Ch27 The Streamer Guild

Chapter 27

Ryan woke to golden light filling his vision.

He jerked upright, blinking in confusion as he tried to remember where he was. For one disoriented moment, he thought sunlight had somehow entered his windowless room at the Kerath Boarding House, but the glow remained fixed in front of his eyes even as he turned his head.

Then the notification sharpened.

[MANDATORY EXCLIPSE DIRECTIVE]

[FACTION INTEGRATION]

[ISSUED BY: CAPTAIN UNKUD]

[OBJECTIVE: JOIN A RECOGNIZED CITY FACTION]

[DEADLINE: 7 LOCAL CYCLES]

[COMPLETION REWARD: 20 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS]

[FAILURE TO COMPLY: DISMISSAL FROM EXCLIPSE TRAINING]

[DISMISSED CADETS FORFEIT CITY RESIDENCY STATUS]

Ryan stared at the reward.

"Twenty?"

Sleep disappeared almost instantly.

Twenty low-grade X Energy crystals was more money than he'd managed to earn during his entire first day on the planet. His thoughts immediately turned toward the equipment market, where he'd spent an embarrassing amount of time examining a longsword he couldn't afford. Seven crystals would cover that purchase, leaving enough for ammunition, food, water, and perhaps even a better set of armor.

For the first time since arriving, he could imagine having money left over after paying for the things he needed.

Which meant there was almost certainly a catch.

Ryan reread the directive, paying closer attention to the deadline and the consequences of failure. Seven local cycles to secure membership in a recognized faction, or Exclipse would dismiss him and revoke his right to live in the city.

He rubbed his face.

"There's definitely a catch."

Skynet offered no opinion.

Ryan swung his legs off the bed and immediately regretted moving so quickly. Yesterday's hunt had left a dull ache throughout his body, from the muscles in his shoulders to the backs of his calves. He'd spent hours walking beneath two suns, fought three armored beasts that had repeatedly tried to crush him, and then run nearly an hour through the forest because something much larger had begun breaking trees behind them.

He was beginning to understand why experienced hunters charged so much for their services.

Still, he felt considerably better than he had the previous evening. A full night's sleep had restored his Mental Energy, and his X Energy had recovered during their cultivation break before the final fight. Even the soreness in his muscles seemed manageable now that he wasn't actively running for his life.

Ryan opened his status.

[STATUS]

[Name: Ryan Lowell]

[Species: Male Human]

[Rank: 1 beginning]

[Qi Points Opened: 1]

[Talent: Absolute Energy Barrier]

[Strength: 7]

[Constitution: 7]

[Dexterity: 8]

[Speed: 8]

[Mental Energy: 8/8]

[X Energy: 9/9]

[Skills: None]

[Unique Skills: None]

One Qi Point.

Ryan stared at the number, remembering the time he'd spent trying to open his second Qi Point before falling asleep. He'd managed to locate the resistance along his energy pathway and had even begun experimenting with a gentler flow of X Energy, but the obstruction had refused to yield.

Apparently, cultivation wasn't going to let him sprint through forty Qi Points simply because he was enthusiastic.

"Fine. Tonight."

He dismissed the status and got dressed.

Before leaving, he remembered the City Lord's warning about learning the municipal rules. He probably should have looked into them yesterday, but between surviving his first hunt, finding something edible, and securing a place to sleep, studying the local legal system hadn't exactly been a priority.

"Skynet. Municipal law."

A concise legal interface appeared across his vision.

Most of the regulations were straightforward enough. Unauthorized combat inside municipal boundaries was prohibited, intentional destruction of public infrastructure carried severe financial penalties, and residents were required to pay all applicable taxes. Certain weapons and abilities were restricted in designated districts, while theft, fraud, and unauthorized access to protected facilities carried punishments ranging from fines to forced labor.

Then Ryan reached the section concerning municipal personnel.

[ASSAULT UPON AUTHORIZED CITY GUARD PERSONNEL]

[STANDARD PENALTY: SUMMARY EXECUTION]

He paused.

"Very forgiving."

He continued reading.

Faction law occupied an entirely separate category. Recognized factions could own property, register territory, issue internal contracts, sponsor residents, purchase restricted services, and formally challenge other factions under specific municipal conditions.

Ryan reread the section about sponsorship.

A recognized faction could offer more than employment or training. Depending on its status and influence, it could provide legal representation, access to protected facilities, preferential services, and support during disputes with other organizations.

Interesting.

He closed the rules and checked the local clock.

It was approaching nine.

Ryan opened the squad channel.

[RYAN: Everyone awake?]

Jessica answered almost immediately.

[JESSICA: Yes.]

Then Raven.

[RAVEN: Lobby.]

