Chapter 686 - Eternal Court

Talon leads me through the base while I am greeted by the other people. The group here is mostly the same one I have been working with for the past few months, so I know most of them already. Usually, it is around ten to twenty people, mostly from Primordial Knights with some hired help mixed in.

Me and Weslin usually take care of security. Some are focused on building the core of the future base, while others handle logistics. As for Talon, I think he mainly organizes things. Most of the people from Primordial Knights do not care that he might be weaker than they are. They are simply glad they do not have to deal with it themselves and can just focus on their own tasks.

“Do you know how long it has been since there was a proper war between two of the top ten guilds?” he asks me, clearly excited. A part of me thinks it might because the demons from our guild will be too busy to keep challenging him. But that is more or less his fault, he still doesn't know how to treat them properly, and that's why they keep coming at him.

“No idea,” I answer.

“Three decades. The last time it ended up pulling in seven guilds in total. When it was all over, three of them completely dissolved. Four hundred attendees and three dozen locals died in the process. Because of that, most of the old guilds like ours made some kind of informal pact to avoid the guild wars. They rarely bring anything good.”

We stop as Talon greets a man who is creating alloy out of three metals we mined here. He pours it into a mold made of stone, also gathered here.

With a satisfied nod, Talon smiles at the thylarin man before continuing. “I tried asking the branch leader about these accords, but apparently my rank is too low and I have no clearance,” he snorts.

“I know nothing of it, if that is where you are heading.”

He stops and stares at me. “Not even for a moment did I suspect you were going around asking about that kind of thing. I still checked with Weslin just in case, but he also does not care. I need more information! This is egregious.”

“Good for you. So, should we expect some attack?”

“Very likely. They will exploit the fact that Nyssa, our second S rank, along with our elites, are on the fifth floor. We are quite vulnerable here, and it is not like we are trying to hide what we do. Plus, they might try to target Weslin before he becomes an S rank.”

“His strength will not increase that much when he becomes one. He just gets a fancier identification emblem.” I note.

“That is true, but just getting that rank counts greatly toward the guild’s performance. I think they consider us the most vulnerable of the top five currently. What dumb fucks. They probably believe they can exploit it, push us down, get some points while doing so, and then slip into the top five before the next reset to grab better bonuses and other stuff. Also, Weslin is the strongest member we have on the third floor, so they might think they can steamroll us once he is dead.”

While observing Talon checking on our dedicated detectors to keep the area scans up, I think about the current situation. Honestly, it is a bit annoying. We are not that far from finishing the core of the outpost and its ignition.

Once it is done, my third beyond floor quest will be complete. The Primordial Knights would gain a solid amount of points for future guild ranking calculations, and the path to the fourth floor would open to me.

It could have been finished sooner if I had gone with a smaller base, but I let Weslin change my mind. I can only guess that he went with it after a discussion with leadership. So we began gathering materials, clearing the space, and defending it from monsters. We avoided staying here during the night, only sometimes cutting it close.

This floor is the kind of setting where nights are extremely dangerous, even to S ranks. The safest place is always within the outposts, each with a strict limit on how many people it can hold, based on size. Usually, the limits are 10, 100, 1000, and the largest ones are 10,000. If the night comes and even one person above that limit remains inside, the entire outpost loses its safe zone status. Whatever prowls at night usually kills everyone.

I heard about one such case from Weslin. Ten years ago, there was an outpost with 10,000 people, even hosting one of the strongest locals on the third floor. Whether it was someone deliberately sabotaging the place, bad luck, or some other reason, one night that number went over.

Everyone died. The newcomers later found the whole city wiped out. Not a single destroyed building, yet every person inside, attendee and local alike, torn apart so badly that body parts of a single victim could be found scattered across the entire city. There was not a single sign of anyone fighting back.

The quest of this floor is to participate in building yet another safe zone.

We reach Weslin, who is standing near one of the demons from Primordial Knights. Their conversation is short, and I can hear how annoyed Weslin is. Not with the situation itself, but probably with the demon.

In the end, Weslin does not even have to fight. The demon simply steps back, turns into a blur, and heads toward the Black Tower outpost I came from.

“Good news?” Talon steps closer, fist clenched with an excited smile.

Already used to this shameless guy’s behavior, Weslin shrugs. “They are sending Morwag to our floor.”

“Oh fuck,” Talon breathes out, eyes wide open.

The mention of the name piques more of my interest. Morwag is, after all, the second S rank in our guild and Nyssa’s “hunting dog” as some people like to call him. He is known for many things, but being delicate is not one of them.

“Yes, my head already hurts just imagining working with him. How long until we can ignite the outpost?” Weslin asks.

“A week, maybe two,” Talon answers.

“That is not a very accurate number.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot give you a better one. A lot depends on the quality of our molds and how much we are able to mine. We already exhausted a few veins, so we had to start searching for new ones.”

“I guess,” Weslin sighs, then looks at me. “Rookie.”

I glance around.

“Don’t look around, you little shit. I meant you.” Weslin specifies.

