Slime Evolution

Chapter 390 - Staging

Astralis Requiem’s infiltration process began on Thalendor’s shimmering walkways, with the group arriving discreetly in the commercial district.

Near the entrance of a busy tavern, a few veteran guild members already on watch waved to them from a distance. Through the mental link Lisa had established from outside, at a safe distance under the shade of the trees, the members instantly relayed all the information they’d gathered on the Broken Suns members’ routine and tactics.

The information passed along silently was surprising to the leadership.

Broken Suns members had a strict weekly quota of new recruits they needed to bring into the organization. For every new member above level eleven they convinced to sign the contract, the responsible player received a bonus of five hundred credits deposited directly into their real world account.

Alice let out a surprised whistle. ”Five hundred credits? Really? That might not be much in the Upper Zone, but for ordinary people that’s excellent extra income if they bring in several people.”

”That explains why they’re in such a rush to approach so many people...” Lohan remarked, feeling his core pulse. ”They don’t care about quality at all, they’re just focused on getting as many people as possible to overwhelm everyone with sheer numbers once the average level rises further down the road.”

”That’s exactly why the plan will work,” Lisa cut in. ”But because of our appearances, we can’t go in together. A fox and a glowing slime would draw every eye in a second.”

Lohan agreed. ”Yeah, you’re right, Lisa. You’ll stay outside with one of my clones. I’ll hide on Alice’s arm under her sleeve, and send another clone to attach to Dylan. That way, I can act as your ears and eyes in there.”

Hearing Halon’s suggestion to attach himself to Alice’s body under her clothes, Lisa froze for an instant, looking at Halon and Alice suspiciously, but stayed composed knowing this was necessary, and that considering his living armor, him being on her arm was one of the smallest concerns she should have if this bothered her.

Lohan then stretched his blue biomass, his main body flattening and sliding under Alice’s sleeve, anchoring itself to her forearm with a selective stickiness that ensured a perfect grip without restricting her movements. At the same time, he sent out a smaller clone that settled under Dylan’s collar.

”Alright, everyone. Showtime,” Alice exclaimed, adjusting her gloves with a mischievous smile. ”Ready to be my partner again, PrettyBoy?”

”Always ready, LittleCrow,” Dylan replied, with a crooked smile carrying a refined confidence. ”Try not to overdo the tone. We want to come off as experienced players, not cheap holo movie actors.”

The two said their goodbyes to Lisa, who moved silently into the canopy of a nearby tree, blending her white fur with the surrounding flowers, a Halon clone on her back. Alice and Dylan walked toward the entrance of The Bronze Oak, adopting a relaxed posture that still carried the confidence of high level warriors.

Crossing the tavern’s threshold, the smell of mead and roasted meat hit Lohan’s senses.

The place was loud, full of adventurers talking loudly about hunting spots and potion prices. Alice and Dylan made their way toward one of the few round tables that still had open seats, near the center of the hall, already ordering the tastiest dish on the menu from the waiter, also taking the chance to enjoy Thalendor’s cuisine.

”God, Dan! I swear if I have to kill one more of those stone boars, I’m going to end up breaking my claws!” Alice exclaimed loudly, laughing expansively as she sat down. ”But finally hitting level thirteen made it all worth it, right?”

Dylan sat down across from her, feigning exhaustion. ”Don’t complain, Lily. Level thirteen is just the start of our glory in Thalendor. The real problem is we need a decent guild. I can’t stand carrying all the loot on my own for so little in return.”

”Right! I saw that announcement about Astralis Requiem,” Alice continued, tapping the table as the waiter served large mugs of nectar and roasted boar ribs. ”They cleared the first dungeon! But they seem so hidden away. I’d love to join them, but since nobody can find them, it’s hard to find a decent guild.”

Dylan scoffed, grabbing a rib. ”Don’t be silly, Lily, small guilds are traps for whichever Player joins them. If we’re going to join someone, it has to be an organization with real power that gives us stability, I’d rather play solo than get exploited by amateurs.”

