Spending the night in game since if they were to log out there was a chance they would oversleep especially one person who did not have sleep the previous night, the group gathered in a room in the Independent Guild Administration Centre.

There with the exception of Shadow who needed all the sleep he could, the group sat in front of two particular people who were...unique.

One of them was wearing a gas mask and was strangely enough knees deep into the floor while the other looked quite handsome but had a cold attitude on everything. They were to say polar opposites to each other.

“Ohhhhhhh! They look even better close up!” Eart said enthusiastically moving closer in on them. At that moment Arch grabbed Eart and then dragged him to the other end of the room and forced him to stay there.

“Arch! How can you do this to me?!” Eart demanded.

In a cold voice Arch replied with, “Why were you trying to look up their skirts Eart? Isn't it bad enough that you usually do this but to do it to underaged people as well?”

It was at the moment that both Miriel and Lyndis looked down at their legs and pulled their skirts down a bit trying to cover a little bit more. They had forgotten that there were these types of people here in this game as well.

“My apologises again for bringing this pervert to you” Arch said once again to the group. When the two came in and saw the group the one called Eart immediately charged at them and almost wrapped his face into one of the girl's legs.

A true pervert which was promptly taken out by Arch who was enraged at Eart's actions.

“No no no, don't worry too much of it” Sain said with respect to Arch. From what their introduction said about them, they were their seniors in the guild...which meant that they were powerful at the very least.

The group save Shadow could see that when Arch took out Eart with something that they couldn't tell. However Alena thanked him for his work and then warned Eart not to do that again else problems may arise.

Much to the group's surprise Eart nodded obediently and commented that Alena was more womanly to which she blushed slightly.

“I'll get something for everyone to drink in a bit” she said leaving the room.

After the awkwardness disappeared a bit the group and the two seniors started talking as they still had a few hours before the semi-final matches.

“I just want to ask one thing” Lyndis said.

“Go ahead” Arch replied indifferently. Meanwhile Eart was about to enthusiastically say something to which Arch grabbed his mouth and threatened to crush it causing the rest of the group besides Lyndis who didn't seem to mind to freeze a bit to the scene.

“How did Eden recruit you?” she asked.

There was a moment of silence and the one who broke it was not Arch but Eart. He said, “That story closely relates to how the Independent Guild System was proposed and then officially approved by Emperor Weed. Want to know? Eden more or less told this story before but Arch doesn't like it.”

Arch glared at Eart though not stopping him as he continued saying, “It was when Arch was still new to the game and really weak and when he first met Eden. It started-”

“Eart I'll tell the story since you will definitely add in lies to try to make it more interesting” Arch interrupted.

“How so?” Eart asked wondering what Arch was talking about. His stories were 'always truthful' though it was a bit exaggerated at times.

“When you told me how you met Eden you said something along the lines of battling a massive dragon, saving a princess and being crowned king at the same time and being called a hero.”

“What? That really happened!” Eart retorted.

“Quiet!” Arch almost shouted in a threatening tone and started talking about what happened at day.

xXx

At a local tavern there was a bar there filled with only a dozen or so people, all working class and all just finished work. There wasn't much to say that the drinks were cheap and tasty at least after a whole day of hard work.

Those who came here were mostly middle aged men that had some years left to do before retirement and leaving it up to the next generation. It was the same for the bartender as well. In his forties he had an apprentice that was half his age though only hired for a few years.

Always silently doing his work, always polishing the glass the bartender waited and sometimes conversed with his customers. It was a job that required high social skills but at the same time you needed to distance yourself away from them to expect new faces.

“Oh~ This place is pretty run down at places. It's also dark and stinks of liquor” a female voice that sounded like angels were coming down rang through the tavern.

As the gender democratic was more or less male with only some waiters being female and quite old, all heads turned to the door. Some in interest and some with anger that their place to be was insulted like that.

The person was a tall blonde hair beauty wearing paladin class armour from what the other people could see. With a face like that, all hate from the comments she made disappeared. It was like she had a calming effect with her here if not for her behaviour that turned more than one head and caused more than one sigh.

“Alexandra, why did you happily insult this place when we just entered?” another person said.

Though much lower pitch to the point that you could mistaken it for a man if not for the face, long hair and body type, the black haired woman(?) also entered with the woman. Wearing some casual clothes you could see her(?) slim waist though it was disappointing that an area higher up was not larger.

“I believe that's her way of saying she likes the place Eden” and finally there was a misplaced person in this place as well. A short browned hair kid whose gender wasn't that well known though the hat was unmistakeably one of a witch they presumed that person was female as well.

“Right right Viv~ Let's rest here for a while~” Alexandra said with a hum.

The three walked into the tavern that was dead silent now listening on them. There was no voices, no clangs of cups and glasses and no laugher as well.

They sat they the counter in front of the bartender as Alexandra said in a loud and unladylike voice, “A barrel of liquor!” already seeming drunk on other ways.

However Eden shook his head and said, “I rather not pay for damages later on.”

“Damages to this place?” Alexandra asked expecting that she might trash this place if she were drunk.

