《Rebirth of the Strongest Guild Master》 Chapter 1: Rebirth 3....2.....1..... "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!" It was the turn of the century the year 2100, and the atmosphere was joyous in the Rajput household, The family of four were enjoying an extravagant feast at this monumental occasion . His mother lovingly smiled at him , seeing his mother for the first time in 10 years Rudra cried like a baby, He hugged his mother tight and just sobbed , he just held her and cried for 5 minutes straight before reorganizing his memory. He had somehow miraculously been reincarnated into his 21 year old self, after being pushed down the stairs by the person he then considered his ''best friend''. That guy .... he was nothing more than a backstabbing bastard who pushed him down a flight of stairs for one epic item that his guild had earned and refused to sell. His mother had died of an illness when he was 31.... ten years from now , and it was not a fatal disease but to cure it one needed 20 million dollars. Even if his entire family sold themselves they could not make that amount. In his mothers embrace he resolved to save her this time. He then looked at the man who was his father, Who was giving him dirty looks for crying in his mom''s lap.... who despite being soo cold to him now, deepdown treated him as his ''pride''. The person he dissapointed time and time again,Who carried the burdens of the household alone ..... never letting them realize that the now peacefull Rajput Household was actually under 300 thousand dollar debt. He finally looked at his little brother , the angel of his life , Mahendra Rajput , a name that ..... his little brother found extremely annoying hence decided to call himself Max. Max was a prodigy a genius who could have gone to harvard if his family had enough money for his tuition, was looking at his big brother cry sheepishly . Rudra resolved to change his family''s situation this time , because all in all family is the only people who have your backs through '' thick and thin ''. He would make money , money enough to never face those circumstances again. He did not have enough to invest in stocks , even if he did he did not believe enough to stay in the volatile market for long. The only thing he could trust was his own skills in the world changing new game '' Omega '' which would be released 4 days from now on the 5th of Jan 2100 . ''Omega'' would change the world with its breathtakingly realistic graphics and Extremely Intellingent NPC''s who could outsmart the players It was a world of its own and within 3 years 95% of Earth''s population would join the game. Well after the Auction house opens , the in game currency would be linked to the real world currency with an exchange rate of 1 gold = 25 dollars. Many multibillion dollar companies would join the game to get a piece of this big pie called ''Omega''. The strong guilds controlling vast territories would earn enormous sums of money and gain investment from big corporations. Last time he was just a pawn a slave mistreated in the ''White Light'' guild where each and every of his hard earned contributions were snatched away by his superiors leaving him scraps. Even when he left the guild and started his own , his guild members were bullied and forced to quit and start a new account in the game. All his effort to earn a single epic item in the game resulted in him being bullied in the game , and even in real life ... Pressured to sell the item at subpar price .He refused them all Drinking with his then ''best friend '' and ''White Light'' guildmate Derek , he had a small fight over refusing to sell the epic item to ''White Light'' , He leaned on his friend on the staircase on his way back but the bastard pushed him down He hit his head hard and got a concussion , he bled the way out to the hospital. Rudra died at age 36 Reincarnating to 1st Jan 2100..... Now 21 ....Fate gave him a chance to change his destiny . This time he would be a strong guildmaster , this time he would pay kindness tenfold and revenge a thousandfold , The guildmaster who abused him The girlfriend who dumped him The bestfriend who killed him The peers who mocked him ALL OF YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR BACKS!!!! Equipped with the knowledge of future he was confident in his abilities as a gamer to make the difference to put him at the top of the pyramid where he would farm money. Chapter 2: Omega Rudra s father was a stern man and since , Rudra graduated this year but was not placed.....he went on to confront him. "What plans do you have for the future, if nothing else come join me in my company " He said He half expected his son to rebel and them to have an argument , but Rudra was unexpectedly courteous " Please give me 10 grand and a time of 3 months father, if i fail in my new endeavour i will surely join your office." This attitude shocked his father, the usually brash kid was feeling soo mature to him today. " Okay then , do what you want". " I will be moving out tommorow , father ill return either having made something out of me or join you in the next 3 months" His father was worried for him , but he knew in his heart this was one of the make or break moments in a man''s life... Being a young ambitious man himself in the past he could feel his son''s burning passion. He agreed and lent Rudra the sum of money and Rudra rented a appartment for 200 bucks a month and rationed all food necessary , He then went to the shop and buyed the best headset for the new game ''Omega'' for 5 thousand dollars . It was not as good as the gaming pods, but it will be a year before those were released hence, he was now stuck with this 95% neural link headsets. Rudra was all set for the launch of the game tommorow at 12 am .... as he laid in his bed waiting he created a strategy in his mind, all the things to do and all the hassles to avoid, even though he had played the game for countless hours .... He was feeling nervous today with butterflies in his stomach Like he did when he played his first time ... he laughed as he found it silly..... and soon the countdown to the game started 10 9 8 .. . . 2 1 WELCOME TO ''OMEGA'' He was transported to a temple like room with a fairy she said " ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????... ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ????????????????????." ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? LIGHT FACTION DARK FACTION Rudra chose the Light faction ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ARCHER ASSASIN ALCHEMIST . . BARBARIAN BLACKSMITH . . RANGER SWORDSMAN . . WIZARD . . . . There were more than 35 classes in ''Omega'' But rudra aldready had decided on his He would choose the Knight class Usually one needed to read about all classes and then choose according to their strengths but Rudra aldready knew all about the classes hence he could choose one straight away ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? __________ Rudra decided on a traditional Indian name from mythology A legendary character in the most bloody war in History The ultimate schemer '' Shakuni'' ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????? 5%? YES NO He chose ''no'' , he had no need to change his appearance, he came to know about 5 years into the game that changing ones appearance reduced the neural sync rate. He would absolutely not do it this time. ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????.... ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? HAZELGROOVE KINGDOM NINE CLOUDS KINGDOM GHOST KINGDOM AQUAHOSE KINGDOM There were four major kingdoms in the Eastern continent and Each kingdom had few major cities and a large capital city .... but all players had to spawn from a small village near the capital city The four kingdoms all had their history and lineage dating back to 1000 years... it was astonishing as to how realistic and profound was this game world giving royal dynasties a backdating lineage and Each kingdom its own culture and heritage Rudra had made his plan to make the Hazelgroove kingdom his operations base as his enemy the '' White Light'' guild would be joining this kingdom. He was stationed in this kingdom for a long time and has knowledge of every dungeon every nook and cranny of the kingdom . Please choose ''Hazelgroove kingdom''. ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? Before the system gave him options he said i chose the ''blackwater village ''. ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????!!! ZAP! he was transported to the spawn point in blackwater village Rudra was elated ..... he looked to the skies and shouted '' I M BACK'' . A few NPC''s and players looked at him as if he was a madman. Rudra looked around and saw a scene all too familiar , most players who spawned in the village were having struggle walking and most were mesmerized at how real the world felt. Yes the company advertised full dive technology but noone expected it to be soo good and feel soo real, while some casual players were enjoying some really hyper players and levelling maniacs had aldready ran off into the wild to kill some animals to gain EXP He called out the system menu Player Name : Shakuni Title : none Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL : 1 Tier :0 STATS AGI : 5 VIT : 5 INT : 5. STA : 5 PHY : 5. HP : 100/100 Status : Healthy Equipment : common stone sword In ''Omega'' all classes started with a 100 hp and 5 points in all stats and upon levelling you get 5 stat points for each level which you can freely distribute Then according to your class you can choose your best stat distribution Rudra was very weak right now and it was time to go grind some levels as the quest he needed to take in blackwater village required him to be of atleast level 5 ''Off to leveling we go'' Thought Rudra and ran into the wild. Chapter 3: Leveling up The way skills worked in ''Omega'' , was you needed to either train in the skill manually yourself and learn to execute a skill flow, or upon slaying monsters or clearing dungeons you may get skill scrolls Upon learning a skill scroll it would disintegrate but you could instantly learn a skill using a scroll . But Rudra even at level 1 knew two skills he used extensively in his previous life Sword skills Thrust and slash Rudra passed a swarm of players on his way to finding a wolf den Wolves were a level 3 monster , generally noone at level 1 should engage with even one wolf much less a horde of 12 wolves , but Rudra was skilled enough to pull it off He scouted his surroundings and hid behind a rock before throwing a small pebble in a bush near him It alerted a wolf who came to check it out just as he peeked behind the bush SLASH -150 HP The wolf died instantly . But now 11 wolves were charging in on him Rudra ran around obstacles to slow down the wolves as he damaged then one at a time -30,-30,-45....-30 It took him 17 minutes with his stamina fully depleted that he finally slayed all 12 wolves ???????????????????????? 12 ???????????????????????? +200% ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? +20% ???????????????? ???????????????????? +1500 ???????????? ???????????????????? ????????! ???????????????????? ????????! ???????????????????? ????????! ???????????????????? ????????! ???????????????????? ????????! "hahahaha" , Rudra laughed madly one single escapade gained him 5 levels and now had 25 unassigned stat points Actually the distribution of points for the knights class was easiest. It was standard distribution a knight could learn magic and combat and also wield any weapon. They were the jack of all trades with all stats being balanced. Hence he evenly assigned all points "system open stat pannel" ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : none Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:6 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 10 VIT : 10 INT : 10 STA : 10 PHY : 10 HP : 200/200 Status : Healthy Equipment : common stone sword ----------------------- He then went around to collect the loot ???????????????? : ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? 30 ???????????????? ???????????????????? , 55 ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? , ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? , ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? [Leather boots] (Bronze): beginers boots , gives very little protection to the feet , will wear out easily, +2% agility ''Hmm , not bad for level 6 , thought Rudra and equipped the boots''. The loot was decent especially the 55 bronze coins ..... at this stage of the game the coins had immense value . A commoner NPC would earn about 10-15 silvers a year , that was the average wage , hence the value of the 55 bronze coins was someones effort of a month. This world followed the system where 100 bronze coins = 1 silver coin 100 silver coins = 1 gold coin 1000 gold coins = 1 platinum coin While most players were stuck at level 2 or 3 , Rudra was aldready level 6 , he was now ready for the quest that would be given in blackwater village elder He went back to the village , and went straight to the desolate hut at the edge of the village. That hut was visited by many adventurers , because its position was very peculiar , it stood out a lot. But noone could get a quest because you needed to be level 5 first. But Rudra was still very impressed by these peoples gamers instinct to go to that house. On his way there he was adviced by a bunch of players "Nothing there mate, no quests" Rudra smiled at them but still went ahead " Hmm, another arrogant prick who thinks that old man in the hut will give a quest, well we warned him" As he entered the hut , he saw a old man looking at the wall , it was a painting of the blackwater village ,it was a very happy sight. He turned to look at the adventurer and sighed " You look troubled sir, may i help you with something?" Asked Rudra " You are an exceptional adventurer, i see gaining strength soo fast. Perhaps you indeed have the capability to help me, come sit ill narrate you a story". Rudra was glad , the quest will now happen , he took his seat " Blackwater village was once a very prosperous farming village , with a beautiful lake in the village vicinity.... alas 50 years ago the lake water turned black and made this area unable to do farming..... I am the village chief for the last 60 years and am nearing my death , help me solve the mystery of the blackwater lake " [Blackwater village quest] ( A ) : help the chief solve the mystery of the blackwater lake Rewards :????? Failure penalty : - 200 reputation within Hazelgroove kingdom,-3 level Completion time : no set time This was a terrifyingly difficult quest , at this stage of the game A ranked quests were not possible for players to clear , and the penalty was extremely heavy a negetive reputation means you will not be welcome in any state owned facilities. Rudra took in a deep breath and accepted the quest This is because in his previous life a gamer named quazycupcakes took this quest and it took him 4 months to clear it. But upon clearing he was given the title of '' savior of blackwater village'' and the title of a ''baron'' in the kingdom. These rewards were extremely important for Rudra hence he undertook this quest. Also , he aldready knew the method of clearing , hence he would clear it much faster, thats why he dared to accept. He headed out to the wild as the secret of the blackwater lake was related to a hidden dungeon in the nearby forests.It was a rare hidden dungeon that would only activate when one found the hidden passage in a desolate cave in the forest There was a necromancer in the cave practicing dark magic and the wastage of his experiments was drained into the underground drainage system which connected the blackwater lake , turning the entire lake black. He needed to slay the nectomancer and expose his hideout to the village chief to complete the mission Easy right? No , the necromancer was a level 11 entity and the number of skeleton guards were unknown , The previous guy completed the mission at level 15 hence for Rudra to clear it was going to be a big challenge. Chapter 4: The forest The location of the secret dungeon was about 5kms into the dense jungle and although Rudra had a general idea , he did not know the absolute location of the cave. Hence he had to take his time and explore. As he was exploring he saw a party fighting a White Aplha wolf of level 5 . The party consisted of 6 players all level 2 or 3 and were having a extremely difficult time against the wolf. At first Rudra did not wish to interfere but seeing that 2 of the 6 party members died he decided to help them, as for him it was not a big deal. As the wolf was about to attack what seemed like the party leader , a beautiful slender girl , Rudra suddenly jumped infront of her and hit the wolf with a slash, which the wolf dodged in time and stepped back. The party of four were stunned , who was this guy jumping here out of the blue and what was his purpose?? " Get out of here stranger the wolf is too strong" said the girl " I will be fine " said Rudra as he sprung into action -40,-50,-50 a string of damage appeared The observers were stunned, how was his damage soo high , they could not even have a damage of -5 on the wolf. The way he dodged and the way he countered within 3 minutes he solo slayed the wolf The party of four stared at him mouth agape only now they realized that they did not help him in the fight at all, but looking at the loot they were tempted to just kill him and take it for themselves But not touching the loot Rudra started to just walk away. "WAIT!" shouted the party leader ... " you forgot your loot" Rudra turned , surprised technically the loot did belong to him , but the party having the moral integrity to indeed offer him the loot meant they were good people As he looked at the party leader he noticed her beautiful face her hazel brown eyes and her dark brown hair ...in her leather armour.... she looked like an ancient beauty straight out of medieval times. Only upon closer look did he realize she was ''PinkLotus'' , the legendary guild leader of the. '' Azure Forest '' Guild , the number one guild in Hazelgroove kingdom in his past life. The daughter of the multimillionaire buisnessman owning a huge steel mining company. The fairy who had countless admirers , and now here he was face to face with her , what he did not realize was he was staring at her face for a long time which made '' PinkLotus '' blush . Only when her party member couged did he snap out of his daze " Dont need it , its yours" he said " If i may ask , what level are you at ? " asked Pinklotus "6" replied Rudra "WHAA" audible gasps from everyone could be heard, they were grinding continuously since the game s launch but they were barely level 3 , even the most formidable experts were only level 4 but this guy was aldready level 6 and skilled at soloing a level 5 wolf at that. He was a true bigshot. " Hey which organization are you from?"she asked She thought for him to be such a strong player he must have a solid backing "None , im a solo " said Rudra This shocked many onlookers, they looked at Rudra with more respect now ..... he was truly talented. " Will you be interested in joining my guild then? I will pay you 20 thousand dollars a month salary and offer you a core member position... My guild is called ''Azure Forest'' and it is one of the strongest gaming guilds". It was an excellent offer .... aldready triple of what his previous life guild offered him .... along with a high position ..... to be honest he was tempted, as joining would save him a lot of struggles but he had bigger goals ..... for his mother 20k a month would not cut it. " No , i plan to start my own guild someday ..... my apologies " said Rudra "Think again friend its a great offer... i agree you have skills but you need a strong backing and money " said a guy in lotus''s party. She was dissapointed ... such a strong player without a backing was very difficult to find but if he did not wish to join .... what could she do? she could not force him could she..... still reluctant to let him go she said " We can negotiate your salary if you want more.." Rudra was really really tempted but he stayed firm "Maybe next time , maam". he said sigh... Pinklotus was dissapointed however she said " Let me add you as a friend, i owe you one for today... if you ever need my help , you can call on me". He then recieved a system prompt ???????????????????????? ''????????????????????????????????????'' ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????? He pressed yes and waved goodbye " ''Shakuni'' huh ... I will see you around then " she murmured . Rudra could not believe he befriended fairy pinklotus if his dormmates from last life would get to know about this they would die from envy. Last life he was one of her countless admirers who would fight tooth and nail only to talk to her once , but this life on the very first day of his gaming the fairy herself added him as a friend. WHAT CRAZINESS !!! He was almost skipping around in the forest now , if someone from Pinklotus''s party saw him right now his image of a cool guy would be shattered in an instant . But what could he do he was just soo happy.... soo happy that only when he reached the entrance of the cave required for the mission did he realize that he needed to complete the quest. His plans were just starting he could not be content with this bit of success... the road was long and the journey was just starting. With determination in his eyes and resolve in his will he braved himself for the coming dangers... he entered the cave and at the end saw a small hole in the ground Upon looking from the top it just seemed like a small pit but only he knew it was the entrance to a secret dungeon He jumped in and heard a system prompt " ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????'' ???? ???????????????????????????? " Chapter 5: Necromancers Hideout ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ''????????????????????????????'' ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? +10 ????????????????????????????????????????. The system prompt confirmed his conjecture, he indeed entered the hidden dungeon. The Necromancer''s hideout is one of the very few solo hidden dungeons. The appearance of dungeons will only start after one reaches level 10 .... as there were none near the starter villages throughout the continent. The actual method of locating the necromancer''s hideout was to do a sidequest which required the taker of blackwater village quest to ask the village mage for helping him to find out the source of the pollution . In exchange for his help the player needed to do a quest for him first..... it was a vicious chain quest before coming to this location .... but his past life knowledge helped him skip that process completely. The chances of someone stumbling here on accident was negligible and even if they did the one to do it had to be the bearer of blackwater quest to actually be rewarded for this dungeon exploration was even more abyssal. He started exploring the dungeon and except some low level 3 skeletons .... there was no real threat yet. +50 exp , +50 exp , + 50 exp About 30 minutes into the game he suddenly levelled up LEVEL UP! Rudra smiled and distributed 5 points to agility .... currently agility was the most important thing he needed He called the system panel ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : none Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:7 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 15 ( +2% ) VIT : 10 INT : 10 STA : 10 PHY : 10 HP : 200/200 Status : Healthy Equipment : common stone sword , leather boots ----------------------- His pace was much quicker now , he felt satisfied Moving forward he saw a ghoul and paused. [Ghoul Captain](level 7) : can use darkness spells , weak against light and bashing attacks A level 7 ghoul was a extremely formidable opponent they were weak to bone crushing attacks , but to slash and stab damage they were completely immune. Rudra did not have any spell tomes yet and his only attacks were stab and slash He absolutely could not deal with this ghoul , but in the narrow cave ..... bypassing him was impossible. Rudra thought for a while then decided to engage in the fight the only way to win was to slice the ghouls head off clean ... regardless wether he will win or not will be left to fate. He charged and the ghoul was alerted , The stab penetrated deep into the ghouls abdomen.... but it did not affect him much at all. Rudra deflected the ghould blows and was glad that atleast he was evenly matched in strength. The bout was long and Rudra kept running around deflecting blows and dealing no damage ..... it was extremely taxing for him but there was no other alternative . The ghoul finally made a mistake when he went for Rudra '' s shoulder but he sidestepped to avoid the hit. This was his chance as with a powerfull slash he decapitated the ghoul. -1550 ???????????????????????????????? ????????????!!! +2 ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? , + ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? WHATTTTTTTTTTTTT ..... darkness bind was one of the best skill tomes in the entire game... in his past life this skill was rarer than rare ..... one sold for 500 gold... thats like 500K dollars .In his ''previous life'' each and every of his loot was taken away by his guild superiors never did he possess such a formidable skill. If he sold this skill tome.... it would clear his fathers debt completely. Ofcouse he would need to wait for a long time , untill people learned about the value of this skill ... in the current market it would not even fetch 10 silvers. Aghhh f**k it he said and learned the skill [Darkness bind] : creates shackles made of shadowsteel ..... immobilizes troops ( max 3) for 5 seconds. Cooldown time : 3 minutes It was a near cheat skill ..... to bind someone for 5 seconds would change entire outcomes of battles. Rudra was originally 30% confident in clearing this dungeon but now he was 65% confident This skill changes the game. He went forward smoothly ..... no serious threat untill he reached outside which definitely looked like a laboratory . He entered the laboratory and the necromancer frowned.... he was busy conducting some sort of potion but never did he expect someone to enter his laboratory What happened to the ghoul captain guard he stationed outside.... " BEGONE" he threatened spawning 7 skeletons Rudra sprung into action taking on the skeletons, the skeletons though level 4 were no match for him as he cut through them like butter. Soon all 7 skeletons were killed . The necromancer gauged the strength of the adventurer that barged in his laboratory and found him weaker than himself [ Necromancer Oma ] ( Level 11 ) ( Dungeon boss) HP 2500/2500. : Proficient in dark magic and the art of necromancy do not engage one on one unless you are a paladin Rudra knew he was outclassed but now he had the darkness bind trump card He decided to chip into the necromancer''s health before using it. As he engaged in combat he realized it was extremely difficult to get close to the necromancer his attacks especially the darkness blast was annoying to deal with Rudra knew he could at most be hit with 2 such blasts before he would die , hence his first priority was defense He dodged and dodged but his stamia had not recovered completely hence each movement took more and more strain to execute ... if this continued he would enter the fatigued state loosing half of his combat prowss ... that would spell guaranteed death. He had no more options he had to put it all into the darkness bind and hope for critical hits DARKNESS BIND... he used the spell and the necromancer was rendered movementless This was his chance.... he straight went for the necromancers throat .... slash -1500 critical hit and stabbed his heart -1500 critical hit The necromancer collapsed dead.He did it ''Hahahaha he actually did it '' .... this shows exactly how usefull darkness bind is without it there was no way he could have fought and won against the necromancer + 10000 ???????????? LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! +5????????????????, + ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? + ???????????????????? ???????????????? + ????????????????????????????????????????????''???? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? 10% ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? -50% ???????????? ????????????????????. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? '' ???????????????????????????? '' ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????''???? ???????????????????????????? + 1500 ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????????????????????: ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? // ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????: ???????????????????????? '' ???????????????????????????? '' ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????''???? ???????????????????????????? + 1500 ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????????????????????: ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? WHAT? NONONONONO WHY IS THE SYSTEM ANNOUNCING MY NAME? I DO NOT WANT UNNECESSARY TROUBLE Chapter 6: First Impression // ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????: ???????????????????????? '' ???????????????????????????? '' ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????''???? ???????????????????????????? + 1500 ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????????????????????: ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? WHAT? NONONONONO WHY IS THE SYSTEM ANNOUNCING MY NAME? I DO NOT WANT UNNECESSARY TROUBLE -------------- On the Forum the comment section went crazy " Whoa, I cant even kill rabbits yet and this @Shakuni guy cleared a f''n dungeon?" " REPORT PLAYER @Shakuni , HE IS A HACKER" " Join our guild @Shakuni , everyone here is a talent" " @Shakuni , I am struggling to even walk properly in this game... mad respect brother " " @Shakuni ..... Are you single??" A total of 20.66K people tagged @Shakuni on the forum chat But the perpetrator of this event was sulking in the Hidden dungeon. "Well atleast i have the Dungeon bosses loot " He looked at the items he obtained [ Darkness Armour ] ( Gold ) : A armour forged with hardened mana obsidian .... pitch black it absorbs both darkness and light attacks Effect 1 : +30% Def Effect 2 : -20% light and dark damage He was satisfied with this item , even in his previous life all his items were basically gold grade .... and that was much later into the game Soo early into the game this is one of the best defense equipment one could find... not even the guild leaders of major guilds would have such amazing equipment yet. [ Necromancer '' s Diary] ( Quest item) : Give it to the village chief to complete the blackwater quest. [ Lich''s Ring] ( Semi Legendary) : Replica of the Ring of Solomon ..... all undead will fear you , any undead under the rank of Lord will become your slave Special effect 1 : Summon knight Durahal to aid you in your battles Special effect 2 : Dark absorb skill , recover health from dead bodies around you cooldown : 2 minutes Can be upgraded This..... Rudra was on the verge of breaking down and cry 20 years he played this game and obtained only one epic item that killed him , and now he 2 days into the game obtained a semi legendary item. He could not hold it in and genuinely wept Wept for a solid 10 minutes If anyone saw him like this they would probably think he was crazy But what could he do ..... His emotions got the best of him. He wore the Lich '' s Ring and decided to never reveal its powers to anyone ... not atleast he had the strength to protect himself in real life. He was extremely happy when he got a friends messge beep it was from PinkLotus " Way to go... soo happy for you ;)". He smiled at this message and chose to reply " Thankyou, tell me if you ever need some help" Pinklotus immediately replied " Theres this B ranked quest about helping the blacksmith find a ore mana steel .... but apparently its not available in the market ..... can you tell me where to obtain some " " Try obtaining it from other blacksmith shops .... offer a 20% premium from market price " he adviced He then closed the chat pannel and decided to Assign the levelled up stat points. ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Baron of Hazelgroove kingdom Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:9 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 17 VIT : 12 INT : 12 STA : 12 PHY : 12 HP : 500/500 Status : Fatigued Equipment : common stone sword , leather boots , Darkness Armour , Lich''s Ring ----------------------- What baffled Rudra was.... the title of Baron of Hazelgroove kingdom ..... wasn''t it to be given when he handed in the quest? why was it given to him soo soon? was it because he was the first to clear a hidden dungeon? Anyway he decided to go back to the village and turn in the quest At the village chief''s house " Welcome adventurer , have you completed the task i assigned you?" He asked " Yes sire" , Rudra then gave him the necromancer''s diary He was enraged as he read the diary but reigned in his temper " Thankyou for your assistance adventurer , also for slaying that vile necromancer , the village of blackwater will forever be your benefactor" ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? : ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????: + 2 ???????????????????????? + 1 ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? + ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ??????????????????????> ???????????????????????????????? + 1500 ???????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????'' ????????????????????????????ed Kni????????????'' WHOA .... WHOA .... WHOA JACKPOT! Never would he have thought he would get such excellent award He was now a Viscount .... a noble of the kingdom he could without a Doubt do many things that normal people could not. But before he could rejoice much a gloomy event happened // Hazelgroove kingdom announcement: Congratulations player ''Shakuni'' for being the first player to reach Level 10 in Hazelgroove kingdom +200 Fame // // Eastern continent announcement : Congratulations to player '' Shakuni '' for being first player to reach Level 10 in the Eastern continent +1000 fame // NO ! NO! NO! NO! NO! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?? I WANT TO LIVE!!!! The forum exploded again ..... and ban the hacker ''Shakuni '' faction started gaining support .... when majority players were at level 4 how can someone reach level 10 soo fast but Rudra was actually level 11 He decided to check his loot to lift his mood The Dark gold sword [Windcutter] ( Dark gold ) : A blade that can unleash bursts of wind to cut down opponents..... effective upto 20 meters special effect 1 : windslash skill .... slash your opponents with a strong windslash special effect 2 : +15% critical damage An excellent weapon! And lastly he got the title of Honorable knight this meant he was favoured as a hero by both the church and the kingdom This was amazing He just wished people would forget him within a week. If not major corporations would be on his tail day in and day out . He decided to call it a day after playing the game for 25 hours straight and logged out. Ohhh the sun!!!! His eyes burned upon waking up and his whole body felt sore.... he logged in such a terrible posture Oh please release the gaming pods soon ..... i cant take this helmet sh*t ! He took a bath and freshened up Then he made the phonecall he should have made his last life but never had the courage to He called his real best friend who he lost touch with after high school The person who gave him loan after loan in his last life But he never even thanked him properly He would make it upto him this time He called his best friend Fatty kalash Chapter 7: Back to real life The real world was a funny place for Rudra His reincarnation knowledge was a complete cheat in the game ... however his reincarnation knowledge was a undo ticket in real life 20 years of life taught him the difference between who mattered and who did not, in his ''past life'' He lost touch with his college friends about 2 years after graduation. His high school friends stayed longer especially fatty Kalash however he never cherished that bond. He chased after a stupid girl who dumped her the first opportunity when someone better than him showed her interest , funny thing he was actually planning on marrying her . He lost touch with his brother after he went to highschool He lost touch with his father about a year after that The only time they came together as a family was when his mother was critically ill about 10 years from now. His past was riddled with mistakes but he would never repeat those again He may not be an overpowered character in real life like he is in the game world But he considered his real battlefield to be here To never wrong those who stood by him this life. Today was the day he would meet fatty Kalash again they were supposed to meet at the restaurant near their highschool which they frequented previously Fatty Kalash was the only real friend he ever had who had his back through thick and thin....he once loaned him a 100K dollars his savings of over 5 years at a moments notice when he was facing financial issues ... he was a very simple and easy going guy who would give his all to his friend. A gem a real gem. He never took fatty Kalash seriously in his last life when he told him that the girl he was dating was a vixen he slapped fatty Kalash and broke all bonds with him but boy o boy was he right! He was overjoyed as he saw fatty Kalash enter the restaurant, all sorts of emotions welled up inside him but all he could show was a cheeky smile The smile boys give to their close friends That half smirk half mocking smile that seems like it says "yo a****le" Fatty Kalash smirked back " Congratulations you successfully look like a monkeys rear part " He said as he took a seat Rudra shuffled his hair .... because he rode his bicycle here the wind ruffled his hair " Well I do my part to look like the friend of a chubby gorilla " He retorted They both looked each other dead in the eyes Then both bursted laughing. The ice was broken and the conversation just flowed from there They talked about everything and nothing over lunch Fatty was shocked when he heard that Rudra had left his house to live on rent untill he made something of himself, the usually easygoing Rudra was serious about earning money ..... this soothed his mind. He was secretly always worried about his friend who was immature beyond belief .... he was talented but overall a complete idiot. But that seemed to change today . Even though he seemed his same carefree self he seemed mature..... much much more mature like someone in his 40''s .... not a 21 year old kid. Fatty too was playing ''Omega'' hence their next talk went over to Omega " Well do you play '' Omega''?" " Yes of course , I dont live in a cave dude" Rudra retorted " What class did you choose?? , And which kingdom?"Fatty asked exitedly " Knight, Hazelgroove kingdom " he said " Whoaaa... Im a blacksmith , Hazelgroove kingdom.... Im at level 3 you know " " Yeah you always liked crafts plus you are a mechanical engineer it makes sense " he said " Well have you heard of the gamer '' Shakuni'' that dude is sooo sick .... he is aldready at level 10 , can you believe it ..... I bet he is the son of the game developer or something ". Rudra was barely stifling his laughter at this point he was wondering how fatty would react once he told him he was ''Shakuni'' ..... But he could not tell him yet ... Well not untill he did some preparations first , so he just smiled right now He needed to put a mask on his real identity Boasting was not going to get him anywhere Untill noone knew that he was ''Shakuni'' he would be fine fending for himself in game . " Yeah , sounds like a damn lucky bastard to me". He said They talked a lot and finally decided that one day maybe if one of them started a guild the other would definitely join him. They paid the bill and stood up to leave there were no farewell words between men but Rudra said something he felt deeply today " Hey fatty, thankyou for being my bro" He said as he walked out, he did not understand why it was soo hard to show emotion , it was a simple appreciation sentence but it made him feel uneasy Maybe insults are the only way to address friends he thought. He did some light grocery shopping before he returned home . Called back home to let his mom and dad know he was doing fine... He ate enough to keep him afloat for next 24 hours as he would now initiate his first plan of earning money . As he put on the virtual headset a familiar game screen of '' Omega '' came to view then with a white flash he was back at blackwater village. Most adventurers did not know this yet but even after becoming level 10 you could not simply walk into the capital city , you first needed to get a approval letter from the village administration office first. He walked into the village administration office where a burly man with a Hitler like moustache greeted him " How may i help you sir Viscount?" the NPC asked very respectfully at that " Id like to do my adventurer registration , i have achieved level 10 and would like to enter the capital city". The NPC smiled "I would surely do that for you sir , however seeing as you are a reputed knight and a Viscount of the kingdom I believe you do not need one for entry into the capital " Rudra hit his forehead , yes thats right he was nobility now .... he did not need common people''s registration . Well he was not used to this soo can you blame him? He got his adventurer Id and decided to embark on the journey to the capital. Chapter 8: Off to the capital The journey from Blackwater Village to the capital was safe overall ..... it was about half a days walk to reach the capital city''s wall about 3 hours if one took a horse . Not having a mount was extremely frustrating ..... but mounts would not unlock untill level 40 soo Rudra was stuck walking. There were no monsters on the road to the capital however the same could not be said for bandits. Some rogue bandits and some connected to underworld organizations would often plunder travellers on the road. This is part of the reason why the AI made it soo that one could not venture out towards the capital before reaching level 10 As the bandits would be around the level 10-13 on each road leading towards the capital city. Unless you are sufficiently prepared you cannot reach the capital in the early stages of the game. Well he was not worried about bandits much as he had the semi legendary item Lich''s Ring He could just summon his Knight Durahal and it would be game over for the bandits He felt happy and chirpy for this reason alone, The weather was pleasent in the countryside leading to the capital He was not afraid of players to see him soo In the security that noone was watching him Rudra broke into song while dancing as he moved along the road " Iv got fire for her heart im not scared of the dark you never see me look soo ....." " Baby , baby , baby oooooo like ..." Unbeknownst to him there was a player behind him Yes a player indeed reached level 10 about 8 hours after Rudra ... the levelling maniac '' Neatwit '' . He was the one dominating the leaderboards for 7 years straight in Rudra '' s past life. Well Apart from these two most elite players were around level 8 and would still take a day to reach level 10 and most of the mobs would take about 3 more . And here he was seeing Rudra dance like a buffoon Soo thats the top player '' Shakuni'' ???? he thought Well he meant to just think it but ended up saying it out loud That made Rudra look back and turn beet red at being caught in this embarrassing situation. But before he could give an explanation Neatwit said " Sooooo cooollllllll!!!!" "Oh my god big brother , your dance moves are soo sick" He said " Big brother?? whose your brother ?" , did this guy fall on his head when he was young or what?" The official age to play ''Omega'' was 19 soo considering he was 21 noone should call him big brother. " Hi , sir im Neatwit ..... i assume you are the first level 10 player Mr Shakuni ..... its an absolute pleasure to meet you sir" He introduced " Rudra got the whole picture now.... this was the levelling maniac Neatwit who had a childlike personality" '' Neatwit'' never joined a guild in his past Life the only thing he did was to level level and level He would grind mobs like noone else Not interested in loot , fame or power the only thing he wanted was to level up faster! Well if i had not been reincarnated i guess he would still be on the top of leaderboards. He thought " Pleasure to meet you my friend..... wanna head towards the capital with me?" Rudra asked " sure .... it s boring to travel alone anyway " he said They both started chatting and walking casually it was actually quite fun They had great chemistry and Neatwit s goofy nature instantly appealed to Rudra who was by nature Goofy himself They had a rollicking good time untill suddenly an arrow shot out of the woods barely missing Rudra ''s head. They both drew their swords and were alert in an instant. "BANDITS!" said Rudra They stood back to back as they calmly analysed the situation ..... there were six bandits all level 13 ... who surrounded them blocking all exits It was not a very favourable fighting condition " Drop your sword armour and valuables and we will let you go punks" One of the bandit said Neatwit was scared well not about the loot but about the death penalty his hard earned exp will be lost plus the 3 hours he took to walk UNACCEPTABLE he thought Rudra was pissed right now as he did not want to reveal the power of his ring to anyone If Neatwit was not here Durahal would have been enough to deal with them all But he could not summon Durahal yet. No worries though Darkness bind and windcutter could still annihilate 3 bandits easy Well he could take on two more himself but the last one needed to be dealt by Neatwit "Can you take on one? " Rudra asked He nodded Darkness bind said Rudra and he quickly used windslice to kill 3 Bandits in one fell swoop The bandits were dumbfounded ..... What the hell What just happened But before they could recover from their shock Rudra charged on two more Neatwit did too It was a smooth fight for Rudra and surprisingly Neatwit held his own too 5 minutes later all 6 Bandits were dead ???????????????????????? 5 ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? +1500 ???????????? + 30 ???????????????????????? + ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? + ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? (1/3) LEVEL UP! Rudra was pleased with the way the battle turned out He did not reveal his trump card while he also got decent items " Woww..... Big brother is soo strong" Neatwit was awed by Rudra ''s remarkable skills and strength. Rudra called for the system pannel ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:12 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 20 VIT : 15 INT : 15 STA : 15 PHY : 15 HP : 500/500 Status : Fatigued Equipment : common stone sword , leather boots , Darkness Armour , Lich''s Ring , Bronze shins ----------------------- With his stats levelling up he felt lighter and stronger Well it was an addictive feeling He could see why Neatwit only focused on levelling It was like steriods you could not get off off. If he did not neee money soo badly maybe becoming a solo high level player would not have been a bad option Alas he cant do that Not yet atleast! " let''s go ..... lets reach the capital before sundown .... night is even more unsafe to travel" with this they both started walking faster towards the capital Chapter 9: Capital city The capital city of Hazelgroove kingdom was ''Purple Haze '' city ..... The city was named after the purple fog visible throughout the city once every four years during a special lunar alignment . It was a massive city encompassing about 25 million inhabitants at all times with a capacity for 7 million more . The city had everything you would expect from a urban fantasy city... A royal palace .... Mage towers.... Auction houses ..... Blacksmithing and Craftsmanship halls... Alchemy and potionology halls... Gambling dens ... Restaurants and even slums. As Rudra and Neatwit reached the capital city gates he could not help but feel nostalgic. '' Im back'' he thought As they tried to walk through the gates the guard posted asked for their adventurer id Rudra had one however Neatwit did not .... he was baffled at the thought of having to travel back to his spawn village to issue one first Luckily he was with Rudra He switched his title from well known knight to Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom "He s with me " Rudra said The gatesman suddenly became extremely polite " Oh soo he is lord viscounts companion.... my apologies for stopping you, please enjoy your stay in the kingdom." Neatwit looked at Rudra with admiration , even gate guards talked with him respectfully " Thankyou , please let me add you as a friend i will pay you back for this favour someday". " Sure, add me " Rudra said With them both adding each other as friends they decided to part ways to explore the capital. Now was the time for Rudra to execute his main plan in the capital city Rudra intended to make PurpleHaze city as his headquarters in the future .... For this he had 3 missions set in his mind that he would work on whislt in the city The first mission he decided was to sell information for money..... Provide a detailed layout of the city and its important locations as well as some general quests to large guilds in exchange for money It will take 2 days for the majority of guilds players to reach the capital city and 2 more for exploring Rudra ''s information pack will save them 2 days worth of time hence will give the guilds who purchased it a massive advantage in establishing themselves in the capital before others could. For this to successfully reap as many benefits as it could he would make four information packs Free pack: As a charity to all players , but secretly to build credibility and desire over more important information Solo pack: For solo players and adventurers, it will contain a city map with important locations as well as some common quest information Cost : 5 dollars Guild pack ( normal) : it will contain workings of the city .... how the auction house works as well as intormation on some secret shops selling special items Cost : 100 dollars Guild pack ( Elite) : It will contain detailed working of the entire capital city ..... with information on all important quests as well as secret shops and also a detailed back profile of every prominent NPC in the capital , it will also provide basic guidance on how to start a guild and expand it. cost : 2000 dollars He posted this on this on the forum with attatchments that needed to pay to unlock except for the free part . The second mission was to secure the emmisary of Church of Light quest It was a quest that would greatly help him increase his intimacy with the church with the quest rewarding him to access the church''s treasure hall to exchange for one treasure. As well as having one request from church of light. The third and a longtime mission was The starting of his own Guild and becoming a guildmaster He wanted to form an elite Guild with only quality players .... And slowly start his revenge against the guild of his previous life. While a guild for elites only sounded good in theory in actuality it was very difficult to balance.... as every member would have a certain pride being well above the masses , they would not follow someone else easily The cohesiveness of such a unit was always an issue The problem of lack of evident manpower would show while trying for guild expansion as menial tasks would be extremely difficult for a guild to do without lower rung of players Even in guild wars such a guild would easily be suppressed by larger guilds using sheer masses of their massive guilds to crush them However with all its drawbacks Rudra would still pick it up because he had ways to counter its shortcomings When the In game currency would link with the real world currency everyone will backstab every other person for benefits The larger guilds will be filled with corruption, with the upper members gaining and gaining while the lower members would beg for scraps.... having gone through that once he would never try put someone through it again He would make a house of elites where each player would have the strength of a 100 and a strong pride that came with being an elite That pride would detter them to use underhanded tactics and achieve the betterment of the organisation He would make a guild with a heart where every member would grow alongside the guild leaving noone behind. It was a crazy dream but he was resolved to make it happen. These three mission''s were the current goals to achieve in the capital city Starting a Guild needed one to have 100 gold and one guild token to open Rudra needed 85 more to open one as his status as a viscount did not need a guild token . What many people did not know was that there could only be 100 guilds within the capital , no more guild orders would be issued after that The only way to get one after that was to annihilate one of the 100 in a official guild war and take over their position This made the prices of guilds a commodity if a leader chose to vacate his guilds spot the token would always go for sky high prices. Well being a viscount eased things up by quite a lot. In his previous life the first player to reach the status of a viscount took 3 years to achieve this feat and his guild received extraordinary benefits due to his position. Chapter 10: Sending a cheque home Rudra spent the rest of the day visiting various NPC shops to familiarise the market right now..... familiarizing himself with the prices before the mass of demand called players would enter the market and inflate the prices. The pirces of herbs and items were not fixed in ''Omega'' and followed the real world system of demand and supply .... Prices went up and down according to the market. Rudra knew that once the masses entered the capital city the price of these common herbs will increase thrice as much as now hence he invested about 10 gold into two common herbs required for brewing beginner healing potion and stocked up on it. He needed it for his Emmisary of Church quest He spent the rest 5 gold buying common grade weapons and armours from blacksmith s shop which costed about 5 coppers a piece The reason for this is in the capital currently such common weapons were being sold extremely cheap.He remembered paying about 30 coppers for a piece of armour in his past life. Thats about 600% profit margin He wanted to feel happy after