"Welcome, players, to the battlefield.
Get ready to face your first guild war. Dream Avenue. Force of Nature."
The majestic voice echoed through the world, causing the fog to churn. On both sides of the battlefield players revealed their shock upon matching a fierce opponent.
Earthquake stared into the fog, an intent to battle slowly brewing in his heart, igniting on inextinguishable flame.
"Brothers! The time has come! Dream Avenue might have taken the lead, but this doesn't necessarily mean they can best us in combat! Let us prove our mettle and show the world our might!"
"Well said!"
"Force! Force! Force!"
Callida stood next to her husband, watching the more than 300 hundred battle-hungry players. A smile formed on her face. With their talented line-up there was no need to be afraid of anyone!
Meanwhile the mood among Dream Avenue was quite similar. Although Cyclone and Balm were anxious, the guild members were looking forward to the fight. Most of them weren't extremely well known from other games but they believed that their talent didn't fall behind anyone.
Leading this sentiment were Silent Acacia and Quickstep who looked forward to finally showing their prowess in PvP battles.
It was during this excitement that C continued talking:
"The rules of this war will be as follows:
First, each guild has one base. Breaching the enemy guild's base will be rewarded with 150 points.
Second, a relic is hidden in this world. Carrying this relic to your base will be rewarded with 300 points.
Third, killing an enemy will be rewarded with 5 points.
Fourth, killing 90% of all enemies will be rewarded with 300 points.
Fifth, communication is only possible between players remaining within a certain distance to each other.
The war ends after five hours or if one guild has lost more than 95% of their members.
You have ten minutes of preparation time. Which starts. Now!"
Discussions erupted on both sides. Force of Nature turned to Callida to command the battle while Dream Avenue had Bleary Mirage. The two commanders were discussing the upcoming war.
Judging by the rules it was apparent that the focus of this format was on fighting, which suited both guilds. However, it was important to avoid a blind clash and first create an advantageous situation.
While both guilds discussed their ideas, ten minutes passed quickly. Suddenly the sound of a bell, ancient and powerful, rang through the battlefield, marking the start of the battle.
Immediately both guilds began moving, sending out their thieves to scout.
Bloody Edge took the lead, dashing towards the fog, his steps silent on the grass.
As soon as he got closer, he saw the fog receding, revealing the area around him for him and his guild members to see. However, the sight wouldn't be shared with the enemy guild, who sent out their own scouts.
Bloody Edge and his fellow thieves had discussed beforehand how to cover a large area. They advanced in straight lines towards all directions to avoid scouting the same area twice.
As the thieves continued everyone got a clearer picture of the battlefield. It was a circular area which was densely packed, leaving almost no plain fields. Instead, ruined towns, small valleys, and old temples could be found every few steps.
After about five minutes of running in a straight line Bloody Edge suddenly stopped. He scanned the dilapidated hut before him sceptically.
[Bloody Edge: Careful, someone has been here before.]
[Glorious Hotpot: Got it, boss!]
Some distance behind Bloody Edge followed a group of five players led by the green-haired Glorious Hotpot. The woman was extremely excited, looking forward to fighting together with one of her idols.
She was part of the team which trailed Bloody Edge. Liam sent such a team after every thief to assist them in case of contact with the enemy.
Bloody Edge took a deep breath, advancing carefully. He dreaded being the first casualty in this guild war. On the other hand, getting the first kill would be something he could brag about for a long time.
Thus, he studied the hut while sneaking around it. The reason why he realized that someone had been here before was the broken door on the floor coupled with the lack of dust around it.
This showed the brashness of the enemy, who seemingly destroyed the door without any care.
However, the more Bloody Edge looked, the more his frown deepened. Something still seemed off to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Returning to the front of the hut, he let his eyes wander over the broken interior when his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He noticed something strange.
Why was the door broken but there were no footsteps in the dust?
Is it a trap? Let's not take any risk!
Bloody Edge remained vigilant. He didn't dare to linger any longer. Considering each step carefully to prevent others from discovering him he slowly drew back.
[Bloody Edge: This place might be dangerous. Let's circle around it!]
[Glorious Hotpot: Yes, sir!]
Although Bloody Edge decided to take a detour, he had another idea in mind. He wanted to try fishing out the potential ambushers. Thus, he didn't stray too far from the hut, searching the surroundings.
A few seconds later the receding fog revealed a forest close to the hut. Bloody Edge was confident that the enemy must be hiding there.
Telling Glorious Hotpot to keep some distance he carefully entered the forest. He moved extremely slowly, making sure not to step on the dried leaves on the ground.
It didn't take long for him to spot a suspicious pile of leaves not far away at a spot which would be perfect to observe the hut.
Such an amateurish hiding spot? Did they count on the fog?
Bloody Edge squatted behind a tree, frowning. He didn't expect a guild like Force of Nature to choose such a low effort spot.
No, I have to make sure...
Bloody Edge came to a decision trying to get closer and look for signs of clothes below the leaves.
But just as he took one more step, he felt an immense sense of danger. He noticed a red light out of the corner of his eyes.
His heart began to beat wildly. The thief's body acted on instinct. He threw himself to the side, avoiding the red light.
Boom!
A deafening explosion echoed through the forest, tearing on trees, throwing dirt in all directions. The smell of burning wood filled the air.
Bloody Edge looked towards the explosion with shaking eyes, having narrowly avoided the hellish eruption. A crater appeared where he stood until a second ago.
Lying on the floor his ears were ringing. But he knew that he had to get out!
Bloody Edge gritted his teeth, jumped to his feet and ran in the direction of their base.
Suddenly blocks of ice formed around his feet. The thief cursed inwardly as he found himself frozen in place.
"Haha! Running is useless! The first kill is here!"
An excited voice came from behind Bloody Edge's back. Glancing over his shoulder he saw a group of five rushing towards him. A tall orc carrying a menacing black shield took the lead.
Bloody Edge recognized him as Iront, a prominent member of Force of Nature albeit not part of the core.
Bloody Edge's thoughts raced as he watched the enemies coming closer while a mage in the distance already threw an attack at him.
Suddenly Bloody Edge shivered, feeling a cold air surrounding him. Before he could understand what was happening ice grew around him, encasing him in a frozen pillar.
With conspicuous, crisp sounds the enemies' weapons slammed into the ice, unable to move it.
Iront and his friends looked at the thief in confusion. No one understood where the ice came from.
[Glorious Hotpot: Bloody Edge, are you fine?]
[Settler: Don't worry, that's my [Seal of Ice] skill. You guys should attack!]
Settler never expected to find himself in such a situation. Coming from a poor family he bounced around jobs for a while before getting hired by a security company.
They made a generous offer promising to train him. But right around that time the miraculous Fate of Crunaboul launched. The company saw the potential and opened a program for their employees to play, where Settler slipped in coincidentally.
By pure luck he found a potent skill called [Seal of Ice] and later used it to save a client. The latter was impressed and recommended Settler to his guild.
Fast forward a few days and Settler was part of one of the top guilds with unlimited potential, considering whether to change his career to make a living through the game.
He was one of many people whose lives had taken an unexpected turn thanks to Fate of Crunaboul, granting them hope for the future.
Thus, Settler was looking forward to the upcoming fight. It was his time to prove that Liam's trust wasn't misplaced.
His first move was to save Bloody Edge, impressing his teammates, who now rushed towards the enemy.