“No” Eden shook his head again, “Damages to this entire town....”

Next to him, Viv nodded and said, “You always seemed to do that when completely drunk. Thankfully Eden is usually sober when you do that-”

“Though I rather not be” Eden cut in expressing his opinion.

“-And I practically never get drunk either way” he continued. Viv looked at the bartender who did not react to some of the words that they had and said, “Just three bottles.”

The bartender nodded and said, “Understood” and took three glasses and three bottles out of some cheap liquor that the other customers also drunk.

The three started to pour in their glass and drank. Within seconds Alexandra already drank half of her bottle while Eden and Viv were just starting.

“Master...” the apprentice said, “These people seem...one of them is even a child....” he looked at their high class gear, “Why didn't you give them some more ex-”

“Because that is what they wished for” the bartender said to his apprentice. It seemed there was a lot for him to learn.

It was at this moment the tavern went back to normal with people shouting and ordering food around them. However there was always a glance to the counter where those three sat there like they were removed from the rest of the world.

“Another!” Alexandra almost shouting showing that her bottle was completely empty, “It was better than I thought!”

Eden sighed looking at Alexandra again. At this rate he would have to put out a few thousand gold for the repair fees....again.

“Al, don't drink too much. We came here to meet him about the system we proposed” Viv warned.

Alexandra gave Viv a look of 'what are you talking about', “Of course, I can keep my liquor.”

“Please say that to me with a straight face my dear wife” Eden said sarcastically. Alexandra turned to Eden not getting his sarcasm and said, “I can keep my liquor.”

“....”

Eden placed his hand on Alexandra cheek for a few moments looking into her eyes...and pulled.

“What the hell is this foolish person saying. Do you think I will make that mistake again?”

“Honetly yeeesh” Alexandra said despite her cheek being pulled. Pissed, Eden pulled even harder until he noticed some people were giving them weird looks.

“Ow...” Alexandra used some Holy Magic to heal her cheek and returned to drinking the second bottle that the bartender placed on the counter.

Behind the counter and while the three didn't pay attention to him, the apprentice whispered, “These people are weird...one of them called the other her wife.”

“That is not for us to judge. They are customers” the bartender reminded his apprentice with a sigh. It looked like years of training wouldn't be enough.

“But they are women...women shouldn't...” the apprentice muttered thinking of the two of them in bed and...

“You know that all three of us can hear you right?” Viv said looking at the apprentice which made him go red and stiffen up in more ways than one.

Noticing that Viv was irritated the bartender went up and bowed saying, “My apologies, he is still an apprentice.”

“That's fine, fine” Alexandra waved though now slightly redder in the face. While they weren't looking, she swiped Eden and Viv's bottles and drank it as well.

“Right!” she clapped her hands thinking of a great idea, “Let's play a little game then!”

Her words attracted the attention of many people. The tavern was a bit more quiet as Alexandra spoke, “We we win this game you can be our errand boy for a week and if you win...you can spend the night with one of us” she said in a seductive tone which caused many men to sit down then for good reasons.

The apprentice bartender was blushing red and was completely stiff from the excitement he was feeling and the fears from the death stares that other men were giving him.

However then Eden interrupted with a cough.

“What? You don't like the conditions?” Alexandra asked patting him on the back. She(?) replied with, “I know what you are thinking well enough to know the game you are about to propose...in that case if he chooses wrong...we can do whatever we want to him for a night as well.”

Eden let out a smile like the devil and ensnared the apprentice, then looked at the bartender, “If that is all right for you.”

“Of course, this was only due to his own impoliteness in the end” the bartender said finally letting out a grin.

Unknown to him and the three, they actually knew each other. And as such he too could tell what kind of game that was about to be proposed.

“Right!” Alexandra said starting to drink yet another bottle that the bartender gave her, “Game is simple. Very simple. Choose one of us.”

The place was silent hearing this.

“Buuuuuut. Choose wrong and you lose! The topic is which one is the girl!”

There was a slight chuckle around the place as she said this as all three of them were women(?). However what she said next was even more shocking, “The other two are 100% guys.”

Eden let out a grin and then said, “By the way, this one might be a guy as well or even that one over there. Or am I a guy as well?” confusing everyone who heard her(?).

“Umm....ah...” the apprentice panicked.

He was completely sure that the one called Viv was a male...though witches were suppose to be female right? The blonde one on the other side could not possibly be a male...but her attitude was completely like one.

And the one in the middle....the black haired one while a bit small(?) in the chest area, had to be a woman! No! That may actually be a lie as well.

Then Viv decided to give him some advise, “Rather than thinking too hard, go with your instincts. Choose the one that you rather go with whether the choice was correct or not.”

The apprentice nodded and thought about it. He was not into little kids so Viv was out of the question. Then there was Alexandra who was wearing armour...she could be large underneath there!

But then there was Eden...who was a complete beauty that could melt his heart no matter what...

“I choose...” he pointed blushing at Eden with everyone staring.