Dezzy followed.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

[DEZZY: Already downstairs.]

Ben took considerably longer.

[BEN: define awake]

Ryan smiled.

[RYAN: Alive and capable of walking.]

Several seconds passed.

[BEN: barely but yes]

Ryan finished securing his uniform and headed downstairs.

Jessica, Raven, Dezzy, and Ben were waiting in the boarding house lobby. Ben looked as though he'd slept extremely well despite his messages suggesting otherwise, while Raven appeared to be considering whether she could get away with returning to bed. Jessica had already secured her blue headband beneath her pulled-back hair, and Dezzy was reading something on Skynet with her usual expression of quiet concentration.

Ryan descended the final steps.

"Everybody get the faction mission?"

Four nods answered him.

Ben crossed his arms.

"Twenty crystals."

"Exactly."

"Twenty."

"Yes, Ben."

"Yesterday we nearly got eaten by three armored lizards for five crystals each. Today somebody wants to hand me twenty for filling out a membership application."

Jessica smiled.

"You think it'll be that easy?"

"No."

Ben sighed.

"That's the problem."

Dezzy closed her interface.

"It won't be easy. I've been looking through the recognized faction directory."

Everyone turned toward her.

Ben narrowed his eyes.

"How much did that cost?"

"One crystal."

He groaned.

"You spent another crystal?"

"Information has value."

"So does money."

"Which is why I spent money acquiring valuable information."

Ben opened his mouth, considered that for a moment, and closed it again.

Ryan grinned.

"She got you."

Dezzy shared the data packet with the squad, and five interfaces synchronized.

Hundreds of faction names appeared across Ryan's vision, arranged in categories ranging from mercenary companies and trade syndicates to cultivation orders, media organizations, and private military auxiliaries.

He blinked.

"That's a lot."

"One thousand eight hundred and twelve recognized organizations within this city," Dezzy said. "The majority are unsuitable. Many have species restrictions, Rank requirements, occupational prerequisites, sponsorship fees, or initiation conditions we cannot currently meet."

Jessica stared at the enormous directory.

"You checked all of them?"

"I filtered them."

"Thank God."

Dezzy expanded several profiles.

The first appeared beneath the emblem of a black iron shield pierced by three silver spears.

[IRON SIEVE ORDER]

[CLASSIFICATION: MERCENARY ORGANIZATION]

[PRIMARY FIELDS: WILDERNESS COMBAT / DUNGEON SECURITY / ESCORT CONTRACTS]

[RECRUITMENT PROFILE: COMBAT-ORIENTED]

[REPUTATION: SEVERE DISCIPLINE / HIGH ATTRITION / PERFORMANCE-BASED ADVANCEMENT]

Raven studied the listing.

"That sounds promising."

Ben looked at her.

"The words high attrition are literally on the screen."

"I saw them."

"And you're still interested?"

"Yes."

"Of course you are."

The second profile appeared beneath a segmented black-and-gold emblem.

[CHITIN SYNDICATE]

[CLASSIFICATION: COMMERCIAL / UNDERWORLD ORGANIZATION]

[PRIMARY FIELDS: RESTRICTED TECHNOLOGY / SMUGGLING / INFORMATION BROKERAGE / BLACK-MARKET TRADE]

[RECRUITMENT PROFILE: VARIABLE]

[REPUTATION: EXTENSIVE MULTISPECIES NETWORK / HIGH INTERNAL SECRECY]

Jessica frowned.

"Absolutely not."

Ben leaned closer.

"Hold on."

"No."

"We don't even know what the benefits are."

"The word smuggling is in the description."

"That's a benefit to some people."

Raven glanced at him.

"Join them."

Ben considered the listing.

"I might."

Dezzy dismissed the profile before the argument could continue.

The third appeared.

Ryan stopped moving.

[STREAMER GUILD]

[CLASSIFICATION: MEDIA / COMBAT / ENTERTAINMENT ORGANIZATION]

[PRIMARY FIELDS: COMBAT BROADCASTING / SPONSORSHIP / COMPETITIVE EVENTS / DUNGEON MEDIA RIGHTS]

[RECRUITMENT PROFILE: COMBATANTS / PERSONALITIES / ANALYSTS / PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS]

[REPUTATION: HIGH VISIBILITY / CORPORATE BACKING / PERFORMANCE-BASED SPONSORSHIP]

Ryan leaned closer.

Jessica saw his expression immediately.

"No."

He looked at her.

"What?"

"I know that face."

"What face?"

"The face you made every time Darkstar uploaded something."

Ryan pointed at the profile.

"Combat broadcasting."

"We can read."

"Dungeon media rights."

"We can still read."

"Sponsorship."

Ben looked between them.

