When the reel of James' exploits finally ended, Kell walked back into view and signalled for Billy to restore the light of the room. The easy smile on his face was back as he addressed each of the Paragons.

"We're now going to move into the main event, which is the voting of the incoming Wildcards. From now on, Wildcards cannot cast votes on the incoming roster as they are in contention for a shareholding in Vendetta Enterprises. Elvira has suggested that we put rules in place to avoid any potential for collusion. Myself, Elvira and James can offer opinions on any discussed candidates for this intake, but will defer to the Paragons on all future drafts." Kell explained as he looked over to where Quentin had been seated. The CEO was getting out of his booth to join them.

Khance smiled gratefully as a coffee was placed in front of him by Billy. Don raised an eyebrow at the Paragon's choice of drink but said nothing as he sipped at his own cocktail.

"Thanks Kell, and thank you James for one of the most exhilarating fights I've ever witnessed!" Quentin laughed as he gave the Wildcard a playful bow with arms outstretched. Each of the Paragons playfully slapped the table in quick succession as they cheered once again. James' face burned with embarrassment as he brushed off their compliments with a smile.

Quentin laughed as he gestured with his hands for them to calm down. "As you all know, we're going to be using this meeting to select the upcoming roster of Wildcards that will join you all in Abidden. For reasons that I'll be explaining soon, we're going to be restructuring the Wildcard recruitment into phases. If we were to jump at the people we have shortlisted now, we'd be missing out on key-talent that are in the very early stages of negotiation. That Legendary Class Quest has created both hype and discourse in the media, which will undoubtedly lead to some heavy-hitters wanting to join us. For that reason, amongst a few others, we'll only be asking you to select six candidates. What was the Hero number, Kell?"

"There are twenty-four Hero slots, with most of them only entering the game sporadically for themed events or promotional activity. In the last month, less than ten of the current roster have been in-game. With the addition of Jageranimus, there has been: JeffX, ShieldBro, MamaBest, Bartleby, Percivus, CurioSity, Ethan and TroyLegal. If we assume the Scumlords will be enlisted into their ranks, that will add McClean, Esre, Rogue, Franz and Kol." Kell listed off each of the names with relative ease.

Quentin gave him a thankful nod as he continued. "The Heroes are sitting down later today in District One. They're likely going to be cutting and reshaping their roster. We know already that Percivus and CurioSity have been axed. TroyLegal is likely to bow out, too. With the exception of Jageranimus, there are no safe-bets on the Hero side. What we know is that they're going to try to compete with you going forward. I firmly believe that last night's fight was a catalyst for Abidden. With a new competitive landscape, we're finally able to push the game in a direction that we're happy with. This brings us to our first big update. Can I have a drumroll, please?"

All the Paragons slapped their hands against the table to build suspense as they waited for his answer. Dario's groan of impatience was drowned out by their efforts.

"Abidden will launch a new update called, 'Fragmented Kingdoms', which will deal with the aftermath of the Sky Palace being destroyed. Without the Celestials lording over everyone from the Heavens, there is nobody to stop the smaller Kingdoms from rising to power. There will be struggles across the continent, with factions both new and old, vying for dominance. One of the greatest absences from the game has been conflict. We were crippled with how we needed to cater to the capabilities of the former Heroes. The balance of power is disproportionate in the game. In just a few days, James could reach Legendary because he challenged himself with the strongest quest available. TroyLegal failed to get to Master in nearly two years of sporadic gameplay, because he didn't seek the challenge, and it didn't come looking for him. 'Fragmented Kingdoms' is going to bring the challenge to the players." Quentin let the sentence hang for a few moments, enjoying the looks of both surprise and confusion on their faces before he continued. "The Vendetta System has yet to show its value, but our next update will rectify that. We'll be introducing large-scale warfare between NPC factions. These will happen independently, but can be influenced by Player factions that seek to align with them or oppose them. All of you can now play Kingmaker and shape the future of the continent!"

Helena laughed at that last part. "Isn't it a little too one-sided? We're already able to kick their ass, and now you're giving us armies to crush them even more?"

