Chapter 361 - A Bond Forged in a Name
It's not that I don't yearn for the student life—staying up late, messing around with friends, and deepening our bonds—but right now, I'm a busy man buried under an endless mountain of tasks.
The gathering at the Shijo residence ended at a perfectly respectable hour. I zipped back to my room and, in a fluid motion, initiated the dive.
The current time was just before six in the evening… in other words, right on time for our meeting.
For better or worse, [Arcadia] has no tedious, lengthy startup sequence. You just close your eyes, drift off to sleep, and reality and dreams flip over—
"————……"
When I opened my eyes again, I was already in the other world spreading across the virtual space.
"Ah."
"Mm, everyone's here."
My login point was the Eastern Round Table. Two familiar voices greeted me as I materialized into the world with a flash of blue light.
My self-proclaimed junior, who was, as always, occupying a large portion of the table with some suspicious-looking work, and my partner, standing right beside her. As far as I knew, they hadn't had any significant interactions yet, but I figured they must have exchanged a few words while waiting for me.
Sora's face, standing next to Tetra, didn't show any noticeable tension, though it wasn't entirely absent.
"Sorry, did I keep you waiting?"
"You're right on time."
"You are right on time."
Their voices overlapped perfectly, save for the ending of their sentences. The two exchanged a faint smile and a wry grin—hmm, it seems they get along well enough.
Considering what's to come, that's a very good thing.
"Introductions… are already done. Is there anything else we need to cover before we start?"
"I don't think so."
Just like Tetra, who gave a crisp, clear answer, Sora didn't seem to have anything to add either. My partner gave a small nod, and I returned it before deciding to get straight to the point.
"Alright, let's get started then. First up…"
The reason we gathered here today was for one purpose and one purpose only.
"I guess we'll start with the most important part, the naming ceremony?"
The three of us—me, Sora, and Tetra—were here to form a clan.
The role of a 'Clan,' a player mutual aid organization in this game—or rather, the benefits an individual receives by joining one—can be broadly divided into two categories.
First is the right to use the 'Clan Room.' It grants access to a dedicated dimensional space that can be entered from the city of your affiliated faction.
It's a wonderful space that can be used as a shared clan warehouse and also has housing elements. However, since it requires Luna as a fee, or rather, a catalyst to maintain the dimensional space, and the price is quite steep, some players choose not to use it.
Of course, we're going to throw money at it and use it to its fullest. It sounds fun.
As for the second benefit, you get to receive 'clan buffs,' which are minor enhancement effects. This is a common feature in online games with guild or clan systems, and there's no harm in taking what you can get.
When I learned about this, I broke into a cold sweat, thinking, 'Oh no, is this another mark against me for my Four Pillar War sandbagging?' But since the effects weren't directly related to combat power, I was safe. I managed to avoid the icy glares of Irori and the others.
The most common buffs apparently improve drop rates and experience gain.
The former is obvious, but the latter isn't a waste either, as it affects skill growth rates. If you can join a clan, you're better off doing so.
—But that's where my position becomes a problem.
It's not a huge issue, but as a ranked player who's constantly in the spotlight, the news that I've 'joined so-and-so clan' could cause unnecessary commotion, with a probability of just under one hundred percent.
Again, it's not a real problem, but dealing with all the fuss is a pain… so, the simplest solution was the 'let's just make our own' option.
If there had been a massive guild like Sotalm's [Alliance], where most of the faction's players join with a casual, "might as well join" attitude, things would have been different… but our Eastern Faction, full of free spirits, seems to be dominated by small-scale clans.
Apparently, there are benefits to having a larger organization, as the boons are somewhat enhanced in proportion to the size, but—well, the bigger you get, the bigger the disadvantages.
After Goldow half-threatened me with stories of the entanglements faced by the largest guild run by his 'daughter,' he advised me, "I'm telling you for your own good, just make a small, modest one." Following his advice seemed like the safest bet.
And so, the conversation naturally shifted to 'let's just form a duo clan for now,' but we ran into a problem: the minimum number of members required to establish a clan.
That minimum number was exactly three—in other words, the system itself was telling me to bring one more person.
So I reached out… or rather, I didn't even have to. The one who unexpectedly raised her hand was my self-proclaimed junior and senior, the ninth-ranked [Undying], Tetra.
Her reason: she was currently unaffiliated and it sounded interesting.
Excellent. Hired! And so, that brings us to today's gathering. Our first joint task, having assembled to form a new clan, was—
"""Hmmmm………………"""
—a meeting where we all tilted our heads in unison at the list of 'clan name' suggestions we'd brought, creating a perfectly relaxed and harmonious atmosphere.
"I'm terrible at naming things…"
"Same here."
"Same here, as well…"
Even with the equipment and skill names in this game, the artisan-types and my master (and her grandfather) have always been so eager to name things that I've never had the chance.
Well, if we're going down that line of thought—
"Tetra, you do crafting, right? Wouldn't you be somewhat used to naming things?"
"Don't be unreasonable. You saw the name of the dagger I gave you before, right? Don't expect any creativity or sense from me."
"I thought it was cool, though. Shadow-Sewing Ritual Dagger."
"To be honest, I just ripped it off from a manga."
"Oh, you read manga?"
That's a little surprising. I kind of had an image of her as someone who would spend her free time wandering aimlessly.
"Well, anyway…"
Tetra trailed off, looking at the 'suggestions' each of us had written on paper—especially the names I had come up with—and offered a wry smile.
"Alright, just say what's on your mind."
"She's asking you, Sora-senpai."
"Wh-Ah… W-Wha, me?!"
Caught completely off guard by the unexpected turn, Sora let out a bewildered cry, which Tetra ignored with a cool expression, showing no remorse.
It's great that they're getting along, but is she calling Sora 'senpai' too?
Despite her avatar's appearance, she has a way of speaking that seems worldly or even old… just how old is this junior-senior of mine?
Setting that aside—
"Well, like I said. I'm seriously bad at this stuff. I'm well aware I have zero sense for it, so you don't have to spare my feelings."
As I said this, Tetra, still with a wry smile, and Sora, with a troubled look, watched me flip over my idea sheet to hide it. I'm taking absolutely no damage; I couldn't care less.
"In that case… maybe we should just go with the safe choice, right?"
"If you're okay with that, Tetra, then I have no objections."
"Eek… M-Me…………"
Following my rather tragic sheet, Tetra also flipped hers over. Seeing her own suggestions left on the table, Sora's voice shifted from surprise to hesitation as she murmured the same words.
"I feel like mine lack any sort of creativity or anything…"
"But I think they have a good feel to them. At least better than mine."
"They've got style. At least better than senpai's."
Sora-san looked down shyly, but even with a quick glance, I could see several 'nice-sounding' names.
Maybe it's because I know she's the one who came up with them, but they all seemed like names we could use proudly, without any sense of trying too hard to be cool.
"Alright, let's pick from Sora's ideas."
"Sounds good."
"Ugh…!"
And so, the naming meeting for our clan formation proceeded smoothly—
◇ Clan [Azure Sky] has been formed ◇
A small new connection was born in the virtual world.
However, regarding that matter, a certain someone had an objection—
"Why am I the master?!?"
—or so a cry of protest was raised against the decision made by a rigorous deliberation (a majority vote).