War Grounds

"We?" Patrick clarified .

"Yeah . I"ll livestream my view, and all of you can watch it in Sol"s station . " Al explained .

"That"s a good idea! Now that you"ve mentioned it, we have not yet started our plans regarding our return to the open world . " Jack joined the conversation .

"We"ll deal with that tomorrow . " Al grinned .

"Hey, it"s already getting late, and we have not yet earned our daily entry for the open world, remember? You need to win two rank games!" Patrick reminded .

Al immediately checked his phone for the time - 10:45 PM .

"We need to win two rank games!" The boy emphasized the first word . "It"s just two rank matches, right?" Al offered as if it was just like a walk in the park .

"Bring it on! I"m not that tired anyway . " Jack supported .

"Yeah! We have not played together yet since me, and Big Boss have reached Bronze Rank!" The sound of battle energized Bertran .

"Who offered to sleep in the first place anyway? The lonely night is a sacred time for gamers! Let"s go!" Jack, the orange-hair boy, immediately sprinted towards the stairs . He was still in his white pajamas .

Bertran quickly followed as he gave chase to his teammate . "I won"t lose out, Jack! Bertran G.o.dofrodo fears no one!" The bunker shook at his heavy and rushed steps .

"Except for spiders . . . " Patrick chided as he helplessly followed along with the others .

The first game of WisDOOM was against Fallen Crest on the map called Silk Road .

Caravan Match was the randomly chosen battle type by the system . WisDOOM was a.s.signed to a.s.sa.s.sinate the VIP that was guarded by Fallen Crest in a one kilometer-stretch of winding uphill and downhill silky road .

It would have been an exciting match if the members of the team called Fallen Crest were skilled fighters . Unfortunately, they were not able to cross the 500-meter mark before WisDOOM annihilated them .

The match ended with Switchfoot as the MVP as the Savage a.s.sa.s.sin was the one who took the life of the NPC named Yong-Yong .

With an excellent first win, Al and the rest of the gang immediately played another match . Fortunately, they were matched against a group of random players . Synergy was immediately the deal-breaker as WisDOOM easily won their second match, granting them the needed entry ticket for the open world .

"I hope the Rookie Challenge would be this easy-peasy!" Jack and the other three members were already in Sol"s station . They were currently waiting for Al to send his livestream to their feed .

"Nah . I want to smash better skulls! Bertran wants no easy matches . It"s boring!" The big guy commented .

"Read the forums regarding the promising partic.i.p.ants, and I surmise that you won"t sleep anymore as long as you could train as much as possible . We"ll be facing monsters, Jack . " The pragmatic Patrick immediately destroyed Jack"s wishful thinking .

"That"s okay! We have our own monster too . " Jack was relaxed as he was not intimidated by Pat"s comment . He immediately shot a glance towards WisDOOM"s little monster - Al Gentrix .

"Hey! You"re looking in the wrong direction!" Bertran immediately pulled Jack"s head towards him .

"Haha! Of course . Of course! You and Ursun are the monsters here . Hehe . " Jack quickly saved himself by supporting Bertran"s fantasy .

"Good . Good . Fret not! Bertran G.o.dofrodo will carry you all in the coming Rookie Challenge!" Bertram shamelessly declared as he pounded his chest twice .

"Alright . Alright . Can you release me now?" Jack awkwardly asked, Bertran"s large hands still held his head .

"The video is in!" Betran childishly declared as he let go of his grip .

Jack immediately sighed a breath of relief .

Udil immediately found himself back to where he was before he left the Open World - Alistor"s Southern Gate .

He awkwardly appeared in the middle of the members of the guild First Heaven .

"Hey, kid! What are you doing here? Have you not heard of the coming guild war?" Al was immediately inspected by an Elf Mage geared in purple leather armor .

"It"s okay . I came here to watch it unfold . " Al was not deterred by the high leveled players that surrounded him as he glanced around . He was hoping to find Lidar as the other big shots of t.i.tans were also present .

Meanwhile, the number of spectators increased by the pa.s.sing moments .

It was already 11:45 PM when Al entered the Open World . Fifteen minutes left, and the protection order of Alistor would expire . The city will be then open for invaders .

Al immediately opened the chatbox that was personally developed by Solomon . "Hey, can you see my livestream?"

"Yeah . Good . Keep it going! Are there enemies already outside?" Jack was the one controlling the computer while the other three were spectating beside him .

"The gate is blocked . I can"t see the situation outside . Let me find an elevated spot . " Al willed Udil to return to the inner part of the city . He immediately saw a familiar swordsman standing on top of a manor - GreyWitZ!

"Hey . " Al quickly found his way to the rooftop as he tapped the shoulder of the seemingly solemn Swordsman .

"What the-!" GreyWitZ, the Human Swordsman with shabby gray hair, quickly turned around . His sword, already aiming at Al"s neck .

"Woah . Calm down . I bring no harm . " Al raised his hands as a gesture of peace .

"What do you want? Stay away from this city as soon as possible . A great war is coming!" GreyWitZ was really acting high and mighty, living up to the "guard" role that was handed to him by Lidar .

"I"ve just logged in . No worries, I came here actually to watch the war . Can you please update me of the situation?" Al tried to calm the still tense GreyWitZ .

GreyWitZ finally lowered his sword as he gestured a "come closer" to Udil . "Come closer . This is a top-secret between us . " The simple-minded man quickly trusted .

"Oh . Sure . " Udil pressed his ear nearer to the swordsman .

"My buddy and I were given a mission by Lidar to defend a secret pa.s.sage . Will you help us?" GreyWitZ carefully whispered .

