Chapter 04

War

[I’m here in Buendia Valley live, bringing you the latest update on the pre-war preparations of the two guilds that’s slowly rising in power in the continent of Espada.]

Kathleen Brew, now a Mage from The Naturals, the Human Race, was riding a small sized Sky Wyvern with a white flag of MEDIA on the tail. She was circling around the Mooran Fortress, the stronghold of the Sylphiadora Guild forces and was capturing the grand, majestic image of their armies.

It’s been six days since her last report and from then until now, the forces of the Sylphs had actually tripled from around 80k to 230k+.

It was a sight to see.

Above the castle wall that stood 100m high were five floating warships the size of six ten-wheeler trucks.

Golgoda-class.

Hydra-class.

Missouri-class.

Osiris-class.

Prontera-class.

Large assault cannons protruded on their hulls above and below. Black, red, orange, white, and blue, their color patterns are the indication of the allied guilds that they belonged to. Floating around them like sesame seeds in a large bun were Cyclones modified and fitted with Vulcan Shanks.

Winged elements —players with Mechanical Wing Sets, flew to and from all around the fortress premises.

And as much grand as their numbers are, they are all just decorations in the sky compared to the grandness of the forces down below.

Large mammoth tanks lined one after another. A pair of catapults on their decks, a ball cannon on each side, caterpillar threads powered by mechanical gears and not fueled engines. These tanks, though classically poor compared to modern tanks, are a Hammer of Thor if ever compared to C-rank players and their beastly rides.

And yet these players with their horned monsters as horses, are of extreme importance as the tanks.

The infantry that assembled in the castle walls all had their bows and cannons, catapults, crossbow bolts, muskets, culverins, and some artillery weapons lined in a defensive matrix.

Kathleen broadcasted these videos, LIVE, in the TV channel, Terroa Day Today, that solely broadcasted information and happenings regarding Terroa.

On the other hand, Brad Goldoni was also airing the same scenario as Kathleen on the Titan Goliath Guild’s side, thirty kilometers away from the wall. Those three menacing layers of frontline mammoth tanks, five aerial mean machines with the tiny Cyclone escorts and some flying knights and players, large tamed monsters by those advanced Apollo Race players with the special ability, Domesticate, that they made into carriers…

Every bit of second that passed, every day that these silent winds carried the chilling frigid presence of the upcoming war, the tension of the two side slowly arises as their forces slowly but certainly accumulated their awing numbers.

Kathleen could only gasp as she herself beheld for the first time how a war develops from the conflicting ideals and goals, to this grand sized event that could change the flow of history.

[As you can see, I…I…don’t know what words to say now… but this…this war between the TGG and Sylphs had brought forth not only the whole of Terroa, but actually the whole world!]

Her Sky Wyvern flew higher, around 4km above ground and she just couldn’t help but be astounded how vast the sizes of their armies really are.

As of thirty kilometers away from the walls of the Mooran Fortress, the grand size of the TGG army bid a cold sinister omen on the chill winds hitting the solid grey walls. She flew steadily on the breath taking view overlooking the clouds and the valley, and Kathleen is sure that just a few days from now, the largest war the whole of Terroa had ever seen since its release will be witnessed by the whole world.

The wings of her Sky Wyvern waved on the winds that nested beneath them and its shadow overlapped the sol that shone from behind her. She dived down and landed on the edge of the valley.

And it was here that she said the last words to end her shift’s reports. The small metallic ball that was the camera hovered in front of her and she wore the fondest smile she could muster at the time.

[RPG: Terroa now brings you the greatest event the whole world had ever seen. It is what all action gamers crave for. And this time, it is here in Terroa that you will see what gaming action really is. This is Kathleen Brew reporting live from Buendia Valley.]

And cut.

***

There was no light to where they rested. No sound, just the low tune of their synchronized breathing.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Then, the one seated up front of a crowd of players like a King towards his subjects waved a hand in midair to summon his character window.

Then he swiped, configured, swiped, configured, and finally confirmed the settings that he wanted.

