Talk on the Roads

For now Akiol assumed that the Guidehands were just players willing to help. Considering there was clearly resources outside of A World's Legacy there was no concrete proof of the leader being some sort of God.

Kan'na had to accomplish some pretty miraculous feats in order to ascend. Considering a large portion of those feats required her to study magic her whole life before they could be accomplished, it was highly unlikely the Guidehands leader was on the same level.

There was undoubtedly a level of advantage Six Lights had due to their previous world. Although Akiol had come across many talented players, none had the capability of surpassing that advantage.

Suddenly Akiol humored himself with a thought. Dot had actually surpassed this advantage in the beginning, his strength was leagues above what Akiol could contend with during their first encounter. There was still the lingering question on how Dot obtained this much power, but Akiol had already planned to speak to him sometime in the future. These sorts of questions could be addressed during that time.

The curious warrior asked hurriedly, "What have the Guidehands been up to? There hasn't been many hunts. Usually they uploaded a video or two."

Akiol made a mental note to find the channel of the Guidehands and take a look at these videos when he wasn't logged in.

With a frown the archer wrung his wrists, "This matter. . . I don't know if I'm allowed to share."

"So you know! Please tell me, it's not like anybody would believe us if we spread the matter! We're fresh after all!"

The archer looked up towards Akiol. Making a helpless gesture with one hand Akiol provided a small excuse, "I'm an adventurer."

"Oh.", the archer looked away before finally deciding to explain, "Apparently the Sects had approached the Guidehands. There's a disparity in high level resources due to the constant hunts, so there was an agreement to share info regarding the Third Step wandering bosses. In exchange the top Sects and the Guidehands would roughly assume what materials and equipment such a boss would drop, and whoever needed it more could claim priority in defeating it."

"The Guidehands shouldn't be short on any materials though.", the sorcerer player made an observation.

"Haha, my brother made a similar comment. They often had a hand in the hunts of various high level wandering bosses, and thus always had a small share. There's a lot of valuable things constantly being traded over by the Guidehands. Because of it they don't often get priority with the wandering bosses."

Akiol made a few assumptions to fill the missing pieces. By the looks of it the Sects and Guidehands were pretty intertwined. It was likely the Guidehands were a Guild themselves--no a Sect--which would explain their connections. Was this agreement a way of suppressing the Guidehands from holding a monopoly over resources?

In the central continent the top 10 Guilds knew each other and often held gatherings. If not for the scuffle with Infinity Base Akiol would've assumed they were tightly knit. Nonetheless they openly accepted a competitive viewpoint. Not holding personal grudges--excluding Infinity Base--against each other.

Perhaps the Guidehands receiving constant information from players requesting their help made the Guidehands a lot stronger than the other Sects. Often Guilds would rely on their own power with their vast numbers to gain an edge. The Guidehands were unique in the sense that the players unaffiliated with a Guild were willing to exchange information with them.

This made Akiol inhale sharply. The might of the Guidehands could not be underestimated! To compare Dot held a large support of the general player base but not even he gained anything beyond just moral support. The Guidehands are gaining more than just word of mouth, they're gaining direct information! 

Of course this came at a huge cost. The Guidehands couldn't monopolize anything to maintain their image of helpers. From the archer player it was clear the Guidehands would simply take a small portion of the rewards when it came to valuable targets. Since this wasn't viewed as unfair it might be taken as generous instead. 

Akiol used this opportunity to launch a follow up question, "How much do the Guidehands take from the rewards?"

"It depends with what they help with. For lower level things they leave the rewards to the players asking for help. When it comes to more valuable things they make it clear ahead of time what they'd want from the boss. Usually if the item or material they want doesn't drop they don't claim anything else.", the archer replied happily.

Akiol could tell the other players viewed this as charitable. Yet Akiol sensed something amiss by the conversation. Unless these "wandering bosses" respawned, how did the Guidehands know what material they wanted? Was their knowledge good enough to make a general guess? 

This just further increased the priority of researching the videos regarding their "hunts".