At that moment three things happened. First Alexandra burst out laughing to the point that she fell onto the floor. Second was that Eden sighed and third was that he slipped some coins to Viv since he lost a bet.

Then he looked at the apprentice that was now figuring it out, “Congratulations...you are my lackey for the day.”

The apprentice had chosen wrong. Eden then said, “This monkey on the floor is female and my wife...due to many reasons and this is not one of them” while Alexandra finally got up and sat back down while still chuckling.

The apprentice was frozen at the revelations. He was certain that...his dreams were now crushed.

As for the rest of the tavern, they were all shocked. Who could have thought that the beauty that they would immediately cheat with to their wives would be a man. No they would rather mishear those words instead.

But before that feeling sunk in another person entered the tavern. It was a shabby man that looked to be in his forties at his latest or even fifties if you wish to stretch it. He looked around and saw the three and smiled and went up to them.

“Thank you are coming here” he said with a business smile. Everyone though there was something familiar with him...

Taking one last glare at Alexandra, Eden turned and then said, “Thank you for coming Emperor Weed.”

“Emperor?!”

That word echoed around the tavern and more than one person either spilled their drink or broke their glass in shock and even ran in fear. The apprentice more than ever was frozen seeing the newly crowned Emperor in front of him.

Many would die right now to see him. It hadn't even been a week since his crowning as the sole Emperor of the continent that united all. So many were searching to kill him and take the throne while many more want to be in his good books else be noticed by him.

Sitting down next to Eden since Alexandra moved next to Viv to get away from Eden, Weed said, “You will be treating me of course.”

“You were the one to ask us here!” Eden complained, “Plus you're the Emperor now for Gods sake! Can you not be cheap for a single moment?!”

Weed gave a solemn look of hopelessness and despair saying, “I once brought salt that was 500 won more expensive once and then...”

“....”

Eden could only sigh at Weed. That event happened years ago and yet he was still bringing it up. In the end he took a bottle from Alexandra who was dangerously getting close to being drunk and gave it to Weed.

“Hey!” Alexandra started complaining hitting the counter while Eden said to calm his wife, “You can drink as much as you like then.”

“Now about that system you told me about...” Weed started. The whole place plus extras from outside that heard that Weed was here listened in.

“It will benefit you as well. Times are changing” Eden said in response.

“Yes, more and more players are in this game and the levels of them are slowly getting higher compared to NPCs. The positions of NPCs are slowly being taken over by players”

“I'm guessing that number will drop again soon enough, people are fickle and wish for the easy path. Players taking over is a temporary thing since when a new generation comes in one goes out and retires, and the NPCs fill the void. Plus most of the time they are more trustworthy than players.”

Weed nodded and then said, “Independent Guilds are certainly interesting-”

“Since players do the work and yet the Kingdom gets the credit...or most of it. It will give players other goals besides taking over something” Eden cut in. Many people gasped seeing that Eden dared cut the Emperor when he was speaking.

“The only problem is of those who run wild with that power” Weed said finally addressing the issue he had with it, “Unless you wish to take care of that as well” he looked at Eden.

“Bah” Eden drank a glass in one go, “We'll take care of the really serious and major ones at least but don't you dare call us on something so minor. As for the others issues...there's bound to be powerful and yet trustworthy people to deal with them. Call them 'Managers' or 'Officials' since that they are.”

After a few seconds Eden said, “Make sure the guidelines are extremely strict as well. Weed out the useless ones.”

“Of course” Weed was more than understanding of that point since there are too many slackers in this world and this will only weed them out easily, “I wonder how things will change when this comes into place. The people won't accept it.”

“Of course not” Eden snorted, “They never liked change even if it kills them. The game is changing...now that an Emperor is crowned the game is finally in it's second half and that means...” he let go at the very end to not spoil things at least.

Even with this knowledge the chance of Weed succeeding without them helping was infinitely close to zero. After all Eden knew of the end game and how strong 'that' was.

Weed nodded and the two...no four drank for another 5 minutes when Weed said, “I heard you are planning on making a guild through this system. It will be the first guild of this kind ever.”

“Well I did design it for my guild” Eden replied not caring. He then looked at the apprentice and said, “Hmm...you're a player aren't you. That reaction...yep a player.”

Weed nodded looking at the apprentice which made him go like stone and said, “A player for certain. This one will be the first to be recruited?” he asked Eden.

“Nope, there are some others that I rather recruit first...but since I have him for the day I might as well use him to test out a new weapon I developed.”

It was then that Weed got up and said, “I will give you a report on it later. I don't have change or any money on me so you have to pay” he said smiling and leaving in almost a dash.

Before Eden could chase after him he looked at the amount of bottles that seemed to have stacked up at where Weed was...

“Isn't this nearly 50 bottles?! How can he drink that much in such a short time” Eden exclaimed. The bartender smiled and then pointed at Alexandra who was creating another pile of empty bottles and said, “She drank half of that and I had to move it to make room. The total amount you owe...”

The bartender slipped a piece of paper of the amount of gold owed...

“ALEXANDRA!!!!”

