The warring players had been separated, the mercenaries disappeared, and the territory was restored. There were no signs left of the fierce war. The world was tranquil, gradually calming everyone's emotions. But this didn't last long as new prompts sounded in everyone's ears.
C finally announced her verdict. She decided that the repair of the territory came at a cost of 2429 gold. Age of Frost and Spiked Pen almost fell unconscious. They realized that this was the compensation Galaxy had to pay.
Although gold coins kept depreciating in value, one gold was still worth slightly more than 10.000 credits. Therefore, Galaxy would be forced to pay 25 million credits in compensation. Compared to the entire wealth of the guild backed by Colville City Military and other affluent sponsors, this wasn't an enormous sum, but it would make a considerable dent in their cash flow. And yet this was not the end.
The aforementioned compensation wouldn't go to the winner. But of course, the challenged party couldn't go home empty handed. After winning they were also eligible to a compensation paid by the challenger, measured according to the territory's value.
At this points Liam almost pitied Galaxy. He thought that they perhaps underestimated the value of Greypine Town. After all, C would conduct a comprehensive evaluation counting buildings, location, special resources, and more. Galaxy could count themselves lucky that Dream Avenue didn't have much time yet to realize the potential of the territory but even so the compensation wouldn't be small…
"22.400 gold?!!"
Age of Frost couldn't help but shout as he read the notification in front of him. He was frozen, his mind filled with shock and disbelief. More than two hundred million credits… Star Gazer might just kill him. No, wait. The boss isn't home. But his father is…
Age of Frost and Spiked Pen both shivered in fear. This was no negligible sum even for Galaxy. Although the guild had their own valuable territory. Although they had wealthy sponsors. Although the value of a guild almost doubled with each match it won during the federation tournament. Despite all of this, a total of 250 million credits will probably dampen their development for months to come. Even the fact that C kindly allowed them to pay in instalments didn't make it better.
While Age of Frost and Spiked Pen were stomaching the news, Cyclone and Balm were in an excellent mood, just short of opening ten bottles of champagne.
"Hahaha! 22.400 gold! Twenty-two thousand four hundred! We are so rich!"
"I'm glad our investments paid off."
"This is really an unexpected windfall…", agreed Silver Blade with a relaxed smile. The other core members gathered around Greypine Town also shared in the joy. Even Earthquake and Phoenix Feather couldn't hide their broad grins. According to earlier negotiations the guilds assisting in a war would receive eight percent of the final rewards. It would rise to ten percent if they had to use some expensive trump card spells.
Since all the expenses were shouldered by Dream Avenue, the other two guilds didn't receive anything extra, but they were still more than happy. They would each receive 1792 gold for free. Now they even hoped that some guild would be arrogant enough to attack their territories.
However, after this war no guild would dare to do so. The strength of their alliance is going to deter others over the next few months. Perhaps it was a mistake to ally with Dream Avenue. But on the other hand, it was the most secure to do so. What a dilemma…
Cyclone and Balm could guess the joy of their allies. They were somewhat reluctant to hand over so much of their hard-earned money but they couldn't deny that Nest of Flames and Force of Nature had earned it. Especially the latter. Callida's performance as a commander was an eye opener to the two young women. In their list of idols Callida had risen by several rankings, entering the top ten.
While the two guild leaders were still revelling in joy, Sun's Knight approached them. He had already done rough calculations and was ready to share the happy news.
"So, Galaxy owes us 22.400 gold. Of that sum 3584 gold will be paid to our partners, leaving us with 18.816. Our expenses during this war including mercenaries and consumables amount to roughly 2500 gold. This means at the end of the day we made a profit of 16.316 gold. Or rather 163million credits. This is about equivalent to the money we earn from sponsors in nineteen months. It can also pay the current wages for about thirty-eight months."
The more Sun's Knight talked, the more Cyclone and Balm stared at him with round eyes. The reality of the situation slowly settled in their minds. They realized how much of a boost this compensation was to the guild.
Of course, all of these were only estimations from Sun's Knight. This early in the game everything was still subject to quick changes. All the contracts Dream Avenue made were renegotiated every month. There was simply too much fluctuation. For example, the more fame Dream Avenue gained in surrounding star systems and even the central star system, the more they were worth. Additionally, the value of all the famous guilds on the server increased as the player count rose.
But also Dream Avenue's expenses were subject to change. With such a huge boost in money they were determined to finally incorporate all willing guild members in tier one and tier two, paying them fair wages. Of course, the compensation wouldn't last forever. Thus, the guild had to increase its own income. The most suitable way to do so was by improving the territory and attracting businesses to rent plots of land. A huge part of the compensation money would be used for that purpose.
While others were still basking in joy, plans were already forming in Sun's Knights head. However, even the usually business-minded young man unconsciously had a smile on his face.
"Hey, it's working again!"
"Yo, that's Greypine Town! So, who is the owner now?"
"I hope Bellissio is still here, I wanted to buy that cute dress."
"Please let Dream Avenue be in charge. I'm on the waiting list to have my equipment upgraded!"
Dream Avenue had still not entirely ended their discussion, when a chaotic noise spread through the territory. Everyone looked towards the teleporter and saw the players pouring in. Obviously, the teleporter had regained its function, and the curious players discovered it immediately.
Major Vaukas and her troops also were among them, immediately resuming their duty of patrolling the territory. Some astute players saw them and understood something. Dream Avenue had won!
The news quickly spread like a wildfire. Even C's announcement was a bit slow. However, the server announcement served as an official confirmation letting the entire player community know that Dream Avenue successfully defended their territory. The achievement came with a title which gave a slight boost to territory production. Immediately congratulations reached the guild from all sides. Random players, friends, and the sponsors, everyone was happy for Dream Avenue.
Of course, the mood couldn't be more different on Galaxy's side. They only wanted to leave now. They waited and waited for C to teleport them out. After about five minutes they started to get an ominous premonition. Could it be… C wouldn't send them away? Were they supposed to leave through Dream Avenue's teleportation platform?!
"No! Never! That's torture!"
"I won't go through such a walk of shame!"
"Let's just log off! Perhaps tomorrow morning we can escape without anyone seeing us…"
Such voices spread among the three guilds, mirroring the thoughts of their leaders. Especially Age of Frost knew he wouldn't be able to endure the humiliation. But what else could they do? Log off? Only half a day had passed. Wouldn't this be a waste of time?
While Age of Frost's thoughts were churning, he randomly glanced at Silken and saw a broad grin on the man's face. A chill ran down Age of Frost's back. Indeed, after asking it turned out that Silken had a large-scale teleportation scroll in his possession. The cut-throat businessman was willing to sell it for 30 gold coins.
Age of Frost felt a desire to bash the man's head in but after some negotiation he indeed bought the scroll for 23 gold, gritting his teeth so hard that they were just short of breaking.
However, at least with this scroll Age of Frost could placate his guild members. The scroll was enough to transport a thousand players. Silken watched from the side, waving with a smiling face as Galaxy disappeared.
Afterwards The Only Way and TwinThieves spread out, entering Greypine Town and leaving one by one. Since the challenger was Galaxy, the two other guilds didn't attract that much attention and could escape with little embarrassment.
"Hehe, look. Another group is leaving."
"Finally, we can relax."
The Only Way and TwinThieves didn't know that Dream Avenue's core members watched them from within the tower. They had gathered here to discuss the future of the territory. After this challenge, the guild couldn't be challenged for the next two months, granting the territory a period of stable development.