Rise of the Omnimage

- 2 years later -

"Kyrain! Come on dude are we going or what?" Sebastian, Kyrain's cousin from his oldest aunt, shouted along side Tobias from his youngest aunt.

They were getting ready to head to the bus stop where they would be picked up by a guild official and taken to their first day of training at the guild.

"I'm coming! You're always impatient! My mom says you're just like your mom." Ky said coming out of the house with the garage remote clicking the button so it would close.

"Well, you act like my mom when it comes to getting ready?" Sebastian said lightly punching him in the arm.

The three boys headed down the road to the bus stop next to the old grocery story that had closed down a few years ago next to the gas station.

According to the brochure that came with Kyrain's official invitation, when a child turned 12 they were invited to attend their local guild training to learn about how they can do their part and grow their power within the guild.

When a child was born now, there was a registry that tracked when they turned 10, 12, 16, and 18. Each of those points marked a milestone in the life of a new adventurer. At 10 you picked your path. Then at 12 you first get the chance to join up with the guild as a Initiate. Then at 16 you become a junior adventure where you get to do more dangerous missions. Finally, at 18 you become a full fledged rookie adventurer with a true guild license and guild rank.

A red bus stopped in front of the gas station as the three boys arrived. They showed their invitations to the driver which also served as their payment.

"I'm kind of nervous guys, do you think uncle Mitch is going to be extra hard on us, because we are related?" Tobias asked.

Kyrain and Sebastian both looked at eachother as worry began to crawl across their face.

"I hope not. I've heard horror stories of how brutal he can be." Sebastian said as Ky shook his head not in any sort of surety, but in silent prayer.

After about a half hour and a dozen stops later they arrived at the guild hall. The three boys looked up at the massive dome shaped building with adjoining domes connected by covered walkways. As they got off the bus, they marveled at it as they did every time they visited.

Once everyone was off the bus, they were led toward the front and through the front doors where it was a controlled chaos of guild members going to and fro conducting their business.

On the outer edge around the inside of the dome was a walk way all the way around with hundreds separate screens with tons of adventures tapping and changing the views. They would find what they were looking for, tap the screen, scan their guild license then walk away and someone would take their spot next.

Kyrain's uncle had shown him that's how people viewed the jobs, learned the details, then accepted them. From those screens he learned that they could manage their profiles, their teams, request a party or party member, and even pay guild fines for failing a job.

The guild had doors that led up one level and separated into rooms that people would take different items, equipment, and goods to get appraised and managed in privacy.

If they continued to head up you reached the main administrative floor where the screens, adventurers, jobs, and all the other important information flowed to and from the guild.

Then if you went one floor higher, you would find the the Guild master's office where the legendary Wanderer worked. It was a spacious office filled with papers and screens that kept his uncle up to date with the happenings of not just the guild but the city itself that he was in charge of and had been for years.

Underneath it all, sealed off from everyone but properly cleared maintenance workers was the massive server vault. Out in the smaller domes were the training areas.

"Initiates! Please follow me!" A lady in her mid 30's Kyrain guessed led them back outside to one of the smaller domes where there were chairs set up in rows for the incoming Initiates and a large screen set up for what seemed to be a presentation.

"Please fill in the chairs starting from the front." She said as they all entered. By Kyrain's rough count there were between 25-30 Initiates. Once they were all seated she continued.

"In a moment, you will watch a video from the guild master, then we will begin filling you all in on what will be happening for processing and classes going forward. Are there any questions before we begin?" She asked.

Nobody said anything so the woman brought up a remote and pressed the start button.

In his Uncle's very spartan style the video started with little theatrics or artistic flair and with the social awkwardness that led people to underestimate him.

Kyrain sat up straighter with excitement.

"Is it recording?" Mitch was saying looking off screen before jumping quickly realizing it was, clearing his throat.

"Welcome Initiates! My name is Guild Master Mitchell Ekart. You might know me by my nickname "The Wanderer." You have been invited to begin contributing to our society and gain a vast amount of opportunities to not only recieve world class training, but to also earn a little money for yourselves while you take on jobs to help out the community.

Behind Mitch, Kyrain could see the wall of screens and people going to and fro behind him.

"Behind me." Mitch continued

"Are the kiosks. These screens are set up to manage every administrative requirement with the guild including setting up other meetings to handle business that can't be done through the kiosks within the guild. These screens."

The picture changed from Mitch to a screen shot of the screens with details of different buttons and what they were for showed.

"Are where you will spend most of your time while in the primary building of the guild hall."

It flashed to a massive list of names of jobs with their guild rank requirements Kyrain could see were filtered down for the initiates.

It flashed back to Mitch who continued.

"To access the jobs menu, you will scan your license. You will recieve your license today before you leave, but the jobs will be blocked on it until the end of this week's training. This license is very different looking from a guild license. Had some trouble a few years back when we started this program..."

Mitch looked off screen at someone who was clearly talking to him. He nodded then snapped back to the screen.

"Yes...that's a story for another day. Anyway, your license is coded to your specific profile and cannot be altered without setting alarms off in the guild once scanned. It will only show jobs you are rated for. As an Initiate, you get a month of guild sponsored rides to begin building up a routine and steady cash flow to earn your own ride and begin to earn your way in the guild.

The screen changed again showing a schedule

Week 1 Initiate Training

Monday - Processing, Background, Licensing beginning

Tuesday - Profile management and Licensing complete

Wednesday - Guild instruction: jobs, monsters, ranks, paths.

Thursday - Physcial Assessment

Friday - Aether Assessment

Saturday - Examination (80% or better required to get jobs unblocked )

After around 10 seconds of that on the screen Kyrain heard his uncle again.

"This is the schedule moving forward. Everyone who wishes to join the guild is required to have a background check done on them. If your background cannot be conclusively verified, you will be unable to join the guild and you will be required to go to the national registry of the US government to fill out a profile there."

The screen went back to Mitch.

"The world is a hard dangerous place, but you have to take risks to continue to move forward. We will give you the best chance of success and survival if you follow our guidance. Study hard. If you work hard, you will be rewarded. Stick around this week and we will show you how." Mitch said with a grin as the screen shut off and the lady returned.

"Under your chairs are pads. Please do not break them, or you have bought them. Please fill out the questionnaire in preparation for the background check." She said and walked back to the side of the room and sat down.

Kyrain pulled the tablet and got to work.