an abundant joy for life that was seemingly insurmountable. Yet her inability to have children of her own was the first sign of the sickness that eventually claimed her.

In a horrible accident, her father followed his second wife by less than a month. Then, Mel was truly alone.

Why am I remembering them now?! I have to forget. I tried so hard to forget!

Tears poured from Mel’s eyes, adding to the mire she was trapped within. She realized it then: this place was her ocean of tears. Mel panicked. She needed to escape. Her life was better now; this horrible emptiness was a thing of the past. But there was no way out. This place was tied to her; it was her.

Mel struggled, punching and kicking as Raine taught her. Each movement only seemed to drag her deeper. She was suffocating, the gloom pressing in from all directions. She couldn’t breathe. A knife appeared in her hand, an exact replica of the one she wielded so well in ZionLine. Predictably, stabbing the ocean of tears had no effect.

The pressure on her skin increased the deeper she sank. She needed to breathe. When she could hold it in no longer and gasped to take a breath, the foul liquid invaded her mouth. Except it wasn’t foul at all. It tasted exactly like the special healing tonics her stepmother used to make. They always shared them while hiding in the closet in the basement. It was their secret space, just for the two of them.

At first, Mel didn’t like that dark little room. After all, the dark was scary. That only lasted until her stepmother told her a secret so she would never have to be afraid of it again, “If you’re ever in a dark place, all you have to do is remember a simple truth,” her words had been faint then, forcing Mel to lean close. Now, they thundered loud in her thoughts, “My beautiful, perfect little Melani, the light shines brightest in the dark. So if you’re ever lost and alone, and you can’t see, then make your own light.”

That was what she needed. Not a knife, but light.

Radiance exploded from Mel’s palms, filling the ocean and revealing its splendor. She spun, jaw falling open at what she saw. The waters were not as empty as they seemed; they were packed full of every good memory she had of her family. Playing with her brother, his innocent, deep green eyes. Her mother’s smile, all but forgotten, beamed at her from a face resembling the one Mel saw in the mirror every day. Her father and stepmother, working and singing in the cafe’s kitchen while playfully nudging shoulders.

Movement above caught Mel’s attention. She looked up, finding her new memories piled atop the old. Seeing them was the last straw.

I will never forget again. 

Thoughts of escape fled. Mel held her memories tight to her chest, and they sank into her, coming home. They traveled through her before nestling deep into the center of her skull, shining bright and warm. They now held a power that Mel couldn't fathom, and it was all hers, a power she knew deep in her psyche that could be called upon at any time. When she chose, they would answer her call. Best of all, she would never be alone again.

Mel's eyes opened, and she was back in Raine’s bedroom, where it all began. He was there, lying perfectly still, a thetadrive headset blocking her from seeing his handsome face.

Her eyes were drawn to the large message he’d written on the wall. It was in a script she recognized well. After what she’d just been through, it was just what she needed. Mel threw her head back and burst into laughter.

[Congratulations!]

[Genesis completed]

[Level up!]

[Mental Ability: +1]

[!Warning!]

[Do not use excessively until the adaptation process has completed. It is suggested to use ZL to become accustomed with your new abilities]

[As the first member of Astra Infernum to develop a mental ability, you have earned: 1 date coupon]

[Due to completing your genesis outside of ZL, your headset will need time to map your new physiology. Call me when you’re back inside. I want to hear all about it]

Raine KongRu

- ZionLine -

All it took to get back on Morty’s ‘good side’ was answering the backlog of messages Raine hadn’t gotten to since the raid. Mostly, they contained information he’d asked the cantankerous AI to keep track of. The most important was locating a mental ability trainer. Raine shrugged off the news that, as of yet, there were no takers on the job offer. He knew the likelihood of a rogue mental ability user seeking employment had to be near zero.

The second message that caught his attention was an update on one of Raine’s first requests after waking up in the past. He'd asked Morty to track threads on the ZionLine forum concerning Alaric. As of the most recent update, Morty identified over seven million individual posts and eight hundred thousand threads dedicated to Alaric. Ninety percent of them cropped up in the last twelve hours as Astra Infernum went viral over the recruitment drive.

