GLOBAL AWAKENING: My 10,000x Exp Multiplier-Chapter 44: []The Ryker Faction, Oaths in the White City
The golden holographic blueprint hovered in the center of the ruined penthouse. It cast a warm illuminating light over the faces of Vahn’s team.
Below them, the thousands of survivors in the White City were panicking. The shockwave that had leveled Sovereign City had shaken the foundations of their fragile sanctuary. They needed leadership. But more importantly, they needed an anchor.
"A faction." Sia Vance repeated. Her silver grey eyes reflected the golden light of the interface. She stood a little taller and her military posture instantly tightened.
To a Vanguard trained in the strict hierarchy of the academies, this wasn’t just a survival tactic. It was a profound shift in their operational purpose.
"Commander. Are you proposing we formalize our command structure?"
"I am proposing we stop pretending we are just passing through." Vahn replied. His voice was calm, steady, and devoid of its usual clinical detachment. He looked at the three women who had followed him into the abyss.
"The Spire’s integration has wiped out the global infrastructure. The military is scattered, the corporate elites are dead or hiding, and the system engine is rewriting biological reality. If we remain an unaffiliated party, we are subject to the chaotic whims of the overarching game mechanics."
Vahn tapped the holographic display and brought up a complex web of clan creation algorithms.
"But if I establish a formalized Faction using Architect permissions, I can forcefully alter the localized rules for anyone bearing our crest. I can extend my firewalls, share passive stat regeneration, and immunize you against the Spire’s systemic wipe mechanics."
Aria stepped forward. Her hands clasped tightly around her wooden staff. The horrific sight of the ash covered wasteland outside the window had shaken her to her core. But looking at Vahn, she felt an incredible undeniable sense of safety.
He wasn’t acting like a cold machine calculating numbers. He was looking at them as his foundation.
"You want to share your administrator privileges with us." Aria said softly. She understood the immense weight of the gesture. "Vahn, that binds our data streams to yours. If the Faction takes damage, if the system tries to corrupt our code, the feedback will hit you directly."
"I can handle it," Vahn said with a faint reassuring smile. He met her emerald gaze and held it intentionally. "Besides, I need someone to keep me honest. Left to my own devices, I forget that there are people behind all of this. You remind me why any of it matters, Aria. I need you here."
Aria’s breath caught. A sudden brilliant flush of pink dusted her cheeks. She quickly looked down at the floor and aggressively adjusted her grip on her staff.
"That is an incredibly clinical way to say you care about my well being. But I accept the tactical assessment."
From the velvet sofa, Hana giggled. Her playful energy refused to be suppressed even by the end of the world. "Oh, just say he’s sweet, Aria. You know you want to."
"Hana!" Aria hissed as her blush deepened.
"Focus, team." Vahn chuckled. He thoroughly enjoyed the brief return to normalcy. He tapped the central node of the interface. A prompt appeared and floated in bold gold lettering.[System Override Initiated. Faction Creation Protocol Unlocked.]
[Please assign Faction Core Members to establish the foundational matrix.]
Vahn looked at Sia. The silver haired knight didn’t hesitate. She stepped forward and dropped smoothly to one knee before the holographic display. She unslung her massive heat radiating obsidian kite shield and rested it on the floor. She bowed her head in absolute reverence.
"I was a commoner drafted to be a meat shield for arrogant elites." Sia stated. Her voice carried a fierce unyielding devotion. "You saved me from the Labyrinth. You forged me a weapon of Mythic caliber. But more than that, Commander, you gave me absolute clarity."
She looked up and her silver eyes locked onto his.
"I offer my shield to the Ryker Faction. No enemy will breach your perimeter while I draw breath. I swear it on everything I am."
Vahn reached out and rested his hand lightly on her shoulder. The physical contact made Sia shiver slightly. A faint dusting of red appeared on her usually stoic face.
"Oath accepted, Sia." Vahn said warmly. "You are the Vanguard. You are the unbreakable wall."
He tapped the interface.
[Sia Vance registered as Core Member: Prime Vanguard.]
Vahn turned to Aria. The Priestess took a deep breath. She stepped forward to stand beside the kneeling knight. She didn’t kneel. She stood tall. Her Crimson-Lotus Vestments fluttered slightly as the ambient mana in the room reacted to her emotions. She looked directly into Vahn’s deep purple eyes and stripped away all her usual flustered anxiety.
