Abby pushed a stray lock of blonde hair out of her eyes as she sat in the guild lobby. Glancing around, she saw plenty of familiar faces. Vladimir sat nearby, decked in furs and cradling his huge axe like it was a long-lost lover. He was an enormous, imposing man, but he didn’t intimidate Abby; she knew he was something of a paper tiger. Even though he had an impressively massive physique, Abby knew that her stats far exceeded his. Not that she was an aberration or anything. She was thoroughly average, and many denizens of the guild were far more powerful than she was – especially among the Champions of Light’s inner members. However, among the outer members, she was one of the most capable, even if she didn’t possess the most raw power.

On the other side of the room, she saw a small group. Julio and his band of interchangeable miscreants. It was all she could do not to draw her bow and start peppering the detestable gathering of criminals with arrows. She could probably take out a couple of them before the guards responded. Perhaps she could even kill Julio himself. Certainly, the women of Beacon, the town surrounding The Temple of the Sun Goddess, would thank her for putting that horrible man down.

As if he could sense her gaze, Julio looked up and cast a knowing grin her way. He certainly didn’t look like a murdering rapist. In fact, he was incredibly handsome, well-built, and carried himself with the sort of confidence most women found attractive. More than that, he was also one of the guild’s most successful members, which brought with it both power and wealth. If he’d done things the right way, he probably could’ve gotten just about any woman he wanted. But he wasn’t interested in that, instead getting off on the power he held over his chosen victims.

She grimaced, then spat on the floor, heedless of the rich carpeting. It wasn’t like they couldn’t afford to have it cleaned. In fact, the entire room was a testament to the guild’s immense wealth. The Champions of Light weren’t strictly part of the Temple of the Sun Goddess, but they certainly enjoyed a position in the temple’s good graces. In fact, that close association was one of the major reasons Abby had joined in the first place. They were uniquely suited to helping their members progress, which was the name of the game in their new world. Either way, they wouldn’t fret over a bit of ruined carpet. Besides, sending a message to Julio was more important than maintaining her manners.

Julio’s grin only widened, and he broke away from his group of sycophants. Some held a modicum of power, but their chief ability was to support their leader. Without him, few of them would’ve even qualified for guild membership, so latching onto that detestable miscreant was their only route to power. For someone like Abby, who’d bled and nearly died hundreds of times, just so she could climb the ladder, it was particularly offensive. But the expression on Julio’s face as he approached her was even more so.

The man quickly crossed the room, the crowd of other guild members parting before him as he made his way to Abby. No one wanted to get in his way, chiefly because people who did had a habit of going missing. It was precisely that ruthlessness that the guild respected; there were many paths to power, and so long as he continued to complete missives and earn money for The Champions of Light, the guild wasn’t going to find fault with his.

As Julio drew closer, Abby stood. Even in the guild lobby, she didn’t want to be caught unprepared, and it was much easier to respond to an attack when she was standing than if she’d remained seated. Besides, it grated on her nerves when anyone looked down on her, a sentiment that grew exponentially stronger when facing down someone like Julio.

“What do you want?” she growled, glaring at the handsome man. He was swarthy, but that was more an effect of his ethnicity than any penchant for outdoor adventures. Julio ran a hand over his pitch-black hair, which he wore slicked back and held in place by some unknown product. He might’ve even used mana, for all she knew.

Julio’s appearance was a testament to his wealth. He wore a simple, blue doublet and black, leather trousers, but even without his trademark, black leather armor, he cut an impressive figure. Few others could afford to deck themselves in so many magical items. Certainly, Abby envied the plethora of rings on his fingers, the sun-shaped pendant around his neck, and the metallic bracers around his forearms – all of which exuded a subtle aura of power. She had no idea what any of them did, but they were obviously magical treasures. By comparison, only Abby’s bow was in the same league, and even it had only been enchanted with far more durability than a normal weapon. Anything else, and it would’ve snapped the first time she pulled its string.

“Do I need a reason to want to speak to a beautiful woman?” he asked, his voice smooth and steady. “Perhaps I simply wanted to bask in your glorious –”

“Oh, shut up, you preening peacock,” came an accented voice from the side. Vladimir had also noticed Julio’s approach, and he stood only a couple of feet away, the haft of his double-bladed axe on the floor as his hands rested on the top of outstretched blades. It wasn’t an overt threat, but anyone who knew Vladimir knew just how quickly he could swing that thing. While he wasn’t as powerful as Abby, the huge man was still a formidable opponent. “Abby has made her opinion of you quite clear. So run along, vermin.”

Julio ignored Vladimir, keeping his eyes locked on Abby. Clearly, he didn’t consider the Russian giant a threat. In the old world, he would never have ignored such a physically powerful person, but in this new world, things worked a little differently. At only level twelve, Vladimir was vastly inferior to Julio, who was level nineteen. But it was more than simple levels, which were only a baseline. Some people like Julio – and even Abby, to a certain extent – wielded power that far exceeded what should be expected of someone their level. So, the gulf between Julio and Vladimir was nearly insurmountable, and that wasn’t even considering the man’s treasures. Still, Abby appreciated Vladimir’s efforts. He was a good man and a stalwart friend.

But Abby knew that she had to handle Julio herself. Anything else, and he’d just keep coming.

“Piss off, asshole,” she spat.

“Is this about the Santolin Reach missive?” Julio asked. “I told you, that was just business. I didn’t mean to –”

“It’s about me not liking you,” she growled, though she admitted that her dislike was probably influenced by the man snaking a missive out from under her. She’d been so close to taking the Orc Chief’s head when Julio and his crew swooped in to steal the kill – and the contribution points that went with it. Doubtless, he’d used that reward to grow even stronger. “You’re a creep, and I want nothing to do with you. Not now. Not ever. So, just leave me alone, or I’ll have to take this to the next level.”

