Ambition

"What are you guys' levels right now?" I asked Valerie and Lukas as we ate breakfast on the kitchen island.

It was currently 9am, and we were eating bacon and eggs, my favorite meal, to start the day off.

"I'm level 8 currently, though I think Val said she's still level 7 when i asked her yesterday." Lukas replied, drinking a glass of milk.

"Yeah, I'm still level 7, though I'm about to hit level 8. You?"

"Mmm" I hummed in affirmation, taking a bite out of a piece of bacon.

"I'm level 9 at the moment and I found a prospective guild member yesterday. She'd make a great addition to our guild, possibly even help us move up the ranks." I added, looking them both in the eyes.

"Oh who's that? Rookie player? Pro looking to switch guilds? Do tell…" Valerie replied with interest. Lukas also stopped fiddling with his phone and paid rapt attention since it was concerning our guild.

Players that could propel a guild in the top 10 up the ranks were nearly non-existent. At such a guild rank, all your top competitors have numerous elite and monstrous players so for a guild to have an edge in terms of members, they needed to have star players.

Star players are insanely skilled and pay attention to even the smallest detail in-game. They are masters of efficiency and every single one has a unique playing style that makes them stand out from the rest of the player base. All of them are global celebrities and are either currently in a guild or strictly solo.

Right now, I was implying Ellie could be such a player, which was a big deal.

"Nah, she's actually an NPC. Her name is Ellie and she's a warrior." I replied while smiling.

Valerie and Lukas looked at me blankly, trying to comprehend what I had just said. An NPC? That's unusual. Most NPCs have no interest in guilds.

They were certainly surprised, but regained composure quickly after realizing that the game was [Transcendent] after all.

"Ah, I see. Is she good? How's her attitude?" Lukas asked, rather intrigued.

"She's pretty fun to play with. She's enthusiastic and would work well in a team. Her fighting style focuses more on speed, precision and skill chaining. Her synchro rate is 95% too, so in the long run, she'll definitely be invaluable to the guild." I said, scooping some of my eggs into my mouth.

"Ah that's good. We definitely need players who can work well with others… She- WAIT did you just say her synchro rate is 95%?!." Lukas stood up in disbelief.

Valerie almost choked on her juice and looked at me with a shocked expression once she realized what I had just said.

"Yeah." I replied with a grin.

"I was pretty damn lucky to have met an NPC with that high of a synchro rate on the first day. I doubt there are many like her in the entire game. I truly hit it big ahahaha." I added, laughing.

"Damn, you hit it big alright. 95%! That's crazy! My synchro rate is 94% , and I thought I wouldn't meet anyone with a synchro rate higher than 90% other than those monsters from the other top 10 guilds." Lukas replied with a serious face.

"Yeah, it's definitely crazy. I'm surprised by your synchro rate though. I thought I would definitely have a higher one than you." Valerie said with a frown on her face.

"Haha, sorry Val…you lost this time. To be honest, I was also surprised. Well, it's better this way. I want us to strive to surpass the big 3 in Transcendent. The stakes of this game are way higher than others considering the immense hype it's getting….What are you guys' synchro rate?" Lukas said with a serious face, sitting back down.

Valerie and I gulped once we heard Lukas' goal for the guild.

Surpassing the big 3 was an incredibly daunting task, if not borderline impossible. Currently, [♱Trinity] was officially recognized as the 7th strongest guild world-wide, according to multiple acclaimed media companies.

The rankings were based on a guild's net worth, accolades, gaming history, popularity, and power index, which was a statistic based on the power level of the players in the guild as well as the guild's influence.

No guild in the Top 10 has changed rankings since the rankings were announced 3 years ago, why?

Because it was extremely difficult to do so. To surpass just one rank, the guild would need several elite and monstrous players, as well as a star player, which was already very difficult to obtain.

Not only that, the guild would have to consistently be at the forefront of the game, with the best game accolades.

They would also have to protect themselves from other guilds trying to prevent their rise. All in all, surpassing the big 3 was a herculean task.

"93%" Valerie spoke first, snapping out of her thoughts.

"97%" I followed suit, smirking.

"Nice Val.. and you too Tris…DID YOU JUST SAY 97?!." Lukas exclaimed, dropping his phone this time.

"Yeah…Ninety FUCKING seven dude. I probably have one of the highest, if not the highest, synchro rates amongst players."

"Holy Shit! This is amazing though! With this lineup we definitely have a shot, even though it's small, in surpassing the big 3." Valerie said excitedly, looking forward to the future.

"You stole the words out of my mouth Val. Wow, Trist… you're a monster." Lukas looked at me and said while smiling.

"Heh," I chuckled.

"It's our time to shine… Let's conquer Transcendent." I said with a wide smile on my face, looking at my siblings. They both looked at me, smiled and hummed in agreement.

We continued to talk, and made plans for the future. Lukas wanted us to be the first guild to be established in the game. He wanted to make a statement to the other guilds and use the prestige to recruit the best fresh talent into our ranks.

Valerie and I agreed to the idea, though it would mean that we would have to grind our asses off in the coming days in order to reach level 20, and find a guild token of the highest grade.

According to the game notes, guilds in [Transcendent] are of different grades, depending on the guild token used to establish the guild.

From lowest to highest, the grades are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. Platinum and Diamond ranked guild tokens are limited in quantity because of the luxury of both ranks. To give you an idea of the luxury, diamond ranked guilds possess estates as large as an entire city.

The guild hall shown for diamond ranked guilds in the game notes was extremely lavish. There were customizable statues made of pure gold, with diamond engravings. The hall itself was as large, if not larger than a royal castle and the decorations were all made of gold and jewels.

The estate had halls for all sub professions in the game. It had a research hall, mount hall, and plenty of other specialized halls. The landscape of the estate was serene and the plants were beautiful. Everything about the estate screamed luxury.

And I haven't even mentioned all the additional perks that come with a diamond ranked guild token, so you can see the value of such a token.

The guild estates themselves can be taken over by other parties, so unless one has the strength and influence to protect the estate, it's probably best to either delay using the guild token or sell it to another party for an exorbitant price.

Once we discussed some other minor details about [♱Trinity], we decided to split and start playing so I went back to my room, laid down on my bed, and put on my VR helmet.

"Dive in." I muttered under my breath.

[Welcome back to Transcendent, Perseus]

[2nd July 2109, 9:07 am]

[Face, brainwave and retina recognition complete]

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