Eden arrived with Expat to the meeting point where Jericho said to, the strongest one in the server. Eden dismounted her horse and Jericho reached over for a hand shake. "The infamous Great Eden, welcome to the war. I see you brought a friend, Expat." Jericho looks over at Expat and reaches out to shake Expat's hand, "No hard feeling man." Expatriate only looked at Jericho's hand and said, "I'm only here because of Eden." Jericho pulled his hand back and straightened his porture. "Well, I'm eager to know how Eden convinced you to join us" said Jericho and he looked at Eden. "That's not your concern," replied Expat before Eden was able to say anything. Eden cleared her throat to draw attention from the two tall muscular males with flaring nostrils. "You mentioned you needed aid. Expat is part of that. Cool?" said Eden as she pulled her horse toward the group that was gathering north of them. "Yeah, I'll introduce you to the crew," said Jericho as he speeded up to walk in front of Eden.
Jericho announced Eden's and Expats arrival as they got close to the group. The group was laughing and joking with each other before stopping to look at Eden and Expat. "Hey Eden! I see you decided to join the dark side. You can stand next to me, I'll keep you safe" said DBoot, a tall slender male with long brown hair up to his shoulders.
"No offense Boot, but I think you're gonna have competition with Expat, just that murderous gaze makes me wish you my condolences," Chimes in Stephan who was wearing leather armor and had bushy black hair with blue eyes. The group laughed and a third one, Jiman added, "I think the whole point is to beat our opponent, not each other."
"Unless you're into that," added DBoots and winked at Eden with a smile. Expat took a step forward, but Eden walked in front of him. "Pretty sure you're going to need more meat on you before you can serve and protect, besides I'm into big strong arms," as if on queue Expat leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Eden as she finished her sentence. Eden leaned back and just kept her eye contact with Dboots with a challenging smirk. "I told you that you had slinky arms bro, now you can't even protect the girl," added Jiman. The group laughed again.
A red head walked over wearing a green dress with a slit on her right leg exposing her hip bone. "I don't see what the whole big deal is, it's not like she's the strongest one here," said Athena as she moved her hips and lightly stroked Jericho's chest. Jericho jolted at the touch and moved away. He gave a nervous smile and said, "I'm married woman." Athena chuckled, "I know, I was just examining my work of art." Eden rolled her eyes, "I'm not the strongest here, but I'm not a spectator for a fight, want to have a go?" Eden pulled her sword out from her waist, but got held back by Expat. Athena, chuckled, "I was just saying the truth, no need to get offended." Eden looked back at Expat and narrowed her eyes, then Expat released her. "No need for your condescending comments. You can dish it, then be ready to take it." Athene walked away smiling while saying, "I'm not interested." She walked into the arms of a tall man with tattoos on his shaved scalp and a dragon shaped earring on his left ear, Bone. Athene leaned in for a steamy kiss, but Eden only felt repulsed by the sight of it and looked towards her horse that turned away to show his butt. Expat whispered in Eden's ear, "Athena has always been a loose woman, she flirts with any man."
Eden looked at Expat and and asked, "why are you telling me this?"
" So you know this is normal of her."
"So I know you flirted with her too"
"No! She tried, but I ignored her"
"I don't need to know of your adventures, just tell them to stay in their lane" said Eden as she turned back to look at the rest of the group. Eden asked in a raised voice "So is there a plan? Who does what?". "Plan is not to go Lerroy Jenkings, rally up and survive" said DBoots. "Yeah, that's usually how it goes," said Jiman.
Many more arrived at the meeting spot, but there were no representatives from the FOX alliance. Eden asked Jericho, "Why has FOX not sent anyone? Are they going to spectate?" Jericho looked around before answering, "No, there's some tension with Sentinel and they said they will make their own way." Eden looked over at the crowd, "Who is Sentinel?" Jericho pointed at a cloaked man sitting in the far end alone drinking his beer. Expat was being held back by the other men asking him questions. Then Jericho asked, "So you and Expat huh, how did that happen?" Eden sighed, wondering when these men will stop asking before responding, "I'm like his nurse. He needed a place to recover and we're actually really good friends." "I think he has something else in mind," replied Jericho with a grin. "Regardless, this world isn't real, we all trying to figure out how to get back. I was disrupted by the avatar in my place because it needed me to sign a disciplinary form. My boss is concerned since my behavior is off. I couldn't even communicate directly or explain where I really am. The only words I was able to get out was I agree to the form and I will do better at being more responsive. This place, it's messing with my mind. Where is the line?" They stayed silent not speaking for a few minutes. Then Jericho broke the silence, "I guess you have to always remind yourself everyday then." Trumpets sounded indicating the server was starting. A notification appeared on a pop up screen before everyone's eyes.
