ShanDeRad
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Book 2: Chapter 21
🕑 Added 2024-05-15 14:00:17 +0000 UTC“Everyone be quiet!” Drakunsher, the demon, yelled into the room, being the first of the reps to snap back form their shock. “You!” He directed at Shaun, after everyone had finally calmed down. “You have no idea, what you just did, do you?”
“No, I really don’t, sir.” Shit, he looks pissed now. What the hell is happening!
“Then let me educate you, on your class at least. The Elemental Blade Slinger is a rare class to be offered, one of the most powerful classes at the advanced level. They are the perfect mix of mage and melee. In the eras, those that have managed to gain such a class have been born and bred into it, from the moment they are born they are given everything that they can be to cultivate the class, and still it is rare that it is offered. Many of those that had the class and still live are now some of the most powerful gods in the major factions. The Elemental Blade Slinger alone may turn the tide of a war, that is the power they bring. And always, when one is born, there is change across the multiverse. Do you now understand the impact of having such a class?” Drakunsher said to him.
“I didn’t know.” And he really didn’t, but even after everything the demon had said he felt relief, for a moment he thought he had exposed his heritage, thankfully it wasn’t the case, instead they were talking about him causing change in the multiverse, which was only slightly less terrifying.
“Of course you didn’t, but that doesn’t make what you are any less true human. Join the Nine Hells, pledge yourself to us now and we will give you everything you could possibly dream of!”
“Enough, we agreed that no offers would be made this day!” Polrias, the shifter from the Beast Collective yelled at the demon.
“Screw the agreement! This changes everything!” Darkunsher yelled back.
“The Symphonium shall extend an invite for the human to join.” Sleese said on behalf of the elemental faction.
Soon over half of the major factions had extended offers, the only ones to not extend an invitation was The Dynasty, apparently his class having nothing to do with bringing them money, and The Unending Void. The arguments from the major faction representatives continued on for a while, he was seemingly ignored during all of this but continued to watch and listen. The clans were all speaking behind him, yelling out opinions on who he should join, he didn’t speak up though, just sat silently. If he was anyone else in the room he would have thought the entire thing comical but because they were currently arguing about him, he just couldn’t find the humour in the situation.
At one point he turned around and looked at Viv who didn’t even take here eyes off of the major faction reps, just looking on with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. She was not going to be any help, not that anyone would be able to help him at the moment.
“SSSilenceee.” The room suddenly felt like it didn’t exist, he had a moment where he didn’t know what was real or even if anything truly existed. Claude, the being from the Unending Void had spoken, and everyone immediately stopped making any noise. It had been the first time it had made a noise, and apparently, when it spoke all would listen. “Crafter ssspeak.”
“Thank you, Claude. Shaun.” Wilaron, the Creators Guild rep spoke. “You have heard about your class but now your profession, which I may add, none of the others have shown an interest in.” That caused some protests from the others but the quickly stopped when Claude grumbled. “Although I will admit, I am unfamiliar with the Elemental Creator, there is something you should know. Many have professions related to crafting, there is many avenues, many different sub sections of each of the basic crafts. But to get a profession which directly relates to creating, to being a creator? They are generally much more powerful than any crafter profession. They are as rare in the crafting world as your class is in the more battle orientated. Creators are able to bring to life many new items, create the most powerful of weapons, enchant the most complex of spells, and you, are able to do so with elements. That in itself makes you highly sort after in many factions, with the right training you will find that your ability to create unique items will come easier. Already you have created an epic rarity item, barely into the E grade. Imagine what you could accomplish with some help and guidance!” The more Wilaron spoke the more passionate he got, at the end it was a sales pitch, but he could see his point.
“Enough of that!” Octavius yelled at Wilaron, seeing where his speal was going. He then looked at all the other reps, communicating with them with no words, until it seemed they had come to an agreement. “Shaun, you have been offered places within nearly all of our factions. You will get no better offers from the clans, so it is time. Choose who you wish to join, now!”