He took out his communicator device and the sound of static echoed in his earpiece. After a while, his line connected to a person and his breathing changed as he spoke in a gruff, scary tone.

“How is it?.”

The person on the line sounded intimidated as his voice trembled on the private chat line.

“It’s just in a few days now, sir.”

“Good.” And the line was cut.

The man opened his eyes, the room slowly dimmed, and the entirety of his crowd that was composed of just eleven people looked at him as they all waited the one absolute order that will ignite it all.

“Shall we start the forest fire then?” Asked the one on his direct right.

“No.” He answered, “Not yet.” and turned around to face the wall behind him. The wall suddenly lighted up and became a corrected computerized [email protected] view of the place overlooking the Valley of Buendia. Based from the shadow’s direction, they were located high above in a place where there are trees, somewhere in the southwestern side of the plains.

Then, each of the panel around them that acted as the wall lighted up the same way the main view did and it in turn brightened up the entire room, changing the impression into that of a ship’s command bridge.

Panels lighted up on each of the seats and the eleven people around the round table all began to move as the part where it served as part of the table converted into consoles with a lot of hologram panels indicating the functions and operations of their ship. Everything inside this command bridge was of the highest and most expensive technology available in Terroa.

The Garuda started to hum and the captain stood up with his hand on his back waist to face his crew with a calm commanding voice.

“Start launching procedures.”

On his command, the optic camouflage of their ship began to disintegrate and a large battleship that nested above the forest began to take shape.

It was a 220m long black and red ship with wings and thruster engines that could easily outmatch a Prontera-class in its speed output.

In reference, the Prontera-class, who was, in reality, the first of its class, was actually considered the fastest ship ever designed since the game was launched. And yet, the Garuda’s specs and performance output easily surpasses that record in all aspects.

In short, in terms of engineering, whoever the player that designed the Garuda could only either be a genius or a fanatic since its shape easily was originated from the “Garuda” that was seen on a 1990’s TV5 show Five Man. But this Garuda is a more modern and generally monstrous version of the TV5’s docile bird-type. More like, this Garuda is its dragon version.

It has ten firestone powered missile pods on both sides that was missile armed —equipped with talisman imbued with the Seeker magic spell, the 15m sized Basilisk magical rerebrace —the same concept as Samara’s Morrigan cannons (only with plate armors for the protection of the base), on the upper deck lined in groups of 6 —in groups of 3 at the bottom, a wingspan of around 380m with 3 large thruster pods on each wing, folded as if looking like a predator about to go on a dive to its prey, and the general outline was actually that of a large monster.

The head that which looked like a dragon’s had an opening for the Cyclones to launch to —a magnetic catapult on what looked like shoulder cannons, and its eyes are actually the same Morrigan cannons, only 10x bigger, and was intended to take down enemy warships upfront.

This is the Garuda, owned by the strongest guild in Terroa, Alcides Guild.

They are feared and was respected to be the first ever players that actually broadcasted their Alien Hunts. And not one of their hunts ever failed.

Their guild’s core is composed of 12 members, but these twelve are all administrators of Dark Technology. They are the stars of RPG: Terroa, always featured in TDT’s shows, and even made it to becoming Panorama Corporation’s lap dogs as the game’s face.

In their almost two years of playing the game, and actually making it this far after six in-game years, it would be no doubt that some, if not all of them, are already rich people from all the paid contracts they had.

Probably, the only feat they haven’t actually done is to hunt dragons. Which would mean they’re already defeated before they even thought of it.

But what are they doing here?

As their ship slowly arise from the covers of the tall trees, with their Optic Camouflage that costs Z100M in the NPC Underground Innovation Shop, slowly diminishing into thin rays of octagonal shaped light reflecting elements, the sound their thruster engines made began to reverberate and fill the surroundings.

Though they were far away from either the TGG or the Sylphs to see, and especially detect them, from where Kathleen Brew was standing, the sight of a dark shadow arising from the forest did not escape her view.