"You have received three travel tokens to the enemy server. You may steal an enemy's travel token from the enemy on their territory after defeating them. Tokens can be used during an event or saved for future use. The server with the least casualties wins. All defeated participants will have a 7 day time limit to recover their losses by using their gold or rewards. Rewards include diamonds, gold, recovery potions, resources and teleportation spells. The top scores receive new skins, castle upgrades and royal decree. "
Before Eden could finish reading the notification she noticed portals opening at a distance and some players already moving in a squad to find them. Expat made his way to be next to her, "I am with you, where should we go?" Eden looked around once more to see the Jericho was already in battle with a husky older male. They were both smiling. "I'm guessing the titans found each other. Let's go to enemy territory, we reinforce each other. They both pulled out a token from their pocket and tossed it in the air. A beam of light hit them and they landed in separate places. "Commander," Erza called."I thought I told you to hide," said Eden. "Yes, I was forced to appear because the cloaking crystal resets in a new territory." Eden had won a cloaking crystal on one of her boss raids. She was going to use it but decided to check if it worked on Erza. She also didn't want to show Erza to the rest because her appearance was very similar to her and she wanted to use that to her advantage. She noticed that a lot of players used a more mythical skin. Probably taking advantage of the mystical environment. However, Eden was more concerned with war, and knowing there is always someone with ill intentions, it would help to have a double in her place. But she still had to figure out how to use Erza without others noticing. What commands she needs to give her.
"Eden, where did you land? Pull your map out and send me your coordinates" said Expat in a message. Eden looked to see he was not far from her. But she thought about being spotted. "Lets meet here instead" replied Eden and sent the coordinates. Eden rode off on Thunder. "Cloak Erza"
From a distance, a scout nearby sent intel that an army was riding. Two riders, but one cloaked themselves. Their army was not seen. Draco, an enemy player, was stationed on the hill not too far from Eden. They had arranged armies stationed on possible portal drop zones. Unknown to where one opened, they could only guess that it would be away from the main cities. Their server decided to stagger and use a teleport to quickly gather at a meeting place if they see someone and attack as a unit. Draco decided to follow Eden instead of following their plan. He was eager to test his strength.
Just a few more kilometers to go. Eden was riding as fast as possible to rejoin with Expat. Then she heard a silent whistle. She moved her face back and raised her arm to shield her face. An arrow flew past her. She looked at the direction of the attack. Archers were already sending their attacks. Eden dropped a potion that increased her speed. She then stopped to say,"Arthur, tortoise formation." Her army quickly positioned itself with its shields up to protect themselves from the archers. Draco caught up and stood in front of Eden. His arrows were just hitting the shields. While there was still movement behind the wall they created. Draco ordered his ground to move in as he followed behind them. Eden waited until they got to a certain distance before she ordered, "send in the calvary!" The wall she had opened in three different places to release the calvary waiting behind. Then the wall closed. Draco smiled and it made Eden gasp a little. She looked around to see what she was missing. Then at the top, she saw the archers getting ready to shoot. "Arthor, take over, ensure low casualties." Eden then rode into the battle. This crazy man is willing to sacrifice his own people for a win she thought to herself. She then told Thunder to return behind the wall. The horse protested, but Eden gave it a reassuring pat. Eden jumped off the horse and ran as fast as she could to get to those archers. She had confidence her cavalry will win, but the casualties from an archer attack would be greater. Draco saw Eden headed towards his archers and made a quick turn to catch her. Eden was not too far from the archers, when Draco intercepted her. They collided with their swords. Eden kicked Draco right in the chest and he rolled back a few times before he was able to balance himself. He looked even more upset that she could send him back that far. Eden was already in a stance. Eden's heart was pounding because she had to make a choice between fighting Draco who would persist in stopping her or retreating to prevent more casualties to her calvary. Eden jumped and threw her shield in the path of the arrows that were being released to throw them off course. "That's only slowing down the outcome." Draco said and chuckled. "Yes, your defeat." Eden said with confidence. She switched gear and ran up to him. Their swords thundered. Draco tried to fancy kick Eden to make her fall, but she shoved her sword into his foot and onto the ground. Then backhand smacked him while pulling her sword out. "You fight like a ruthless savage," said Draco as he spit out some blood. "How do you think I've made it this far?" Eden said as she swung her sword to clean the blood from its tip. "Well, since you're a savage like your people, then I won't hold back." Eden laughed a little, and stopped a few feet away from him. "Surrender and admit defeat. Do you hear anything?" Draco was confused, until he looked around to see his entire army was already decimated. He looked for his archers and a tall man was standing there instead. Expat had arrived at the meeting place to see Eden was already defending from archers. He quickly went to her side and asked for the plan. Eden said, surround the enemy. She pointed to the hill where to go. It was the same hill the archers were hiding that she didn't know were there. Luckily she had picked the area because of the terrain and she had sent Expat to the right location. "I will fight to the death rather than to give up to you, you filthy savage" said Draco. "Suit yourself," said Eden and she walked away. Draco was confused, was she letting him go? Just like that? Then Expat landed in front of him and said in a low tone "You insulted her three times, I will make you scream three times before you meet your end."
