Trap Online

We moved outside, and the ladies looked at me with a weird look.

"What?" I asked.

Iona spoke up first, "Why are we not using the services of the Adventurer's guild?" Iona asked.

"Because we have to wait a day. We have nothing to do, and I think we can meet a lot of interesting people if we do an open recruitment drive!" I replied. This wasn't a hundred percent true, though. I remembered looking for a job after college. The Recruitment fair was really interesting though. All those people are looking for a future.

This was a game, though, and that Recruitment drive will most likely bring in many people who didn't need a job. I was wondering what the difference between the two would be. Also, we could find something that we needed that we hadn't thought of. We might not even recruit anyone but find jobs that we didn't know about before.

"What job do we want to tank?" I asked them, "We don't want a paladin since our affiliation. Maybe a warrior? That might mess with Iona's equipment collection or not. I am not sure. We can use this as a way to gather information on other classes and maybe other things that our group might need without us thinking about it." I notified them, and more looks of thought appeared on everyone's face. "There also is no reason we cannot expand our party more than six either. Think about it, if we find something that will increase our odds even more down the future to make sure we do not die on our quest, then that deserves to be pursued." I said, trying to convince them to let me learn more about different classes that I didn't know about.

Viccy knew me, though, and just rolled her eyes, no saying anything. Gloom watched me and nodded, "I would rather be overmanned and have to fire people than undermanned and dead." Gloom said.

This received more nods. I then cut back in, "Our main focus will be finding a tank. That will remain, and we will tell people that. If they want to ask about joining us regardless, we can simply tell them that we may look for others if their class fills a hole we didn't know about." I finished, and the ladies were convinced.

"We need a signboard, though, and we can do it outside the Adventurers guild," Fidel cut in unexpectedly, her tone cold and uncaring. Her facade was in full swing outside the inn, and that was okay to me.

I nodded, "Let's do this, Ladies!"

We traveled to a building store that I was surprised about only for a minute before I remembered the freedom in this world. I wondered how I would make a place to fortify. There was magic, and I had the ability to make wards. I wonder if I could make an illusionary castle to keep hostiles away?

This made me wonder while we made a small booth that was ramshackle at best. Some paint went with it to create a sign, and it was all made under curious eyes outside the adventurers guild.

What I didn't expect was the strong reception of five beautiful women recruiting people. I expect some interest, and I never took that into account like an idiot. I used to talk to advertisers, after all. I knew how much beauty could influence a mob.

Still, The conversations started to come, and I talked to applicants on masse.

"Class?" I asked.

Applicant number sixty, A wiry young man with a slight British accent, "Yes, I am a Trap master," He replied. I looked at the bow on his back with quivers and down at the belt. He had various supplies even tucked into his belt. Most were string and various tools I had seen before.

"So you're a ranger looking to specialize in making Traps?" I asked.

"Y-Yes!" He said, blushing seemingly because I caught him in a partial lie. "I ultimately want to focus on placing and detecting Traps, though," He replied much more confidently.

I looked, and the other girls were dealing with many other applicants. We were hours into this, and I nodded, "Okay, I will put you on the shortlist of potential members to join us. We will need a night to discuss this and might be back tomorrow if we have chosen people." I told him

"You aren't recruiting for today?" He asked.

"We are looking for long-term party members," I replied and moved him along.

This was a bad idea, I finally thought. I moved onto the next applicant, and it was a young woman. "Hi, I am Hira," Applicant sixty-one said with a smile. It was a charming smile, and I smiled back, making her smile even larger. "I am a Monk class," She said, making me look at her with more interest. "My class is a cloth-based class that uses agility and strength with a ton of endurance to tank enemies. We use Hand to hand combat, but we specialize mostly in anti-magic tactics. My class specializes in tanking mages more than physical damage overall." Her voice was soft, and I nodded as I listened.

This was something I hadn't known that there was a class more specialized in tanking Magics. Maybe two tanks were in order, I thought. Having a tank for both situations would increase the diversity of situations that we could deal with. This would never be a negative thing.

"I am a Monk of the light order, so I specialize in fighting Darkness-based magic too," The applicant continued, and I hid a frown behind a smile. This girl was immediately never going to be invited to our group.

What she said, though, was interesting, "Oh, What orders can monks come from? If you don't mind me asking." I asked her politely.

The Girls smile was huge, "The game world is so interesting. There are many orders; some even overlap in beliefs. One of the most interesting is there are four types of base classes on religion in this world. There are Paladins: They are the main tankers and dealers of justice for the orders. They usually use heavy armor and seek out the enemy. They are also the order's main physical tankers.