"Is he about to start vibrating?"

Ryan ignored him.

"This is perfect."

Dezzy studied the profile.

"It aligns closely with your stated long-term goals."

"Exactly."

Ryan expanded the listing.

Images appeared across his vision, displaying combat streams, arena matches, Dungeon expeditions, advertisements, and promotional footage from some of the guild's most successful members. Warriors fought creatures Ryan couldn't identify while viewer counts scrolled beside their broadcasts in numbers that made the streams he'd watched on Earth look small.

Hundreds of millions.

Billions.

Some feeds were being translated into dozens of languages simultaneously.

Ryan felt something electric move through his chest.

This was it.

Not someday.

Not after years of waiting.

The infrastructure already existed. The audience existed. The industry existed. Everything he'd imagined while sitting in his bedroom on Earth was standing right in front of him.

"The Streamer Guild," Ryan said.

Ben shook his head.

"No chance."

Ryan looked at him.

"What?"

"I don't want millions of people watching me get punched in the face."

"Then don't get punched."

"Brilliant."

Jessica smiled.

"It's definitely Ryan's faction."

"What are you choosing?"

She returned to the directory.

"I haven't decided yet."

Raven was already studying the Iron Sieve Order, scrolling through its recruitment requirements with obvious interest. Dezzy had opened several technical and cultivation organizations, comparing their membership benefits and restrictions, while Ben kept switching between commercial factions and anything that mentioned payment for relatively low-risk work.

Ryan looked around at them.

"So we're splitting up."

"Most likely," Dezzy said.

He nodded, though the idea bothered him slightly.

They'd only just become a squad. Yesterday had been the first time they'd fought together, and although their coordination had been rough, they'd managed to survive three difficult encounters because each of them had contributed something the others lacked.

Ryan didn't particularly want to lose that.

Jessica seemed to notice.

"We're still hunting together."

He looked at her.

"Obviously."

"A faction doesn't change that."

"Good."

Ben pointed at her.

"Unless mine offers better teammates."

Raven stared at him.

Ben smiled.

"Joke."

"Bad one."

Ryan expanded his map.

"Let's handle applications before today's hunt."

Dezzy nodded.

"The directive doesn't require us to abandon our existing squad or suspend our Exclipse objectives. However, we should review membership contracts before accepting anything. Some factions impose mandatory service periods, exclusive employment clauses, or restrictions on independent hunting."

Ryan glanced at her.

"That could be a problem."

"Potentially."

Jessica looked at the directive again.

"There's something else."

Everyone turned toward her.

"Why does Unkud suddenly care what faction we belong to?"

The group went quiet.

Ryan had been so focused on the twenty-crystal reward that he hadn't seriously considered the question. Yesterday, Exclipse had sent them into a frontier wilderness and ordered them to hunt dangerous creatures. Now, less than a day later, it wanted every surviving cadet to secure backing from an established organization.

Something had changed.

And whatever it was, the people issuing their orders apparently didn't feel obligated to explain it.

"Maybe the factions are supposed to help train us," Ben suggested.

"Then why make it mandatory?" Raven asked.

Dezzy considered the notification.

"Faction membership provides legal standing and access to institutional resources. It can also create obligations for the organization accepting us."

Ryan remembered the section of municipal law he'd read that morning.

"Protection."

Jessica nodded.

"That's what I was thinking."

He looked at the directive again.

Yesterday, they'd been five newly Awakened humans walking into the wilderness with basic equipment and almost no knowledge of the world around them. If someone stronger had decided to kill them, there was very little they could have done to stop it.

The memory of the unseen creature breaking trees behind them returned with unpleasant clarity.

Ryan dismissed the notification.

"Whatever happened, we should probably finish this as soon as possible."

Nobody disagreed.

They agreed to stay connected through the squad channel and regroup once they had either secured membership or learned what their chosen factions required. Their plans for another hunt would depend on how long the applications took, and Ryan made everyone promise not to sign anything that prevented them from continuing to work together.

Ben looked mildly offended by the last instruction.

"Do you think I'm going to accidentally sell myself?"

Ryan stared at him.

Ben sighed.

"Fine. I'll read the contract."

Ryan headed out first.

The morning streets were already crowded, with workers, merchants, hunters, and members of dozens of unfamiliar species moving through the outer district. He followed his purchased map toward the city center, weaving between cargo platforms and groups of armored travelers until he reached the edge of its coverage.

Then the route disappeared.

Beyond a tall stone archway lay the inner districts.

Ryan stopped.

Skynet immediately offered him another purchase.

[INNER DISTRICT MAP PACKAGE]

[ACCESS FEE: 2 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS]

Ryan stared.

"No."

He dismissed the notification.

