FB: Chapter 82 – Guild Challenge

I looked down at the challenge issued by HeroTen, the public front of China in Exponential. I was surprised that they were willing to risk such a challenge, but they clearly thought they could win while the Fanged Fox Guild was struggling. I looked over the terms.

They wanted an unrestricted battle, no force cap, no consumable cap, with a wager of 1,000 platinum. I could cover the wager with Slice by getting a temporary loan of that amount. All the other officers were looking at a copy of the challenge.

“What do you think Isabella?” I asked our Guild Relations Officer.

“Numbers. They are going to get every other major guild out there and dump a tremendous amount of money into consumables to win. Even if people call it cheap, a win is a win. And refusing would create image problems,” she said.

“A million mice against ten thousand elephants, I would bet on the elephants,” Officer of Recruitment Grinning Blade said.

“They will most likely employ 20 to 40 Champion level combatants along with their teams. Not counting our guild leader we currently have 10 Champion level combatants with their respective teams. In addition, we are looking at being outnumbered five to one. Their average level would be around 15 to 20, while ours would be around 30 to 35. At best a 20% absolute level advantage for the majority of combatants,” Officer of Combat Kill Blade reported.

“We don’t have the money for such a confrontation. In the last conflict we used up an absurd number of consumables. Most likely they know we are under severe financial pressure. Winning would cost us around 2,000 platinum,” my father the Officer Accounting, Number Crusher, pointed out.

“Can we squeeze out a higher wager amount?” I asked. Everyone looked at Isabella, Joker Seven, and Joker Nine.

“Not easily,” Officer of Intelligence Joker Seven finally said. “There is only so much coinage and they are probably paying quite a bit to hire on additional help for this fight.”

“We can push for double. Anything beyond that would be difficult,” Isabella answered.

“Then we would just break even if we fought with the same level of consumables we did in the last battle. And yes, that is taking into account our increased numbers,” Number Crusher replied.

“We will accept at double the amount. How many people can we bring without sacrificing our operations elsewhere?” I asked Operations Officer Glexx.

“Keeping up what we need for the mobilization and construction, we can leverage 80,000 people approximately of various levels and combat ability.” I nodded at this.

“I will handle the amount that needs to be wagered so the guild doesn’t have to worry about scrouging up the money. As for participation, we will offer guild merits based on how well people do in the battle. Kill Blade, you will handle choosing the location. I am thinking a highly congested location. We will use their numbers against them, so we want a location that will make it difficult for HeroTen to leverage their horde of players against us.”

“They will most likely go for a decapitation strike against you Guild Leader,” Kill Blade replied, and I nodded at this.

“I would expect nothing else. But less a decapitation strike and more of a containment strategy. Also, let’s cut out all consumables for this battle.” There were looks of shock at this.

“That will make winning very difficult if they use consumables against us,” Kill Blade replied, and I smiled at that statement.

“Winning a battle like this is based on percentage losses over the one and a half in game days that the battle takes place over. We will become a turtle. The only consumables we will bring are building blocks. Our main forces will turtle up in a quickly built star fortress and use magical guns. Rotate the members so they can regain MP out of combat without using potions. The Champions and I will rampage across the battlefield. Quant Z, I believe you have the rapid construction plans?” I asked.

“Yes, indeed I do. If we go with cheap building materials, that will cost only 50 platinum for the basic defenses. Another 100 platinum for elevated and extended bunkers,” he replied.

“Then lets go all out and invest 100 platinum with building blocks boosting up the quality of our core fortress a bit to better withstand damage. Our members who have had experience with the mobilization battle and construction will be useful here. We also have a stockpile of magic guns?” I asked.

“We do. Normally they are cycled out to the mobilization area so we can have NPCs repair damaged ones to cut down on expenses. But we have a fair number in reserve in case we need to send out a large number of players to the mobilization area. We can purchase the rest, since we won’t need high level magical guns, since most of the players will be low level. There would be a concern about MP potions,” he said.

“Members can bring their own potions. We will supply a single MP potion to everyone participating for the initial clash, but no more than that. That should be another 200 platinum?” I asked and I got an affirmative.

“That will put a lot of pressure on us to kill large swathes of their troops,” Storm Sword said, and I nodded at this.

“That is what you are paid for as a Champion. If you need to retreat to our star fortress you can do so. If they build up defenses, I will rampage through them,” I replied.

“They will use anti-teleportation items to counter you for sure. You will be swarmed,” Hammer Crusher pointed out and I nodded.

“Yes. That is likely. But I am ready for such things and anti-teleportation consumables aren’t cheap,” I replied.

Isabella went off to try and squeeze more money out of the conflict while planning continued. Our people would hole up for an entire day, then the last afternoon they would rush out and attack. Keeping them in the fortress the entire battle would make them annoyed, since they would want to participate as well as win in direct combat.