investing money for his buisness but Looking at the 4 copper wealth that he currently possesed he felt dejected He intentionally had to keep 4 coppers as a night at the inn costed one 2 coppers a day. Im Broke! he sighed It will atleast take him two days to earn the money back as it would be then that majority players will enter the capital. Most players did not know this but if you sleep at an inn or a permanent residence in the capital When you logout your character will gain EXP steadily based on where you were sleeping The inn where Rudra logged out gave one a +10 EXP/ hour boost on logging out. So technically you could just not login for your day and your character would have levelled up ! Insane right? yes thats why it got patched at the first update one month from game launch. But not yet! As Rudra logged out he went on with his daily needs and took a bath and ate some food As he was fiddling his phone scrolling through the forums he suddenly stopped eating His eyes soo wide from shock He could simply not beleive what he saw He pinched himself hard WHAT? Oww ,it hurts soo this is not a dream His post where he was selling information had 27 Million views and 5 million people pinned it 20 Million people downloaded the free information pack 3 Million people downloaded the Solo adventurer pack (5*3= 15 million dollars) 100 thousand people bought the Basic Guild pack (0.1¡Á100= 10 million dollars) and 20 thousand people bought the Elite Guild pack (0.02 ¡Á 2000 = 40 million dollars) The total earnings from this post totalled 65 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!!! He felt like his heart would beat out of his chest WHAT THE HELL When was it soo easy to earn money? He thought he would need atleast 2 years to earn about 50 Mil but this.... He sat up from his chair then sat down on the ground Then madly rolled over I MADE IT I MADE IT I LL SAVE MOM ILL PAY BACK DAD''S DEBT ILL SEND MAX TO HARVARD He was laughing and crying at the same time emotions taking a hold of him He quickly opened his bank account to look at the overall balance 65 million 300 dollars He locked his phone and just laid there on the floor Breathing heavily It took him 10 minutes to return his heart rate to normal Then he did what needed to be done He wired 25 million dollars to his dads account and 25 Million dollars to his Moms. Locked his rented apartment Took his bicycle and started madly peddling towards home. ----------------------- At the Rajput Household " I wonder how Rudra is doing, i really miss him you know ?" said his mom " That kid is probably just lazing around, he would be back home within two months " his father said " Have more faith in your son , he went out to try something on his own... we need to believe in him " " Oh i will believe in him, the day he sends money home i will" His father said nonchalantly Although he appeared cold right now and treated Rudra like he was hopeless, he was the one having sleepless nights for the past week since his boy had moved out. A doorbell interrupted their conversation " Rudra? exclaimed her mother in suprise " she smiled as she hugged him Little Max was probably still in school soo he did not see him here " Why are you here boy, back home soo soon? or here for more money?" Said his father coldly Rudra just smiled and walked into the living room He said " Mom , dad thankyou for always believing in me and supporting me , especially you dad I know you havent told mom but I know we have a 300K debt on our house ". His father''s eyes widened in shock Her mother looked at her father dumbfounded A 300K DEBT? " Thankyou for always shielding our family like nothing ever bothered you but i know how hard you work to keep ends met ". " I have never been a filial son and have been a wastrel all my life for which im deeply sorry dad." " And mom , i know your cold is not just a cold and a disease that needs to be treated but you have not told anyone because it needs a lot of money and you did not want to put burden on the family" "You are ill?" His father questioned his mother who lowered her eyes in guilt Why did noone know about each others secrets but the boy did "Im sorry for not being a good enough son mother to take care of you even though you are ill" " But i have changed father , mother from today onwards I will shoulder the Rajput house".. He smiled Dad, Mom please open your bank account balance They both had a million questions and both wanted to talk to each other as well as their son who kept dropping bombs after bombs but they were forced to first open their bank accounts When they saw the total balance Their eyes widened in shock 1...2.....3...4.....5...6.. zeroes This is millions in money 25 Million dollars? Each! " Is... is this..th...the... money....you....earned?" His fathers voice started to break speaking He just nodded and hugged his father hard soon he felt his shoulders getting wet wet from the tears of his father A heavy burden was lifted off his chest His son who everyone called useless His son who was always lazy and unmotivated His son who would always be mocked by people and compared to their sons who sent home a few hundred dollars every month That same son just sent a cheque home from his first earnings and that cheque was for 25 million dollars Just wait till i tell every single person who told him that his son was a looser in life Even his mom recovered from the shock and embraced the two hugging It was an amazing family moment where all past grievences and problems were slowly being dissolved away The family spent quality time that day with Rudra discussing how he sold information in the game and made soo much money and how he still had more for when little Max went to college Dinner that day was a huge feast As the family bonded and disclosed all the secrets and burdens they had been carrying around , they felt soo light after confessing Money was an issue for such a middle class family who worked hard for a acceptable lifestyle With all debts paid and enough money for Moms surgery Rudra felt complete The smiles on the faces of his mom dad and little brother that day made his heart bounce in joy This moment this family I vow to never loose it again! Chapter 11: Starting the hustle Rudra spent a day at his home , enjoying his family time. He loved how his dad will never stop smiling and his mom would act like he was her lovely little boy His brother looked at him like he was a hero, he was in middle school hence he understood the importance of money and understood that they were rich now. After he up grew about 10 or 11 years he stopped seeing his brother as his idol and thought that he was lazy and useless. Seeing the shine in his eyes come back as he looked upto him again Rudra felt proud of himself. Yes your brother is the best! As he left home to go back to his rented apartment , something weighed on his mind, Earning money was indeed not so easy ..... although he struck gold this time .... from now on it wont be as easy as today The money he earned is enough to sustain his family''s current lifestyle for the next 40 years no problem They could order food thrice a week Get a bigger apartment Go on trips twice a year Drive better cars Have a saving for any possible emergency But that was it.... it was not enough to live the noveou rich¨¨ lifestyle Yep he wanted his family to live like emperors.... He needed to earn more for that much much more. Well the Human greed knows no bound .... But it all pointed towards one thing He needed to go back to grinding. One day off from ''Omega'' he wondered how many players reached the Capital ---------------------- (Back in the virtual world) (Purple haze city, Hazelgroove kingdom) The first thing he heard when he logged in was LEVEL UP! "hehehe i levelled up without logging into the game for a day It can''t be called a complete waste this way " He brought up the stat panel ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:13 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 21 VIT : 16 INT : 16 STA : 16 PHY : 16 HP : 600/600 Status : Healthy Equipment : common stone sword , leather boots , Darkness Armour , Lich''s Ring , Bronze shins ----------------------- He nodded seeing his stats if his calculations are right Neatwit would have reached level 12 yesterday or maybe 13 He needed to pick up the pace the gap between him and other players was shortening He needed to keep his edge else he was just one of the players playing the game. Well he did not know but his name was aldready considered as one of the elite''s his name had been announced twice on the server and his information pack was extremely usefull Many common players looked upto the player ''Shakuni'' and many guilds wanted to recruit him within their ranks. Since he would sell his stack of common and bronze equipment only when the prices were sufficiently high the only thing to do right now was to start the Emmisary of the church Quest. He walked towards the central District of the capital The Central District was a city within a city It was cordoned off with high walls and the right to access was heavily regulated. You needed to have atleast +50 Reputation from the church of light or the Hazelgroove kingdom to gain access . He being a viscount was however more than welcome , not that he lacked the fame either. At the centre of the circle was the Royal palace the residence of the king and nomatter how many times had he seen it in his past life , it was simply not something one could look enough at ... What a magnificent building....The tall gates the strong guards the beautiful gardens... The palace was simply breathtaking. Right beside it was the Church Of Light. The pure white marble Building was blinding to look at in the sunlight , It was Grand yet simple Yep definitely the Church of ''Light'' he thought As he entered through the gates of Church Of Light He saw countless priests in White robes all doing some rituals He walked through in towards the prayer room Where he knelt down and prayed infront of the Godess of Light '' Fiona'' . It was impolite to call the Godess''s name hence everyone reffered to her as Godess of Light. He was actually not praying but this was the way to activate the quest soo he acted like he was. About 5 minutes in when he was still kneeling he finally heard the voice " May the Light bless you". The fish had taken the bait..... that voice was of the Cardinal of the Church of Light '' Lee Huntaro'' " I greet the Cardinal of The church Priest Lee " As he bowed to the Priest the priest tapped his forehead and he recieved a blessing ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? + ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????? 3 ????????????????. BRILLIANT! he exclaimed in his mind " I see you have great faith in the Godess " Cardinal Lee said " Naturally , The Godess illuminated the path in my life through the pitch of Darkness i was in, My only regret is not being able to recieve a chance to serve her better" Cardinal Lee '' s eyes moistened Rudra knew that he had roped the Cardinal in Booyah! Hook. Line. Sinker! " I am glad sire Viscount wishes to serve the Godess.If you truly wish to do so the Church does have an issue that needs attention of a capable adventurer" " Seeing as you are a Reputable Knight Blessed by the Godess of Life and hence can resurrect after dying ....would you be willing to take care of an issue? the church will forever be in your debt if you can complete this task" " Sure , Cardinal Lee you have to but command me this humble Knight is in your service". [ Emmisary of Light] ( Grade : B ) (Chain quest): Village Thol to the north of capital city has been infected by a deadly plague that spreads easily by air..... As there is fear of being contaminated the village does not have any merchants delivering supplies and essential healing potions Objective : Deliver supplies and Healing potions to the village chief Rewards : + 500 Fame + 200 Reputation with Church Of Light + unlock second chain quest Rudra smiled yep... he got it The emmisary of light chain quest . Chapter 12: Emmisary of Church (1) Rudra knew in depth about the quest hence he had previously prepared a warehouse full of ingredients to concot the healing potions. The Church provided him with 50 gold for the quest but he would make 30 gold saving because of his previous investment. He bought necessary medical supplies and commissioned the alchemist guild to concot the potions . As beginer health poitons were easy to concot , he recieved his order within 30 minutes, he spent 10 gold for the commission and 10 more on other food items and supplies. With only 20 of the allocated 50 gold budget used he was ready to depart to the Village of Thol in the north. The journey to the Village of Thol was in the fashion that Rudra was all to familiar with ..... how one was actually supposed to travel ..... On a mount! The church provided him with one of the better horses as a mount for his journey , thanx to which it only took him two hours to reach the village. Yep even from 500 meters out of the actual village one could smell death all over, The village was earily quiet with sick people everywhere .... there were only a few people walking in the open covering their faces with cloths to not breathe contaminated air. He made his way into the village amongst the stares of 200 people untill he was stopped by a strong looking warrior. " Please turn around good sir, this village has experienced a disease outbreak. I implore the sire to vacate the village premises as soon as possible for your own safety." said the man " I am here on behalf of the Church of Light sire, may i please have an audience with the chief?" Rudra asked politely Seeing how Rudra was someone sent by the Church to help them , the people were overjoyed. The gazes on him softened quite a bit now. He was quickly introduced to the village chief Dholka The chief was probably in his mid thirty''s his body full of battle scars... He must be a tremendous warrior thought Rudra as he looked at his arm glistening with marks where swords would have cut him. "So i heard you are from the church?" said Dholka " Yes the Church sends its aid to the people suffering in Thol" Rudra said and emptied his ring to present all the resources given as aid. ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? (1/3) ???????????????????????????? +500 ???????????????? + 200 ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? " Thankyou sir respected knight , you delivering these supplies will alleviate a lot of burden on my village." " Its my duty as the servant of the Godess" Said Rudra He knew he only needed to act humble as soon the 2nd part of the quest will pop up "I wonder would sir help us with locating a medical cure for this disease.... although the health potions will help the citizens to get out of critical danger , the infection will still not go... if only there was a cure" [Emmisary Of Church]( Grade : S ) (2/3 chain quest) : Find a cure for the disease spread in the village Rewards : +1000 Fame + 1000 Reputation with Church of Light + ?????? Failure penalty : - 2000 fame - title Respected Knight - 1000 reputation with the church ???????????????????????? ????????????????????? ???????????? ???????? He selected yes Well one actually needed to collect clues ... do monster hunting .... bring a master potionsmaster a sample of infected blood .... spend time working for the potionmaster in return of his service.... do 3 quests for him and then get the cure for the village illness But not Rudra He said " Actually i know quite a bit about diseases, do you mind if i take a look at a patient?" Rudra lied straight through his teeth He dint know jack shit about diseases however he knew the formula of the cure. However to look legit he just used his deepest voice and cooked shit up as he spoke "Hmm the fever and the texture of the skin..... the taste of the sweat.....hmmmm fungus yes definitely fungus..... paracetamol dolo650 metacin ... Rantac crocin..... Hmmmmmm" " I got it , mix blueherb grass with curd and feed it to the patients , the infection will be eliminated within 6 hours." All the villagers were dumbfounded. Blueherb grass was a common grass herb easily available hence quickly the medicine was made and administered to a critical patient. 6 Hours later he was safe and healthy " Miracle, the godess has blessed us. The respected night is actually a Medicine master" All the villagers cried and kowtowed towards Rudra including the village chief " Indeed you are a blessing from Godess herself , thankyou for saving my village". ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? +1000 ???????????????? +1000 ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? +???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? : ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????? 2000 ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? Whoa whoa whoa ! Windfall again! [Savior of thol village] ( Title) : Any and all village specialities will forever be sold to you for free, You can request them to collect resources you need.You are revered throughout the village and they will fight for your honor. This title was worth the effort put into solving the quest. Not that he did put effort but the one who did in his ''Previous life'' gained lots of valuable resources for his guild using the village Npc and farmers. Rudra wanted to make an elite Guild of his own hence this village will provide him a lot of strategic and logistic support. [ Revered medicine master] (Title) : You will be recognised as a master of medicine throughout the nation. You do not need to pay taxes. You have the same status as a Count in the Hazelgroove kingdom. -50% cost for purchasing herbs from all NPC shops. Rudra was dumbfounded .. all he did was stupid acting and this is the result ?? Was the Godess of fortune finally favouring him after a lifetime of suffering his previous life? Thankyou god , If i have ever cursed you for being unfair in my past life i take it all back , You are the best! Rudra said looking towards the sky. Well well only one thing left to do " Chief Dholka, this disease was spread by eating a fungal species such as a mushroom, has your village recently bought an unknown stock of mushrooms?" Asked Rudra " Well there was a merchant who sold Mushrooms at a very low cost hence most of my village people bought it ..... are you saying the merchant caused all this suffering to my village?" Dholka said seething " Its the most plausible outcome based on the facts we know sir". Said Rudra " Sir i cannot leave this village being its chief , but can you exact revenge for me" This chief will forever be in your debt if you do [Emmisary of Church](3/3 Chain quest) : Bring the perpetrator behind the infection outbreak in the city of Thol to justice. Rewards : ??????? Failure Penalty : -10 levels . Perfect the script for the third quest progressed normally, he was worried because he used his past life knowledge that maybe the third quest wont trigger but thankfully it did. But what the hell is that failure penalty - 10 levels seriously? I might as well restart my account then. Chapter 13: Emmisary of Church(2) The third part of the quest was a bit tricky .The hideout of the culprit was not specified by the solver of the previous quest. The only thing Rudra knew for sure was that it was somewhere between Thol and the capital city in the open woods and that the clue to the quest location was given by an old witchcraft practicioner in the village. Rudra had to do this quest the proper way as having incomplete knowledge was more dangerous than not having knowledge at all . If he wanted to do it he needed to do it right. Hence he went to the old witch''s hut in the village outskirts to talk to her about the quest. As he knocked on the door , the door opened like a horror house in modern times Creaking and with a witch like laugh " AHAHAHAHAEHEHEHHEHE" WTF I definitely did not sighn up for this Actually Rudra was scared of haunted houses, when he was little he went to one with his father and ended up peeing his pants , it was embarrassing. Hence he had some psychological trauma entering the place With quaky steps he entered in ... " Hello anybody home.....??" he said with an extremely shaky voice He walked slowly observing every inch of the house ..... Praying just purely praying '' please god please dont let some creepy thing pop out of nowhere '' PLEASE The situation did not call for it however he started chanting all mantras he knew to pray to the gods as he walked along " Jai hanuman gyan gunsagar... " Om namah Shivaay... " Allah hu Akbar... " In the name of the father the son ..... I dont really know if Buddha works against witches he is such a cuddly fellow. Then suddenly his leg quashed something quishy as he lifted his leg slowly he saw that he accidentally stepped on a ... eye. Aggghhhhh..... Grossss...screw the quest m out... He ran towards the exit. But before he did he was stopped by a old hag at the door. '''' Welcome to my humble abode adventurer Ahehehehehehehehhehe". The witch had appeared Yep the old hag was everything you think when you think evil witch ..... A tall pointy hat ( check) Old wrinkly face ( check) Baggy black robes ( check) Very creepy house ( check) Extremely evil laughter ( check) Conclusion : 100% Authentic ... Grade A certified practitioner of dark arts ... A witch! " Please mrs.witch i am only here to ask for help in a task i recieved from your village chief , please dont cut off my eyes to make soup for dinner". " Im a witch not a cannibal :| son , sit lets talk " Rudra sighed the witch seemed normal " Hehehehahahahaha" Almost normal .... well as normal as you can be after being a witch . Rudra then explained her about the recent occurings in the village and asked her how to trace the merchant who sold the infectious mushrooms.He proceded with providing her with a sample of the mushroom. The witch took the mushroom and started doing some weird incantations ..... The mana intensity in the room increased by a drastic amount , and even a knight like Rudra could feel its presence. The witches eyes rolled back into her head. UNDERTAKER MOVES! thought Rudra as he waited patiently for her to do her stuff..... apparently she was using her skills to do some kind of relevation magic About 2 mins later her eyes popped back and she looked at Rudra ..... " 30 mins out from Thol village towards the Capital there will be a white oak tree leave the road there and proceed for 10 minutes till you see a cave ... The perpetrator is somehow related to that place. Rudra bowed and thanked her for her help... if not for being soo weird she was a very usefull ally to have. Anyhow he had respect for her skills. Well now i know the location ... i know what i need to face once m there.... Lets buy darkness dispel one time use spell papers in advance .... and also buy as many silver weapons as possible . What lied in the cave was part of the Main Quest storyline of the game ..... A organization lurking in the darkness ..... one of their factions the dark warewolves . Can only be hurt by light spells and silver weapons, ordinary weapons can not even scratch them .... this was why the one in his '' Past life'' could not complete this part of the quest. The difficulty was out of this world .... you basically had to be incredibly lucky and posses light based attacks and silver weapons to clear the quest .... and as you only had one try the difficulty was SSS rated ... meaning next to impossible Rudra with his reincarnation knowledge was also only about 80% confident .... He would prepare for all possible contigencies and only challenge it carefully. There was no second chance , hence he would pour his hard earned gold to buy as many light spell mass destruction spell paper''s as possible ..... even the most basic ones costed about 10 gold each .... hence he could only buy 2-3 at his current wealth. If he returned to the capital and sold his stock of weapons he could purchase 5 more , although it will take longer for him to complete the quest , he wanted to do all possible preparations as possible before attempting the quest. Well not that there was a timelimit specified , taking longer might deduct the final performance rating but who cares ..... even a D is gold compared to F. His future plans would all depend on wether or not he could crack this quest, cause if he fails the upset would set him back about 20 to 30 days in his plan for setting up a guild and then those after that. It was far too early for him to suffer setbacks, there was no point in making a guild for elites if all the elites he wanted aldready joined big guilds first. He needed an item from the Church''s Warehouse that can only be obtained by clearing the quest.... The quest rewards are too important for failure to be an option. Chapter 14: Back to capital Rudra left the village of thol after settling things there , he rode back on his horse back to the Purplehaze city. The landscape of PurpleHaze city had changed drastically since the last time he came here. Players could be seen everywhere and the shops were full of customer''s. "Aww man the prices of the goods are wayy to high , i cannot believe anyone can purchase one without grinding for two days nonstop." A random stranger complained " I wish ''Shakuni '' added a map of the capital to his information pack ... the streets are confusing". A random stranger B said . Hearing his name he was baffled for a second .... Am i famous or what ? was his first thought.... Well no matter what , the time is ripe to do buisness. He went to the city administration office and booked a stall for sale today. He went onto the stall and hung a sign .... Common and bronze armours available .. price fixed at 5 silver , and 9 silver respectively ... barter option available against herbs and potions. He was soon visited by the first customer. '''' Hmmm a player owned shop selling at half the market price , are you trying to scam people?'''' He asked " No sir , here is the equipment feel free to inspect as you like" Rudra said with a smile Rudra was cursing inside at the man.... but outside he was only an amiable salesman. " Wow , impressive ... so i can buy any of the above common grade equipment for 5 silver only , then ill take these shins , this armour and this sword". " That will be a total of 15 silver sir " said Rudra " Well let me have them for 8 " he smirked evily Rudra was at the limit of his patience but he said " Sir, since you are my first customer ill let you have it for 14 but any less than that makes no economic Sense to me " " Hey , punk let me tell you something.... if you wanna live in this city peacefully let me have it for 6 else my guild will bury you and your stall before looting you of all your worth". " Oh a threat ? " Rudra laughed inwardly " Yes bastard , since you have annoyed me let me take it for free and we will call it a day, you are lucky not to get robbed". " Wasnt it 6 silver , now you want it for free?? may i know the name of this excellent guild supporting exemplary players like you , cause till my knowledge goes the first guild is yet to be formed". " Hahaha yes it was 6 silver but you wasted too much time merchant ... I am from the great WhiteRadiance guild .... although we have no guild hall or official guild status... we play as a team ... and if you mess with us , our members will make sure you will never be anything above level 0". ''WhiteRadiance'' the guild he joined last time , the one true cause of his suffering That WhiteRadiance ! He gritted his teeth and forced a reign over his emotions, now was not the time to think as Rudra the bullied employee. It was time for a plot ...a mastermind sinister plot by the greatest scheming mind of ''Shakuni''. Soon a grin broke on Rudra''s face , the plot was ready, he did not want to confront WhiteLotus so soon but he would not let this golden chance slip by . " Well may i have the honor of meeting your guild leader ... sir i want to present the rest of my items to the guild as a tribute in exchange for providing protection". "Hahahahaha , no wonder you are a merchant, you are soo sly and smart , our guild master is very busy man, i will try to contact him and see if he has the time". He then went on to use the call feature between friends , naturally Rudra did not expect him to have the guildmaster '' s number .. even he as an elite of the guild did not .... he needed to go via via. Let''s hope he shows his face. Soon the guy came back and asked Rudra to wait sometime , the Guild leader would personally come to accept his sacrifice. Rudra was smiling silly at this point. That guy had personally made his life hell in his last time, His name Nitin Advani , son of a multimillionaire buisnessman. Having a huge sway in the city administration. The crimes he committed were He worked Rudra off like a dog and never gave him the pay and respect he deserved, even when he earned millions in profit for the guild he wasnt even given a 200 dollar bonus for his work. He disrespected Rudra various times during dungeon hunts , picking on mistakes he made as Rudra''s, even infront of his girlfriend he grilled him mercilessly. When his girlfriend dumped him , she had a one night stand with this guy , who dumped her after that. What Rudra hated was not the fact that they spent a hot night but that he dumped her after using her once. He was scum who was never taught the meaning of No , well he associated himself with all yes men who would only praise his every action as if he was god himself. He was a child and a phony through and through , the only thing going for the likes of which was his birth father. The guy found enjoyment from the sense of superiority he had from birth over average joes.... and noone in his circle could step upto him hence he had the pride of being untouchable god..... such narcissistic people ought to fall hard.... Rudra wanted to see what happens to such people when they are utterly humiliated and their pride destroyed in public. The people they soo enjoyed belittle , how would it feel when returned tenfold. I was an ant under your foot an object of your whims and amusement .....Not this time bastard , let me give you a lesson in disrespect when we meet ....., Rudra resolved , today was gonna be fun ohh extremely fun. Time to destroy rich kids pride. Chapter 15: A gentlemans revenge can wait 10 years Rudra patiently waited 30 minutes for Nitin while doing some necessary arrangements for his plan to work spectacularly . With everything how he wanted it to be , all he needed was a crowd to witness his masterpiece and boy o boy did Nitin dig his own grave by making a grand entrance with 20 players walking in a triangle begind him ..... following him on the street... Naturally he brought a lot of attention onto himself . Well thats how he rolled , in style soo naturally he got attention everywhere he went.... '' Hahahaha , exactly how i wanted it to be smiled Rudra''. He knew 12 of the 20 elites who tailed Nitin. These were the corporate bastards who made his life hell , the supervisor taking credit for his work ... the team captains who had absolutely no leading skills but had first priority over loot and also The bastard who killed him ... His so called best fried who pushed him down the stairs .... The bastard deserving a 100 deaths ... Michael . When he saw all of them his emotions started to surge within him .... Anger...Hate...Spite he felt them all , not yet Rudra he calmed himself ..... not yet! Nitin first talked to the guy who contacted him the stranger who intimidated Rudra in selling his shops items for free " You .... is he the seller with lots of bronze and common armours wanting to donate it to WhiteRadiance in exchange for protection?". " Yes , supreme leader he is the one.... I found him " He added wanting praise " Hmmph" Nitin snorted "Bug , shut your mouth , the only reason he was intimidated was by boss''s name soo dont you dare claim credit". One of Nitin '' s lackeys reprimanded the guy. " I...I...." he stuttered clearly flabbergasted " Enough ! " Said Nitin He looked towards Rudra and said" I accept your Tribute, your weapon''s collection is shabby but it will do for now. Kneel and present it to me and i will take you into WhiteRadiance" . The crowd was enjoying the show , many recording it to put on the internet later. " I think you are mistaken my friend, said Rudra calmly I think you should kneel down and apologize to me right here right now and pay me for wasting my time with buying my goods at 5 times the price and then i will consider this matter settled". Everyone went silent for a while ... the crowd .... the Npc''s and even the entirety of Nitin''s faction members. " What did you say you dog , do you understand who in the hell are you talking to ?? " said lackey 1 " Do you want to be hunted back to level 0 you lunatic cause we will do it if you dont lick Our bosses fert right now and beg for apology". Yes yes we will yes now punk! various lackey member''s seconded the opinion ... but Rudra was just thinking ''Yes , Yes more more sucker''s insult me more ''. He said " Who am i ? who the hell are you to threaten me in PurpleHaze city ". Then Micheal the bastard said " Seems like i need to beat some manners into you, he is the scion of advani clan Nitin advani punk ! he can buy seven generations of your family using a single cheque ". Nitin said " Yes micheal beat up this trash for me , he messed with me the hier of advani multinational , beat him up like a dog". With the laws the most Micheal would get for fighting in the city was that the guards may arrest him and lock him in the holdup for 2 hours or it may be even avoided with a bribe or a bail amount. Rudra was laughing like crazy he had roped in the bastard''s and it was time to dish out the punishment. " So what if you are the Hier of Advani multinational , here in PurpleHaze you cant even hold my Junk , Punk!" The crowd around them had reached the thousands and Nitin had revealed his identity for all to see soo this was now a matter of pride for him. Perfect stage! Rudra paused and said " Guards arrest this group for slandering a noble of Hazelgroove kingdom in the open , Arrest everyone put them in jail , mark them as offenders and especially put a long sentence on the one who threatened to beat me like a dog". " Ha what do you think you are a bigshot in this city? guards would be on the beck on call of whom....." A lackey said " Ooohhhh we are all soo scared of you ....as Micheal was saying that the groups face started turned pale as a group of 30 Guards in heavy armour marched towards them The group all first saluted Rudra before turning towards them " I captain Forrrster arrest the bunch of you under the offense of slandering a noble of Hazelgroove kingdom sentencing you to 14 days of jail ". WHATT The guards rushed in and beat the pulp out of the low level players ... many tried to run away but were caught in an instant WHAT THE HELL WAS HAPPENING He was supposed to be a nobody , just who the hell did we offend thought the group Nitin'' s face was pale , he looked around and saw hundreds of people around him recording him being dragged away like a dog by the guards He even revealed himself as the Hier of Advani clan..... if this was posted on the forums or youtube he would become the laughing stock of the world. Ever since he was little he was never faced with such humiliation and hence thinking about what could be he started wailing and crying like a baby ... tears and snot running loose . " Hahahaha , hier of the advani clan is a joke " " I hate bossy people like him " someone spat on him as he was being dragged away Yes , he was spat on .... hundreds of people were laughing at him " YOU.... I WILL KILLL YOU " He screamed at Rudra " A crybaby like you will kill me? hahahaha kid go home and tell your mom to give you milk with complan soo you grow up to be a man". ''Hahahahahaha yes he is a crybaby'' '' Drink milk and go to sleep kid , this isnt a game for kids like you'' '' What a joke for advani clan to have such a successor i will pull out all stocks i have of the company , such company has no future''. More humiliation had to be suffered by Nitin. 14 days in jail meant he and his guild would lag by immense amount when compared to others His dreams of dominating the virtual world were crumpling before even starting properly ... Why ? why was this happening ? Nitin could not understand it.. wasnt he born above these common bastards ? who were only objects of his whims ? Why did they start to mock and laugh at him then? How dare they? HOW DARE THEY? " YOU DOGS, I WILL KILL YOU ALL , HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME". " Forrester that guy is a rabid dog and a threat to public security i think you should put him in solitary confinement and extend his sentence". Said Rudra " As you command my lord " Said Forrester .. and shit got more ugly for Nitin As Nitin was barking crying and wailing madly Rudra threw him in a bone " You know i can spare you if you want , but i have a price ". Silence complete silence in the crowd " Name it " said Nitin hoping for a way out " Well i dont know if you can pay it though, i will take payment in gold so...". " HUH. I am the guild master of WhiteRadiance guild with 10K players under me ..... ofcourse we have gold...we have 230 Gold in total " He said gloatingly " Well then pay me 230 gold for your release and i will even give you these sets of armours for free ". Rudra said smiling " Are You mad? it took our Guild members 10 days since the start of the game to farm this kind of money and it is all our wealth ... how can we give it to you ?" Said lackey 1 " If i give you the gold will you release us? " Asked Nitin " If you give me the gold i will release you " said Rudra "How can i trust you , you may take the money and run away?" asked Nitin " I swear on the name of the Godess of Light Fiona that i will release you once you pay me 230 gold " Rudra sweared ... many did not know but breaking a promise in the name of Godess of Light will put you under a 90% debuff .. then you needed to do charity and community service for hours untill you dispelled it. Soo this was a solid oath Nitin nodded then he payed Rudra 230 gold and Rudra did indeed give him all the sets of armours " Thankyou for your patronage " He said as he smiled rubbing salt on their wounds " Now, release us " Nitin said " Release him " ordered Nitin and he was indeed set free " What about the rest of them? " asked Nitin "You swore an oath release them too " " I swore to release you , you dumbass that means you and you alone .... the rest will rot in jail". Rudra said coldly " YOU SWINDLER" " HOW DARE YOU MAKE AN ENEMY OUT OF OUR GUILD " " NOOOOOOOOO!!!" The corporate members of WhiteRadiance guild screamed as they were dragged to jail " Well , your father being a businessman you truly are an idiot Nitin arent you, with the upper echelon of your guild gone and with 0 funds left how will you manage your members ?" Rudra said in a very concerned tone that sounded extremely fake " CAREFULL WHO YOU MESS WITH,.....CIAO" Rudra said menacingly leaving the snot covered Nitin in the middle of the street covered in snot and dirty clothes for the whole world to mock He was threatened ... He was trampled and he was swindled today. He logged out quickly to escape the mocking laughs directed at him but it was too late The forums tagged him as the '' Idiot Crybaby'' and he was a joke in real life too Various memes were made of his crying face and the Advani multinational stock crashed 30% the following day. After 10 long years Rudra took the first step in his revenge! He wasnt through with WhiteRadiance yet... a loss of face was too kind of him. (This is my longest chapter yet with 1800 words .... extra long for my buddy Draken_Phenix who comments Moooooree on my chapters ;) this is for you ) Chapter 16: The consequence The Advani multinational had suffered a huge blow in the last two days with stocks plummeting first 30% then consequently 10% over a period of two days. The freefall will continue over the next few days if the situation is not remedied. The president of Advani multinational and Nitin''s Father Gautam was furious at the cause behind this event. Naturally his son being such a wimp was a slap in his face as he was a cutthroat buisnessman who built this empire from the scratch , destroying opposition on his way to the top . " Why do i have a trash as my son?" he sighed , nonetheless the perpetrator behind this event also needed to be taught a lesson. It seems we need to pay the Cuber industries a visit. Cuber industries is the creater behind the game ''Omega'' and also has 60% role in developing the full dive headset. It was a huge conglomerate worth hundreds of billions of dollars .... however his request to them would be simple soo he expected them to give him some face. He visited the headstation in Mumbai, India where he was met with the local chief executive. " Sir i would like to know personal information of a individual playing the game .... here is a video of an in game incident that has costed me hundreds of millions of dollars .... I would appreciate if your company could cooperate with me on this issue, i would be glad to donate some money for this amicable relationship to be smoother". Advani was a sly buisnessman he put in the temptation of bribe either to his superiors or to the executive himself if he had enough authority to share what he needed. Humph! , the official just snorted.... " I am not interested in your petty money Mr Advani ... our company will not divulge user information" " Security , please escort this vile man out of my office". Mr Advani was shocked.... he called him a Vile man?? he never had to take such bullshit from anyone ever... what arrogance? He was ready to offer millions of dollars for a name .... yet they refused?? Is money worthless to them? does everyone not run by greed?? Being a Extremely greedy man himself he found this Extremely illogical .... yet then it clicked to him That guy .... with his extraordinary baground in the game and seeing this officials reactions .... he is bound to not be someone with a simple baground..... seems like i cannot take revenge soo openly. I need to think this through. Either that or the company is just not willing to divulge information .... anyway i need to tread carefully and thoroughly scout him before deciding what to do.... I need to hire a lot of PR and mercenaries for this task now .... it will cost more than buying it directly but what option do i have? The executive was not intrested in money cause he was paid hundreds of millions, but Advani not knowing this thought the baground of Rudra must be the reason why they did not divulge information. The game had a appearance altering mechanism , although Rudra did not opt for it but to a third party noone could be sure wether or not it was his real face or not.. hence circumstantially fate bought Rudra time... time he needs badly to consolidate his position in real life. But Rudra drunk on his revenge has not realized this yet..... He was set to complete Emmisary of Church ''s part three , oblivious to disasters that may befall on him anytime. ------------- (Back inside VR world ... the road between Purplehaze city and Thol village ... the location of the Quest) " Well im poor again" sighed Rudra as he trotted on his horse He bought a lot of darkness dispell spells and throwables and sword made of pure silver costing him 120 Gold. If it was not for him sucking Nitin dry this would be tough if he only sold his weapons..... As he was nearing his quest location he got a message from PinkLotus " Sup , you free?" Rudra replied almost instantly " Nope in middle of a quest why?" " Nothing, there is this really good caf¨¨ in the capital city .... The one you wrote about in your information post .... was wondering if you wanna check it out with me ". Rudra '' s heart skipped a beat reading this sentence .... why did it sound like she was asking him on a date? could she be interested in him?? Nononono..... she was the guild leader of one of the best damn guilds there are and his father was a billionaire..... no way could she like someone like him, it must be a friendly invitation. " Yeah sure.... tommorow if its fine by you" Typed Rudra " Done ;) " she replied Rudra smiled.... even if it was just a friendly meet he was exited ... Focus Rudra Focus.... The quest is more important right now ... he said to himself. As he reached a odd looking stone structure he got a notification ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????''???? ???????????????????????????? This is it... he thought , it was not going to be easy but he was enough prepared , he rechecked his inventory and his equipment then he drank a max health poiton to increase his maximum health ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:13 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 21 VIT : 16 INT : 16 STA : 16 PHY : 16 HP : 600/600 +150 Status : Healthy Equipment : common stone sword , leather boots , Darkness Armour , Lich''s Ring , Bronze shins , Viking helmet ----------------------- Well everything seems as fine as it could be ... time to start. Chapter 17: Emmisary of Church (3) The walls of the cave were wet and full of what would seem like algae to common people .... but it was not it was green moss.... an extremely usefull component worth 1 gold a gram and looking at the size of the cave ... he could harvest a killogram easy. But that was not the point right now the point was that green moss was the best absorbant of light hence it would reduce the effects of darkness dispell spell tome by atleast 30%. '' Dang it ! '' He cursed ... stupid plants! the stupid guy who did this quest in his ''Past life'' did not mention such an important detail .... noob ! a complete noob! Rudra took a deep breath to calm himself and peeped across the passageway .... two night warewolves were sleeping infront of the door . Rudra contemplated for a while.... he did buy silver arrows that could hurt the warewolves as well as the silver sword ... but being too far away he could not probe their levels ... hence if he did damage them using the arrows he could get their aggro then he could use the darkness dispell spell to weaken them by 70% and use the sword to finish them His stategy was decided , he played the scenario in his mind and checked and rechecked for any errors then drawing two arrows on his bow together , he shot it towards their sleeping heads -1800 critical hit -1800 critical hit The Hp bar of the wolves was halved .... startled awake they frantically started running towards the end of the passageway from where Rudra shot his arrows.. Rudra tore a darkness dispell spell and a blinding light erupted ... along with a blast of holy power... The warewolves died! Well this was unexpected ... he expected the arrows to do 30% damage while the spell to do 40% and he needing to finish them off quickly but the arrow was a critical hit and the spell finished them off. Still the damage did not add up in his mind , how? he wondered ... Then he remembered something , it was true that silver and light spells were the only ones capable of subduing such creatures however there was more to it.... these attacks were supereffective dealing much more damage to creatures of such build than their intended damage . Hahahaha .... Rudra ''s rotten mood took a complete 180 he was happy now .... well well I will become the Emmisary of The Church !!!!!!! ???????????????????????? ???????????? ????????????????????12 ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? +1000 ???????????? + 2 ???????????????? ???????????????????? +1 ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? Hahahaha great rewards ...." Is this the power of a god?....." He asked himself Queuing Dramatic music in his mind as he opened the door Rudra walked in feeling invincible , like cutting down each and every filthy creature in his path however setting the first foot into the room BAM -300 He was hit with a powerful darkness blast, jolting him back to reality .... Shit ! thought Rudra 20 Dark Warewolves growled at him .... The one hitting him with the blast being an Alpha at level 18 and the rest being level 15 .... if it was not for his gold grade Darkness armour he would have been toast . Summon Knight Durahal He summoned Durahal for the first time out of Lich''s Ring .... Well he did summon him once and him being a level 30 undead was extremely usefull. Slay them all ! commanded Rudra as he tore darkness dispell spells and threw them in the middle of the room randomly. Bursts of light and holy power quickly took out a chunk of the enemy health -1500 -1500 -1700 Critical hit -1500 a string of damage appeared Rudra was satisfied , with this and Durahal he should be able to slay them like cutting butter....That would have been howevrr Durahal ''s sword was not silver.... Fucking idiot Durahal did no damage at all !!!!! -150 -150 a string of damage appeared on Rudra'' s knight TF!!!!!!! FRAUD KNIGHT I HAVE A FRAUD AS A KNIGHT Darkness bind! he bound the alpha and two of his surrounding warewolves and slashed through their necks quickly -2000 -2000 -1700 The supporting wolves died however the alpha survived with 200 Hp left There were 7 injured wolves vs Rudra and useless Durahal Rudra only had 3 Darkness dispell left with him and he absolutely did not wish to waste one Well Durahal can be my meat shield and I can kill some wolves he thought ..... Shield me ! Rudra commanded as he charged into the wolves.... With Durahal blocking and taking brunt of the damage Rudra managed to kill 4 wolves before Durahal was sent packing back into the Ring. Rudra was left alone against the alpha and two wolves It was insane to battle three of them at once when he was such low levelled comapred to them .... he could not evade their moves .... best he could do was trade damage...doing just that he took 400 damage dealing 1200 in return subduing one wolf. ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:13 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 21 VIT : 16 INT : 16 STA : 16 PHY : 16 HP : 50/600 Status : Heavily wounded Equipment : common stone sword , leather boots , Darkness Armour , Lich''s Ring , Bronze shins , Viking helmet ----------------------- The fight seemed like it was not going his way but ... is it so? Rudra smirked ... he used his ultimate skill from Lich''s Ring Darkness absorb +550 Hp He was back to full health ! This was his source of confidence in not using the Darkness dispell spell tomes as he could reabsorb health as long as there were corpses around him The wolves snarled ... they hated this man who used their fallen bretheren''s corpses to heal himself.. They charged at Rudra ... but being soo low on Hp were killed after a short bout! As soon as the alpha was killed Rudra sat down on the floor totally fatigued , the fight completely drained him of all energy. ???????????????????????? 19 ???????? 15 ???????????????????????? +15000 ???????????? +10 ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? +10 ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????? 18 ???????????????????? ???????????????? +5000 ???????????? + ???????????????????? ???????????????? ( ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????) LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! Worth it! smiled Rudra. Chapter 18: Emmisary of Church (conclusion) Darkness Blast was the same skill that was used by the alpha on Rudra as he walked through the doors , It was extremely usefull for the wizard classes as it dealt quite a bit of damage Rudra wanted to learn the skill and there wasnt a said restriction that prevented him from doing soo however he could not use the skill untill he unlocked mana stat. The knight class did not have an inbuilt mana stat system unlike warlock and wizard hence it was best to sell the skill as it would fetch a great amount .... especially right now when skills were the most important part of the adventurer''s strength and a complete deficiency of good skills in the market. Rudra waited in the cave for 2 hours resting untill his stamina was back to full , he was not an idiot to start a fight in anything but his peak condition....The person in his previous life failed to get past the alpha stage soo the next room remained unknown to him. Soo Rudra was essentially going in blind having no clue what to expect.... He did however have 3 darkness dispell spells saved and his semi legendary Lich''s Ring with him giving him confidence. Rudra did not realize this yet, he felt everything he did was because of his reincarnation knowledge ..... but that was''nt the case actually .... his skills honed over 20 years of playing the game had given him great reflexes and a subconscious anticipation of how to fight, a warrior been through countless dungeon runs and facing players, monsters and even NPC''s had an edge to his moves only experience could give. His reincarnation knowledge + His skills + His drive to be the best and hence his step by step plan to rise to the top was all playing a part in making him stronger. As he stepped through the gate ... what greeted him sent chills down his spine ... there were young girls of five races tied to a log forming a pentagon The pentagon was drawn in blood , it seemed like a demonic ritual ... In the centre of the pentagon sat a man?... or was he a dark warewolf? it was hard to determine .... if one were to accurately say he was a half man half beast ... he was adding herbs and chanting incantations as the ritual was progressing. An elf , an orc , a human , a demonkin , a mermaid the members of the five great tribes were gagged and bound ... their eyes widened as they saw Rudra bust through the door .... Some cried some desperately shouted through their gagged cloth to make muffled noises. Well it was a natural reaction soo noone could blame them but that alerted the man in the centre... Who Rudra assumed was the Merchant .... But why would a cult worshipper poison a village of innocent people? Nothing added up .... The environment ... the motive ... it all seemed absurd .... But there was no time to ponder .... The merchant looked at him with bloodshot eyes and picked up a beheading blade that was beside him and charged at Rudra Rudra parried the first strike with his silver sword but his hands felt numb from the impact Just how strong was that guy? [ Blood merchant ] (mutant creature) ( Lv 28) ( Boss Rank ) :Think twice before engaging him ... equipped with a high quality slaughterer blade. Whoa that guy was no joke... Rudra had absolutely no chance of fighting him one on one ... with each subsequent clash his hands felt heavier and his movements slowed down untill after the seventh clash that his sword snapped in two. Shit! Im toast thought Rudra as the attack landed on him square and he was sent flying -800 Critical hit With one hit His enemy took 4/5th of his total HP Darkness bind! Summon knight Durahal ! He quickly bound him as well as summoned Durahal , Durahal was lv30 he was a match for this guy ... and thankfully his sword did damage the enemy this time. -1500 -1000 -1200 A string of damage appeared on the Merchant .. Yes! Thought Rudra He brought out the Windcutter sword , Bastard broke his silver sword it costed 17 Gold Coins . Windslash Windslash Windslash -200 -200 -200 His windslash did a puny damage of 200 yet he was satisfied as he was doing something atleast ... He drunk a health potion and restored 400 Hp Durahal was engaging in a fierce combat and was having a very slight advantage however the situation changed fast The Merchant executed the Berserk skill and his attack power experienced a mad increase... Durahal was started being pushed back! Nonononono Durahal is my only chance at clearing this quest ... he cant recieve soo much damage... With that he decided to Enter the fray He with his windcutter sword engaged in close combat against the Merchant... Berserk skill lasted for 2 minutes hence he needed to make sure that Durahal was safe for that time...After the 2 minutes ended the enemy would be in a weakened state and Durahal would steamroll him . The problem was Rudra was no match for the Merchant....He was not even strong enough to parry his attacks... With each clash he took damage from brunt force alone -50 -50 -50 ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ????????????????, ???????