Chương 167: Chapter 162

Even in the technologically advanced future, dealing with legal matters took time, so Sam was left with no recourse but to cool his heels in one place while his dream team assembled. Not that he really did nothing. The legal matters were done in a week, which was hilarious to someone who grew up in the twenty-first century, but according to Lucy, it was still slow compared to other matters.

With AI and high-tech computing, digital databases, and search algorithms, it was a rare case that lasted more than a few days, at least on their level. Even here, the delay came from Adam's lawyer, a vicious old lady – according to a grumbling Lucy – who tried to nickel and dime them on everything. Sam wondered a little why Adam fell in such ruin in the future he had memories of if he had such an impressive lawyer on call.

'Maybe too little too late? We shall never know…' he mused. The situation with Adam's old guild had also stabilized somewhat. Neither he nor his ex-partner released the reason why the guild building was destroyed, but everybody in Gladerest was talking about how the 'famous' Adam decided that he didn't appreciate his partner's efforts and thus sought different opportunities somewhere else. Clearly, the bastard ex-partner was in ass-covering mode.

Adam didn't really care much, trying to put the entire thing behind him. At least that is what Sam got from the scarce messages they exchanged. Some of the loyal people left with him, so that was a piece of good news for their soon-to-be-born guild, but he would leave it to Tim and Lucy to filter out all the spies that stayed. Lara was an altogether different kind of fish.

She no doubt had bigger and better lawyers than he and Lucy did, but after only a few back and forth – once again Lucy's words – she simply signed the contract. No overbearing grandpa, annoying second cousins who haven't dislodged the silver spoon shoved up in their asses. Nothing. Sam expected at least one mysterious meeting with the grandpa just to make sure Sam knew he was watching. And while Lucy was doing the administrative tasks, Sam spent the time running around the game.

He visited locations with Lucky's help where the company had supermarkets or other business interests. He snooped around, checked the local situation, took out a few corrupt NPCs, and made sure they were doing good business. Sam also scouted locations, including the ruin Lara found. While she stayed vague on purpose, no doubt not wanting to give him the exact location, however, from his inherited memories he was very clear on which ruin she was talking about.

Only, in his memories, while there were attempts to build it up, it ended in supreme failure due to infighting and external attacks. Sam wasn't sure Lara was part of that effort, but it made sense that she may have contracted some other guild, and eventually, greed took over. The location was pretty good. A wide river, with a beautiful waterfall, over an underground water source, wide plains, and a tall mountain at its back.

The ruins were clear evidence that it was an excellent place to have a town, but based on the buildings and historical records Lara managed to dig up, it was a mining town and when the ore dried up so did the town. And as with a lot of things in history, people soon forgot the place even existed. Sam already had Lucy looking into acquiring the rights to the territory. He wanted to make sure that nobody could steal it from under them.

If it wasn't possible for them to take land ownership, then he planned to bring in the Silvercrest family even deeper. No doubt the loud and boisterous lord would be delighted to have his daughter 'rule' over a new town. He tried not to think about what Lucrecia would think about the opportunity.

He also spent some time gathering supplies and equipment, looking into getting something better than his troll-hide armor, but so far none of the crafters he knew could produce something he wanted and Liz, at most, could only do heavy armor. Sadly, crystals weren't as flexible as leather. So far, his semi-regular auction house browsing hadn't produced anything worthy of his attention.

People had realized that enchanted gear was pretty rare, so even if any appeared it vanished just as fast, or went for such outrageous prices that Sam refused to pay. However, he managed to spot a few bargains and had Lucy buy up some materials that would be useful for them in the short term. Sadly, even with his access to the secret library, he couldn't do pinpoint precise long-term investments. Sam also picked up a few skill books that would be useful for his friends.

He wasn't clear about Lara's 'class' but Adam's was pretty well-documented thanks to his competence. The giant of a man used a warhammer and went around smashing things with pinpoint precision. He wasn't a berserker, but neither was he a paladin archetype. Solid DPS with some pretty good CC and tanking capabilities. He didn't know the exact setup of their skills, like with Dan or Katie, but he could extrapolate from his inherited memories and general knowledge of the game.

He sent Adam a copy of the basic mana knowledge and a simple message to Dan that he was free to share the basics with his girlfriend as long as she kept it to herself.

'It will be a good test to see how trustworthy she is…' he ruminated. She would probably clock it instantly as an attempt to gauge her trustworthiness, but it would still send a message. Hopefully, the right one… The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Interestingly, the Auction House was in flux currently.

Information about the worth of certain items, mostly enchanted ones, had spread, which was already causing some chaos, but there was also a big emptiness where once stood giant mountains of unsold skill books. The number of people entering the game grew big enough that the Mage Tower and other sources of skill books simply couldn't keep up as there wasn't some game mechanic that spawned those books ex nihilo.

While the association of mages could have created more, only the high-level mages, wizards, sorcerers, and other 'classes' had the knowledge of how to do it. And they all felt that the task was beneath them. Physical skills were a little easier as they could be taught manually by an instructor to a large group of people who were also bottlenecked by available space and actual willing instructors who didn't charge through the nose.