The plan was working out really well.

Lohan, through the clone under Dylan’s collar, noticed two players wearing the orange and gold cloaks of the Broken Suns stop their conversation at the next table upon hearing Alice and Dylan’s loud conversation.

They exchanged greedy glances, their eyes gleaming at the mention of level thirteen and their indecision.

To them, each of those two Players represented easy five hundred credits by the end of the week.

The two Broken Suns approached the table with falsely friendly smiles, but that clearly showed a greed the three Astralis members noticed immediately, though they acted as if they hadn’t.

”Excuse us, friends,” the first of them, a human warrior named Marcus, began in a smooth tone. ”We noticed the place is packed and there are no free tables. Would you mind if we sat here for a few minutes? We promise not to interrupt your feast.”

”Oh, sure! Go ahead and sit!” Alice replied immediately, flashing an innocent smile that made Dylan roll his eyes theatrically. ”We were just eating and complaining about how hard Elysium is for solo players.”

Marcus and his companion, an archer named Julian, settled into the empty chairs.

Julian looked at the full plates and at Alice and Dylan’s gear, which looked to be of excellent quality despite them hiding their true level fifteen aura.

”Playing solo in Thalendor really is a nightmare,” Julian remarked, sympathetically. ”Before we joined our current organization, we used to spend days hunting level ten monsters in the forest near the city entrance, and the most we’d manage was covering the cost of healing potions. Everything changed once we joined a real guild.”

”Really?” Alice asked, leaning in with her eyes gleaming with curiosity. ”You’re part of a big guild? What’s it called?”

”We’re with the Broken Suns,” Marcus replied proudly, puffing out his chest under the golden cloak. ”Right now, we’re the biggest organization of Players operating in Thalendor. We have the backing of major real world investors and support from noble High Elf families here in the city. If you two are level thirteen and have decent gear, you’re exactly the kind of talent our leadership is looking for.”

Dylan kept his expression skeptical. ”Broken Suns? I heard some rumors about you all this morning. Some people said you promise a lot, but the guild charges a fee that eats up everything. How do I know this isn’t just another scam?”

Julian smiled condescendingly. ”I understand your concern, Dan, can I call you that? Our structure is different. We have resources ordinary guilds wouldn’t even dream of having, even the rent on our headquarters costs a fortune most players wouldn’t see in a year of grinding.”

”And how much does this headquarters of yours cost?” Dylan asked, narrowing his eyes as if weighing Julian’s words.

”We rent a three story building near the crafting district for a thousand gold coins a month!” Marcus boasted, gesturing pompously. ”A thousand gold! That shows just how formidable we are before Thalendor’s Council. Few organizations have the capital needed to keep such an imposing presence in the capital, and even if they did, they’d hardly have the connections among the nobles to be allowed to rent it out to Players like us.”

The price was genuinely absurd for a guild rental at that stage of the game, but considering Thalendor was a high density, elite metropolis, the amount made sense for impressing both the noble NPCs and the new recruits.

And considering the backing they apparently received from this world’s nobles, maybe they didn’t even really have to pay that amount.

”A thousand gold coins?!” Alice exclaimed, feigning shock. ”That’s incredible! Dan, did you hear that? They have a real headquarters! We wouldn’t have to keep our loot stored in chests in our rented tavern rooms anymore!”

”Calm down, Lily,” Dylan scolded her, keeping up the bad cop role to make the act convincing. ”Talking about gold is easy. Anyone can make up numbers at a tavern table to lure idiots in. I’m not signing any guild contract without seeing that headquarters with my own eyes first. I need to be sure the building actually exists, and that you two aren’t just leading us into an alley to rob us of our items.”

Upon hearing that, instead of feeling offended, the Broken Suns duo felt even more confident about recruiting those two players; after all, if they were that wary yet still willing to go to their base, it meant they intended to join up!