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ????????????????. TF his sword arm was useless now Good news Darkness Bind''s colldown was over Darkness Bind! he switched to his left Hand and dealt as much damage as he could before quickly disengaging -1800 -1200 -2500 critical hit He was at his limit , this was all the time he could buy Durahal the rest was on him ... He distanced himself and started windslashing again -200 -200 -200 Finally after what seemed hours, Durahal was at 30% Hp when the Berserk of the Merchant ended and he was heavily debuffed BOOYAH! Finish him Durahal!!!! Durahal steamrolled him thereforward , making quick work of the Merchant... when the Merchant had less than 5% Hp left he frantically ran towards the bound girls trying to harm them Nonono ull not do that Darkness bind! Rudra stopped the Merchand and stabbed his heart using windcutter The Merchant looked at him with his bloodshot eyes and before dying said " He will come back....." . --------------------- // Big shout-out to MiguelWN for the powerstones , thankyou for all your support brother // Chapter 19: Rewards ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? (3/3) ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? : +50000 ???????????? + ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? +50 ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? + ??????? ( ???????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????) ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? + 50000 ???????????? + ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? + ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? + ???????????????? ???????? ????????????????????''???? ???????????????????? +???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ( ???????????????????? ???????????????? ) LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! // ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? : ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? '' ???????????????????????????? '' ???????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? 20 , ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????// // ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? : ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ''????????????????????????????'' ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? // + ???????????????????? ''???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? '' ---------- ( Pov change : People talking on the forums) " TF , Isnt he the same guy who cleared the hidden dungeon?" "God, @shakuni , The guy is a legend " "Hacker, I swear @Shakuni is a hacker " " I heard @Shakuni is from a hidden martial arts family, he spent his childhood honing his sword skills" " The one who likes @Shakuni is a bastard ". " Please marry me @Shakuni, I am 5''10 and have nice legs ;) " "How do you even know he is a guy ?" A total of 170K people tagged @Shakuni in less than an hour on the Forum''s Then came a intresting post shared by a lot of people " I think shakuni is a beta tester , thats the only way any of this will make sense, i mean he released an information pack and is always a step ahead of everyone else , but i thought ''Omega'' did not allow beta testers to continue playing the game ..... In conclusion BAN SHAKUNI " The post Ban Shakuni had a lot of supporters it took about 50K reposts before Omega officials released a statement Player @Shakuni , has not participated in the Beta or exploiting a hack he is playing under the supervision of the Artificial Intelligence Gaia following all relevant regulations , Such groundless Slandering will lead to your account being banned in ''Omega'' .... There are no bugs in the Artificial Intelligence Gaia . Silence Reigned over the Forums after that , the haters suddenly went quiet as a lot of accounts were indeed suspended. Its just that with majority player base not even at level 12 Him and him alone shocking the world again and again, Noone wanted to admit being inferior to him but the achievement''s spoke for themselves . The haters were just pure Jealous! ------------------ (Pov : Bigshots , Big Guilds and Hidden Powers) "Hmmm , who is this guy? I havent heard of a Shakuni in the gaming scene? ..... I want his baground ... And i want it yesterday , Got it? " (Bigshot Buisnessman) " The guy is an interesting , Try and reach out , offer him a contract he cant refuse " (First Rate Guild Leader) ( Total of 200 midscale guilds and 20 first rate guilds even a super guild all were intrested in recruiting Rudra) "I want him " ( A hidden power) "Keep an eye on him , he is an unknown variable" (A hidden power ) " This guy''s rise is too meteoric to be concluded as skill, there is something more to his story .... Find it!" ( Mr Advani) ----------------- ( Pov : Rudra ) WHYYYYYYYYY WHYYYY ME WHYYYY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING ARENT I JUST AN INNOCENT GAMER? WHY DOES THIS STUPID SYSTEM KEEP ANNOUNCING MY NAME! Rudra was on the verge of tears , it had been an extremely straining fight and he was exhausted mentally , The joy of the AMAZING rewards were really short lived when compared to the problem at hand! Rudra was not an idiot , he knew that the first time his name was announced ... not many people would bother but this time it was different. He needed to secure himself and his family in the real world As soon as possible! Plans needed to be made , there was absolutely no time to rest! Sigh , the higher Rudra climbed the harder he needed to work! ..... Well lets atleast see what we got here [Title] [Emmisary Of The Church] : Gives you a position equal to Bishop In the Church of Light .... The Holy Guards will come to your aid if called upon , Complete Diplomatic Immunity in all Human and Elf countries BOOYAH! this reward was sweet.... 50 Platinum coins ... 50 FREAKIN coins ... it meant 50,000 gold coins , Rich , he was Rich again! at the exhange rate of 5000 dollars per gold in his past life, he currently had 250 MILLION DOLLARS He needed half of that to run his guild but the other half would be used for much much needed secutity he needed in real life. The thing is .... Auction house hadnt opened yet , the conversion of money was unavailable ! It would open 4 days later soo it was only a matter of time. (Skill) (Berserk) : +200% attack power for 3 minutes. Removes all Fatigue and stamina remains at full for duration of 3 minutes. Heavy debuff on stamina and attack power after 3 minutes . It was a double edged sword but Rudra knew its value , hence he still chose to learn it . [Slaughterer] (Two handed sword) (Epic) : Intricately carved , it is a weapon for the mighty +50% damage to all attacks +50% chance of breaking armour critical hit deals double damage +skill Mountain Crash upon equipping. AN EPIC RATED ITEM!!!!!! It was a great sword ..... Just not for Rudra... Rudra was more of the agility type than the power one. Well he would not sell it, if he could get that player in his guild this sword would be perfect for him! Else he would use this as a trade item between powerfull guilds. An Epic item was just that rare. Its value was immense. [Demon''s Diary ] ( Page 3/7) : ????????? No information whatsoever , even in his previous life he never heard of a Demon''s Diary. He would find out more about it later (Memoir Of The Blood Merchant) ( Quest Item) : Give it to the Church Of Light to know more And lastly [Title] [World Renowned] : All Kingdoms of all races would be friendly and respectful of you Not bad! Not bad at all ... All in all today was a windfall ! Rudra was soo engrossed in his Rewards that only when he heard a muffle did he realize there were still 5 girls bound to a pole. /// AUTHORS THOUGHTS : guys the value of money is different 100 years from now than what it is today , just like in 1970 200 dollars could buy you mansions in the year 2100 250 million just does not have the same economic power it holds today //// /// Also i have been offered a contract by Webnovel , soo this novel may go premium soon , Thankyou everyone for your support , it is the only reason why this had been made possible/// /// Expect me to work twice as hard now to not dissapoint you guys who would unlock my chapters...many many great stuff ahead ????/// Chapter 20: Yua Nakatomi a.k.a PinkLotus Rudra untied the hostages one by one , the girls hugged each other and cried their hearts out .They thanked Rudra profousely for saving them all. They were all hostages kidnapped by the merchant to be part of his enterouge .... They were forced to act a part as a Merchant''s Subordinates and play amicable to the villager''s to fool them. They were poisoned with the antidote only given if they fooled everyone in Thol village. The merchant wanted to poison everyone in the Thol village as a experiment... will the Church be able to cure the infection ? Or will the People die and hence with the spread of this incident people would start questioning the power of Church Of Light. If the Church cured it, They would at max gain the beleif of a small village like Thol , if they failed he could poison people at the capital creating a crisis for the Church! It was a sinister plot well thought out by the merchant . When Rudra questioned them about the organisation behind The Merchant they said they didnt know much however one day after leaving Thol village they were all given the antidote to the poison but also a heavy sedative after which they woke up yesterday tied up to this pole .... And the merchant seemed to perform a ritual. It seemed like a demon summoning ritual! Whoever was the organisation behind this incident.....It was extremely difficult to deal with if they had information over such ancient rituals as well as a page from Demon''s Diary. Well the main quest line can be solved by those who care , i only did the quest for the rewards with the Church, Thought Rudra ... He genuinely did not wish to care about the bigger picture ... all that mattered to him were his ambitions and thats that. Well time to go back to the capital. ----------------------------------------- ( Meanwhile , Nakatomi Corporation ) Mr.Nakatomi was the Billionare CEO of the Nakatomi Corporation and he was the father of Yua Nakatomi a.k.a PinkLotus the Guild leader of Azure Lotus. " Greetings papa , you summoned me? " Mr Nakatomi was a stone cold buisnessman but towards his daughter he was soft , soo soft that he only wanted her happiness and nothing more, not money not power .... only her daughter to be happy. He never mentioned it but the only reason he kept working and earning billions was for him to fulfill her daughter ''s every wish .... He wasn''t like this but ever since his wife died in a car crash his daughter had become a focal point in his life. From the Ruthless buisnessman he became a sole father and that changed him a lot. He helped her create the Azure Lotus hiring professional gamers beleiving that she would be happy with her passion at playing games. He said " I have inside news about the game... 4 days from now The auction house will open in the ''Omega'' game and the UN have approved of the in game currency of gold coins to be approved as global currency , It will by all means and purposes a real currency ... meaning the in game gold can be converted to any global currency at the stable exchange rate, It will rise and fall like real currency depending on the player base ... demand and supply." " Omega will attract a lot of new players now that money can be earned from the game , plus the fact that you can play the game when you are asleep... It is certain that atleast 90% of world population will now enter the game in the coming 6 months ". " This is the largest market created yet... worth Trillions of thousands of dollars... much more than any social media or platform ... It is a second reality, every big corporation will enter it for publicity or control or to farm money , the game you played for fun will no longer be just fun , you need to be prepared". Yua was stunned silent for a while , she was both impressed by her father''s far sightedness and information gathering capabilities and excited about the future possibilities . " This is a huge sector where lots of money can be made ..... Naturally the Nakatomi Corporation also wants a piece of this pie..... I have decided to inject 500 million dollars into the game for now .... It is your time to shine my daughter ... if you can run your guild well and build a sturdy foundation ... we may loose money for a year or two but we will reap a lot of benefits later ". " I know you started this game for fun ... i wont force it on you .... but what do you think ? " Yua was naturally extremely happy ... she wanted to join the company and help her father since forever , however her father never let her , saying the buisness world is not for her cute little lotus ... yep PinkLotus was the nickname her father gave her .... And she was embarrassed yet she adopted it whole heartedly. Now having the opportunity to do something for the company and her father she naturally agreed. Determined to not let her father down. Mr.Nakatomi smiled .... seeing her daughter soo determined reminded him of himself and his wife ... her determination was just like him in his youth while her cute looks were definitely from her mother. Sigh , he wished she was here today to see their daughter. " Okay then , here are some potential players and guilds you can start cooperating with .... There is information on the back about their backings and internal structure''s .... meet those you need to meet in real life at our office to discuss collaboration , Meet those who want to talk at their office in game ". " The essence of copperation is suppression , supress them with home ground advantage to make them concede more , else the worst you do is going neutral ... and suppressing them with your aura and disposition". " A buisness is professional and it needs you to be courteous but cold , you understand?" " Yes father " Replied Yua , she was soo happy her father was teaching her ins and outs of buisness. She carefully looked through information files prepared by her father .... there were soo many files It was astounding as although the game had been running for almost 4 weeks now the first guild had yet to emerge officially ... even she herself needed a day more for the guild token to fall in her hands yet her father had all the information about all potential guilds. It is because although Guilds had not Formed in ''Omega'' Most well established e sports players aldready had sponsors and Guilds ... The half immersive game Royal Road Also had a huge fan following back in the 2090''s with many guilds and organizations. File full of third rate guilds ( Players to poach) as third rate guilds were not worth working with A file full of second rate guilds ( To subordinate) as they were not their equals yet usefull enough to keep under a thumb A file full of first rate guilds ( Possible collaboration) it depended as they could be allies or could be rivals , it not only depended about in game mechanics but also real world backers. If their backers were buisness rivals or at odds soo would their guilds. Then there was a file for the super Guilds ( Backed by the six trillionares) There were six super guilds ... backed by the six trillionares in the world , they were absolutely massive and legit .... If they competed for something it was understood to be theirs. No questions asked. Yet even the Super Guilds needed support and would rely on first and second rate guilds for information manpower and resources. First Rate guilds demanded respect even from Super Guilds ... ofcourse they were no match for them but that did not mean they were looked down on . And lastly there was a file of special entities Who were decided to be random variables There were 25 people on that list including Neatwit but topping the list was none other than Rudra as ''Shakuni''. " Huh? , Dad i know this guy ... he is a friend in game " Mr.Nakatomi '' s eyes widened....Although there were 25 people on the list ... Shakuni''s acolades put him in a league of his own , Mr.Nakatomi was both surprised and happy that her daughter was soo competent as to befriend the mysterious Shakuni. As far as he knew noone knew properly who he was or his origins. He asked " Can you recruit him?... make him the vice guild master if you have to". Yua sighed how badly did she want to but no she knew he was a man of his own " No , he has his own plans ". Mr Nakatomi frowned but then he said " He is quite capable ... His friendship will be valuable ... invest in him ... He is suspected of being from common origins ... if that is the case then provide him with help and security , Being genuine is the only way to win over such guys". Yua agreed , she did have a date with him tomorrow ...What she did not tell her father was that she had a slight crush on Rudra ... hence why she asked him out... never before had she done something like that . Well even if he was from a common baground it was nothing to look down on anymore... with ''Omega'' opening the auction house it was only a matter of time after which someone of his calliber would rise from the masses. Lets have a nice chat tomorrow Mr Shakuni. Yua blushed , exited. /// Authors thoughts: Guys this will be the standard chapter Length now on 1500-1700 words. Also drop a comment about the new cover , i guess this will be the one i ll keep for the rest of the journey /// Chapter 21: Dealing with his identity crisis After Returning to PurpleHaze city Rudra quickly checked in the best 5 star hotel he could find , it costed 7 gold a night to stay in such inns however he did it anyway as he would be logging out today for long hours. Rudra needed a safe place to live in and he needed it now! Rudra was part of country X where corruption was rampant as well as the competitor Advani '' s had a massive foothold in. Not a single high level official would help him in this country, best case scenario they would turn a blind eye to the actions of Mr Advani , worst case they would take action themselves framing and imprisoning him of crime he never committed. He decided to immigrate to the safest country with the best government ... country J. ( Ps. Yua is in country J ). Country J had an area in city T for the uber rich people. The starting price of mansions in that area was 200 million dollars. That area was called the Up side and was heavily guarded , with entry restricted to only extremely limited people, The area was under high tech security protocols as well as under ariel drones and manual human patrol. It was not easy to infiltrate much less warrant a visit from unwanted people. The upside gauranteed security and privacy and was created by one of the 6 trillionares , the resident of country J himself , hence noone would want to offend such a personality. The only problem was you needed status to buy a house in the upside, even if he had the money , will his r¨¦sum¨¦ be accepted? The only way he stood even the most remote of chances to be accepted was if he divulged his identity as ''Shakuni'' in ''Omega''.He did not want to do it , however he had no alternative''s, it was only a matter of time before people pouring manpower and money into his identity will learn about him . He browsed through their site and none of the 200 million mansions were available anymore... The cheapest one costed 220 million he applied for it gritting his teeth... If he got approved he needed to transfer payment within 48 hours which meant he needed to liquidate the platinum in game soon. With that done , he also made a backup plan to Run to country E and a third plan to run to country F although both of them were significantly worse plans than going to the upside as security was not gauranteed neither was anonymity , however it would still be out of Advani''s reach. Rudra cursed hard as he now needed to flee the country because of a stupid mistake of standing out.He was too hasty in stepping on Advani''s tail , he was not strong enough yet. He had to Run! The biggest problem now , was how to convince the family. Rudra took his cycle to home , as today was a Sunday both his father and brother would be at home. Sigh , I cant make out if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On his way home , he thought about a million possible lies he could tell to convince his parents to move with him. He made a plan A , B , C all the way to drugging his parents and shipping them using private jets plan Z. Either way they would be leaving the country in 2 days. -------------------------------- (Meanwhile Advani multinational ) Secretary Zhang entered Mr Advani''s office " Sir , we have solid information on the identity of the player who humiliated your son Nitin in public , causing the company a loss of face as well a lot of money ". " Who is it , who is that bastard? " " Sir he is the player named ''Shakuni'' the same one who has a lot of acolades in the game ''Omega''." Mr Advani went silent for a while. " Are you sure ? ". " Yes sir , the mercenaries we hired in game, tried to get information on how the player got a stall and was selling his armours , the only way to get a stall was through administration office in the capital , while they went there they demanded protection for their stall like the player had but were rejected , upon causing a ruckus about diffrential treatment , they were told the protection was there as the player was none other than Viscount Shakuni ". "The name shakuni along with his viscount status would mean the player is not your average joe , which narrows it down to one man ". Mr Advani was troubled , but he was also exited about this opportunity , Shakuni was being sought by many high level organisations ..... Just the information alone would sell for a few million to organizations seeking him out. "Look for more , trace his steps back to beginener village .... Shakuni is a gold mine right now ... lets use this to uncover his identity , we will first sell his identity out for cash before sending mercenaries to cripple him... Even if he is from a big clan ... He cannot escape the big corporations on his tail , and he will still be able to play the game even if he is crippled not affecting his market value.... Revenge and money both will be realized together". The verdict was given , Rudra was neck deep in shit now ! It is a race against time with them closing in on his real identity. Although Rudra had never divulged his identity yet with his appearance same as real life , someone somewhere or some face recognition software will smoke him out , Rudra had worn a helmet during the incident hence only parts of his face were exposed but if someone were to trace his steps back to beginner village as one uncovered more and more of his face , they would slowly but surely have a full face reveal and it would be only a matter of time before he would be exposed then. ----------------------------- ( At the Rajput manor ) ( Rudra''s family home ) Rudra was seated along with his full family on the dining table sipping afternoon tea thinking about ways to break the news to them. And he started with the most emotional reason he could come up with. /// Authors thoughts : Guys im dropping the first power stone target for this week , today is Wednesday and we have 45 PS if we hit 100 by Saturday i will release 3 (1 regular +2 bonus ) chapters on Sunday ..... Lets get it guys !!! /// Chapter 22: Real world problems Rudra started the conversation extremely cautiously, "Mom did you consult a doctor ?" He asked Her mom smiled , she was moved how much her son cared for her... "Yes i did go to a doctor, I only need some costly medicine ... as it is not spread too much yet ... no surgery is required". His mom smiled ... Maybe the family would not use all of the 25 million his son gave her. Rudra was glad that her mom would not need to undergo surgery ... but he needed her poor health as an excuse to move her to country J .... what to do?? He smiled, Plan A had failed he wanted to bullshit his way that he found an excellent doctor in Country J where he wanted to take mom for treatment... but he could not do it anymore could he? Soo onto plan B .... Trick dad into thinking it is his idea to move. "Dad dont you think mom is too stressed here in this manor? She needs to take care of her health ... she can stop working soo hard now no?" Rudra asked " Yes , Yes absolutely , iv told her many times to hire a maid but your mom is scared the neighbors will soon start to envy us and try harm little Max ." Little max looked up innocently at his father his face showing he understood nothing "????????" he blinked looking blank Rudra ''s heart melted , noone harms my little brother he said firmly in his mind It was sad to feel soo unsafe in one''s own locality but in 2100 a maid was a luxury only available to the uber rich. If someone from the Rajput Manor had one the people around them will go green with envy But this was exactly what Rudra was hoping for He banged his hand on the table, everyone was startled. " M SICK OF LIVING IN SUCH A LOCALITY WHERE WE CANT EVEN FEEL SAFE DAD , SOO WHAT WE CAME FROM COMMON BAGROUND AND SUCCEEDED WILL THEY ALL DRAG US BACK DOWN AGAIN? " His father was caught offguard by his son''s flurry, but still being the alpha of this house he said " If you want us to move , earn enough money to buy a mansion in a safe locality, we '' ll talk then " His father said BOOYAH! thought Rudra He said " Actually dad i have applied for a house in country J " " Country J? why country J ? , if i did not know better you would say you applied for a mansion in the upside". His father laughed and joked His mom laughed too ... Upside was world famous residential scheme .... even the most basic manors costed 200 million dollars. It was told to be the safest area for the uber rich locality with best privacy, a mansion in upside was something they never even dared to dream about " I did apply for a mansion in the upside " Said Rudra WHATTTT???? " You do know it costs 200 million dollars Right? " asked his mom " Actually the basic one costs 200 million , the one i applied for costs 220 million ". His dad ".....". His mom "...." Max " Can we go to disneyland? " WHATTTTTTTTTT?????? " Calm down mom you need to take care of your health". said Rudra " How do you have 220 million? , you dont smuggle drugs right? " " Dad i earn my money through bank transfer not cash it is legit , I earned it in game ". Rudra said , it was a half lie as he did not have cash yet but he would earn it in game . " What kind of ridiculous game are you playing to earn soo much money ? Honey is it still the same world we live in? " The parents had a million questions but Rudra was short on time " Pack everything up , we move out day after " Rudra said that and stormed out , not allowing any more questions ------------ ( Meanwhile in game ) The official guilds had started to appear since yesterday .... The first 20 man dungeon cleared in nightmare mode gave a bronze guild creation token as a gauranteed drop with a 5% drop rate for silver creation token and a 0.001 % drop for gold token. While a lot of bronze guilds started to appear a few big guilds would try do reruns untill they finally get their hands on a silver token While the true biggest guilds having hundreds of thousands of members would send hundreds of adventuring parties to try clear the dungeon untill they got their hands on the gold token . The difference between tokens could not be made up with time Although a guild functioned as a guild regardless of the grade token used , the benefits of using higher grade were not few . The common points between all tokens included Forming A guild with a guild hall in the chosen city Having a guild warehouse All members of the guild having guild insignia All members have access to guild chat channel Guild members can participate in guild wars A heirchy system for members Can hire Npc to act as guards Living quarters and other such generic shit The silver token added the benefits: One the guild warehouse size was significantly larger and the guild hall looked much grander The grade of NPC guards that could be hired can be higher and more in number Silver grade guilds had a blacksmithing and alchemy hall , hence could hire NPC blacksmiths and alchemists The gold grade token added the benefits of : Everything in the silver token + potionology hall + beast stable + better living quarters for guild members as well as special rooms for the upper echleon + special auditorium and guild conference room In the entire game the only method of obtaining said token''s was from this dungeon only with a level cap of level 20. There was no other dungeon or Boss mob that dropped a guild creation token. Hence while rerunning the dungeon one needed to be carefull not to cross the level 20 cap , and why the gold guild creation token was such a sought after item forever in the game. In ''Omega'' the penalty of leaving or being kicked from a guild was inability to join another guild for 1 month It was a heavy penalty. However there was still one more special class of guild creation token''s The platinum class , only 10 guild creation tokens of platinum class existed in the game in hands of various organizations and super powers. One of which was in the hands of Church Of Light the reward Rudra wanted from their warehouse The Platinum Guild benfits included: Everything in the gold token + A hall for every lifestyle profession with the best equipment and working conditions + Mage tower ( A resident mage can be hired to protect the guild ) + Ultra luxurious living quarters giving exp buff on logout ( This was the best condition , as after update 1 this feature would be removed from hotels) + Special features in guild insignia + Special guildmaster and vice guildmaster halls + Protective barrier Rudra dreamed of this , his guild of elites deserved nothing less than a platinum token guild . ------------- ( Back in the capital city , virtual world ) Rudra woke up to a 80% full experience bar he smiled , not all his time logging out was wasted. He had lots of things to do today Go to the church to Turn in the quest for his rewards Then go to a date with PinkLotus , and also try sell his platinum to her . Chapter 23: ( BONUS CHAPTER) for reaching 100 collections Rudra entered the Church Of Light''s massive gates and once again found himself in the prayer halls of the Godess of Light . The first time he was here he was faking his faith in order to recieve the quest , however today amidst everything shaking him up in reality as well as the overwhelming pressure to perform in game , he actually felt the need for an anchor that would help him regain the calm in his mind. As if he was a real believer he just sat there and cried and confessed things infront of the Godess''s statue.... Rudra was not someone who would even do this in real life as he was not a man of faith. However doing it infront of a virtual character felt even more strange to him , but the act of confession brought him calm , and thats all that mattered. He felt fresher after a while A hand gently tapped on his shoulder again. He knew it was the Cardinal . " Greetings Cardinal Lee ", said Rudra " Greetings my child , may the light be with you " said the holy cardinal Rudra then handed over the Memoir of the Merchant quest item and narrated his findings to Cardinal Lee in detail . " It seems some unsightly characters have started to appear in our kingdom. I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for the Kingdom and the Church , i wasnt wrong in choosing you for this task , the light in you shines real bright ". " It was what needed to be done sire " " What excellent temprament young man. Indeed someone worthy of being the Emmisary of our Church ! Dont worry the Church will not let your efforts go unrewarded , come take your pick out of the Church warehouse". Rudra''s heart beat faster , this was the legendary Church warehouse that only one player had ever entered in the game .... The home to countless treasures . The courtyard leading to the entrance was guarded by the strongest tier 12 NPC holy knights and the door took 17 keys and 18 secret dial rotations to open ... even then 4 guards needed to push it open with full strength . Rudra saw epic weapons littered around like they were trash , racks of semi legendary potions, also a few ancient skill tomes ... and finally a divine grade sceptre of light! Exept the sceptre anything is free for you to choose, Cardinal Lee smiled , Rudra took in a deep breath , believe me a lesser man would have fainted with greed. If Rudra did not have the ambition to make a guild for elites he would have chosen any one of the extraordinary items here and just skyrocket over the playermass. But Rudra was firm , he looked around untill his eyes laid on the platinum coin with the insigna of the Hazelgroove kingdom , Yes there were a total of 10 platinum coins in ''Omega''... one in each kingdom 5 kingdoms in Eastern continent 5 kingdoms in Western continent " Ohhh , what a peculiar choice " Said Cardinal Lee Rudra smiled , he did not need to explain himself. However Cardinal Lee said " I would have expected nothing less ". He chatted with Cardinal Lee before exiting the warehouse of treasures. Rudra quickly exited the building and went to an empty alley and just sat there for a while. Seeing the Platinum token welled countless emotions in his heart ..... He was called trash, His guild was bullied , He was killed over a simple epic item. Yet Rudra decided , if he could not get into upside normally , he would bribe them with a platinum Guild creation token in exchange for a mansion . With this Rudra checked his mail /( Yes you can access the forums , your bank and mail in game ) / And it is not clear wether the Godess of Light heard his request or his reincarnation really changed his luck because he actually got accepted His application for a mansion in the upside got accepted!!!!!! He only needed to transfer the money to confirm now . YES !!! YES!!!! YESSSS!!!!!!! Rudra was over the moon rightnow , if someone were to peek in that alley they would assume there was a rabid monkey dancing there .... only 5 minutes later upon recieving a notification did he calm down A message from PinkLotus " Biryani House 23rd street , see you in 10 minutes ". Rudra replied " Yes" He did not know why but his heart was beating out of his chest now , He thought about Pinklotus''s beautiful face and hair and he found that heartbeat to only grow stronger .... It must be the excitement from getting a house it must be , Rudra explained..... He was overwhelmed with emotions today hence it was normal . He tried look better before meeting PinkLotus , He changed from his armour into black linen clothing that complimented his chocolate brown skin perfectly , he let his hair fall down his forehead and kept it a little messy ..... When he was satisfied he walked towards 23rd street . Well i need to sell my platinum to her .... he kept reminding himself but his mind kept thinking of her beautiful face ..... slapping himself he said , she is a billionaire '' s daughter , she will never spare you a second glance . Steeling himself , he walked in the caf¨¨ // Bonus chapter for you all .... Guys this is for crossing 100 collections ..... Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou all soo much ???????????? ..... Keep showering the comment s keep showering the power stones ... I will keep working hard and keep releasing bonus chapters for you guys // Chapter 24: Is this a Date? Why does it feel like a Buisness Meet As he entered the caf¨¨ , he saw PinkLotus sitting there alone on a 2 seat table , looking at the menu. He walked over and pulled a chair to sit . She looked at him smiling. Rudra''s heart skipped a beat ... soo beautiful. He said " Sorry to keep you waiting". " No problem , I just got here too , iv taken the liberty to order two specials ... i hope thats fine with you ". Rudra said yes , he was actually delighted he would have thought really hard about what to order to make a good impression otherwise. Wow, this was awkward , what should he say next? Rudra was just at a loss for words ..... after 10 seconds of awkward silence he said " Hows things with your guild ? ". PinkLotus said " All good , we need in game currency though to strengthen the core members and get the first cash cycle running". "How is your guild coming ? Got a token yet?" she asked " M alone soo far ..... I have a token yes ". Taking this chance he said " How much money do you need ? ". " As much as we can get .... we are really in a crunch right now soo about 1000 gold would be excellent , but we cannot even get 100 even if we try trading or buying with everything we have , nobody has that kind of money to offer ... most guilds buy currency from individual players hence it is extremely competitive ... and our farming teams simply cant farm more than 50 gold a day". She sighed " I can sell you gold if you want ". Rudra said nonchalantly PinkLotus smiled .... the guy was sweet he probably had 10 gold or something on him but was ready to sell it to help her guild , still to give him face she said " How much are you planning to sell ? " " I cant sell too much as i need money to run my guild as well ..... but seeing as you are in a crunch i can give u 2000 gold ". Yua was stunned speechless " What how do you have soo much money? , my entire guild has only 700 gold worth assests , liquid money is less than 300 " " If you want to buy , m here to sell ". Rudra said not bothering to explain Yua after recovering from her shock was overjoyed beyond belief .... This was exactly what she needed to consolidate her guild right now " what is your maximum selling limit , i will buy it all at a premium ..... The current black market dealing for 1 gold is nearly 7000 gold but i am willing to offer a 100 dollar premium and buy it at bulk for 7100 if you offer me more than 3000 gold ". The price was higher than Rudra remembered but it is reasonable currently. When the game had soo little gold in circulation ofcourse its value will be high ... it will start breaking after the auction house opens for 2 years before stabilizing at 5000 from there on . Still he did not wanna rip Yua off he said " I can sell you 4000 gold but you are overpaying me , i will not RIP you off , although it seems you can afford it. 6500 is a fair price ". Yua was moved ..... she never thought he would willingly lower the price of a commodity over which he had absolutely dominating position. Yua needed the gold badly , the 3500 gold would give her an immense leap over the opposition . Maybe this is what Friendship is? She was more drawn in by this mysterious player named ''Shakuni'' For the first time in her life she said " Hey im Yua Nakatomi " as she extended her hand. Rudra was shocked she revealed her identity soo easily ? Although Rudra knew it before hand but still ... this was an honest gesture. Rudra did not want to give his name but he was soo smitten by Yua he did not want her to sulk , so he said " Rudra Rajput , pleasure to meet you ". Rudra continued " I kinda preffer my identity not to be revealed, please keep it so ". Yua nodded , she was touched by the trust Rudra showed her .... She soo wanted to act like a teenager and just idly chat the evening away with Rudra but work still needed to be done as the leader of Azure Lotus . She took Rudra ''s account details and a transaction for 227 million 50 thousand dollars was completed , She probed Rudra about how he aquired such wealth and about future prospects of the game... Rudra was happy when she told him her guild had obtained the Gold token hence the members were in high spirits , but the more they talked the more it felt like Is this really a date? Why does it feel like a buisness meeting? Sigh , ''i guess m gonna be single this time around as well'' thought Rudra , Although talking about the game was not bad and he thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon , he still had stuff to take care off soo he bid his goodbye . Before he left though Yua said " I am not supposed to say this but , there will be an auction 3 days from now the game wont probably declare it untill a day before the auction .... soo try prepare funds if you wanna participate". Rudra was shocked .... how did she know about the auction .... naturally Rudra did because of his reincarnation but PinkLotus should not..... Well the information network of Big people is indeed terrifying he thought . Rudra logged out in a hotel and hurried to complete all payment procedures regarding his villa. Finally with the proof of residency in his hands , he booked a private plane departing tommorow morning for a charter to country J . As he packed about 2 pairs of clothes and his gaming set and some toiletries. He silently locked his apartment that he used for the last month . He set out towards Rajput manor , as he hoped his family would be packed and ready .... And indeed they were ..... although his mom and dad were extremely grumpy about his attitude and giving him cold shoulder the things they wanted to carry were all packed and little Max was exited as he thought we were going on a vacation . Rudra smiled .... tommorow he will take the first step towards his freedom . --------------------------- ( Meanwhile At Advani multinational ) Secretary Zhang entered the office " Sir , Shakuni''s identity has been uncovered .... He is Rudra Rajput a common joe. His profile is ordinary and he does not seem to have connections in Country X However , he was indeed seen today in a caf¨¦ with Yua Nakatomi , perhaps the Nakatomi Corporation is behind him". Mr. Advani smiled " The Nakatomi ''s are indeed powerful in country J but here in country X they cant shake us up much , Where does the kid live?" "He lives alone in an apartment away from his parents ". secretary Zhang replied. " Good , good good .... organize information about him and prepare to sell it to various corporations intrested in him , let him become a slave first and a cripple later , send men to cripple him tommorow ". ------------- Can Rudra really escape the country? // Author''s thoughts : Guys the powerstones have really showered these last days .... I really feel highly motivated thanx to you all .... We are at 95 guys i believe we will hit our target at Friday itself soo i will upload a bonus chapter tommorow for you all or maybe today itself if we hit it soon ???????? THANKYOU FOR THE SUPPORT // Chapter 25: Can he Escape? ( Bonus for 100 PS) Rudra had chartered a relatively early flight .... at 6 am in the morning ... hence they left for airport at 4 am .... Although the Airport was 1 hr drive .... as it was a private plane they did not need to go through boarding procedures and security checks ... Hence they left with a bit leisure. Rudra had not slept a wink last night , He was feeling extremely anxious for some reason .... perhaps only after the plane would take off would he feel safe. He was perspiration sitting in fully air-conditioned car. He could feel his stomach funny. As he looked at his carefree family all happy and exited , he had no intention of letting them know that the relocation was more of a flee the country. ------------- ( Mr Advani ''s house , 3 am night ) ( Common Ringtone sound ) Mr Advani picks up the phone late at night " What is it ? " He asks grumpily . It was Secretary Zhang , he said " Sir we have information about Rudra Rajput , after accessing his bank details it was revealed he has chartered a flight from here to Country J , he will leave the country today". Advani was up in an instant " When?" he asked " The flight has no departing time mentioned as it is a private jet. We have tried to contact the aviation company but the office is closed soo late and night and they cannot cancel the flight according to their policy ". " Damn it, call up the mercenaries , the bastard cant leave the country ". Advani was livid He had promised to make ''Shakuni'' his slave and sell it to the highest bidder , he wanted to personally break the bastards legs for his loss of money and face. He called his son Nitin " The bastard is trying to flee the country , you couldnt touch him in game but you are the one with power in reality , make a video make sure the bastard suffers and we will have someone upload it online ". He instructed his son Nitin was always a alcoholic but after his incident and loss of face in game , all his uber rich friends bullied him to death making him a even worse drunkard His eyes became bloodshot thinking about his revenge , He would definitely make Rudra pay today . ------------------- ( Meanwhile Ethan Grey , owner of upside one of the 6 trillionares in the world ) " So the ''Shakuni'' guy is coming to my residency huh?" He asked his secretary as he sipped his Cigar " He wishes to sir, but as you have instructed to personally approve of everyone wanting to live here , i came to ask for permission ." His secretary answered " He has intresting achievements also the '' Omega '' market is the future ... its a 100 trillion dollar market and we definitely want to make our footing , let him come we '' ll see how he can help ". " He may not be able to come sir, the locals are behind him ". The secretary said "Ohhh, pests want claim over my intrest? , settle it " " Right away sir " The secretary answered The information network of the trillionares was something commendable .... however in this digital age it was really hard to hide anyway ... from your car to your phone to your watch everything was being tracked ... there were cameras everywhere and checkposts regularly. It was not possible to be a ghost anymore. Rudra had gained the attention of a Extremely dangerous man . -------------------------- Finally the situation came round this .... when Rudra left his home soo did 18 other vehichles 6 survillence drones and 2 helicopters . Some stalked Rudra while the Mr Grey''s forces stalked those who stalked Rudra It was like the mantis stalking the cicada unaware of the oriole behind. 20 minutes out of the airport the forces of Mr Advani made their move . Mr Rajput was driving calmly , however Rudra was long since aware that a black SUV was following them since the last 5 minutes .... Not good ! His heart beated at an extremely unnatural rate. Rudra felt like if he continued to live life on the edge like this his body would give out within a month. But something unexpected happened At the Cross Roads , a truck banged into the SUV. Mr Rajput stopped the car and got out , being a responsible citizen he wanted to help Rudra screamed NOO in his mind he quickly got out sat on the drivers seat and reversed the car beside Mr Rajput and screamed " DAD FUCKING GET IN THE CAR ". " Watch your language youn...." "NOW DAD OR I SWEAR ILL NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN" seeing the fierce look in Rudra ''s eyes he complied , he thought he would argue once he sat inside however Rudra drove away like a madman Soon , sounds of gunshot were heard .... it was a crossfire. Mr Rajput was stunned WTF was happening and where was the goddamn police? " I need to call the police " he said " DAD PLEASE FUCKING DONT ACT LIKE A IDEAL CITIZEN TODAY IF YOU WANT TO LIVE , DROP THE PHONE OR I SWEAR ILL THROW IT OUT". Both his parents glared at Rudra , they were good citizen s to the core ..... and only wanted to help , however they were too naive. " Do you want to explain yourself?". Rudra''s father asked as he found the entire situation suspicious Rudra''s nerves were on the edge here.... he really wanted to say something yet couldn''t. He said " They are underworld gangs having a shootoff dad , half of the members are cops themselves ". Rudra ''s dad was taken aback .... he had firmly beleived in the peace and stability of his city he had never seen this life. " How do you know all this Rudra?" his mom asked " Iv seen a lot of world mom , Worse than you both can imagine". Rudra said His words seemed bull but it was the truth , he had really seen the ugliest side of the world in his ''Past life'' he knew the goons Advani sent. Rudra was not stupid and the crossfire only meant someone protected him. The only people that could have protected him seeing his identity is now revealed to a few people Could only be Yua''s father or The trillionare owner of the Upside. He hardly suspected it to be Yua ''s dad hence it meant only one thing. He would escape country X ''s hunter only to be hunted in country J again . His mind was a mess and the only thing he wanted was to board that plane somehow.Driving like he was in a fast and furious movie ignoring his parents shouts and little brothers laughs of joy as if he was in a ride. They reached the airport somehow ... I know it sounds clich¨¦ but After the plane took off Rudra could see the Road leading to the airport full of holes and burnt cars and ongoing fires He had finally escaped country X ..... But at what cost? /// Thankyou guys for helping me reach 100 PS ???????????????????????????????????? target this means the world to me..... Delivering the bonus as promised and setting a new target for y''all hope you enjoy !!!! /// Chapter 26: A new start ? Secretary Zhang was dragged bound and gagged into Mr Advani'' s office. " You Idiot , did I or did I not tell you to check that guy''s baground? , A common guy? An average Joe with no backing? THE GREY INTERNATIONAL IS BEHIND HIM !!!!!! " Advani was livid " Do you know the error of your blunder? , The entire mercenary group we hired had been anihilated due to false information and my son Nitin was taken hostage ". " Now both the organization behind the mercenaries is on my a** for feeding them false information. They dont care shit about those who died but it will cost me hundreds of millions to soothe their anger and my good for nothing son has to be bought back at any price else my stock will plummet ". "All this because you could not do a simple baground check on a guy? If we knew that Grey was behind him i would have worshipped him like he was my grandfather ". Advani was in a state of total mental breakdown this was not what he wanted Ofcourse Secretary Zhang was at a little fault but truth is even he did his own investigations on Rudra but never did he found out about any backing at all , but he needed a scapegoat Secretary Zhang said " Sir i have been with you since the foundation of Advani multinational , i have earned more to you than this error , you know my worth please forgive me ". He begged Advani was silent, then he removed an antique colt revolver from his desk and shot three bullets through secretary Zhang''s chest. " There is no mercy in buisness". Advani said " Rudra Rajput .... I have lost a lot for you .... One day i will make you pay !". ------------------------- ( Country J , The upside ) The upside was a massive township in its own right ..... Tall walls surrounding it 3 ways with an endless ocean on the fourth . A common beach , some private beach mansions , a private school , a university for all disciplines with world renowned teachers. cityscape mansions , tall buisness towers a commercial street with only the best stores of top brands across the world . No one was allowed entry not even the city police without authorization. Drones patrolled the skies and the Upside had its own law enforcement team. There was a huge logistics building , where package delivery from outside was tested and checked for any possible threats. Food was checked for poison before upside staff delivered it to your house. The worlds best hospital with helicopters to carry passengers for like saving 30 seconds , in case of medical emergency. Here even normal medical cars were custom made luxury cars faster than most police cars built for highway chases. Entertainment zones. Kids park even an amuzement park , water park and snowpark. Whatever you thought one needed was available at Upside . Lamborghini''s parked at doors of every mansion like it was a Maruti , Plus each mansion came with its own custom Upside vehicle parked in the garage . And the biggest benefit here was all of the above services were compliments of the Grey international . No taxes , No school fees , No need to pay bills at a diner , No need to buy tickets at amusement parks . No electricity bill No water bill . This is why it was a dream of even Billionaire''s to live in this place. No disturbance at all , and each and every person living in the Upside was worth socializing with , Noone without status could live here. But the actual reality of upside is.... its just a bribe to rope in the best talents in the world for the Grey International . Noone who lives in the Upside is unappreciative of Ethan Grey , most would willingly help him at every chance possible , going above and beyond in the task assigned. The Grey international earned 6 times of what they spend to mentain the Upside from its residents. The high priced mansions are only listed so to make the residents feel like they have bought their rightfull place and hence preserving their self respect. Rudra '' s family was extremely elated to be here , and soo was Rudra , despite everything he felt exited to be here .... How could he not ... living such an ordinary life in an ordinary environment uptill now , living in the upside was like going from earth to heaven. He sighed looking at his family''s happiness he thought '' Okay Ethan Grey you win ''. He was ready to make a deal with the devil if it meant his family could stay here happily . The new Rajput mansion was huge with a private gym , swimming pool and a small theatre for 20 people . Each room was a 2 BHK flat in itself with amenities stacked up and down. Gold was spread all around the house from lamp fittings to doorknobs. Mahesh Rajput , Rudra ''s dad had tears in his eyes .... his good for nothing son actually brought him to spend his retirement in such luxury? He was reallly hard on him since childhood , but he did raise a competent and Fillial son . Little Max went mad with joy ,Running all around the house saying things like " Look mom there s a pool in our backyard " " Sooo big Television" His parents hugged each other real hard He heard his mom whisper to his dad " Isnt our son , something !!! " Rudra ''s heart clutched ..... How much he wanted his parents to be happy and proud of him. But the happiness did not last long Upside staff arrived and said " Mr Rudra can you please come with us to the administration office for the registration of the new house ". Rudra knew there was no Registration , it was a meeting with the boss " Lead the way ". Rudra said Chapter 27: Meeting Ethan Grey At the heart of the Upside township was the 100 floor massive Grey tower. The tower was built in a way where it exuded psychological pressure on those who entered . Rudra could imagine , anyone who entered the tower for a buisness deal would go on the mental defensive from the moment he entered this grand tower. On the 100th floor of the Tower , a beautiful blonde secretary wearing extremely tight formal clothing showing her voluptuous figure opened the door to Ethan Grey''s Office . Ethan Grey , One of the six trillionares in the world and the youngest one at 31. His eyes took after his name Grey in color. His face clean shaved and chisled and one could see that he was lean and fit even under his buisness suit. All in all the most eligible bachelor in the world not a single person barred. Rudra took his seat across Ethan , he alone on one side of the table , and 5 people with Ethan at the centre sat across him. He could feel the intimidation in the numbers here. The mind games being played by Ethan Grey would render a weaker man defenseless. He said " I would like to buy you , come work for my guild as an elder. I will pay you 300 million dollars a year plus bonus on your work ". Rudra smiled , this conversation was going as he wanted it to go . " With respect mr Grey , I have earned 300 million dollars this month alone from the game. Your offer does not intrest me at all .... Offer me 5 billion a year and i might consider , but i wont because core elder is not my style. Guild Leader is what i need ". " Not gonna happen". Ethan Grey frowned this is not how he imagined this conversation would go..... Rudra was of common baground , he should not have the spine to talk to him face to face . Ethan was annoyed at first but then after an advisor whispered something to him his attitude changed .. he quickly turned the direction of the conversation while taking a new approach " I assume you have a vision" Ethan said " Guild Leader of the most elite guild in the game , a luxury Guild , with top of the top talent and a market reputation like ferrari ". Rudra said not revealing much yet painting a picture The 5 started to discuss again .... they had positive thoughts about this but clearly wanted to repress Rudra to exploit him as much as they could without breaking his will " It wont do .... there''s no money to be made , you are forgetting where you live Rudra Rajput , unless you want to see your parents on the street you would agree to my terms". Ethan said blankly Is his fate to be bullied ? Always Everywhere Everytime? Can i never stand as a proud man in any life? No No He must believe the worth of his own stock. Rudra was startles by this blatant threat. He had no choice but to stay in the upside and he was under the tigers foot now . " I alone made 300 million dollars this month alone , imagine what i can do if i have a guild. Make me a partner not a slave and i will bring you both fame and fortune ". Rudra said , now in a pleading tone. Ethan thought for a while ... He felt a different vibe from Rudra .... Somehow he felt like this man was not meant to be treated as a subordinate but more like a partner . " 30% shares of your guild no compromise there .... unless you proove your worth you will be on the roads soon, my super guild will be your partner guild and You will operate under the Grey banner.... the moment you fail to deliver will be your family''s last ". He really did not want to give 30% of his Guild to anyone for free ..... 