Chapter 374: Guild talk

In one go, The shortsword's ability allowed Eldrian to use the blade in a similar way to Maiden's Purity. Only far weaker. Using it would also destroy the weapon. So it was actually quite amazing that it had survived. 

Unlike Maiden's Purity, the spell would unleash a simple explosion. From the description, Eldrian assumed that it worked by overloading the crystal embedded in the hilt. It would work like a grenade if used. 

'Perfect for small spaces or when I am facing someone stronger and need some space.' Eldrian had thought when he saw the blade. Most had ignored it due to it being a one-use item, if one planned to use the ability at least. It still functioned perfectly as a blade, just without something snazzy to show off. 

"Then why did you come?" Elizabeth asked, quite demoralized that Eldrian did not plan to do some quests with them. Though she understood that he had far too many other things to worry about. Heck, now that they were here they were quickly realizing just how hectic his days were. And naturally why he was so strong. 

The PVP matches had gotten far easier now yet they made sure to not grow too much in points. Hoping to be the darkhorse in the tourney in a few days.

Elizabeth had asked the members to choose weapons or armor for the team and not for themselves. Those who had joined had no problem, as they knew it would be best to secure more funds for the guild, and winning the tournament was the best method for this. 

As such everyone in the team, barring Erik, had at least two magic items now, some like Judith and Ilmadia had three and four respectively. 

"I saw some interesting perks in the guild description," Eldrian said, pulling it up again, curious how to make use of it. He would much prefer to only go to the Adventurer's guild compared to needing to search where he could even find what he wanted. 

"Oh..." Elizabeth became even more demoralized, but she went ahead and explain it all to Eldrian. A large part of their success was due to him so she felt they had to at least let him make use of the boons they had gotten. Even if he did not plan on actively helping them reach the next levels.

"We also had to figure it out over the last few days. Outside of our membership cap jumping to 500, we also can now get certain items, spells, and the like at a discount."

"Yeah, the 10% and 5% discounts right?" Eldrian said, curious how to make use of it. Before, when they were still unknown and untrusted it had a markup price of 25% and 15%, hence back then it was better to not mention you were part of the guild. Or so Eldrian thought. 

Elizabeth's explanation quickly informed him that this was not the case at all. The markups and discounts only count when using the adventurer's guild as an intermediary.

"You can't just go to any random shop and expect the discount, though you might get a better one if you have done a mission for them before," Elizabeth explained, telling Eldrian that all he needed to do was head to the adventurer's guild and explain what he wanted. They would then do their best to get it for him. 

The current limit of requests were Tier 4 still, the next level in reliability would move items to Tier 5 and the next level in trust, spells. 

"And as you know we can get up to Rank A quests now, currently we are getting them left and right. I assume it fluctuates with the need of the place you are at, considering the realism of the game."

Eldrian nodded and refrained from starting a debate. Knowing that it was a stupid thing to do and would just lead to creating a rift between them. Instead, he asked how the difficulty for these quests were determined. 

"That is actually quite interesting as it was something we worried about too. C-Ranked quests required a 100 Tier 1 people basically, so naturally we thought A-Ranked would be something insane like 500 Tier 3's."

"That's an army," Eldrian blurted out and Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Right, that would be insane. So we asked and got quite the confusing reply." Elizabeth paused for dramatic buildup, for some strange reason that escaped Eldrian. "A-Rank quests rather require 300 Tier 2 people."

"What's the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 though?" Eldrian asked, in such numbers the difference in Tiers should not mean much. Especially when just one magic item could jump someone past the strength of someone a Tier higher.

Naturally, the numbers were still really high, what was strange was that Tier 2 was acceptable. It would have made more sense if it was 100 Tier 3.

"It isn't really about the Tier." Elizabeth countered, "Rather, or so the person explained to me, it is about the fact that Tier 2 people should be more experienced and better equipped."

"That makes sense."

"Yeah, but it is still strange. I mean the numbers are guidelines more than certainty. Heck, if we had had 300 players for the quest we did it would have been much easier. The attack might also not have landed on our section."

