Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

"It looks like everyone has arrived." Said Tigereye as Lucan took a seat next to Hellfire and Super. "You all know why we are here… the drow. This is a problem that can't be ignored. I wanted to talk about putting our difference aside and dealing with this so we can continue to bring in profits."

"What bull crap. Don't bring me into your mess, I have no desire to work with anyone here." Said a large man. He was Killshot, the leader of the number one ranked guild. "If you scrubs can't deal with a couple of elves, I see no reason to help you. If your goal is to only talk about cooperation, then I am out of here."

Tigereye frowned. "Killshot, what is the meaning of this? I explained everything clearly to you when you were invited."

"He, he, to tell the truth, I was just hoping to get some useful information from the others, but its clear that no one knows shit. I am out of here."

The crowd murmured as some called for him to stay. Tigereye didn't try to keep him here as Killshot slowly moved towards the exit.

"Pick up your feet and move, if you don't want to stay then leave so we can get back to business. I don't have all day." Lucan called out.

The crowd quieted at his rude remark. Killshot looked towards the lowest level player among them. He only smirked before he opened a return scroll and vanished.

"Sit down and shut up." Another voice yelled at Lucan. "No one wants to here the opinion of a worthless warlock."

Lucan turned to see a player called Bone Crusher yelling at him. Lucan recognized him as Jason Thomas, Heir of the Winged Tiger Corporation.

"Quit being salty just because my girlfriend turned you down." The warlock said before sitting again after embarrassing Bone Crusher.

"You… You should just shut the hell up."

"I heard you the first time."

"That is enough, we are here for a reason." Tigereye said. Let us talk about what we can do to defeat the drow."

The general discussion began. Several guilds wanted to form a coalition to create a force to attack the drow. Of course, once the idea of a united force was brought up the conversation got bogged down with who would be leading it. Half an hour was spent arguing. Lucan didn't have a guild and had no interest in joining a super army, the topic was useless to him.

"What a waste of time." Lucan muttered.

"You don't think they could defeat the drow?" Hellfire asked.

"The drow are not the issue, only a symptom. It is the Mother of Darkness that needs to be stopped, but that is pretty much impossible. Besides even if every player in Evolution banded together we still wouldn't even amount to a single percent of the drow in the underdark. Even if by some chance the drow were defeated, something else would take their place. At the end of the day we are playing a video game. Peace and prosperity make for a boring game."

"Hmm, that is true." Super said. "What would you do then?"

"These guilds just need to alter their business models. War is the most profitable time. Players aren't the only people suffering. The NPCs are getting attack too. Players should start selling to them or being mercenaries or whatever. There is tons of deals to be made and I plan on getting my share."

Hellfire nodded, agreeing with the idea.

"Geez, this is going nowhere." Lucan said while he continued to watch the guilds bicker.

"Then why don't you suggest something instead of being useless." Bone Crusher said, making his way towards Lucan. "Unless you are just all talk. Why don't you follow Killshot and scram!"

Lucan rolled his eyes. "Get bent. Don't cause problems over here."

"PROBLEMS! You got problems! Who invited a worthless piece of trash to join us?" Bone Crusher shouted, attracting attention from most of the other players. "You don't have a guild, what player would follow your command, you aren't even high enough level to do anything important. LEAVE!"

The amphitheater was quiet.

"Is this how you all feel?!" Lucan asked.

There were some voices who agreed but most remained silent.

"Fine, if I am not wanted, I shall go. But let me leave you with a few parting words. The Mother of Darkness… She is a deity. The drow outnumber the surface dwellers, you should not be looking for a way to destroy them but a way to survive. Oh, and if any of you are thinking of heading to the underdark, I sell night vision and as of today I will offer a transportation service if your organizations ever want to visit other realms. For the right price you can go adventuring in any realm. Think my name three times and ask for power."

"You are really leaving?" Super asked.

"Yeah, this is boring. I am sure you guys will tell me if I miss anything good." Lucan then turned to Bone Crusher. "Besides my girlfriend is waiting for me back in bed on my ship. I can't leave her waiting for too long. I just happened to check my bag and found that I accidently took all her clothes with me."

"Why you-." Before Bone Crusher could grab Lucan, he jumped on his broom and flew back to his ship.

Lucan waved to the many players below after he landed on the ship. "Give me a call if you need to buy something. Alright crew, raise the anchor and set sail, we are returning to the ethereal realm."

The players watched as the crew hauled the anchor back up and the ship sailed down the river. It went through the crack in the sky and disappeared. After it left the first crack closed and the yellow river flowed out the second crack, disappearing from the sky with the river's exit. Everything had gone back to normal like it had never been there in the first place.

Silent stepped out of Lucan's shadow. "Who is waiting in your bed?" She asked while pinching his side.

"I was just having some fun." He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Silent blushed but the ghost crew Lucan had bought from the Ghost King didn't mind. All they cared about was properly sailing the ship.

***

After Lucan left, no one brought up the idea of defeating the drow again. They were being led by a god. Standard warfare would not do the trick. If there was a way to defeat the Mother of Darkness it was probably some sort of hidden quest.

The result of the summit was an agreement to report the movements of the Drow and possibly assist each other in defense. A few of the larger guilds decided to make a joint excursion into the underdark to see what was going on underground.

***

Silent sat in the captain's cabin with Lucan while they ate lunch. "I didn't guess that you would be able to sail the ship into other realms, that's pretty neat."

"Yeah it was one of the abilities I got with my race."

Lucan shared the ability in party chat.

[Call of the Yellow River]

[Champion has the ability to temporarily reroute the yellow river. Once per day, the champion can pull the yellow river into another realm. All wandering souls will feel the draw of the yellow river. Ethereal abilities and magic will become stronger from the close proximity of the yellow river. The river will stay in the altered location for up to 3 hours.]

"I have done a little bit of experimenting." Lucan said. "When the yellow river is nearby, your ethereal step ability will only use half a second of time every second it is activated. Basically, you get double the duration."

"That's pretty handy. And I bet if you tossed someone into the river, they would have a bad day."

"A very bad day." Lucan agreed.

"Where are we off to now?"

"I need to fight. I learned two new variant spells, but I have yet to use them in actual combat."

"Okay, lets head to the fortress, I know a good dungeon that is the perfect level for us."

Lucan did as she asked and sailed through the ethereal realm and stopped at the location where his fortress was. Dropping anchor, they left the ship for the ghost crew to defend.

Lucan waved his hand and a portal opened. Silent and the warlock stepped through to the shadow realm.