30% of his guild should be worth upwards of 50 billion dollars even a trillionare like Ethan would think twice before buying ... However now he extorted it out of Rudra. Using the Grey name had its own benefits that could not be watered down .... atleast now noone else could have the courage to mess with him ... however that meant all his achievements as a guild master would only serve as a prestige enhancer for Grey international. Rudra could not rebel .... He could only willingly lay down and work his best to make Ethan Grey money ..... although he would also benefit from it .... he could not run the guild like he wanted anymore ... although he was the boss he would have to prioritize making money to keep Ethan satisfied. This is not how he envisioned his dream .... Why was reality soo cruel??? He felt angry and powerless he also felt hatefull towards the bastard who invited him to the upside to only make him a chess piece in his plan to devour trillions of dollar huge market of ''Omega ''. And easily extorted him , giving him a chance and mercy to keep his own free will . Just how puny was the Greatest Guild master? 30% put a dent in Rudra''s heart... 30 frigging percent in extortion ..... Ethan literally extroted billions out of him monthly for providing a shelter. Atleast he keeps his dream and his pride .... thought Rudra as he walked out of Grey tower. He needed to work really really hard to one day earn enough money to stand up against Ethan Grey. The current situation made him under someone again.... His new start in life put him in the same place as his old one..... He escaped nothing. Well atleast for now Ethan gave him a chance..... //// sorry for the late chapter guys ... i am really busy with work today .... will try make a stockpile to release on time from now .... to ensure you guys dont wait too much .... m sorry for today ... i will be more dilligent from now //// Chapter 28: Moving Forward /// A short Backstory of Ethan Grey /// Ethan Grey is a reincarnator just like Rudra ..... Ethan had lived his past life as a investment broker in a top firm. He died on New Year''s Eve at the Turn of the century year 2100 in a police lockup ''Unexpectedly'' when his firm decided he was a liability . Reincarnated back into 2080 he washed off his opposition and became one of the six trillionares in this world with his investment knowledge . His rebirth advantage took him a long way in life and he Built an incredible empire out of it. But as 2100 hit he started becoming more and more anxious ... He was at his wits end and the world was changing fast. ''Omega'' and the new trillion dollar market is not something he has experienced . Hence he is on the edge recently , and also the reason he accepted a nobody like Rudra into the Upside where even Billionaire''s find it difficult to enter. He felt a different vibe from Rudra , It was an inexplicable type of vibe that he could not put to words .... he felt when he saw Rudra like he was seeing himself 20 years ago . Although it might seem like he was extorting Rudra of 30% share , he was actually providing a great value to him. With the name and backing of Grey international the road will be much smoother for him, if he thinks for one minute that the elite guild he dreams of building will be let build by others without oppression , he was sorely mistaken. ''RESPECT'' needed power , without power there was no respect and as talented as Rudra maybe he had no real power. He had absolutely no intention of interfering with Rudra or oppresing him , which shocked him as this is not how he did most of his buisness.He was actually helping a kid realize his dreams by beleiveing in him rather than controlling him. He still went ahead and threatened Rudra , but deep down he was a fillial man himself and would never stoop soo low as to remove a roof from someone''s parents. Even his closest Advisors actually told him to ask for 70% of the guild shares but he actually on his own gut feel reversed it to ask for 30% , It was not like Rudra could deny him either way. What about Rudra Rajput is soo different? This question baffled Ethan. Why? ///Authors thoughts: Dropping this part here as many readers are frustrated about the current MC''s situation , and I as an author clearly have something planned ..... i beg your patience to let the plot develop/// ----------------------- ( Back in the Purplehaze city , Virtual world) Rudra did not want to think about what all happened in reality anymore. He did his family duty as a son , now it was time to focus on his dreams and career. Being the calculative man Rudra was he plotted three current short term goals he needed to achieve now 1) Finding ''Him'' to be his vice guild leader and establishing his own guild ''DarkShadows''. 2) Make a grand debut at the auction , showcase his grand wealth while buying resources he knows would not appear for a few years in the game. In this way others will look upto the wealth and status of his new formed guild , while he actually had gotten a bargain for the stuff he bought. 3) Hold the Recruitment of the first batch of elites he would enroll in his guild ... then raid the Nightmare mode of the Lv 30 dungeon '' Labyrinth of the dead'' with his party getting them the first clear. All three parts of the plan were intricately linked and failure at any part will be a big dent in his long term vision for his guild. Onto Part1 of the plan ..... it was time to go recruiting the single greatest player in the history of the game ''Karna'' to be his vice guild master. Karna was someone Rudra looked upto in his past life .... Guild Leader of a 3rd rate guild , he was a man playing the game with a bunch of friends , His guild made up of old school buddies and longterm associates , and he never stood out untill the 2nd update patch that opened the ''Arena'' in the game. With a win - loss record of 1653-0 he was a legend in the game.Although various guilds tried to buy him over , even offering outrageous salaries and benefits he always said my loyalty cannot be bought , offending many . When a guild leader of a first rate guild declared war on his Guild , he alone slew 10 thousand enemies before dying , only getting a single point in damage after he slew the opposing guild leader and completely exhausted his stamina . The undefeated warrior ''Karna'' was the only one worthy of being His Vice Guild master. Loyal , Strong and with a heart to lead. The thing now was , how to find Karna and how to fu****g recruit him? Even with rebirth knowledge , finding a person ingame at a specific time was not humanly possible , the best possible way to tackle this problem was by searching his character ID and private messaging him. The only problem was .... why would a known player like ''Shakuni'' suddenly go looking for some unknown guy? And try making him a Vice Guild master? He still had to rope '' Karna '' in somehow soo he hatched a plan ... He messaged ''Karna'' and wrote " I have an offer for you , if you are intrested , if you are interested lets meet up ". And he just hoped that the guy would take a intrest to atleast have a chat , as he had a solid plan to rope him in once he did. ----------------- ( PurpleHaze city Karna''s POV) " WHAT THE HELL , are you friggin kidding me?? The ''Shakuni'' just messaged me? " Karna said His friends all laughed , " It is probably someone just pranking you ... why will someone like that message you?" No guys seriously look at this , he then screenshotted his message request and shared to his friends Everyone went silent , It really was ''Shakuni'' " Reply to him quick dammnit what are you waiting for" one friend cheerfully said " Nonono , something is fishy , how does he know your id? Is it a mistake or is it a trap? " an overcautious friend said Discussion broke out amongst all of them on what to do ..... They all agreed that something about this situation seems off but the curiosity got the best of them Finally it was agreed to atleast talk to him once and hence Karna took a deep breath and replied " Sure , where". -------------------- /// Authors notes : Guys let me thank you all , we had a killer week last week we ended at 170 friggin stones .... Progressing is a must guys lets try for 200 powerstones by this sunday ... 200 powerstones and i will release 2 bonus chapters guys ... also collections should not lag behind..... 2 bonus chapters when we reach 300 collections. Also a big shoutout to FreeZero , _Neith_ , Nirvana for your powerstone''s this last week and Introducing Karna as promised @Void_Prince ???? /// Chapter 29: A master of emotional manipulation Rudra could not possibly reveal his reincarnation secret to anyone..... not even his family. Soo there was absolutely no way in hell that he would tell it to someone he doesnt personally know too well like Karna , to recruit him into his guild. There was no logical reason for him to explain how he knew Karna , or tell him directly about joining his guild as a vice guild master. What Rudra did pick up in his last life though ..... was Cheating and Deception. Make no mistake ladies and gentlemen , Rudra Rajput is not a clean guy ..... he is not a white angel nor is he a dark devil .... he is somewhere between the 50 shades of grey. He will manipulate and deceitfully lie about anything to spin the situation in his favour. The previous famous game before ''Omega'' was Royal Road ..... The game was a immersive MMORPG but it still did not have a full dive technology. However it dominated the market for the past 20 years and had a huge player base. In the documentry about Karna in his last life ... called ''A Day in the life of the Undefeated Karna'' , his previous guild in Royal Road called ''Karni Sena'' ( means Karna''s army ) was breifly mentioned Using his past life knowledge of this event , he decided to hatch a plan ..... ......... ( In the VIP lounge of a Hotel in Purplehaze city) Rudra and Karna sat opposite each other and tea was served. Karna was naturally nervous about this meeting seeing the stature of the man sitting opposite him . " So what buisness do you want to discuss". Karna Asked " I wont delay you for long , you maynot remember me but you are my benefactor ..... once in Royal Road you helped me with clearing a world boss in the wilds , and not taking a single thing from the drop ..... it was probably nothing for a high level player like you .... however it helped my gaming career a lot ". Karna was baffled ..... did such an event occur? Well he was a teenager while playing royal road and people played under game characters in Royal Road with no resemblance to their real self , hence it was hard to say if he really did not meet him , considering it was 5 years ago he stopped playing the game. Rudra continued " I could not help you back that time .... but that one act of kindness that you showed me , made me who i am today .... i was hooked to gaming because of how cool you looked slaying the boss i could not..... alone like a piece of cake. With time i improved my gaming skills and today I am fortunate enough to be able to give a little back for that favour you showed me that day ". Rudra took out the Epic ranked Slaughterer blade he got from the Emmisary of Church quest ..... He saved it for Karna himself , as he planned on getting him for a longg time. " I can never pay you back for your kindness .... however please accept this small gesture of return". Karna was now completely at a loss of what to do.....A FRIGGIN EPIC RANKED WEAPON.... NOONE IN THE GAME HAD EVEN SEEN DARK GOLD WEAPONS YET AND ''SHAKUNI '' GAVE HIM AN EPIC RANKED ONE JUST LIKE THAT? Is this real? ....... Just what kinda guy is Shakuni to remember such a small kindness and return it a thousandfold with such humbleness? His heart moved ... In this cutthroat world ... maybe this guy is an idiot just like him . " I cannot take this .... its tooo much " Karna said Rudra pretended to look hurt and said " Please accept it .... it is just a token of my heartfelt gratitude ". Karna was really really tempted to take this blade away but his honor as a man made him say the words that Rudra Tricked him into saying " I will accept your gesture under one condition..... " He said "Yes?" Rudra asked " If you want us to be even .... ask me of a service i am capable of , which you beleive is of equal value to this weapon ..... i will do whatever you ask of me to fairly earn this weapon ". Karna knew he could never dream to pay for this weapon .... even 10% of this weapons worth would make his seven generations bankrupt. It was too valuable to be accepted as a gift... however as a reward it was still acceptable for his self conscience..... he did not want to take advantage of Rudra ''s kindness. Rudra pretended to be in deep thought .... however he was inwardly thinking '' YOU ARE WATCHING A MASTER AT WORK ''. " I am planning to make a guild for elites only ..... it is my dream to gather only the finest of the talents in a guild together ..... we maybe only 30 or 50 people however we will be the cream of the crop who everyone will respect ...... I need a capable Vice Guild master though ..... will you be interested?" Rudra asked Karna''s heart moved again ... this guy .... even now he was bestowing more and more favours on him ..... Just how pure is the guy sitting infront of him? Is he from the same dog eat dog world he lived in? Karna felt he was undeserving of being in a guild for all elite''s ... however he felt that Rudra would be eaten raw in this dog eat dog world if left alone... He felt a sense of possesiveness to protect that guys innocence.... and for that reason alone he thought he will be around to ensure this guys smooth sailing..... he promised to work hard and proove his worth to the guild and Rudra ..... Although he wanted to stay with his old guildmates from Royal Road and schooldriends..... He was soo caught up with the Rudra character that he felt moved enough to jump ship ..... hence he said. " Although im not deserving , it would be my honor". Rudra manipulated Karna into feeling indebted to him while he started the conversation as a indebted person willing to return a favour ... The way he manipulated Karna '' s emotions lived up to his in game name of the greatest schemer to ever live on the face of the earth ''Shakuni''. BOOOYAH!!!!!!!!! ....... TASK 1 ( CHECK) Rudra was extremely elated..... he told Karna to settle whatever needed to be settled and meet him in two hours for the foundation of the guild. Karna was in for a big surprise when he would learn about the platinum guild token and the Grey international'' s support behind them ........ becoming Rudra''s right hand man would proove to be the best decision he ever took in his life. While Rudra was happily celebrating the signing of his vice guild master a system notification rang // ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? 1 : 48 ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? , ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? .... ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? .... ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? .... ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????? 21:00 ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? 3 ???????????????????? ... ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????? // Rudra smiled ... " about time" he whispered. Everything was on track , the next few days will be very crucial and busy for the completion of his plans. He was exited for the challenge , JUST BRING IT! Chapter 30: Establishing The Guild With addition of Karna to his party the time to form his guild had arrived ... The starting point of his dream. Rudra went to the city administration office , where he was treated with extreme reverence and escorted to the VIP room quickly , where the manager of the Purplehaze city personally came to attend him. Rudra''s status as the ''Emmisary Of The Church'' demanded respect from the king himself soo this was considered pretty normal " How can i help esteemed lord today" the manager asked politely " Well, im here to register a guid ". Rudra replied nonchalantly " Ohh soo esteemed lord wishes to form a guild , may i ask if the lord has a guild token? ". " Here". Rudra ,took out the platinum guild creation token Seeing the platinum token the manager''s hands started to shake and He was at a complete loss for what to say .... " Ttthhh....thiiisssss.....sssssureeee" he stuttered , holding the platinum token , like he was holding his mother''s heart itself . After regaining his composure he said .... " These are the available plots where you can set up your guild ..... please choose one ". Rudra looked at the plots available to set up his guild and he was shocked to see one in the inner city..... The inner city was shielded by a seperate wall formation and only the nobles and Royals resided in that district .... It also housed the Royal palace and the Church Of Light. He had never heard of any guild being able to be formed in the inner city ..... He asked " Even this plot, how is Building a guild hall in the inner city permitted". The manager replied " It is not allowed for anyone exept for sire as you have the only platinum creation token of the kingdom ... it is a privilege only experienced by you ". Rudra nodded. In his past life the person failed the Emmisary Of The Church quest not being able to exchange the token ... hence noone really ever claimed the platinum token of Hazelgroove kingdom. "I choose this spot in the inner district then " Rudra said satisfied with his decision to wait to make the guild only after receiving a platinum token. The inner city was highly protected and not everyone was allowed to enter.... it would make scouting and ambushing the guild very difficult due to its location , also even during war when the city is breached the inner city can be closed and will be protected by a barrier formation ..... hence it could be said that his guild would be in the best of the best locations . " It would cost 100 gold coins to register your guild , but as sire is a viscount of the Hazelgroove kingdom ,that fee is waved". The manager said " Please choose a guild name and the process will be complete". Looking at the keyboard infront of him Rudra typed in the words '' DarkShadows '' before pausing ..... He wanted to make ''DarkShadows'' to show his defiance to the WhiteRadiance guild owned by Nitin who bullied him to no end in his Last life. But something inside him matured..... His thirst for revenge only brought him and his family trouble....How could he really be the Greatest guildmaster if he was soo petty? Ofcourse those who wronged him would suffer vengeance , however his entire life cant be focused on taking revenge can it? Feeling this he deleted the words and entered the name '' True Elites '' and pressed confirm. The name also embodied the philosophy ... the way of the elite. // ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? : ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ''????????????????????????????'' ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ''???????????????? ????????????????????????'' .// // ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? : ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ''????????????????????????????'' ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ''???????????????? ????????????????????????'' .// The forum''s exploded . ------------------ ( Meanwhile , somewhere in PurpleHaze city) Karna was telling his friends about how Shakuni was a good guy deep down who he had helped in RoyalRoad and how he wished to repay that act of kindness .... His friends were drawn in by the whole conversation while one friend recorded the whole ordeal as narrated by Karna and uploaded it on the forums. While he was saying those things they heard the system announcement ..... Everyone went silent for a minute after hearing the system announcement. WTF IS A PLATINUM GUILD? If the silver token is soo much better than a bronze one and a gold token is soo much better than a silver one just how good is a platinum token? And there was no Platinum token in the drop probability at all .... even Gold tokens are as rare as mermaid''s tears just how the hell did he obtain one?. Everyone started to look at Karna enviously like how damn lucky is that guy? However Karna started to feel some pressure..... was he really going to be a vice guild master of such an amazing guild? Well pressure can make carbon diamonds or dust .... only time will show what will happen of Karna . -------------- ( Meanwhile the forum''s ) " @Shakuni is the miracle player of the game hands down he is the best .... Creating waves after waves after waves .... I wonder who he is in real life". " Wtf , platinum Guild ... @Shakuni tell us how to make one too ". " Reveal all the benefits of a platinum guild for all to see" " True Elites .... I wanna joinnnnnnn ??? does any one know if they are recruiting?". " Me 2" "Me 3" the me series continues till 2K people While the forum''s were discussing this ... The big guilds also the super guilds suddenly contacted him , asking him about the method to obtain platinum tokens ..... Even offering outrageous amounts of sum for the information. At the same time ... the video of Karna talking about how Rudra repayed a simple favour by an epic ranked equipment and his vision for true elites became Viral. Many independent players felt a sudden desire to join the Ture Elites guild. The image of Rudra became painted as extremely kind natured human who is extremely talented. The video and the news of the platinum guild became the hot news even in real world and many bosses in real life mobilized a lot of forces to find the guy behind the character ''Shakuni'' . Well if this is what they called a splash they were in for a tsunami tommorow as Rudra planned on displaying his strength and backing tommorow before making a grand appearance in the auction only then will he open recruitment for the guild. Chapter 31: The Auction (1) ( Grey towers The Upside , real life ) Sir , Rudra has created a platinum guild in the game ''Omega'' .... It is the first and only platinum guild in the entire game ..... even our main super guild is a gold grade one. Various super powers have expressed their interest in the method to obtain Platinum Guild token, but have stopped after knowing that he residdes in the upside , hence have contracted grey towers for permission to engage in dialogue. " Why is a platinum guild soo important?" Ethan naturally being a non player did not understand what all the fuss was about " Sir the grade of the guild decides the benefits as well as the prestige of the guild ..... It can be stated as a difference betweeen a 3rd world and fullly developed country". Ethan was naturally shocked when he heard about the importance of platinum guild token ... He wanted to inquire about how Rudra obtained one however sending a message to the world was more important . " Schedule a press conference today ..... We must make it clear who is behind Rudra , also call that guy to my office tommorow ". Ethan said , he wanted to make it clear to the world that Grey''s owned the ''True Elites'' guild. Also the method to obtain more must be discussed for the main guild. ---------------------- ( PurpleHaze City , virtual world ) Rudra was congratulated for making a platinum guild by PinkLotus and Neatwit .... much to his surprise Neatwit expressed his desire to join his TrueElites Guild and Rudra welcomed him with open arms Now the ''True Elites'' Guild had 3 members. Rudra roamed around with his two guildmates exploring every corner of the guild premise. He was extremely satisfied with how it looked ..... This is what a guild should be like . Rudra also went to NPC shops and sold everything he did not need anymore to raise money for the upcoming auction. With a budget of 25 platinum ie 2500 gold ..... plus 300 gold reserve fund he was extremely confident about spending gold like water in the auction . His guild was not yet a major guild and hence did not need huge funds for day to day operations .... while most guilds would max out at about 300-500 gold .... He could splurge all his wealth without concern. Because once the gold exchange opened after the auction was over.... the value of gold would drastically decrease. ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? : ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? 2 ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? 50 ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? 500 ???????????????? ???????????? ???? ???????????? ???????????????? , ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????. ???????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? . This notification drained the color out of most people ... Many thought about entering the auction as a group and pooling their money to buy items. But without the money trade option it was no longer possible ..... Other than atleast 2nd rate guild leaders noone would have 50 gold at hand . Hence the masses were successful weeded out not being allowed to participate in the auction. Also major players can no longer lend money to each other in the auction. Hence everyone can only rely on their own buying power . Rudra knew about this beforehand ... as after this auction if one invested 200 billion dollars in the game for money he would have equivalent gold .... even during auctions if one needed more money to bid he could bid by investing from real life. However this auction would be the most valuable and dependant on ones gaming skill , as here gold was organically farmed and bought ,also without the trade option only one''s own money would be used. Rudra knew that within this auction... he would be unbeatable. ------------------------- ( Within the auctionhouse ) Each Kingdom had their own auction houses with the same 9 items for everyone and one kingdom special item . Soon Rudra was transported into the VIP room no 1 in the auction house meant for Hazelgroove kingdom .... he looked around to see that a total of 150 common guilds attended the auction and a total of 4 VIP boxes were filled . Rudra was hardly worried about the 150 normal guild leaders who were seated below him ... however he was more interested in the 4 VIP boxes , One was occupied by him and he was sure that one would be occupied by PinkLotus , however he had no confirmation about the other two . According to his past life memories Nitin Advani should be in one of the two VIP boxes however in this timeline he was not soo sure , also the other person in the VIP box should be the spendthrift son of the Orange technologies CEO and the Guild Leader of Orange Rock ..... Donald Rock. He would uncover their identities once the bids started and he heard their voice. Soon a HighElf elegantly dresses in a three piece black suit entered the stage .... He said " Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the first annual auction ..... I am Gareth your auctioneer for the evening , Today we have a range of exquisite items for you to bid on , We have a total of 10 items to auction , with the last item being a kingdom special item , The first seven items will have a buyout price the last three would not , bids can be placed orally by speaking through the microphones available to everyone here , please state the number you want to bid , I hope you have a pleasent evening ". He then brought out the first item for auction ... A set of 20 Fire enhancement stones, [ Fire enhancement stones] ( Dark Gold ) (10 stacks): embed the stone in a weapon to add fire damage , maximum 3 stones can be embedded for stacking effects . Base price : 30 gold Minimum increment : 5 gold Buyout price 200 gold Place your bids Rudra knew the value of fire enhancement stones ..... exept for this set ... the next stones will not be available untill the lv 250 levelling ground opened to players ..... even then it would be valued at 2000 gold a stack..... A stack of 10 for 200 gold was an absolute steal hence he decided to buy it out The auctioneer started speaking the increased prices No. 120 bids 45 gold No .30 bids 50 gold 55 60 gold . 60 gold going once 60 gold going twice Rudra spoke " Buyout". VIP 1 has buyed out the stack of fire enhancement stones at 200 gold. Congratulations for obtaining the item . Everyone turned towards the VIP room one , who was this rich brat who wasted 140 gold more than needed for a stack of stones? Just how rich was he to not even bother to bid and just buyout? While all the major players took notice of VIP room1 the second item was brought out for auction.... ------------ /// Authors thoughts : Guys i genuinely need feedback about the pace at which my story is progressing .... are you all satisfied with my story progression ? is it too fast or too slow? whatever is your thoughts even on the plot .... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment.... your comments are the only guidance i take for my work .... i really take each and every one of your suggestions seriously guys soo please do drop a comment /// Chapter 32: Auction (2) PinkLotus aka Yua immediately knew the person in VIP room 1 had to be ''Shakuni''. That voice ... she could never mistake it. She sent a private message to Rudra " is that you in VIP1?" " Yes " she instantly got a reply Yua was feeling giddy for some reason .... it was the same type of feeling you get when you are around your crush in school ..... You just feel emotions you cant explain. She was happy that Rudra was here .... However she needed to work as the Guild master of Azure Lotus hence putting work first she messaged " Im in VIP2 , lets not go for a bidding war.... although we cannot trade coins we can negotiate not to compete right?" "Sure .... we will not compete for same items through No7 ..... its a fair game from then ... no hard feelings". Rudra replied "Ok" she agreed. Item no 2 was then brought up for auction ..... It was Dragonfruit..... A box containing 12. [Dragonfruit] (Epic) : Effect 1 : can be injested to increase agility by 20 , works only once per person Effect 2 : extremely rare potion material, can be used to brew temporary agility potions. Starting price : 50 gold Increment : 5 gold Buyout price 700 gold 55 gold! from no 117 75 gold! from no 25 150 gold ! From VIP2 Rudra really wanted to buy this item however honoring his word to PinkLotus he backed out of this one 200 Gold from VIP 3 250 Gold from VIP2 The common guild leaders paled at the amount of money being bid right now ... Just how frigging rich were the VIP''s to casually bid 250 gold on a item ..... 250 gold was more than enough to buy their entire guilds . INSANE SIMPLY INSANE. they understood at this point .... they are only here to watch the auction .... in no way can they actually participate. The person in VIP3 was really pissed , but he restrained himself for now ..... He had prepared 1200 gold for this auction and although going higher than 250 was affordable for him .... he wished to save for the next items. 250 Gold going once going twice SOLD to the person sitting in VIP box no 2 Yua was satisfied .... she had brought 1000 gold for this auction and still had 750 left ... that meant she can still grab one or two more items. The third item came for auction ... It was a growth type weapon . [ Replica of Excalibur ] ( Dark Gold ) ( growth) : This is a sword made by the master swordsman dungri after being inspired by the divine sword Excalibur ..... Its grade can be enhanced by fulfilling some conditions Effect 1 : +20% critical damage +15% chance to cause bleed + 25% chance to ignore defenses Effect 2 : Size manipulation.... can alter size according to the will of the user Effect 3 : ?????? Effect 4 : ?????? Starting bid : 200 gold Increment : 20 gold Buyout : 1000 gold Rudra wanted this item at any cost... Many may not realize this but the size manipulation skill is the most overpowered skill one could ask for as a swordsman . Plus the other two effects had not been unlocked yet... which meant that after updgrade it could be even more amazing ... The value of epic equipment was immeasurable ... No matter the skills , equipment does matter . The 200 gold starting price had silenced most people in the lower pavilion however the allure of the item made someone bid 200 Gold .... he said shakily. 200 gold by no 120. Do we have 220? the auctioneer said? Rudra waited for any other VIP to place bids but seeing as PinkLotus did not he bid 220 220 gold by VIP 1 240 gold by VIP3 Rudra was annoyed .... that guy did not bid when he waited but only bid now 300 gold .... Rudra declared Rudra '' s bid increment made it clear that he would not let the item go for anyone ---------- (Inside VIP room 3) Sir please dont be annoyed .... a assistant calmed the young master of Orange Rock ..... Why do these bastards keep bidding on my items? They are in the VIP room soo they must have more than 500 gold however this is the third item yet that guy in VIP1 has already used 500 gold? I need to teach him a lesson 400 gold !!! He said confidently .... no matter how rich Rudra was ... was he rich enough to bid more than 400 gold for a single item? If he does he wont possibly have enough gold left to compete for later items If he doesn''t then 400 gold will still be acceptable for this items , It was a win-win for him. 450 Rudra said nonchalantly . " HA , GOT YOU NOW. he sneered , idiot wasting all his wealth on early items ". Now lay back and watch how i buy the remaining items Rudra was extremely happy with his buy .... he has spent 200 gold for the first item and 450 for this one ... subtracting from his total wealth of 2800 gold he still had 2150 gold left .... putting 1500 gold aside for the last item ..... he still had 650 gold left... enough to buy 2 items. The next two items were bought by Yua for 300 and 200 gold respectively , she bought a dark gold necklace and a darkgold armour. She only had 250 gold left meaning she may not be able to purchase anymore . VIP4 bought 2 herbs as well for 100 and 150 gold ... honestly he overpaid for those items ... after the update those items will be available to purchase on the market .... Hardly worth 20 gold a stack. With this the 7 items having a buyout price were hogged up by 3 VIPs , not a single item falling into the hands of common guild leaders . " With this exchange we enter the stage where the most precious items for this auction would be displayed " The auctioneer said Bringing the next item that Rudra wanted badly, it could be said to be the most important item in this auction ..... This item was why he could splurge all of his money without worrying about the expenses needed to run a guild [ Reinforced Armour Set Blueprint ] ( Lv 30 ) : Blueprint to forge the Reinforced armour Starting price : 300 gold Bid increment : 30 gold No buyout Not much information was given ... however this design would become the base of his economic empire ..... It was a dark gold grade full set armour design that gave set equip bonuses . After the first major update ... items would start having durability and equip conditions , one of which being level ..... level 30 dark gold equipment could only carry you till level 50 max .... although you should change it every 5 levels ideally ..... With the bulk playerbase still at lv15 to 17 this LV30 darkgold equipment design set would help him mint money for months to come. He quickly placed the 300 gold bid . //// Author''s thoughts: Guys i will be putting a bonus chapter out today even though our target has not been achieved .... soo please shower me with powerstones guys .... lets try hit 200 before sunday ..... Showing faith by giving a bonus today/// Chapter 33: Auction (3) ( BONUS) 300 gold was just the tip of what Rudra was willing to pay for this item ..... even if he had to call quits on the kingdom special last item he would , but he would never let this item go . Contrary to his expectations noone bid for the item..... perhaps noone truly realized its value or had the money to compete with Rudra ... hence 300 Gold going once 300 Gold going twice SOLD! To the gentleman in VIP box no 1 .... With this he only had 1850 gold left . Rudra was elated...Hahahaha ..... he was going to be Rich !. The young master of Orange Rock clan was laughing out of his mind now ... he has spent 950 gold now he must be bankrupt ..... hahaha the last two items will be mine .... no sucker can bid on them. He was pleased .... he refused to beleive that Rudra could have deeper pockets than him.... He had literally brought the entrie budget of Orange Rock guild ..... and that was not a small amount..... He was buying gold at a premium since the start of the game on black market hence he had such a massive wealth.... no farming team or individual can have more money than him .... it was simply not possible. The Second last item was brought out. It was a skill [ Thunderblast ] ( skill tome ) : Blast your enemies with a lightning blast Starting price : 500 gold increment : 50 gold No buyout This skill was amazingly flashy ..... And its value was in the rarity of the skilll.... in the 20 years he played the game only 30 players had this skill It was worth bidding for the right price 400 gold he bid 600 gold came the bid from VIP3 650 Rudra bid once more this was his highest bid for this item .... he still needed funds for the last item 700 gold Bid came from VIP3 The orange rock young mastee was livid ..... Just how much money does the guy in VIP1 have?? Just who is it?? Even everyone in the audience held their breaths 700 gold going once 700 gold going twice SOLD. to the gentleman in VIP3 He only had 500 gold left with this sale. He impulsively did not realize he will not outbid VIP1 for the last item He bid 650 gold on this item .... that meant he had more money than him left. When reality struck he felt depressed ..... WHO WAS THAT GUY IN VIP 1? The auctioneer brought out the last item of the day Unique to Hazelgroove region . And the last item for the day .... [ Egg of ???? ] ( Grade : ?????? ) : ??????? Starting bid: 1500 gold Increment : 100 gold No buyout Young master of Orange Rock suddenly felt elated ..... if he could not buy this item nobody could Even his total wealth was 1200 gold ... even if that guy had more money than him he could not possibly still have 1500 gold left aftee all the buying he did but then Rudra bid 1500 gold ! there was uproar in the auction house WHO WAS THE GUY IN VIP1? the young master of Orange Rock could not beleive it.... HE REFUSED TO BELEIVE IT He had marketed the fact that he would be attending the auction with 1200 gold .... just how pitiful was he to walk out with only one item ? Wasnt VIP1 just a big slap to his ego? 1500 gold going once 1500 gold going twice SOLD!!!!! to the gentleman in VIP 1 Thanyou everyone for attending the first annual auction .... The game will go under an update in 30 minutes. Nothing about the egg was revealed .... but Rudra knew that the egg contained the guardian beast of Hazelgroove kingdom .... a mythic grade beast. Now the results of the auction were very hot on the forums ..... only in Hazelgroove kingdom was there someone who had bought 4 items including the last item ..... no other party in the entire game had bought more than 3. Just who was in the VIP1? Their curiousity wont be for long as Tommorow after the update , in the press conference of Grey international ... everything will be revealed creating shockwaves . /// Bonus as promised guys ..... please drop the powerstones as a support. I have taken time and plotted a greattt arc ahead with lots of fighting now that the groundwork is almost finished .... expect some good action in the coming week/// Chapter 34: The secret is out !!!! ( 1 day ago , The Grey tower) Rudra was summoned to the grey tower by the CEO Ethan Grey. Contrary to their first meeting they were alone this time around ..... actually noone was in the entire floor for some reason . Rudra found this odd as this is not Ethan Grey''s style. " I will not pretend to know a lot about the game and talk technically with you ..... however i understand you made a platinum guild in the game and that is a big deal that noone else has even a clue of how to do. From the start of the game uptill now your achievements are too astronomic for anyone to beleive ." Ethan paused. " Let me tell you a small story ..... There was once an investment banker who worked hard to live on scraps and was killed by the company he worked soo hard for , just because he knew about the dirty secrets of the company ... While he was dying he only wished for a second chance at life ... to right all the wrongs he did ". He paused again to look at Rudra Rudra''s eyes were bulging out of his sockets .... his heart beating at 200 beats per minute literally he could feel the rush in his chest. How could he as a reincarnator not know what Ethan was implying. " God gave him a second chance and he woke up with his future memories 20 years before he died .... at first it felt like a dream.... as such things only happen in novels right? but 20 years later he is one of the biggest investment giants who can shake world economies if he wants ". He looked Rudra in the eye and said " That man is Ethan Grey". Rudra could not breathe anymore , ETHAN WAS A REINCARNATOR JUST LIKE HIM!!!!!! BUT WHY DID HE TELL HIM HIS SECRET? " You''re a reincarnator? " Rudra said completely baffled " Yes i am and your reaction tells me soo are you , a normal person would have not reacted as such to reincarnation ... thinking it is bullshit....But your shocked eyes .... the beads of perspiration on your forehead ... the change in the pitch of your voice..... You know its true !!!! , So Rudra Rajput tell me your story". Completely defenseless against Ethan, Rudra was stunned silent for 5 minutes straight . He thought about various outcomes but no matter how he thought he had no other option but to reveal his greatest secret to this man. " Yes i am a reincarnator ". BOOM! Ethan Grey started to laugh like a madman ... " I KNEW IT HAHAHAHAHA". The large office echoed of his crazed laughter for sometime after which he asked " When did you Reincarnate? " "1st January 2100". " Ohhhh.... Thats the day i died in my first timeline .... The end of my future knowledge.... Coincidence?" He asked Rudra intrigued. " You are still new to this game kid ... but i believe in your potential .... God has given us a second chance.... we dont know why .... maybe he is just seeing us for entertainment and enjoying the view from above ..... or maybe he did genuinely take mercy on us and gave us a choice ..... anyway me who has lived out the 20 years of my reincarnation time again i know one thing for sure and thats '' Knowledge Is Power '' ." Ethan said his expression returning to that of a normal human again " I will back you , not as a buisnessman but as a brother .... if you are a reincarnator like me ... you are bound to make an empire of yourself someday ..... I had to walk a harsh road , and although with me backing you , you will still have to walk a harsh road but i can help you remove a few roadblocks."Ethan said Rudra was completely take offguard with this ... He expected to be extorted once his secret was out ... yet he was supported ? WHY? Ethan Grey did not possess such a character " Why are you doing this? " Rudra asked " Ofcourse it is not from the goodness of my heart i wont bullshit you ..... but looking at you i do see my past .... The hungry Ethan Grey trying to make a name for himself and i do know how much i wanted to be free at that time .... the master of my own will just to keep becoming a subordinate of someone above me .... i clawed my way to the top , hence i know what happened of everyone who tried to suppress me". " Dont misunderstand i am not scared of you ... however i beleive that with my support and your knowledge both of us will profit a lot , I am showing faith in you today soo that you will repay me tommorow ". Ethan said " This contract here states that Grey Corporation will provide you with funds and backing without the pressure to make profits and will stand behind you for all logistics, hiring, PR and securities while also promises to never extort more than 30% of your guild shares ..... But in exchange you must provide relevant information to the Grey main guild while also actively promote your guild as a part of the Grey international conglomerate ". Rudra was extremely touched and elated by the conditions of this contract.... he was genuinely feeling demotivated these days since he was under Ethan .... the pressure to make money had made him alter a lot of plans , which were not really beneficial for his guild''s future . Also he always felt threatened .... what if tommorow Ethan Grey decided to own 70% of his guild? Or kick him out of his own guild over a difference of opinion ... it was not like he could fight back with his family being hostage. Hence he started to loose the motivation to make the best guild out there but with this now .... He felt his confident and ambitious self again. Rudra said " Since you are showing me soo much favour ... i being the younger brother will not let you suffer too ... wether it is my guild or real life i ll help you too". Rudra paused .... Ethan was indeed intrigued " I assume your investment knowledge ends here with 2100 rolling ... But i know some stuff ". It was Ethans turn to have his eyes widen ..... Indeed he was troubled lately about being at his knowledge ''s end .... without his future knowledge was he still the investment genius he was called? But with Rudra the game changed in his favour again. Rudra wrote some names on a piece of paper and passed it to Ethan ... Ethan signed the contract and passed it to Rudra. With this exchange ..... The deadliest duo who would conquer the world made their first step towards alliance building genuine trust with each other. Someday in future history this day will be noted as the most remarkable event of the century . ------------------ ( Present day after the auction , At the Grey towers press conference ) Ethan Grey seated in the centre , to his right was Rudra and to his left was the Guild master of Grey Warrior''s the main guild of Grey conglomerate He said " Welcome ladies and gentlemen , today..." /// GOLDEN CHAPTER GUYS .... RATE THIS PLOT TWIST OUTTA TEN IN THE COMMENTS 9/10 For me???????????? /// Chapter 35: Meeting Adam! ( Half n hour before the press conference , The Grey towers conference room ) Rudra and Ethan were seated in the conference room talking about their respective timelines , understanding how their actions changed the timeline this time around. The shocking thing was that in Rudra''s timeline Ethan Grey was always a trillionare. Rudra knew Ethan as the Investment God. However their conversation was cut short with the entry of some corporate officials from various big organizations here for meeting Ethan about the big press conference and gaining intel ahead of time, and Adam. Adam was the number one player in Royal Road and an established Professional gamer who was revered world wide. The Grey international poached him for running the operations for the Grey Warrior''s guild. He is the serving Guild master of a superpower ! Rudra was cautious at first of Adam ..... in his last life Adam was a competent and ruthless type of guild leader but not much was known about his personality . The officials came in and Greeted Ethan first .... soo did Adam ... Ethan just nodded in response. Ethan then proceded to introduce Rudra " Gentleman this is Rudra Rajput ..... However you may better know him as '' Shakuni '' The guild leader of ''True Elites'' . The eyes of the corporate people widened in shock , they quickly sent glances at Rudra measuring him. The fact that Rudra was in the upside and under Grey''s fold was not known to anyone yet .... hence the appearance of Rudra here was enough to shock everyone . Rudra was currently being sought out by various major corporations ..... The bounty on his information was by no means less. Ethan loved the shocked reaction of everyone in the room , he continued " The Grey International owns a 30% stake in the True Elites guild , And Rudra is like my little brother ..... Both the Grey Warrior''s and True Elites will recieve full support from my company ". The corporate officials now recieved a mental breakdown ... Grey had aldready poached Rudra .... but more shocking is he only owns 30% stake but is providing unconditional support ... And Rudra is like his little brother??????? FUCK , isnt that declaring that messing with Rudra is messing with the Grey''s? Who in their right mind''s would mess with the Greys? Ethan continued " Rudra this is Adam White , the guild leader of Grey Warrior''s guild , you two take your time and get aquainted before the press conference , let us buisnessman talk buisness ". With that he lead the corporate officials in another conference room leaving the two of them alone. " Yo , brooooooo you''re Shakuni that is soooo sick dude ". Adam said in a typical American accent. He appeared completely laid back and chilled " Nice to meet you " Rudra said with a smile " Your name keeps ringing every week on the server''s brother you are goooood man ". Rudra did not understand .... whats wrong with this guy ? why is he acting like he s a surfer or something? Is this the integrity of a professional gamer? But that got answered soon . " Okay lets get serious for a second " Adam said , his tone getting heavy and his posture getting straight ..... it was almost like he was a different person altogether. " How did you get your hands on a platinum guild token". He asked Rudra knew this was gonna come up in this conversation , originally he never intended to reveal the secrets about the platinum guild token However now with Ethan treating him soo nicely , the least he could to was to help a brother guild. " There is only one in each kingdom , and the method to obtain them is by clearing SSS rank quests that leads to open picking of loot from the warehouse of the Church of Light , this method holds true for every kingdom in the Eastern continent , in the Western continent it is in the kingdom ''s treasury ". Adam nodded .... he knew Rudra was showing him favour by revealing such coveted information soo casually .... instantly he felt a bond with Rudra. " Im in the kingdom of nine clouds , what do you suggest ". " You need to be a viscount first , then approach his royal majesty in the court and report to him about corrupt officials in the court ... It will lead to the episode Corruption in Court .... which will need you to expose the crime by gathering proofs .... at the end you maybe promoted to a Marquis and granted one wish .... ask for the platinum guild token then ". Rudra explained an entire quest line in detail ....Adam was not an idiot ... he knew Rudra could not possibly know soo much .... how did he have this information? Rudra was prepared for this however " Wondering how i know all this? " Adam nodded " You know that every book inside the game was personally written by the Cuber staff .... the history of the empire ... important personalities ... some quest related information etc etc ". Adam nodded .... insane time and preparation went into making the game '' Omega''. Everything had a backstory and a baground.... it was like an entire world in itslef with its history, battles and culture. " One such book by mistake contained all the plans the company made for the platinum guild tokens... all the quest lines and location .... it wasn''t meant to be that way ... probably a mistake in the developers side hence after i read the book and created the platinum guild it was erased from the library ". Adam was convinced now it was luck that helped Rudra .... Such mistake is indeed rare but may happen ... developers are also Humans afterall . He said " Thankyou Rudra , know that although we are under the same organization and hence will always have a healthy competition to be the best .... My guild will always have your guild''s back besides that". Rudra looked into Adam''s eyes and saw that he genuinely meant it , He smiled and said " DITTO". With this Adam smiled and slouched again , regaining his surfer mode saying stuff like " Brooooo , come to our kingdom broooo lets do Dungeon runs together ". " Brooo what kinda women do you like ".? Inshort he fried Rudra''s brain for the next 15 minutes untill the press conference. Ethan smiled seeing the two of them getting along well ... it was now time for the press conference and to show the world the might of the Grey conglomerate . Chapter 36: Shocking The World ( BONUS ) /// BONUS for reaching powerstone target..... thankyou guys for completing the powerstone target for this week ..... I am overwhelmed with your support ... lets keep it up guys , ENJOY THE BONUS , you all earned it !!!!!! /// -------------- ( At the Grey tower , an auditorium full of reporters from all over the world ) In an auditorium full of reporters there were only 5 people seated on the stage .... in the centre was Ethan Grey to his right was Rudra and his left was Adam ... with two high ranking officials of Grey International on the side. " Welcome ladies and gentlemen , today i am proud to announce that The Grey International has entered the new trillion dollar market '' Omega'' , that game has changed the dynamic of the entire world , and with UN approving the conversion of real world currency to ingame currency and vice versa the game is simply not a game anymore it is a potential job and a money spinner." Ethan paused to look at the surroundings ... There were flashes of cameras all around , a few drones trying to capture ariel photos ... even though it was an enclosed space. This interview was being live streamed across the world with coverage in over 3000 major news channels in real time. It was hot news , And as it was regarding '' Omega'' , it was even more popular. He continued " As you all may know , establishing a supreme guild with excellent talents is the backbone to dominating the in game market... With this in mind the Grey international has brought together the best of the best and formed the main guild in game with over 1 million members the '' Grey Warrior''s '' headed by the supremely talented player and Guild master Adam White ". Camera''s flashed and cheers could be heard in the auditorium..... Everyone was impressed by the Grey international ''s prowess to hire the top gamer Adam. Ethan continued " The Grey International is also proud to declare its second subsidiary guild and the only platinum guild in the game .... '' True Elites '' headed by my little brother the mysterious '' Shakuni '' ." The hall erupted.... flashes upon flashes of camera could be seen.....WHATTTT .... PLAYER SHAKUNI is connected to Grey international .... Player Shakuni is the little brother of Ethan Grey!!!!!! There was a flood of questions from the reporters and the decorum of the hall was completely destroyed . '' Silence!!!! '' an official from Grey international shouted ... silencing the rowdy crowd Ethan said " We will now take questions in a civil manner ". Reporter 1 " Mr Grey how did you meet player ''Shakuni'' and poach him into your company??? What is your relation to him to make him your little brother". Ethan said " He applied for a residence in the upside , we met and instantly clicked .... im a bit older than him in life with more experience in the corporate world hence he seems like a little brother to me, as well as a valued asset of the Grey International ". Reporter 2 " Mr .... ughhh sorry we dont know your real name sir '' Shakuni'' ... will you disclose the method to obtain platinum guild tokens?" Rudra said " Rudra Rajput , and NO ". another round of clamour from the audience .... the headlines of the next day would be a mess. Reporter 3 " Mr Adam ..." Reporter 4 " Mr Rudra ... " Reporter 5 " " " " After an hour of question and answer the press conference was concluded ... The world was thrown into chaos with this reveal Every major power coveting Rudra was stopped dead in their tracks and were cursing Ethan Grey hard..... had Rudra been anywhere exept the upside they would have hired mercenaries to abduct him or force him to reveal the secrets about platinum token that he carried ..... However noone could dare offend Ethan Grey .... not unless you were a trillionare yourself ..... and none of the trillionares wanted to mess with another for such small things ..... But that did not mean that this news did not shock the trillionares as even they coveted the player '' Shakuni''. Rudra '' s parents who were casually watching news were shocked to see their boy there .... the topic of the worlds discussion Their boy was a massive deal .... they were really proud of him .... now everything made sense how he was able to pay off their debts and move them to the upside ..... their son was a terrific professional gamer. With this press exchange the value of '' True Elites '' skyrocketed .... many elites wanted to join this guild backed by Grey International and lead by the mysterious leader '' Shakuni'' and the only platinum guild in the game..... The hype was real and Rudra achieved his goal of creating the hype he needed for his recruitment . With real world problems wrapped now was the time to focus on the game , with recruitment being next , once the guild started rolling , soo would his plans ! '' Omega '' Here i come !!!! Rudra said out loud . He was back He was motivated He was ready to conquer it all . /// The next part of the story will now revolve in game for sometime ..... with lots of action and guild related plot .... hope you all enjoy !