Shaun didn’t know what to do, he wasn’t prepared for any of this, sure he knew that this was going to be intense but this was on a whole other level. He had read enough about each of the major powers to have a decent idea of what they were about, but he had not thought of which he would want to join, if any. This wasn’t a decision he could make lightly, in fact it wasn’t really a decision he wanted to make at all. It was just too much at that point to deal with. He hadn’t even finished the tutorial, let alone explored the multiverse at all. If he chose a faction now there was no way of being free to do what he wanted to do. He would make enemies of the other factions, isolate himself from those he didn’t choose. He made his decision though, hoping he didn’t regret it, and prepared for the consequences.
“No.”
“What do you mean no? There isn’t a choice here, you must choose a faction. Our faction!” Xavier Yelled at him.
He had thought about it, in the moments before, he couldn’t be forced to choose a faction right at this moment, he had to willingly pick one. There was weeks left of the tutorial, that in itself meant he had time to make a decision. “I mean, no, I wont choose right now. This is the first time I have met you, any of you really. I don’t know enough about what I would be getting myself into if I chose one faction over another right now. So, I wont choose. Yet. I have read enough to know I can’t be forced to pick a faction.”
In some ways that made the reps happy, it would give them more time to convince him of the ‘right’ choice. Others were less so, annoyed at him not immediately picking their faction. The crowd was excited though, this was the first time they had witnessed someone not immediately jumping into a major faction, and essentially, he had turned down 9 of them at once, it was a scandal, but they were living for the drama.
The reps again did their nonspeaking communication thing, longer this time than the last, but eventually came to an agreement. “If that is what you choose, then we have a proposal. For the next 11 soiree, you will meet with each of us, consider each of the factions, but you are not allowed to make a choice. Not until each of us have had the chance to speak to you individually. After you have met with each of us once, you will get the chance to choose to have further conversations with any and all of us, together or sperate. Further, you must agree not to join one of the clans, if you are to join a faction it must be one of the major powers. Agree to this, here and now. The alternative will not be pleasant.” The vampire, Friosh, spoke.
“I agree to the terms.” They didn’t say that he would have to pick a faction, just that he couldn’t join a clan, in that he was safe, for now at least.
“Than with that, this meeting is over.” As soon as those words were spoken, each of the reps disappeared. He had expected more grilling about his affinity, but apparently it had been overshadowed by his class, he didn’t know whether that was a good thing or bad thing. What he did know was that he needed to find a way out of this mess, that and to find out more about his class.
With no reason left to stay Shaun got up out of his chair and stopped in front of Viv, who was looking at him in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable, it wasn’t fear or anger, it was almost reverence, which was so much worse. “Would you like to leave with me?” She just nodded her head and came to a stand, she didn’t loop her arm back through his like they had when they walked in, instead she just waited for him to walk to the exit. When he did she followed just behind him, again something he didn’t like, as he passed Gabe and Eric they also fell into line behind him, making sure that he was in the lead, a clear showing that they knew him, that they were friends, but that they also knew they weren’t his equal. He wanted to scream at them for the idiocy of the entire thing but he wouldn’t, not here at least.
What made the entire thing more uncomfortable was that the clan members also bowed their heads at him as he walked pass, showing their respects, acknowledging him as someone that was more than them. He had never been more uncomfortable in his life, but he didn’t acknowledge it, just kept walking until finally he was out of the room. He didn’t stop walking until he was back at his apartment, Viv, Gabe and Eric had followed him all the way back, not saying a word.
“Everyone, inside, please.” He directed to them once he opened the door to his apartment. Once inside he collapsed on the couch, exhausted from everything that had happened the past day. Once everyone had sat down he decided he would talk first, none of the others having shown any inclination to start. “That was terrifying, right? They were like rabid dogs fighting over a bone.”
“What are you going to do Shaun?” Eric asked him, concern easily recognisable in his voice.
“I don’t know. Delay as long as I can I guess. It’s all I can do right?”
