After a trip to the Temple to recover, the team ended up back in The Raiser's Horn. Most of them wore looks of desperation and frustration. How were they supposed to get stronger if leaving Valheim was next to impossible? Exile could only shake his head slowly as he looked around. 'The consequences of the vote are more severe than I imagined...'
"What do we do now? We can't stay like this..." Clay whispered as he leaned in towards Exile.
"The only thing you guys can do is buy equipment at Jarxos' place. The bonus stats would help everyone stand against those enemies. However, until we can handle them basically every player is trapped inside Valheim. Nerves will wear thin rather quickly..."
"The new guys basically have no money... You know we can't do that. It's not like we have enough to loan anything out either." Clay replied to Exile's evaluation in a heavy tone. "Is there nothing else we can do?"
"There are two options..." Exile sighed as he clasped his hands in front of his face. "Jarxos has asked me to further explore the ruins where we found the Autosphere. But we all know how that turned out last time and the enemies are sure to be stronger like the wolves."
Clay and the others who were listening in revealed ugly expressions at that option. Nobody thought it was a good idea. The Pantheon was sure to suffer many casualties affecting their overall power if they went down that road.
"What's the other option?" Burri asked with a helpless expression.
"The other option will be a lot slower but definitely safer." Exile cast his gaze around the table. "We have everyone focus on growing their follower count for everyone in the Pantheon. At the same time we'll have to press our NPCs to offer up gold and do what we can for the Civil War."
A silence descended amongst them, which drew the attention of the other members who were further away. They were aware that their leaders were discussing the situation, and they were hoping to hear some good news.
"I understand growing our followers... Eventually we'll complete Milestones for stats but..." Clay stared thoughtfully at Exile as he chose his next words. "It's too slow... I saw the rankings. Aeri is ahead of you despite what we did and that Arthur fellow is already Tier 1. If you take this path, there's a chance you'll fall off the rankings altogether in the short term."
Exile knew where Clay was going with this. Their group needed sponsors for this game and those on the rankings would have the best chance of gaining their interest. However, he was the only one on the list, and he was already dangerously close to falling out of the top 100.
"Why don't we ambush some red players?" Leggy frowned as a dangerous idea formed. "If we grab their orbs and give them to Exile, we could try to push him to Tier 1."
Everyone turned to face him with a deep frown, which made him feel rather nervous. However, Old Un was the one to break the tension.
"His idea isn't half bad if you think about it. If Exile reaches Tier 1 then he might have the strength to support us as we fight the wolves. Besides... Asking our NPCs for gold... I don't know about you guys, but mine are poor as hell. I'd probably risk angering them and it could cause them to abandon the belief in me."
Exile scratched his chin as he considered what Old Un had said. 'I never thought about how the NPCs would react. I just assumed they would be happy to do it.' Exile's mind flashed back to how realistic Ania's reactions had been to everything so far. 'He's right. They're not mindless bots. We have to assume that they're capable of abandoning us if we ask for too much.'
"What do you think?" Clay asked with a solemn tone. "Do we try it?"
Exile's gaze wandered past his companions to the other members, who looked tense. They had no idea what the leaders of the Pantheon were discussing, but Exile could see the hope in their eyes. "Let's put all of the options to a vote. Everyone should have a say in this..."
More than an hour passed as they explained the situation and various plans to the rest of their Pantheon. Including the pros and cons of each option. A debate soon broke out as their opinions differed from each other. They desperately tried to convince each other of what they should vote for. Eventually, Exile held up a hand to silence the room and nodded towards Clay.
"Each of you will approach the table one at a time and tell us your vote..."
Time passed slowly as each player reached their decision and made their way up to cast their vote. Tensions were high, but they were glad that could make their choice anonymously and not be singled out by those who disagreed. Eventually all of the votes had been cast, and Exile's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the room. To keep things fair, he had not given a vote, so there was no chance of a draw happening.
"The votes have been counted..." Clay announced as he glanced towards Exile. "We will now enact the plan to make Exile Tier 1!"
Exile felt awkward as cheers erupted in the bar. Even those who had not voted for that option clapped politely with a smile. 'I can't believe they really went for that option...' Exile let out a sigh as he thought about their impatience. The slow road would have helped them to build a stronger foundation, even if it was not as exciting. However, the mentality of the players saw them wanting to get stronger as fast as possible. Even if they had to rely on one person to make it happen.
Even though he did not agree with their choice, he had to admit that he was feeling excited. His eyes flashed as a single thought went round and round in his head. 'Tier 1!'