And from there, the sensor on the main screen of the Garuda caught sight of her looking at their direction.

Their leader paused to stare at her face.

She was as magnificently beautiful as she were in TV and he just can’t help but to admire her beauty. But alas, he was in the middle of a mission and he can’t afford to be seen in the scene of the crime.

“Let’s go.”

On his command, the adjutant on the left side pushed a few buttons on his console and the ship stretched its wings, turned around, and with a sonic boom that seem as if thunder from afar brought their ship to escape the Buendia Valley.

***

A group of six people with some in SWAT dresses led by a casually dressed old man with no weapons nor armors, watched the large ship flew from 500m away.

Then he turned around to face the leader of the SWAT team with a smile.

Seeing him smile made the young warrior reluctant.

“You’re really enjoying this huh?”

“Not really.” Janus replied and continued to walk. “I find it amusing to actually see this kind of scenery.”

As he spoke, the SWAT team followed him. A few bush and some hills after, with an ostensibly endless stamina, the old man stopped atop a hill and the SWAT team followed him.

The first to arrive was their leader with a sword but fitted with a gun with a long barrel prepared in case of monster ambush strapped at his back.

He let go of an amazed reaction and the rest of his team all got curious as they rushed to see the view their leader was seeing. And when they did, they too, let out their own amazed reactions.

The Buendia Valley is a peaceful place with a water fall that’s as high as the Angel Falls.

On their left was the direction where the coal mining city of Xargoal-6 was located, the sixth Xargoal city of a network of 11 all around the world.

A few kilometers from there, the Fortress of Mooran was located where a force of over 200,000 players were gathered for the war, hidden within in a flux of river, forests, and ridged plains.

They were located in between two rock ledges, with the river down right below, the Angel Falls on the left, steep cliff up front and the green forest and a mountain range on the horizon, and the high protruding hill on the right where they came from, this angle of the view could only be called a miracle of nature. It was hard to imagine that it was born from a bunch of data, patched together to spell the color of the land, texture, and this overall world, most specifically, this beautiful view.

But this, the place and the angle, how it was created far exceeds any imagination. The feel of Virtual Reality vanishes with this grand image. The SWAT team, with all its members being young adventurers, couldn’t help but to freeze time by taking its picture, preserving it in that rectangular image forever.

“Go.” Janus told them and the kids all looked at each other as they happily unequipped all their weapons and changed them into hover boards.

They all had one hover boards except for Janus.

“Where are we going to meet again?” Asked their young leader.

Janus smiled and brushed his head, his unkempt hair got tangled like a bush and Janus and the rest chuckled as they understood the fatherly image he had on the kid.

“He’s coming in this place.” He just said and they all knew who he was talking about.

The five let out happy exclaims as they spoke of his feats and excitedly shouted. The men bumped fists and exchanged high fives while the girls chuckled and did that BFF cheer from Reese Witherspoon’s movie, Legally Blonde.

“But sir Janus, where should we meet him?” Asked one of the girls.

“Well, I doubt he’ll meet you when he comes since there is a big chance that he might get tangled with the upcoming war.” At his reply, the teen SWAT group all had this sorrowful look in them so Janus immediately followed, “But at least you get to come here right?”

At that, they all exchanged looks and the mood took a direct U-turn as the smiles on their faces emerged.

“Well, you’re right. There are other chances that we can meet him.” Said the leader.

Then the second girl followed. “But I’m surprised uncle, how did you know of all those things that you’ve taught us? About the moonstone, the secret monsters, designing secrets, and even these beautiful places…?”

“Hohoho…” Janus stepped up towards the cliff and on his feet materialized a hoverboard. “Well, I only came across this place a few months ago when I was lost trying to find a certain place.” And then he pointed to the area down the steep cliff. “Also, down there…”

The teen SWAT team followed his finger and saw an empty brown land that stretched around one kilometer from the valley’s edge, towards the forest.

“What’s there?” Asked the second guy and which the third followed.

“Is that a dangerous place?”

