Chapter 178: Learning about how to run a Guild Part 1

Joshua had gotten into a small rhythm over the past couple of days during their short little vacation. He'd spend the mornings training on his own to get a better handle of his aura along with his basic training and his training with his scale blade. He'd then go get something to eat before going back home and studying up on what he'd need to know in the medical field to take the next step like his mother. Then late in the afternoon he'd either go over to his father's dojo for some hand to hand combat sparring or over to Aito's father's dojo to train with his scale blade against other combatants. Usually he'd run into Adrian there and they'd have their spars. When it was a spar of pure swordsmanship then Joshua would clearly lag behind, but when it came to anything goes Joshua usually came out on top.

After all of the excitement for the day he'd head home and spend some time with his family over dinner discussing how their days went and what they'd plan to do later. It was a nice rhythm that Joshua could easily see himself loving doing for a long time, but he knew that at the end of the week he was going to head back out to explore the world some more and he loved doing that just as much. Today was different from the usual schedule this time around though. He still went with his usual morning training that he had gotten used to over the past few days. He kept it up even though he had far surpassed his potential for his current level and he wouldn't have to worry about lagging behind in that field for a long time to come.

When he was through with his training for the day he grabbed a quick shower before heading over towards Laura's guild in the hub city. Both Laura and Madalyn's groups were supposed to arrive back from their expeditions last night so it was as good a time as any to ask them about how he should handle setting up his new guild. It would get their minds off of all the work they had been up to and would be a good way for Joshua to learn what exactly he was up for when it came to becoming a guild leader. When Joshua got to the Phoenix Guild he could see that Henry was already there waiting for him. It was a good thing that his friend decided to come along because Joshua was already planning to make Henry second in charge when it came to the guild. He was the only other person among his group that wanted anything to do with putting together the guild after all.

Having Henry around would make things much easier in the long run, so Joshua smiled when he saw his friend and they both headed into the guild. The place was far more crowded then it had been for the previous few days and that was probably because of the fact that the higher ups of the guild were back. All of the small fries were coming in to get fresh orders on what they should be doing as a guild which just made the place even more crowded than usual. Joshua noticed that most of the people were in the large hall area looking over a mission board that had task set up for them to do or descriptions of dungeons that had already been cleared by the higher ups of the guild. It was a good system where the strongest of the guild cleared a path forward so the younger and lower leveled members could follow and catch up.

Joshua and Henry made their way past all the commotion and waived towards the secretary at the entrance desk for the guild. She gave them both a small smile knowing that they were there for a meeting with her boss so she just let them pass with a knowing look. They made their way up to the meeting room and they weren't surprised when everyone else seemed to be already there for the small meeting. There were only four other people in the room outside of Joshua and Henry. These people were the four people that would probably know the most of what would be needed for starting up a guild.

Two of these people were the guild masters of the two major guilds of the alliance, Laura and Madalyn. They were both casually drinking some coffee and discussing their last expedition. Laura looked decently energetic in comparison to the last time Joshua had saw her. It was most likely do to the fact that she had gotten a good night of rest after the expedition instead of heading straight into more guild work when she returned. When Joshua saw the information appear from the system around Laura he noticed that she was a level ahead of Adrian, Aito, and Henry and stood at level sixty-six showing that she had been gaining a lot of experience lately. It was clear that her guild had stopped focusing on gaining territory and had instead started leaning towards leveling as efficiently as possible.

Madalyn seemed to be in a similar state as Laura, but instead of giving off the calm and somewhat regal feeling that Laura had started giving off as she took in the traits of her soul beast Madalyn was far more playful and enjoyed teasing her fellow guild master. The pair's relationship had come a long way over the past few years as they seemed more like rivals now then just two women that were forced to work together while not being able to stand each other's company. Madalyn didn't have her usual dark rings under her eyes from her late nights of research since she had been able to get some rest recently and she seemed to be full of energy and in a good mood. When Joshua observed her he noticed that she was the same level as Laura which meant their rivalry was probably stronger than ever.

The other two people that had decided to come along for the meeting were the right hand members of the two guild masters. Natalie was sitting by Laura and enjoying a drink while following along with the conversation. She seemed more confidant of herself after having spent a lot of time away from the world government guild and being given a leading role in a guild where she felt like she actually made a difference. Natalie was still a little behind Laura and Madalyn as she was sitting at level sixty-four, but she was still one of the stronger members in the guild and would probably play a big role in any large expeditions.