He'd already spent enough money learning where things were, and he didn't have two whole crystals left to waste on directions.

People had navigated cities before maps existed.

Probably.

Ryan stepped through the archway.

The architecture changed almost immediately. Buildings grew taller, cleaner, and more elaborate, their surfaces covered in polished materials that reflected the light of the twin suns. Holographic advertisements became larger and brighter, while expensive alien vehicles floated above designated transit lanes. Even the pedestrians looked different, many wearing finely crafted armor or clothing threaded with faintly glowing energy circuits.

Ryan slowed as he passed a storefront displaying a weapon that cost more crystals than he expected to earn in an entire month.

He needed directions.

Finding someone willing to give them was another matter.

After several unsuccessful attempts with alien pedestrians, he spotted a human leaning against a stone pillar. The man's armor was worn but clean, and he appeared to be studying a navigation interface projected above his wristband.

Ryan approached.

"Hey. Do you know where the Streamer Guild headquarters is?"

The man looked up, glanced at Ryan's Exclipse uniform, and pointed deeper into the city.

"Central plaza."

"How far?"

"Walking?"

"Yeah."

"About an hour."

Ryan sighed.

"Of course."

The man smiled.

"You can't miss it."

"What am I looking for?"

"The building screaming for attention."

Ryan blinked.

"That describes half this city."

"No."

The man laughed.

"You'll understand."

Ryan thanked him and continued.

An hour later, he understood.

The Streamer Guild headquarters didn't merely stand in the central plaza.

It dominated it.

Ryan stopped at the end of the avenue, staring up at a colossal tower of polished black alloy and reflective glass. The building rose hundreds of stories into the sky, its upper levels surrounded by massive holographic rings that rotated slowly beneath the twin suns. Light spilled across its surface in shifting patterns, illuminating advertisements, live broadcasts, and enormous promotional images of warriors whose names Ryan couldn't begin to pronounce.

Every surface seemed alive.

Live combat feeds played across screens several stories tall. On one, a horned warrior fought a swarm of creatures across a barren plain. Another showed a team descending through a Dungeon while viewer comments poured along the edge of the broadcast. A third displayed an arena duel between two species Ryan had never seen, their weapons colliding in flashes of blue and crimson energy.

Numbers hovered beside each feed.

[428,381,772 LIVE]

[1,208,443,091 LIVE]

[771,029,115 LIVE]

Ryan stared.

A billion.

More than a billion people watching one fight.

His pulse quickened.

He remembered Darkstar.

The asteroid beneath a foreign star. The endless tide of monsters. The chat moving too quickly to read. The tens of millions watching from Earth while Ryan sat in his bedroom, barely remembering to breathe.

That had seemed enormous.

This was something else.

This was galactic.

Camera drones flew around the tower in organized swarms. Some followed armored combatants walking through the entrance, while others hovered around groups posing on the broad steps leading toward the lobby. Advertisements shifted across the building, promoting weapons, armor, cultivation products, luxury spacecraft, and services Ryan didn't recognize.

He slowly climbed the first step.

Then stopped.

For years, the dream had been simple.

Pass the Aptitude Test. Awaken. Become strong enough to fight monsters on distant worlds. Stream those fights, build an audience, and earn enough money to help his family. Maybe become famous enough that his name actually meant something.

It had always existed somewhere in the future, beyond training and deployment and all the other things he needed to survive first.

Now he was standing in front of it.

Ryan opened his status one last time.

Not because he needed to.

Because he suddenly felt painfully aware of how little he had.

[Rank: 1 beginning]

[Qi Points Opened: 1]

[Talent: Absolute Energy Barrier]

[Skills: None]

[Unique Skills: None]

One Qi Point.

One Talent he'd awakened yesterday.

Less than a crystal to his name.

No reputation, no audience, and no achievements worth mentioning beyond surviving his first hunt.

Ryan looked up at the enormous screens.

Some of the warriors displayed there were probably stronger than everyone he'd ever met combined. Their names flashed across advertisements while millions of viewers watched them fight creatures that made the beasts from yesterday look harmless.

For the first time since seeing the Streamer Guild listing, doubt crept in.

'Why would they want me?'

A camera drone floated past.

Its red lens rotated.

Stopped.

For half a second, it pointed directly at Ryan.

He stared back.

Then smiled.

'Fine. If they don't want me yet, I'll give them a reason.'

Ryan adjusted the collar of his Exclipse uniform, squared his shoulders, and continued up the steps.

Above the colossal entrance, brilliant blue-violet letters burned across the tower.

[STREAMER GUILD]

The glass doors opened.

Noise spilled out.

Voices. Music. Crowds. Broadcast commentary.

Ryan's smile widened.

Then he stepped inside.