Janus smiled at his question. “S-rank dangerous.”

The teen SWAT team gulped and took their distance from the edge of the cliff. But then Janus laughed and he stepped even closer to the edge, saying,

“Don’t worry. With these hover boards, they won’t even know that we’re riding on them?”

“Them?” Asked the group’s leader.

“Worms.”

““Worms!””

The SWAT team exclaimed and so Janus jumped off the edge that made their hearts skip a beat. What crazy thing would it seem if they told anyone about an old man on a hover board dancing with Worms?

They followed him with a glance and the 300m drop easily ended since the steep cliff was inclined at 60 degrees towards the peak and 45 degrees at the bottom.

To the brown colored land with nothing but soil and some darker colored areas, with lumps of ground and a few tiny sized hills, old man Janus threw a bomb at one point of the field and a chain reaction happened.

The tiny sized hills trembled and those that actually went at least 30m high emitted a sound that could only be traced to something big and angry.

As if not contented, Janus threw another bomb at one side of the field, circled around, did it again, and repeated the same routine for the next two minutes. Up above the cliff where he left the SWAT armored teens, they could only watch as the lumps of ground became a sea of red headed, pink skinned Worms.

Their mouths had four sets of jaws that opens up into a four sided beak. Blinded as they are, their heads are the hardest part of their body as almost all of the hard and precious monster scales are concentrated there.

Whenever open, those mouths could stretch as wide as 15m in diameter while their body is as long, as soft, and as pinkish as a girl’s lips.

Not that it’s a good reference but old man Janus took it as something of a sports as he glided through their bodies as effortless as possible. Seeing that the moving skate park had this calm yet dangerously alluring waves on them, the SWAT armored teens all looked at each other and nodded on a consensus of boiling excitement.

They all jumped off the cliff with a smile, some even used the inclined rocks a means to launch themselves to the worm’s back.

They laughed and enjoyed the ride, as if not aware of the level of danger these monsters are.

But still they enjoyed.

They each summoned a camera ball and let it flew to take their pictures. They did exhibition rolls and turns, flips and glides, jumps and poses. Their laughing sound echoed all around the area and the commotion brought upon by the roaring sounds of the awoken sleeping worms reached the ears of the court-side reporter.

Kathleen Brew flew over, watching the reason why the worms were active during the day. And when she saw the crazy stunts of those young users, she couldn’t help but feel worried. But then again, the sounds of the laughs and giggles overpowered the roars of the worms and she found herself watching them with a smile. She couldn’t afford to pull out the camera, and she actually, unconsciously, wondered why.

The laughter and fun in this world wasn’t limited in the endless fighting and war that she was ordered to cover as part of her work.

She wondered why she hasn’t thought of it.

Then, she was surprised when one of the six crazy worm riders came towards her and stopped.

It was an old man who wore an intelligent smile.

“Why are you not joining us?” He asked her and she was literally lost for the right words to say.

Why indeed?

She asked herself. Then she said, “I don’t have any hover board in me.”

“Hahaha…that’s not a problem.” The old man said and gave her the hover board he was carrying.

“B-But…”

“What? You don’t know how to use one?”

“It’s not that. But what about you?”

To her confused reaction, Janus summoned another hover board and smiled as he spoke,

“You were saying?”

He took off first and kick flipped to ride the nearest worm and he used it to propel himself towards the sky, a hundred or so meters upwards. And during his hang time, he did different poses unbefitting of an old man and the SWAT teens all laughed hard including Kathleen who never realized that he was trembling.

Why am I trembling?

As she asked herself again, she immediately found the answer. It was given to him by the old man and she was already holding it on her hands.

And so she stopped thinking and rode her board, using her Sky Wyvern to gain momentum and launched herself towards the sea of worms.

“Hey look! It’s Kathleen!” screamed one of the girls.

The rest of their team greeted and welcomed her as they all did their tricks at the same time.

This is fun!

Kathleen thought and joined their fun while smiling and actually enjoying the game for the first time in a very long while.