"Then there are the Preists: They are the main group of people in the orders that give our blessings. Each is different depending on the order and religion they follow. For example, Preists of the Light give our blessings that can heal and empower people. At the same time, the Preists that follow the Goddess of Fertility are quite different. They focus on childbirth and Charisma bonuses, even agricultural growth.

"Then come to the Monk: We are the order that travels and focuses on improving ourselves in the name of our order. We shed all other equipment than robes to purify our body in the order. I am not sure how other orders work or what resistances they bring, but it increases our resistance to darkness with the temple of light.

"Last there is a class that I don't know much about, but it is called Inquisitor. No one really knows much about it with people I have talked to. The NPCs in the order refuse to talk about the class, and any NPCs outside will only reference them in dark corners where they think no one can hear and with deep fear in their voices."

I listened, intrigued about all of this. The monk and the Paladin seemed to cover the weakness of the other, although I wondered what made them different to get a magic resistance for the monk while the paladin didn't. I think she missed some things, but it was a general run down.

I continued to talk to Applicant sixty-one for a bit longer before I told her that we could continue to talk later if we decided to add her to the party. She left with a smile on her face, and I sighed in relief as she left. She really seemed to be enjoying the religion in the game. It was fascinating, though, and I could understand why.

'

Still, we went through more applicants that continued to swarm to us till I finally said, "All done for the day!" I yelled out, still surprised at the crowd that we accumulated.

There were expletives all over in the crowd, and we started to pack up what we could. Tonight we needed to gather what we were looking for in a party member. We each probably got to listen to a bunch of classes, and we could use that information tomorrow inside the ADventurs guild when looking for somebody.

I wasn't averse to getting a player to be our teammate. It was the fact that the men seemed over-enthusiastic to get into our group. Viccy, Iona, Fidel, and Gloom were attractive, though, so I could understand the sentiment. It just wasn't what we needed. When I asked about gaming hours, I learned that Viccy and I were somewhat tame compared to some gamers while others were on the way more than them.

Many would game at least four more hours than we would. Victoria and I, though, liked to keep ourselves in shape and not play till we hurt ourselves. Sitting still for too many hours simply isn't good for your health. I think that is another reason Victoria wants to increase the game speed.

It was at this moment I remembered that I hadn't checked out her condo for research in a bit. I wondered how far along it was.

My thoughts came to a halt again when we all finished packing up the ramshackle recruitment board. We started to head out, but none of us could talk because many tried to follow us. It was a majority of men, and I finally put up an illusion of us heading down an alleyway for them to follow.

It didn't take long for the Illusion to dissipate, but we broke contact with them. Sighs were heard all around as we did so. "That was a stressful day," Was heard all around.

"Anyone find someone were willing to recruit?" I asked.

The conversation began with the information we collected.

Viccy Piped up and started to tell us about some classes, and one became interesting, but I questioned if it would be suitable for us.

Bezerker class: It was a class that excelled in fighting multiple enemies at the same time. The more they fought and were damaged, the more damage they dealt out and could take. This was a powerful Damage class, but some were trying to make it a tank class too.

"If you put something that steal's life in this class, I can understand it being a tank. At this point, I don't think it is a good fit for us," Viccy finished it with.

Nods were all around, and Viccy said that was the best tank class she came up with within her day. That was a disappointment. But that was how things were, and it wasn't her fault.

I told them about the various tank classes I encountered and said an idea I got from it, "What if we picked up a Paladin and Monk from an affiliated demon order? Or a neutral one?" I asked, and Gloom shook her head.

"Not a neutral affiliation. They have to stay religiously neutral; otherwise, their god will abandon them," Gloom told us.

Iona then said, "I think that is a viable option though for a demon affiliated order. Let's see if there other options. I don't know what Fidel came up with, but I met a fighter. He didn't explain in too much detail, but he told me that he excelled in physical damage absorption and was with a small round shield. He told me the class could tank, though. Many people were not that cooperative with giving me information, though."

Fidel then gave her two cents, "I encountered someone who was a rouge. They said they could tank by dodging every strike." With that, she went quiet again—her cold face covering what was probably embarrassment from our attention.

The silence filled the room, and we all contemplated. It was several minutes before Viccy spoke, "So, I think we should take a night to think what will best suit us before we decide?" She asked the room.

"We still have the reward for picking up tomorrow, and I think we can talk about a final decision then, and that will give us a night to think about it," I said, and nods came all around but from Fidel.

Soon an alarm sounded in my ear as we were talking, and I nodded at Viccy. We told the girls we would be heading to bed early for the night, and they nodded. It was safe in the Inn, and the girls would join us in bed soon.

For now, Viccy and I had a date prepared.