Bad Neighbour

A slight breeze ran through the bar as Colt listened to Clay's explanation. He struggled to believe the easiness of forming a Guild in the game. According to Clay, there was a tablet towards the rear of the Temple. This item held the interface to register an official Guild that the game system would recognise.

'Pantheons, huh?' Colt's eyebrows dipped into a frown at how easily Clay had shared the information. 'Either the girls did not know, or they kept it from me.'

'But what's the point of trying to hide this from me? Since it's common knowledge, anyway.' Colt fidgeted as he stared at Clay. 'I doubt he's lying. If it were important information, he could have charged me something for it.'

"Exile? Hey, Exile! Snap out of it." Clay said before chuckling and fixing him with a strange look.

"Sorry. You just caught me by surprise." Colt's eyes narrowed as he realised everyone was looking at him.

"No worries. Anyway, this fellow with the bald head is MoistBurrito. Everyone calls him Burri. The nasty looking one is Old Un. But Un is fine. This is Desa and last but not least, I Am Legend. He prefers to be called Leggy." Clay said as he pointed a thumb towards a wiry guy with a short crew cut at the end of his speech.

"No, I do not!" Leggy snarled. "Call me Legend!"

Raucous laughter resounded in the bar as a bunch of toothy grins aimed themselves at Leggy. Colt understood it was an inside joke that he should play along with. Although this only held true if he wanted a good relationship with this group.

"Don't worry Leggy. I understand." Colt walked over and placed a hand on Leggy's shoulder as he closed his eyes and nodded.

Leggy's face turned bright red as he clenched his fists, but the others burst out in a fresh wave of laughter. Colt grinned broadly at Leggy, who looked confused. It seemed like the laughter had defused the situation as Leggy accepted his fate.

"Ok, since we agree, let's party up and head out." Clay sent a party request to Colt, which the latter accepted. "Exile, you're with me and Desa. Burri, Leggy and Un. You guys know what to do."

There was a chorus of agreement before Clay headed to the door. Colt nodded to the three who would remain behind for a few minutes before following Clay and Desa. None of them said anything to each other as they made their way towards Valheim's gate.

A few players spared them a glance in passing, but nobody seemed interested in what they were up to. Colt kept at a steady pace as he walked slightly behind Clay. He did not feel anxious at all, since if they were going to another tomb he knew what to expect.

Colt guessed that the others probably felt some hesitation. But he did not want to put them at ease just yet. It was far better for him if they remained on alert. That way, Kaleidoscope would have a hard time monitoring him if they had returned to the city.

As Colt was wondering how far they would have to travel, he received a system prompt that made him raise an eyebrow. 'Why is she calling now?'

[Your Oracle, Ania Eraldsen, is trying to connect with you. Do you accept?]

Colt accepted the request and waited for the static sound to fill his mind.

[Lord Exile?]

'Yes, Ania. Why are you contacting me?' Colt's frown deepened as he paid attention to her words. The Oracle connection made it difficult to hear Ania's tone, so he could not tell if anything was wrong.

[I apologise for interrupting you. It's just that… I think we may need you.]

Hesitation appeared in Colt's footsteps as he missed a beat. This drew Desa's attention to him, but he said nothing when he noticed Colt's expression.

'Tell me what's going on.' Colt did his best to conceal any anxiety in his tone as he spoke through the mind link.

[Some warriors came over from Korden asking some questions. They're insisting that the people of Eraldsfen should start worshipping a Goddess called DonnaThaGreat.]

Colt's eyes widened when he heard that. 'That woman started so close to me? Is this on purpose or is it her followers taking initiative?' Colt was full of questions as he wondered how he could discover the information that he needed.

'Is their oracle with them?' Colt asked, as he refocused on the mind link.

[Huh? You mean DonnaThaGreat is an actual Goddess?]

Colt cursed under his breath as he remembered his followers only experienced brief contact with one other god so far. There was no telling how they would react to one that was supported by a larger settlement.

'She is. However, we are not on good terms. Has anyone given my name to these visitors?'

[Yes. Bjorn called them a few choice profanities before we could calm him down.]

'So, they've already left and will soon report this to the people of Korden.' Colt let out a sigh as he realised he was going to have to settle things with Donna pretty soon. She was too much of a threat if her foundation in the Mortal Realms was right next door to his own.

[No. They're still here. I invited them to have dinner with us as an apology for Bjorn's behaviour. They're going to receive shelter here for the night and return to Korden in the morning.]

'Hm, good. Try to stall them as long as possible. I'll come down to deal with it as soon as I can.' Colt clenched his fists as he wondered what he could even do. The best scenario he could think of was performing a Minor Miracle that killed the group of outsiders without implicating Ania or Eraldsfen.

[Sorry to trouble you. I'll await your arrival.]

Colt heaved a sigh as Ania cut off their connection. 'Hopefully, we can get through this quest quickly. Donna should be no match for me personally, but it's a different matter if she sends her followers to deal with mine.'