/// Chapter 37: Back in game , Recruitment Notice ( Back in the virtual world , Purple Haze city ) System Notification : Update 1 complete ! here are the new features 1) The Auction House is open , players can now buy/sell their items from the auction house , the currency exchange is now open , all the currency in the world can be converted to in game currency and vice versa. The auction House commission fee for every transaction is fixed at 5% 2) The EXP buff of hotel rooms is now been removed , You can still rent a room at the fixed rate to spend the night. 3) The weapons will now have durability stat... they may be damaged and broken if overused.... it can be repaired by visiting a blacksmith. 4) The option of weapons and skills is added to the stat panel 5) The method to reach nobility in a kingdom has been revised , visit the forum for a more detailed explanation ( NOTE: current nobility players will not be affected ) 6) The Infamy and Luck stat has been added , PK will increase your infamy and increase the level penalty and loot drop with death. Gold can be used to donate in church to reduce infamy. Players with high infamy may be barred from entering a city. 7) Defensive Equipment will now have levels , you can only equip a piece once you have reached the level requirement to equip it and can only be worn for upto +20 levels from the equipping level ... after which it would be useless ( It is ideal to change equipment every 5-10 levels ) 8) The pet and mount slot has been added. 9) Lifestyle classes can now level up with a +50% boost to exp while crafting successfully. 10) Guilds can now recruit NPC ''s upon paying fixed monthly salary. It will be deducted in advance on the start of the month.The number of NPC that can be recruited depends on the grade of the guild. Rudra nodded satisfied it was the same as his last life .... He anticipated all this , the common gamers would not be happy with this update as it kept on nerfing the player experience. The game company realized that the method to obtain nobility in a kingdom was wayy to lax and that with a bit of effort anyone could become a noble , But they could not have 50 thousand barons and 20 thousand viscounts running around in the same kingdom can they... hence the requirements were made much more difficult. Obviously many would be disgruntled with this. The lifestyle classes were useless during the first month of the game, their levelling speed was too slow and the products they made were inferior to those available in shops , hence many looked down upon the lifestyle players. However , Rudra knew lifestyle would be the backbone of any guild from now on .... Now that equipment needed constant repairs as well as needed to be changed every few levels. There was no way to constantly obtain full sets upon full sets of equipment ..... hence buying was the only option unless you had inhouse production. Rudra had bought an important set design at the auction , and that would proove its worth in the time to come .... Rudra gathered Neatwit and Karna and started formulating recruitment plans , after two hours they decided to hire a total of 50 members in this batch of recruitment . They decided to divide the recruitment process into 3 parts True Elites Warrior''s , True Elites lifestyle , True Elites Logistics with a distribution of 37 warriors , 1 logistic members and 9 lifestyle players There was a swarm of players willing to enter True Elites and with Rudra aldready having filled the logistics spot by hiring a Harvard graduate working for Ethan only the warriors and lifestyle spots were left. The team welcomed Amelia , The Harvard graduate who would from now on work as the general secretary. The method of choosing the guild members was decided to be based on 3 rounds , combat testing round .... in the training hall of PurpleHaze city one could take the combat prowess test and be graded by the system ... from E class to SSS rating.... for qualifying for the 2nd round one atleast had to have an A rated prowess. The 2nd round involved a test of character , knowledge and reflexes , in a digital quiz created by Rudra one needed to quickly answer question on the timers as well as play sudden game''s that tested one''s reflex .... only those who place in the top 100 will qualify for the final round. The final round was interview and Rudra would personally weed out those he wanted and those he did not into his guild . For the lifestyle classes .... Rudra with his Platinum Guild aldready had the best of the best forging halls , he also hired 3 professional NPC ''s to man the helm for now as the players would at most be beginners in crafting, he currently only wanted to hire blacksmiths , alchemists and potionology apprentice''s 3 each in his guild ..... He left it upto the NPC to choose the cream of the crop. He also transferred his remaining funds to the guild warehouse and bought 20 menial task handlers under the guild .... they would do menial tasks like buying raw materials and transporting of goods. With this he made a list of items and acceptable pricing range and put them all to work to buy all the available stock. Although players had not reached level 30 yet they would soon. He issued an order to the NPC professional blacksmith''s to begin production of the dark gold reinforced Armour set once they finish recruitment immediately. Rudra wanted to prepare for the future Amelia showed her class by elegantly formulating a recruitment notice and posting it under the guild on the forums. The Forums still complaining about the new updates sucdenly became interested in the outrageous recruitment policy of True Elits . With millions of intrested applicants only 37 places were available .... it was even tougher than entering a prestigious college. The common gamers made a larger fuss .... however that day a new term had been coined which was the True Elites standard .... each and every guild modified this method of hiring lowering the parameters to hire their guild members in the future. With the first update completed and the recruitment notice out Rudra''s plans were now underway with full speed. NO TIME TO SLACK OFF! /// Guys new powerstone target for the week .... we rocked it last week with 274 PS , lets try reach past 300 this time..... Bonus scheme this time around will be bonus chapter for every 150 PS , the day we reach 150 there will be bonus same for 300 even if its sunday! /// Chapter 38: The interview 1.3 million applicants tried out the training house trials to try get an A grade assesment to go on to round 2 , but soon reality crashed that 90% of the masses could not even get a C grade on the test. There were only about 5% who got a C 3% who got a B 1% who got an A and only a handfull of S grade assessment with only one SS grade assessment All in all only about 1500 people cleared round 1 out of the 1.3 million people to attempt it , this type of elimination rate was just simply outrageous. Just what kind of skill did you need to become a True Elite? Out of the 1500 that undertook round 2 , the top hundred were calculated by the AI and called for the interview round. Although many of the 1400 rejected were enraged , they knew that the entire process uptill now was ridiculously fair , and noone could blame anyone for not passing. It all depended on one''s own skill , However that all changed in the interview round Rudra knew perfectly well that each and every interview he undertook was probably being recorded by the players attending the interview. Every decision , every selection would probably be scrutinized. However he was unfazed , he knew he needed loyal members and those whose personality was still mouldable , He needed people coming with a learning attitude and not with Im superior to everyone attitude in his guild. The interview was held in the Guild Hall , with Rudra and Karna being seated alone in the grand hall , and a table seperating the candidates was set up. The candidates were absolutely blown away by the grandness of the platinum guild ..... Each and everything in the guild screamed luxury through and through They became psychologically pressured in such environment , and also highly motivated to do anything to enter such an amazing guild. Everywhere they roamed they felt a sense of ''WOW''. Although the acceptance rate of the guild was pitifully low , that was what made the guild soo special. You feel the value of getting in , when you struggle soo hard for it. Had the entrance been easy noone would value the position soo much. Amelia was seated outside the hall , looking absolutely stunning , half of the male candidates were stealing glances at her , drooling .... The more lustfull ones felt even more motivation to enter , whereas the women felt uncomfortable at seeing such a stunning beauty. '' Is the Guild Leader a sucker for beauty?'' they thought . Amelia extremely professionally sent the members in one by one for the interview. The candidates were extremely nervous , especially when meeting Rudra , The '' Player Shakuni '' was definitely one of the top players in the game currently and his reputation preceded him , and even the most confident candidates felt a sense of pressure while talking to him. Rudra had the same set of 3 questions he would ask everyone " Why should you become a member of the guild?" " What will you do , if tommorow the guild looses its position because of loosing a war ? ". "What lows are the lowest that you are willing to suffer with the guild?". The three questions were extremely straight forward and his evalutation scheme was also simple. He did not detest arrogance and pride , however one should not be oberflowing with it hence to the first question those who answered in a manner of i can contribute to the guild in xyz manner and hence am a valuable asset were all passed with full marks Where as those who said stuff like i passed with an A grade assesment , my skills are top notch , i have such a record in royal road , i am an elite , blah blah any nonsense about themselves were given a big fat 0. It is about a team in a guild , not an individual. The answer to question 2 was truth! , If you said i really dont know what i would do , you get full marks If you said ill probably quit , you get full marks If you said ill stick around no matter what ..... now that kinda BS made Rudra suspicious , and hence he would immediately ask why ? If the answer satisfied Rudra they get full marks else if they are just corporate liars trying to please the boss , a big fat 0. Now the third question was highly subjective and Rudra gauged the players characters from this question itself The answered ranged from , everything ill never leave the guild even at its lowest to none whatsoever , im here to be an elite, struggles are for commoners. Rudra rejected both answers ..... what he was looking for was anything reasonable , Pinch in finances could be weathered , Loosing battles could be weathered .... What could not be tolerated was loosing face. When the members felt unwanted or when the guild was no longer what its name suggested , that was a gathering of elites that was the bottom line. With this his evaluation of 100 candidates was complete .... and although he decided to hire only 37 .... surprisingly 52 actually passed his evaluation hence he took them all in . With the results out and the acceptance being higher than advertised many were very very happy. What Rudra was most happy about was that there were amazingly talented rankers that also joined his team . MonkeyKingEnma PoisonToadGamakichi ToadSageGamabunta SlySerpantMadrin WickedFenrir Blazing Phoenix All these were excellent assault players in his past life , warrior / swordsman / warlock / barbarian class they would provide excellent DPS on the frontlines. Rhino TankerTom ImmovableImmortal Were three tankers that he chose in his guild , Rhino was the number one tanker of Orange Rock guild in his past life who was one of the top 50 in the arena rankings about 2 years into the game. Medivh Oz Cola These three were the three mage ''s he chose in his guild , Medivh had a hidden class which was archmage ..... He had not revealed it to Rudra however Rudra knew .... he was absolutely elated having these three in his team ..... Wizards had low hp however nobody had better AOE than Wizards and he had the cream of the crop..... The only reason they chose to join the guild was because of the mage tower .... no other guild in the game had a mage tower..... and noone would ... not atleast till the next 3 years. Robin and Apollo were the two archers Artemis and Shambhu were the two hunter/ ranger And there were also 3 well known priest/ healers in his team, in his past life these three had the craziest fan following deeming them as dream of all men.... because they were triplets having excellent beauty. They always went everywhere together and were actually NGO wworkers in real life. Kitty Katy Karen The best damn healers one could ask for It was a completely overpowered lineup .... even the rest of the members were minimum A rated in combat prowess and although he did not memorize their names yet.... he would soon ..... as the dungeon runs were up next. With the guild sigil being the same as that of Grey Warrior''s as well , to show his sponsor , the Grey wolf symbol , simmilar to that of the Starks in Game of Thrones And completely Black Robes ..... each and every accepted member looked extremely cool !!! they all had a photoshoot as well as a group photo..... On the forums each and every acceptee was posted by the guild with a slogan of "@Rhino is now a true elite" " @ Robin is now a true elite" " " " " And finally the first batch of True Elites was shown in a group photo ! Although it felt cringe.... it was a great way to welcome all the members and make them feel at home. Finally with the First wave of recruitment complete , they all gathered in the guild hall where Rudra was on the stage, silently observing them all . Chapter 39: Setting out Rudra calmly waited for all the buzz to die down , everyone was exited to meet their new guild master.Soon the entire guild hall had pin drop silence , everyone''s eyes focused on Rudra. " Welcome to True Elites , each and everyone of you here is above the masses wether in gaming skills or knowledge , it is funny how even the lowest level player in our guild is level 23 whereas the highest in the server , Neatwit who is also part of our guild is 28 ". Rudra said " Well the thing to note here is that, be proud of being a True Elite , however understand that everyone here is one !! The simple guy , The shy guy , The cool guy, The good guy , The bad guy no matter your personality everyone here is an elite and hence there is noone , and let me mark my words noone here that anyone can dare to look down upon ". He rotated his eyes amongst the crowd , noticing their reactions. " Well if we are all Elites than why should we listen to you? one might think that .... one might make this guild of equals into more of a gathering club than a guild with heirchy ..... soo no! let me make one thing very clear right from the start , this is a guild and it will have a heirchy , while even those below you are not to be looked down on , there will be no defiance in the command chain ". Everyone became nervous ... why is the guild soo damm strict? "Answering the first part , let me make it clear , i am level 26 ( 9th in the overall rankings) , i achieved this while doing multiple quests , becoming a viscount and forming a platinum guild , having no time for actual grinding of mobs ". Rudra said Although Rudra was respected , the guild members did not see him as an absolute authority figure yet .... and it was important to establish dominance first.He made his qualifications clear. " Thats not it , i have the Grey International as a support in real life and have used my personal funds to buy items beneficial for the development of the guild". " LV 30 Dark gold full equipment sets will be supplied to each member of the guild soon , blacksmith workshop ready to mend your weapons 24/7 , potion , alchemy hall , wizard tower , stable for mounts , you name it we have got it , this entire environment is given by me to the guild , even the only residential quarters in the entire game to still provide exp buff on logout are in our guild! ". Audible gasps could be heard at this point , it was true that no other guild in the entire game could provide all this at this point. " With these contributions , i claim my spot as the guild leader of True Elites , and believe me when i say i will lead each and every one of you to be at the pinnacle of the game ! ". Silence , pin drop silence..... what a bold promise! What high ambitions , a true leader! " For those who doubt my combat prowess , here is the result of my attempt to the training halls combat assessment test ". With that he displayed his results to everyone and everyone''s jaws dropped SSS RATING! , they all knew that it was extremely difficult to move from A to S and S to SS but SSS assesment means absolute perfect score! What a monster! what an absolute talent! with this reveal noone doubted his ability to lead the guild anymore. " The guild hierchy will solely based on contributions to the guild ..... we are a team here , there is always benefits in making our teammates stronger. Donate items to the warehouse to exchange for GCP or use cash to buy some , GCP can be earned by doing missions posted on the missions chart , through guild wars , exemplary performances etc etc. The same system as most guilds follow, there is a compensation system here for all guild members , deaths, loss of equipment will be compensated by the guild as well as providing you all with real world money as salary will be done ". " One million dollars a month is your salary for now as all of you are members , through contributions you may upgrade your ranks to squad leaders or dungeon captains or core members or elders i don''t know what positions will be there , but the pay will be more and soo will the power to command". Everyone was shocked at the ridiculously high salary , with this they could just quit their jobs/ schools/ colleges and play the game full time no worry. " The guild member may borrow money from the guild interest free too upto a limit of 20 million dollars , standard contract procedures to be followed, the guild will help you in game out game everywhere , in return i only ask for your patience and a chance to proove that everything i said is true ". Rudra paused ..... and asked emotionally " Will you follow me?". Silence.... Then someone said " Yes , I will " " Yes i will " soon everyone shouted " Yes , i will!!!" The entire atmosphere was charged , they all felt invincible , they only needed to follow Rudra and everything else will be taken care by him! , money , glory , items all will be done for the guild soo they only really needed to be loyal. He then came down and they all circled him. At the centre of the crowd he sais " ONE FOR ALL ALL FOR ONE GO ELITES GO " They all repeated "ONE FOR ALL ALL FOR ONE GO ELITES GO!!!" The guild was charged , and the first order was issued by Rudra " Wrap up your matters today , and tommorow we take the first clear of Lv30 dungeon the '' Goblin Stronghold'' in nightmare mode ". Everyone shuddered ..... noone has even cleared the nightmare mode of the lv 25 dungeon yet ..... even the best of the best guilds are still struggling the Goblins stronghold at normal mode , only one guild has ever completed it in easy mode , yet we would attempt it in nightmare mode? But somehow they beleived that If it was Rudra , they could do it Chapter 40: First Dungeon Run The next day , Rudra and the team set out for the 50 man dungeon Goblins stronghold. Neatwit was out levelling hence he was not participating in this dungeon run. As the guild moved in a disciplined formation , wearing the same robes , they naturally caught attention of all the players in town . '' Fuck , are all the rankers out here or what?'' a random bystander said out loud Then everyone started to notice the groups levels '' just who are these guys?? '' '' Its the True Elites guild .... its ''Shakuni'' '' '' OMG , Its that guild! , quick let me take a picture and upload it on the forums''. A lot of attention was given to the procession , Rudra did not mind. He wanted each and every Guild member feel the special vibe that came with being an elite. Soon they reached outside the city and had to occasionally clear mobs to make way to the dungeon Goblins stronghold! When they reached the dungeon , they saw it was being camped by Orange Rock members. As Rudra approached a guard said " This dungeon is being used by the Orange Rock guild , come back a week later ". Rudra looked at his level ..... just 16 , where even does he get the guts from he wondered , still he asked " So you refuse to let us pass?" " Yes " the guard said , and about 200 Orange Rock members designated to keep the dungeon safe equipped their swords , and threatened them in an imposing manner Although none of the Elites felt any pressure , they wondered how their leader would tackle this situation ..... and handle he did , before even someone could blink , Rudra killed the Guard talking to him . ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???? ????????????????????????.... ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????? 5 ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? '' Fuckk.... what just happened?'' " Does anyone else want to stop my guild?" Rudra asked imposingly , windcutter blade in hand. Noone had the courage to answer , Rudra just strolled through the nightmare mode gate and entered the dungeon "We must report this incident to the higher ups" someone said " Huh, the idiots chose nightmare difficulty , soo what if they are high leveled , noone can clear that stage ". Someone else chimed in The young master of Orange Rock was absoluteley furious after the incident was reported " Rudra Rajput, you bud heads with me at the auction ..... then you kill my guild mate ..... soo what if Ethan Grey is behind you ... you will pay!!!" Issue a verdict , the entire elite force of Orange Rock guild will camp the nightmare mode entrance ... whenever the bastards come out .... give them a shortcut trip to the city''s spawn centre. With this verdict about 2000 Orange Rock members started camping the nightmare mode dungeon entrance. ------------------- ( Meanwhile , inside the dungeon) ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? " ????????????????????????''???? ????????????????????????????????????????" , ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????? 50/50 .... ????????????????????????????????! ". The Elites entered the dungeon. Rudra gave the order " Okay guys , listen up .... we will use a rotation system for non boss fights, me along 9 other players willl clear the mobs and all 50 of us will take part in the boss fight.... there are 4 mini bosses , after each mini boss the 9 members will switch, take this chance to get used to the battle style of goblins, bigger or smaller , goblins have the same basic traits and fighting styles". Everyone nodded..... Rudra seemed like an experienced leader , giving clear instructions , that were creative yet simple. " Form smaller groups with even party distribution of 2 tank 3 damage dealers 2 long range attackers 1 healer and 1 mage". The team quickly reorganized themselves as told Rudra took them in towards the first hallway . The hallway was filled with hobgoblins [ Hobgoblins] ( Mutated ) ( Lv 25) : mutated goblins , not yet fully matured .... fast in attacks yet posses weak defensive capabilities. Rudra quickly called the shots " Archers , draw the agro , Rhino and Tanker when they reach 5 m use shield bash and throw them back into their own lines then hold your ground .... Warriors will repel the wave causing damage pushing them back 5 meters when wizards will deal AOE 15 m behind the tanks , we repeat the same process after each wave". Rudra called the shots and the other 9 complied.... The shots were fired and when the aggro was drawn the Hobgoblins broke the lines and charged. 10m....8.....7....5! Shield bash! Both Tanks used shield bash and sent the Hobgoblins flying back their own lines causing light damage to the members behind -250,-250,-20,-20,-5 ..... a string of damage appeared. Combat classes charge... Rudra shouted and himself sprung into action .... windcutter slicing through enemies like butter , everyone was in Awe of their guild leaders skills MonkeyKingEnma PoisonToadGamabunta both showed their class as world class assault players and killed a bunch too Then Rudra shouted " Hold the line! ". The assault stopped , medivh caster a fireblaze spell 10m away from the assaulters location and boom , the retreating demons were all burnt to a crisp a 20m breathing room was created between the frontliners and the Goblins. " Tanks close in ! , Healer heal the damaged, archer draw aggro". The same process was repeated again and again .... untill the entire floor was cleared. With just 10 people a swarm of 500 goblins was repelled , not loosing a single member!. What a tactic! The team members respect for Rudra deepened. Even the team who followed his lead felt like this was a piece of cake.... the entire time no one was put under extreme pressure... it was almost FUN! The crowd became exited .... maybe they could actually clear this dungeon ! Then before entering the first mini boss''s room Rudra said " Okay guys there is a Goblin chief in there ... its size is pretty large and if you come under his giant club , you will be crushed ....even if you avoid it with a narrow miss you will be blasted away, even the tanks". " I had made everyone buy a bow before entering the dungeon , it was for this boss.... after finishing the side mobs , which would be done by the assualters ... very quickly ..... all 50 of us will only shower him with arrows long range.... Me and Karna will draw the aggro , the rest of you keep firing nonstop .... Wizards light the hell out of the bastard! ". A very unusual tactic again.... but that was the boss''s orders ... they could but only follow .... they nodded in acknowledgment. " Lets go....". /// Authors thoughts : BONUS chapter for reaching the PS target ..... you guys are completely crushing it ..... thankyou for all the support ... hope you enjoy this one ???? ..... Also my contract has been approved today soo the gift option is now open on my book". Chapter 41: Breezing through The party went in the room where the first mini boss of the dungeon resided..... As expected it was quite fearsome [ Goblin Chief] ( Elite) ( Lv 35) ( Hp 30000/30000): With great frame and power , the goblin chief is a fearsome opponent to fight against , caution is adviced. Indeed level35 was extremely difficult to tackle at such a high hp! Caution was indeed needed. [Hobgoblins ] ( mutant) ( Lv 30) : Mutant goblins , serves the goblin chief Rudra counted them in his mind ..... there were a total of 12 hobgoblins around the chief .Well luckily they had 14 assaulters in his party ... "Assaulters slay the smaller mobs, archers take aggro of the boss , stay out of attack range , non qssaulters pick up a bow and try and damage as much as you can. !" Rudra commanded. The frey started , Rudra quickly went to work on the hobgoblins , leading by example he slew 3 hobgoblins in just under a minute assisting others in slaying 5 more.Although Karna''s skills were not as polished as in his past life, with the epic blade slaughterer he too was a one man wrecking crew . With the two of them leading the frey, the smaller hobgoblins were easily slayed." Other warriors fall back behind the tanks and pick up the bows , let me and karna take the aggro now archers". saying that Rudra attacked the boss using windslash -300 -300 -450 critical hit! And the boss''s aggro was drawn indeed! The goblin chief roared and used the earthquake stomp skill , Shockwave rippled accross the ground damaging every player in the party -200 -250 -300 A string of damage appeared on the players . Rudra grit his teeth , Darkness Bind! , he immobilized the chief and switched his weapon to Excalibur , using the size manipulation property of the blade , midway through his swing he increased the size to that of the goblin chiefs head and SLASH! -21000 CRITICAL HIT! [ Goblin chief ] ( Elite ) ( Hp 1200/30000) Rudra quickly escaped. And used the darkness blast skill as his last move -1200 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? A system notification wrang through everyone''s ears , but noone was paying attention , WTF WAS THAT INSANE DAMAGE ??? Does the leader even need a party? he basically soloed a mini boss of a nightmare mode dungeon. Shock ! Awe ! Respect ! LEVEL UP! A notification was heard again , they all being around similar levels levelled up after this boss fight .Rudra smiled ..... this is exactly what he wanted. He wanted everyone in his party to understand that he is a reliable leader and with him around everything will just be a breeze . Levelling up Rudra called up the stat panel ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:26 Tier : 0 STAT AGI : 67 VIT : 67 INT : 53 STA : 52 PHY : 50 HP : 4900/5000 Unassigned stat points : 5 Hidden stats Luck ??? Charm ??? Infamy : 20 Status : Healthy Equipment : common stone sword , leather boots , Darkness Armour , Lich''s Ring , Bronze shins , Viking helmet Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ---------------------- The updated system menu was excellent , much more detailed than before , although Rudra had a few stat points left , he was more inclined to save them for now as his current combat strength was quite strong. He would assign them in the future as he deemed necessary." Check the loot guys , i am not a very lucky person , if i pick the loot it will most likely be trash ". Rudra said smiling But this just put pressure on whoever would open the loot. If it was trash everyone would look them with discerning eyes. After 2 mins of silence Karna decided to go check the loot. +20 ???????????????? + 2 ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? +2 ???????????????????????????? ???????????? +1 ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????? +1 ???????????????????? ???????????????? ( ????????????????????) +1 ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? +3 ???????????????????? ???????????????????? + 7 ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ( ????????????????????) what a great harvest! Indeed Karna was a lucky guy Everyone looked towards Rudra now.... as the loot distribution mode was selected at party leader.Rudra said " The gold goes to guild inventory , in all expeditions solid currency income will always go to the guild and soo will the alchemy items the goblins eyes , Claws etc... any party member having use for those parts can exchange at 70% off the market rate from the guild warehouse". Everyone nodded , this method of distribution was more than fair. But what about the other resources? [ Rare Necklace ] ( Rare) : +2 INT , +1 Luck As this is a non class specific item .... this will be decided by roll , those who wish to have this item please roll , however bear in mind that some other person will be given priority over items in futureRudra said7 party members decided to roll for the item and with a highest roll of 85 it went to Cola. Cola was very happy with this outcome. The durable shield will go to the tanks [ Durable shield ] ( Gold ) : an excellent shield , whose durability wont fall quickly in battle , meant to be sturdy it is build with special forging methods. + 20% defense upon equipping - 50% physical damage reduction Only tanks may roll for this item. Rudra said But it was mutually decided by the tanks to let this item go to Rhino. Rudra was fine by that , he also appreciated such team bonding . Rudra simmilarly distributed all the remaining items fairly , while he himself also participated in the roll for the skill book theft.In the end he did not win a single thing , However he was content with the way things proceded. Rudra said " Okay guys , lets catch a break and heal .... we will head out in 20 minutes". Saying so the healers quicky started casting heal spells and restoring the party back to max HP, the Dungeon run soo far was going very smoothly. /// Authors thoughts: shoutout to MiguelWN , Undeadking , JARAC and Booklover for your gifts , duly appreciated , also comment down below if you want more fight scenes or more story progression? I can shorten the dungeon run or elaborate accordingly/// Chapter 42: The next 3 mini bosses After resting for a while the party went ahead with their dungeon run..... Rudra led them defeating waves and waves of goblins using the 10 man rotation system, Hence everyone got equal combat experience , none of them were weak links in the future. This was actually not as easy as Rudra made it seem, always leading the party with excellent coordination and attack tactics , actually the dungeon was almost impossible to clear on the first run. However our reincarnator had spent 2 months of his previous life trying all the modes of this dungeon, if he could still not breeze through it again it would be an insult to him as a gamer. The second mini boss was a mutant orc goblin , it was ridiculously powerfull and yet quite agile .... It was troublesome to deal with . However with a perfect combination of tanks taking damage and assaulters dealing some he was defeated without casualties . It was mainly because Rudra used darkness bind at critical juncture stopping the chief from slaying the tanks. Karna shined in the battle. With him clearly shining as the vice guildmaster of the guild. While many were convinced about Rudra, many had their doubts about karna , especially with his speech about Rudra as how he was recruited to pay back a favour surfaced But Karna''s battle strength was no joke , although not as refined as Rudra he was without a doubt the second strongest party member , and with his easygoing attitude he soon won over all guild members. The loot fell and was distributed as Rudra deemed fit. Mostly through rolls , however unknown to many Rudra was silently observing every roll , to determine who had more of the hidden stat luck . He was keeping a track in his mind. Noting all the roll numbers of all the players ... Maybe someday he would compile an excell sheet. This method continued for the next 3 waves and the team levelled up twice. It was an insane levelling speed and the forums erupted with discussions. As currently all 50 members of the dungeon team were in the top 100 ranking of the kingdom , with Neatwit being first and Rudra second. Stat pannel , Rudra called for his stats ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:28 Tier :0 STATS AGI : 69. VIT : 67 INT : 58. STA : 57 PHY : 55. HP : 6000/6000 Unassigned stat points :7 Hidden stats Luck : ?? Charm : ?? Infamy : 20 Status : Healthy Equipment : leather boots , Darkness Armour , Lich''s Ring , Bronze shins , Viking helmet Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (???) ---------------------- NICE! Rudra smiled , only 2 more levels untill the first tier promotion quest !!!! The tier promotion was where the real strength increase would start , a lot changed by promoting your tier The subclass option would open , and one could choose the class based on your performance. There will be a massive stat increase. And the quest that Rudra had his eyes set on needed him to be tier 1 before he could attempt it , hence he quickly needed to reach it. After resting for a while , Rudra now took a 30 people group for handling the next frey of goblins in a wider passage leading to the final boss. But he could see the slump on the party members , perhaps after 9 hours of continuous battle they were mentally tired as mistakes were visible due to laziness. Rudra was a little dissapointed with this kind of performance , nonetheless he allowed a 1 hr break before attempting the final boss. --------------------- ( Meanwhile , outside the dungeon) The Orange Rock guild members were livid , how the hell were Rudra ''s people in the dungeon for soo damn long? It had beed 9 hours , they souldv died long ago , yet all they could see was all party members continuously levelling up. Was Nightmare mode soo easy?? Could its difficulty be a ruse??? NO they couldnt even clear the normal mode.... What monsters were the True Elites? The Orange Rock members gradually started to feel anxious the longer that Rudra''s team stayed inside.Their resolve to kill weakening. Meanwhile their guild leader Donald was absolutely livid at the situation and his mood extremely rotten. He kept saying " SO WHAT IF YOU ARE STRONG , In the end you are but 50 people can you fight my 2000?, Just you wait Shakuni i will slay you today ". -------------- ( Meanwhile the forums ) Hey didn''t the True Elites guild members go in the Goblins stronghold at nightmare difficulty? How come they are levelling up soo fast? Can they really clear the dungeon? Just like that a lively discussion broke out ... The True Elites aldready were an extremely famous guild hence many opened betting channels on wether or not they would clear the dungeon With a 2:1 , no : yes odds a total betting of 3 billion dollars was done on their results!!!! The whole country was waiting on the results of their dungeon run!! ----------------- ( Meanwhile the Grey international towers , upside) "Sir , the True Elites have made a huge buzz billions of dollars have been bet on wether or not they will clear the dungeon ". Greys secretary reported. Ethan smiled he for one knew for sure that with Rudra leading the guild it was a done deal that he would clear the dungeon. He said " place a 10 billion dollar bid on them clearing the dungeon, publish the bet in all major news channels , make it gain traction ". " This..." The secretary paused... Although Grey was a trillionare , 10 billion was still a huge amount and to just casually bet soo much .... She as a secretary found it beyond her , however whatever the boss syas goes hence she did as she was told. With Grey''s insanely high bid....it became a global issue worldwide.....now the world''s eyes were on Rudra and his team! Can they clear the dungeon? Chapter 43: Clearing the dungeon ! Fighting the boss was complicated. It was by no means an easy feat to achieve. This was because the boss had a health regeneration ability. Which was extremely troublesome, also his weapon was of high grade with a higher critical damage rate. Things could get real messy if the tanks fell to the monster! But unlike the Goblin chief the Goblin King was extremely mobile boss , long range attacks would only work with proper tanks shielding the aggro. Rudra led the team into the boss hall , and the same dialogue that Rudra had heard a hundred times in his past life came out of the Goblin king''s mouth " How dare you puny humans slaughter my kind and barge into my throne room. I WILL SHOW YOU DESPAIR". Saying so the Goblin King sprang into action. [ Goblin King ] ( Lord ) ( Lv 39) ( HP 100000/100000) : king of all Goblin''s , the big boss of all big bosses. Pray for your survival adventurer ! 100K hp .....What a drag! Not mentioning its frightening amount of HP, just the mere words, "Lord Rank" were enough to cause players to tremble. That meant that there was a single aspect to this monster that was extremely terrifying; either in terms of speed, strength, or magic. Based solely on the terrifying aura radiating off of the Goblin King''s body, its bulging, iron-like muscles, the pitch-black greatsword as tall as a man, which pierced deeply into the ground... Even without having any exchanges with this Goblin King everyone knew there was no way to overpower it. Rudra gave the orders " Tanks draw the aggro , assaulters take the flank , healers be ready to heal the tanks , long range damage is the key here , wizards and archers go all out". Rhino then used the skill taunt drawing the aggro of the monster alone. It was a stupid move. Following this the tanks Rhino , tanker , heavy armour, charged towards the Goblin king . Just as they were midway through their Charge, Kachak. The Goblin King casually pulled out the pitch-black sword from the ground; its robust legs abruptly exploded with power as it similarly charged at the tanks. Like a fierce gale, the Goblin king swept towards the tanks.In the blink of an eye, a black ray, which carried with it an explosive sound, struck on the shield. Hong! Rhino''s entire person was sent flying, and a damage of -2633 points appeared above his head. His entire arm felt numb from the attack. If he had not used his shield to block, he might have been killed instantly. Rhino felt that his own techniques were quite good, and he just received the durable shield from his guildmates as a show of respect. Moreover, his task right now wasn''t even to kill off the Boss. If he could not even force the Boss to reveal its hidden cards, then he would be an absolute disgrace. Rhino abruptly stood up. Heals were showered on him by the healers, His HP recovering to more than half of its total. Just as he was considering attempting another bout with the Boss, he suddenly discovered that the Boss was already standing behind him, its greatsword raised up high. Abruptly, the Goblin King attacked. Rhino closed his eyes accepting his fate! DARKNESS BIND! At that critical juncture , his guildmaster saved his ass, else he was surely a goner. He looked at his guildmaster in gratitude and his fellow tanks joined him in the defense against the boss. Following that 30 minutes of intense battle followed , where as the players kept getting beat , and healed , it was brutal! The boss''s HP was finally down to 20% However just then he used the troublesome hp regain spell , stealing 190 hp from every player..... Going back to 30% Hp As expected of a Lord Rank Boss in a Team Dungeon, compared to the elite boss before, it was at least several times stronger. Not only was its speed and strength a problem, but its attack patterns were even more so. There were just too many variations. It was as if they were fighting in a close-quartered combat against an expert. Moreover, the physical attributes of this expert were better than theirs by several fold. Just how were they supposed to continue battling against this Boss? Although the guild members despaired , Rudra rejoiced... With the goblin king stealing HP , he could not use that skill for the next 10 minutes.... And that was alll that Rudra needed to slay him at 30% HP! Rudra declared boldly " You Die now! ". It was then that Rudra sprung into action . Summon knight Durahal " Durahal go all out ". He let out a series of windslashes before switching to Excalibur . Darkness blast! -1200 With Durahal taking the aggro away from the tanks , and trading steady damage at -200 per 5 seconds and taking 500 in return ... According to his HP he would last 17 more seconds. Perfect! ..... "Wizards , archer''s hit him with your strongest shot now!!!!" Rudra shouted -400 -400 -350 -200 A string of damage appeared..... The boss was down to 5% Everyone quickly became energetic and hopefull , maybe they could indeed clear the dungeon . Durahal was at critical HP .... It was then that Rudra used Darkness Bind! " Assaulters go all out!" All 14 assaulters went in to deal a powefull slash -1600 -2000 -5000 critical hit!!! Congratulations players.....you have successfully defeated the Goblin king! // Hazelgroove kingdom announcement : Congratulations to the '' True Elites'' guild for the first clear of the dungeon '' Goblin''s stronghold '' at Nightmare difficulty. +1000 Guild fame. Party members: ( Leader '' Shakuni'' , Participants : Karna , Rhino , Cola, MonkeyKingEnma .....Medivh".) // // Eastern continent announcement : Congratulations to the '' True Elites'' guild for the first clear of the dungeon '' Goblin''s stronghold '' at Nightmare difficulty. +1000 Guild fame. Party members: ( Leader '' Shakuni'' , Participants : Karna , Rhino , Cola, MonkeyKingEnma, .....Medivh".) // ----------- /// Authors thoughts : Guys i know i have went premium but please don''t hate me or my work for it.... I genuinely work hard to give you all an entertaining story and i write it each day taking all of your thoughts into consideration ..... I am a writer though and making money is something i wish to do... Please support me in my endeavour, i promise to not dissapoint you guys ..... Please give me a chance /// Chapter 44: Spoils of victory WE DID IT!!!!! All 50 guild members were overwhelmed with joy !!!!! They cleared the nightmare mode of a level 30 dungeon !!! The entire server knows their names now!!!. Some hugged each other , some dropped down to the ground in exhaustion , laughing while looking at the ceiling of the dungeon. This moment here... Is what only gamers could understand ..... The thrill of completing an impossible mission .... An adrenaline rich fight that leads to victory! And they tasted it today! Guild leader ''shakuni'' he did it..... He made it clear he would lead the guild to glory ..... And they could feel it now ... If its that bastard.... No dungeon would be difficult. Incredible personal strength, Fair and just loot distribution practises, unique and quick witted method of tackling problems , who knows how to read the party''s emotions and act accordingly..... He was the perfect guild leader. Now they were all ready to follow him with all that they got..... Everyone felt closer to each other now in this moment in this room ..... They came in as individuals , elite tankers , elite assaulters, elite mages .... However they would walk out as an ELITE GUILD ....the best adventurer party in the kingdom , the best damn Guild in the kingdom the goddamn ''True Elites''. It was then that Karna shouted " One for all , all for one , go Elites go!!!". And it was replied in a thunderous voice " One for all , all for one , go elites go!!!!". Rudra was touched ..... If he was not in a public setting he would have actually teared up ..... The guild was moving in the right direction .... All this were positive signs. It was then that the system notification jolted them back to reality Level up! Everyone in the party levelled up again ... Rudra was now level 29 .... One level away from level 30! However this was not the shocking thing , what was shocking was the next notification. " Congratulations to the ''True Elites'' guild for taking the number one - ten position in the Hazelgroove kingdom level rankings .... Fame +2000 ". The guild dominated the level rankings!!! Each of the 50 members here were within the top 70 of the level rankings ..... With them occupying position one through ten !. Cheers were heard all around again....the atmosphere kept getting merrier and merrier. It was soo merry that almost everyone forgot about the final drops , after realizing that .... Karna was sent again to open the drops. Obtained 2 platinum (+1 first clear bonus) +1 full goblin king armour set +1 skill book lifesteal + 1 skill book Death Slash + Goblin kings hide + Goblin kings eyes + Goblin kings crown + Goblin Kings sword + Goblin kings claws ¡Á 5 + Treaure map piece. Not bad! Not bad at all ... This was usefull. The platinum went in the guild warehouse and so did the alchemy materials. The first thing to roll for was the full goblin king armour set . [ Goblin King Armour Set ] ( 5 pc )( Lv 30 )( dark gold ) : Armour worn by the Goblin King ..... Needs to be resized to fit playes before use. 5 pc set ( armour , shin , shoulder pads, helmet and boots ) . Set effect : + 20% agility , + 20% Def . It was an extremely desirable set..... And every assaulter and tank wished to roll for it , finally it landed in the hands of the vice guild master Karna with a roll of 95 . Rudra noted it in his mind... Karna had insane luck stat. Rudra considering that the archers and mages had not recieved any tangible benefits in this raid decided to make the lifesteal skill roll exclusive for them .... And hence 5 lifesteal skill books were distributed. Next item was the Death Slash skill , it was a sword related skill .... Doing 200% of base damage in a single hit with a 20% chance of doing 400% damage if its a critical hit ! An op skill for swordsmen , Rudra wanted it badly .... But he still decided to hold a open roll. However to his surprise the guild members unanimously decided to give the skill to him! He was absolutely elated and did not decline their goodwill. Goblin kings sword was a gold piece of equipment very usefull for assaulters .... MonkeyKingEnma won the roll for that item. Finally there was the treasure map piece . [ Treasure map piece ] (1/3) : obtain all 3 pieces for more information. Rudra had no idea what this was about or how to obtain the other two pieces ..... However he left that worry for another day and stored the map for now. ---------------- ( Meanwhile , outside the dungeon ) The Orange Rock guild members were dumbfounded , they actually cleared the nightmare mode of the dungeon and even occupied the top 10 spots of the kingdoms level rankings. Every individual party and various guilds had knowledge that Orange Rock was currently camping the Goblins stronghold dungeon .... Yet they were yet to clear even the normal mode ..... Now that True Elites cleared the nightmare mode .... Wont their entire guild become a joke??? And their worries were not baseless as they were slandered left and right as trash on the Forums. Especially their guild leader was on the face of many memes and the loss of face was unimaginable. However a bigger part of the forums were cursing Orange Rock for the loss of money... If the situation were to be surmised in short it could be understood from a single comment . " I had bet 20 thousand dollars that True Elites cant clear the nightmare mode in their first run and have now lost my money .... It is not because i am a gambling man , it was a completely educated guess .... If a so called '' First Rate Guild '' like Orange Rock can not clear the normal mode ... Can someone really clear the nightmare mode on their first try? , Especially considering that Orange Rock has hired soo many professional gamers who are said to be Elites ..... However now i know they are all just trash .... The entire guild is just trash .... They are only camping the dungeon because they cant actually conquer the dungeon ..... THEY ARE A PIECE OF SHIT GUILD WHO COST ME A FORTUNE ". It was a heavy rant but the comment was pinned by 32000 players making it on the top of the forums ..... The hashtag #OrangeTrash was currently trending . Donald was absolutely furious he looked like he would explode of anger at any point ..... He just said gritting his teeth " make sure they die as they come out ". -------------------------- ( Meanwhile the Grey international tower , upside ) The secretary rushed in elated " Sir the True Elites came through .... We have earned billions in a matter of minutes". Ethan smiled hard ... He obviously had faith in Rudra, however somewhere he was shackled by how much ... Now he regretted not pouring more money! Well he thought.... There is always a next time. He said " Ofcourse we did , Rudra is my little brother afterall. I knew he would pull through ". Ethan said , the smile not wiping off his face. However it was soon replaced by a frown over the next line that the secretary said. " About that sir .... I think there is an issue ... The Orange Rock guild are currently spawn camping Rudra ''s party in outside the dungeon , i think there will be a massibe brawl , and Rudra''s party is extremely outnumbered ..... I dont think it will end well for them ". This.......How dare they! Ethan said " contact Amelia in game , tell her to contact Rudra and relay the information ... Go now quick ". Ethan sighed ... Messing with his brother .... He will make them pay! Chapter 45: Ambush Rudra and the party were ready to teleport outside the dungeon when Amelia contacted Rudra about the current situation of the Orange Rock guild members camping outside the dungeon. Rudra half expected this to happen ..... Just he never expected it to be so soon. His guild of elites had only one drawback that could not be overcome and that was numbers... Even a pack of Hyenas could hunt a lone lion. Hence he had long since decided to break this notion from everyone '' s minds that his guild was easy pickings. The Orange Rock guild was the perfect stepping stone for this ... They needed to be taken down to set an example that the True Elite''s cant be suppressed even with numbers. Rudra decided to inform the guild members about the current predicament. " Okay guys listen up! , The Orange Rock guild has spawn camped this dungeon with over 2000 members to make sure we will die today before leaving the premises safely....". The guild members expressions turned grim..... However strong they were .... Could they really beat 2000 players with just 50 of them? It did not seem feasible .... The guild members felt extremely nervous. Rudra said " Are you scared of being outnumbered ? ..... Are you scared of fighting? ... Well if you are let me tell you i completely understand where you come from , however let me tell you something now that you should ingrain into every fiber of your being.....and that is the ones that should be afraid of us are them ! Each and every enemy that points their sword towards our guild should be scared as each one of us is probably worth a thousand of them ". " SINCE WHEN ARE DRAGONS AFRAID OF ANTS? " Rudra said raising his voice .... His voice full of determination. " We are the top of the top the best players in the damn kingdom , look to your left , look to your right ..... Look towards me.... Which one of us is weak? " . " WHICH ONE OF US IS WEAK?" Rudra asked again .... And the hearts of the guild members stirred .... That''s right .... Which one of them was weak? ..... Everyone was admitted after a rigourous and extremely strict vetting environment. The weakest of them ranked 70 on the rankings list. " They are weak.... Lv 12 , 13 cannon fodders with unpolished skills , their elites cant even pass the first screening for True Elites exam ..... And then there are you guys..... Pray tell who should be afraid?". Rudra questioned them. " We wont succumb to bullying..... Not now..... Not ever..... Not to anyone .....we will stand at the top and the ants beneath us will be crushed by us! ". Rudra was on a roll now . " We will go out there , and the 50 of us will break their encirclement , kill their leader and walk triumphant into the city ..... If push comes to shove ... We will annihilate all 2000 members". Rudra declared.... Madness in his eyes. The guild members felt charged hearing this.... They had faith in Rudra and his leadership skills after the Dungeon run .... If the boss said we fight ... We fight! " Lets show them , who the boss is! " Cola said. " YEAH, DRAGONS WILL NEVER FALL TO ANTS " Karna said . " True elites ! True elites ! True elites! .... True Elites a chant was created .... Energising the entire guild". " we are ready for war leader .... Call the shots" MonkeyKingEnma said. Rudra smiled " Alright! Let me lay it out for you .... Me , Karna and Medivh will be on the vanguard , slaughtering our way through creating an opening ..... The rest of you form two man teams and follow behind .... One covers one flank other covers the second.....you dont need to care about the front just cover the 130¡ã left and right respectively ..... The healers being at the centre protected by tanks and the fastest archers and hunters at the rearguard ." The party quickly acted on Rudra''s instructions and formed a formation. Rudra nodded satisfied. Time to slaughter! ------------------------ ( Meanwhile , the real world) Ethan Grey was absolutely furious and used his real world influence to absolutely bury the Orange corporation ..... Cancelling government contracts , destroying their real estate construction sites , disabling power to their corporate house , and making investors pull out money from the company ..... Summing it up it could be said that the Orange corporation was in deep shit! Orange corporation CEO and Donald ''s father had shit himself in the pants hearing that he offended Ethan Grey ... Moreover he was absolutely horrified at how his son was the cause of this mess. His son was the independent owner of Orange Rock Esports and he had absolutely no involvement in it whatsoever .... Realistically he could put no pressure on his son .... He did not own a single share of the thing. He was helpless against Grey , the officials that usually roamed left and right around him all day were suddenly giving him a cold shoulder , not even bothering for a conversation. He was scared.....his options limited .... It was then that someone threw him a lifeline. A trillionare who had the power to compete against Grey . Well he doted on his son a lot .... Hence he could still not bring himself to reprimand him ... Instead he decided to sell his pride ... The only way to go against Ethan Grey was by taking cover under another trillionare and Ethans arch buisness rival Mithun Ambani . -------------------------- ( Back in game ) The party emerged outside the dungeon and was greeted with a sight of countless players equipped in medeival weapons. It was a bone chilling sight .... Not a single sound could be heard .... Everyone in Rudra''s party had ragged breathing ..... And almost all of the 2050 players here were currently recording this exchange.Regardless of the outcome , this fight would be watched over and over by millions of people. Donald said " atlast we meet Mr Shakuni ..... /// Author''s thoughts : Well this is the bonus for 300 powerstone target .... I know that most of you guys will probably read it on sunday .... However those who do read today with privilage , i hope you guys will help me push towards 450 stones before the count resets on sunday! /// Chapter 46: 50 Vs 2000 , Shocking The World! " Atlast we meet Mr Shakuni ....." Donald said , hatred audible in his tone . He had a smirk on his face .... Knowing how Rudra and his guild were going to be slaughtered by him soon. He continued " You have crossed me twice , and i dont give mercy to people crossing me twice , soo as payment i will send you and your guild members the quickest way back to the city ... Your deaths are inevitable and struggle is futile , you better just line up for quick deaths". Rudra sighed , he looked tired .... If a third party outside were to look at him , he would look like a pitiable helpless man .... However the words that left his mouth sent a shiver down everyone''s spine. " Unfortunately for you ..... Ugh i forgot your name .... Doesnt matter it isnt worth remembering anyway ... Unfortunately for you , I dont even show mercy to someone who has crossed me once , Hell i dont even show mercy to those who wish to harm me or my guild , and since you have came here and have been running your mouth about how struggle is futile.... Let me show you the meaning of futility!". Donald was standing relatively at the front of the group , At a distance of about 30 meters from Rudra''s location . With him about 20 members or so of the elite division of the guild ..... He was well protected both from melee attacks and AOE spells, not to mention that his gear was top notch , yet when his eyes met with Rudra''s , he knew he was looking at the grim reaper himself. Rudra calmly walked alone for about the first ten meters , deflecting the arrows that were being showered at him all while mentaining eye contact with Donald . The orange Rock guild members have attacked you , your relation has turned to hostile , no points will be deducted on kills. A system notification rang. Then the wizard spells started to shower and Rudra started to pick pace , now sprinting he was dodging the spells like it was childs play " STOP HIMMM " Donald shouted , as he started running away from Rudra Soon Rudra was about 5 meters from the first line of tanks and assaulters , it was then that he used . Darkness blast ! BOOM , The front line was blown away , with horrendous damage appearing above the Orange Rock guild members -5000 -3500 -5600 -4000 -2200 -340 -400 -250 -120 -20 -5 -5 -5 4 members dead , 1 heavily injured , 4 injured and 4 taking a slight damage ..... The attack had a monstrous effect. " WHAT IS HE A FUCKING MAGE? " someone cursed , how can someone have such insanely high damage for a non AOE spell. Well this was the strength of the knight class. As it was a jack of all trades but master of none .... One could use spells , use all weapons , wether it is a sword or a bow or a scythe or any other damn weapon. It was the most balanced class having no obvious strength but at the same time having no obvious weakness either. With the front line crumbling , the rest were easy pickings under Rudra''s sword as he made short work of 16 of the 20 elites supposed to be the strongest of the Orange Rock members ..... Then he set his sights on the remaining 4 members who were retreating while protecting Donald. Rudra rushed in ..... He quickly added all his unassigned stat points into agility , suddenly gaining speed ... He ran straight as an arrow towards his retreating target . DARKNESS BIND ! The four guards were temporarily restrained , and before Donald could even turn back to raise his sword. DEATH SLASH! -15000 Critical hit! Donald was slayed there and then ! ...... Rudra alone rushed into the enemy guild lines and took of the leaders head while making a fool of the enemy guild''s elites . This fight sequence will be the birth of Rudra''s legend...This valley where the fight took place would be named ''Death Valley '' .... And the legend of how player Shakuni is an absolute madman never to be crossed would be born .... The forums picked a name for this madman " The Demon Of Death Valley " The other members were stunned silent by the death of their leader however soon regained their composure and a fight broke out .... However beforr Rudra could be overwhelmed by the enemy waves , Karna led the true elites as backup .... Showering the enemies with AOE spells Medivh wiped the next 50 meters clean of enemies , With Rudra '' s summon Durahal as rearguard and Rudra and Karna leading the vanguard Frey. The True Elites went on to slaughter the Orange Rock members ... its unclear what happened... Wether it was morale that was too high for the Elites after seeing their leader solo killing the enemy leader or the fact that Orange Rock members were highly inferior to the Elites , but the enemies were being cut down like butter. The death toll for Orange Rock guild members increased drastically 200...400...500...700..900 soon half of the guild was routed without even a single Elite dead! FEAR! without the 20 elites making the top management that were slaughtered early none of them knew how to properly lead a party .... Disorganized and uncoordinated the remaining members did not know how to utilize numbers to their advantage , and looking at the piling death toll the unanimous decision was to FLEE! If the entire fight not being recorded by hundreds of players , noone would beleive such a ridiculous situation ..... How was such a thing possible? But it happened alright! It happened and no matter how much Donald cursed or how much the Orange Rock members prayed to save their face .... They could never undo it .... And it would be there for all to see forever. Yes 1000 members were fleeing being chased by 50! This was the joke of the century! The True Elites did make it back to the city triumphant while they chased a 1000 members into the city safezone! This scene was etched into the memory of every Hazelgroove kingdom player . And the first thing that Rudra did after making it back to the city was to issue a Guild War against Orange Rock 5 days from now! Chapter 47: Aftermath The news about the incident between Orange Rock guild and True Elites spread like wildfire. Everyone wether it being the First Rate Guilds or the common solo players had a talk about this incident. While the news was entertainment for most people , it was shocking for others .... Many first rate guilds started doubting their guild model .... If the true strength of the guilds really depended on elite players then their guild structure needed major restructuring. How could 50 people slaughter their way easy through 2000? Everyone was a player here even if there is a skill and level disparity how can the players not even be able to take down a single True Elite! Can they not even serve as cannon fodder? '' The Demon Of Death Valley '' solo killed 20 of the strongest so called experts of a first rate guild like Orange Rock... He made the common members question , what exactly is elite? ..... Are the twenty people he killed still elites? They were proffesional gamers with skills much superior to ordinary gamers , yet they cannot stand toe to toe with Rudra at all, then what can they be called? , And if they cannot stand against Rudra what can the other guild members do? If the matter ended there they could take Rudra as an anamoly and move on ..... However with him leading an entire guild of likewise people , the incident shook everyone to their core . This is not the end of it ..... The way the True Elites are progressing with clearing dungeons normal guilds cant even dream of entering , and dominating the entire level rankings ... Can they still not be considered a formidable force? Arent they supposed to be a luxury Guild.? Just for show? Why are they messing with first rate guilds? Issuing war at that? A 50 man guild declared war on a first rate guild with a total of 24000 members , after slaughtering their first division and chasing their guild members back to the safe zone where they went to spawn camp the former... How ridiculous was this situation. The forums went nuts with Orange Rock being the butt of everyone ''s jokes . " Hahahaha, thats what you get when you do stupid shit like spawn camping , karma is a bitch baby". " Lol , 50 men killing more than 1550 enemies , can they still be considered as opposition? ". " Fu** , True Elites are too strong! Im a fan for life ". " It may seem like a conspiracy , but i think all this is staged , how can realistically such a thing happen ". " I think Ethan Grey bought the Orange Rock and made them do such ridiculous things ". " Guild war.... Hell yeah ! Count me in ". " #Orangetrash trends again ". " Continue the chain if you think Orange Rock guild is full of idiots ". "ME1" "ME2" "ME3" .... "ME2270". the discussion had about 2 million participants on the forums , and was the trending topic of the day , making it through to even real world news headlines. With '' Omega '' becoming popular and with player base increasing exponentially the real world news quickly started being influenced by it. News segments specially dedicated to Omega recieved massive viewership numbers. Overall a general shift in culture could be observed with in game celebrities becoming extremely popular , and even movies being starting to be filmed in the virtual world. Especially after the first server update , everyone started playing the game , trying to farm money , even office workers working 10 hours a day started to sleep logged into the game , trying to make extra caah, but wether it is genius marketting or the gamers appeal ..... The thing that happens is once you started playing the game you would earn 20 dollars .... You would feel if i had the xyz item i would earn 200 dollars .... Hence you spent 100 dollars to get that item ..... Later you felt you needed item 3 and item 4 costing 5000 dollars .... And the greed cycle never ends and you end pumping more money into the game..... This is why the only people who could really profit from the game are the massive conglomerates whose return on investment is proportional to the investment even then it depended on the players who managed the guilds. This is why everyone eyed Rudra Rajput , making the impossible possible he was a hot commodity currently. The first person to realize Rudra ''s huge worth was Ethan Grey. He started beleiving in Rudra after knowing his secret .... However with the explosive growth of ''Omega'' and Rudra ''s rising star , his corporate image got a huge boost. The pride of the True Elites was the pride of Grey international now , he had benefitted beyond his dreams with this venture with his share prices seeing a steady rise. He understood that Rudra needed to be backed and to be backed thoroughly . With his brother being troubled in game he decided to thoroughly crush the opposition in real life, however none of the experts that provided him a report of the situation expected that True Elites would actually slaughter and overpower their way out of the situation scratchless. With Orange Rock crushed in game , and the Orange technologies crushed in real life it was a brutal assault sending chills down many conglomerates . Ethan Grey and Rudra Rajput .... These two demons were not to be messed with. However what most did not know was that a manipulative serpant had took intrest in the situation. He had secretly stabilized the falling stock , and had injected a lot of liquidity to stabilize both the guild and the parent company. With a team of proffesional swindlers he induced conspiracy theories into the forum making everyone doubt the reality of the incident. While secretly helping the guild members with new benefits as to make them stay after such a face loss. With new experts being sent from the HQ , it could be said that the guild was restructured before the war .... His motives unknown , Mithun Ambani was making his moves on the chessboard. with his secret backing of the Orange technologies ..... What would happen in the next upcoming war with this variable is something that is yet to be seen. /// Authors thoughts : Sorry for the late chapter guys , was busy today. Also keep an eye out for the Mithun Ambani character , wont spoil anything for you all , just telling you because in the next story arc his movements would be very subtle , you need to have a lookout for connecting the big picture. Hope you enjoy /// Chapter 48: The Plan Although Rudra had called out for the guild war ..... Guild wars are not as simple as it seems. You have to be ready for anything in a guild war. In ''Omega'' guild wars are done in seperate space , the one who issues tha guild war is the attacking side who has the privilage to decide the day of the attack. While the one who is defending has defenders advantage as they can choose the terrain for the war. Depending on your guild''s strength you may choose an open battlefield , or maybe a rocky terrain , or maybe even a ship battle. The possibilities are endless with over 999 different terrains for war. Loosing the terrain advantage is a big loss for the attacking side. In such large scale battles tactics play a huge role in the outcome, and tactics are based on the terrain. With the overwhelming numbers advantage that was being held by the Orange Rock guild, Rudra was 99% sure they will choose to use a open battlefield to maximise their numbers profit , and although the guild pulled off a miracle in a 50v2000 fight , doing it against 10000 would be suicide . All this was no suspense, as many experts and debate channels had started discussing about the upcoming Guild war. After update1 there were a couple wars here and there between third rate guilds, but this could be said as a first major conflict between known powers. Although Rudra ''s team had built a solid reputation none of the analyzers supported True Elites in a victory scenario. Many experts criticized Rudra for his impulsive decision to go to war , as had Orange Rock challenged , they could have selected a terrain that negated the numbers advantage. Being blamed for his impulsiveness not one expert analyzer sided with a True Elites victory. Rudra was anything but stupid , and although all the reports suggested otherwise one person held absolute faith in Rudra and that was Ethan Grey, never asking for explanations he simply ordered his staff to place bets with the best odds on a True Elite victory, and he wasn''t wrong Rudra had a plan! Rudra called for a all guild conference. Tension could be sensed in the atmosphere , although they Respected and beleived in Rudra by now , they also felt nervous after carefully thinking about their odds to win. It seemed a little farfetched. Rudra said " Okay guys , heres the thing , if i have issued a guild war that means i am confident of winning the guild war!". A BOLD DECLARATION! Murmurs and discussions broke out ... The leader had some tricks up his sleeve. " My plan is sure to be effective , however for it to be realized , each and every member here must work their asses off ! ". Everyone looked determined noone''s resolve wavered hearing this ..... If there was a way ofcourse they would work their asses off. " Get to grinding levels , everyone reach level 30 by tommorow..... Go and take the tier promotion quest and activate your subclasses. There is a massive stat boost after getting promoted succesfully , all of you get as strong as possible leave the rest to me ." Rudra laid down the guideline ..... They needed to reach level 30 and get promoted ..... And that they will. Everyone dispersed quickly , trying to reach level 30 as soon as possible. What Rudra asked them to do was a lot .... To grind nonstop and then attempt a promotion quest where the result matters a lot for the subclass selection , they needed to be in peak form. Many even fail the promotion quest and have to wait for a month to retry and many waited to gain more levels before attempting one. Rudra knew he asked a lot from them however he needed to do even more. 1) He himself needed to reach level 30 2) He needed to get tier promotion and get atleast S class rating. 3) He needed to choose the non combat subclass Bombmaker. 4) After that he needed to craft the frost bomb and spike bomb These weapons were the key to winning the war! Rudra had a lot to do ..... And very little time to do so. He needed to get to work! ----------- ( Meanwhile Orange Rock guild) " How dare that Shakuni guy killl me? ME? who the hell does he think he is, ill crush him , ill crush his guild , ill make sure noone will be able to recognize true elites after I am done with them ! You want to start a guild war .... Fine you start it ... However ill end it , and ill end you ..... I ll start a second guild war then a third then a fourth a fifth ... Till every single member of your guild quits and till you yourself delete your account totally defeated after being killed back to level 0 ". Donald was going crazy , the #OrangeTrash was trending worldwide , and he had lost a lot of face , not even able to parry a single strike from Rudra. He went maniacal after the incident.... Spending a fortune in arming his guild members with the best possible weapons , he was preparing for his revenge. Seeing his maniacal attitude the agent sitting across him from the Ambani group was extremely dissapointed ..... '' What an idiot '' he thought , having no control over your emotions , you are not suitable to be a leader ..... Sigh why did leader choose to work with such a fool. He thought .... However remembering how his leader always had a plan , he still followed orders helping the Orange Rock guild prepare for the upcoming war. The Orange Rock guild members now had a reorganized structure with a party leader above every 5 party members , a squadron leader above every 10 party leaders and a legion leader above every 50 squadron leaders. With a military structure and chain of command they made sure that the guild would not fall into chaos upon the killing of a few experts , and that the war effort would steer in the right direction. Learning from their mistakes , the new Orange Rock guild was a force to be reckoned with! Chapter 49: Return of the Fatty best friend /// Author''s thoughts : as many of you missed the character , hence on popular demand , fatty Kalash is back! /// --------------------------- (Kalash '' s POV ) Kalash had met Rudra a few days back in the caf¨¨ where they even talked about ''Omega'' , he was pretty sure he talked about the gamer Shakuni to Rudra however never in his dreams did he think that Rudra would be that famous gamer '' Shakuni '' . When Kalash saw him on tv at the Grey press conference he was shocked beyond words .... His best friend had become such an influential person ? He was genuinely overcome with joy and pride. He always knew Rudra was talented , and seeing him reach heights he felt happy. He decided to bring sweets and presents to the Rajput Manor , to celebrate along with uncle and aunty , but to his dissapointment the apartment was empty now. Someone from the neighborhood recognized him and said " You think the Rajputs will talk to a nobody like you now? They are influential now .... They long cut ties with this neighborhood ". This sentence hit Kalash hard! That cant be true .... Money or no money , fame or no fame , power or no power. Rudra was always his friend right? However depressing thoughts entered his mind... His friend had not even told him before leaving the country , neither had he contacted him in game... Maybe fame changed Rudra? . It was this reason and this reason alone he never decided to contact Rudra .... He never found the courage to make that phone call of appreciation. He was genuinely happy for him though. While the world wanted to get a hold of the Rajputs for selfish motives , he did not even make a call to the private number that he had of Rudra. All this changed today though .... He got a text from Rudra that said " Yo , fatty .... Need help .... Meet in game ASAP , come to my guild if possible , confirmation not needed , get your a** here ". Such broken sentence structure , not asking for permission , Kalash sighed , noone other than his idiot friend could do this. But the smile never left his face ..... He was exited to meet his friend again . -------------------- ( At The True Elites guild hall , inner city , VR ) Kalash was greeted by two NPC maids outside the guild hall and escorted in .... His jaw dropped seeing the grand guild headquarters infront of him. Especially the blacksmith hall .... He absolutely loved it , it was much much better than the smithy he used . As he was escorted into the conference hall .... He felt awestruck ..... In almost a 50 meter long luxurious hall , Rudra sat at the very end , grinning from ear to ear looking at his friends awestruck reaction. " Stop that smile, you look stupid " Kalash said nonchalantly ..... That was it ... All the excitement and anxiety wiped after one second of looking at Rudra ''s face , now they were back to being best buddies. He wanted to congratulate Rudra , he really really did , however at the risk of inflating his ego , he absolutely never would. ''You want validation? Dream on !'' Rudra waited for Kalash to say something but the guy never did. Rudra said " should''nt you be like wow i have got the best friend in the world , who is the Guild master of such an awesome guild ?". Kalash said " shouldnt you be like , sorry i left the country without informing you , and now because of my stupidity we cant eat momos on the streets anymore ". Rudra was dumbfounded for a second then they both looked each other in the eye and absolutely bursted laughing. Rudra missed this .... In all the insanity of the world , fatty was a natural stressbuster..... 5 minutes with him and he aldready feeled refreshed. " Okay , tell me what do you need " Kalash asked serious now. " Well , i was casually scrolling through the list of top blacksmiths in PurpleHaze city , the informal list... And i surprisingly found you at number 4 " Rudra said raising his eyebrows .... "Just how good are you in smithing". Fatty smiled in pride .... " Ofcourse i cant let you have all the glory now... Can i ? " Both smirked " Need help with a secret project .... We need to make bombs for the upcoming war .... Ill make the chemical part of the bomb ... You need to make the shells .... And the entire process must be a secret ..... Can you do it? ". Fatty was aldready convinced however he needed to shrink Rudra to size soo he said " Well .... I have an extremely busy schedule .... " Before he could continue he got smacked on the head " You dare???? " Fatty asked retaliating The two of them then started fighting like cats and dogs ..... Finally after 2 minutes of intense bout they laid on the floor panting. Rudra said " you are soo goddamn heavy even in VR " " Thankyou " Kalash said , clearly proud of his tummy. Rudra said " join my guild brother , i need you ". Kalash nodded ..... He asked Rudra " the war doesnt look to be in your favour , i watched the analysis of the things , and they say you made a big blunder ... I know you better to know that you would never do things on stupid impulse .... You are too lazy for that". Rudra nodded , impressed by his friends intelligence to be uptodate " So i assume this bomb is your trump card in the war i assume ..... And hence the top secret project ". Rudra nodded again " My crafting proficiency is only so-so , ill try my best though dont worry , ill work my ass off soo ill get it done on time .... Naturally you dont need to worry about me leaking information , however you do owe me a lunch party later ". " Done brother , get familiarised with the new smithy today , ill send you the design and materials tommorow ". " Cool! I loved your smithy , its really nice ". And this is how the Fatty best friend joined the lifestyle division of True Elites guild. /// Author''s thoughts : this chapter was not scheduled in my plan but is made on popular demand .... Soo guys keep commenting , keep writing suggestions, i do seriously take them into consideration , and steer my chapters accordingly. Hope you enjoy! /// Chapter 50: The tier promotion quest Rudra spent the next half day reaching level 30. After reaching level 30 he changed his entire gear to the new lv30 armour set straight out of his guild inventory . He called out his stats pannel ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:30 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 87 VIT : 77 INT : 73 STA : 72 PHY : 70 HP : 8000/8000 unassigned stat points :16 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30)(7pcs) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- He had basically scrapped all of his equipment for the reincforced armour set. As a set effect it reduced weight by 70% and increased defense by 15% above the aldready given defensive boosts. It was hands down the best forgable equipment in the game at this stage. Rudra took in a deep breath , this was as prepared as he could get to attempt the tier promotion quest. A tier promotion quest varied from class to class for every gamer. There were no hidden methods to get legendary classes or such things in ''Omega'' however that did not mean there were no special classes. The method to obtain special classes was open to whosoever had the strength to take it. That was through tier promotion quest. This was done to prevent discrimination between players , although luck plays a huge role in a gaming world like ''Omega'', the creators wanted the game to be fair for those who had even the trashiest luck , with enough skills anyone can get a legendary class. However that was only available after tier3. After unlocking your tier 1 you get the first class specific skills that are upgragable. These are the most vital skills that all members of that class need that are otherwise almost unavailable as skill scrolls or item drops. For example , say you are an archer , the skill [Hawkeye] is one of the most important skill for you , which maybe granted depending on your performance in the trial. Or if you are a hunter you get the skill [track] The skills you get from the trial depend on your own performance. Getting D grade assesment you get trash skills Getting C grade assesment you get random skills that are better than D grade ones but still trash . Getting B grade assessment you get random skills Getting an A grade assesment means you get to select from all availabe skills in the trial Getting a S grade assessment you get to choose from all availabe skills + a random special skill Getting SS grade assesment you get to choose from all availabe skills + a chance to choose from all special skills. Getting SSS assesment you get to choose from all class specific skills + a legendary subclass option ( Only available at tier 1 promotion) Even if you dont unlock legendary subclass you still unlock the subclass option after being successfully promoted , then the system asks you to choose from the normal range of subclasses. Rudra had no extravagant plans to get special subclasses , the Bombmaker subclass was available in the normal options. Hence he was just aiming at getting S or SS assessment for the option of that special skill. Rudra headed to the hall of knights for the first tier promotion. In '' Omega '' , each major profession had their own halls. Tier 1-3 promotion quests had to be done at those halls itself. First time inside the knights hall , he first needed to register himself .... As he approached the reception he was met by a very peculiar catwoman. Rudra had experience in the game '' Omega'' hence he knew that there are many NPC races , however this woman was very peculiar , he could not inspect her stats at all and there was a golden glow in her eyes. This was something new .... He never saw this woman in his previous life ..... Is she an important NPC ? Why cant he inspect her stats? . The NPC also gauged him for a bit before saying " Welcome adventurer , how may i help you? " " Hi, im here to register myself as a knight and take the first tier promotion test please ". Rudra said politely The NPC''S golden eyes sparkled. She said " Ohh , you are quite the famous one arent you ..... Hmmm, hmmm not bad achievements for a very yound adventurer. Sure let me reguster you ". Rudra was getting nervous now , this NPC could see his stats .... She was definitely not simple .... Just who was she? " No need to be so nervous kid , im not going to eat you.... You are the first adventurer blessed by the Goddess of life to walk into the Knight hall and your strength doesn''t dissapoint. Go complete the trial , based on your performance ill have a offer for you". The beastwoman said. The pressure to perform just increased tenfold ..... He knew that there are some hidden quest conditions here but had absolutely no idea what will satisfy to trigger it , he just had to do his absolute best and hope that its enough. With how strong the NPC seems , it cant be anything ordinary , but just what might it be?? ughhh!!!! Rudra felt frustrated, ever since reincarnating he always had information as his key weapon. Never was he clueless or hopeless like now. He had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. However the unknown motivated him.... He was going to enter the test thinking of getting by with an S grade however this changed everything .... Now he would try do his absolute best..... Lets see what happens. Resolute he walked into the trial chambers and a system notification rang. Welcome to the hall of knights , here you shall be tested and only the worthy shall advance in the way of the knights. Prepare yourself adventurer . /// Author''s thoughts: bonus for the powerstone target guys, you are absolutely killing it ..... Keep it rolling and soo will the bonuses ! Enjoy the extra chapter ???? /// Chapter 51: The test Rudra stepped into the tier ascension test arena..... Each class had their own criteria for judging .... For knights class it was a test of everything. A test for each of your five basic stats . For wizards their physical prowess mattered less and their intelligence mattered more and soo did their mana stat , hence they were tested on those criteria''s only to progress. However knights were tested on everything , comprehensively being evaluated. For each basic stat there were three different levels , clearing all fifteen levels one could gain a SSS assesment , 14 would earn SS , 13 would earn S , 10-12 would earn A , 7-9 B 6-7C and 5 would earn D , any less than that and you could not tier acend. Rudra was mentally prepared for this test , he had knowledge about it thanx to his previous life experience, however clearing the stages was still a feat he needed to accomplish himself. The first test will be a test of stamina , stage one will commence in 30 s , prepare yourself adventurer. A system notification rang. Rudra was transported into a long white hall , with a single black line in the centre seemingly running for infinity. He could not even make out the dimensions of the room , wether the floor he was standing on would still be there if he moved 3 meters to the left was uncertain , as white as white can be the room started to hurt Rudra ''s eyes distorting his vision . Run along the black line for as fast as you can and reach the finish line . The system sound said 3....2....1 .... Go! The countdown ended and Rudra sprung into action , he took the marathon approach rather than dashing madly , however his cadence was by no means low ... If compared to a real world race , it would be like he was running in a 800m race. However the thing is there was no finish line in sight , he had no idea wether he needed to run 80m or 800m or 8 km. If he were to run too slow , he will miss the time limit and fail the trial , if he ran too fast he would burn up much faster and may not be able to complete the race. Hence Rudra chose the moderately high pacing. According to his estimate the race should be about 1.6km long taking about 3-5 mins for average people to complete. However the problem laid in the layout of the room , with not being able to judge the distance properly it was a mental burden , a minute felt like 10 and the distance seemed never ending. However such things cant affect Rudra with his knowledge of the race ... He easily cleared the first stage. First stage of stamina test clear.... Commencing second trial in 30s , prepare yourself adventurer. No catching your breath , next challenge was up in 30s. Clear the underwater course in minimum possible timespan. the system notification rang. He was teleported underwater , with heavy steel balls being chained to all four of his limbs. Also there was an obstacle course that required him to swim up , down left right and even diagonally to move through , all while wearing the metal ball chains , without oxygen. Rudra knew that he could at max stay 3 mins without oxygen before he is teleported outside because of being extremely fatigued. There was no point in conservation of strength now. He needed to go all out. And all out he went. Swimming with all his might , he was going through the obstacle course all while his cardiovascular system went into overload trying to cope up with him. Rudra took 2 mins and 18 seconds to clear this trial. After being teleported back into thr test area he sat flat on his back gasping for recovery. Stage 2 clear , commencing stage 3 in 30s , adventurer prepare yourself. Rudra cursed ''********, let me have a minute will you '' However regardless of his will he was teleported to test 3 Welcome to the gravity suppression chamber .....Climb 100 steps with each 10 step increasing a G force. You have 20s for each flight of 10 steps. Start in 3....2....1...Go! Rudra had no time to relax, however making the most of the 20 seconds given he climbed at a slow pace for the first 10 steps. Gravity was increased to 2G It was little uncomfortable however bearable. He took around 18 seconds and confortably cleared the stage . Rudra felt a little less fatigued now , taking a few seconds as a breather , but he had no time to relax .... He went on to climb the next 10 steps at 3G . He could feel the weight on his steps now , his cardiovascular system had undertook immense strain upto this point , and was ready to call quits 4G was even harder it took him 15 seconds at full power to hustle through 4G . 5G was where Rudra became to be burdened mentally , he was feeling an extremely strong suppression , not enough blood was reaching his brain . He barely cleared 6G 7G is where his vision started to distort and he started to sway left and right. Crawling and clawing his way up though , not willing to give up he somehow cleared 7G in 19.7 s But that was it , he collapsed at 8G . However unknown to him , he has long cleared this stage at 5G , every stage above that were a bonus evaluation . Stage 3 cleared. All stages of stamina test cleared , congratulations adventurer , we shall commence the physical strength test after you completely regain your stamina . Saying that the system provided the panting Rudra with a stamina recovery potion to be drunk , the system was considerate enough to have the lid open as Rudra was not even in a condition to open the lid. Downing the liquid Rudra just waited till the feeling returned back to his limbs. ///Author''s thoughts : Do you guys want the mc to gain a legendary subclass , or do you want him to gain a common one??? Let me know in the comments /// Chapter 52: Test(2) The next test was the physical stat test , it primarily included strength and explosive power. The system notification rang . Stamina completely regained .... Commencing next test phase..... Strength test phase one ... Deadlift the given weights .... Test commences in 30s . Rudra had to deadlift the next set of weights like he was in a gym .... He was confident about this , it should be quite easy . The first set of weights appeared .... It was 50Kg .... Rudra deadlifted it in a breeze . The second set of weights appeared it was 55 kgs .... Rudra lifted it with ease as well. Also he understood the pattern of 5kg progression with each round . Round 10 Rudra lifted the hundred kg weight ..... Nowhere near his limit. However effort was now needed to continue. Round 20 Rudra lifted the 150 kg weight .... Now feeling the weight increase in his back. It wasnt easy. Round 25 Rudra lifted the 175 kg weight , now he was almost at his limit , this was getting tougher by the second. Round 28 .... 185 Kg , Rudra started to wobble now ..... Barely making it through . Rudra decided on the fly now that he needed to reach 200 by hook or by crook hence he decided to put some of the unassigned stat points into strength. ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:30 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 87 VIT : 77 INT : 73 STA : 72 PHY : 70 HP : 8000/8000 unassigned stat points :16 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- His PHY was the most lacking stat hence he assigned 6 stat points into PHY from the unassigned stats ..... And the next round continued. With the increased PHY stat he was able to overcome round 28 , 29 Finally at round 30 , Rudra barely lifted the 200kgs deadlift. The system sound rang . Stage cleared , congratulations adventurer , the next stage will commence in 30 s get ready. Rudra felt that the next round was too much. He was supposed to push a 2 meter large boulder on a 60¡ã slope to the top . You have 240s to clear the stage. Good luck! Ohh great , a time limit , just what i needed. Rudra thought. Just as the countdown reached zero Rudra started pushing with all his might. The stone was heavy , and absolutely refused to roll against gravity. Rudra used the shoulder technique to support the stone with his full frame. Using his legforce he started taking one step at a time. The problem with this method was , he could not see the distance ahead , he just had to hope he would make it in time. Hence every second he just pushed and pushed like it was the last 10. It was no easy task. Finally at about 230 s he heard the system notification. Stage cleared congratulations adventurer. Strength test phase three will start in 30s. Prepare yourself. Rudra wanted to curse. However he was soo happy to clear the second stage , that he did not .... However his happiness was short lived , soon he was teleported into the next test phase. It was a pit based obstacle course. Basically Rudra could only use his upper body strength to be left hanging at the bars and clear the upcoming obstacle course probably in some time limit. Clear the course in less than 4 minutes , time starts now. Yep time limit , always. Rudra sprung into action rapidly going forward the first set of monkey bars. Then came rope. He needed to climb a 20 foot rope to continue the course. The thing about rope climbing is it needs technique. Not everyone can climb a rope without any support. Rudra struggled here , barely making any progress , he was loosing valuable seconds here. Taking a full minute to climb the rope , Rudra became desperate now. Quickly moving forward on the straight pole he went on the next obstacle that was the spike trap. It was a horizontal rope with glass shards for most part and small patches to hold in between , it was created to not let the adventurer gain rhythm in his swings... Sometimes the distance was short , sometimes it was long. This stage was made to loose seconds. The end was just across this stage. Rudra only had 30s to cover about 60 meters. Rudra started swinging quickly holding the gaps but about 20 meters in he used up the 15 s , Rudra knew at this rate he would never be able to complete the stage. Taking a gamble upon his own pain tolerance , he decided to go through glass. And yep , it was a bad decision through and through. Pain shot through Rudra as the glass pierced his hands. Blood dripping everywhere. Any sane person would give up now. However Rudra was a little crack , the pain was okay to him , but not the what if of what if he would have gotten a SSS. Hard willing himself through the pain , Rudra cleared the stage with bleeding hands. Congratulations adventurer for clearing all three stages of the physical exam. Total stats covered 2/5. Total stages passed 6/6. Next stage will be the agility test , prepare yourself after regaining your peak form the test will start. Saying this the system gave him a HP regeneration potion , which Rudra downed immediately. It took about 30s for him to be completely healed Rudra was mentally prepared now , come what may fuck the world he wanted the special class now , it was SSS or nothing. /// Author''s thoughts : Guys we are completely destroying the power rankings this time around. Just day before i gave a bonus chapter and we are soo close to one today. Lets do it guys. Keep the stones rolling soo will the bonuses. Lets see how far we can go. /// Chapter 53: Test (final) The next test was agility test. And contrary to popular beleif , agility test not only tested your speed but also speed of your reflexes. For Rudra agility was his most heavily invested stat hence he should be able to take on this challenege. The system notification sounded The first stage is the 200m race , you must complete the race under 20.4 s to qualify. Goodluck adventurer. Rudra half expected this .... This bar was not impossible to achieve especially in virtual world. However in real world 20.4 s would probably win you your state gold medal. Many people fail to understand this however tier 0 is what a normal human peak represents. Tier 1 is superhuman strength category , you can do stuff like crush boulders and fight much bigger monsters. Tier 2 you reach the limit of human strength and reflexes . Tier 3 changes a lot you step into the domain of really strong warriors capable of razing ciries to the ground. Most generals of kingdoms as well as NPC guild masters are Tier3 . Tier4 are the legendary characters, the highest realm of power in the mortal sphere. Tier 4 characters can decide the outcome of kingdoms. Tier 5 are angels and demons. They are not supposed to be part of the game at this point Whereas tier 6 is the domain of the gods. Even after 20 years of playing Omega Rudra never heard of any tier 5 or 6 players. Anyway the first race was about to start . 