“What favor?” Life Runner asked.
Before answering, Jack sent him a Friend request, which he accepted.
“How about helping me raid that hideout just now?” Jack said.
“What hideout?”
“The one that you are observing before. The shack with the outlaws inside.”
“How to raid it? Those outlaws seemed quite strong.”
“I will take care of those outlaws. You used that Hide skill of yours to sneak into the shack. You only need to destroy the hideout core inside.”
“What’s a hideout core?”
“When you go into the shack, you should be able to identify it. If not, Peniel here will tell you which one is the core.”
“You want me to follow him?” Peniel asked.
“Isn’t that risky?” Life Runner asked.
“Dude, you dare to cross country into unknown territories. Don’t tell me you are afraid of this? I guarantee I won’t let any of the outlaws go into the shack once you are inside.”
“What’s the benefit of raiding that hideout?”
“Because the rewards are very good,” Jack said, and then turned to Peniel and asked, “right?”
“It was less than the rewards of Tiny-sized Bandit Outpost or Monster Settlement, but since it was occupied by higher-level monsters, the rewards should be better than the Lizardman Encampment you destroyed in the past.”
“Hear that?” Jack asked Life Runner.
“I have no idea about what she has just said.”
“It means the rewards are very good. We will divide fifty-fifty. Come on! Where is your sense of adventure?”
“My sense of surviving is better than my sense of adventure,” Life Runner responded. “But fine, I will help you. All I have to do is just hack on a core you said to be inside the shack, right? It won’t attack me back, right?”
“No, it won’t,” Jack said and sent him a party request. Jack then asked Peniel, “If one member in the party was in a guild while the other was not, if the core is destroyed without killing the boss, will the boss still go to the jail of the one with a guild?”
“Yes,” Peniel answered.
“Oh, good. Save me the hassle. I thought I will have to persuade him to join the guild temporarily first. By the way, what happened if in the party there are members from two different guilds?”
“The boss will go to the one who did the more total damage to the hideout core.”
“So, what should I do now?” Life Runner asked after accepting the Party invite.
“I have to prepare first,” Jack said as he took out a Sweet Dumpling and a Poison Salve. He ate the first and applied the second to his Storm Breaker.
“What are those?” Life Runner asked.
“They’re stuff to increase my damage,” Jack replied, then described the detailed function of each to him.
“Cool, can I have some as well? Should take me less time to damage the core then.”
“Sure, here.” Jack gave him a Whetstone and Sweet Dumpling. “This whetstone also increased damage to a melee weapon. For this Poison Salve, sorry, I can’t give it to you. The material required to produce this thing is rare. I only have limited stock.”
“No problem, but what rare material that thing requires?”
“Small Poison gland,” Jack answered.
Life Runner who was eating the sweet dumpling paused after hearing it. He then took out something from his bag. “Do you mean small poison glands such as these?”
Jack Inspected the things in his hand. They were indeed small poison glands. “Where did you get this? I will buy them if you don’t need them. Name your price.”
“Take it,” Life Runner said with a shrug. “They are easy to buy in the shop in Larabat, and are rather cheap. There is also occasionally normal-sized Poison Gland on sale, but they are more expensive.”
“Really?” Jack said with a surprise.
“Each city offers different wares. Different countries offer even more varied products. Materials and ingredients that are difficult to find in this country might be easy to find in Verremor, and vice versa,” Peniel explained.
Jack was contemplating for some while. Life Runner had already finished eating the Sweet Dumpling and applying the Whetstone to his uncommon curved dagger. He was now waiting for Jack with a questioning gaze, wasn’t him the one so eager to raid that hideout? Why suddenly spaced out?
Jack then looked at him intensely, the stare scared Life Runner for a bit.
“Say, Runner, how do you like hanging out with more Human players?”
“Oh? Of course, I would like that. It’s weird to keep on talking with orcs, it kinds of makes you forget you are a human yourself.”
“Beautiful! Then join my guild. You can then go to our guild headquarter to hang out with the other human players.”
“Your guild? You are a leader of a guild? And what is a Guild Headquarter?”
Jack then explained to him about the guild headquarter feature, and about his guild and his friends.
“Wow, your guild has that kind of thing? The guilds I know in Larabar only have guild bases.”
“It’s a unique thing we got after great struggle,” Jack didn’t inform him what the requirement is to get a Guild Headquarter.
“Even if I join your guild, how do I go there?” Life Runner asked.
“Once you are a part of our guild, you can go back to Larabar. Then you register our guild in the Zone Portal there. With that, you can go back and forth between your city and our guild headquarter.”
“That’s great! Does that mean I can visit the human city nearby as well?”
“Uh, I suggest you don’t do that. In case you haven’t noticed, the political situation between Verremor and Themisphere is not very good. If the city guards see an orc coming, they might turn hostile. You are lucky you didn’t stumble into any human town on your way here, or else you might find out about this in the worst way.”
“Oh… Such a pity. So why do you want to establish a teleportation link to Larabar? You or your guild members will not be able to travel into that city anyway.”
“It’s not the teleportation link that I after. It’s you!” Jack said.
“Me?” Life Runner asked in bewilderment.
“You or any other of your friends that can roam around in Larabar. We can exchange resources that are difficult to find in each of our countries. That Poison Gland for example. You can buy a load of it and then take it to our guild headquarter to exchange. Our human members can get you things from Human country that you can’t find in Larabar as well. We can benefit each other. Also, our Guild Headquarter’s surrounding is a good leveling territory for your level, with some higher-level areas not far away. Although you can’t go to human towns, you can still explore the wilderness. You can level up with our other guild members around there.”
Life Runner seemed to ponder about the offer seriously. Jack let him took his time. After a while, he said, “I’m not really a guild material person. I don’t like getting tied down. As I said, I like to go around traveling. I can’t afford to stay and do guild tasks.”
“What a coincidence, I’m like that as well,” Jack laughed. “Don’t worry, I will make sure you get the leniency. You don’t have to do all the required guild tasks to stay in the guild. As long as you can be the bridge with the other orc players and get for us the ingredients and materials that we can’t find in our city, it will be good enough.”
“Okay then, let’s give it a try. But let me say this first, if I find that I don’t like being in your guild, I will leave.”
“I will expect no less,” Jack said and sent him a guild invite. At the same time, he sent a message to Jeanny and John, “I got us a new member. He will open up a teleportation link to a new city called Larabat for us. But let me warn you first, none of our members can go to this city, you better set a restriction to this city as well so that only this new member can travel there.”
He received a swift reply message from John, “Is his name Life Runner, I just see his name pop up as our newest guild member. Why is that city not accessible for us? Is it a place where only Kingdom Faction members can go to like Thesewal?”
“You will know when you see him. Make sure that you meet him personally when he teleports over. He will bring you a list of things and explain everything. Oh, one more thing. Do not panic when you see him.”
“You are being weird. Why would I panic when I meet new people?”
Jack didn’t reply anymore, he was just smiling.
“You are really playful,” Peniel commented. “Can’t you just tell him the truth? What if he really panics and cast a spell?”
“Who will panic?” Life Runner who was not aware of Jack’s messaging, asked.
“Where is the fun if I just let him know like that. I just regret I can’t see his face when they meet,” Jack said to Peniel. To Life Runner, he said, “You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I have sent a message to the other guild leader to welcome you when you teleported there.”
Peniel shook her head.
