I had been looking around for something to do in Neo-Genis and a post on the forum caught my eye. It was for The Crimson Flame Guild. The guild promoted "self improvement". Sounded like the place I needed to be. So I inquired about it to some players and they let me know that I had to basically traverse the Dueling Plains which was a biome that was split down the middle. Half ice, half fire. So I set off.

When I reached the boundary of the biome I took a good hard look at what this place had to offer. The ice path seemed like the obvious choice...until I saw the 2 story tall owls. So I took the fire path! It was hot, but I was determined to reach the guild. This was only the first step on my way to better myself. So I braved onwards. Passing by some cute firefoxes and some other creatures until I finally reached a small temperate zone. There sat a small building with a couple others dotted around it. I had made it. I walked down to the building and with no one around, knocked on the door. No answer. Right... I had seen that the roster for the guild was rather small. I figured there was a chance that no one was online or here. Suddenly, I spot a streak of red in the sky as a creature came screaming towards my position. I didn't think that anything here would attack the guild hall, so I simply waited. The creature landed in a cloud of dust and then a man stepped out. He introduced himself as Sora (the guild leader of the Crimson Flame). I gave him my name and told him that I had come to hopefully join the guild. He brought me inside and showed me around the guild hall, making mention of his office to one side and the training vault on the other. I asked if there was anything I needed to do to join aside from getting here myself and Sora said that there was one thing and went to retrieve an intricate looking staff. He told me to place my on the staff and swear by the guilds tenets.

• 1.a:Other members are not to be insulted or attacked for their training. Just because you may not consider someone your equal doesn't mean that their training is any less worthy of admiration

• 1.b:Asking for help is not weakness, and you should not shame those who do.

• 2.a:You have an obligation to defend your strength when challenged with honor

• 2.b:You have an obligation to protect those whose own strength is not enough when you can and avenge them when you can't

• 3.a:You must not use your strength/power against innocents

• 3.b:You have an obligation to call out those who act high and mighty and do not have the strength to back up their claims. (With violence if needed)

• 3.c:Those who break these rules are exempt from their protection and requirements until such a point that their violation has been corrected.

Once they were recited, I felt a power stir within me and my tie was engraved with flame before fading back into solid red. Apparently all of the members have a symbol of the flame they carry with them. So I embraced this and promised that I would do my best to uphold them. I swore by what honor I had and Sora looked pleased. He told me I could use the hall and training room as much as I wished before taking his leave. Without anything else to do...I got busy training.

Things in Neo-Genis had been a bit hectic and I needed a break. So I spent some time outside the headset. I noticed since I started training that I had started to lose a little weight in the real world. Made sense, the headset stimulated the muscles for more accurate movements. I didn't even fit in my clothes anymore, so I took the car to go shopping for new clothes. Bought a few sets and decided to splurge a bit on new set of work clothes as well to look good at the office. I was feeling better about myself. I even felt like I had more hair! I went to the grocery store and instead of buying my usual array of crap food, I opted for some healthy stuff. I needed change in my life and I was gonna do it dammit. I bought more cat food for Alice and headed back home to eat lunch and feed the cat before going on a walk. It was the best day I had in a long time....

I got a message from The Wrangler to come to his ranch in Beast Pathing. So I went down and met him at his home. He told me that it was only a matter of time until Huang-Xi got to him and he wasn't goin' down without a fight. I asked why he asked me to come and he told me that he wanted to give me all the information he had gathered on the guild in the event that the worst happened. I asked him if I couldn't fight along side him and he shook his head, telling me that I was better off staying off of their radar for now. He gave me the little ones he had collected from Huang-Xi and a bunch of information on all sorts of guild activity and protocol. He also gave me a list of people to contact so I could make potential allies. I promised that if he wasn't here after the dust settled that I would avenge him. My tie felt hot as the flames appeared on it before I bid him farewell.

Move Thread ID 1314664284218851358 (there's a lot of info in there)