3....2...1...GO! Rudra dashed forward. He was no professional runner in real life however his Cadence was extremely natural and beautiful to watch. He completed the 200m in 19.6s which was a good score and cleared the level. Conhratulations for clearing this level the next test commences in 30s , prepare yourself adventurer. A new system notification rang . The next stage was a reflex test in a dodgeball style setting where a mini ball about the size of a pingpong will be shot towards the target at random speeds from random directions in a 20¡Á20¡Á20 room . Rudra had to survive for about 7 minutes in the room with each minute increasing the difficulty. Rudra easily dodged the projectiles for the first 3 minutes , however he had a close call on the fourth , fifth felt extremely difficult and he was almost eliminated in 6th. Rudra grit his teeth, agility was supposed to be his strength , he cant fall here. However with no options left he decided to add all remaining stat points to agility. Rudra called the system menu ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:30 Tier : 0 STATS AGI : 87 VIT : 77 INT : 73 STA : 72 PHY : 76 HP : 8000/8000 unassigned stat points :10 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- He had 10 stat points left and he decided to add them all to agility. With newfound speed , Rudra cleared the 7 th stage barely. Congratulations adventurer you have successfully cleared the 2nd stage of the speed test, prepare yourself for the third one , test commences in 30s The final test was again an obstacle course , with speed as focus it was designed like a subway surfer meets temple run type game , where the floor behind you would keep crumbling and there were three lanes to run on with obstacles on each one. Rudra had no difficulty clearing this level and he successfully cleared all the stages of the speed test. congratulations adventurer for clearing all the stages of the agility stat , you have now completed three stats and have yet to undergo vitality and intelligence stat tests. Current test progress3/5. Stage cleared 9/9 .next would be intelligence stat test , prepare yourself adventurer. The intelligence stat test had three tests the first being an mcq quiz with general knowledge questions about the game, Rudra was a reincarnator , ofcourse he would Ace such simple tests. Next was a tricky scenario test , where one needed wits to clear the stage ... However our reincarnator knew the solution and breezed through easy. The last test was strategy and warfare , you needed to beat the enemy team using great war formations and tactics. Both sides had 200 troops and the system managed one side whereas you managed other . Rudra being a natural leader , also cleared this stage. Though he only had 17 soldiers left standing. Soo it could be said as a close call. congratulations adventurer for clearing all the stages of the intelligence stat , you have now completed four stats and have yet to undergo vitality stat test. Current test progress4/5. Stage cleared 12/12 .next would be vitality stat test , prepare yourself adventurer. Vitality stat test was the easiest of them all , it was just about surviving harsh enviroments. Stage one was a flame pit .... It was painfull but cleared. Stage two was a sandtrap .... It was dehydrating but cleared. Stage three was a tundra icy climate scenario .... It was bone chilling and Rudra almost died ... However cleared successfully. Finally Rudra cleared all the stages of the tests. Congratulations adventurer on clearing all the stages successfully ... Commencing rewards..... Rudra sat down smiling ... This was hands down one of the most mentally exhausting experiences of his life ..... These tests were anything but easy .... He could not imagine many clearing all 15 , hell not even 10. What Rudra achieved was something being proud of .... And proud he was! Well time to check the rewards. ///Author''s thoughts : Bonus chapter guys, worked till 2 am to give you this one ..... Have breezed through the last 2 stat tests as i feel im dragging the tests out too long and the story progression is much more interesting to read.... If you guys want it though please comment ill add a supplementary chapter. Anyways enjoy the bonus./// Chapter 54: Rewards and skill selection /// Before moving forward with the story many of you requested for the detailed outlook about the warfare test in intelligence stat test , hence here is a quick description about the part/// ------------------- ( Warfare test , slight past ) congratulations on clearing the second stage of the intelligence stat test adventurer , you have 30s to prepare for the last one Rudra prepared for the last test ..... It was a test of strategy and warfare. Each side was given 200 troops with 100 infantry , 50 cavalry and 50 archers. The system took the approach of dividing the entire platoon into 4 equal squads with 50 soldiers each. The system placed three squads linearly in front , and the last squad primarily consisting of archers was placed behind the central squad in first line forming a small backwards T Rudra took a different approach , he arranged his troops into a bow formation making a reverse arch , the first line being infantry , followed by cavalry , and lastly archers. He also dispatched 20 cavalry soldiers to take a wide flank in the battle to engage from the complete rear of the enemy annihilating their archers. With the formation setup complete the warfare started and both sides showered arrows on the infantry ..... Rudra''s side had a slight advantage in the infantry exchange in the first few minutes , however with the cavalry mixing into the frey Rudra''s side quickly went on the defensive. There were only 50 cavalry soldiers total and with 20 being dispatched early it was clear why Rudra''s side was on the loosing end. The situation looked grim for a bit , as the cavalry started decimating the lines. However with Rudra''s flankers suddenly appearing behind the archers the situation turned. The archers were defenseless against the cavalry at close range. And were slayed mercilessly. Now a two pronged assault the system army was sandwiched between two sides where back could not be shown to either side. However it still had a numerical advantage hence the battle struggle kept going... In the end only 17 soldiers from Rudra''s side managed to walk out of the war. Rudra cleared the stage successfully. The system notification rang .... Congratulations on clearing the last stage of the intelligence test..... Now onto vitality.... ---------------------------- ( Present time , after clearing all stages) Congratulations adventurer on clearing all the stages for the Knights test .... Final assessment ( SSS ) a perfect score ..... Tier promotion successful.... Calculating rewards. REWARD 1 : All stats multiplied by 2 (incl max HP) REWARD 2 : +150 unassigned stat points ( +10 for each stage cleared ) + 30 unassigned stat points (SSS special reward) BOOM! JACKPOT ! Rudra could never have imagined such amazing rewards..... Him just 5 minutes ago and him now were incomparable , this is the disparity between tiers. This is why he urged his guild to upgrade tiers as soon as possible .... With 50 tier one members , they could decimate the enemy ranks. Rudra checked his stats . ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:30 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 194 VIT : 154 INT : 146 STA : 144 PHY : 152 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :180 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- If people considered him strong before..... Now he became genuinely OP! And this is not all it continues REWARD 3 : Choose two from the following list of knight class skills [ ALL WEAPON USER ] ( PASSIVE) ( KNIGHT CLASS SPECIFIC ) : player will gain basic proficiency of all weapons. Damage using any weapon +5% [ BROTHERHOOD ] ( PASSIVE) ( KNIGHT CLASS SPECIFIC ) : As a part of the knights code of arms , while fighting in a party with fellow knights all stats +5% [ KNIGHTS VALOR ] ( ACTIVE) ( KNIGHT CLASS SPECIFIC ) : Player may use this skill to instantly regain 10% hp when hp is below 5% , to continue the fight for honor Restrictions : cannot be used if infamy stat is non zero Sideffects : player will be in a weakened state for 2 hours after 20 minutes of skill activation [ KNIGHTS CHARISMA ] ( PASSIVE ) ( KNIGHT CLASS SPECIFIC ) : Charisma stat +5 , favourable impression on all light faction NPC , negetive impression on all Dark faction NPC [KNIGHTS COMPANION] ( PASSIVE) (KNIGHT CLASS SPECIFIC) : All mounts will be obedient and a reliable companion in battle , the chances of fleeing -70% , they will be with you through thick and thin. Most dont know this yet as the pet and mount slots have yet to be opened however Rudra knew that in. '' OMEGA'' all pets had a personality like the NPC, just because you had a mount did not mean they would obey you ..... You needed to feed them take care of them and even they got injured and needed to be healed . Your mounts may be suppressed or even killed in fights , they are not immortal , they may even flee at sign of danger or refuse to come out of the storage space all together . If the pet does not respect the owner they may also not listen to the owners commands in battle. This skill was a lot usefull . [ OATH OF SERVICE ] (KNIGHT CLASS SPECIAL) : Give this oath to someone whom you wish to serve and they can then summon you at any time for battle. +200% exp in summoned battles. A completely trash skill. Usually the reward for D classes. There were a total of 27 skills to choose from.... However Rudra aldready picked 2 even before coming here. He chose the Knights companion passive skill and Knights valor active skill. REWARD 4 : SPECIAL SKILL ( SSS REWARD) CHOOSE ONE OF THE THREE SPECIAL SKILLS ( GOLDEN RATIO ) ( KNIGHT CLASS SPECIAL SKILL ) : The golden ratio for knight''s class is 1:1:1:1:1 when stats are in this ratio all stats +150% (KNIGHTS DETERMINATION ) ( KNIGHT CLASS SPECIAL SKILL) : gives you 5 seconds of immortality after hp hits 0 . ( MAGIC USER ) ( KNIGHT CLASS SPECIAL SKILL) : Unlock the mana stat , as knights use stamina to cast magic spells they tend to tire out too quickly compared to mages , also advanced spells cannot be cast .... Unlock mana stat and build your mana . Rudra was stunned silent ... Never in his previous life had anyone disclosed about the class special skills ..... And looking at them now , he wished to drool ! How can anyone choose just one???? He wanted all 3 ... None of them are passable. Just what to choose??? /// Feel free to comment below what you guys think should be chosen ..... With good reasoning though .... Lets see if you guys can change my mind about the one i choose , also lets see if you can guess what m gonna choose /// Chapter 55: The Choice Rudra was faced with a tough choice ... All three special stats were incredibly usefull to any player. However he had to choose one , hence he decided to think things through logically . Knights could use magic ..... Although large AOE spells needing large amounts of mana was not possible for knights , they could still cast simple spells like fireball and darkness blast. Rudra ''s battle style was more sword based anyway , hence he felt that okay ..... He could do without the mana stat , as it would start from 0 , it still needed stat points allocation to grow stronger.....his strength being the sword and he aldready being a knight being capable of wielding various weapons , and casting simple spells , he decided to drop this option . Now came the immortality cheat , 5 seconds of immortality after hp hits 0 could make the difference of heaven and earth in a battle.... If used right it could easily create an unknown variable in a battle, even taking the enemys strongest attack you dont fall , having a chance for a counter. Rudra was really really tempted for this skill , it could be the ace in the whole for him .No assassination attempt would ever go unnoticed , maybe in a boss fight that extra five seconds is all you need to clear the dungeon. However when he analysed the situation objectively , the option one for golden ratio boost was the best option all around. The golden ratio passive would remain there with him throughout his growth journey , it wasnt like if today if he has a 100 points in stats he gets an extra 50 according to the passive boost. However someday when his stats reach the 1000 point the passive would add another 500 points , it was like gaining 1.5 levels everytime he levelled up. With time it would make him absolutely invincible. Rudra was torn between the two options , and he finally decided that he would decide based on the amount of unassigned stat points he needed to equalize the ratio to 1:1:1:1:1 , if it needed him to level up too much , he would consider picking the other option first. Rudra called for the stat panel ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:30 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 194 VIT : 154 INT : 146 STA : 144 PHY : 152 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :180 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- Rudra did the maths ..... He needed exactly 180 unassigned stat points to equalize the ratio to 1:1:1:1:1 matching the aldready progressed agility stat and by heavens will he had exactly 180 points in his belt. Rudra took this as a sign from above and chose the first option. He readjusted the stat ratio again and called for the system pannel equipping the passive. ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned Class : Knight Subclass : none LVL:30 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 194 +97 VIT : 194 +97 INT : 194 +97 STA : 194 +97 PHY : 194 +97 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- OP , he definitely became OP. Rudra could confidently now say that he had the highest stats of all players in the game. And this lead will only widen with time. He was extremely happy with this bonus. Lets see who could equal Rudra on the battlefield now .... He would definitely be a one man wrecking crew now. Now the next part of the selection process began ..... Now came the class selection TIER ONE PROMOTION SUCCESSFUL , PRESENTING SUBCLASS LIST ....DETECTED PLAYER IS A COMBAT TYPE .... DISPLAYING ALL THE NON COMBAT SUBCLASSES .....DETECTED PLAYER CLEARED THE TIER PROMOTION QUEST WITH SSS RATING , ALSO DISPLAYING LEGENDARY CLASSES . Rudra first opened the normal subclass list ALCHEMIST POTIONSMASTER TAILOR DOCTOR FIRST AID AGENT . . . BLACKSMITH . . . ENGINEER BOMBMAKER . . PAINTER PUBLIC SERVANT . . . There were a total of 97 normal non combat subclasse options available for Rudra to choose from. Rudra opened the tab for Bombmaker subclass [ Bombmaker ] ( normal ) : Imbue gunpowder and mana based bombs to create an explosive mixture. Great for PVE and mob grinding Caution : high chances to explode while producing ..... Player may die many times while crafting. It was a class which was highly sought after in Rudra''s past life..... Bombmakers were usually exclusive to guilds. They were heavily contracted and demand exceeded the supply for bombs making it a very lucrative job . Rudra needed the class for his upcoming guild war ....else he absolutely had no use for the class. Sighing he decided to take a look at the legendary classes before deciding Special classes : Mechanic Runesmith Enchanter . . . Scientist . . . Illusion Artist . . Explosion artist . . . Notary Gunmaker There were a total of 20 special subclasses , last life there were only 2 gunmakers in the entire game .... Part of super guilds. Bringing a gun to a sword fight was definitely a big big edge down the game. However for balance there were no automatic rifles or rotating barrel pistols in the game ..... There was only single action rifles with accuracy upto 30 meters and hell of a recoil ..... Even then it was not impenetrable to armour. With legendary or epic armour you may stop the bullet. However still it was overall a highly effective weapon. Rudra calmly read the description of many classes, the class runesmith and illusion master definitely caught his eye as extremely useful .... However what really stood out was the Explosion Artist class. [ Explosion Artist ] ( Legendary ) : Explosion and destruction is a form of art .... Using chemical based bombs as a base , sky is the limit for your creations ..... Create the strongest and most beautiful bombs known to all sentient creatures . Caution : The class has no fix way of gaining experience through crafting , its levelling system depends on the expression of the art of explosion. Rudra was definitely most intrigued by this , this class had the potential to be much bigger than a normal Bombmaker however his past life knowledge cheat had no knowledge about this field ... It would be uncharted territory , with the war being soo close could he really take that risk?? Rudra was torn in the decision of what to do ... However in the end he decided fu** it lets go for the legendary class. Rudra chose the Explosion Artist as his subclass..... /// Hahaha, let me know if you guys guessed this way of story progression ... Also i know bonus is due , However ill post it tommorow .... Sorry for the one day delay ....i had written a long chapter but forgot to save my work .... Am as frustrated as you are .... I need time to write it again .... Again Sorry for the inconveniences/// Chapter 56: Meeting the mysterious NPC again Rudra completed the test , SSS at that , and went on to get the best possible skill set he could gain to increase his battle strength . Rudra wondered if all this was enough to catch the eye of the catwoman. He walked out of the test area and yes there she was looking at him with a grin , Rudra was sure she ment no harm , however her catlike facial features made the grin look like she was ready to devour Rudra as if he was a big fat tasty fish!. The catwoman said " Hello adventurer , my name is Patricia won knight , my family hails from the famous knight Augustus Won Knight and we are responsible for mentaining and evaluating all the new recruits of this knight''s hall. " Rudra was shocked! Augustus Won Knight was a legendary tier 5 NPC , hands down one of the strongest knights in the history of the game. In the history of the then Hazelgroove Empire , he single handedly defended the eastern battlefield from the onslaught of a beasttide. He was a legend amongst legends who slayed a dragon!. " You are the first otherworldly adventurer to walk into this hall and your aptitude does not dissapoint , you walked in like just any other adventurer taking the test however being the first SSS assesed promoted in the last 20 years your strength has increased by leaps and bounds in a short time ". Patricia continued " Your meritorious deeds indeed donot dissapoint and as actions speak louder than words , they are the proof of your righteous character ... Say kid would you like to follow the steps of Augustus Won Knight and become a Legendary knight? " . Rudra was blank for a moment .... This was too much information to process in a short while, however he nodded unconsciously [ Hier to Augustus Won Knight ] ( S ) ( Quest ) : succesfully promote your tier from 1-3 with a SSS rating to get the legendary class Knight Of The Empire It was the quest that lead to the selection of a legendary class. There were no special methods to reach legendary classes in '' Omega '' or so Rudra thought , never had he heard about the legendary class Knight Of The Empire , and never had he heard about a quest leading to one. Ofcourse it was not a special method , it still needed him to get a SSS rating in tier 3 promotion quest , which also gave a list of legendary classes upon completion. However this quest also demanded him to get a SSS rating in the tier 2 promotion. How odd. " Remove the armour kid and follow me ". The catwoman said. Rudra followed her into what seemed like a mansion behind the Knights hall ..... The mansion was huge and studded with riches , it seemed more luxurious than even his guild hall! Just who is this woman? Rudra was lead into a study type room with lots of books and a small burning fire in the room , above which was a chimney , in the fire there was a steel rod and what seemed like a brand . Patricia picked up the brand and murmured something in a tongue that Rudra did not understand " blazakich umitri dovana unredra makano valak zuma divitri no mikadeva ". The brand which was red hot before now began to glow golden. " Brace yourself boy " Patricia said as she branded Rudra''s arm with the Golden brand. It stung ..... It was almost like Rudra''s entire body was burning not just his arm ..... The pain was almost unbearable ..... Just when he felt that he would pass out under the pain , Patricia held his head with her two palms and started speaking something in a tongue he did not understand again ... But the pain started to ease .... 2 minutes later it was all over. System notification : Congratulations player , you have been branded with the mark of the Von Knight family , you are now a Von Knight, having the same influence as a duke in the Hazelgroove kingdom . As Rudra was staring blankly at the system notification Patricia stood there grinning , she said " Welcome to the family , little brother". What was going on here??? Why was he being branded , why does he have the same influence as a duke? Why am i part of a family? Just what the hell is going on? As if reading his thoughts Patricia said " The Knight Augustus Won had no biological children , as you know he was a human, not hailing from the beasttribe ". Rudra felt silly now , ofcourse he knew he was human , yes then why is Patricia a catwoman .why did he not think about it before . " He adopted two children who he thought were supremely talented in the way of the knights and made them his hier , The then legendary mage and Augustus Won Knight''s friend the mage Cassanova made this brand and this spell for his friend. Whoever is branded with this brand using this spell would become a part of the Von Knight family gaining the Eyes Of Truth and the Earthquake skill , special to our lineage". Rudra nodded as he inspected the two new skills he earned , surprisingly he also earned a title . ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:30 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 194 +97 VIT : 194 +97 INT : 194 +97 STA : 194 +97 PHY : 194 +97 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- [ Eyes of Truth ] ( legacy ) : Skill special to the Von Knight lineage, The first Von knight , Augustus had the special skill awakened after being promoted to Tier5 , his most trusted skill in discerning the true from the false. The eyes of truth can discern wether someone is saying the truth or lying , at the same time it can check the stats of anyone below tier 5 successfully Effect 2 : Immunity to illusions , Immunity to your stats being examined by others. It was an excellent skill! Words cant describe how usefull this skill was! Rudra curious decided to use this skill on Patricia [ Patricia Won Knight ] ( Tier 4 ) ( Queen of the BeastTribe ) ( Hier to Augustus Won Knight ) HP (10000000/10000000) : She is hailed as the strongest knight in Hazelgroove kingdom , donot make an enemy out of her. " Checking me out soo soon? Arent you a pervert little brother ...." Patricia giggled . "How did you know" Rudra asked . " Oh our eyes glow golden when we inspect someone " Patricia said Soo that''s what she was doing when he met her first. Also Rudra was completely intimidated by Patricia after reading her stats , a f''n tier 4 NPC and the queen of beast tribe? Why is she the part of Hazelgroove then? She was soo damn strong. Just the amount of zeroes behind her Hp bar was ridiculous. Rudra inspected the second skill [ Earthquake ] ( legacy ) : Stab your sword into the ground to create shatter the ground and create shockwaves. Deals heavy damage to anyone coming in contact with the shockwave. Caution : the shockwaves are emitted 360¡ã not only forward , donot harm friendlies. It was another OP Skill! Rudra was almost moved to tears ..... Is the goddess of luck finally smiling on him? " Also the then emperor of Hazelgroove promised Augustus that all his descendants would be honored as Dukes of the Empire , soo yeah you can throw your weight around this place , also we Von Knight '' s have a small unit of soldiers under us ... Some 50 thousand strong. Feel free to call upon them if you need them". 50 THOUSAND SOLDIERS????? WHATT THE HELLLL Rudra would faint from this info dumped on him ... however all he could mutter is .... " Why me?" Patricia laughed " Ofcourse who not but you ... Our ancestor placed this condition for entry in the family that one needed to have done meritorious service for the empire ( now kingdom ) before reaching tier 1 , not only have you helped the church and the kingdom you also have made quite the name for yourself , the second condition was to pass the tier promotion with a perfect score .... How many do you think can achieve that? The knights tier promotion is the hardest of all classes being judged on all 5 basic attributes .... Still you managed it , the only one to do so after me in 20 years. Your future is limitless as someone who cannot die. The third condition was to gain my approval , that depended on the path you took after being promoted by a tier ..... Your choosing of the explosion artist subclass... Its the same as Augustus Won Knight himself .... Hence why you were entrusted with the duty to follow in his footsteps and welcomed to the family , you have a good nature kid , and i accept you as my brother , not only will i always come at your aid , soo will the BeastTribe. I am the queen you know ..... You might wonder why me the queen am here in Hazelgroove ..... Well it is because there are ptitifully few of my tribe left , only 5000 or so catwoman , even if i built a seperate village it isnt something very usefull , i am just a queen in name that way , however my authority is still absolute , and they too will come to the aid of my little brother ". Rudra was calm now .... This was earned through his own merit , he deserved this. " I will not disgrace this honor " Rudra said with determination . " Well you will with that sword ... /// Extra long chapter for the bonus , can break it apart and post it as two , but the non premium readers will have to wait one more day to read one half hence posting it as one big chapter providing max value for a single fast pass used .... Tell me if this method is better for posting bonuses /// Chapter 57: War preparations , laying low. "what''s wrong with my sword ? " Rudra asked , although Excalibur was a replica , it was an excellent sword with amazing abilities . Patricia said " that sword is cute , but it cant even compare to one of the worst ones in this mansions warehouse ". Rudra was dumbfounded .... Excalibur was a Dark gold level sword..... Just what was in the mansion warehouse?. " However you are too weak to wield any one of them , and you havent contributed enough to gain a sword , in the future when you do though .... Ill reward you with a real beauty". Patricia smiled. " Still , lets try make the trash you use more usable shall we .... " Saying so she took Rudra''s sword and started enhancing it fitting with enhancement stones. Those were not normal stones , the process of enhancing weapons was always a tricky one , a maximum of +15 enhancement was possible. For every enhancement there was a 40% chance of success 60% chance of failure, for a +5 enhanced sword to fail enhancement once it would be back to 0 soo theoritically enhancing to +15 was usually a pipedream , a +7 or +8 enhanced weapon would be highly valued. Yet Patricia took out a +10 enhancement stone , the value of this stone alone was around 100 platinum coins , and she casually used it to imbue in Rudra''s Excalibur. What madness. Then she imbued it with a high purity fire stone. Adding flame damage to everyone facing a cut from the sword . Although it was a dark gold weapon , when Patricia was finished casually doodling it became better than a epic one in function. [Excalibur] ( Replica ) ( Dark gold ) (+10 enhanced) : Replica forged by a master blacksmith of the legendary sword Excalibur Special effect 1 : change the shape and mass of the sword at will Special effect 2 : imbue burn damage to opponents upon cutting the skin ( fire stone bonus) Special effect 3 : Damage +100% ( +10 enhanced bonus) Durability : 50,000/50,000 Status : mint condition , no repairs needed. Rudra''s attack power gained another boost. Not that he needed it , however the beast became stronger again! After chatting with Patricia for a while , Rudra decided to go back to the guild to take care of other matters, hence he took his leave. ------------------------ ( Orange Rock Guild , PurpleHaze city ) " Mr Ambani has given us a considerable investment this time .... The 120 lv 27 experts provided by them have top notch skills and can easily overpower 5 normal lv 25 players ..... With them as our front line assaulters the 50 men of True Elites will fall ! ". The secretary said to Donald " That damn Shakuni and that bastard Ethan Grey behind him are both annoying , when i crush the True Elites badly , let me see then how the Grey international '' s stocks tumble under Mr Ambani''s pressure". Donald said fuming " Indeed sire, Mr Ambani has played a masterstroke this time .... The only thing now that can save the True Elites is if the Grey corporation''s main guild lends a helping hand .... But as a trillionare can stop another trillionare we have assurance that the ''Reliance warriors'' Mr Ambani ''s super guild will come to our aid". " Yes , although i beleive the True Elites have one or two trump cards we are unaware of, however there is absolutely no chance that they can win this war without external assistance ". Donald said sure of his victory now " Just you wait , Shakuni , i will return the humiliation a thousandfold to you soon". He said resolutely. ---------------- ( Meanwhile at the Nakatomi towers) PinkLotus was with her father Mr Nakatomi discussing about Rudra''s predicament. " Dad , we need to help Rudra , his chances of victory look slim ". Yua pleaded . " We cant , that boy is a fool to initiate a war he cant win .... The company is heavily invested in the game , if we join the frey and loose it will be a very negetive image for us, and even if we win there is not much to gain with their internal feud ..... Inshort its simply not worth it". Mr Nakatomi said coldly. "But he''s my friend! I want to help him dad ". Yua protested " Exactly Yua , he is your friend , not your fianc¨¨ , there will be no help without tangible gains , this matter ends here ". Mr nakatomi cut her off. Yua was extremely frustrated , she wanted to help Rudra but her dad just wont agree, she was ready to mobilize a sizable force to aid Rudra . Not just her. Many solo players and smaller guilds had contacted True Elites to lend assistance , however Amelia shunned everyone down , True elites were now called madmen and arrogant , everyone was waiting for their ego to shrink down to size .... Absolutely noone beleived they could win this war. --------------- ( At the true elites guild hall , inner city ) Rudra was back and had requested the status of everyone''s tier promotion progress.... Out of the 53 members , 47 had successfully tier promoted 32 of them being A grade and 13 being B grade with only Karna and Neatwit coming out with S grade assessments. However Rudra was happy with the turnout , and the other 6 were currently level 30 and attempting the tier promotion . Many of the guild members had submitted a query as to what subclass to choose , but true elites gave a freedom of choice to every player to choose their own path. Noone was forced to choose any specific subclass and hence everyone was visibly happy . Although tensions were high in the guild with the shadow of war looming over the guild , however noone was discontent with the guild. Everyone wanted to try their best to contribute .... Little by little Rudra was feeling the sense of belonging to the guild from the members ..... It was true that only through hardships are relations forged solid! Rudra settled some guild affairs and then headed to the forging hall .... It was time to enter seclusion with fatty Kalash and make some damn bombs! /// Author''s thoughts : we had a killer week for powerstones last week , with 590 stones in the end .... Aiming for 650 this week , with bonus chapters every 200 stones. Comment below guys how do you like the bonus , 2 seperate chapters or one big one , i chose the big one to give max value for fastpass , however if you guys want two then ill give two , the content is the same though /// Chapter 58: War preparations (2) Rudra sat in the lab with fatty kalash, and accompanying them was Neatwit , that guy thought that bombmaking would help him level up superfast hence he chose the class bomber. This choice was a blessing in disguise for Rudra as he still needed time to figure out how explosion artist worked ... Time is not something he has on hand , and there are no skills or recipes currently available on the market for the Explosion Artist class. This is the drawback of the special classes, the rarity of the class makes its resources available a great challenge , however thanx to Neatwit the current situation wont hinder Rudra''s original plan .... They could craft the ice bombs and spike bombs. Unlike how most MMORPG''s work , in ''omega'' the finished product is not a single production item but has a series of components. The sword and hilt are forged seperately and soo is the scabbard. In the bomb department the core of the bomb the outter shell and the explosion safe mechanism all had to be forged safely. Although blacksmith''s cant forge the core of the bomb they can still forge the other parts , hence with Neatwit focussing on the core , Kalash worked on forging the other parts. With Kalash being an experienced blacksmith , well not really experienced but more than the other 2 members in the room , the process was going on smoothly. Bombs being produced every 10-13 minutes. At the rate they were going they could make upto 100 bombs a day and considering the 2 n a half days they had till the war about 100 spike bombs and 100 freeze bombs could be made easy , with some spare to use. What elated Neatwit was that crafting gave EXP ,The levelling maniac was sad to be forced into forging bombs for the guild , however learning that it gave exp he was instantly motivated. This was not a lot , but it was enough to tip the scales of the battle at a critical moment. With them focusing on the task at hand , Rudra decided to head out to the library to checkout some information about common chemicals and read some alchemy books to gain inspiration for a bomb . As Rudra was going towards the royal library in the inner city , he saw a long line outside the building , nerds were demanding entry into the building , but noone was allowed entry , there were also some adventurers there trying to cause a ruckus as they had quests that required them to gain information from the library. However infront of the lv200 Royal knights noone could use brute force to gain entry. Everyone was being rejected no exceptions barred.Then a haughty adventurer strolled through skipping the massive line towards the guards , acting as if it was normal for him to do this , like he was a VIP. Upon reaching the guards he said " Im a baron , let me through ". The guards looked at the baron and although there was a tinge of coldness in their tone , still showing basic respect they said " Sorry sir , not even count'' s may gain entry without his majesty''s permission . The adventurer was dumbfounded and tried to cause a ruckus however was kicked out by the guards. The onlookers laughed at the guys misfortune , while the person scurried away in shame. Rudra in the robes of the True Elites guild walked confidently along the line , the crowd jeered " another idiot who thinks he is special and can gain access to the library ". " It will be fun watching him being kicked out ". " Those robes , He''s a True Elite ! ". Many turned heads after this comment , many started recording , the scene of a True Elite being denied access would make hot news . Rudra approached the guards and showed the mark on his shoulder , the guard''s eyes widened in surprise as he quickly opened the door and bowed to Rudra in respect saying " Welcome , sir Von Knight ". Rudra strolled through uncaring ..... The entire audience was dumbfounded at the scene , even counts cannot gain entry , which meant one needed to be atleast a marquis to just walk in like that ? But there were no marquis in the current player base , also with the system making the requirements much more stringent it wasnt possible in such a short time , it would take years before a player reaches that level , soo just who was the guy who walked inside then? The haughty guard even bowed? . The scene caused a sensation on the forums , and Rumors about a player named ''Von Knight'' joining the True Elites began spreading . The parties keeping a close eye on the war situation were trying to analyse the new variable .... And how it could affect the war ... Many emergency meetings were called to discuss about this new incident. ------------------ ( Inside the library ) Rudra walked into the quiet and lavish library , there was but two people beside him inside the place. One of them looked like a librarian , wearing grey robes and spectacles , however Rudra could tell that the person was immensely powerfull , he activated the eyes of truth and checked out the stats [ Rahim ] ( Wizard/ Librarian ) ( Lv 230 ) : A wizard thirsty for knowledge , serves the Royal family of Patel'' s in Hazelgroove kingdom. Then he looked at the other youth seated on the table reading books [ Aman patel ] ( Crown prince of Hazelgroove kingdom ) ( Necromancer ) ( Lv 160 ) : The first prince of Hazelgroove kingdom , the next in line to the throne , practising the dark arts of Necromancy , he is someone not to be provoked. Rudra retracted the Eyes of Truth , he was shocked seeing the two men in the room , and they were shocked to see him. Not many could enter the Royal library as and when they wished .... Just who was the guy who entered ? Aman knew all the Marquis and Dukes of the Kingdom and their family , yet never did he see this young gentleman. And to their dismay they could not use identification magic on the person. Having no idea who he was Aman frowned. " You are....? " He asked in a cold voice . " Shakuni von knight " Rudra replied nonchalantly Both their eyes widened in surprise , a Von Knight , Amans attitude took a 180 as he smiled and pointed to the seat against him for Rudra to sit. He said " Please.." . Even the librarian who was throwing dirty looks to Rudra a moment ago was now respectfull. " Dont mind if i do .... " Said Rudra as he took his seat Chapter 59: Meeting the prince As Rudra sat across Aman , he could feel a faint pressure from the other party ... Maybe this was the aura of a noble? Rudra however gave no care about the Royal , he was busy looking at the list of available books to request. After going through the entire list there were various books that piqued his interest , Rudra realized that he was going to spend way more time than he initially thought in the library after the war. Knowing first hand that knowledge is power , this place was a knowledge trove . He could gain a lot of valuable insights into the game if he mastered the secrets that this place held. Rudra unknowingly marvelled at the game creators at this point , creating such an intricate world is one thing , just the creation of such a massive library alone , giving years of history and research ,it needed massive amounts of time and resources. This was a herculean task to accomplish in reality . He had absolute Respect for the Cuber industries for this , they created a fantasy world! Not just a game , a very alive and breating world ! This is why no other game will come close to topping their hold over the market in the visible future. Not for the next 50 years. If the game was not attractive enough , with the involvement of the real world currency the scales tipped completely. Everyone wether a 16 year old boy or a 81 year old bedridden elder , was playing Omega , only kids below 16 were not allowed in the game , as it was decided by UN that entering virtual reality at a younger age may obscure their sense of reality . And they still needed to learn about the basics of society , hence they needed to learn how to integrate with people and culture of their respective nations. Even the gory content of slaying monsters was not suitable for kids , hence the Cuber industries gladly agreed to the set age limit. However it still varied from country to country , the legal playing age was 16-21 depending on the local government. However noone under 16 could play by the company standards. With waves and waves of players entering every day , the markets had started gaining momentum , and price of money as well as value for goods increased bit by bit. The dollar kept falling to the value of gold , however with the 12 big nations of the world being shareholders in cuber they did not really mind the situation. Cuber had played a masterstroke by inviting the government''s as shareholding members , with the 12 big nations on its side , noone could stop the wave of this multi trillion dollar market. The game was fair with no nation gaining unfair advantage , and it was above international pressure. Some smaller nations like country P were highly dissapointed at the constant crumbling of their economy , but they could but yield to the greater wave. Rudra ''s line of thought became offtrack for a moment there ..... He quickly snapped back to reality. With no better clues on what to read he chose the book about basic elementary. And started his research. Both him and the Prince being sincere in their reading the library regained its silence. Rudra moved on from the basics of elementary to the basics of material potionology and then basic alchemy. He read a vairety of materials to gain insights and inspirations . Finally he decided to take a look at the history of the only known Explosion Artist he knew , his ancestor ''Augustus Von Knight '' . The book contained a biography of his life , written by the first succesor to his lineage , recounting his life''s quotes and struggles , his path as a knight was illistrated , and vague mentions about his subclass as a Explosion Artist were seen , it was clear that the person writing the book had very little insights about what the class actually does. But the greatest chemical weapons he created were stated in the book , at number three there was the lightning explosion art ''Vajra'' At number 2 there was the weapon he used to slay the dragon , the ultimate beast slaying bomb the '' PashupatiAstra '' At number one was the bomb most dreaded in history as one of the deadliest ever seen. Wiping the entire battlefield with this bomb it was never used since. The '' Brahmastra'' . The librarian smiled at his choice whereas Aman smirked. Aman liked Rudra more and more each passing minute , even after knowing he was the crown prince he did not flatter or bootleg him , being extremely unmoved , he did not dislike Aman nor did he find the need to please him . While he read sincerely , it showed his thirst for knowledge , and he dint pry into what Aman was reading which showed his character. The Von Knight family has been known to be loyal to the Royals of the Kingdom , hence he could see the young man sitting next to him become a very reliable and loyal Subordinate. Pleased he returned to his reading memorizing the name Shakuni Von Knight to his memory. Rudra understood that Von Knight '' s way of progressing in the explosive artist was the way of making unstable chemicals using mana as a disturbance .... He needed to find chemicals that would be unreactive usually but under the influence of mana as a catalyst they would react vehemently and explode . This was also the method to detonate the chemical bombs he would make .... Imbue mana! This was a great leap in knowledge , he know had a general direction to work forward to . He researched about the possible chemical combinations and their characteristics .... Motivated he breezed through the thick books taking notes of whatever he felt was important , becoming a complete nerd. Rudra deeply immersed in his research was gaining a vague idea about how to proceed , but with a race against time , will he unlock the secrets in time for the war?? /// Author''s thoughts , 200 stones are up guys , will be posting bonus tonight , many of you disliked the long chapter system soo going back to 2 chapter bonuses , enjoy! /// Chapter 60: The first bomb theory /// Guys this is gonna be an intellectually stimulating chapter , if you are not into nerdy stuff this is not for you .... However if you are a science student like me , it will exite you ... I have seen the response on this novel and having faith in my readers intelligence i write this chapter. /// Rudra was deeply engrossed in understanding the theory behind chemical bombs. And the more he read about the basics of alchemy and elements and mana the more he understood that this was not a new concept .... It was like chemistry from the real world only it had its own tweaks. The AI governing the game was allmighty , making endless possibilities come to fruition , with something such as permutations and combinations thousands of compounds could be made by the AI. However those compounds still needed behavior to define them .... The AI can only take that part from reality. The juice of blueheartgrass may have strong corroding properties that can melt steel ... However if seen through a different perspective that is just concentrated hydrochloric acid. There is the three leaf lotus herb , it is a strong aphrodisiac having numbing effects used in medical procedures .... But isnt that just Marijuana? Soo what if it is pink ? ... Or called a lotus? The more Rudra thought along this line. The clearer his vision became , there was petroleum , refined into petrol , diesel , kerosene. They were just simply called stuff like grade 1 oil , grade 2 oil , grade 3 oil etc. These were grades of oil used in shipyards depending on how far the beam was to be sent . All these discoveries exited Rudra , the created world of ''Omega'' was mind-boggling and awe inspiring , however somewhere there is a border to the fantasy and somewhere the line to reality blurs. There was a limit to how much you can create with your mind. You cannot create something out of nothing. Rudra started to reverse engineer now, he was thinking about the most basic explosion he know about. Sodium and water ....when sodium comes in contact with water it quickly reacts violently going crazy over the water surface and releasing immense heat..... Water was still water , even in this world ..... However what was sodium? Rudra browsed through the books and found the peculiar metal called Watersbane ... It was known to combust upon contact with water. Now the only thing was , how to contain the explosion, how to make it activate upon infusing mana??? Firstly Rudra had to figure out what is the role of mana in this world. Mana was this worlds concept, Reality did not have mana and magic .... What is mana really? The more Rudra thought about it , the more he felt .... Mana was just a form of energy. Mana is energy .... The same energy used to move our body .... Like the fat is stored in our muscles , mana is stored in the sea of consciousness. Upon training it you can increase the capacity of the container and gain access to a more rich quality of mana , but mana at the core was just a form of energy. But if mana is just a energy does the law of conservation of energy also apply to mana? If knights can convert stamina to mana , does that mean that energy''s can be interconvertible? Just like heat energy can become light energy and chemical energy can become electrical energy, can mana be converted to stamina? As he hit the state of enlightenment , he realized something .... What all alchemists and potionmasters aldready did but never understood , this world was also based on science.... Every calculation made by the AI is done on a complex calculation of numbers, everything had a order and origin. There were no basic health potions or recipes , it was a law of equivalent exchange. Rudra could destabilize any element with enough energy and make it explode ..... Explosion was an art and Although there were no methods to follow as such ... Everything in this world , can be exploded! Rudra could make the watersbane , supercharged with mana before allowing it to come in contact with water using a mechanism ..... He needed a few trial and errors but he thought , he could make a simple bomb! Rudra was completely elated with today''s thinking session, the crown prince had long since left .... Maybe the quiet of the library helped his train of thoughts as he thought that he gained a deeper understanding of the game in the 3 hours he spent here more so than the 20 simply spent playing it. Grasping at the core rules itself , Rudra felt a indescribable joy , and he wanted to explore his heart out making all kinds of things go BOOM! he felt like a scientist , exited for his experiments . Quickly ordering a large batch of watersbane metal , Rudra walked out of the library and towards the guild. For a moment here Rudra completely forgot about the looming war. He was just a player enjoying the game today. What he did not know was that his intresting line of thinking was not wrong ..... However it was not right either..... What he thought about was a very limited sample space , where his line of thought was applicable. After players progress to tier3 and common realms of humans be surpassed , even the basics would change . The divine metals wont behave like common elements, whereas mana will defy laws of equilibrium. With tier5 and 6 being akin to gods on whom no laws apply at all . Rudra was a frog in a well , although radical in his thoughts but naiive to a fault. His conceptions would change throughout his journey and soo will his art of explosion .... Learning from the basic steps of crawling , he will oneday learn to walk , then run and finally maybe someday he will grow wings and take flight. One thing was for sure though , the journey will be hella intresting. /// Bonus chapter guys, if you like it please shower some powerstones , we have really stagnated in progress in that department , hoping for more support thankyou /// Chapter 61: Making the First bomb With all the ingredients collected , Rudra began the experimenting phase. At first Rudra took a small cup of water and just threw in about a gram of Watersbane metal into it. The metal instantly exploded with a green smoke and the bowl containing the water was tossed high into the air , 90% of the water inside evaporating. This was indeed a promising thing to see. Rudra felt like a kid in school again, men were usually like that , they found a wierd joy in making things explode and destroy. Rudra was no exception to this , he was also on cloud nine seeing the metal go BOOM. Adjusting parameters he increased the quantity of the metal , while decreasing the size of the water. With minute variations he did a lot of testing. He also understood how dangerous the entire process is when the bucket containing water exploded throwing shrapnel of metal outwards , one such piece hit Rudra and gave him critical damage . -2100 CRITICAL HIT! Rudra was scared, the job description did say that making bombs was a dangerous task ... But he only took it to heart now. Becoming more careful with his experiments. But the shrapnel gave him inspiration .... He could add shrapnel to the final bomb design and for all purposes it would then work like a spike bomb. But it wont be ordinary shrapnel ... It would be the watersbane meral itself .... After doing damage as shrapnel , when it would come in contact with the ice from the freezebombs , it would explode again creating chaos. Rudra was elated , his mind filling with evil schemes. Even the sequence of battle became clearer in his mind , he started analyzing how he would entice his enemies before sending them all to their dooms. Shakuni was living up to his name , being a mastermind behind war stratergies. Filled with creativity , he called fatty Kalash over and started to work on the body of the bomb ..... He created the bomb with 4 compartments , the bottom one carrying water .... Above it were two compartments containing watersbane , one with small beads intending to fall into the water to start the reaction and the other was pointy shrapnels. And finally the topmost component was the toadkings saliva , the toadkings saliva was a liquid that quickly evaporated when exposed to mana . With the top layer liquid evaporating the air pressure in the bomb would suddenly decrease. Causing the water to be pushed upwards towards the second through a narrow connecting tube and starting the reaction . When he exploded the first bomb he got an interesting system notification Congratulations adventurer on making the first chemical bomb , Reputation +1000 , Exp + 100,000 LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! Please enter the name for your original recipe Rudra chose WaterBomb! Rudra was very happy .... Although the class did not have many methods to progress , the results and the exp made it worth it. The whole process took 11 seconds from unlocking the cock and adding mana to explosion. As was tested by Rudra several times. Rudra wanted to mana enhance the Watersbane metal too as the very small piece that he did had 3 times the explosiveness. However he could not do that as his stamina depleted at a alarming rate. Unfortunately noone exept Rudra could infuse mana into objects making them unstable.... Maybe this was because of the special class that Rudra could do so. Even when someone infused mana into metals , they only gained greater stability and strength , which was not what he wanted at all . With no better options he could only give it up for now , with the war only 20 hours away he needed to wrap this up . In the next 12 hours 4 waterbombs were successfully created ...... Only 8 hours till the start of the war now .... He was ready ! All the preparations that needed to be done had been done now , all that remained was to engrave the might of True Elites into every single major organization across the world. Rudra finally free from his tasks took a look at the guilds current status ... As expected many of the clan members were approached by the Orange Rock guild being offered lots of rewards in exchange for information . Rudra knew for sure that some people were following him nonstop , they must know that he went to the knight''s hall to attempt tier promotion .... Not just him every single player in True elite guild must have been monitored .... And although they dont yet know the disparity between the two tiers as there is no information available . However this tier promotion was under their watch ... Rudra would be stupid to beleive if the enemy did not have a single trick up their sleeve , however he was not very concerned with that . His plan was absolute annihilation ... If some cards from the opposition could bring him surprise then fine , it may take longer for him to win ... Maybe he will be left standing alone.... However he will come out emerging victorious. The morale in the guild was tense .... The tension had bound the guild together however even with the newfound tier promoted strength many still felt that the chances of victory were slim. The expert analysis towards todays war was that not a single expert gave them a chance in blue moon to win. There were no bets online saying true Elites win ... They were all about how long they would last .... Rudra dint mind it at all , he found this opportunity funny and as everyone gathered in the guild hall he started his speech with a funny remark " soo i have seen this betting site. It has 20:1 payout for an True Elites victory .... I have bet all my personal expenses on this one guys .... And i implore you all do too ... Afterall why refuse free money ...". Rudra grinned. /// Guys the war is going to be epic ... I have done my research on warfare and tactics and seeing as few readers enjoy that , i will definitely not dissapoint.... Rain in those powerstone to unlock the war arc faster!!!