Ch. 18 4 Months Later

I had spent a few days at home, talking to my mom and Jordan. My mom and I catching up as Jordan was regaling us with stories of Rifts that he had broken and the teams he worked with. When he mentioned his team members names I had him make me a promise to send me their autographs as well. He grinned and said he would.

She left three days after she got there, she still had a job to go to, promising to be back soon.

Claire and I continued Breaking Rifts, one a week, sometimes two. The number of Rifts kept increasing and even with more and more people becoming Rift Breakers, there were still many more Rifts.

Four months, we saw new faces with every Rift. We tackled three Rifts together in that time.

The Rifts didn't change much in that time, still spitting out Shapeshifters, Gnomes, Goblins and Kobolds. Yet at the end of those 4 months, I got the level up I had been waiting for, so I spent my points and looked at my Character Sheet.

Name: Odellin Hundai

Level: 10

Str: 16

Dex: 34

Con: 16

Int: 32

Wis: 20

Cha: 12

HP: 320

MP: 520

STA: 160

(0 unused stat points)

SKILLS:

One-handed - 1

Two-handed - 1

Survival - 10

Evocation - 38

Animal Handling - 30

Ranged - 35

Meditation - 40

Stealth - 28

Mana Manipulation - 30

Necromancy - 26

NON-COMBAT SKILLS:

Cooking - 8

Bartering - 6

Multi-Tasking - 4

SPELLS:

Force Missile

Mana Arrow

Necromantic Healing

Ball Of Light

Ray Of Frost

Fireball

Jolt

PERKS: Adamant

Rift-Line Infusion Wrist Crossbow

(Uncommon) 50 DMG (2)

Bella (Animal Companion, Dire Raccoon, Soulbound)

Level: 10

STR: 29

DEX: 28

CON: 28

INT: 10

WIS: 10

CHA: 8

HP: 570

MP: 200

STA: 280

SKILLS:

Dig - 15

Multi-Attack - 36

Tracking - 40

Stealth - 22

Nina (Animal Companion, Dire Raccoon)

Level: 10

STR: 28

DEX: 27

CON: 29

INT: 10

WIS: 10

CHA: 8

HP: 570

MP: 200

STA: 290

SKILLS:

Dig - 8

Multi-Attack - 30

Tracking - 22

Stealth - 16

Rosa (Animal Companion, Dire Raccoon)

Level: 9

STR: 27

DEX: 26

CON: 28

INT: 10

WIS: 10

CHA: 8

HP: 550

MP: 200

STA: 280

SKILLS:

Dig - 4

Multi-Attack - 20

Tracking - 12

Stealth - 8

I had finally gotten the last Raccoon 2 Rifts ago, naming her Rosa. I finally had my Raccoon Strike Force. Although to be fair, I was definitely feeling partial to having all Raccoons in my squad. I had also bought 2 new Infused Wrist Crossbows. They were basically bracers that had a crossbow mounted into a slot on top of the bracers. It made it easier for me to shoot, plus the extra damage from the Infusion of Mana into them was cool too.

Claire had saved up enough money to get a place of her own, it was a cozy apartment close by. We were definitely happy for her.

However, I also had an expected, but unpleasant system message when hitting level 10.

SYSTEM MESSAGE - You have reached level 10. Upon reaching level 10 all level progression will be halted until you complete your progress quest.

[Progress Quest]

Train any 3 skills to level 50. Break 8 Rifts.

'This is gonna suck. A long grind again' I thought to myself. My skills had begun to get harder to level up once they hit Journeyman level. I wasn't gonna let that get me down though, no sir. I had one more thing to do now that I was level 10.

I gathered up my Raccoon Squad, getting into the Jeep and headed to the Association. Once there I walked up and nodded to the guards standing at the entrance. They both eyed my badge and my Squad, then nodded as I walked through the door.

There were at least 300 people all walking in and out of the different hallways and doors in the building. Many more than the first time I came here. Most of them seemed young and from the gear they were carrying, which of course I inspected, fairly new to being Breakers as well.

I didn't spend too long watching them though, I came here for a reason. Walking up to the Guild Hallway I grinned. I had an open invitation and wasn't going to pass it up.

Walking down the hallway I realized just how many Guilds there were. I lost count somewhere around 50. It was five minutes of walking before I got to a door that had a Blue Dragon etched on its surface. Even without reading the banner above the door I knew this one was it.

I opened the door and was definitely underwhelmed. It was a small office, with a young lady sitting in a desk in front of a computer. She looked up and smiled at me waving me in.

I took a seat in the comfortable plush chair they had in front of the desk and studied her and the office.

It looked like a reception area for most businesses, there was a small counter to the right with a coffee machine, a mini refrigerator nestled under the counter and a door leading to another part of the building behind her desk.

The woman was very plain looking, no blemishes or distinctive features that would make you remember her face, long black hair in a ponytail and slender, almost delicate arms, with matching fingers. She looked to be maybe 20 years old, if that.

"How can I help you today?" She asked in a pleasant, slightly high pitched tone. "Sean said to give him a call when I reach level 10. I want to join."

She typed away at her keyboard furiously for a few moments, with a speed that I couldn't have matched on my best day. "Can I see your badge please?" I handed it to her and she set it on a small box on her desk that pulled up my stats in a holographic projector. She typed all of it in in seconds, then handed it back to me. "He will be with you momentarily. Would you or your animals like a drink while we wait?" I declined the offer and she smiled, then continued working on her computer.

