Elissandra continued in a somber tone, “And this is why I must now ask that you reveal your complete character information to the guild member next to you. Your character information, your faction allies, and your quests. Everything. I realize this is a great deal of information, but this will help us determine if you have a place in our guild, and, if so, where. We will have to fail and detain anybody allied with one of our enemies. If you have a quest to infiltrate this guild, then it goes without saying you, too, will be detained.”

A motion caught the corner of Alan’s eye, as a recruit suddenly tried to make a dash for the exit. The golden sphere of energy above him pulsed, turning black as it sent out a bolt of lightning that struck the recruit. They collapsed onto the floor, unconscious, as the guild member who had been watching the recruit calmly strode over, picked up the body and walked into the darkness.

All the players around Alan began to slowly open up menus, showing them to the players that appeared by their side. Alan began to do the same, but Eve messaged him.

I have transferred the requested information to the guild AI tasked with compiling the data.

Oh?

Yes, it is rather crude but each of the Black Rose guild members seem to be inputting the data into this database. I simply uploaded it straight there.

Alright.

The knight to Alan’s right coughed, holding up a tablet, motioning for Alan to open up his character screen.

Alan turned to look at him, and said quietly, “Check your database. It should all be there.”

The knight looked down, back up at Alan, then put the tablet away, shrugging.

Alan watched the sea of recruits. More tried to make their escape, for whatever reason. A few adamantly resisted showing their information, while others tried to grab a weapon at their side or make a break for it. They were quickly silenced by a single bolt of lightning from the golden ball that floated above their head, then dragged off to who knows where. One girl managed to deflect the bolt headed her way with an energy shield of some sort, but another two bolts quickly struck at her from either side, silencing her. The moment felt sort of surreal. By the time everyone had finished showing their information, perhaps 5% of the recruits were gone.

Elissandra, who had been calmly observing the proceedings, waved her hands, and the balls of energy all shot back to their respective places on the wall, illuminating the Great Hall once more. All around the room, the guild members began to take off their helmets and masks. The knight to Alan’s right was revealed to be a stone-faced cyborg, with the name and title, Specialist 3. To his left stood the cyborg’s mirror image, with the name Specialist 4.

Elissandra smiled briefly, then said, “Now that that business is out of the way, I would officially like to welcome everyone to the 307th guild assessment. The rules are rather simple. By the end of the tomorrow, earn 1000 guild points. Those with 1000 points or more are allowed to join the guild. Those with less will be asked to leave.