“Wait?! What is it-AHHHHHHH!!!”

Eden snapped and then attacked Alexandra. Meanwhile the bartender kept in his heart that most of the gold owed was due to Weed taking with him only the most rare and expensive alcohol they had which was only one bottle's worth but was worth a thousand times more than all the other bottles in this tavern combined. Alexandra while drinking a lot, only drank the cheapest ones all this time.

The bartender then looked at his apprentice and said, “Can you please clean this up...” and then looked at Eden and Alexandra, “And whatever mess they make as well?”

The apprentice that was only a new player in this game with a few years under his belt quickly hurried to do so. Later on, Eden would take him and give him a unique weapon of his making and later on this player was known as the 'Zero Range Archer' and a known and powerful member of the 'Sleeping Sheep Centre'.

Meanwhile it was at this time and place that the Independent Guild system was approved and the first Independent Guild as made as well.

The bartender continued to watch, listen and remember of that day to the very end. The day when the game changed forever.

When the Independent Guild System was announced and formed.

xXx

“And that's more or less what happened” Arch said in the end.

“Wow...” Lyndis said, “I never even heard of those three being super casual like that!” she exclaimed in surprise of a new side of the three that she didn't know.

“What are they usually like to you?” Eart asked.

“The 'I am your teacher' and 'You must listen, this is important' type except for Alexandra” replied Lyndis in a humoured tongue.

To this Eart said, “Oh they are always like that to new members. Their attitudes, especially Eden's one change when you reach level 200. He goes 'No more Mr nice guy' on you.”

“Oh thanks” Miriel said to Eart for the first time when he almost started rubbing his face which was covered by a gas mask on her leg, “At least now we know what will happen later on. Any details on anything that will change after that point?”

“Anything for you....please step on me to kno-”

WHACK!

Arch hit Eart on the head and answered instead, “Basically you will be given two tasks. One is to reach level 300 and the other is to complete 10 guild quests. Whether other guild members will help you or not depends on where we are and if we have time. You have two years in game to do both.”

“Wait a minute” Miriel said now anxious, “We are at the level 120 point and expect to get to level 150 at the end of the second year in this game. It will take us seven months to do that and another year after that to get to level 200.”

Sain seeing Miriel's point added on, “From the level 200 point onwards gaining experience to level up slows down. To continue at our pace of levelling means we need to gain several times more experience to continue at this current pace of ours.”

Raven, Serena and Lyndis also realised this point when Miriel and Sain explained what was bad about it. They say after level 200, the levelling was near a slow snail's pace compared to before.

However Eart continued to say, “Don't worry. All you have to do is hunt monster that are higher level than you. Quite simple.”

The group looked at each other and remembered their skills and stats compared to other players. Certainly they were in the above average section but to hunt stronger monster than even that to quicken the pace would be impossible for them without dying a few times in the process.

“If your worried about your abilities, there is still the second class advancement” Arch reminded them.

It was at this moment that Alena returned with eight cups of drink and gave them one by one to everyone else.

“Where were you in talking?” she asked the others to which Arch replied, “Their second class advancement.”

Alena looked surprised for them to be talking about about something so far ahead. She looked at the group without Shadow there since he was sleeping in the other room still even though it had been over 10 hours since he started sleeping and then asked, “What do you want to know about that?”

“Oh I was about to talk about it and about 'our' one as well” Arch replied to Alena. Alena made a knowing expression and then asked, “Should I explain or you?”

“I think you should” Arch replied, “I wish to enjoy this drink you brought us” with a slight smile.

“Okay then~” Alena said looking at the group with an expression saying “Ask away”.

“Well...” Miriel started since she was the most knowledgeable in the group about this, “From how you said it, it seems that there is something....different going on?” she was not sure what they meant and therefore could only ask like this.

“Oh yes, there is a difference between how people in and out of this go to their next class” Alena explained, “Normally you would go to a guild as in mage guild or warrior guild and get a small quest to get your next class. This is mainstream and quick and easy to do.”

Miriel nodded agreeing.

“However in the guild it is different. In order to make sure that you get the best possible class you can, the procedure is different. Instead of getting a quest you go through another trial where you encounter dangers which will force you to decide on some things and in the end you will get a new class.”

“So...this is the same as joining the guild?” Sain asked. Alena shook her head and then said, “That path you took is only available to those who were apprentices to Gen and the others. Really only you six went through that path though I must talk to them about this kind of method of testing.”

Alena's eyes were pitying the group knowing full well what Eden forced them to do. In fact she along with Alexandra rejected this kind of idea but he did it anyway.

“The process is very different. While normally you can choose a class it is the other way around in our...your case” Alena said.

“Our?” Miriel picked up that word, “Were you part of the guild in the past?” she asked Alena.

Alena shyly replied with, “Actually no but I was more or less raised in it. It's just that when I asked to join when I was an adult I was rejected quite severely” with a soft laugh, “Mum and especially Dad rejected me quite hard.”

“And when you refer to mum and dad....?”

“Alexandra and Eden of course” Alena relieved.

