Sora put the greatsword away, planning to see if Blossom wanted it or not. His digging skill advancement quest was now completed so he went back to the old archaeologist in the tent. Right when he walked in the old man started laughing while strongly patting Sora on the back.

“Hohoho, I watched it all from here. The form, the grace, the elegance… I’m talking about the fossils kid, don’t get a big head, hahaha! Anyways, you sure proved yourself to be a competent digger.”

[Digging Skill has advanced to Novice Digging Skill]

[‘Novice Digger’ title obtained]

Sora sold the Ancient Coin the old man for 10 gold before leaving the camp, heading back to Var. He had been holding off on recruiting for too long now and needed to do it personally. He messaged the guild and told them to all convene at Var in half an hour, he wanted to make a huge show of their power by storming into the city together on their mounts.

It didn’t take long for a large group to convene outside of Var, all riding on top of savage looking wolves, Sora was positioned at the front, along with Blossom, LeeLee, Nobunaga, and Athenes at his sides. The passing players looked at their formation with awe, with some even stopping to watch what was happening. Sora signaled the start of the march with Luna howling; Snow also howled quietly but it was more cute than it was savage. The wolves started to run towards the gate of Var, with many players moving out of the way so that the large force could make it through. The group ran all the way through, only stopping at the entrance to the Shopping District.

“Phoenix Rising is recruiting new members, anyone interested should go to the Arena in the Entertainment District. We will be hosting a small tournament so if you want to fight then you should also come along.”

Sora planned to make a huge event out of the recruitment, bringing in a large number of players to help advertise the event. Even people who didn’t have any interest in joining the guild still started heading towards the Arena, excited about the event and informing their friends of the occasion.

Sora and his group split up, with Sora going to the Arena to start things while Blossom and Nobunaga took a few people to advertise in other areas. Sora and his group were the first to arrive at the Arena thanks to the speed of their mounts. The building looked like a Colosseum, made from a pale rock and even having a dome built on it. Sora entered the Arena and created a tournament registration that was open to the public. When he walked through the hallway he found himself in a circular arena with stone benches built into the structure. A few people were here but not many challengers went forward.

It didn’t take long for the arena to be flooded with players, creating a noisy atmosphere where it was even hard to hear the people right next to you. A lot of players had even brought some food along with them to eat while they enjoy the show.

Sora, Blossom, LeeLee, Nobunaga, and Athenes were in a special area that had a few tables on a balcony. It cost a good bit of money but it helped show the importance of these members. Sora stood up and walked to the side of the balcony, triggering the crowd to slowly quiet down. He only started talking once the arena was down to a whisper.

“For those that wish to join Phoenix Rising, simply state so at the start of the battle. If you do not want to then simply don’t do so. For those of you here just for the tournament, I have prepared a small reward of 1,000 gold to the winner. Thank you all for participating, the first match will start now!”

A stone slab that was suspended above the arena suddenly had words carved into it. This slab would keep track of who was fighting in the arena, along with their level and class. The first one up was a man named ‘Jiggy’, a level 41 Archer. His opponent was another man named ‘Gyro Head’, a level 40 Warrior.

The arena terrain suddenly transformed before the opponents were sent in, creating a dense jungle that made it harder for the fighters to maneuver. The crowd looked at the stone slab since it would show the fight from a different point of view. Both contestants were pulled into the arena, with the Archer stating that he wanted to join Phoenix Rising. The warrior didn’t show any interest and simply began making his way through the forest.

The archer climbed up the trees, using the branches to silently move from above. It didn’t take long for the archer to spot the warrior who was running around blindly. The archer notched an arrow and let it loose, followed by another arrow that was barbed. Both shots hit their target, chunking away a large amount of health. The warrior wanted to retaliate but was forced to retreat and find a way on top of the branches before trying to attack. The jungle became quiet as both players tried to sneak up on the other.

Sora shook his head as he watched the archer get cocky and chased after the warrior. The warrior had hidden behind one of the trees and waited for the archer to come running by. A [Shoulder Bash] connected with the archer, knocking him to the ground and dealing a huge amount of damage. The warrior followed up by plunging his sword downwards, hitting him and bringing him down to critical health. The archer tried to retaliate but couldn’t create a gap and died from one more attack. Both players disappeared as the arena transformed again, this time turning into a small hill with many rocks. Two more players appeared in the arena, starting a new fight.

Sora watched the fights while secretly critiquing their performance. Although a good performance wasn’t required to join the guild, it certainly helped stand out. A lot of newer players that didn’t have any experience with fighting were weeded out of the tournament, quickly creating a tournament between the top tier players. Sora had his sight on many different combatants but his biggest catch was an assassin by the name of ‘Lone Shadow’. She was only level 42 but easily fought against players that were a higher level than her. She had been lucky enough to acquire the stealth skill so she was able to ambush every enemy she fought against. She didn’t say that she wanted to join Phoenix Rising but Sora still planned to try and get her, a strong PvPer was very important once more guilds start to pop up. She once again was able to quickly win her match with an ambush and fancy footwork that made her opponent spin in circles.

