The first third person point of view chapter of the second part of Ben's adventures and it's opening chapter.

Chapter 13.5 can be considerate a preface to the story's second arc...

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Chapter 13.5: the birth of Centiped

In a small forest a group of five players, the archer named Trickster being their party leader, was grinding mobs when they heard men's voices coming from farther away.

Curious, they neared the origin of the noise and found a group of robbers positioning themselves for an ambush.

There was seven of them sword in hand and two more with bows at the ready.

Trickster and his companions decided to wait and take them from behind as they are busy attacking they own preys. Obtaining the gratitude of NPC travellers or merchant caravans was always beneficial.

A few minutes later, a heavily loaded cart and its driver appeared at the path curve. The driver was dressed in a long hooded cloak, hiding his face from anyone. On his hips a black handle sword could be seen.

As the cart neared the ambush the thieves stayed still and silent, awaiting for the moment to attack.

Trickster and his men were the only one to notice the bow and arrow prepared next to the men seat. As soon as the first robber came out of hiding, shouting for the cloaked driver to halt his cart, the man grabbed the bow and shot at the criminal. He fell down dead with one shot, as his companions were shocked that their strategy had failed they hesitated to act. The driver sized this opportunity to fire on the archers that were now standing on top of moss covered boulders.

They soon joined their comrade in death.

The six remaining robbers came to their senses and rushed at the man, one of them slashed at him with a rusty long sword, the man side stepped to avoid the attack, grabbed the mans wrist and twisted it. the bandit released his weapon and was thrown on one of his companions. the two fell down in a tangle of arms and legs.

The man then directed himself to three of the robbers, one of them stepped forward, brandishing a heavy iron hammer, swinged it at the mans torso. in a jump, the cart driver went above the hammer wielder and landed between his two companions. He kicked one in the guts and elbowed the second in the face in one movement, as the two curbed themselves in pain, he grabbed them and catapulted them on their friend who had turned around and was once again swinging his masse. the blunt weapon impacted with the back of a robber just before the driver placed himself just behind his wielder and twisted his neck. Both robbers fell to the floor, the man with the broken back let out a pain filled scream and lost consciousness.

Trickster and his group remained hidden, both impressed and astonished by the man Dexterity and speed.

The third man was joined with the five bandits remaining, the driver stood still awaiting for them to make the first move.

When two of them stepped forward he suddenly produced a pair of hatchets that he threw at the robbers. They buried deep into the men's body, cutting skin and cracking bones.

He the put a hand on his sword and slowly unsheathed it.

The four surviving members of the bandit's crew had now realised how dangerous the lone traveller was. they were now looking for a way to flee without being killed.

One of them simply turned around and started running towards the forest. The driver bent to his knees, grabbed a small knife hidden in his boot and threw it at the deserter. it pierced the man's hand as he touched the nearest tree.

At the same time the man screamed in pain, the mysterious driver propelled himself from his crouched position, impaled a second thief, kicked a third in the knee, pulled his sword out to behead his fourth opponent and trapped the third in his free arm.

The two dead men fell, soon followed by the sound of a twisted neck and the thirds body joined them.

The two thieves still close to the driver started swinging their swords, the man easily pared, escaped or blocked their blades with his own. As soon as the occasion presented itself he sliced a throat, blocked the second sword and head butted his last enemy. The man fell on his but and was soon gutted by the black blade.

Now the only noise came from the thief whose hand had been pined on the tree. The driver cleaned his sword on a bandits closing and approached the last survivor of the ambush.

"I thank you for the riches your death offers me."

Then i pulled a large hunting knife from the back of his waist and slit the man's throat. At that moment all of the grey corps shattered in colourful sparks to then gather in the middle of the road into a small wooden chest.

Trickster knew of this event. It only happened when a player exterminated a set group of individuals on his own. Bandits treasure chests rewards were the most random of them as you could never be sure that you had dealt with the whole band or that no one else had killed one of the groups member before.

But it was not the rarity of the chest that had the Party's attention.

This high level combatant was a player.

This area's mob average level was 40, and 50 for the humanoid types, for him to be abble to dispose of them with only one arrow, knife or hit he would have to be around level 70 which corresponded to a mere 100 players in this time of the game.

As the mysterious player was recuperating his throwing knife and Hatchets, Trickster took the time to think of the meaning of such a high profile and battle prepared player travelling on a cart in the middle of nowhere.

In general there was three reasons for a high player to go to lower level areas: a undiscovered dungeon they had heard off or NPCs they had to contact for a quests Purpose.

Trickser's party seamed to have reached the same conclusion as they discreetly proposed to follow the cart driver discreetly.

After having loaded the chest on his cart, the player went back to his seat and started advancing again.

He drove all day long to finally reach a small settlement close to the forest. There the man stayed in the barn for the night.

When Trickster connected back after sunrise, the man had set a booth at the main road. He was selling bags of grains and flour, seeds for farmers, common closes, cheap wooden jewellery and basic weapons such as rusty swords and knives and common bows and arrows.