“““““Eh?”””””

The group could not help but to let out their shock all at once.

“W-waitwait wait! You're THEIR child?!” Lyndis shouted pointing at Alena.

“Y-Yes t-this is q-quite a s-surprise!” Serena said after Lyndis completely shocked and not knowing what to do now.

“Who gave birth?” Raven pointed out a good question. Even though Eden said he was a guy...a guy...with that appearance he would more or less be a guy that looked better than 99% of all girls out there.

Only Eart and Arch did not look shocked at this information, which meant that they knew beforehand and Arch even said, “It's rude to pry into people's personal lives. Ask Eden or Alexandra for the details.”

With that, the group spent the next little hours left on working out strategies and the what not for the semi-final rounds.

xXx

Back at the Arena...

“I want to hire you for work” said a person cloaked who was also the person that had so much hatred to the guild. He talked to a person who was dressed similarly but at the same time was a professional hit man.

“Who?” the man asked.

“The winner of this tournament” the person replied with the man letting out a slight chuckle.

“Don't people usually try to kill them BEFORE they win?” the man asked though the person did not reply. Instead the man said, “5000 gold up front and you will pay the other half after I'm finished. Someone at that level won't have many connections.”

The person smiled. Oh the winner will be one of them and they do have connections...you are just a pawn to be thrown away. The person dropped a heavy bag of gold that had just the right amount to it.

“Make sure you run quickly so you don't get traced to me” the person said. Walking away to make preparations the man noticed that that person hired a dozen other people before him. He wondered what kind of issue he had with the soon to be winner that will be crowned the next day.

Furthermore he wondered who will be the winner since the person seemed confident that he or she will win.

xXx

“Hmm...I wonder how the next set of matches will be played out” Miriel said while they were walking to the arena again.

“How so?” Lyndis asked.

“There are 10 groups, and 12 people left in each group. This means there are 120 people left in the tournament. If they use a one on one match format from now on that means there will be so many matches that it will be impossible to finish this set of rounds in a day” Miriel explained.

“In that case shouldn't they just do something that involves a large amount of players at once again to cut down the numbers?” Shadow asked, “Though I'm guessing it will be the format of each group again. What do you think will happen?” he asked Sain on his opinion.

“Hmm...” Sain thought about it, “It would indeed take too long for a one on one match style again so I think they will use the same format as before in a battle royal style between twelve people each this time.”

“Whhhhhat another one of those? I thought the preliminary rounds more or less stomped out all the weak ones to get to something more interesting” Lyndis complained. She really did not like how in the end, the other players ganged up on her though she still won in the end.

“Why are you complaining?” Shadow asked, “Chances are you'll be able to get to the next round fine. The only ones that have to worry are Sain, Miriel and Serena who need time to cast spells.”

“That is true” Miriel nodded though she already had a plan in mind to deal with that. She didn't know of the other two planned to do though.

“Anyway let's hurry up a bit, the first round is starting” said Sain prompting them in a slight sprint. He looked at Raven who was up first, he didn't seem nervous though. On the other hand, he had no idea what he would do when it was his turn.

xXx

Character Name: Raven

Group 1 participant

Current Round: Semi-Finals Round

With this window appearing for him, Raven left the others to watch and proceeded to the centre of the arena that changed quite a bit since the last time he saw it. Now instead of having 12 individual platforms that were only to a certain size, the place to fight now was easily ten times larger.

'Instead of the slightly raised stone as well they used dark polished wood as well for the stage and there are four lamps at each corner as well. They must have put a lot of effort to construct this throughout the night' he thought looking around.

As one of the twelve players to fight, Raven had a certain amount of strength over other players but that could be said the same for the other eleven as well. Whether it was them defeating or killing the other nine opponents they had or waiting for others to do the job first to finish it off or a combination of both, these were opponents that had a certain level of skill and strength.

Raven knew that it was stupid to underestimate any of them. In his eyes he counted the types of enemies he would have this time.

Naturally the number of swordsmen was high but strangely enough there were some other variations he did not expect mixed in there.

There were 7 swordsmen, 2 spear-men and of those nine, 4 of them used a shield as well. However the last two were unusual at the very least. One of them was a mage of some sort while the other looked like a shaman like Sain but used a bow and dagger combination. Whether that person used magic of some sort was unknown.

Countdown to start begins in: 10 Seconds

This window appeared as a slight surprise to Raven as it did not happen in the last round. But after thinking about it, it was as expected to give the players time to spread out, target and to hide from other players if they wish.

to start begins in: 9 Seconds

Raven watched as the other players generally tried not to have a blind spot. Those who were confident enough did not move much. But those who were not as so moved further away from everyone else.

Countdown to start begins in: 8 Seconds

Raven too move back a bit getting a bit away from the mage and the shaman. He did not want to face magic and then get attacked from behind be another player.

Countdown to start begins in: 7 Seconds

Speaking of behind there were 2 players that could attack his back. He moved further to the right to avoid this.