It was coming down to the end, with only four players left standing. Only one of those players had stated that they want to join Phoenix Rising and he surprisingly had a hidden class. He was a variation of the Archer class called the Hunter class, that used traps to help immobilize and damage his targets. It wasn’t a very powerful class but he was able to use it perfectly, setting up traps in the exact places he needed and even luring his enemies into their demise. He was facing off against a warrior that had barely been able to hang on during the tournament.

The fight happened in a swamp area, giving great concealment for the hunter. The warrior had been dragging his feet through the muddy water when a snapping sound was heard, dealing damage and immobilizing the warrior. The hunter popped out from behind a tree and started launching a volley of attacks on the warrior. Once the warrior finally managed to break out of the trap he rushed towards the hunter, only to once again hit a trap that exploded, dealing a large amount of damage and covering his view with muddy water. The hunter was able to kill the warrior without even being touched, securing his spot in the finals.

The second fight had the assassin that Sora had been watching fighting against a mage. The mage was excellent at keeping his distance from people so he was able to kill most of his targets without even being touched. He was a little nervous about the next opponent since her stealth would make it impossible for him to stay away. The battlefield was also filled with trees which made it even harder to land hits on the assassin.

The fight started and the assassin instantly vanished, creating an eerie silence that the mage used to try and hear where she was coming from. He heard a noise to his right so he used a quick fireball to launch an attack in that direction. The fireball hit a tree and nothing else right as the assassin popped up from behind the mage, using [Accurate Strike] followed by a stunning skill to interrupt the mage. The mage finally came out of his stunned state and started to create distance between him and the assassin, only realizing she had once again disappeared as he looked back. The mage could only sigh as he realized it was impossible for him to win, resulting in a forfeit.

The crowd had been extremely loud for the entire duration of the tournament, only quieting down at this point to watch the finals. The arena became a scorched battlefield with broken trees scattered around. Many pits were on the ground and the entire area was littered with broken weapons. Both of the contestants appeared on in the arena, preparing themselves for a tough battle.

The battle commenced, starting with the assassin going into stealth and the hunter backing up into one of the pits. He set up a trap behind him and faced forward, hoping it would stop the assassin from catching him from behind. A few seconds passed in silence before the trap could be heard triggering. The hunter turned around with an arrow notched and was surprised to see nobody caught in the trap. He turned around immediately afterward and was able to get off one attack before being stunned. The assassin started to unleash a flurry of attacks on the hunter, not even retreating as the stunned state wore off. The hunter slid back and left an explosive trap in the area he was just standing, creating an explosion as the assassin triggered it. The hunter was able to get one shot off before the assassin retreated with the smoke from the explosion as cover.

The hunter once again put a trap behind him and hid behind a broken tree. A sense of crisis rising up within him as he once again heard his trap triggering. He turned around and was surprised again by the fact that nobody was there, he immediately turned and let an arrow loose, hitting nothing as it continued through the air. The assassin suddenly appeared behind him and attacked, stunning him as he tried to turn around. The assassin danced around him before using an attack with both daggers at once, killing the hunter.

The arena exploded into applause as the assassin stood alone within the arena, settling down once they realized the extremely quiet assassin was finally going to say something. She pulled her mask down and revealed a very young looking face. Although she looked young her gray eyes seemed to stare into the depths of people's souls. She looked directly at Sora, who returned her gaze without flinching back.

“The reason why I have not shown interest in joining Phoenix Rising is because I have not seen how powerful their leader really is. So, do you dare come down and fight me? If you win then I will join your guild and you can keep the prize money.”

The arena turned dead silent as a lot of players started to ponder what she said. What she said had struck chords with a lot of participants in the tournament, they had never seen Sora in action and didn’t want to be loyal to someone who was not powerful. Sora only smiled and cleared up all of the confusion.

“I normally wouldn’t want players who only care about power in my guild, but I’ll make an exception for you. Ah, I just wonder how long it will take for someone else to come along and for you to blindly follow them just because they are powerful.”

All of the players who agreed with the assassin felt their faces get red, of course they knew that they would flock to whoever is most powerful. It’s normal for players to hop to other guilds once they become more famous. The assassin also felt a little upset by that remark, mainly because she had overlooked that point and only wanted to make sure she wasn’t following someone weaker than her.

“If you win and I’m ever unloyal to you then I hope everyone here will make me an enemy!”

“It’s a deal.”

Sora entered the battlefield as it transformed into a normal forest, he looked at the assassin who returned his gaze. Sora thought it would be fun to shake her up a little bit and revealed one of the tricks she uses against all of her opponents.

“By the way, your little pebble trick won’t work on me.”

The assassin suddenly had wide eyes and a look of uncertainty as she heard Sora. She finally stopped acting so condescending and had a serious look on her face as Sora pulled out his sword.

3…

2…

1…

Fight!