He stood there all day long, in his long mantle, hood down, discussing with every person that stopped by. At first people were reluctant to go close to him but the more he sold and talked the friendliest the settlers became. In the evening he started taking quests, no matter how small they were. To complete them he had to travel to different surrounding areas yet in three in game days he finished them all. By them the settlers considered him as one of them and did not hesitate to stop to chat with him every time they passed near him.

Trickster and his men were relaying themselves to survey him, convinced that a certain level of familiarity was needed for the quest of information that the driver was targeting.

Their belief was strengthen as the man had asked several questions about a small woodcutter's hut in a forest clearing.

The answer he got must have been unsatisfying as he left the settlement to go to a small village three days ride from here.

Trickster and his party kept following him, hunting and grinding along the way.

When they reached the village the man repeated the same actions, selling his wares at the market place, completing all available quests, exploring the areas around the village one by one, asking about the closed woodcutter's hut...

The spies were starting to loose patience when the driver held a meeting with one of the wealthiest villagers. They had a long and heated discussions but in the end they seemed to come to an agreement as they shacked hands and the mysterious player exchanged money for a paper scroll.

Trickster was expecting the man to leave the village to accomplish something grand but the man just left for another village, this time inquiring about an empty lot.

For a whole week, Trickster's party followed the cart driver from village to village and watched him as he raised his familiarity with the NPCs to obtain information on abandoned or closed properties or explored the surrounding land for mines and huts. Then they slowly lost interest in the man's affair and the group to go hunt and grind levels.

Soon Trickster was the only one left in his group. That is when he decided to approach the player.

He went to him as he was preparing to leave for another village.

"Hi, i am Trickster. You?"

"Hey. My name's Ben. I know you."

"You do?"

"Yeah, we've been in the same villages several times already. where is the rest of your friends?"

"We broke the party. Our objective was done."

"I see."

"Where are you headed?"

"For now Vendrik Village. You?"

"Same. Can i go with you?"

"Sure, the more the merrier!"

They left the village and started travelling in silence, seated on the cart's front bench. At mid day Ben roasted some meat and shared with Trickster, it was much better than the usual travelling rations he had and from there on they decided that Ben would cook all their meals.

On the road to Vendrik they were attacked once by a band of robbers, while Ben took care of them by punching, kicking and slicing Trickester had fired at them with his bow.

Ben reaction to Trickster's help had been positive.

"I have to admit that having an Archer supporting me is much more easier than being solo. Maybe i should start travelling with people when i can..."

When they had reached Vendrick Trickster had stayed with Ben as much as he could, helping him in the villager's quests and search of the land. They discovered a copper mine that had been abandoned because of the group of mountain trolls that had invested it.

Trolls had thick skin that made swords and arrows near to ineffective but Ben changed his blade for a large two handed hammer and my bow for a heavy crossbow.

We started with those that were outside the mine, i would shot at their head or heart, making a maximum of damage and Ben would finish them by slamming their chest with his hammer. They repeated this for several ingame day, Trickster gained several levels when Ben only levelled up twice.

Then they entered the cavern, disposing of the guards and slowly advancing in the tunnels.

In a few hours they had cleared the place of all Trolls. the grey bodies shattered to reform into a simple paper scroll at the entrance of the mine.

"What is it?"

"Its the mine property title."

"Wait, the mine is ours?"

"Yes and no. only one of use can have it."

"Do you want it?"

"You take it."

Ben let Trickster take the scroll.

"Don't know what to do with it..."

"It's for guilds and merchants or producing based Avatars."

"I see. are you in a guild?"

Only level 50 players could join a guild but to Trickster's belief Ben had to be around level 90. In other words any guild he was in probably had a high profile.

"No, i am not. But i want to found one."

"To form a Guild you need an office, ten other members and an advance to cover the next three month of taxes. The mine profits can be used to ensure a minimum monthly income that covers taxes..."

"Yes. You know a lot about guilds. Are you planning on joining one?"

"Well, they are fascinating! in New Roads! a guild is a group of players that use their individual influence to gather power. They can work with, hire or accept NPCs, set outposts were at least one of their members travelled and use those to expand their influence. It's like a small governmental agency with free reign!"

"When you say it like that, it truly is exiting... how would you do your guild?"

"Well, the usual close combat warriors, long range damage dealers, healer type back group... some spy type character too..."

Ben looked at Trickster with a frown on his face.

"It's sad that you see a guild only as a combative force...

"What do you mean?"

"You said that a guild was an agency within a country, right?"

"Yes"

"Agencies can be related to economic, politic and military facets of a government."

"So?"

"What you have described is the common constitution of player made guilds, they have a fast member rate expansion therefore require more resources on a monthly basis."

"I don't see how that is bad."

"Many members means the average level of the guild members will be low, the monthly taxes high, with several offices to run and protect on a daily basis."

"And that means you have to hire NPCs to guard them as no player would accept a stationary position for so long."

"Exactly. The more members you have the more offices you need, the more expenditures to keep them working you will have to cover..."

"So what? the members will have to cover them through Quests."

"Players wouldn't accept to do that for long. People play for fun, they want to escape responsibilities, not have more. A guild constituted of warriors, archers combat magicians and healers will ultimately reach a limit."

