Caelus Online

79. The First Immortal Army (Part 5)

First was the guild contribution points. These points were rewarded to a member proportionally based on what they did. The number of points they gained were used as a basis of the rank they could achieve, for example, a player who reached 2,000 points would be eligible to become an initiated member, and once they hit 8,000 points and gained approval from a senior member, they could be promoted to a full member within their chosen branch of the guild. 

The guild points would also be to be spent to acquire certain things from the guild, such as certain materials, items or weapons. However, that side had yet to be organised since the guild was still in its early stages.

The next aspect were the guild missions Aurora had planned. The guild would offer a wide variety of missions to eligible members to acquire certain items and services the guild needed in exchange for real money, Caelus currencies, or Guild Points. These would only be available to members of the rank of initiated and above, and the higher the member's rank, the better the rewards.

Tyrell had always considered this aspect the ‘adventurers guild side of Lex Divina’, and honestly thought it was a good way to have members who don’t want to commit themselves to the guild full time still push the guild forward. Especially when, at this time, any reward that offered currency from Earth would be far more of an incentive to them and make them more proactive as real money was more tangible and life-altering - at least for now if what Aurora predicted would happen comes to pass.

The last incentive was official employment contracts with the guild that were somewhat similar to what he had. Once a member had proven themselves committed enough to the guild, they could be offered a salary working full time for the guild. While it may not be appealing to everyone, they would, in time, be able to create their own paid armies, fully staffed guild establishments, and if Aurora actually managed to pull off everything she had planned, governmental institutions.

Tyrell was honestly in awe when he heard her plans, the prospect of using real money to get players moving had widened his eyes somewhat to its actual influence, and honestly, he had more appreciation for the plastic notes. While money was always associated with influence, he never had the same appreciation for it until he saw the scale of things Aurora had set in motion.

The more he thought about everything, the more he found it amusing. The whole world will look at her actions and find them idiotic and a waste, but when it is all turned upside down, they will all become horrified when they realise just how well-invested Aurora’s money was. And that was just from her pessimistic estimates of what she could manage. 

The more Tyrell thought of the potential future, the more he felt his heart rate increase with anticipation of where he would be. Right at the top, having people bow in respect as they greeted him with his future title of Grand Retribution Paladin StormBane, the Dragon Slayer. 

God, he would find that hilarious, and it was going to be epic.

His attention was brought back as his name was called out by Munro who was pacing in front of him where he stood in a line alongside a number of the other higher-ups, addressing the group of over 300 players in front of them.

“- Storm Bane will be in charge of the front of the column alongside Broderick, Nebustar will be in the Centre alongside myself, and Nirvana and Carter are in charge of the rearguard. Keep in formation and keep up. Thankfully due to the gnolls numbers, they are slower than us, so our scouts managed to find them relatively quickly. We are only a few hours away from them provided we keep the pace set yesterday from our current position.”

Tyrell watched as Munro turned to directly face their little army as he raised his voice once again.

“Alright, get into formation and await the call to move out!”

Everyone started to move starting to form a rough line with those wearing heavy armour at the front, and the ranged behind them. As Tyrell started to move to the front of the group, he overheard Munro making a comment filled with exasperation. 

“Fuck, I'm not used to working with civvies like this.”

Tyrell gave a slight chuckle as he threw a comment over, his smile forming a smirk.

“Well, you still gave off drill instructor vibes even if you were trying not to. But man, look at everyone, they are still all moving, so don’t stress it. I'm sure you will manage to whip some of us civies into properly trained soldiers soon.”

Munro gave a snort as he directed a few of his own men with a hand, acknowledging Tyrell's words with a nod as he ended up in the crowd.

Tyrell continued to move to the front of the column, pulling his hammer from his waist and resting it on the ground in front of him, both hands on the pummel that reached his stomach as he waited for the rough line of people to form before his imposing figure. 

As he looked down the line of players, he didn’t find much order as the new members were roughly grouped instead of in rows, but he had no complaints. While seeing people lined up would have looked awesome, they currently looked like a band of fantasy fighters on a quest, which had its own appealing vibe. 

He took a moment to go through his menu and organise starting a stream. It was an aspect of the game that honestly made no sense to him, how could a stream work when the system was some kind of magic, and had no direct connection to technology? 

How could magic go from… well, magic to 0’s and 1’s? It was another mystery he had no doubt would perplex many people, but since gods were apparently involved somewhere in the mix, he decided to leave it at that. A sentiment that was apparently becoming what he would default to whenever he encountered something weird.

With a few mental command’s he started the stream, causing a little blue orb to start following him around and sending the image what was going on around him to however many people decided to watch. 

He knew it would be relatively boring for the first few hours, but he could spend that time answering viewer's questions and raising awareness of their guild, a critical task they needed to progress with. And after that, the action would arrive, and there would be no doubt that what would happen will spread like wildfire across the internet. 

With his stream set, he waited at the front of the column, watching as everyone positioned themselves roughly into their designated sections while glancing towards where he stood in place, ready to give the order to start marching. 

After a few minutes which turned out to be much shorter than he had expected, a message came over the leader's chat from Munro telling him everything was ready for them to start moving. With one last glance over the long line of guild members before him, he cleared his throat and started to shout aloud, quickly making everone become quiet to hear his words.

“Alright guys and gals, it's time to march to battle, so get your arses moving before Munro over there feels like kicking them.”

His comments received a few short laughs of amusement as he turned around and started walking down the slope of the hill where they camped, the Military guy by the name of Broderick whom Munro had assigned falling into step beside him. 

“Man, I hope you know exactly where we are going? I don’t want to take a wrong direction and have to order a u-turn.”

Broderick was one of the younger members of Munro’s men in his mid-20s the same as Tyrell, and like him was wearing heavy armour. In response to his comment, his companion casually thumped him on the shoulder. 

“Don't sweat it, the guys running recon know what they are doing. Besides, I'm sure you won't get lost in all the houses around us?”

Broderick gestured to the mainly barren land around then, not featuring a single building for miles while giving Tyrell a shit-eating smirk.

“Ay man, fuck you. When we have to take a detour around a cliff or something, I'll let everyone know”

Broderick snickered as he refocused on the march ahead while the sounds of the hundreds of people behind him walking forward created a relatively large racket, the sound of armour plates scraping, the thudding of feet, and the low murmuring of conversation as the excitement built as everyone took their first steps towards a massive fight.