Lastly there was Isabella who was sitting beside Madalyn and calmly sipping away at her tea. She was just listening to the conversation and didn't seem to have much to say herself, but Joshua knew that the super secretary that was Isabella had probably memorized every word said even if it was trivial gossiping to some extent. Isabella was much like Henry in many ways and kept both guilds under control and would probably be the main person Joshua would be relying on in how to construct his guild. She was the same level as Natalie which was surprising considering all of the other stuff she had to keep up with.

The group of four women stopped chatting when they noticed Joshua and Henry's approach. They smiled a bit at seeing their friends show up, even Isabella had a small smile at their arrival. "You guys finally decided to show up huh. I thought you'd have us waiting here another hour by the way things were going." Madalyn said with a small smirk as Joshua and Henry took a seat across from her.

"Well you know how Joshua gets caught up in his training. He and the rest of his family are like that even if they don't want to admit it." Henry said with a smile getting a chuckle out of everyone except Joshua who simply shook his head.

"Sorry about being a little late. I've just gotten into a bit of a routine since we got back from our last expedition and I lost track of time." Joshua explained while scratching his head and chuckling a bit. "Thanks for coming to help us out with this though. You're the best people we could ask for something like this after all."

"No problem Joshua. Having you in control of a strong guild of your own will just further strengthen the alliance." Laura said with a small smile. "We'll need all the strength we can get for our upcoming plans and hopefully strong status in the future. Having you catch up to us will just make things easier."

"Besides having our lucky charm around more often can't be a bad thing after all." Natalie said with a small teasing smile. Joshua was expecting the teasing from Madalyn, but he was surprised when it came from Natalie instead, apparently the new growth in confidence had changed some things after all.

"Well then shall we get started on the meeting then?" Isabella said with a small smile as she looked towards Joshua and Henry. When everyone nodded in agreement she decided to start things off. "So what exactly have you gotten done for your guild so far? It would be good to know so we know exactly what we should focus on telling you guys about."

"At this point I've gotten the guild set up under the system so that it is registered, I haven't started recruiting or anything so others don't know about it, but we won't have any problems recruiting when we want to. We also got a building set up for our guild that's in the more peaceful area of the hub city and away from all the main traffic. Oh and James Town is all set up with most of the territories around it already being under the guild's control." Joshua explained.

"He also named it the Fenrir Guild, so I'm guessing he's going with the same intentions when it comes to the name as you two." Henry said with a sigh as the girls simply smiled at that.

"How large do you plan on making your guild?" Isabella asked to keep the important parts of the conversation going. "Do you plan on being a large guild that invites several people with very little limits to recruitment similar to Laura's guild or some specifics that you want set aside like Madalyn's?"

"Neither actually, I don't plan on creating a huge guild after all." Joshua said with a small smile surprising the others. "I plan on keeping the guild pretty small and focused. I'm going for more of a quality over quantity situation when it comes to our guild in the end. We're already a part of a large alliance so there is no reason to invite so many people into our guild when they can just go to Laura's or Madalyn's and have everything set up for them there. Instead I'd rather have people I know can handle themselves join our guild. It will help keep out the spies as well."

"That makes sense plus I'm sure you don't want to have to deal with a large group like we have to. If that were the case then it wouldn't have taken you guys so long to start up a guild in the first place." Madalyn said getting nods from the others while Joshua and Henry just played at being affronted by her comments.

"Well if you're planning on sticking to being a small scale guild then you won't have to do too much leg work. It also makes sense with you guys already being affiliated with the alliance. Another big guild in the alliance might just push some of the other large guilds and the world government guild to band together to take us down before we gain too much strength and that would ruin all of our plans." Natalie said with a small frown.

"But if it's just another small guild joining in the alliance they won't take it as to much of a threat in the end. The one problem with the world government guild is the fact that they don't look at individual strength all that much. They'll see a small guild joining the alliance instead of the fact that the small guild is filled up with nothing but high level combat personnel that could easily clear territories on their own." Isabella explained getting nods from everyone.

"How exactly do you plan on recruiting people though? I mean if you only want the cream of the crop it'll be hard without an incentive." Laura asked a bit puzzled. Everyone turned to look at Joshua, but it was Henry who responded instead.

"We've got our incentive right here." Henry said with a grin as he tapped Joshua on the shoulder. "He's already got one fan boy to join his guild along with the rest of his party just because of the fact he was the number one during the first phase. I wonder how many people will come running when they find out." With that comment Joshua felt like Henry's smile was pure evil.