Countdown to start begins in: 6 Seconds

With so little time left, Raven simply moved near the outer edge of the stage which all the other players did as well as if this was determined before. It looked like players think similarly when trying to not be stung over.

Countdown to start begins in: 5 Seconds

Half the time to prepare was over, Raven now looked to see who he would fight first.

Countdown to start begins in: 4 Seconds

To his right were some swordsmen with shields. They would be troublesome to deal with. He decided to take out one of the spear-men first. It would be much simpler for him. But at the same time he would not need to think if one attacked him first.

Countdown to start begins in: 3 Seconds

Countdown to start begins in: 2 Seconds

Countdown to start begins in: 1 Seconds

Countdown to start begins in: 0 Seconds

It would be best to finish this quickly

Start!

When that window appeared and the round started, Raven shouted, “Anchor Howl!”

The effects took place immediately as all eleven other players though shocked could not stop looking at Raven else they felt that something terrible might happen to them. In this effect three players attacked him at once.

“Shield Bash!” he used his shield to knock them away with ease. His 340 strength stat was coming into play here and along with his 340 vitality stat as well, Raven was confident in tanking. The other players realised that the source of this was due to Raven and that they needed to take him out to end the effects of whatever what was happening to them.

As such Raven made all of his opponents enemies at the same time. But this was what he wanted.

“Footwork! Ram! Double Strike!” Raven quickly used his skills to kill several of those swordsmen at once when they started attacking him.

With a heavy weight plus speed and attacking at the same time, his attack bonus increased several times and along with precise strikes trained since the beginning Raven was able to take out three enemies quickly fine enough.

“Let the water spirit gather and blow my enemies away! Water Bullet!”

At the moment of that chant finishing, Raven's instincts made him move his shield to block. He felt an impact and then was hit back a few metres.

The impact was as such that another player caught up in it died at the same time it hit Raven.

You took 2043 damage

The damage even though he blocked it with his shield was quite high.

'So this is the damage of a mage that focuses only in it...' Raven thought. There were several types of mages but the most common were those who focused on pure damage alone. While low in everything else, their magic damage was on the extreme side.

Another two of those 'water bullets' were shot at Raven but this time he knew to dodge them. However only two out of a dozen more were shot at him. The other 'water bullets' were shot at the other player who were all still under the effects of his 'Anchor Howl'.

'She used my skill for her advantage...' he thought seeing that quickly the only ones left were the ones who could dodge the attacks this mage used. In total including himself, there were five players left.

One of them was the mage naturally having the most kills so far, the other was the shaman and the other two were swordsmen that had a good reaction time to the attacks. From what the other players were doing it seemed that taking out the water mage was the first choice now.

“Ahhh!”

However the shaman shot at one of the other players rapidly killing him. The other swordsman moved up to attack the shaman just as Raven moved up to attack the mage.

“Oh raging water spirit, gather and disperse. Water Turret!” the mage chanted. Water gathered around the mage and like a holes sprayed at Raven. To be precise, a very powerful holes that could easily push him out of the stage or kill him.

Luckily enough Raven dodged the spell and using 'Footwork' again, he charged and one shot the mage with his spear. He felt that if it were Sain, Miriel or even Serena a spell would come to stop him or they would dodge.

Soon enough the swordsman killed the shaman with the bow and then went to Raven to which he defeated him in the end as well.

Character Name: Raven

Group 1 winner

Current Round: To be set

With that window appearing at him, the audience cheered for Raven as he left.

“OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” The cheers almost overwhelmed if not for the fact that he was used to containing his emotions. He look a brief look around the crowd and saw that all eyes were on him.

'What is this feeling...?' he thought.

Their gaze were not of pity or hate but something else he could not pick up....

Walking to the rest of the group, Sain first said, “Good work” patting him on the shoulder before looking back at the stage. The others also said a few words but he ignored them for the most part.

He walked over to the wall and leaned on it sliding down taking a good breath in and out. He noticed that his hand was shaking a bit.

'Was I nervous...?' he wondered as he looked at his hand that was still shaking lightly. No...this feeling was one that he had not felt for a long time...yes, a feeling that he thought had all but disappeared.

xXx

Following Raven, the second group also went along. In there another twelve players fought to the death and the winner was to be crowned as this strange weapon user. He was quite tanned and wore only light armour but at the same time he duel wielded this set of zigzag shaped swords that unusually and easily cut through weapons.

“Hmm...that person seemed interesting at the very least” Arch commentated on his own with Eart looking as well.

Eart was spreading his 'Earth Essence' around the arena grounds in order to instantly respond to an emergency at any time when it comes to it. Therefore he was focusing on the task and wasn't speaking to or listening to Arch at all.

However within moments Eart opened his eyes and wiping off the sweat he said to Arch, “I finished. Man that was too difficult to do here. Why couldn't this be a normal city without those defence enchantments all over the place?”

Eart started complaining on how the city as stronger than most others with the walls, floors and the entire tree being made to be resistant to most things.

Arch nodded and then said, “Good work. The third group with Sain is coming up” and then looked back down at the arena. They were both on top of the roof of the arena. To be precise the arena was an open spaced around made like a stadium in real life.