Exactly five seconds later Sean opened the door behind her desk and smiled when he saw me. "Odellin, good to see you again." he said walking up to me and shaking my hand as I stood up.

He looked down and smiled at my three Raccoons. "I see you've added more Companions to your arsenal." He said with a smile and I nodded "Yeah, I hit 30 in Handle Animal a week and a half ago." he nodded and gestured to the door. "Well come on in. We have a lot to discuss."

I followed him through the door and as I did my jaw dropped. We were standing in front of what looked like a huge training ground, built like a coliseum. There were about 50 other people there, either talking to each other or training with a variety of weapons and spells.

Some of them were training against each other, others were using training dummies. "Impressive huh?" he asked and I nodded. "Each Guild has their own Training Grounds and a Guild Hall." he said pointing to a building connected to the Training Grounds.

"How though? I mean this place is huge, there's no way all of the Guilds could have their own inside the Association building, could they?" He shook his head "Nope, we aren't actually in the Association building. We are just a bit outside of Columbus right now. The door teleports us to and from the Association building."

I looked back at the door and there was a slight shimmer to it. "That's cool." I said grinning. He chuckled "Just wait. There's more to see. First though let's get you signed up." he said leading me towards the Guild Hall.

Bella, Nina and Rosa got quite a few looks as they trailed behind me. All three of them unusually quiet in my mind. I could feel they were just as amazed as I was.

"So how does the whole Guild thing work exactly? Like how do Guilds register Rifts and things like that?" Sean chuckled "It's actually fairly easy. So when a Rift pops up, it gets registered with the Association. Once they get the approximate level and monster data, they register it as such. If it is above level 10 they put it up on the Guild database for all Guilds in the area to put a bid on it."

We passed through the doors to the Guild main building and into what looked like a gaming haven. People sat in chairs in front of each of the monitors that lined the walls, there were about 20 of them, with a big table in the middle that had a map projected on it. The map itself covered about 20 Square miles.

Sean pointed to the map "Each Guild has an area that it covers, based on the numbers the Guild has available. The more members, the more area we can cover and 'own' so to speak."

I stared at the map, it was the area of Columbus closest to where I lived. "Since we are only a 1st rank Guild we can only cover a 20 square mile radius and only have access to Rifts that are between levels 10 and 20. Only 2 of us are level 20 or higher. We have the numbers for a 2nd rank Guild, but not the prerequisite levels."

I nodded "So you need levels and numbers before you can rank up?" he nodded as well. "How many Rifts can you usually get in a week?" he smiled "Usually somewhere around 20. At least lately, before the changes we could get 10 a week. The changes have helped us alot."

Now for my big question "What is the usual haul from a level 10-20 Rift?" he laughed "Well now, right to the heart of the matter. Our Breakers make between 6,000 and 10,000 per Rift, whereas our dedicated Rift Miners bring in about 3,000 per Rift. All the materials gathered from Rifts are valuable and can be used to make specialized weapons and armors for Breakers."

I nodded and pulled out one of my Crossbows "Like this?" he nodded "Rift-Line, yeah they are huge. The weapons they make are specifically designed from the materials gathered inside of Rifts. The wood, the strings and the metal, all infused with Mana."

'So that's how it's done.' I thought to myself and put the Crossbow back. "So how do I sign up?" He walked me over to one of the men sitting in front of a monitor and said "This here is Grayson, he will be your main Liaison within the Guild. He can get you registered."

Grayson nodded and held out his hand, I shook it. He was a young man, maybe 20 years old and wiry. Looking very much the gamer type, with a wisp of a beard and short cut blonde hair.

"If you would please place your badge here on the scanner." he said pointing to a small black box. I placed my badge on it and all my stats as well as those of my Animals appeared as a projection.

He typed away at the keyboard. When he was finished I saw my info had changed to show the Blue Dragon symbol and my affiliation as a Guild Member.

"Excellent. Welcome to the Guild Mr. Hundai." Grayson said and I chuckled "Please, Odellin is fine. I am not so old as to be called Mr. Hundai yet." he nodded and turned back to the monitor. "Leader, do we have a specific team for Odellin, or do we put him as unassigned?"

Sean looked at me, then at the monitor "Let's take a group of unassigned and form a new team. Show me the list of unassigned." he nodded and a group of people popped up on the screen.

Burt went through the list and selected nine people.

Matthew Richards (Tank) LVL 12

Kenneth Thompson (Tank) LVL 12

Tommy Harris (Tank) LVL 11

Felicia Paulson (Melee DPS) LVL 12

Jessica Wilde (Melee DPS) LVL 11

Nicholas Jones (Melee DPS) LVL 11

Tyson Patterson (Healer/Ranged DPS) LVL11

Aaron Nesertin (Ranged DPS) LVL 11

Guy Stampus (Ranged DPS) LVL 11

"That will work Grayson, send out a message to all of them." he nodded and went to work.

"So it's that simple?" Sean nodded "What did you expect to have to sign application forms, fill out employment contracts and all of that?" I nodded and he chuckled "Nah nothing that extravagant. You are already registered with the Association, so we just incorporated that and you into our Guild. Welcome to the Blue Dragon Guild."