Pantheon Online

"Level 5!" The group exclaimed as they stared at Exile in shock. 

'Wasn't he like rank 86 on the listings?' this was the thought that ran through the minds of Clay and the others as they gaped at Exile. The sudden increase from what they knew shattered their illusions of him. Of course, each of them slowly came to the conclusion that he must have stolen the power using an orb. It was the only explanation that they could think of.

"Well..." Clay coughed a couple of times as an envious look entered his eyes. "Congratulations... Captain."

The others took a moment to adjust to the new reality before voicing their own sincere congratulations. Then they realised that this was the new team captain that they were talking about! The stronger that he was, the better it would be for them as a whole! The group suddenly had a fire in their eyes. As if they could not wait to catch up to him.

Exile laughed when he saw their expressions. It was refreshing to see players express themselves so openly! In Camelot, he would often be met with fake smiles that tried to hide the jealousy of others. But this group was sincerely happy for him! 'You know... I think I forgot what this felt like...' Exile sighed as he reviewed his past. Gaming had become a job. Performing some incredible feat was just meeting expectations. It had been a long time since anyone had been excited at him gaining a single level.

"What now?" Clay asked as he glanced at Exile with a smirk.

"Now?" Exile chuckled as he glanced at his new comrades. "We register our Pantheon of course!"

The bar became boisterous the moment that was said. Questions filled the room.

"What will we be called? How do we split the channel's profits? Will we recruit more members?" 

Exile reluctantly held up his hands to calm them all down. With a smile, he asked them to wait before leading them out of The Raiders Horn and towards the Temple. Exile wore a broad smile as he led the group to the tablet in the back. It was completely unassuming, so it was no wonder that he did not discover this on his own. 

With a deep breath, he placed his palm on the tablet. Golden runes appeared on its blank surface before Exile was enveloped in a golden light.

[Do you wish to register a Pantheon?]

'Yes!'

[Minimum party of six detected. Please select the ruling member.]

Exile frowned as an image of each of them appeared on the tablet. Naturally, he tapped on his own image since they had all agreed. However, the images remained with only his own greyed out.

[Please select the second in line to the Pantheon's throne...]

Exile raised an eyebrow at this. At first, he thought the developers had just chosen strange wording for the guild leader. But now he understood. The guild leader would essentially be the king or queen of their Pantheon. The second in line to the throne would be like a prince or princess. Well, that was the best way he could think of to describe it, anyway. With a smile on his face, he chose Clay's image.

[Thank you... Please enter the name of your Pantheon...]

Exile grinned as he entered the name. The name itself suited their starting point and his own intention to win this game. He chuckled as he thought about how the others would react once they saw what he chose. It was basically an open provocation to every other player! Not that it really mattered, since everyone would be out to win, anyway.

[Please design your Pantheon emblem...]

The interface that appeared was connected to his thoughts. So Exile only had to imagine what he wanted. Of course, there was a search engine for him to look up some images for inspiration connected to it. He had to think long and hard, back to his history lessons, to find something that would suit their name. He also had to consider whether their viewers would wear any merchandise with their emblem on it. 'Finished...'

[Thank you... Would you like to register your Pantheon for a team channel or individual ones?]

'Team channel.' Exile grinned when he thought about it. Naturally, there would be more content on a team channel than a solo one. Since it would merge everyone's in-game experiences. 

[Congratulations! Registration complete... Your first episode will air in 26 hours.]

As Exile finished up the formalities, the light enveloping him faded away. A broad grin crept across his face as he glanced at the others. "Well guys... It's official!"

In the next moment, a flash of golden light appeared over the hearts of each of them. It was sudden and disappeared before they could pay much attention to it. In its place was left behind a circular silver badge depicting the Pantheon's emblem. Clay raised an eyebrow as he studied the image. 

The edges of the circle were patterned in some kind of nordic tribal to create the circle. In its centre was a huge wolf's head, with its jaws wide open. It's perked up ears and open lower jaw split the tribal circle into three parts that ran behind the wolf. In the wolf's mouth sat a crescent moon with a sun in the gap to create a full circle effect. 'A wolf devouring the sun and the moon?' Clay frowned as he looked at it.

"It's my pleasure, to welcome all of you. To Ragnarok!" Exile's grin swept across his face to almost reach his eyes as he glanced at the others. It took them a moment to remember their own history lessons or things they had read on the internet. Soon, they were all smiling like madmen as they understood the message behind their Pantheon's name.

[Congratulations! The Ragnarok Pantheon has been successfully formed. Awarding Passive effect. King of the Gods!]

[King of the Gods: Receive +1 Authority bonus for each God/Goddess in your Pantheon (Including Yourself).]

[The Ragnarok Pantheon (Tier 0): 6/24]