"Ignore her, Quentin! I think it's a great idea!" Don shushed Helena as he waved his hand for Quentin to continue, but the CEO was laughing as he answered them both.

"What makes you think that you're not going to be fighting each other? I told you I wanted Abidden to be exciting. Why not give the strongest players something to compete over? I wonder who would win... the Legendary Crew of the Tempest or Helena and her Dragon? Actually, if you include the influence of the Dread Faction at the moment, James has the advantage in both numbers and power."

Quentin grinned at the stunned faces in front of him. "We're going to be introducing downtime in the game, which will prohibit any players from logging in for one day a week. It will be the same day for everyone, and we'll be marketing this as 'The Advancement'. We're still working out the details, but we're going to be giving Abidden a slight time-skip with each downtime. We're hoping that this will encourage players to invest in long-term plans in the game and build their Factions or Kingdoms. By allowing players to invest their time and efforts into quests with long-term effects, we'll see a whole new style of play in the game. The Advancement will also allow enemies to grow in strength and power. This is where the Vendetta system will show its true purpose. If you cannot stop an NPC enemy before the Advancement, they could be a higher level when you next encounter them. This works for your Factions and Companions too, because they can develop and grow during the Advancement too."

"I wanted to explain all of this to you before we looked at Wildcard candidates. The Heroes are going to have the same information as you, and they will probably try to close the current power gap by using the new update and advancement to their advantage. The Scumlords have the advantage of selecting classes that will counteract our current roster. To be as competitive as possible, we're going to show you all the classes that can be unlocked in the Pantheon of the Gods."

Suddenly, the screens in the booths shimmered and changed to reveal a list of classes.

Quentin didn't even need to look at the list as he started reeling them off. "Each Class has a dominant stat and a secondary stat. We'll start with classes that have dominant strength. Greaves took 'The Breaker', which is a mix of strength and dexterity. 'The Tyrant' has intelligence as its secondary. 'The Guardian' has wisdom. 'The Bandit' has charisma and 'The Destroyer' has luck. Next up is the Charisma dominant classes. 'The Bard' has dexterity as its secondary. 'The Cultist' has been claimed by Kell, which has intelligence as the secondary. 'The Enchantress' is wisdom. 'The Merchant' uses luck as the secondary and 'The Contractor' uses strength."

The CEO's voice picked up the pace as he went through them. Each time he came to a Paragon or a Wildcard in the current roster, he'd point at them with a smile. "I don't think I need to tell anyone who 'The Pirate' is, which is dexterity as dominant stat and charisma as secondary. Joining him is Kincso's 'The Blade', which couples with dexterity with strength. 'The Knight' is Helena's class which has dexterity matched with wisdom. Which leaves 'The Assassin' with dexterity and intelligence, and lastly, 'The Thief' which adds dexterity and luck."

Turning around to look at the screen, Quentin found his place on the list. Mumbling to himself for a second, he turned back to the Players with a smile. "Wisdom next! Khance has taken 'The General' which matches up with intelligence. 'The Doctor' is Elvira who couples with dexterity. 'The Artificer' has luck as its secondary. 'The Sage' is wisdom and charisma, whilst 'The Radical' uses wisdom and strength. Okay, now on to James' favourite God! Intelligence classes. 'The Fixer' combines intelligence and strength. 'The Scout' uses dexterity. 'The Inventor' uses luck.'The Savant' uses wisdom and lastly, 'The Elder' uses charisma. Finally, we have three luck-based classes. Don took 'The Hunter', which leaves, 'The Gambler' and 'The Wanderer.'" If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

When Quentin finally finished, the Paragons and Wildcards gave him a round of applause which caused him to laugh. "We've a few other classes in development, but these are the main ones that could be put into Abidden straight away. They all have their own origin missions and starting locations. All the Wildcards will have a tutorial area that is like Rayth. We'll be spacing them out across the world, as our intention is to heavily push our world-building and history. We've set up a few interviews for our more charismatic Loremasters, which will hopefully result in more people learning about the world of Abidden. The hype surrounding the broadcast last night gives us an opportunity to control the narrative and introduce everyone to the lesser-known parts of Abidden. Which, finally... and thank you for all your patience, brings us to recruitment. Over to you, Kell!"