"Lidar? Do you mean the King of Basic Attacks?! The undefeated human player?!" Al"s voice immediately rose upon hearing Lidar, his idol"s name .

"Shhhh . Lower your voice! Yeah . Isn"t it cool?" GreyWitZ took pride in his encounter with Lidar .

"d.a.m.n . Where is he now? Where is he now?" Al immediately lost his cool as he forgot about SARS .

"I don"t know . Last time we"ve met, he was patrolling the city to check on the defenses . Unfortunately, until now, there"s still no movement from the Six Purgatories . I believed that they would come out of the sewers! Come, I"ll show you the hidden entrance!" GreyWitZ dragged Al towards the plaza .

"It"s here . It"s here . " GreyWitZ lowered his voice as he stopped before a ma.s.sive oak in the northern part of Alistor"s plaza . The swordsman shot another round of careful look around him before pulling a concealed handle from the gra.s.sy floor . It was a small secret entrance to Alistor"s sewer that could fit one or two players .

Sleeping below the entrance was X-1 . GreyWitZ immediately dragged Udil inside as he shot the trapdoor .

"X-1! What are you doing?! Six minutes from now and the city"s protective order will expire! Stay, vigilant!" GreyWitZ shook the sleeping figure of his friend .

"Where"s the enemy?! Where"s the enemy?!" X-1 jolted from his sleep as he pulled out his sword . He immediately saw Udil"s unfamiliar figure and lunged at him, thinking that the latter was an enemy .

"Woah!" Udil quickly dodged the thrust .

"Stop it X-1! He"s a friend! He"ll help us guard the sewers!" GreyWitZ slapped X-1 in the face .

"What?! Why did you reveal our top-secret mission to a stranger?! This man could be a spy from the enemies!" X-1 was finally back to his senses .

"Al . What are you doing there? Get away from those weirdos! Who the h.e.l.l would attack a city through the sewers? Look at that! It could barely fit a troop of ten people . " It was Patrick who sent a message to Al .

Patrick had a point, but the two swordsmen"s hunch was also logical . In the end, Al followed Pat"s advice as he thanked the two swordsmen for the trouble and said his goodbye . The chances of the enemies sneaking in the city through this secret pa.s.sage were low, Al a.s.sumed .

"No, you can"t leave us here . We"ll need an extra hand," GreyWitZ immediately stopped him .

"Seriously, these two are crazy . " Al was helpless . "Don"t worry . I"ll come back with more helping hands . I need to see Lidar first . "

"Okay . Come back as soon as you can!" GreyWitZ finally let go of Udil as he checked the trapdoor before opening it .

Al felt a sense of relief after leaving the sewers . He checked the remaining time before the next reset - five minutes .

"I wonder if Nisha is here too . " Al pondered as he opened his contacts .

"Hey, Nisha! I"m here in Alistor . Is Lidar with you?" Al excitedly sent the message .

The bell in Alistor City rang, marking the start of the next day and the end of the protective order, but Al did not receive any reply from Nisha .

"Here we go! Come nearer the gates, Al!" Jack demanded in the chat .

Alistor was in tension . The gathered crowd stood at their feet in great antic.i.p.ation of how the Six Purgatories will attack Alistor .

"Prepare! Today, we shall defend Alistor from the Six Purgatories!" Lidar rallied the troops in their guild chat . He was currently in the Western Gate and was already making his way back to the Southern area of the city .

"Yeah . Today, we shall show the gaming community that our guild, t.i.tans, deserves a better ranking! Haha!" Tupac, one of the Vice Leader of the guild added .

"It"s gonna be a long morning . Do not slack and keep your eyes open! Our enemies are good at hiding their intentions . " DumbleBell, the Guild Leader, finally said his words in their guild chat .

Everyone was hyped as they fortified their defenses .

However, an hour has already pa.s.sed . It was already 1 AM, but there was still no attack nor any appearances of an army from the Six Purgatories .

"d.a.m.n it! I can"t wait this long anymore . Maybe, they"ll attack at some other time . "

"Yeah! Too bad . We"ve waited for nothing . "

"I"m gonna sleep now . "

The city was restless as the crowd clamored . They"ve long been waiting for the war to begin but to no avail . One by one, the spectators in the city decreased in number . Most of them had already logged off of the game .

"Everyone! Don"t lose out! Tonight"s first battle is a test of patience . It is when we"re unprepared that our enemies strike! Don"t give them a chance to find an easy way to our defenses . Hold the fort!" Lidar continued to encourage through the guild chat . He and his trainees were already stationed in the Southern Gate .

Unfortunately, they were between the sea of numerous members from the alliance, so Al was not able to see them .

"Hey, Al . We"re getting sleepy already . Let"s just watch a recording later, okay? It"s not worth the wait anymore . We still have to train, don"t forget!" Patrick messaged .

"It"s okay . I can manage . I"ll update you guys if something happens . Good Mornight!" Al was already sleepy, but he chose to stay . SARS accompanied him in waiting .

"Any update SARS?" Al asked .

[ Still no movements . Why don"t you sleep for now, and I"ll wake you up if something happens . ] SARS kindly reported .

"Really? Thanks a lot, buddy!" Al once again checked if Nisha had already replied before giving the control of his character over to SARS . Sadly, there was still no reply .

Al slept on his gaming chair with a restless heart . It was not until 3 AM that he woke up from a terrible dream .

In his sleeping state, Al saw Lidar"s b.l.o.o.d.y head rolling on the Southern Gate . The boy immediately gasped from the terrifying nightmare as he woke up from a series of sound coming from SARS . Unfortunately, the untimely grim vision was coincidentally complemented by the notification that he had received .

[ Six figures detected moving at a great speed towards the Southern Gate . ] SARS bluntly reported .