Eden went back to her army and asked for the status report. She used healing potions she received as part of her reward. Casualties were less than she predicted. She was lucky it wasn't a strong player who spotted her. They must be organized to have spotted her so quickly and determine the exact coordinate. We need to move again, we defeated this guy named Draco and he was in an alliance. That means his battle will show up in their records, someone will come to see if they are watching. She looked at the map and picked a different location. Expat arrived and noticed that the army was already getting ready to move again. "We have not looked at what needs to be replenished and located a new target." Eden nodded in agreement, "yes, but we had a battle here and we need to move before he respawns and reports us. "I killed him twice, by mistake. I forgot to ask him the questions you told me to ask. I was so angry," said Expat as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I agreed to let you finish any opponent off as long as you did that," said Eden with a sigh.
They moved to a new location. Eden had her scouts check the area for any hidden enemies. They returned to report there wasn't one nearby. "I believe they are more organized than we are. The plan that we received was garbage," said Eden while she rubbed her forehead. "Why didn't you take charge or say anything?" ask Expat as he replaced his bloody shirt for a clean one. "I didn't want to step on anyone's toes and could you change somewhere privately or warn me before you do that? It makes me uncomfortable," Eden replied irritatedly. "But you are my love, is it not normal?" asked Expat with a whiney voice. Eden rolled her eyes, "normal for a real couple." If only others saw this side of him. His reputation would go down as a whooped puppy. Thankfully it was just the two of them and no one else was around. "We should observe and attack, then move position. We sleep back in our territory where we can activate a shield," said Eden a little more softly with her eyes staring at her feet. There it was, Eden's soft side that she doesn't let others see. It was the reason Expat decided to follow her.
Both Eden and Expat defeated 18 enemies before getting tired. Their stock was depleting and they were beginning to see their casualties were getting higher regardless of the win. They went back to their server and camped somewhere outside the main cities. They could serve as reinforcements if needed.
Eden was laying on her makeshift bed thinking that she hadn't encountered someone stronger than her. She knew she wasn't the strongest and there was a possibility they had more titans on their side. She recalled the reports she reviewed and noticed that it was only the over confident ones who attacked them. There were reports of scouts getting away, but no attacks followed. Then again, they moved quickly after. Eden had a few spots she checked on her map to travel to. Still she felt some kind of feeling something was going to happen. Things felt like they were working out too well. Murphy's Law crossed Eden's mind. Before she closed her eyes to rest, she looked at her stats. Without testing my stats, I don't know how well I can do, thought Eden. That night Eden kept tossing and turning.
Erza sounded an alarm that the enemy was in route. Eden jumped from bed and said, "Equip armor." She ran out as she looked around to see what was going on. There were multiple opponents rushing to the cities behind Eden. She was safe because of her shield, but an unsuspecting city was without one. Where is Expat wondered Eden. Then she saw him rushing into battle. "Crap, he going in alone. Erza, deactivate the shield and cloak yourself. Archers get ready. Fire!" The arrows whistled to take out the calvary rushing towards Expat. Then suddenly a shadow was over Eden. Before she could turn to look in the direction of it, a loud bang was heard from her golden shield she had raised in an instant. The force was so strong that she went flying meters away while bouncing from the ground as she rolled. Her left arm felt like it was on fire. Her legs shaking from the impact. Eden rolled a few times before she was able to stab her sword into the ground and land on a one knee kneel. She felt body ache right away. Eden looked up and saw this large man, the size of a small giant running towards her with an ax. He was covered in animal skin with silver gauntlets, a viking hat and long brown hair with a few braids. At the top of his head was a red diamond. She knew this was probably what her gut was telling her the entire night. An opponent that would be difficult to fight alone. "He must have baited me into reacting without thinking it through," thought Eden as she drank a recovery potion quickly. It didn't give her a full recovery, but enough to regain her speed. "Arthur, you're in charge of the army while I battle here," commanded Eden. The man laughed as he swung his sword and said, "He will die just like you."
