You have an opportunity here… Don’t forget the opportunity that is placed before you today. No freaking kidding… Pepper’s mind continued to race as he walked along the long corridor of the golem bays. He appreciated the fact that he could walk through the area now, and with hardly anyone around, it allowed his brain to wonder. His thoughts were filled with nothing but Rob Gagnon’s advice on opportunity, and then Commander Brooks statements regarding it as well.

  He couldn’t help but chuckle and feel like the two men had practically planned out their presentations. His hand messaged the back of his neck as he walked and when he looked up, he realized he had made it a full loop around the arena. As his eyes focused on the set of doors which would lead him towards the main lobby area, he saw a familiar face push through them and begin to walk towards him.

  The slender man had adjusted his brown hair, guiding it back over to one side and adjusted his glasses. His pace made Pepper feel as if he was on a mission and was heading off to the side. The man noticed him and gave a partial wave.

  “Hey there.”

  “Hi.” Pepper replied.

  The man didn’t slow in his pace as he reached out and grabbed onto the side door. “I’m grabbing a coffee, would you like one?”

  He smiled, the welcome gesture warmed his heart. “No thank you. I’m good. I appreciate the offer though.”

  “Of course. Happy to offer it.” The man opened the door and dipped inside.

  As soon as the figure departed out of view, his mind seemed to waken up out of its sleepless state. You moron! That was Seth Ring! He shook his head and jogged over to the door. There was a small window slot to the door which allowed him to get a closer look.

  His hand slammed down on the handle of the door, and he quickly headed inside. He quickly approached Seth who was just finishing up putting some extra sweetener into his coffee. A staffer standing behind the service counter called out to him and asked if he wanted anything. Pepper ignored the question but the inquiry drew Seth’s attention.

  “Oh hey, change your mind?” Seth asked him as he finished putting a lid on his coffee cup.

  “You’re Seth Ring.”

  A playful expression came over Seth’s face and he looked back at him. “I know right? I keep praying I’ll wake up as Bruce Wayne one day… but, every morning, this is what I am stuck with.” He took a sip of coffee and then finished after he smacked his lips. “Though that would be cool, my wife hates the big city life. That and she would never stop telling me to not go out at night.” Seth made an exaggerated face and lifted his hand up. “But, what can you do? It’s not like bad guys operate during the 9-5 hours, am I right?”

  Pepper blinked at him and then nervously chuckled. “Uhh, yeah. I never got into the superhero stuff.”

  Seth’s eyes grew wide and he now looked concerned and slightly worried. Pepper’s heart began to beat faster as he grew afraid he had already started out on the wrong foot. Seth was looking off to the side, but took a deep breath and then shifted his gaze back to him. “Welp… now I feel old. The day when people stop enjoying super hero’s… I’ve dreaded this day, and now, its finally here.”

  There was a long pause and Pepper know tried to figure out how he would recover the conversation. To his surprise though, a smile formed on Seth’s face. “I’m just messing with you.” He extended his hand out and chuckled. “I’m Seth, and you are?”

  “Pepper, Pepper Walker.”

  “That’s right. I believe I judged you on one of your SEC Invitational Matches. We’re you the Ultimate Brit? Or was that…”

  Pepper snapped his finger, “That was me. Well, I mean, that was my match, but I was the battle tiger that fought Jaime. Aka, the Ultimate Brit.”

  “Ahh, that’s right. Nightmare Mala was it? Black tiger humanoid.”

  “Yup, that was me alright.”

  “Awesome.” Seth replied with a smile. The two stood there for a second and Pepper could read Seth’s gaze as if he was being analyzed by the more prestigious gladiator. Seth motioned with his head towards the door. “You seem to have something on your mind. You wanna walk and talk for a few minutes?”

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  Pepper felt a peaceful calm coming over him. “Yeah, I… I would like that.”

  The two headed out and back into the long corridor. They walked for a few feet and Seth used his coffee cup to point towards the gladiator bays. “Impressive, aren’t they?”

  Pepper turned and looked up and the grand display. The entire facility was a lot to take in, and though he had spent a couple of days within it competing. It still had the ability to take your breath away.

  “It’s nothing short of incredible.”

  Seth chuckled. “You can say that again. I still find myself reflecting on some nights as… we’re really able to do all of… this. It’s crazy to think about.”

  “I watched your episode of RuneCast. I really liked it.”

  Seth formed a confused expression at first, but soon it shifted as he recalled. “With John Douglas?”