As such they were sitting on the area where it shielded the audience from wind, rain and sunlight to a certain extent. If anything goes wrong, Arch at least can jump down immediately. Meanwhile at the same time Eart can use his skills at a long distance to help out as well.

But this was unnecessary as Arch alone can take care of things as long as it is eliminating threats.

“Ho...that Sain kid is going in now” Eart said looking down interested, “What are your thoughts on him? He looks plain but plain looks aren't everything since he leads five other people with none of them complaining or leaving!”

“A collective and calm mind leader” Arch replied based off Sain's impression on him, “He is indeed something as being a leader isn't something so easy. Being able to lead is a talent itself.”

“But he has no team here to help so what is he going to do?” Eart wondered. While Sain was quite good in the support area and commanding his friends, it was completely different from fighting alone.

“There are lots of ways to do things even without help” said Arch, “Though whether he can do so is up to him.”

With team mates, you have safety and to separate duties. When you are alone however, you are forced to bear that burden all alone. You need to be alert at all times and every decision you make are your own and are your fault in the end as well. Those who stick together cannot comprehend this.

Eart said, “Don't worry. From what I can tell and what Eden told me, all of them were originally loners to begin with.”

“So...?” Arch wondered.

“You cannot change your nature that easily. It sticks to you in the end no matter what. I know personally that this is true. They all can handle themselves even without each other given the chance.”

“Oh the match started” said Arch noticing that people were moving quickly down there. Using their better than normal sights to see closely, they saw that Sain retreated almost immediately when the match started.

“What is he doing? Why is he not casting spells” Eart asked frowning. While this was the correct method to battle for a mage in this situation all he was doing was running around again not even casting spells since he was moving.

Mages need a certain level of concentration to cast spells and when moving it is extremely difficult to do so.

“No, he is casting a spell” Arch said looking at what Sain was doing. While it seemed like he wasn't, in actual fact he was rapidly chanting words. Eventually a magic circle appeared in front of him and a white and black wolf appeared.

“A summoning spell!” Arch said surprised. Not many players would take up that spell since the creature summoned would drain experience from you while you hunted. However in these circumstances this spell was powerful in that it gives you an ally to use.

After that, Sain started firing magical projectiles left and right at the other players. Some died and those who remained tried to attack Sain but were stopped by that wolf. Arch and Eart noticed that that wolf was a special breed as it was quite powerful.

Eventually the last player fell to Sain's spells and he won.

“What an interesting person. He knew his strength and more importantly his weaknesses and came and went in a way that allowed him the best way of victory” praised Arch. It was uncommon to see these kind of people in the game even now with billions playing this game.

As Arch was continuing to praise what Sain did Eart interrupted with, “Oh the girl is coming up!”

“....”

Arch glared at Eart and hit him in the head again. Arch felt that years without someone in his life for that role has caused Eart to end up this way. He should seriously try to stick with one woman. The next round started with Miriel doing the same thing as Sain and retreated from the battle.

A couple of players noticing that Miriel was a mage from before charged at her and tried to attack but was struck down by a whip in her hands.

“Why doesn't she use magic...is she preparing some big as well? Also her hair fluttering when she runs is sooo nice” Eart wondered looking at Miriel's actions, “No if she were then she would not be flashing those legs around the place for all to savour. Plus that skirt makes me so bad not to be lower to try to take a peek up.”

“Eart shut it” said Arch in a cold voice again. He did not understand why Eart's personality changed so much when it involved females. He was perfectly normal when it was about all males though he had a disgusted feeling coming out of him.

Arch was tempted to hit Eart in the head again for his comment but he did have some good words mixed in there as well...somewhere...though Arch also did wonder on why Miriel did not use a spell yet though he guessed her intentions right.

“She is probably thinning out the ranks of enemies by waiting. Then when there are a few left she will finish them off in one quick sweep” said Arch.

“Well she better hurry up since that other mage there is doing something as well” Eart pointed out. On the opposite side of the stage was a mage that seemed to be chanting and gathering mana so far. No enemies much to Arch's surprise attacked her.

“Eart, tell me any effects that that mages placed on herself” Arch ordered.

“Aye aye sir~” Eart said before responding a few seconds later with, “She seemed to have place a misdirection spell on herself to not be targeted or rather casted it on everyone else. That way she would not be easily attacked by chance. And might I say that she is quite the beauty as well showing so much skin there” Eart drooled a bit looking at that other mage as well.

WHACK!

“Concentrate on tracking any suspicious” sighed Arch reminded him of their duty. They were not here to sight see but to protect them from any harm.

“But only you were assign here right? That means I can slack off and watch as I like” Eart replied with a great attitude of “I don't care.”

Arch looked at Eart for a moment and patted him on the shoulders which was quite difficult to do since he was several heads shorter than him with his legs in the roof and said, “Eart...do you really think Eden will let you off when he finds that you were here and dared slack off in front of him?”

“....”

