Zachary Scott
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Chapter 94 - Surprise
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 17:11:34 +0000 UTCGrimbo and his friends led me through the narrow passageway they had dug beneath his furnisher shop. Last time I passed through this hand-dug tunnel, I was unknowingly about to claim my cursed bedroll. As soon as I claimed it, learned I had limited time to get my ass into a dungeon and find a source of dark mana to feed the thing.
Once we entered the larger chamber at the end of the tunnel—a huge room with hand-carved ampitheater-style seating—I saw Grimbo had alerted the whole gromville. Hundreds of hairy brown creatures shuffled out of doorways all over the room, settling in to sit as they murmured excitedly amongst themselves.
I found myself enjoying the moment. These little guys just loved the thrill of loot, and I could relate. Life on Eros was fucking terrifying, but it was also thrilling. I’d already advanced to Iron. I’d already claimed magic items that completely reshaped my abilities. My arsenal of spells was constantly evolving and growing. It was addictive, and the grommets just wanted a small taste of that—even if it came in their own, admittedly creepy way.
I followed Grimbo as the number of grommets continued to grow, their muttering rising in volume as I approached the huge dimensional box at the center of the dirt chamber.
I noticed there was a group of nearly a dozen grommets fiddling with a large clump of dirt at one end of the room. They worked and gibbered quietly to themselves, squeaky voices carrying over the din.
One of them noticed me, then turned and parted its hair so I could see the flat-toothed smile. “We are making something… for you,” he said.
The other grommets shuffled out of the way to reveal…
A statue. Of me.
I was glad for my helmet so they couldn’t see my smile. “Wow,” I said, composing myself so I wouldn’t offend them. “Is that me?”
Grimbo waddled toward it, hands raised and wavering. “You are feeling…”
I raised my eyebrows. “I am feeling, uh, gratitude. It's beautiful.”
The statue was about twice my size and admittedly a little crude. The shapes were more or less correct, but I thought my body looked somewhat more grommet shaped than reality, as if they couldn't quite capture the human form. My arms were too thin and my torso was too wide. My legs also seemed stunted and short. But the horned helmet and the bow in my hand made it clear who they had been trying to capture.
Grimbo and the gathered grommets laughed nervously. One of them held up a thumb to me, closing one eye. He moved over to the statue, then squeezed one of the arms, making it even smaller.
Yeah… Apparently the grommets weren't the most talented artists on Eros, but I appreciated the thought.
“You will wait?” Grimbo asked. “More are coming. They will watch your surprise.”
Two grommets emerged from the way we had come. They were dragging an unconscious grommet—likely one of the ones who had fainted back in Grimbo's shop.
I waited a few minutes as more and more grommets flooded into the room from small entry holes all over, making me wonder where they all originated from. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought it was almost twice the number that had come when I claimed my cursed bedroll.
“Is it just me, or are there more of them this time?” I asked, scanning my eyes over the swarm of hairy creatures.
“More… yes,” Grimbo said. “Tales of your loot have spread. Grommets have traveled from distant cities to keep both eyes on you.”
That was… unsettling. I nodded, though. “Does the city know there are this many grommets here?”
Grimbo turned slowly and dramatically toward me, eyes wide with mischief. “What they are not knowing… it is not hurting them, hm?”
I smirked. “Right. Secret's safe with me.”
“This is good,” Grimbo said. “Grommets like secrets. And surprises,” he added with a flat-toothed smile. “And if the city knew what we work on… they would perhaps not be pleased. But they will not know, yes?”
Considering I didn’t really know what he was talking about, it was easy to nod my head in agreement.
After a few more minutes, the rush of grommets slowed. I saw Timbo standing in the front row, squinted eyes wise with age. He stroked his graying section of hair I assumed was supposed to be a beard with one hand and clutched his “healing” staff with the other. I could still see the bite mark he’d chewed out of it to “heal” me back in Beastden.
