Chapter 4: Glory Guild and Plans

After hugging his mum and greeting his dad in what seemed to have been decades, Andrew found himself sitting with his family eating dinner, and watching TV. His stern but kind dad, and strict but caring mum. This simple meal represented a profound happiness that he hadn't been able to find again after they had passed. Sitting there eating he swore to himself that no matter things would change. As these thoughts ran through his mind his father finally spoke up.

"So son, you want to tell us what all that was about?"

"Nothing Dad, I'm just, happy"

"Ok, but if you need anything you know you can talk to us right?", while the tone of his father was stern Andrew could read the underlying worry behind his father's question. Chuckling a bit Andrew looked at his bowl of food, pausing in contemplation, before responding.

"Yeah Dad, I'm ok"

Seeing the conversation between father and son, his mother laughed, before shaking her head and looking towards her husband.

"Joseph, honey, could you at least try to sound fully concerned, your tone still doesn't match the question."

Hearing his mother's comments made Andrew chuckle as he ate. In response, his father turned his head and looked at his mother as he sighed and said "Hannah, I am concerned".

His mother shook her head once more and laughed.

"Let's just eat" his father spoke with an exasperated sigh.

Having finished their dinner, the entire family sat in the living room watching TV. As his father swept through various channels, he finally stopped on a news channel. Over the years since the start of IDs and Blessed, many news channels shifted much of their content towards the Blessed and clearing of IDs otherwise known as Dungeon raids. As Andrew watched the news channel suddenly his attention was brought to the headline at the bottom of the screen.

[Glory Guild S-rank Dungeon Clear, record-breaking 3 S-rank Clears in 1 month]

Reading the headline, Andrew sighed mentally, even after his long time fighting he never forgot about the "Glory Guild". In this current time, Glory Guild is one of the most well-known guilds in the country, it wouldn't even have been surprising to call them a top contender for the best guild in the country. They were also a guild that was known for being heavily involved in external activities unrelated to dungeon clearing, they partook in things like TV shows and movies, promoting their members like celebrities.

If he remembered correctly while the Glory guild was currently influential about 6 months down the road they would fail an important dungeon raid. Their initial response to this failure was to cover it up. However, the failure of the raid not only hurt their members but ended up injuring innocents. In the end, a report on the truth of the incident would find its way to the public, damning the Glory Guild. These were the only general details that Andrew was able to recall, trying to remember any other specific information drew a blank. After decades of constant fighting and chaos, especially with his inability to access Aether, he found it tough to remember every significant event.

The reason why he was able to remember the Glory Guild clearly, was because they were one of the guilds which oversaw the raiding of a portion of the IDs or Dungeons in Alaska. When the Alaskan dungeons began to collapse, their reaction to the situation was to salvage what they could and flee, instead of protecting the people and bringing them to safety.

In the aftermath of the event, the casualties in Alaska had risen to 500000, the people had to flee the state, and those who weren't able were caught up by the chaos and most likely passed. Unfortunately during that incident, one of these casualties ended up being Andrew's parents.

When Andrew found out he was distraught, he wanted to scream, to cry to shout, but the world would have still kept moving. Why was he the one who survived and not his parents? For the longest time after the incident, all he had felt was an all-consuming guilt. If there was only one saving grace is the fact that it was through that incident that he had become "Blessed". He was lost for a long time after that.

Dinner had come to a close, as Andrew was brought out of his reverie. He thanked his mum for the meal and returned to his room. Sitting down he quickly checked his phone to confirm the current date.

If he was right he had at best two months before the collapse occurred. In this short amount of time, he had to strengthen himself and find a way to become a "Blessed". The simplest method would be to join a guild or register to become a "Blessed" of the government. At this moment the association which would oversee all dungeons and Blessed, hadn't been created yet, and was only spurred into action due to the collapse and fall of Alaska.

The method to become a "Blessed" is straightforward, the process itself was refined and created as a method to create more "Blessed". This was first implemented during the years when the dungeons had first appeared, due to the lack of Blessed needed to combat and explore dungeons.

The process itself while able to create "Blessed" is highly dangerous as well. That's why when people choose to become Blessed instead of naturally becoming one, many guilds would require them to sign a waiver for their injuries and lives.

For one to become a "Blessed" there are two requirements, firstly, display capabilities that can only be described as superhuman. Secondly, have access to the "system status" screen, these are blue screens that display a "Blessed's" ability in terms of ranks. The most common or well-known situations that many "Blessed" had found themselves in during their awakening were during extreme situations, in which their life had been in danger. In extreme situations, humans can display astounding physical and mental prowess, when pushed far enough they would be able to break their limits. This is mainly due to the existence of Aether. A normal human would technically never be able to break the physical limitations placed upon them, however in an extreme situation, where one has to survive, one can become chosen by Aether. This is when the human body rapidly absorbs Aether from its surrounding in an attempt to evolve and break the perceived limit. Therefore, bringing them from the realm of humans to that of a superhuman. This phenomenon had been dubbed by researchers as "Aetheric Evolution". Even the lowest grade of "Blessed" could completely win the Olympics if they tried, beating out most well-trained athletes.

In many guilds and even official government agencies, to simulate the factors which cause the phenomenon of Aetheric Evolution, individuals are placed against subjugated monsters and forced to fight for their life. This is usually done under the supervision of Blessed personnel to maintain some sort of safety for the individual. However, there are many issues in trying to produce Blessed through this method. Most may fall under crippling fear in such a situation and are unable to do anything, while others are complacent in their ability, believing themselves to be strong enough, or that they will be safe. Because of that many despite trying are unable to awaken as a Blessed, and incurring heavy injuries or in some cases death.

It isn't till about a year later from the present, after the establishment of the "GABI" association, that simulation augmented reality technology was perfected. Through it the extreme environment and situation needed would become completely simulated, while granting perfect control over any variables, thus ensuring the safety of the individual.

As Andrew sat on his bed his mind ran through all his possible options. Joining a guild would prove to be a shackle, and as of current the initial entry fee that he would need to pay isn't something he can find lying around. This would be a similar case if he went to a government agency, especially since they would possess his records and be able to track him easily.

Only one option was left, Andrew would have to find and face a monster by himself and survive. While most monsters come from dungeons, the effect of Aether in the world had caused an evolution in life around the world, animals, trees, bugs every living being and thing grew in power, in size and danger. Because of this in every part of the world safe and danger zones were established, these were zones that separated monsters from humans and served as pseudo borders between them, helping to protect humans as well. Fortunately for him as of current, these "borders" haven't been heavily reinforced yet and can easily be circumvented with a little effort.

Finally organizing his thoughts Andrew stood up, as the sun shone in through his bedroom window, leaving a golden hue to spread throughout his room. Taking a deep breath he turned towards his window as he saw the beautiful view of the woods behind his home. It was the perfect picture of an untouched earth, one that hadn't been broken and thrown into despair.

As he was staring out his window, he heard a sound coming from the living room. The sounds of the joyous laughter of his parents rang through the home. Smiling a little, Andrew clenched his fist in determination, he had 2 months before the collapse. He needed to train and awaken as a Blessed before that to have the power to do anything.

There was no room for failure.

Not this time.