  “Yeah. You guys were talking about independent runes being accepted into the Golem League. I gotta say, I’m so happy about the decision, and 100% agree with your thoughts on it.”

  Seth sighed. “Yeesh, that was a while ago.” He took another sip of his coffee and smacked his lips. “It took me a second to remember that episode. Trust me Pepper, enjoy your youth now, because eventually you’ll climb up in the ranks and then… well, your days just blend together and you need assistants to just remind you what day it is.”

  “Yeah, I have no desire to rush into all of that.”

  Seth wagged a finger towards him. “Now that’s the spirit right there.” Seth dry coughed, then took another sip of coffee to warm his throat. “Okay… so Pepper Walker, newly minted SEC Regional gladiator. What exactly is on your mind?”

  “Guilds.”

  “Ooof” Seth replied.

  Pepper glanced over and saw that Seth’s face showed a look of concern. “Well, also, more specifically, the Valiant Guild.”

  Seth wiggled his eyebrows and took a deep breath. “They already set your sights on you huh? Well, I can’t say that I am surprised. Especially with them being headquartered right down the road from here. That, and… you were certainly showing a high degree of competency in the arena. It makes sense that they would want to try and pick you up.”

  “Yeah… I mean. When you’re first starting out, you kinda don’t think about it. Well, let me clarify. I know a lot of other people who only talked about joining a guild. They were more obsessed with being accepted into a guild than they were regarding their golem builds. I never really gave them much thought, at least at first.”

  Pepper paused and felt he was rambling. He dashed a side glance over, but once he saw Seth nodding along, he continued. “So, it was one of those things were I just felt I would entertain the option once I got into a Regional League. And here I am, on my first day with signing papers with the SEC, and I now have a guild reaching out and wanting me.”

  Seth took another sip of coffee and once he realized Pepper had finished sharing his thoughts, asked. “Okay. So… now what?”

  “Well, that’s my question to you. What do I do?”

  Seth started to laugh. “Oh man kid… that is a loaded question.” The gladiator lifted his gaze up and looked towards the rafters of the structure. “How much time did Valiant give you to accept their offer?”

  “Two days.”

  Seth raspberried. “Sounds about right. They want to lock you in before you get any other offers from another guild.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah… it’s a pretty standard approach. They have an in here at the SEC and know just when to be lingering around the office when the new gladiators come in. If you are one they have interest in, they just so happen to always have a need to swing by and say hello.” Seth lowered his head down and looked far ahead of where they were walking. “I’m assuming it was Chief Garcia and Major Hathway who came to visit you?”

  “Commander Brooks and Chief Garcia.”

  Seth formed a sarcastic expression. “Ohh, Commander Brooks made an appearance huh? They must really want you then.” Seth then tilted his head back and forth, it left Pepper thinking that he had quiet a few different thoughts going on. But after a brief pause he asked. “So, you thinking of taking them up on it?”

  “I mean… there does seem to be a lot of benefits to it. Everything sounds to be taken care of and all I have to do is show up and compete.”

  Seth blinked rapidly and looked over at him. “Have you talked to anyone else within Valiant? What about James Hunter over at VetCore, have you talked to him?”

  The advice was one that hit him like a sucker punch to the face. The advice seemed to be an obvious route to take, but the whole idea hadn’t even come to Pepper until that very moment.

  He shook his head and looked down towards his feet. “Nope. I honestly didn’t even think about it until just now when you brought it up.”

  Seth nodded and pointed his coffee cup towards Pepper. “It never hurts to do your research. Take your time and consider all your options.”

  There was a moment of silence between the two. “You never guilded up when you started. Why not?”

  The question was one that seemed to resonate within Seth. He took a moment to think over a response but finally shrugged. “Honestly, I never felt like I really needed it. There are pro’s and con’s to both sides. But, you have to remember that, when I started, there wasn’t really a lot of guilds within the league. I’m approached on almost a weekly basis, asked to help start one. But honestly, I’m happy to just do me. What I will tell you, is do not… and I mean this. Do not, let them make you feel like you can’t make it without them. Hundreds of gladiators compete in the Golem League every month without a guilds help.”

  “Thanks Seth. I, I really appreciate that.”

  “Sure thing. Take all two days to think over this decision. And… don’t forget. Those guilds aren’t going anywhere, and Valiant is just one of many out there. Shop around and eventually you’ll find the right fit.”

  “I will.”