Grimbo waddled to the center of the room, pink arms raised high. “It is time! Brynn, Friend of the Grommets, Aid to Timbo the Hero, Claimer of Great Prizes, and Wearer of the Shiny Helmet… has a surprise for us.” Grimbo practically whispered the last part, but it was apparently heard all around the room.
A rush of womps rang out loud enough to shake the ground beneath my feet. More grommets dropped from excitement among the crowd.
“Now…” Grimbo said, turning to face me and extending a hand as he waited by the dimensional box. “You are revealing the surprise?”
I smiled to myself, because I knew they were going to like this. A lot.
I produced the Legendary Personal Space Voucher from my slip space, then palmed it for a moment to build suspense. I plucked it from my palm and held it high in one hand so they could all see.
The grommets lost. Their. Shit.
Some of them jumped. A few ran in excited circles, knocking other grommets from where they stood. Some hugged.
Once the commotion died down a little, I handed the token to Grimbo.
His mouth was locked in a small “O” of surprise as he turned and approached the box with the slow care of a priest performing a holy ritual.
He slid his hand and the voucher into the box through a small hole in the side and waited.
When I first looted my Abyss Walker Boots before Beastden, I had noticed something strange about them. Activating Abyssal Step within my personal space had let me see through the walls, where I had glimpsed a strange creature floating through the space-like soup between countless personal spaces. It was carrying a reward chest, as if delivering the loot people were claiming.
Ever since, I knew I was going to try to catch more glimpses of the mysterious dimensional realm. Now seemed like as good a time as any.
I activated Abyssal Step, entering the ethereal realm for two seconds.
The room snapped into a colorless, misty variant of itself. But my attention was fixed on the box at the center of the room, which was suddenly transparent and looked like a window straight into that same space between spaces I had seen outside my personal space. Here, the box seemed to have a hole to that world beneath it. From where I stood, I could see distant, indistinct shapes floating in every direction, almost like beasts of the sea.
A faceless white shape with no legs and a long, serpentine torso drifted up into the box toward Grimbo's hand, which was sticking inside with the voucher.
Several pairs of arms appeared from the torso of the thing as it coiled and circled around his hand.
My ability snapped off, cutting away my view of the strange scene.
I sucked in a surprised breath when it was over and my view of reality was normal again.
What the hell was that?
Grimbo shivered and pulled out his empty hand, holding it high as the grommets celebrated again.
A moment later, the curtain at the front of the box bulged and a small glass ball the size of a baseball rolled out.
It was obsidian-black with purple stars inside that shifted and swirled, as if the orb was a window into another world.
I walked toward it while the grommets watched in complete silence.
I picked up the orb and inspected it.
[Guild Hall (Legendary) (Tier 1)] Consume to convert the user's personal space into a Guild Hall, granting benefits and functionality that may be further upgraded when posted requirements are met. Requirements can be found inside the guild hall bulletin board.
[Guild Hall (Tier 1)] The personal space will now lead directly to a guild hall. The user's original personal space will be accessible via private door within the guild hall. The guild leader may bind [six] individuals to the guild, merging their personal space with the guild hall and gaining private access to their own spaces, as well as the opportunity to further improve the guild hall.
[Guild Recall Stone (Tier 1)] The guild leader and guild members gain a rechargeable Guild Recall Stone (7-day cooldown). Activating the stone creates a portal to the guild hall from your current location and a return portal within the guild hall. Only the stone's user may enter. Those who enter via portal must exit through the same portal—attempting to leave by any other means will result in catastrophic dimensional tearing, causing death or severe disfigurement. Restrictions: Cannot be used in combat, while magically suppressed, or if the portal would overlap with objects.
[Additional Information] Further facts and features of guild operations may be learned from the assigned guild custodian. Note: The guild custodian may not be removed from the guild by any means, whether mundane or magical.
Grimbo crept closer. “You will view it and read aloud for us?”
He handed me a magnifying lens I pretended to need to view the stats.
I read aloud, using the second reading of the stats to give myself time to process the pile of information while the grommets went berserk with each new detail.