Eden felt the cold sweat trickle down the back of her neck. She had a sense of fear that suddenly crept in. Her ears were filled with the sound of her heart rate that was pounding like she ran a marathon already. Was this the survival instinct that cornered animals feel when they are being hunted? Eden asked herself. Her body was moving before she could process what was happening. She was already leaping into the air towards a nearby boulder, then hopped of it right after landing. She was running to create distance. She heard a loud bang and a crumbling sound. She didn't have to turn around to know that the boulder was being crushed into small pieces. Eden was at the entrance of the woods when she heard a whistling sound to her right, she shifted quickly and an ax flew past her cutting down trees in its path. Eden dove into the woods quickly and leaped onto a branch. She kept jumping from branch to branch hearing the noise of the trees falling down that followed her. She arrived at a waterfall and before she could climb she felt her body being hit on the side of her waist. Her oblique muscle felt on fire. The impact caused her to fly through the forest as her body hit trees on the way. Eden felt like a rag doll he was playing with. She coughed up blood. Her armor cracked and fell from the impact of the man's kick. With every step he took the ground would shake. This is karma for all the lives she has taken so far, Eden thought. Then a flash of her castle being pillaged and the future of her alliance crossed her mind. Eden weakly got up and said to the man, "Is this all you got?"
The man amused by Eden's sudden change of demeanor paused for a moment and laughed. Just a few seconds ago she was running like a scared cat and was already in poor condition. He was so upset that everyone wanted him to hide and use him as a trump card until the second day, but he agreed only to stop the complaining. He didn't even bother looking for a specific opponent. Just anyone who was in his way. He let out a loud laugh. "You're already in such poor condition, what can you possibly do? Your army is fighting mine and I can feel you are grasping at straws," he said amused. Eden covered her mouth as she coughed, then saw the blood on her hand. "I can feel them still fighting," replied Eden as she drank a healing potion. She knew she couldn't use a shield like before because she had a cool down time of 5 minutes. It's only been two minutes. She had to survive for 3 more minutes because her army's strength was connected to hers. If she fell, her army could not be recovered. Eden took out a blue crystal and dropped it on the ground to stomp on it. It broke into a powder that rose from the ground and surrounded Eden. The man smirked and asked, "What do you think a power boost is going to accomplish?" Eden's eyes glowed and she said "a second chance to protect my people." Just then she charged at him and yelled "Equip dragon gear, fire breath." Her body glowed until she was in red armor made of scales. Her gold sword now looked like it was on fire. Eden swung her sword at the man with all her strength.
The clinking sound of metal could be heard. The man just stood in one place and swatted away each strike like if he was swatting a fly. Two minutes left, Eden thought, I need two more minutes. The man chuckled at every attempt. Then he grabbed the sword off Eden's hands and threw it to the side. He picked her up by the throat and said, "Do you think I don't know what you are doing?" the man asked and chuckled a little before continuing, "You're weak, but you still have the audacity to fight. You would have done well with our server, but you lucked out. Don't worry, I'll make it quick. Eden wasn't going to give up just yet. She threw a transportation bottle on the ground. As the world around them shifted, the man became a little disoriented. Eden noticed his grip slightly loosen. She teleported them a few more times until his grip was loose enough to push herself away from him with her feet. She landed on the floor gasping for air and quickly turned about. The man took the ax he had around his waist and raised it to strike her before she moved again. Eden then yelled, "Erza, be my shield." Erza uncloaked right in front of Eden and emerged with a sword made of blue crystal and a shield. The man couldn't stop himself because his arm already had the momentum to strike. Upon contact a forcefield emerged from Erza that shocked the man with electricity and blasted him back.
"You tricked me into taking me to a stronger opponent. I lost the respect I had for you," said the man with a solemn face. He then threw the ax at Erza, who's force only blew it back. He frowned. "What is your name?" he asked Erza who only stood there staring at him. Eden's consciousness was fading. She knew the man was trying to talk to Erza, but Erza doesn't talk to anyone but her. Eden noticed she was able to activate her shield now. She let out a sigh of relief and activated it. She was safe, for now. Before she closed her eyes, she saw the man circling her and trying to talk to Erza. Stupid guy, he won't know right away. Eden fell asleep.