“You would risk that?” asked Julio, fingering the hilt of the blade at his side. She knew it was a single-edged, katana-style blade that was at least as powerful as anything else on his person. She had seen it cut through a palisade made of waist-thick timbers like it was nothing. Even with her endurance having reached fifty-five points, she couldn’t stand up to that weapon, especially driven by Julio’s far superior strength. “The guild surely would punish you for such a thing. The Champions of Light do not stand for infighting.”

Abby wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off the man’s face, but she forcibly restrained her murderous impulses. Instead, she said, “They would understand. Especially with your history.”

Julio rolled his eyes dramatically, saying, “Rumors and conjecture. Besides, I come with an offer.”

“No,” she said.

“You haven’t even heard what I –”

“The lady said no,” Vladimir growled, his accent thickening with anger. “Which part of that do you not understand?”

For a moment, Julio didn’t respond. Instead, he turned toward the hulking warrior and unleashed his aura. It was a combination of pure power, poisonous sound waves, and lecherous intent, all coalescing into a truly vile mixture that immediately forced Vladimir to his knees. Julio reached out, grabbing the man by the hair, saying, “I can respect loyalty, but if you speak out of turn again, I will be forced to assert my dominance. Even the most loyal dog must know when it’s time to slink away from its betters.”

With that, Julio gave the man a slight push, tipping him over onto his side. The heavy, double-bladed axe fell to the floor, and a hush fell over the room. What Julio had just done was the height of rudeness. Differences in power were a reality of their world, but to weaponize the disparity in such a way among guildmates? That was a faux pas that few dared to commit. But Julio was different; he simply didn’t care about things like that. To him, power was all that mattered, and anyone who wielded less than him was little more than a pest.

Luckily, Abby was mostly unaffected by the man’s projected aura. She said, “Just tell me what you want, then leave.”

“Getting right to it,” Julio said, the ever-present grin returning to spread across his handsome face. “I like that in a woman. You and I could truly make a wonderful team.”

“Is that what this is about?” Abby asked, her tone dripping with disdain. “Assaulting and humiliating my friend is a funny way of trying to recruit me.”

“An unfortunate necessity,” was Julio’s response. Dismissively, he waved his hand toward the fallen giant who still hadn’t recovered. “Some dogs need to be reminded of their place. I’m sorry if it displeased you. I want nothing but amity between us.”

Amity. Peace. Cooperation. As if she’d ever stoop to that level. As far as she was concerned, Julio was the enemy, and if they somehow met outside the guild hall again, she would be hard pressed not to throw caution to the wind and attack. He was a rabid animal, and eventually, someone would need to put him down. But inside the guild hall, there were rules, and she was far from strong enough to break them – a fact of which Julio was well aware.

“I’ll ask again – what do you want?” she said.

“I want you to work with me,” he said. Before she could respond, he went on, “The mission they’re about to announce is too dangerous for me or my team to accomplish alone. I need strong, reliable people, and obviously, I thought of you.”

“I will never work with you,” Abby stated.

“You say that, but you don’t know the reward,” Julio said. “I have it on good authority that the guild is offering a bonus for this missive. In addition to the normal contribution points, they are putting two Fruits of Nascent Zeal up as a reward.”

“W-what?” she asked, surprised. The Fruits of Nascent Zeal weren’t just incredibly rare, but they were also one of the most potent components of racial evolution available to the guild. Alone, they could completely evolve a person’s soul by an entire stage. Doing so could offer up a host of benefits, from improved mana control to mental resistances, but the biggest benefit was that it would allow a person to push through the bottleneck at level fifteen. Without evolving either the body or the soul, progression past that level was impossible. “Are you sure?”

“I am,” he said. “If you agree to assist me, one of them is yours.”

This information changed everything. Personal animosity paled in comparison to the pursuit of power. Most people would throw all morals to the side for a chance to break through, and Abby was no different. However, to her credit, she did feel some sense of hesitation when she considered working with Julio.

“What’s the mission?” she asked.

“Have you heard of Nightweb Ravine?” he asked.

“Near the Trollmoor Bog?” was her reply. “I heard a hive of drachnids moved in a couple of years ago.”

Julio nodded, saying, “Indeed. The drachnids have been assaulting the caravans that skirt the swamp. The guild has been hired to end the threat. It doesn’t pay enough to entice the inner members, so it’s been relegated to us. I lack a qualified archer amongst my party, so naturally, I thought of you.”

Abby nodded along. According to rumor, the hive wasn’t terribly high leveled, so the drachnids posed little threat to the inner members, who were all at the maximum level of twenty-five. Any one of them could’ve cleared out the entire ravine without much difficulty. However, getting them to leave the headquarters of the Champions of Light, much less the city of Beacon, was difficult even if the pay was significant; most craved a challenge or a unique opportunity to grow their immense power, rather than simple coins or contribution points. Wealth held little attraction for people who’d already reached the peak.

So, by default, that left most of the missives to the outer members.

“I want Vladimir with me,” she said. “And he gets an equal share of the contribution points. And I get one of the fruits.”

It was a one-in-a-million opportunity that she couldn’t afford to pass up, but she wasn’t stupid. She needed someone to watch her back. And while Vladimir wasn’t strong enough to stand up to Julio, he was more than powerful enough to handle the rest of the man’s thugs. If it came down to betrayal, she could only hope that she could take Julio herself.

“Very well,” Julio said, barely giving the Russian giant a second thought. “Bring your pet barbarian. But if he gets out of line, I will not be as gentle as I was today.”

“Fine,” Abby said, extending her hand. Julio took it, and they shook. “But if you betray me, I’m taking you and everyone else with me. Just so we’re clear.”

Julio only laughed, saying, “As it should be, my dear. As it should be.”