When I finished, there was a roar of cheering and womps as they took turns holding and passing the orb to view it for themselves.
Holy shit. A fucking guild hall? My personal space wasn’t just going to get bigger, it was going to become a badass guild hall full of perks and benefits.
I loved it.
I ran through what I could understand. I was fairly sure this would mean I could ask Lyria to join my guild, which would mean using her personal space would then transport her to a shared guild hall. From there, she could still access her own personal space. But joining my guild would grant her one of those insanely powerful Guild Recall Stones.
The Guild Recall Stone still wouldn’t let us claim accomplishments we earned in the field. Not unless we got some kind of personal space Arcanery in the future. But that didn't bother me. I was almost certain our personal spaces would only continue to grow in functionality over time. If I ever got training rooms, some kind of recovery room, or other resources that would be helpful in a pinch added to the space, it would be a huge boon to be able to portal away at a moment's notice.
More than anything, this felt like a seed of potential. Right now, maybe it wasn't going to mean I could cleave my way through Silver Rank enemies, but I had never expected a personal space upgrade to do that. Instead, this guild feature could be exactly the tool I needed to start building what might go on to become something like the second iteration of the House of Seraphel.
That was a strange thought. I didn't want followers. I wanted friends and allies. But I supposed I didn't have to think of it in a religious or ruler and follower kind of context. Practically speaking, I could use this to keep connected to the people I cared about. From the sounds of it, we could also collectively contribute to the guild hall, meaning the larger the guild became, the more quickly we could grow its capabilities.
I hadn't missed the fact that several elements were described as Tier 1. I knew enough now to understand how sweeping the changes could be from Tier to Tier. I was sure we could eventually have more than six members and maybe even add functionality to our Guild Recall Stones.
“Any idea how I use this?” I asked Grimbo.
He stared up at me, eyes wide. “This one is… not knowing.”
“Isn't this the kind of thing people use to make organizations like the Aspirant's Guild?” I asked.
“That is… not this,” Grimbo said.
“Oh.” I looked down at the stone, smile widening. Even better. I wasn't just going to be a guild leader of an ever-growing, evolving, bad ass guild hall with a personal butler. I was doing it in a way that wasn't usual, which was my favorite way to do things.
I pushed a thread of mana into the stone and found activating it was as simple as breathing. I pulled it inward and felt a warm rush across my skin, then shivered.
I was about to ask if that had worked when I noticed an accomplishment pulsing for my attention.
[Rare Accomplishment] Become the leader of a Tier 1 guild. [Reward - Rare Guild Master's Trophy] “Congrats, Brynn! Or should I start calling you Guild Master Brynn, hmm? I know how you like titles. Oh, I should warn you… I probably wouldn't start calling your custodian a butler. They… don't like that. But, um, I'm sure you guys will learn to get along. Eventually.
“Anyway, do you have any idea how rare this kind of thing is? Of course you don't! It's super rare. You can trust me on that. There's only one active personal space guild in existence on Eros right now, and it's so super secret I don't even know more than the fact that it exists and has existed for over a thousand years. Mysterious, right? But that makes you the first new Dimensional Guild Master in over a thousand years! How's that for a cool title?”
Grimbo leaned in close enough that I could smell his grommety musk. “You are… happy?”
I looked up at him, nodding as I smiled. “Very happy.”
Dimensional Guild Master… So badass. I couldn't wait to tell Lyria about this, read the bulletin board in the guild, and meet my new butler. But first, I had a massive pile of loot tokens to claim.
The grommets continued their excited chatter as I stood, brushing dirt from my pants. I gave them a wave as I headed for the exit, already itching to be in my personal space and see what the guild hall looked like. And, of course, to claim the tokens burning a hole in my slip space.
Comments
Colin C
found it in the post but currently not part of the collection
Colin C
What happened to chapter 93?
Mikki Phoenix
I'm sorry, I kinda got distracted as soon as I hit "there are more open guild slots than there are slaves needing safety and rescue". What do you mean, that text never appeared in the chapter? I could *swear* I read it there... 🤣