"You are reckless." Aria told him. Her voice was soft but filled with absolute conviction. "You throw yourself into impossible math equations and treat your own body like disposable hardware. You need someone to stitch you back together when you inevitably break the rules."
She smiled. It was a beautiful radiant expression that made Vahn’s breath genuinely hitch for a fraction of a second.
"I pledge my restorative magic to this Faction. I will keep your soul intact, Vahn. No matter how much chaos you invite."
"Oath accepted, Aria." Vahn replied. His voice dipped into a low quiet reverence. "You are the Heart. The anchor of our endurance."
He tapped the screen.
[Aria registered as Core Member: Prime Healer.]
Hana skipped forward next and beamed proudly. She didn’t have heavy armor or a glowing staff. But the Sun-Silk Aegis draped over her shoulders proved she belonged exactly where she was standing.
"I don’t have combat stats, Brother." Hana said. There was no shame in her voice. "But I know how your brain works better than anyone else. I know when you’re forgetting to sleep, and I know how to organize the sheer amount of garbage you loot from dungeons. I’ll manage the refugees downstairs. I’ll build the logistics. I pledge myself as your completely indispensable little sister."
Vahn let out a genuine laugh and pulled her into a tight one armed hug. "Oath accepted, Hana. You are the System Key. The reason this entire structure exists."[Hana Ryker registered as Core Member: Logistics Anchor.]
Finally, Vahn looked at the sofa. Kora had finished her metal scrap and was currently licking her fingers. She entirely ignored the profound emotional ceremony taking place in front of her. She caught Vahn looking and blinked her glowing gold slit pupil eyes.
"What?" Kora asked telepathically. "Do I get an oath? I promise to eat the crunchy people if they try to touch my Master. Now feed me." She let out a highly satisfied tiny burp.
"Close enough." Vahn smirked.[Kora registered as Core Member: Strategic Ordinance.]
With the four core members logged, Vahn poured one million experience points into the faction creation algorithm. He forced a localized evolution of the system mechanics.
[Ding!][The Ryker Faction has been officially established!]
[Territory Claimed: The White City (10-Block Radius).][Passive Faction Buff Activated: Architect’s Blessing. All affiliated members receive +500% to base health regeneration, immunity to environmental data corruption, and shared latency pathways.]
A brilliant pulsating shockwave of golden light erupted from the holographic interface and washed over the team. Small elegant insignias materialized on the collars of their gear. It was a stylized hourglass intertwined with azure circuit lines.
Down in the streets of the White City, the panicked cries of the five thousand refugees suddenly quieted. The Faction buff extended to the citizens within the dome.
The lingering radiation sickness from the Convergence vanished. Their exhaustion faded. A warm systemic blanket of profound safety settled over the sanctuary.
Vahn closed the interface. His team was formalized. The lifeboat was secure.
Before anyone could celebrate, the heavy oppressive silence outside the window was broken by the distinct mechanical thud of helicopter rotors.
Sia instantly sprang to her feet and raised her shield. Aria gripped her staff as her combat instincts flared. Vahn walked back to the shattered window. His Verdant Chronos-Sight spun online.
Approaching the glowing boundary of the White City was a fleet of heavily armored real world military gunships. They were painted in the matte black colors of the Sovereign Corporate Defense Force. Below them, a convoy of heavily modified tanks and troop transports rumbled over the ash choked ruins of the financial district. They came to a halt just outside the shimmering hexagonal barrier of the Hourglass.
They weren’t monsters from the Spire. They were humans.
"The corporate remnants." Sia identified them. Her silver eyes narrowed in absolute disgust. "They survived the shockwave by hiding in the subterranean bunkers. Now that the dust has settled, they are coming to claim the only functional safe zone in the city."
"They have heavy artillery." Aria noted. Her voice was tight with renewed worry. "Vahn, the Hourglass barrier was designed to repel corrupted data and abyssal entities. Will it hold against physical real world kinetic bombardment?"
Vahn watched the gunships circling like vultures. The old governments and corporate lords still believed they were in control. They thought guns and missiles were the ultimate authority. They were completely blind to the fact that the universe had just been rewritten in binary code.
Vahn’s lips twitched into a cold terrifyingly sharp smile.
"They are bringing obsolete technology to a new world," Vahn said and turned away from the window. "Sia. Aria. Let’s go down to the perimeter. Time to show them how far behind they are."
