"… the people are calling for justice. This comes after the events that transpired here last night when a Rift opened on the top of a parking deck. The fight that ensued, between two people who are now being referred to as 'Awakened,' caused the death of a family of three in the adjoining apartment building."
The reporter on the TV spoke animatedly, gesturing behind her toward the large screen in the studio, which showed a picture of the parking deck with obvious damage and scorch marks on the cement. "Now, passing it off to Cynthia Walters, who is on location, for more details. What do you have for us, Cynthia?"
The camera cut to a slightly more chaotic scene, with emergency vehicles and a close-up shot of the neighboring apartment building, where a large hole was visible in the side.
Man, I'm so glad that the one I went to wasn't like this.
He sighed and rubbed his temples.
Maybe Andrew was right.
The Guild recruiter he had spoken with the night before had been persistent. Andrew was so extroverted and friendly, it was almost off-putting. Merline couldn't help but think of those people who go door to door, attempting to sell something, doing their best to convince you it's something you want—no, something you need.
He shuddered.
Extroverts.
Andrew had assured him that The Adventurers Guild was more than just a ragtag group of power-hungry people looking for superpowers. He'd said a bunch of things that really did sound appealing. He mentioned the sheer amount of knowledge and material available on the app they used. He had also mentioned some other things that piqued Merline's interest, such as first notifications on Rifts, the potential to link up with a mentor of a higher rank, and the ability to buy and trade materials from others who had gone into Rifts.
Andrew also tried to sell him on some other stuff, like a tight-knit community, safety, and support. But most of that just sounded like a pipe dream to Merline—the last thing he needed was to join some sort of magical fight club.
Especially with how secretive the entire thing has been.
Andrew had sat with him for a bit, letting Merline ask questions about the app and how registration worked. Andrew was happy to answer any questions about The Adventurers Guild but flat out refused to answer any about The System, Rifts, skills, and Traits. He simply said that all of that information was already compiled in the app, and Merline just needed to register if he wanted access. Merline could join for free or pay the Mana Stone fee for full access.
I still can't believe that they are the actual people behind The Nexus Hub. Clever bastards.
It had been a shock for Merline to find out that they were the masterminds behind the reporting site everyone used as their main source of Rift information and news. They would scrape the site for anyone posting questions or information that flagged them as newly awakened, then send a recruiter to approach the person before the government had a chance to 'get their claws in.'
Merline was really surprised at how shameless Andrew was about their methods, just giving a rueful smile and shrugging his shoulders.
Idly, Merline opened his System Status Window to check his mana. Even though he knew it wasn't filled back up yet—otherwise, his phone's timer would have gone off—he still found it hard not to check.
Not for the first time, he noticed how easy it was to just flick the screen up, check his status, and let it disappear again. His mind wandered to the scary thought of social media networks getting their hands on this sort of technology. The ease with which he could pull up videos and swipe would be terrifying. Not to mention the absolute horror that ads would be with something like this.
The screen is even visible when I close my eyes. We'd never be able to escape the ads. God, I'd probably have to help with ad campaigns that no one could escape…
What, System? No notification about unlocking a new nightmare?
The screen changed away from the reporter, bringing Merline's attention back to the TV and away from his one-sided conversation with The System.
"Join us! You can be part of the solution, not the problem. The Hunter's Association: your partner in safety and security in uncertain times."
The cheesy slogan blasted from the TV with bright colors with someone dressed in something that looked uncomfortably close to superhero tights.
Merline chuckled.
Subtle.
They were definitely laying it on a bit thick. He didn't doubt that their ad was intentionally placed after such a horrific story was reported, either. They swooped in, promised order, and insinuated that anyone not a part of their group was untrained or a threat to the public.
A short montage of training even played as the music continued. It looked similar to some of the Navy or Army commercials Merline had seen in the past, promising leadership and strength. As someone who did ad-work for a living, the message they were pushing was clear: The government can protect you. The government has this under control. Any chaos is not due to them, but it is their goal to stop it.
Damn, am I starting to sound like my dad?
He switched channels, wanting to avoid letting his thoughts slip to work and propaganda. The temptation to start practicing his mana shaping again grew, as he sought to avoid thinking about opening the most recently downloaded app on his phone.
His phone vibrated, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Sarah: Hey stranger! We need to hang out soon, it's been ages. Let's catch up, maybe grab dinner?
The text had a few emojis at the end, which made Merline smile. Sarah was the kind of person who used at least one emoji with almost every text she sent. She once told him it was to make sure people knew the tone she was sending the text in and that there were fewer misunderstandings because of it.
Merline: Hey! Yea, definitely down for that. Mark and I are hanging out at his place on Friday after work. You should join us!
Her response was almost instant.