Funnily, at the moment, high-level or niche skill books were sold more slowly than basic skill books. Granted, it was common knowledge that all skills can be learned through effort and practice… but who had time for that? Naturally, most players took to the official forums to complain but Future Unknown just declared that it was a free market, and if the players were annoyed with the shortages, they could either 'git gud' or do something about the shortages.

Currently, players were in their outraged phases, but according to the chatter on the forums and in Shadowland, a lot of guilds were looking into getting their own trainers, as well as searching for information on how to create skill books. Sam knew, of course, but that was one thing he wouldn't be sharing with anybody but his guild when he was reassured that the people chosen for the task were loyal. Plus, the whole cheating thing…

Sam paused for a moment then shrugged, Lucky under him not even slowing down his run.

'That's future Sam's problem…' They used one of the bigger meeting rooms. Lucy was sitting at the head of the table, Sam next to her, leisurely leaning back in his chair, trying to project confidence while Lucky practically crawled into his lap. It wasn't going well. Dan, Clarissa, Katie, and Isabella were sitting a few chairs down, with Dan and Clarissa sitting between the two feuding girls. Their pets, Melody and Hawky, were behind them, craning their necks and looking around with interest.

Surprisingly, Lara wasn't next to Dan, instead, she sat alone with a large stack of documents, scrolls, and binders. Sam already knew that the young woman would be great friends with Lucy. On the other side of the desk was the hulking figure of Adam, stone-faced with his own set of documents in front of him, plus a neat little notebook, his pencil ready to take notes.

Between Adam and Lucy was Tim, sitting there all prim and proper, looking like he stepped out from the front page of a magazine named Average IT Employee Monthly. They were all there to start organizing the guild that the AFK company would support.

"So, we are all in agreement with the distribution of future profit, correct?" asked Lucy, looking up from her own notes. There was a round of nods and agreements from everybody, though Dan and Clarissa were both a little glassy-eyed. Unsurprisingly, both Katie and Isabella could follow perfectly along.

"What about if someone leaves the guild and the company?" Lara inquired with an innocent look on her face.

"They are forced to sell and the company has first refusal. After the company it's Sam, then me personally," came the response from Lucy instantly.

"We really don't want anyone else trying to control things. We are here to make sure everyone is fairly compensated for their efforts." Adam nodded, then spoke up quietly.

"What about the people who would join thinking they would be entitled to discounts to other businesses owned by the company?" It was Sam this time who answered.

"Bummer for them. No discount for new people, that just leads to misuse. If they want discounts, they get to earn it. Heavenly Forest is out. That will be entirely separate from the guild," he explained.

"I don't want a bunch of munchkins to grind out enough contribution points on day one to get a place in Heavenly Forest and drive out the paying guests."

"They won't be happy about it…" Adam pointed out. Sam shrugged.

"Not my problem. We have some of the best information about mana training, connection to trainers, and so on. They can also earn discounts for our other businesses. If that's not enough, then they're clearly in the wrong place."

"Just wanted to make sure you're aware. Something similar happened to u…me in another game. It was a PR disaster," the giant man grumbled.

"Though now that I think back, I know why…" There was an awkward air around the room until Lucy clapped her hands together, refocusing everyone on her.

"With that done. How about we talk about the crafters?"

"Subguild," came the answer immediately from Adam.

"In my experience, that's the best way to deal with it. Clear line of command, less chance of abuse by the fighting players." Lucy nodded thoughtfully.

"Good idea. My friend is bored after we finished the last building project, so she will be perfect for taking the lead on it."

"Fully?" Lucy just snorted.

"Hell, no! She is too lazy. But excellent figurehead. All extrovert and everything. We can deal with the details and she can schmooze and touch grass." To Sam, Adam looked a little relieved.

"Trustworthy?"

"Mhmm." Adam nodded, then looked around. Most people shrugged, but Tim and Sam nodded. Satisfied with that, he wrote a few notes. Lucy looked around and then took out another document.

"All right. Then how about we talk about income for the guild?" She took a brief breath, then continued. Sam watched her talk and couldn't help but smile seeing his friend so happy. The knowledge of what would have happened to her if he hadn't interfered made the situation even better.

"Naturally, guild players could deposit items and resources into the guild warehouse for contribution points, but we will also set up teams to farm certain fractures."

"Crafters?" came the question from Isabella.

"Are they going to be working on outfitting the guild? That's a pretty big money sink." Lucy shrugged.

"We'll have proper R&D that will work on making better things." Liz wasn't mentioned yet as she was their ace in the hole.

"So, the rest can focus on improving. We'll set some quotas and the rest can go on the public market with first refusal going to the guild. Sound right?" Another round of nods and agreements.

"Understood. Then the last thing we need to discuss is the recruitment," stated Adam, and Sam saw everybody perking up. Even Melody, who was in the process of stealing finger sandwiches from the catering table, looked at Adam.

"There are around a hundred people I got from the… let's call it divorce. With the current climate, that does not make a guild." Lara snorted.

"And how many of those are spies?" Adam opened his mouth, preparing to say something then closed it and shook his head a little defeated. Tim sat up even straighter, adjusted his bowtie, and spoke up with a gentle voice.

"Allow me to deal with them. If handled well, we can use them to our advantage." Adam turned to Tim, looking at him as if he saw him for the first time.

"What were you thinking?" Tim's smile was truly sinister, contrasting with his gentle demeanor.

"Oh, just a little misdirection here and there…"