Democracy in Game?

"Fascinating! Everyone of you has completed an achievement and obtained a Merit. You are already qualified to vote in the next election."

Registrar Romi exclaimed with wide eyes. She could not understand how six people could've completed the achievements for Elven Faction when they had not even reached the Elven Forests yet. 

However, Romi's comment cleared up the doubts in Samar's mind regarding what Merits were and how they were calculated.

Samar had completed two achievements; 'Unextinguished Lamp' when he killed Dark Gnoll Dorukh and 'Nature Cleanser' after killing the Dark Tusk Boar. 

Hence, two Merits were reflected on his Emblem.

Since he was partying with Stivi and others when they killed the two bosses, it was safe to assume they also possessed the same number of Merits.

While Samar made sense of Merits, the others checked the Emblem's information. BigSoftie and MamaMia frowned, but Stivi and Zamir looked thoughtful. However, nobody could put the questions in their minds as eloquently as HardBro.

"The hell is Votes? Who are we voting for?"

His coarse language earned him frowns from the two Elves, but HardBro unflinchingly stared at them for answers.

Finally, Suvic relented and explained, "The elections for Town Council and Town Mayor are held every four weeks. All Commoners with White Badge can only vote for Town Council, while Respected Citizens with Bronze Badge and above can vote for both the elections."

The explanation made Samar's eyes widen. This was completely new information that had not been publicized anywhere by the team behind Dreamverse VR. 

All the games used a hierarchy similar to the feudal nobility, after all it was an easier system. Dreamverse VR was probably the first game to implement a democratic structure that almost resembled the real world.

Samar had no idea how this new feature would play out. It could benefit the guilds and strengthen their monopoly in the game even more or it could finally return the powers to independent players, who if united could overthrow the Guild's rule over a city. 

Samar was pondering the problems but Stivi was more excited by the prospect of gaining control of the town just a month into the game.

"When's the next election? How do I run for the position of Town Mayor?" Stivi asked excitedly.

The female elf, Romi, started laughing at Stivi, hearing her question.

"You are not even qualified to vote for Town Mayor's election, and you want to run for one? Haha! That's the funniest thing I have heard today."

Stivi was embarrassed by the dismissal of the elf, but she did not give up. She glared at the registrar, her eyes demanding an answer.

"Fine. The next election is in 17 days. You need a Pewter Badge to run for the position of Councilman and Silver for Town Mayor. Even if you run for the election does not mean you can win; you only win if you can secure more votes than your opponent from the Elves in Town. Let me assure you that you are not getting my 3 votes."

The female elf slammed her White Badge on the table and went back to her seat behind the desk, proceeding to ignore them.

Stivi may have antagonized one elf because of her overbearing posture, but she had also gained a fan in the form of Suvic. He admired her unperturbed calmness in the face of mockery, probably because he could relate to it as well. 

Suvic then escorted them out to their next destination and was happy to answer all and any questions they had about the Elven Elections and electoral suffrage.

The talks with him also solved the mystery of why the female elf, Gromi, possessed three votes despite possessing only a White Badge.

Registering as a resident in any Elvish town or city bestowed upon an elf one extra vote to be used in that town or city. If one owned a piece of land, they would also get another extra vote.

This meant that whoever wished to control a city or town in the Elven Faction would not have an easy time. There were tens of thousands residents in Torana Town alone, and each of them possessed a minimum of two votes. Any serious candidate, thus, could not do without their votes.

They would have to increase familiarity with as many Elves as possible and swing the opinions of the NPC shop owners and the commoners in their favor to win the elections.

While they were chatting, they arrived at the Elven Military Tree of Torana Town.

It was an enormous tree with tens of huge branches, each hosting a different building. Its humongous size and the radiating might made all of them feel like ants in front of an elephant. 

After a moment to recover, Suvic began to point out the various branches of the Tree and explained their functions to the members of Grandeur Guild.

"The branch you see on the right is the Quest Branch, where you can receive military quests." 

Suvic said, pointing to the branch nearest to the ground. "The branch above it is the Treasure Branch where you can exchange your Faction Contribution Points for treasures."

"That Branch is the Training Branch…."

"The Branch on the left houses the Barracks…"

Each of the branches that Suvic introduced were important in their own way but the attention of Samar was focused on something else. 

He was looking at the six of the largest branches near the top of the tree that blocked the sunlight from reaching the ground. 

Unlike other branches, these six branches were at the same level, extending outwards in a hexagonal shape. The structure was so impressive that it was hard for Samar to move his eyes away from it. 

Noticing Samar's gaze, Suvic finally introduced the branches in question. 

"Those six branches belong to the Training Halls of the six combat professions in our Military. You can find their Instructors there, who can help you register for the Combat Profession of your choice."

Suvic's words immediately attracted the attention of Samar. His eagerness to go up was clearly visible on his face. Samar and others were simply waiting for Suvic to leave. 

Suvic smiled and said, "Place your Emblems of Identity on the groove. The tree will identify you and allow you to climb up to your desired branch. If you have any other questions, you can find me at my post."