"Strength really does not mean so much for the quests it seems. Rather, it is having enough members to not be overwhelmed. Though I assume this changes as the strength difference between Tiers grow."

Eldrian nodded as he thought about it. Truly, if they had had 300 people of Tier 2. Meaning they at least knew how to fight and at worst had decent normal weapons. It certainly would have made the days leading up to the large battle far easier. 

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, one massive difference is we are now getting paid 1 gold every month. Though we do need to complete a certain amount of quests to maintain our level."

"That isn't much though," Eldrian commented, 1 gold would not even get you a top-quality normal grade weapon. Not to mention magic gear.

"It isn't, but it is far better than needing to pay 50 silver. On top of that, we can also rent a barracks for our guild in Kynigo. Unfortunately, our trust level is linked to the area where we have completed quests. So we are bound to the city now."

Nodding Eldrian asked if she already had any plans for a headquarters. 

"God's no. We don't even have a 100 members, thinking of renting a building would just put us back in the red."

"Can't the gold you get each month pay for it?" Eldrian asked, Elizabeth quickly shaking her head no. 

"Maybe... But for now, it would be better to first arm everyone with magical grade equipment."

"One gold won't make any difference there," Eldrian said, recalling the cost of the armor he currently wore. The pauldron, gauntlet, and chestplate having come up to a grand total of 35 gold. Not even a full set, though granted they weren't all Tier 1. Still, even just a Tier 1 set would cost around 50 gold in total. 

Elizabeth nodded as this was indeed a frustration of the guild. The rewards had been truly generous, much more so than if they would have been given gold. The problem rather was that their selection had been limited. They couldn't ask for custom weapons nor armor, they had to take what was available. 

"What about the emblems to exchange for gold, did any of you get a quest relating to that?" Eldrian asked, recalling just how good they were. 

"We did, but you don't get them for killing a few weaker undead. The quest we got has this ridiculous task of finding hidden undead lairs. How are we even supposed to survive long enough for that?" The question was rhetorical, Eldrian replying they didn't need to survive certainly did not help. 

"You know that is not what I meant!"

"I know, but it might be a good way to make some more money."

"No, the rewards won't be worth the XP cost. Especially since we would only get 50 silver for each discovery, but we might die multiple times to find just one lair."

"Fair enough," Eldrian nodded and changed the subject back to how to make use of the perks. "So I just go to the Adventurer's guild and ask them for the spells I want? I get the 5% discount just like that?"

"You will need to confirm your membership first, right..." Summoning a small emblem Elizabeth handed it to him. It was similar to the emblems Eldrian got for completing the goals of the Cleanse the Forest quest. Only instead of being a sword and shield its design was much more complicated. 

Two spreading wings seemingly aflame forming a heart in the center.

"That should make it far easier, I already activated it you only need to now imprint it."

"How?" Eldrian asked as he inspected the emblem like he had done the ones before. 

"Like you equip items of course," Elizabeth explained, Eldrian nodded and look in the interface for a message, finding it when he headed to the guild tab. 

[Do you wish to imprint the Phoenix Division Emblem? Doing so will give you the title of a guild member.]

'Oh, you get a title too?' Eldrian wondered, saying yes after just a little bit of thought. "I didn't know you get a title for doing this."

"Yeah, but it is basically useless. Most of us had it deactivated since we were just level 1. I heard that it actually starts getting useful at later levels, though at that point most NPCs know of the guild already."

"Heard?" Eldrian questioned, Elizabeth quickly explaining how guilds were not just a player thing. Theirs were just a bit more, complicated than that of the natives. Generally, NPC guilds would rather be called mercenary, adventurers, explorer, etc groups. 

Only players had the fixed term of being a guild, though actually they were also seen as a group under the Adventurer's guild. Just like the NPC guilds. The only true guilds were either those famous throughout kingdoms, or organizational guilds like the Adventurer's guild that spread throughout empires. 

All others are actually just affiliates under the organizational guilds. Their titles were determined by the branch they decided to sign up with.