Eden woke up an hour later from the pain she felt on her body. Breathing was painful and the only way to recover fully was to visit her infirmary at her castle. She tried to get up, but her muscles gave out. She figured she would have to teleport back to the castle and recall all her troops. She wondered if they were fine and if the shield managed to save some of them. Her opponent was extremely strong and it felt like it was out of her server's league. Eden was deep in thought that she didn't notice that the man was still there observing her as he sharpened his blade. The sound of the blade being sharpened hurt Eden's ears that she turned to look in hesitation.
"What is she?" asked the man and continued to sharpen his ax. There was a pause before he continued to talk. "She is not a member of your alliance. She isn't wearing your emblem anywhere and only members are allowed to stand within your protected shield. So what is she?" he asked as he set his sharpening tool down and used his ax to lean on while he listened. Eden stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about the possible outcomes of answering his question. No one in her realm knew of her discovery yet and if the information would get out before she is ready to share, she would look bad. Then again she would be giving the enemy a tool to use and extort to win. What about lying about what she is? I know that there are spirit monsters players can get, but most of them are obtained during an event or difficult challenge. She would have to be extremely strong to get something like Erza that had unknown power. "Did I break the bones in your throat that you can't speak?" asked the man annoyed. Now Eden really doesn't want to answer, but then her alliance members would feel left out if this information was spread out like this. She meant to tell them eventually, she just wanted to trust them first. " Fine, what I meant to say is, your realm is new and even though you are weak, you have found a way to make up for that weakness. I am willing to bet that maybe the rest here haven't found out what you have because you keep her hidden. How about in exchange for keeping your discovery a secret, you at least give me a hint." Eden stared a bit more and then asked, "Where is your guide?"
With an amused look on his face he perked up a little and sat up straight. He pounded his chest and said, "here." Eden furrowed her eyes in confusion. The man chuckled a little. "My guide was removed from me by the creators of these worlds. Once you reach a certain academy level, they take your guide away, but allow you to keep a trait. Since my guide was a giant, I was able to keep the giant's strength and enlarge at will during battle to half its size. Something you haven't unlocked at your level." The man scanned Erza who was still standing guard over Eden. He smiled and said, "Your choice is different. I haven't seen anyone choose a human type of guide. Actually, I think it's unheard of." He then opened a flask and gulped the liquid that burned his throat. Then he continued to say "No one figures out how to utilize their guide until the war of worlds. That is when your guide's consciousness is released because it feels its world's energy through the portals. Then the quest to unlock its true potential begins." Eden had a tear fall from her right eye. Erza, she was a prisoner just like her. Except she didn't have her conscious mind. How cruel. Eden's chest swelled and she felt her throat close up. The man stared at Eden in silence. He thought to himself, to think that after days of war and killing others ruthlessly she still felt something. This place was designed to bring the worst in people and entrap them. The strong ones stay to defend and protect or continue the cycle. Does she still believe she can go home, he asked himself. "If you conquer the enemy throne, you will get the option to go home," he said knowing that the human servers were always matched with stronger opponents and winning was almost impossible. "What is the other option?" Eden asked while looking up at the sky. "You stay and watch your decree be fulfilled in that realm until your term is complete," he replied. What becomes of you if your throne is conquered?" ask Eden. "We stay prisoners until another war of worlds that happens annually," the man said with a sad look on his face. "Have you already gone through that?" asked Eden. "No, that is what Ethan told me when he first regained his consciousness. He was a prisoner of war and," the man paused before saying more, "there's things that I rather not share. Why are you concerned about the prisoners if you will be home by then?" he asked as he remembered why he brought up going home. "Because, I don't want to leave anyone I care about behind," said Eden as she looked at Erza's back. "You have a lot to work on before you can even consider taking the throne of an enemy. Taking your realm's throne is different, there are only rewards and meeting requirements. When I was king, I was only given the options to gift rewards, issue titles and make server rules. You can only be king once," said the man.
Eden worked up the strength to get up and said, "I'm going to go be King someday." She was in pain but her determination was stronger. Erza's eyes lit up with small lightning branches. Eden couldn't see the effect her words had on Erza, but the man noticed. He nodded in approval. Then the man said as he turned to leave, "I will let you leave without defeat. I think I can find another opponent, maybe not as interesting, but there's plenty of targets to play with here." Eden asked quickly, "What's your name!" He yelled in reply, "Odin!" Then he took off.