With a wave of his hand, Kell changed the screen to show a series of hopeful applicants. None of the names looked familiar to James, but there were some noises of recognition from the Paragons seated around him. Unfortunately for the hopefuls, many of the noises made were dismissive. It was Greaves that spoke aloud first, setting the tone of the process. "He was apparently in the same year as us in Gigatech? If I don't remember him..." He paused for a moment and glanced at Helena, who shook her head, before he continued. "... and if Helena doesn't remember him, then he's likely not one of the people we're looking for."

Kell nodded his head, and the face vanished from the screen immediately. "He was only included because of a claimed connection to the two of you. Next is... Edward Ashmore? He added a showreel."

A montage of clips played, showing a magic user killing waves of enemies with fire-based attacks. None of the movements were particularly interesting, but the player didn't miss a single target during the reel. Khance raised his hand and gave a thumbs-up gesture. Before Kell could quiz him on his reasoning, the Shadow General volunteered the information.

"He's playing Fall of Arcane. Their magic system requires memorised patterns and incantations to successfully cast magic. It’s very similar to the magic system in Abidden and the blueprint system in Artifice. If he's able to do all of that, while navigating a battlefield, he has my vote." Khance shrugged and gestured for the Paragons to cast their votes.

Greaves was the next to voice an opinion. "Having Khance acknowledge him is enough for me, but I'm curious why we haven't heard of him before?"

Kell's smile was wide this time as he pulled up the additional information on Edward Ashmore. "Edward was a C-Class student, practically aced his classes and received various academic acknowledgements from the lecturers at Gigatech. He was scouted for an Inters team but apparently shined too brightly. He lost his Inters team slot to an A-Class student who was related to the team sponsor. Adding insult to injury, none of the Rookie teams took in Edward afterwards... seeing him as a pariah of sorts. He would have graduated top of his class, but without a team, he was deemed a failure.”

James raised his hand and shook his head. “I know I don’t really get a vote, but I really want to vote for this guy.” All of the Paragons nodded in agreement and a show of hands was enough to get Edward his spot on the Wildcards team.

The screen flickered to show a bearded man with a wild facial expression. He looked like he had just been dragged from the slums and was coming down from some form of drug. Kell turned to look at the Paragons, giving them a tentative moment to see if they recognised the man.

Elvira, unexpectedly, was the one to blurt out his name. “Is that Zaratan? Is he actually interested in joining Abidden?”

The incredulous tone from their Legal Counsel was enough to pique the Paragon’s interest. The name Zaratan meant absolutely nothing to them, so they merely turned toward her with an expectant look on their faces. Elvira wasn’t prepared and simply blurted out her thoughts.

“You don’t know him? Aiden Reynard... the A-Classer? He renounced his status and wealth and started doing documentaries on societal inequalities? Built an entire platform out of it and now has a weird cult-like following of people that want to dismantle the class system.”

Don snapped his fingers. “Put him in as the Cultist!”

“Taken.” Was Kell’s only retort as he glanced back at the image of Aiden Reynard. He didn’t have much experience of playing games, but he was an interesting public figure.

With a look in Quentin’s direction, Kell voiced his own concerns. “We don’t want to replicate the problems that we had in Abidden. Celebrities that have no idea what they’re doing in the game, and are only using it as a platform. Do we have any faith that this Zaratan guy can pull his weight and perform in-game?”

“Actually...” Elvira’s voice had regained its composure. “He can play games. His first documentary series was on the rise of virtual reality rigs and their impact on society. He spent months playing different games across all sorts of communities. I wouldn’t classify him as a professional, but he was fun to watch, and he was capable enough.”

Don grimaced as he looked at the screen. “Personally, I’m not convinced. The Ashmore kid deserves a chance to prove himself and a shot at the big-leagues. I wouldn’t want to be putting Reynard in ahead of someone like Ashmore.”