Sarah: Yes, can't wait! Mark's the worst at responding to my texts. I'll call him and see if I can't bring some food. I have some crazy stuff to tell you guys about.
Yea, I've got some crazy stuff to tell you guys too, Merline thought, his gut twisting a bit as he remembered not telling Mark everything that happened yesterday. If he was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he was going to mention it to them on Friday, either.
Fuck.
Thinking about everything that happened at the end of last week, an unexpected person popped into his head. He got up from the couch and walked through his bedroom to his closet.
Maybe he could give me some advice.
As he was searching, he heard the timer going off on his phone from the other room.
It took him a few minutes of rummaging around, but he finally found what he was looking for.
'John Riley | (201)-555-9820'
Merline had tossed the card out of his pocket when he was in a rush to remove his clothes after the Rift and hadn't really thought of it since. Returning to the living room, he turned off his timer and sent a text to John, introducing himself again and letting him know it was his number. He then asked if John and his group were part of The Guild or if they knew anything about the group.
After sending the text, Merline was happy to kill some time practicing with his [Mana Shaping] skill. He sat down on the couch in a comfortable position and closed his eyes. With a deep breath, he sent his consciousness inward, beginning to pull out tendrils of mana and shape them into the cube he had been working on perfecting.
He was surprised when his phone buzzed after only a few minutes, breaking his concentration.
Glancing at the screen, he saw that John had responded.
John R: Hey Merline! Glad you reached out."
The next message popped up before he even finished the first one.
John R: YES! My group and I are all AG members. Best decision we've made so far, man. You should definitely join! The app is incredible and the forums have a ton of information. We're already premium members, too. We actually got the last two Mana Stones that we needed for our memberships from the Rift that we met you in. It's expensive, but totally worth the cost.
Merline's eyebrows shot up.
Merline: Expensive? I thought the price was just a Mana Stone?
John R: Well yea, but a single Mana Stone is somewhere between $500 - $1000… I wouldn't give them out to just anyone that asks, but the benefits for the membership to The Guild has already been worth it for our group.
That's quite the endorsement.
A cynical part of him wondered if John got any sort of kickback for pushing him toward the Adventurers Guild.
You reached out to him, dumbass. He didn't try to push you anywhere; he's just being nice and answering your question.
He sent a response, thanking John for the information and letting him know that he would be signing up tonight.
John was nice enough to casually offer for Merline to join them for a Rift or two after he finished his registration. But remembering the reaction of some of John's group members when they heard about his trait, Merline felt this might be more of a friendly gesture than a genuine offer.
Excited at the possibility of really finding some more information, Merline swiped up from his messages and navigated to the most recently downloaded apps.
There, he saw the icon labeled as The Adventurers Guild. A simple golden sword pointing down in front of a brown shield. Behind them both was a blue vertical oval, which clearly represented a Rift. It all fit together well, and the simplistic icons were easy to make out.
Cool.
When Andrew had shown him the app last night, Merline was surprised that it didn't show up in the app store on his phone. Andrew had chuckled and said they were trying to keep it more of an invite-only sort of group right now.
From there, Andrew had opened his own app and shown Merline a QR code that was apparently only available to recruiters. After scanning it, the app had downloaded on his phone.
This was the first time Merline had actually tried to access the app, though.
He was surprised that it opened to a simple login page, with a username and password input and a register button under those. No slogan or pitch.
I guess the people downloading the app are already interested if they scanned the code from the recruiter. No need for them to oversell.
Merline spent the next few minutes filling out the registration form and was slightly surprised to find that they wanted a good bit more information than just his name and email address.
Though maybe I shouldn't be. You're trying to put together a group of people who have recently obtained superpowers and were only able to do so after murdering a monster. It might be smart to have some additional information.
They wanted him to put things like his birthday, class, subclass, level, and even skills and traits, though they didn't ask for their levels.
He hesitated a bit, not really wanting to give them information on his skills—
Skill. You're a noob. You've only got one skill.
In the end, that was the driving force for him to just give them the information. They weren't asking for a description of the skill or traits, just the names. Even then, Merline was woefully uninformed, and that was the main driving force for him to join The Guild.
I need information. Who cares if they know about my crappy trait's name and the fact that I don't even have a class yet. Hell, I didn't even know you could have a subclass! That's not on my Status Window.
I want some magical spells, damn it. I'd probably give them access to my bank account for that information at this point. I can't see any amount of money compared to being able to actually cast magical spells.
His inner nerd screamed as he sent in the registration form and received a notification in response.
Thank you for registering! A local recruiter will be in touch soon to verify your information and grant you full access. Welcome to The Adventurers Guild!
Merline tossed his phone back onto the coffee table.
Yay, more waiting.
He closed his eyes and began to pull on his mana.