Second World

ʼWhat about the other two types?ʼ

”League factions are more numerous and diverse. Some are pretty clear-cut, the others are more mysterious. You can find some of them in this city. The Church of Creation that I mentioned previously is one such faction. The Cult of Phobos which you fought before is another one. Other examples are Assassins Guild and Orders of Magi. In terms of the last two, you would need to be a specific class in order to join. Each league faction has its own criteria of recruitment so you will need to find out on your own. Same as kingdom faction, not all factionsʼ relationships are good to each other. But unlike kingdom faction, you can join more than one league faction as long as they donʼt contradict each other.”

ʼSo if I join more league factions, the more benefit I will get then?ʼ

”You wish. Same as your auxiliary skills. You can only reach the highest rank on one faction. Once you have done so, your progression in the others factions will be locked to a certain rank. You will not be able to go any higher no matter how much merit you amassed. No one would want the higher-ups of another organization to become one of their top people. How could they ensure such person will put their well-being as their top priority?”

ʼGuess that makes sense. What about the neutral factions?ʼ

”Neutral factions are those that didnʼt impose restrictions on their members. Anyone can join. As long as you complete their tasks, they will reward you. In fact, you are already a member of such factions.”

ʼI am?ʼ Jack was bewildered by such revelation. Since when did he join a faction?

”Adventurers Association and the Hunters Association,” Peniel said.

ʼOh, them. So they are considered factions as well.ʼ

Jack had been having internal conversations all this time. Leaving the knight commander waiting for his answer. Commander Quintus finally lost his patience and said loudly, ”are you done thinking? I have never met such an indecisive person as you. Are all outworlders that way? Just tell me if you are interested to join or not?!”

Jack was brought back to attention by the rude reminder from Commander Quintus. He put on an apologetic smile and said, ”yes, yes, of course, Iʼm interested to join. Please confer my thanks to the honorable royal advisor for having given me such chance.”

”You got me going for a second there, kid,” Gruff commented from the side with a laugh. ”All that silence, I thought you are going to decline the offer.”

Commander Quintus didnʼt show any expression, happy or sad, upon Jackʼs reply. He simply gave him a plain metal badge. ”Take this, this is the token for you to do the initiation trial. Once you passed the trial, you will be officially a member of Themisphere faction.”

Jack heard a voice notification, ”you have been offered a kingdom faction quest, Initiation Trial, do you accept?”

An initiation trial? He thought that he would immediately be accepted into the faction once he agreed. So he still had to pass a trial? Hopefully, the benefit was indeed worth the trouble, Jack thought.

Jack took the metal badge and accepted the quest.

”Another thing, before I forget,” Commander Quintus uttered. ”Letʼs just say if by any chance you passed the trial, which branch of Themisphere faction that you would like to be placed? Nobility or Military?”

Jack was annoyed by the knight commanderʼs low opinion of him, but he didnʼt let it show. ”Whatʼs the difference?” He asked.

”Whatʼs the difference? Arenʼt the names themselves already self-explanatory?” Commander Quintus blurted.

Gruff took over the explanation, ”what this esteemed knight commander trying to say is, you will gain rank based on the branch you choose. The benefits of both branches are roughly the same, but Nobility ranks will be harder to be gained as there was less faction quest available and they are usually more complex. While Military ranks are easier to achieve for higher ranks because there will be more available quests and they are more direct.”

Commander Quintus glared at Gruff, evidently displeased by him saying that the military branch was easier.

”There must be some cons to the military branch, right? Wonʼt the choice be too obvious then?”

”There is,” Gruff said with a smile. ”If you enter the military branch, you will be required to report daily and do the tasks assigned to you. A military discipline will be expected out of you.”

What? I didnʼt want to get tied down that way? Wasnʼt that the same as becoming a soldier and worked for the army? Jack thought.

He was just about to tell them that he had changed his mind and had decided to decline the offer to join, when Gruff gave another laugh, ”look at your face! Haha. Iʼve known you outworlders donʼt like to get tied down. Donʼt worry. Just choose the Nobility branch then. You have no obligations there. You can just do the faction quest when you feel like it. There is less restriction. As long as you didnʼt do anything that besmirches your noble title, then you are free to go and do as you wish.”

Jack was relieved, but then he gave Gruff an annoyed look. The old warrior was intentionally messing with him. This game worldʼs NPCs were truly rich and complex.

”So?” Commander Quintus asked impatiently.

”I will choose the nobility branch,” Jack gave his choice.

Commander Quintus nodded and used his quill to jot something down on a paper.

”So, when will this initiation trial being held?” Jack asked.

Commander Quintus gave him a vexed look. ”Now,” he said. ”Do you have someplace else that you have to go?”

”No, now is good,” Jack replied.

”You can go with Bailey there, she will bring you to start your trial.”

”Bailey?”

Gruff pointed at the female warrior sitting beside the wooden door. She stood up after hearing Commander Quintusʼ cue.

”Come, the others are waiting,” she said.

”Others?” Jack asked. But no one answered his question. Bailey had already gone through the door beside her. Jack immediately stood up and went after her after paying respect to Gruff and the knight commander.

He went through the door and saw Bailey walking away slowly. They had come out of the tower and were on top of the castleʼs outer curtain wall. The curtain wall went a far distance away. It seemed to run along the side of Mount Thenias.

They walked for a long while. Jack looked back and saw the castle was getting smaller.

Whatʼs the point of building the wall away from the castle? Shouldnʼt it simply circumvent the castle? Jack wondered. He then took a peek to the side where Mount Thenias was. There were several caves on the mountain base. Many people could be seen coming and going from the caves. The ones that came out carried pushcarts filled with stones.

”They were mining?” Jack asked.

”Yes,” Bailey replied. ”Mount Thenias is a mountain rich with minerals and gemstones. This capital was originally a mining town that grew into a large kingdom with the help of the ores mined from this mountain. In fact, our mission this time has something to do with one of these mining caves.”

”Mission? I thought I am having my initiation trial?”

”Your initiation trial is helping a group of novice squires in securing a mining cave that is recently being infested by monsters.”

”Canʼt they just send soldiers to do the job?”

”They can, but this is a trivial matter. The knight commander sees it as an opportunity to give the young cadets to experience real fights. The royal advisorʼs interest in you simply came along at an opportune time, so the knight commander included you to accompany and guard these cadets as your trial. Their safety will be your responsibility.”

”So my trial is babysitting a bunch of rookie soldiers?” Jack commented.

Bailey looked at him in amusement. ”They are all level 20. More like they will be babysitting you,” she said.

”Ow,” was the only word Jack uttered.

They almost reached the end of the outer curtain wall before Bailey led him to a stone stair by the side of the wall facing mount Thenias. The mining activity was much scarcer here, as there were not as many caves as the part they had passed. Bailey took him to one of the caves which were devoid of mining activity. There was a group of people stood outside. They all looked young and wore the same blue color uniform. Jack estimated their ages to be around himself or younger.

The young people in the group were chatting with each other. When they noticed Bailey approaching, one of them immediately shouted out, ”attention!”

They immediately got in line and posed in a respectful manner. The speed by which they formed the formation showed that they had trained till they got used to it. Jack assumed that these were the young cadets that Bailey mentioned. There were five of them, three males and two females. They all carried long swords on their waists and bucklers on their backs.

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