If by chance the Guidehands held an understanding of A World's Legacy to the point they could guess what bosses would drop ahead of time, it might actually be worth to temporarily join their ranks. The fact the Guidehands helped for a low price or often free was something Akiol praised. If by providing his own assistance Akiol could gain insight on their knowledge of A World's Legacy, he'd accomplish part of his goal. 

Of course this was under the assumption the bosses didn't respawn.

Akiol clicked his tongue inwardly, there was too many assumptions. If not for the fact that he was a slime he'd directly go to confirm some of his questions. He was simply concerned with the implications of his race, and how they'd treat a Third Stage slime that could respawn.

If his core could be constantly harvested. . . Akiol did not think of this matter further.

The sorcerer player pointed out, "You're quite knowledgeable despite hearing this from your brother. Is he of a high rank?"

"No not at all. He's simply been apart of them for some time. He's almost Third Step himself.", the archer pretended to be humble, but the bragging still leaked through.

"He has seniority but isn't even a captain?"

"He told me he simply wishes to help and not have to handle any of the requests. Captains are the busiest despite only being one rank higher than the average member. My brother says he's happy just being apart of them, he feels no need to climb ranks."

"Ahh, your brother is quite humble."

"Hahaha, he often likes to brag so I'm not so sure about that."

'It must be hereditary.' -Stars

Akiol stifled a chuckle. These brothers do like to brag! 

'Since he's so knowledgeable, does he know about any of Borus' creations?' -Stars

'Are you asking since you found about Glint in the East?' -Akiol

'I am.' -Stars

"Since you seem to be quite knowledgeable yourself, do you know anything about creations of Borus?", Akiol decided to ask for Stars.

Akiol appreciated Stars not going out of his way to ask himself. Right now it was important for Akiol to not be known. Not until he decided if hiding his slime race was the better option. Revealing that Akiol wielded a creation of Borus was not going to help!

The archer pondered the question for a bit before responding, "Let me message my brother about this."

"No worries if you don't know anything. Just finding rumors."

"Is it because you're an adventurer?", the sorcerer player asked.

"Of sorts.", Akiol didn't confirm anything.

Turns out claiming to be an adventurer was the right choice! 

"Isn't it troubling to be an adventurer? Its popularity dropped quite a bit as the Sects grew in strength.", the sorcerer frowned.

"I'm an older player, so I became one when it was more popular. This game is quite beautiful so I remained as one."

"Ah, I guess during your adventures that's how you obtained the quest that hides your level."

"You know quite a bit despite your own low level.", Akiol praised.

"Aha I used to be First Step, but I realized I made a mistake in my build so I wiped to start a new build."

"Isn't that troubling?"

It wasn't uncommon for some players to delete their accounts to start fresh. There was even some extremely rare methods to force a player to wipe. This was Akiol's first encounter with someone who willingly wanted to start over.

The sorcerer player seemed hesitant before answering, "The main issue is the Prominence. I missed out on good chances for some standard Titles, and it messed with my ascension to Second Step. So I decided to start again to not miss out on such things."

Akiol thought about this information. As someone who had found a 'path' the issue with Prominence wasn't nearly as apparent. Or rather a proper 'path' would grant you enough Prominence. With the existence of Guidehands Akiol was sure the concept of paths would be known. 

His assumption was further reinforced with the idea that Third Steps were in high demand. This proved that players had reached Third Stage, and there might be more than there are in the central continent. Yet the sorcerer spoke of Titles over paths.

It was then that the archer spoke up, "My brother has responded. He asked his seniors at the Guidehands and turns out the creations of Borus are considered dud items."

'Duds??' -Stars

"Duds?", Akiol repeated the question.

"Apparently they're guaranteed drops from the wandering bosses, but often can't be equipped. They're considered vanity items, or collectables. A sort of trophy."

"Do you know what they are?"

"My brother says knowledge regarding them aren't really well known. Apparently when appraised their stats are out of this world, but the mystery requirement for equipping them has yet to be found. The Sects buy them up for testing, but any further knowledge is kept under wraps."

'You don't have to form a Link in order to wield a creation of Borus right?' -Akiol

'Only if we allow it. You were able to wield me back then because I allowed it. If I willed it you wouldn't even be able to swing me.' -Stars

The creations of Borus weren't allowing the players to equip them. . .

A frown formed on Akiol's face.