“Delay? Don’t you want to join one of the powers? You heard that guy on the first day, getting invited into the major factions is beyond rare and one of the hardest things to accomplish, its what everyone dreams of!” Viv shouted at him. “Why are you hesitating?”
“Because…….I don’t know! Okay! It just doesn’t feel right!”
“What do you mean? What are you feeling? Why isn’t it right?” Viv kept grilling him. “If I was you I would have chosen, I would have picked one of those factions today! You know what that would do for not just you, but for Earth?”
“See that’s the thing! There is more too this! What happens to Earth when we all finish the tutorial, when people join factions, what happens to the entire population of our planet? The factions wont divide it up and let everyone live happily ever after there. Someone at some point is going to have to take control and whichever faction or clan they belong too controls the planet.” Shaun got to his feet, trying to piece it all together. “Its not just that though, we don’t know what happens after this and what impact joining a faction has on not just our futures but everyone’s! I need to know more before I make a choice.”
“Okay let’s say you’re right.” Gabe started, “If eventually our planet is going to fall under a faction isn’t it better that it falls under a major power? There will be no need to try and fight our ways up some ladder to get to a major faction, we will already be there.”
“That assumes that it is all dependant on the person who will end up ruling our planet though.”
“But you are strong enough to rule Shaun! If we understood anything about what the factions just said, your class, your affinity, no one will be able to stand against you!” Viv shouted at him again, she was more emotional at this point than he expected, he didn’t know why she was so invested in this but she was missing the point.
“I don’t want to rule! I have never and will never want to rule! Not a group, not a city and definitely not a planet!” He yelled back at her, he had had enough of this conversation, they didn’t know each other that well, but he thought she had understood enough about him to know this at least. “I want to be free! To do whatever I want, whenever I want! There is an entire multiverse out there just waiting to be explored. I don’t want to be stuck on Earth for the rest of my life, constantly dealing with politics and people and ruling! You get that right? It’s not who I am.”
“And what about Earth? Of every single person that lives there? Will you just let someone else control the planet and make the decisions, having no idea what they will do, what they are like? That’s wrong and you know it!” The more Shaun spoke the more Viv was losing control, she was furious at him, everything he said went against everything she was working towards. Safety for the people of Earth.
“Then you do it! Get stronger, fight harder, be the best! Take control of Earth, join a faction you believe will be the best for Earth and rule!”
“How can I do that with you being stronger than I am? No one has a chance with you alive!”
“Did you just ignore what I said? I am not standing in your way, I will support you! Help you get stronger if that’s what you want. I am not an obstacle for you to face, I am your friend who will support you, no matter what you choose.” The moment he finished she fell back in her chair, finally starting to comprehend what he had been saying.
“Your serious aren’t you?” Viv asked him, not looking at him though, instead staring down into her lap.
“Of course I am.”
“Even after everything they said? About your class, about the impact you will have on the multiverse, everything?”
“Yes, Viv. I am serious.”
“Okay…..”
“Ummm, okay?” He was confused now, Viv was no longer angry or upset. She wasn’t even trying to change his mind. She was just, okay?
“That’s what I will do. I will get stronger, so much so that no one will have a chance to win against me. I will do everything I can to make sure I join a good faction, that life on Earth will be peaceful. That people will be safe and happy.”
He couldn’t help but sigh in relief, they spoke very little after that, instead everyone made their exit and decided to get some sleep, get ready for the next day. He didn’t have to fight again for at least 5 days, and he was going to do everything he could between now and then to improve, not so he could rule or any other such nonsense, but because he now had factions vying for him, and if he was going to create enemies, he would need to be strong enough to protect himself against them.
Comments
ShanDeRad
Thanks Akkido, fixed that one up.
Akkido
You said that the Empire was one of two factions who did not extend an offer, but then you have Xavier, the Empire Rep, telling Shaun to join his faction. You should fix this.
Dylan Suomela
|| That in itself makes you highly sort after in many factions…|| sought* after || Someone at some point is going to have to take control and whichever faction or clan they belong too controls the planet.|| belong to*