I shot down the idea of equipping a small number of teams outside the Champions with consumables as well as siege weapons. We needed to keep our costs low. We would only deploy siege weapons in defense if they brought out siege weapons, but even then, I was against the idea.

After an hour Isabella came back. HeroTen had agreed to a battle in one week for 3,000 platinum on the line, but in exchange they wanted the location of the Verdant Plains. That would be the absolute worst location to pick.

“It isn’t impossible. We will see their maneuvers and they will see ours. There will be little to no cover,” Kill Blade pointed out.

“Construction will provide a huge advantage, and it will be easy with clear terrain,” Quant Z pointed out.

“We will agree on the location and amount,” I replied, and Isabella quickly left to confirm things. I got up as well, since I needed to get the platinum. One trip to the Traders Union, I had a 3,000 platinum short term loan. I would have to pay back 3,300 platinum back in a month, but that was fine.

We would be out of the financial hole we were currently in. If we lost, then the guild would be in a very precarious position and most likely collapse. That was the entire point of why we had been targeted. While I was covering that amount, I needed to be able to pay the loan back. If we didn’t recoup our investment of consumables and the money I put up, things would become difficult. Also losing would be a show of weakness, which would invite other guilds to attack us and make our lives difficult.

In the following days, it was discovered that the alliance arrayed against us was much bigger than initially anticipated. In addition to HeroTen, there was Great Bear and the Apex from Russia and India respectively. They were scourging up everyone as well, even low level people who had just joined the game.

We were looking at around 800,000 to our 80,000, with 34 Champion level combatants on their side. It was honestly a bit ridiculous how many people they were bringing. I authorized a thousand more platinum to be spent on MP potions so people could fire the magical guns constantly. It would be a never-ending human wave in the day and a half. I had thought 200,000 initially, but these countries were calling on everyone they could.

The betting markets were still heavily favoring the Fanged Fox guild despite the huge discrepancy in numbers being brought against us. I didn’t know if I should be flattered or frustrated. The problem was all our supporters, they were betting in our favor, which made it impossible to get good odds and make it worthwhile to lay down a massive bet on our eventual victory.

I also ended up paying 500 platinum to pay for NPCs to protect the canal and our mobilization star fortress in the black zone while we were fighting. There was a very high chance that enemy forces would attempt to cause us trouble while we were fighting the guild battle. I knew the Dark Guilds would love to do something like that to screw me over, that was what they were known for after all. It was also something the Order of Chaos had done in the past.

In fact, we were doing the same thing. The Illuminati were going to take action during the guild battle. HeroTen had just taken control of a lovely town thanks to a player with a noble title. That town was going to experience a cataclysmic event during the battle, with their guild headquarters being raided and destroyed along with most of the town.

As the noble in charge, the person who was part of HeroTen would have a very bad time with the reconstruction and explaining their failure to protect the town. If they didn’t rebuild, they wouldn’t generate enough money to pay the necessary taxes to the Human Empire. There were enough cut outs between us and our dark guild we should avoid any issues since all key communication was offline.

After the disaster that had already occurred, my officers took even more steps to separate us and we would only discuss the Illuminati outside the game. Everyone was under strict instructions to never mention it in game or contact anyone in game. The only connection would be the timing of our respective actions and information. Otherwise, the Illuminati were a terrorist organization.

Everyone would suspect there was a relationship, but that was fine. There would be no proof in game, which was what mattered. As long as nothing could be proven to the Human Emperor, then we would be fine. People speculated about the relationship between super guilds and dark guilds in the future, but nothing was ever proven.

I made sure to convey specific instructions outside the game to the leader of the Illuminati. During the raid they had to kill and destroy as much as possible. HeroTen would be crippled for a long time after that, and it would send a message. As for an attack on our town, I wasn’t worried.

Quant Z was in charge of development and the town of Halfenbrook was already becoming a fortress. With the wealth being generated, the money was being spent to hire more NPC guards. We weren’t making a profit on the town since it was all going back into development. In addition, the first wall was being elevated, a moat was being built, and a second wall was being added.

It wouldn’t do to make the town a hub of commerce if it was easily attacked or destroyed. That was a big reason why the investments Quant Z needed time to pay off. In Exponential, increasing the wealth of a town didn’t just mean building it up, but also increasing security. Otherwise, human and NPC bandit groups would form in the area and other pressures would arise. That was why defense and security was the first thing that needed to be built and HeroTen would be learning this lesson shortly.

The raid would also make recruitment for the Illuminati much easier by making them recognizable as a dark guild. They would have the credibility to hire the really crazy people, who would be directed at other guilds and not the Fanged Fox Guild.