“Oh, come on, Weslin. At this point, I am a senior member of Primordial Knights, one of the very valuable A ranks. A great future prospect…”

“That A rank stands for you being a pAin in the Ass and nothing else. I can say that from my unfortunate personal experience. First of all, you and I will be guarding this place. No more monster hunts in the area, no explorations. If we leave, it is possible the guys here will die, and we do not want that.”

I nod. “We do not.”

“Great. We leave last, just a few minutes before nightfall, to make sure some asshole does not destroy what we have built. We get here first thing in the morning to ensure the same.”

“That would be annoying.” I turn to the other side. “Talon, what are the rules of guild wars? Are there any? Or is it all informal? I checked the rankings for the 7th guild’s name, but I know nothing of them.”

Talon replies, “Guild wars have three stages. These are based on informal rules, since no official system rules exist. But guilds stick to them most of the time. If you do not, you risk pissing off Handlers or locals. The Kings of the three cities on the third floor, or the one on the fourth, especially hate it when you go against them. If you mess around too much, you can say goodbye to your progress on these floors.”

“And we do not want that?”

“We do not want that,” Talon nods. “The first stage is targeting combatants only, and only outside of the safe zones.”

“Oh, that is us here.”

“Yes, that is us. Most guild wars are ‘solved’ during the first stage. You kill the important members, steal supplies, and all is good. This stage lasts two weeks. If, after that time, one of the guilds is still unhappy with the progress, the second stage begins. One week during which you are allowed to target non-combatants belonging to the enemy guild and guild buildings inside safe zones. Some damage to the city or outpost area is accepted, but if you kill non-participating attendees or locals, you are in really big trouble. Usually, you end up paying a lot or receiving severe punishment. But if you are a dumb fuck or don't do your utter fucking best to avoid casualties on locals, the Local Kings will fuck you up.”

“Can you hire other attendees to help?”

“That is the third stage. It also lasts a week. During it, you are allowed to get other guilds to help or hire people.”

“So it is just guild versus guild for the first three weeks?” I ask.

“Are you naive? Everyone fucking cheats,” Talon sighs.

Next to him, Weslin nods. “If you cheat, make sure there are no witnesses. Do not kill the favorite attendee of a powerful Handler. Otherwise, you risk that handler doing everything possible to screw you over. They keep records of their attendees, which they can use against you later. Usually, they do not care, and even if they do, it is difficult to press it. But powerful ones, or those willing to put in the effort, can do it.”

“Weslin, that sounds like a jinx, doesn’t it?”

“You are right, rookie. Eternal Court... ”

“Why don’t we call them Eternal Clowns?” I ask.

“I am also for it,” Talon joins in quickly.

Weslin does not skip a beat and repeats, “... The Eternal Clowns have the triplets, and all three share the same handler. That handler is strong, maybe even the real reason they matter. People say it is either Tandu or Gabele. Tandu is the spiteful one, Gabele is the one with connections.”

“Oh? The Triplets joined them?” Talon asks, surprised.

Weslin nods. “Not that long ago.”

“Please don’t make me ask who,” I mutter.

“They are A ranks, all three of them. Upper mid A rank?” Talon turns to Weslin.

The bald man shrugs. “Closer to the top. I heard they got some fancy skills.” Then he looks at me. “They are lumorans. Two males and one female. I think at the end of their fourth year of the tutorial. Some would even call them rising stars. They did well on the fourth beyond floor and are likely on the eleventh tutorial floor now. Quite mysterious because of their abilities. Some say they hold powerful fragments, others claim one or two primordial energies. Some say each has a different trait, and together they combine six traits extremely well. They always fight together.”

“A few more words and they will pop up from behind the corner with boss music playing.”

To that, Weslin only smiles. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it? Eternal Clowns do not have any S ranks, but they have quite a few A and B ranks. Their leader is an A rank himself, but he will likely never reach S rank. Same problem as Io, some weakness holding him back.”

“And they thought it would be a good idea to challenge us Primordial Lunatics,” Talon sighs and turns to me with a plea.

As many times before, I create a manabloc chair. He slides into it with a comfortable groan and continues. “They likely do not have much experience with demons. Even fucking Bloodline does not mess with Primordial Knights. Poor clowns. They probably count on Nyssa not joining in.”

Weslin gestures, and I create another pair of manabloc chairs for him and myself. We sit down. The bald man then says, “They are right. Nyssa will not leave her floor for them only. She would only move if more guilds grouped against us. And damn, knowing the demons here, they would not want her even if they were on the brink of extinction. I am still surprised she sent Morwag. It must have annoyed her a little that the seventh place guild dared to poke at us like we were an easy target. Do you have any idea when Morwag will come?”

Talon takes a few moments before answering. “One day? A week? From what I heard about him, I don’t think he will hurry.”

They continue talking. I only listen with half an ear, while the rest of my focus is on [Accumulation] and on the faint pale-blue halo floating above my head. It is the simplest design I was able to manifest and maintain. Inside it, a single thread of [Ley Line] forms a circle while the halo surrounds it, mana swirling and spinning inside. Like a calm river, slow but steady, accumulating.

It is still far too imperfect, but it does not bother me. I know I will improve it. My excess mana begins filling it while I continue working on making it more stable.

***

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