Raine spent several hours browsing the most popular threads. They started with curiosity, questioning whether what he promised was real or a new scam. What was promised and demanded in return certainly didn't fit the status quo. Several threads spawned from this incongruity and devolved into people digging up every scrap of information possible about Astra Infernum and its guild leader. 

Each of Raine’s region and world-first achievements had been reposted time and again, giving credence to his claims and silencing many of the disbelievers. In comparison, some superguilds that were practically household names, like Frostmane and Children of the Night, had fewer achievements than Astra Infernum. Additionally, they were the first official ZionLine guild. Without context, that news held little meaning. 

A new series of threads was born to pick apart what an official guild meant. It rapidly became common knowledge how challenging the raids were when those same superguilds began failing the normal versions. Yet somehow, Astra Infernum cleared it on Nightmare Difficulty. Another guild tried to replicate the feat, immediately claiming it was downright impossible and that Raine must have cheated.

Knowing he was about to set off a bomb, Raine responded to the accusation by releasing highly edited VRVods of the raid. As the commenters watched an army of demons, towering behemoths of fire, and the very real struggles of the members of Astra Infernum, they were sent into a frenzy. At the bottom of his post, Raine added the link to purchase tickets for the recruitment drive. They were sold out within the hour.

By this point, doubt was set aside in favor of curiosity, and the threads devolved into moral ambiguity. The primary question on the tip of every finger was whether openly sharing martial techniques was even possible. The powers that be would surely stop Astra Infernum if they crossed the line.

As if to give credence to the people’s concern, the Coalition of Masters publicly announced its intent to pressure Astra Infernum if they didn’t submit to oversight. This, of course, triggered the ISWarriors, who flooded into the comments. Just when it seemed like regular people might have a chance of learning the techniques that would allow them to step onto the world stage, a non-government agency came in and tried to squash their dreams. Considering the worldwide fanatical craze behind becoming a wealthy martial, the vitriolic responses were understandable.

The debates, hate-flinging, and questions were still ongoing and likely would remain that way for some time. As it was, Raine managed to attract significantly more attention with his little plan than intended. It felt as though the whole world was watching, holding its breath in anticipation of what would happen in only a few days.

Raine pulled out of the deep, dark hole of endless IS forums as he reached his first rest point; a tall, lone mountain with a familiar stone tower jutting from its high peak. A combination of Lunge and his drifter allowed him to cheat his way to the top of the mountain. He sprang up the tower’s circling steps, easily overcoming its challenges to earn a third tower clear. Seven more would earn him another general skill point.

[Congratulations Explorer]

[The spirits of Mount Lusionsec commend your bravery and skill]

[Map point revealed]

Raine didn't need the map to know where he was going; he looked anyway. There was no reason to turn down the tiny thrill of completion that came with seeing more of the world unveiled. He took to the skies again, already ten hours into the long journey. Realizing he wouldn’t have time to do it, Raine tasked Celeste with dropping by the mayor’s office in the morning to deliver an important piece of insurance to the no-doubt, overwhelmed man.

With his responsibilities taken care of, Raine moved on to the satisfying activity of organizing the guild’s future structure. Management of tens, or hundreds of thousands of players, could rapidly devolve a guild into a complete shitstorm. Raine had seen several guilds surge in popularity, mass-recruit, and ultimately fall to ruin too many times to count. He wouldn’t allow that to happen to Astra Infernum.

Since ZionLine’s system granted multiple tools to assist in guild management, Raine spent the next four hours drafting just the subcommander contract. By the end, it was over two hundred pages long. The best part is that nobody needed to read it. If a violation of guild policy was about to occur, a message would pop up in the offender's HUD, letting them know they were about to cross the line and how much it would cost them to do so. 

Utilizing this feature would allow Raine to micromanage without breathing over anyone's shoulder. Better, with clearly defined penalties, his officers could decide for themselves if breaking the rules was worth it given the situation. He wasn't about to force everyone to follow every rule or face expulsion from ZionLine. Allowing a little corruption gave rise to the motivation to both usurp your betters, and keep one's position. 

If finances were the lifeblood of a guild, then motivation was the heart that pumped it, and Raine knew just what would keep his people thirsty for years to come.