Chapter 12: The Family Guild

The light dissipated, leaving all the village women in front of that blue box asking for a response. One by one, I watched as they accepted, while on my own screen, I saw each of their information: their names, levels, health, and profession. I started checking the options in the Guild tab. It felt too familiar; I thought it would have more interesting options, but it seemed I had overestimated it. I kept looking, not wanting to give up, and found a button that said: [Select Guild territory to found the Guild House] That sounded interesting, so I pressed it, and the world changed completely. Now I could see everything from above, as if I were a bird. It was like having the forge mode from a certain video game. The world appeared in two colors: everything around the village was red, while the small village had a yellow color. "There’s no way I can go wrong." I selected the village, and it all began to turn blue. My vision abruptly returned to my body, and a message appeared in front of me as an alert: [Congratulations, you have unlocked the guild options! Check the guild tab for more information] When I reopened the guild tab, everything had changed. Now it was divided into four tabs: [Members] [Guild Shop] [Guild Skills] [Guild Settings] I tried to open the tabs one by one, but they were all locked. The only one available was the guild settings. The first thing that appeared was a warning: [Welcome. To use the Guild system, you must configure the guild to your liking] [Guild Type] [Battle Guild] [Conquest Guild] [Royal Guild] [Anarchy Guild] ... [Family Guild] There were hundreds of options. I started reading them one by one; they all clearly had one thing: Objective, Reward, Management. For example, the Battle Guild’s objective was to fight for rewards; the Conquest Guild required dominating and maintaining territories—the more territory you dominated, the greater rewards you would receive. Each had a different description, but among them, the [Family Guild] caught my attention. Its description was quite interesting: "As head of the family, your mission is to be the leader and head of the family." Objective: Grow your family. Reward: The larger your family, the better rewards you will get. Management: As a family, the head of the family can add members in the categories "[Wife]", "[Concubine]", "[Lover]", "[Protected]", "[Guest]", and "[Child]". Children conceived within the guild will be categorized as "[Children]", and children conceived outside the guild will be considered "[Bastards]". There can only be one heir and one main wife at a time. Statuses can change, and only the guild leader has absolute authority. I was truly tired of all the struggles in the kingdom and the machinations that almost cost me my life, so I chose this as the type of guild I want. I don’t need to add more people, nor do I have the ambition to dominate the world, so a small, family guild might be the best option. There were too many options, but there would be time to review them carefully later. Now it was time to explain what all this meant, although I had never had a guild, I had asked many questions to my old companions. I looked around, and they were all sitting around me, waiting. Although I had taken a while, they had waited patiently. I gave Manaia an apologetic smile, who only responded with an understanding one. "Alright, listen carefully," I told them, my voice resonating with the authority of a leader. "What you just saw is an invitation to a guild. A guild is more than just a group of hunters; it’s a sacred alliance between its members, a pact that the gods themselves witness. Once inside, you are part of a family for life." Seeing their faces of confusion and anticipation, I continued explaining. "There are many advantages. To start, mutual protection. Guild members are obligated to defend each other, and the world system reinforces it. If you are attacked, your guildmates will know and can help you. There are also passive benefits, such as bonuses to experience, gathering, or even resistance, which increase as the guild grows. And, of course, you have my direct protection." I paused here, giving them time to process it. "As for obligations, the main one is loyalty. You must support each other, work together for the good of the guild, and follow the leader’s directives, which is now me." "And speaking of the first task as members of this guild..." I intentionally paused, with a smile that must have seemed strange to them, but I achieved my goal, as they all looked intrigued. "I want you to organize a feast." Their faces showed disbelief, then sorrow, as they had almost no food. "I know what you’re thinking: ’With what food, Jax?’, but I have a surprise." I activated my Inventory skill. A portal opened beside me. Manaia and the other village women approached to look inside, and their eyes widened. I could see the expression of pure astonishment on their faces. Inside the portal, there was a mountain of food piled up: sacks of grain, dried meat, barrels of brine, preserved fruits... much more than they had ever seen. "Take all the food you can," I told them. "It’s yours." Like worker ants, the village women rushed forward. Manaia was the first, her eyes moist as she began to pull out sacks and pieces of meat. "Where did you get all this food, savior?" Manaia asked me, her voice choked with emotion as she dragged a sack of grain. "Whenever I went on an expedition, I prepared with reserve food for myself and my warriors, but I always pretended to lose it or run out to leave it in nearby villages where I raided monster nests." "It’s impressive, savior, your generosity is as vast as the ocean!" In my mind, I remembered the purpose of this food: I still kept it because all the villages around the Demon King’s dungeon had been massacred with no survivors. But I was glad they could eat; I couldn’t tell them that, I didn’t want to ruin the moment. All the village women rushed, taking out the grains and meat I had stored. When the inventory was mostly empty, I closed the portal. "While you prepare the feast," I told them, seeing the joy in their eyes, "I’ll explore the island a bit to see what’s nearby." It was my chance to see what resources they had and where the dangers were.