Trickster took the time to think about it. Ben was right, a guild solely based on military activity would one day have difficulties expending, the money required for weapon and armours maintenance would be too big to be sustained, and would need properties to use as offices. The most effective way of managing the problem would be to obtain enough prospects to cover the guild's expenses to a point that the members contribution is considered as an income. When the average players would reach level 50 and start mass joining guilds the price of properties and prospects would skyrocket, NPC guardsmen available through contracts would become scarce and expensive.

As he thought of it, Trickster realised that Ben had been gathering properties and prospects because he was wise enough to foresee it.

"How would you do it then?"

"Do what?"

"How would you conduct your guild?"

"I would gather as much prospects as i can, develop trade routes leading from guild owned outposts to outposts, recruit architects, merchants and artisan type players to develop the trade. In parallel i would recruit combatants, archers, mages and healers to protect those assets."

"That’s a lot of people..."

"Which is why you would need a high familiarity and influence in all the places you would have an outpost or prospect, outposts which would serve as head quarters and resting place for the guild would have to be guarded too, so respect and leadership. Some honour too. Then there is the problem of rivalry..."

"Other guilds trying to get you."

"Yes. To prevent it you would need a powerful figure, a noble or rich merchant perhaps, to officially support you."

"Anyone managing to pull that off would gain my respect."

"Mine too. Especially since there is so few artisan and merchant type avatars..."

"Wait, you want them to be players?"

"In the long run a player's skills are higher than an NPC's. No use in buying set products at a set price when you can produce the product in an increasing quality and number at a lowering cost.

"True."

Tricksters thought for a few second in silence.

"So a guild that uses its full potential would have to develop its economy through the possession and management of properties and prospects. To increase income it would need to produce, transport and trade independently. Those trade routes and outposts would have to be protected through a military power and the guild as a whole by the support of a respected figure."

"At least that is how i see it."

Another moment of silence.

"Say, you really plan on forming a guild?"

"Yes"

"Like the one you just described?"

"Nothing... just that if you do i would definitely join it."

"Why don't you?"

"I can?"

"Sure. Here."

Ben pulled a scroll from his backpack.

It was a list.

Trickster went to the bottom of the scroll while discreetly looking at the previous writings. They were all promises of joining Ben's guild once it was an official organisation.

More than 300 had already agreed.

Most of them were food and primary material producers, many shop clerks or future guardsmen. Then there were healers, merchants and managers.

No player had signed the scroll yet.

"You do know that a guild needs at least twenty players, right?"

"I do. Some of my friends will sign it once in Fridol, but i admit it won't be enough."

"What will you do then."

"Look for interesting players"

"So, i'm interesting?"

"You watched me for a whole week, approach me and travelled with me just because you were curious of my actions."

"Oh. So you knew."

"Yes"

"Sorry about the whole tailing thing then."

"No problem. you can make it up by signing."

"If i join what will be my position in the guild?"

"Are you asking for a high rank?"

"No, i just want to know how i would be treated. I don't want to be trapped guarding a place or a caravan the whole time."

"That would be considered as a Guild Quest, not a Duty. Being part of a guild like the one i am planning would mean access to many small dungeons like the mines we visited, much lower prices in the guild owned shops, a network of informants and reemforcments in every settlements, villages towns and cities and the familiarity and respect of the guild would increase the quests available to you. Players would be free to do the quests and travel to the places they want. The only rule would be to not provoke conflict with other organisations, guilds or kingdom and report any events capable of influencing an area economic or political status."

"To preserve the guild own status."

"Yes."

After considering it all for an instant, Trickster took the feather and scribbled on the scroll his vow to join Ben's Guild.

"You called it Centiped. Strange name."

"Well if you consider that there is a ratio of 17 NPCs for a single player, and that its economic power would have to be spread all over the Kingdom the a being with one head, a segmented body and a thousand legs sounds appropriate."

"Plus its easy to remember as nobody else would use an insect as both its emblem and name."

"Yes, that to. haha"

Do you realise that the moment you form this guild, it will become the player guild top guild of the game? you will have to expect massive attention from everyone, numerous appliances from many wannabe players, rivalry from other player formed guilds worrying of the new guy that is rapidly gaining power and an impressive amount of work. Your gonna need help."

"I know."

"I can help."

"I know"

"Let me go look for other members. i will go to Fridol and look for players seriously interested in producer based Jobs. They should be stuck there."

" I..."

"Yes, yes, you know!"

They both laughed.

"I promise to be discrete and only look for interesting people."

"I have no doubt you will find some, just don't scare them away. Very well. I will keep travelling around Braeen, you will go to the Capital and wait for me. Don’t hesitate to get more than twenty members."

"Okay. By the way, here is my first contribution to the guild."

Trickster gave the mine property title back to Ben along with 50 silver coins. To Ben this amounted to very little compared to his own money but to a regular player like Trickster this was quite the fortune. Knowing this, Ben gratefully accepted the gift, mentally making a note to add 50 extra silvers to the beginning funds he had planed on.

Later on, when the two men parted the future Centiped Guild had found its two first members.

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Hope you liked this preface!

WritteraAddicted