Elvira made no objections and instead raised her hands defensively, as if to say that she’d make no further arguments.

Helena nodded at Don’s words but turned to Elvira with a smile. “Let’s add him to the maybe pile for now and see if there’s a role for him after we have the main bulk of the roster.”

All of the Paragons agreed with the sentiment and gestured for Kell to move onto the next candidate. With a few taps of his interface, Kell moved to the next candidate.

“Luna Jeffries, The Worm.”

The grinning face of a young woman filled the screen and more than a few of them recognised her with ease. Helena was the first to say what everyone was thinking. “Worm is famous for wrecking in-game economies. She does it for fun. Is that really the type of player we want to bring in as a Wildcard? If we take her on, we’re likely inviting chaos to all of Abidden.”

Varya unfolded her arms and raised her hand without saying a word. The mischievous smile on her face was the only indicator of how she was feeling. At her gesture, Khance just shrugged and raised his own. Don was next to follow, then joined by a laughing James. Greaves was the second last at the table to raise his hand, leaving only Helena.

The Disciple of Darkness sighed audibly as she shoved her own hand into the air. “Looks like she’s gotten enough votes! Next.”

Kell switched to the next picture, which was of a hand encased in a mechanical gauntlet. “This one came as a recommendation from one of our contacts over at Reaper. His name is Seth Maistir, and he’s one of the top ranked players in Artifice. There’s no tragic backstory with this one. He’s apparently just a really talented engineer.”

Don caught sight of James’ confused expression and filled him in quickly. “Reaper is like Gigatech, but they specialise in the more mechanical side of gaming. Crafting, automation, blueprinting and all that sort of stuff. Artifice is a crafting game that was originally an in-house game only for students, but it’s grown in popularity over the years and now people watch it for fashion shows and building competitions. One of the alumni probably got a few credits from you buying that coat!” Don tugged at James’ sleeve with a laugh as he turned back to the screen, which Kell was pointing at.

Once again to everyone’s surprise, it was Khance that spoke first. “Who is your contact in Reaper? Most of the students from over there would run from a battlefield, and would lock themselves away in a workshop. We’d be setting them up for failure by letting them into Abidden.”

Kell glanced down at his wrist and then back at Khance. “Chris Spectre. He’s a lecturer at Reaper Tech.”

Khance whistled in surprise as he turned to look at Greaves’ and Helena’s pale faces. “Isn’t that a blast from the past?”

James produced one of the Gigatech Alumni shards and placed it on the table. “I was watching a clip of him on my way over here. He graduated from Gigatech, but he’s a lecturer in Reaper? How do you know him?”

Khance’s face broke into a grin as he looked at his teammates' discomfort. “Remember Greaves’ interview on the Samantha Show? Where he spoke about that wonderful professor that put him and Helena on a team together? That was Spectre. He used to be the Head of Crafting and Automation at Gigatech, but he left them years ago to start up the Artifice programme at Reaper. If he’s saying that we should take on these people, it’s a definite yes. Hell, we have an Artificer role. Why don’t we ask him if he’d like to join as a Wildcard?”

Without so much as another word, Kell tapped his interface and brought up the next applicant on the screen. Chris Spectre’s face was finally revealed to the group with an incredible list of accomplishments at its side. For further context, Kell explained the limitations of his application.

“Spectre has been working with us for years, helping us build our crafting and magic system. It’s very similar to the one he made in Artifice, but none of the players in Abidden have shown its full potential yet. He’s offered to forfeit the share percentage of Vendetta Enterprises if it means he can showcase his work to our audience! He’s requested that Khance give him a tutorial of Abidden, too.”

Khance glanced up at those words, an unreadable expression on his face. “What?”

Kell shrugged as he gestured at an unseen note on the interface. “Apparently you’re the only one that’s been using his system, back when you were a Healer and currently as the Shadow General.”

Don’s smile was warm as he nudged Khance gently with his elbow. “And here I thought you were only good at dying in the game.”