Eart took a moment to think and then tearfully said, “No...not at all...” in a sad tone. He knew Eden well enough that this was impossible to happen and in fact he would be punished by several difficult missions as well as his normal workload.

As such he did not dare slack off since the normal workload was massive enough.

As the two watched the match, eventually the number of opponents Miriel had decreased and eventually she went all out killing the rest of the players with her ice magic in one quite go and won the match. The audience cheered as she left the stage.

“She wasn't too bad” Arch commented on her overall performance. In shock Eart looked at Arch and said, “Wasn't too bad?! She was marvellous! Her hair fluttering as she-all right I'll stop so stop giving me that death stare!”

A few minutes later the winner of the next group was crowned as well. It was a water mage similar to the one Raven had to face but this one could use a large amount of water more fluently then the other.

Onto the next round it was Serena's turn to fight.

“If anyone dares harms that little sister character I will destroy them!” Eart proclaim intensely to the point that Arch probably did not see such a serious side of him before. However Arch still had to remind him that they were here to watch not to interfere unless they had to.

“Really...? I could just...” Sadden Eart muttered something about giving only a bit of protection which would be along the lines of one of the higher grade protection spells you can get. It was not on the level of a little anymore as well.

“Eart an absolute 18 circle protection sphere is not a little protection anymore” Arch said reminding him for a second time stopping with a sigh.

“Ahhhhhh!” Eart suddenly screamed for no reason.

Arch's mind raced and searched to see what happened and who caused it while looking worried at Eart.

“What's wrong?!” he shouted at Eart seeing if he was hit somewhere with a projectile. If it went in him, there was no choice but to pull it out of his body and if it is poisoned then he had to do it quickly.

“Someone is attacking cute Serena! My heart is breaaaaaking!” he shouted.

“....”

Dumbfounded, Arch looked down and saw that Serena, the young girl that was far too young to be in the guild in his opinion struggling as several other players attacked her at once. While she was good, she was not on the level as the others in close combat abilities yet.

“I must help her!” Eart said with a determination that Arch only seen once before when they were surrounded by countless monsters and he was quite determined to save the pretty hostage in the quest.

BANG!

Arch fired off an attack in Eart's direction again with a cold glare that could freeze flames itself.

“DO.NOT.INTERFERE!” Arch made it very apparent and if Eart were to do so he would shoot him to death. There were rules in place to make sure that they, those part of the guild and monsters in terms of strength, would not do something stupid.

Eventually the match progressed where Serena was knocked out of the stage and lost. The winner for that match was a thief user that used his speed to push Serena out without killing her.

“NOOOOOO!!!! Cute Serena lostttttt!” Eart shouted. Arch was very tempted to shoot him again in order to relieve some accumulating stress that he gained thanks to Eart recently.

“It was as expected though. That thief player knew what he was doing and was taking advantage of the time gaps between spells” Arch said. As he was saying that, a cloaked person appeared next to him and then whispered something.

“What?” Arch said surprised, “Are you sure about this?” he asked the cloaked figure. After a moment the cloaked figure nodded to which Arch frowned. As the cloaked figure disappeared Eart asked, “What was that about?”

“Got news that someone is being targeted in the tournament.”

Hearing that news, Eart clicked his tongue saying, “It better not be one of the girls.”

“Might be, might not be” Arch replied.

The matches continued with the next winner being a two handed sword user, then Lyndis, a knight character and finally Shadow. They had no time to comment on them but instead focused to see if anything would happen and spring into action. Actually those fights were actually quite boring to them as it was as they predicted.

The two handed sword user had a high strength stat and used that to blow away his enemies, Lyndis used her sword skills and fire skills together to finish off the enemies quickly, the knight player had a good foundation and as such defeated the other players fairly and Shadow used his speed and stealth to finish off the enemies almost instantly again.

But so far nothing happened at all which was strange.

“Something wrong?” Eart asked Arch seeing that his expression was a serious one.

“Yes...” Arch replied, “So far I have gotten reports of a person hiring a large number of assassins and hit men but none of them when questioned could tell who their target was. What is the point of this?”

“Maybe someone just wants to randomly kill someone? Or anyone would do in the first place” Eart wondered, “Though the costs of doing so and hiring so many would be a waste. Each person to hire cost a few thousand gold each.”

“That would make sense” Arch nodded though he paused for a second, “But I have a bad feeling that our guild in particular is targeted.”

Eart let out a dry laugh and said, “Yeah, how many enemies does our guild have now? If we weren't a gathering of monsters one way or another we would have been destroyed a long time ago.”

“It does help a bit that our guild has a bad reputation of destroying everything in sight when we do something too flashy” Arch pointed out. After a while he said, “Since nothing happened we can meet up with the juniors at Alena's”

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 9200~

- In this chapter I used part of it to explained some of the backstory of one character and used 7 pages as a result though it was written outside this chapter a bit back. On the other hand I realised quickly that writing in detail of the battles would take too long and extend into the next volume so I cut them all back except for the first one I wrote.

- Well the next chapter is the more interesting one with some of the group fighting each other.