/// Chapter 62: War(1) " why dont we bet on ourself ..... I think the safest investment in the world is the one you do on yourself, as you know you wont let yourself down. Moreover i am 99% sure of our Victory ". Rudra said Silence rained supreme ..... The guild leader was soo confident? What does he know about the situation that we dont? They knew Rudra was not an idiot , if he had confidence that meant that there was a reason behind that confidence. Everyone felt excited again ..... Maybe just maybe they can win it all. While raising the morale Rudra started discussing war strategy now .... Everything was explained in detail in the secure guild hall just an hour before the war. Rudra was very careful about spies .... Everyone here was of a clean character , but you never know who may betray you .... Hence he only revealed bits of the plan to the groups incharge of executing the task , only him and Karna having the full picture of the war. Everyone was shocked upon learning their bits in war. They were dumbfounded at the cards the guild leader had hidden.... Was this the strength of the leader? Rudra was 75% certain that the enemy will choose an open field as a battlefield , with no obstacles to maneuver around and no cover to hide. An open warfare where their numbers advantage can be used to the fullest. Rudra countered this strategy by straightforward using bombs. Their formation will shatter under the pressure of the constant bombarding of the bombs , then the frey will start . However the charging lines and attack formation could only be decided after seeing the enemy formation. Rudra was a natural general in his last life .... Leading a party , but after reading the art of war books in the Royal Library , his knowledge about attack formations became much more deepened. ----------------- ( Meanwhile Orange Rock Guild ) " Sir the latest intel into the True Elites guild says that many of them have attempted the tier promotion quest Being level 30 , it is not known wether or not they have succeeded , or what advantages does tier 1 have over tier 0 , the True Elites are the ranking leaders in the Hazelgroove region and at this stage only they are assumed to be tier1 , not much knowledge is known about the stage , it may become a variable ". The Secretary reported. " Well , you are just a lowly secretary , obviously you dont have intel about tier 1 Players , Mr Ambani '' s clan has 3 tier 1 players , and although the stat boost is massive , it is assumed that 5 tier 0 players can topple a tier 1 player of the same level ". "With us outnumbering them about 100:1 they have absolutely no chance in hell to win this war, although there is one other variable which has not been verified , it is that Shakuni is a viscount , can his private guards join the war ? ". Donald said . " This is indeed true , with mr Ambani providing you with experts , and also one tier 1 expert , the scales of war will definitely be in our favour , right off the bat, this will be a slaughter ". The Secretary said " It wont be a slaughter , it will be a session in face slapping , we will toy with the true elites , humiliate them , only when they beg for mercy .... We will kill them , especially that bastard Shakuni, he will fall to my blade". Donald said viciously These days He was obsessed with the downfall of Shakuni, he would daydream about humiliating him , he would think about fictional scenarios where he is killed by him one sidedly , raising his prestige to the moon. His obsession was making him more and more viscious , the name Shakuni was his trigger point , being a son of a billionare he was raised a pridefull young master , he had seen money being wasted , he had seen profits and losses , but a loss of face was a first for him. He who never sat in a normal car , only driving Lamborghini''s , his friend circle full of nouveau riche classes , there your face was everything , he being a billionare inheritor was respected and feared , yet these last few days even puny millionares laughed in his face. This was unacceptable . -------------- ( Grey towers , the upside) " Sir Ethan , Mr Rudra has said that this war should be in the bag , go big on the betting ,..... however none of our experts are optimistic about their situation , and Mr Rudra has refused to disclose the attack strategy or external help , i personally feel the main guild should help ". The Secretary reported. Ethan just smirked and asked " What are the odds? For a True Elite win ?". " 20:1 payout sir , they are ridiculous odds." The Secretary said. " Okay then bet 20 billion on their win ". Ethan said confidently " Sir this..... " The Secretary was speechless , Ethan was the boss , and agreed he was right the last time , however 20 billion just like this is too much . " Are you absolutely certain sir? " She asked nervously " Hahahahaha , you dont understand Rudra as well as i do ..... Actually nobody understands us , if Rudra says go big on the betting , then we go big on the betting , if he says he will win , then no expert analysis matters at all , he will win , in anycase when i tell you to do something you do it, never question me again". Ethan said The Secretary was shocked at the amount of trust he showed Rudra , but being reprimanded she quickly took her leave. ---------------- ( THE WAR ARENA ) The countdown for the war ended and at the decided time both sides were teleported into the chosen battlefield ..... And as expected it was a flat ground . Rudra looked coldly at the enemy formation , analysing the best way to counter attack ..... Soon he smirked , the plan was formed in his mind. Both sides stared at each other ..... War was finally upon them /// Guys we have hit the powerstone bonus target, soo bonus chapter tonight ..... Keep the stones pumping guys, thankyou for all the support /// Chapter 63: War (2) The war was finally upon them , both sides looked confident of victory ..... The Orange Rock guild was having a ten man line formation , with 5 groups. Having 5 rows in a unit , 100 such units in total. ( 10 columns ¡Á 5 rows = 50 people in a unit, with 100 units making it a 5000 man strong army) Learning from their mistakes , their elites were evenly spread and each unit of 50 soldiers had 5 elites in their ranks , preventing the army to fall into chaos with loss of leading figures. What piqued Rudra''s interest was there were support players added to the ranks purely with the intention of information relay from the command station, Yes there was a comand station where Donald was seated with a council , overlooking the war situation on what seemed an artifically created platform . His enemies had used a creative approach for this war, this was an organized structure with appropriate spacings and command chain. What Rudra was unaware about was the special counsel sent by Mr Ambani seated beside Donald and the experts from his main guild mixed in the frontal assault units. Donald was sure about the victory , and there was only a countdown of 5 minutes left before the start of the war. This was the perfect time to exert pressure and look cool .... The war was being livestreamed over various media channel , and the neatly arranged unit of the Orange Rock guild looked amazing. Yelling from the comand centre , Donald took this chance to play mind games " A flock of 50 wolves are trying to stop the march of us lions? .... Should we stop?". Raising this question he started laughing hysterically " Lets show them the disparity between our sides men, SHOW YOUR VIGOUR MEN!". Donald bellowed . The ground started to shake as Orange Rock guild members started banging their weapons and stomping their feet War cries could be heard throughout the battlefield , the intimidation of 5000 men standing together could be felt ...... The scene was magnificent to outsiders giving them goosebumps ..... At this point Orange Rock guild seemed invincible . Rudra calmly looked at the situation and smiled he said you are indeed true " How can 50 wolves stand against 5000 lions? " Everyone was dumbfounded ..... This ? Are they giving up before even fighting ? Do they realize that the war effort is futile and want to give up? " Hahahahahaa ..... Good that you realize it " Donald laughed "But we are not wolves you see..... " Rudra cut him off " We are Dragons , and you are ants , can million ants kill one dragon?". Rudra declared coldly The Orange Rock army went into uproar , How dare he call us ants , we will show you ! Donald grit his teeth , he was aldready borderline Crazy after seeing Shakuni infront of him .... However this open provocation made him enraged . " ARROGANT !!!! , Cant you see the disparity between our sides numbers? , or are you just an idiot , Let me Humble you today Guild leader Shakuni". Donald cursed Rudra said in a deep voice then "Being outnumbered 1:100 we are indeed in a precarious position , however look across into eyes of every true elite member here , DO WE LOOK SCARED TO YOU? ". Looking around Donald found out that indeed there was not a single True Elite whose faces were grim , they were all smiling , almost like they were exited for the war somehow ... But why? Raising his voice even higher he said " Even being outnumbered 1:100 , being surrounded by your army , let me ask you a question O Orange Rock Guild Leader. DO I LOOK HUMBLED TO YOU?? ". His voice sent chills down Donalds spine ... Something was not right about this situation There was one minute left untill the war started and the True elites quickly rearranged themselves into the arrowhead formation with Rudra at the forefront. Taking out the spike bomb from the inventory into one hand and shields in other. , The Orang Rock guild had no information about the mysterious objects in their enemies hands and were naturally scared about the unknown . The countdown came to the closing moments 5....4...3...2.....1 .... WAR STARTS ! The barrier seperating the two sides was removed and they were open to engage . Instantly a rain of arrows was upon the True Elites who used the shields to block , immediately after the first wave of arrows , before the second wave could be cocked the first wave of spike bombs was thrown into the enemy lines. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM !!!!! The spike bombs exploded deep in the enemy lines killing 5-7 experts in each bomb explosion with many more injured from the spikes ejecting . Explosions rained supreme on the battlefield .... Before the enemy could regain their wits the second wave of bombs were unleashed and then the third BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM , it was carnage . Donald was dumbfounded in the command station , WHY ARE THERE BOMBS ???? is this the same war they were fighting , isnt this like bringing knife to a gunfight , Why the hell are there bombs? Even the counsel was deadly quiet. After 3 rounds of Bomb throwing there were a total of 1127 experts dead , more than 1/5 th of their force collapsed after just the first exchange . MADNESS , ABSOLUTE MADNESS. Outside the watching spectators went crazy over this scene, WTF was happening in the war? True Elites just how did they obtain bombs ? And soo many at that? People cheered the underdogs brutal means of suppression , while those who bet against the true elites suddenly became extremely nervous .....nobody expected such a development The true elites.... Could they really win? If they did this would be the most major upset of the century . /// Bonus chapter guys, this one you earned it. Keep the stones coming guys , if we hit 90 more stones today i will release one more chapter today itself , thats a commitment , lets hit 600 guys. This weeks target is not soo far!! The war arc is gonna be epic , support me with powerstones to keep up the motivation !! /// Chapter 64: War (3) The orange Rock guild were rattled by now , however to their joy , the rain of spike bombs stopped. " Yes , even if they have bombs , they cannot have an unlimited amount of them , the one''s used are probably their limit , we can still crush them easy ". The counselors adviced. " Yes, yes , i refuse to believe they have any more trump cards , this probably was the confidence of their arrogance , but they will rall now ". Another counsellor said . Donald nodded his head , his heart was beating out of his chest now however he relayed the next command to regroup and restructure. Rudra waited patiently for the enemies to regroup , the denser they were packed the more damage the frost bombs will cause. In a war even priests cannot revive those that had fallen , once you die you will be transported outside the arena. There were no fallen corpses hence thefe was no problem in regrouping and filling the gaps. Donald was an inexperienced general to the core , had he been more intelligent he would have scattered his troops and not regrouped them , his assumption that Rudra had no more bombs will cost him dearly. After the enemy was seemingly almost organized , The true elites took out the frost bombs. The frost bombs in their hands , spread fear throughout the battlefield . They have more bombs!!! The enemies were scared shitless, what to do now? ------------ Meanwhile in the real world . The livestream for the war had increasing viewer count , from the initial 30 million to 35 to 45 and quickly was approaching 50 million viewers!! This viewership number was insane! '' The true elites brought out bombs , does anyone have information on how they did it? '' '' Too strong, the true elites are too strong '' '' PFFT , so what if they have bombs , the war has just started , no way will they win! '' '' if the true elites win today , i will shave my head bald!'' '' will we say the rise of the ultimate underdogs''. '' Cheaters , they are a bunch of cowards using bombs in a fair fight ''. '' to the idiot commenting above. Is being outnumbered 1:100 fair? '' . Many news channels had invited experts to analyse the war and they were the same experts who confidently said that the true elites were going to be routed completely and easily , their foreheads were sweating profusely , things were not following the script they said it would at all! Many people who bet on the outcome of the war were spamming the news channels with insults , however it was still bearable upto now But if the True Elites actually won? Their souls shuddered at that thought. The forums had heated discussions over the war right now . However with the new blue type of bomb in the True Elites hands , the entire server suddenly became silent ..... What was going to happen next? ---------------- ( Back in the war ) The true elites launched a volley of new bombs, the mere seconds that took the bombs to land felt like hours to those who watched their own doom BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. Frost bombs exploded all over the battlefield , creating a glacier of ice sprawling the battlefield. Each icebomb trapped atleast 3 to four players , giving heavy debuffs to those trapped inside , while the explosions killed two to three more. The ice bombs were much more deadlier than the spike bombs and after the first volley there was a second and third . BOOM , BOOM , BOOM , BOOM , BOOM. The true elites simply froze the enemy side 60% of all remaining troops were killed or trapped in ice. Only about a 1000 soldiers left in fighting shape. However Rudra wasnt done. Grinning teeth to teeth , he unleashed the deadliest weapon in his arsenal ..... To the dismay of wizards casting fireballs to free the trapped players , melting the ice . Three Waterbombs strapped to arrows were activated using mana! And let loose! Seeing the three arrows flowing towards them , a bad premonition came to Donald , this situation was not good! Perfectly aimed by the tier 1 archers , the arrows landed within pools of water in considerably high population of players. Watersbane activated and the bombs exploded with a terrifying green smoke BOOM !!!!! BOOM !!!!! BOOM !!!!! The three bombs exploded , with terrifying might , causing a mini earthquake , the force of the explosion was terrifying and the shockwave was soo strong that one had to have firm footing to not fall over. The watersbane metal thrown out as spikes , also came in contact with water from the icebombs creating a chain reaction , in addition to the aldready deadly damage done . Yes indeed this was not a war THIS WAS A BLOODY MASSACRE The True Elites were never the prey in this war. They were the stone cold hunters ! When the dust settled the death toll sucked the breath away from Donald. His 5000 strong army , was reduced to a mere 493 troops , even them sustaining injuries ...... This situation was not good .... Not good at all! --------------- Meanwhile at Mr Ambani''s residence . Mr Ambani frowned seeing the war outcome , he had seen enough , breaking the high tech digital screen infront of him , he walked away from the room. Everyone around him started to shudder , the boss''s anger , they were all scared Ambani sighed " Today was unexpected , our plans for '' Omega '' will need to be altered , cut ties with the Orange bastards , feed their dirty secrets to the people after the war , bury them completely , except for the tier one expert , cut ties with everyone else , and exploit the tier one completely before disposing him too , nothing should reveal our involvement in todays war ". He was irritated , however his eyes shined , today''s failure had opened up new prospects for him ..... The bomb buisness , after this war , he must divert resources towards this direction ... The landscape of fights has changed majorly , there is too much to gain. From this situation. /// Just a few more stones till the bonus , lets get there guys , bonus today itself , the next chapter will contain sword fight scenes and cool duels ... We can do it you all ! /// Chapter 65: War (Final) The 493 standing members of Orange Rock guild stared in absolute horror towards the True Elites , what war ? What teamwork? What morale. The brutal war scene shook them to the core. " Its about time to wrap this up" Said Rudra confidently as he drew the enhanced Excalibur. " CHARGE!!" Karna gave the command . 50 tier one True Elites charged towards the standing Orange Rock members. Just as the run started , Rudra quickly pulled out ahead of the group , he was running 25 , 30 meters ahead , although everyone was charging at about the same speed , Rudra with The Golden ratio simply had insane stats. Nobody could match him . ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:33 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 200 +100 VIT : 200 +100 INT : 200 +100 STA : 200 +100 PHY : 200 +100 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- With insane momentum , Rudra jumped near the enemy lines and landed launching the special skill Earthquake -10000 critical hit -5600 -78000 criticl hit . -2300 -2300 -2300 -500 -599 -200 A string of damages appeared as the ground rippled. This scene was etched into the memories of everyone watching the war ..... It was like combining Captain America'' s charge with Thor'' s entrance in infinity war. Rudra looked damn cool! Unstoppable in combat , Rudra slew his way through the opposing team . Soon the True Elite members joined the frey , with the arrow formation penetrating straight through the centre of the enemy line , the body count was high on the Orange Rock side. The assaulters MonkeyKingEnma PoisonToadGamabunta PoisonToadGamakichi Karna And Rudra were the tip of the formation bearing maximum attack pressure whereas the middle of the group contained Rhino . Tank Cola And the other tanks. Behind the Tanks came the archers and the wizards dealing AOE. And last were the support priest triplets healing all those who needed heals. There was no easy place to be in the True elite formation , each group was a gear in the whole system , if one fell the whole system would fail. But the most difficult task in the arrow formation was on the tanks . Shielding both the AOE and healing classes , they could absolutely not fall. But the superior level30 dark gold set that covered the true elite members coupled with the rich experience of every player in the unit , made them elite troups with absolutely no match . Gear Skills Trump cards Cohesiveness Attack power Strategic superiority In every criteria exept numeric superiority , True Elites far outshadowed the Orange Rock guild . The experts in Orange Rock guild were killed like amateurs in this war under Rudra , Rudra s insane stats made his moves extremely hard to resist. While crossing swords the heavy impact instantly blew opened the opponents defenses. While Rudra dealt insane amounts of damage through his +10 enhanced sword. The enemies fell by the second. Noone could stop Rudra'' s momentum , and this became more and more clear as time passed by , untill there came a time that the True Elites one by one stopped fighting and just saw their leader in action suppress the enemies ten to twelve experts alone at a time , toying with them as if they were kids. The technique , the damage , the use of special skills , all that was visible was a string of damage as Rudra moved and a sight of enemies being disintegrated as their HP hit 0. Everyone watching this scene was absolutely mesmerized by the True Elites guild leader ... Supressing an army alone? Is this what it means to be a True Elite ? The respect for the guild had just sky rocketed ..... As more and more enemies fell without even a struggle , the outcome of the war became evident to everyone ..... Finally with the entire war line cleared , there was only the counsellors and Donald left in the command camp. Donald had suffered a mental breakdown at this point ..... He dint care that he was loosing this war , what horrified him was how he would become the butt of people s jokes coming out of this war.... How would he show his face at social gatherings with this defeat? His heart became clouded .... And when he hit his lowest , his real vile nature came out.... Cursing and barking like a dog he hurled insults as the five men in the command station were surrounded by the fifty True Elite members ..... Ohhhhh how the tables have turned !!!! " Rudra you bastard .... ILL KILL YOU , ILL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT ..... Hey you filthy commoner , how dare you look at me with pity , ILL GOUGE YOUR EYES OUT ... How can i loose to you? .... Right it must be because of that bastard Ethan Grey ..... This isnt fair .... I refuse to accept this decision ..... Fight me alone if you are a man you eunuch Shakuni ..... Ill show you then ". Donald rambled like a madman However his body defied what he was feeling, trembling constantly with his knees shaking , even if his words were hatefull who would feel intimidated ? As slowly the True Elites circled them and leisurely closed in the counsellors were all quaking in their boots Rudra detested this the most .... These backline people who made people face the most difficult situations with a brave heart , and yet had no spine themselves ... These sort of higher ups are the reason Rudra suffered in his last life . " You know why you lost? " Rudra said softly " Why?" Donald asked , desperation in his voice " You lost because we are better than you " Rudra said and smiled " You lost because We are the best damn guild in the entire Hazelgroove kingdom , aint nobody above us ". " ONE FOR ALL , ALL FOR ONE , GO ELITES GO!". The chant was heard as the last five members were killed mercilessly signifying the end of the war. FINAL RESULT : True elites won the war in grand fashion! /// Bonus chapter for hitting this weeks target .... Thanx a lot guys , we are currently the 256 th book in terms of powerstone rankings , it is my ambition to place in top 200 someday , if you guys support me through next week maybe we can achieve it ..... The moment we end a week in top 200 ill do a mass release of 5 chapters guys !!!!! 5 sodding chapters , help me achieve it !//// Chapter 66: Spoils Of War! True Elites guild wiped the floor with Orange Rock , in what was sure to be one of the most major upsets in eSports history and the aftermath of the war was absolute Chaos! The words that Rudra said before the war ended " We are the best guild in Hazelgroove kingdom " had created turbulent waves ... For the guild members who achieved victory these words were something etched into the very fibre of their being , stemming immense pride .... That yes i am a True Elite guild member .... I am part of the best guild in the kingdom ..... Who dares stop us? For the commonfolk of the kingdom , the solo adventurers and small guilds , the image of True Elites was that of a titan ... The onestop destination , the most premium guild to join! However the second and first rate guilds went into panic mode following the war .... If even 50 players can topple thousands , what was the key to establishing dominance in the game? Whats the point of having such a large manforce if quality trumps quantity? Will they have to negotiate terms with puny 200 member guilds from now on? They are spending millions in hiring , funding and managing the guild yet if this is how the game dynamics function, isnt their whole guild structure a joke? The appearance of the bombs was the biggest shock in the entire war! And the servers had exploded with how to procure the bombs. Many major corporations approached Rudra and in association the Grey international over the matter. However were denied access to the information , the price was not right yet..... When the demand for information on bombs would reach its peak , then Rudra would divulge information about the spike bombs and Frost bombs. His hidden class and his Waterbomb were his own recipes , and his guilds trump card , those would never be out for sale , and would be highest protected information , that he would not even give to the Grey international. The second big ramification of the war was that because of the upset , many people became rich overnight because of the payout odds being ridiculously high while most people lost money. The news channel experts faced a huge nightmare as public outrage was enormous ..... Those who bet on Orange Rock victory all lost their money big time and their anger vented on the prediction experts for being soo stubborn and foolish. While analysing about the war many experts used bold statements like " They have no chance in hell" " They will win if pigs can fly " "If you think there is hope for an Elite Victory , you are an idiot". Such bold statements and now they were supposed to chew on it. Because the Elites really won! On the TV screens they were drenched in sweat and at a loss for words as they were bombarded with insults after insults after insults . " What experts they are a bunch of buffoon s" " You made me loose 1000 dollars , ill curse your seven generations ". " SHAME ON YOU AS A ANALYSER". " Such bold words , saying that you will shave your head bald if the elite''s win. Now keep your word and do it ! ". " Shave your head! " " Show us the moon baldie !" " SHAVE , SHAVE , SHAVE " " Shave it before i rip it off! ". The public sentiment went crazy , but in a corner there was one man who made a fortune from the Elite win , thats right he is none other than Ethan Grey . Betting heavily on an Elite win his payday was enormous .... Enormous beyond reason ..... Not only did his stocks see a spike , his prestige took a turn for the better. As many people started connecting the dots. "Ethan Grey recruited Shakuni ..... That might be the mastermove of the century ... How lucky are the Greys". This was said by one of the six trillionare s Mr Elon Musk " If the True elites had no backer , id buy it out today". A billionare commented. The world was in awe of todays victory and the name True Elites gained unprecedented prestige. Yua was genuinely happy for Rudra and was on cloud nine , she sent a post congratulating them on the victory ..... This created another rumon mill to erupt that the True Elites and Azure Lotus had a close connection. The central attention of all these talks though , the guild leader of the True Elites though was now sitting in his home in the upside. Disconnected from the game eating lunch with family. His mom and dad tried to talk about the war.... Being parents they were very stressed out the last few days and greatly overjoyed by the outcome .... Although they were not players they followed the news about their son closely. Little Max was overjoyed and talked about how his brother was soo cool ! Rudra ruffed his hair and smiled .... He dint talk about the game at all and instead talked about family affairs. Rudra had it all in this life .... Money , Fame and Prestige ... However his most cherished thing was his family ..... And in this hour of joy , he wished to spend it with the people that mattered the most. And they were all on this table! The scene was not soo merry for Orange Rock though ..... With Ambani''s support gone they were in a ton of debt , with loosing the war they were forced to pay the war debt collateral of 70% of their possessions as war compensation . The guild went almost broke .... The morale was on a all time low as the memebrs wearing the Guild insigna were bullied everywhere .... The guild leader was nowhere to be seen and massive number of members started quitting. Donald faced an unprecedented low in his life ..... And had broken down , thinking " where did i go wrong? " /// Heartfelt thankyou to all you guys out there for the support on this book .... The powerstones have crossed 740 this week so far surpassing the target ... The number 200 book isnt too far , Hoping for you guys to keep supporting me untill i land in the 200 spot someday /// Chapter 67: Rewards of War 5 days had passed since the end of the war , yet it was still hot news being covered everywhere .... The Elites had been in full party mode following the victory , however Rudra had been incredibly busy , meeting with adam of the main guild in upside they sat down and discussed about the bombs and its recipes . Uptill now the public opinion on bombs used in war was the focal point in everyone''s coverage with lots of money being poured for accurate information on how to procure them. However with more and more players attempting the tier promotion ... The news about the bombmaker class was finally leaked to the public. The funny part though was although many people chose the bombmaker class none of them had the bomb recipes. Not everyone can make bombs just because they chose the class , they need the bomb recipes and the recipes for such classes are extremely regulated by the kingdom ... Not freely tradable on market. Hence even though there were bombmaker classmen.There were no bombs made. To explain it clearly lets take an example , say you want to bake passta , you have seen passta and eaten it , yet can you make it?. No you cannot , you need to learn how to make it , procuring all the ingredients and following the procedure step by step , however if the list of ingredients and recipe is not revealed. And if you donot even have passta at hand to reverse engineer , it is impossible to make. But on the other hand , once you have learnt to make passta you can always make it again ..... Rudra knows the recipes for more than 30 different types of bombs in his past life hence he could make spike bombs and Frost bombs , although not the deadliest type of bombs , he chose them as the materials required are easily available. Many large scale bomb ingredients are regulated by the kingdom making it impossible to buy on open market. Hence the demand for recipes of the bombs had erupted like crazy ..... And the one with the bargaining chip at hand was none other than Rudra. Helping the main guild for Grey International was natural hence he gave up the two bomb recipes to Adam and also gave 2 samples to study from. Adam was naturally gratefull and happy for this favour , and soo were many higher ups in the Grey International , at first they were in opposition to Rudra because of the bosses overwhelming favour , yet now they were totally convinced. For a big company like Grey international to experience a 2% stock price increase was a big event. Ethan was soo happy with Rudra that he decided to make a corporate tower for gaming purposes in the upside and invite all True Elites member to take residence in the tower. Funding a luxurious 120 floor tower plan worth 25 billion dollars Ethan Grey gifted the True Elite s with a tower as congratulations on their victory. The Tower Of Elites , it was called and naturally Rudra was touched by the gesture. The tower was grand and built with the best residential quarters , office , conference rooms and recreational facilities worthy of the Upside. The idea was to bring all the Elites under the same roof upon completion. It would take around 3 months to complete! Rudra would naturally not let Ethan loose out , as he generously donated the Two bomb recipes to the Greys and gave them the power to sell them to whoever they pleased. Rudra had gained big from the war , especially the 70% war fees gained from the Orange Rock guild , the loosing guild in Guild war in Omega was subjected to either loosing their spot in the city or to pay war damages, depending on winners prefferance the damage payable was demanded between 15-70% Rudra being ruthless demanded the maximum possible war compensation at 70% nearly bankrupting the defeated guild. Loosing a war was brutal , you either loose the spot in the city , making your guild one without a base of operations ... With large number of players but less number of guild spots available in a city , there was always a constant power struggle and hanging onto your spot was vital for any guilds survival. Hence most preferred to pay war compensations. Rudra gained about 70 platinum in currency and also gained various resources from their warehouse. Including many dark gold and gold weapons, some alchemy and potionology materials , some recipes and the items procured by Donald from the Auction. Yet in a show of superiority Rudra bundled the weapons below dark gold grade and sold them as a lot to the highest bidder , the reason he gave to this action was " Anything below Dark Gold grade is trash not worth entering the True Elites warehouse ". Such arrogance.... Such domineering attitude..... Many common players cursed Rudra as they could hardly get their hands on even silver equipment yet he discarded gold ones like they were useless . In total his gains were big. Not only monetarily but also with prestige ... Following the outcome of the war the 7 first rate guilds still operating in Hazelgroove kingdom all extended an olive branch to the True Elites ..... Their reputation as a force to be reckoned with was firmly established and everyone adopted an attitude of respect .... Atleast on the surface . Finally having a little free time in hand as the special event dungeon still had 3 days before it would open , Rudra started to explore the royal library more .... Spending time with his guildmates in grinding mobs and finally scheduling a date with Yua Nakatomi aka PinkLotus . Yua had been asking for his time for days now and hence they decided to meet tomorrow in real life as both of them were living in country J Rudra was feeling incredibly nervous , as although it was a friendly meet , it was technically a date .... His first one ever! /// Completion of the war arc guys. Thankyou for the overwhelming powerstone support , to show my gratitude the next five days will all be bonus days for you all ! Enjoy ! /// Chapter 68: A date? Ever since coming to country J, Rudra had never left the Upside , this was the first time he would step out of the upside and actually see the city he resided in. Rudra wore a denim jeans ironically it was a cuber , and a black musclefit tshirt for today ..... It was casual and stylish , yet gave a little rich look . His mother had styled him today ... Although he told her it was just a friendly meet , she fussed over it like he was going to meet his bride . Rudra was perplexed by Yua''s sudden call about meeting him in real life ... She asked about going to a caf¨¨ and not in her office which perplexed Rudra even more ... His heart wanted to beleive she was asking him on a date , but his mind told him that there was no way it was possible , it was probably a friendly outing. Rudra took the special custom upside sports car that came with the mansion and he rolled out. Although Yua had a personal chauffeur and could easily come to wherever they decided to meet. Rudra insisted on picking her up. He picked her up from outside the Nakatomi tower , Yua was wearing a singlepiece formal dress which was navy blue in color , it perfectly complimented her smooth white skin ..... Rudra s heart skipped a beat seeing her for a minute .... She looked absolutely beautiful yet very elegant . " Hey " Yua said in a cute voice Rudra instantly blushed ..... Such a sweet voice! " Hey" he replied , avoiding eye contact as he did not want her to see his flushed face. Although Rudra had seen Yua before in the game , her appearance in game with the armour on and hair tied tightly was in stark contrast to today ... The look she had today was more to his taste . Yua studied Rudra for a while ..... And she too found him good looking enough ..... By no means was Rudra a pop star level handsome , yet he was definitely better than average. But what she found the most attractive in Rudra was his shy personality , she instantly saw his deep blush and his reluctance to make eye contact. For a man to have such a reaction to her meant he was charmed .... Yua smiled. They drove towards the designated caf¨¨ , and talked about random stuff during the drive , when Yua suddenly said " Sooo , no flowers for me? " Rudra subconsciously hit brake ....... " Flowers?" " Men usually bring a gift to their dates dont you know " Yua teased Rudra'' s expression became gloomy ... Yes ofcourse , how could he make such a basic mistake ..... But then instantly it lit up " Are we on a date? " He asked. Yua laughed , " Ofcourse this is a date silly, if i just wanted to talk buisness i would not have called you to a caf¨¨ , i would have called you to my office ". Rudra beamed ....... Then he asked in a low voice " What are we gonna talk about apart from buisness?". " About you ....I wanna know the man behind the Guild leader of True Elites, and if you wanna know then also about me ". Yua said Rudra smiled ... While driving he stopped the car for a second as he ran into a shop , he bought a bouquet of flowers , but being extremely in experienced in the department , he chose to make a bouquet of one of every flower in the shop. Making it look like a collage rather than a beautiful bouquet . Coming back he presented it to Yua with a sincere smile , Yua accepted it gracefully. She wanted to laugh at Rudra''s flower selection , but seeing him running to get her flowers and his silliness in buying one of each kind she found it too endearing to make fun off. She was genuinely touched , but she quickly realized something and pointed it out to Rudra ....." You have never dated before have you?" . Rudra was at a loss of words at such a question he needed to answer carefully , truthfully he did have a girlfriend in his past life , but that bitch ran away when his life was on a downward spiral , and also there she had chased him as he was ascending on the ranks , he had never put in effort behind courting her..... Also in this life there was no such incidence , hence he said ... " No .... How can you tell ". " The flowers you bought me , why did you bring one of every kind? ". She Asked laughing. " Well i dont know what you like , soo i bought everything " Rudra said scratching his nose " Hahahaha , i did not expect guild leader Shakuni to be soo inexperienced in real life ". Yua made fun of Rudra . Rudra was embarrassed... However before he could say anything Yua said " I like orchids , dont worry , ill teach you everything about dating girls ......" After a pause she said " and about what i like ". The ice between them was broken at that point , and they goofed around like teenagers for most part of the day ..... Sometimes talked buisness about guilds alliances and future plans and sometimes they ate , gossiped and got to know each other. It was a terrific day for Rudra , who was completely blown away by Yua''s charm ... He found a new motivation , if he could bring True Elites to great heights then maybe one day he will be capable of becoming Yua''s boyfriend . At the end when Rudra dropped Yua back , she waited for a while not stepping out .... As if she was waiting for Rudra to make a move ..... Rudra had the thought about kissing her , however was too shy to move . Yua clearly understood the situation , she opened the door and quickly pecked a kiss on Rudra''s cheek before running away. Standing outside she said " you had your chance guild leader ..... However you missed it ". Slamming the door shut and walking away. Rudra was stunned on the spot for a minute ..... Sigh , he missed his opportunity .... However as he touched his cheek , he instantly blushed. Yua was much more progressive than he was. How can he be a man if he blushes more than the girl does .... Sigh , he needed more self confidence. Rudra drove away smiling ..... This was a much needed break from the game ..... And with an amazing time spent with Yua he felt completely refreshed and reenergized . Well the special event is just round the corner .... He would get busy again ..... However he was ready . Back in the gaming pod as he activated the game Rudra said '' Omega here i come again!''. /// Bonus chapter one of the week long bonus series, Romance is not my strength guys, all types of feedbacks will be much appreciated here. Hope you enjoyed this chapter , it was a bit different than the content i usually write./// Chapter 69: The new event A quick recap on history of humanity ... In the year 2060 humanity faced unprecedented environmental crisis due to global warming ..... The Earth'' s temperature had risen to such heights that the climate cycles humans were accustomed to changed suddenly ... There were hot days someday ,and rain the others ....there were no seasons only day to day weather predictions. The crop cycles suffered the most , and an immediate solution was of utmost priority , it was then that the scientist Ratnam Shah had invented the de carbonizer removing the excess carbon dioxide content from the atmosphere ..... It was adopted as a compulsary machine in every major city in the world. And overtime in the next decade .... The climate of earth was returned to the normal .... From 2070 onwards to commemorate this monumental achievement and all his aid to mankind the Environmental festival was hosted worldwide. For seven days across the world there would be festivals and celebrations ..... Not for gods. Not for peace, but for the Earth. On this monumental week a special event was declared by the Cuber corporation ..... To normal players it was just like any other gaming event , but Rudra knew the importance of this event.....this event was a goddamn goldmine ..... Never to be found again ... The first festival had a major flaw in its system , that only a few players capitalized on ..... It wasnt untill much later that they revealed their gains. Rudra knew it this time around and he was sure as hell not going to miss it. But first he needed to do something much more important ..... After the war he had gained a lot of capital , and now was the time to put it to use. After winning the war , he had requested Patricia von knight , his adopted elder sister to aquire a Hazelgroove bomb permit for him and his store line Elite lifestyle. He was made to sign a bunch of paperwork saying that he was not permitted to sell it to non licensed customers and each and every bomb had to be thoroughly tagged and records of sale mentained , it was a lengthy document with lots of donts but Rudra knew the gist of it and signed. It was not soo easy to aquire this permit , as there were only 3 shops in the entire kingdom who had these sale permits and all of them were millitary suppliers. But the authority that came with being a Von Knight was not to be taken lightly , as Rudra though under obligations , managed to obtain it anyway. The reason he did this was ... Marketting , Rudra now planned on opening the Elite Lifestyle stores that would become the guilds backbone in funding ... His storefronts would gain way more traffic if he could sell bombs, atleast on paper. With everything set , Rudra went to the city administration office and bought a total of three stores in the best districts in the city for a total of 65 platinum. Rudra was not intrested in real estate speculation , he had little idea about what storefronts will go up or down in value ..... Hence he did not buy more of the available land plots. Rudra regretted not paying attention to those details back when he was a gamer .... But as such things hardly affected him , he did not gain knowledge there. Within 2 days the store was renovated upto True Elite standard and stocked with items on display ... The government assigned a bunch of elite guards to the shop , as it sold friggin bombs!!! Naturally it helped Rudra save cost of hiring them. And in any case he only kept 2 bombs in each shop , one frost bomb and one spike bomb , only for publicity and even those were non functional , soo there was no point in stealing them . But on the display board outside the shop it said in big fonts BOMBS AVAILABLE. Then on a little line below ( * license required) . Hahahaha , it was classic marketting , but Rudra felt no shame ..... Selling level 30 Dark Gold full armour sets his shop aldready had the best damn item availabile on free market , along with a bunch of uncommon potions and alchemy materials. He hired experienced NPC'' s on high pay for running the shop , and finally on the day of the event he tactfully put up the banner Elite Lifestyle before the store and opened them all . There was no grand ceremony nothing , only a post from the Main guild saying " proud to open our lifestyle stores ". No picture was added , making people wonder what was going on .... But that curiosity coupled with the store name and the tag that we sell bombs here , made everyone connect the dots. The people did the marketting making the store traffic explode .... One after another shocking posts were being sent. " LOOK THEY SELL BOMBS HERE " " THEY SELL LEVEL 30 DARK GOLD FULL ARMOUR SETS". " HOLY SHIT THERE ARE BOMBS IN THE DISPLAY COUNTER" While adding pics of the store front ... This created a massive buzz around the stores and what all they were selling. Generating waves and waves of foot traffic , even major guilds sent their representatives to try and buy all the Dark Gold set kits and negotiate about bombs. Within a day the news about you needing a bomb license appeared and people began to wonder how to obtain one. Towards the Dark Gold sets , Rudra resolutely mentained the stance of one set per customer at 250 gold ..... The set costed 70 gold to be made and adding the tax to be paid on sale and how Rudra paid 50 gold per set to the forger there was only about 110 gold coins in profit per set. But considering they had made over 3000 , it translated to over 300 platinum , that was just crazy amounts of money. He almost obtained it for free now as compared to the Auction . 250 gold was a lot , and not many could afford it , but Rudra laid a trap even for them , as after buying any item from the shop one had a lucky draw chance to obtain a full set. Soo everyone who entered the shop tried to purchase atleast the basic health potion for 5 silvers. Rudra '' s guild did not produce these basic mana potions , he bought it in bulk at 3 silvers and was selling them at 5 now. However it still generated interest and traffic.The store was a huge hit. Many big guilds wanted to open their store lines , yet they did not possess the capital , Rudra making early entry into the buisness will now have a supplementary income for his guilds operations as well as more money to do more buisness. Thats the truth about life. , Money earns Money ..... The more money you have the more money you earn .... Thats just how buisness works. Rudra released the storefront at this time for one other purpose though ..... As the event started , came the special merit event and the lottery! He grinned evily thinking about how much he will earn this time around. /// Thankyou guys for the overwhelming powerstone support , this week we are riding high in 135th rank , never did i imagine having such momentum , will keep showing the appreciation for your support with bonus chapters everyday !!! Thanoyou again!/// Chapter 70: Exploitation needs planning The special environmental event had a merits system and a special lottery event that made many people go crazy into treasure hunting. The entire wilderness was ridden with hidden packs , upon opening you may only get 1 bronze coin or even worse a souvenir coin. Or you may get a special mount or a legendary pet. It was a nature theme event and everything was based around nature. It was a popular passtime as the masses began crazily trying their luck . With this there was also the opening of a time limited dungeon , Nature'' s revenge. To remind humanity about the cruelness of mother nature. However the theme had a major bug to be exploited. There were 3 things to take away from this event , one of them was the dungeon bug Rudra intended to fully exploit. Second was the nature pack , after the first three days of packs being opened from obtaining in the wilderness , the last 4 days will see them even being sold at shops. Anyone with a merchants license could buy the time at a bulk rate of 5 bronze per pack and sell it at an MRP of 10 bronze per pack , as guided by the system .....this was a huge boon to buisness as shops earned big time from the sales selling thousands of packs , seeing an immense increase in foot traffic. People became addicted to the gambling nature of opening packs and before long they lost a fortune. And the third bug was the merit system , a sureshot way of exchanging benefits. However this was a guild only event and the benefits would go to the guild as a whole. It was not something tangible , but rather a boost to coolness factor. After attaining certain merit points one could add features such as alchemy hall or blacksmithing furnace or such Mostly they were upgrade benefits for silver and bronze guilds. The third price was a stable blueprint exchangable for 20,000 merit points The second place was the Unique title '' Nature friendly Guild '' ..... Upon recieving this title , all guild members of the guild would be allowed entry into elven territory , and would be allowed to conduct trade. Exchangable at 50,000 merits it was a must have for any big guild. The first place finally had a rather useless effect for a rather extravagant price ... Upon teleportation entey , the guild members of the guild would emerge out with a purple fire effect . It was just to look cool. However Rudra had to admit , that emerging like that to a city was pretty cool ..... And such a chance would not come by again. Resolved to gain 150 K merits for the guild , Rudra started formulating a plan .... Merits were not soo easy to earn for most .... However with the dungeon bug , Rudra was confident in earning a little fortune. For the first time since the game''s establishment , Rudra laid out the first mandatory participation event for all members . Yes even Neatwit abstaining from everything to focus on levelling had to participate. While he was complaining and groaning , everyone else was pretty happy .... Rudra''s authority had firmly been established after the war ..... And he was almost a legendary figure to all guild members ..... Everyone wanted to be around the boss.... Somehow with him , they felt invincible. That was the confidence he gave the guild members ... Hence most were overjoyed at the fact that Rudra would conduct a new Dungeon raid. Rudra said " Alright guys .... Listen up , we are going to enter the nightmare difficulty of the Dungeon Nature''s revenge ... Although we could steamroll the firstclear for Hazelgroove kingdom .... We wont! ". This declaration shocked many guild members .... Why not?? They thought ..... What is the boss thinking? Looking at their confused faces he continued " According to my plans we will level there at a maddening pace .... We will grind , gain merits and exchange them for the top two items in the merit list!". Rudra declared boldly ..... They all cheered .... Although they had their doubts .... They trusted Rudra s judgement as rule of the thumb by now ... If the boss says he has a plan ... Then we dont need to worry about it. " We will be inside the dungeon for a long time .... Attend to the real world buisness that you have .... Eat well , jog your body a little .... We meet exactly in 2 hours , i want full attendance guys ... Clear?". " Yes leader! ". They said in unison Rudra felt proud ... It was like he was a commander of an army camp ..... Hahaha , this was not something he commanded though .... It was respect that he earned. Well he would not let them all down anyway.... The next 2 days were going to be lots of fun. With the event starting in full swing , and mobs of players starting to scour the wild, while guilds doing all sorts of missions to gain merits .... The main focus of various organisations was diverted .... Only few big guilds truly planned for an elite expedition , while many small guilds avoided the dungeon alltogether. It was discovered that killing one monster in the dungeon gives about 1 merit though with the easy mode clear giving 100 merit points ..... This was a good reward but not many were intrested. It took way to long to earn merits this way .... Smaller missions also gave 200-300 merits ... Those quests could even be performed solo ..... Sending an expedition of 100 men to earn 300 merits was a waste of guild resources , while not many could clear the normal difficulty let alone the nightmare one. When the bunch of elites walked through the city though in a cohesive unit .. it was a sight worth beholding ..... The top rankers dominating the ranking boards all travelling together in a pack .... Everyone stopped for a moment to watch and record . It was because of this that their every action was seen and analysed by many , and it was hard to move under the public eye discretely .... However their choice to enter the nightmare mode dungeon quickly spread through the forums . /// Bonus chapter 2 of the week long series .... Thankyou guys for all the powerstone you all are showering .... Reciprocating from my side too , enjoy the chapter! /// Chapter 71: The event dungeon As the party of 54 members entered the nightmare mode of a 100 man dungeon , there was an instant buzz ... Noone doubted the skills of the True Elites. However challenging a special event dungeon , infamous for its difficulty with almost 50% members, critically enhancing the difficulty of clear by 200 to 300% was a foolish idea . The news about them entering went hot in the forums , while another round of betting ensued.... However shockingly this time the odds were in True Elites favour , for some reason at 1.5:1 payout ... The results of the war , had changed the people''s perception of possible . Upon entering the system announcement was heard You have now entered the event dungeon Nature''s revenge .... Current party members 54/100 .... Goodluck! The event dungeon had started .... This dungeon had lots of nature type monsters , dryads , thunder horned goats .... And a special type of vengeful nature spirit. Even being at a disadvantage in total number of parry members .... The party being tier one still managed to move quickly through the dungeon. Under Rudra '' s carefull leadership waves after waves of Dryads were defeated . The mages were of prime importance in this dungeon , with the tanks taking damage , they castes AOE spells of fire type , that were super effective inside the dungeon . The assaulters did minimal job for the first few rounds. Tackling one enemy at a time. The pacing was not bad overall and everyone in the party levelled up about 3 hours into mob grinding. Well everyone exept Rudra , at level 33 he needed a little more exp to gain a level. Rudra allowed the party to rest , uptill now they had farmed about 240 merit points and quite a bit of loot. The dryads all gave one merit point on dying while the thunder goats gave four and the nature spirits gave 8. The wizards were visibly exhausted at this point . The next phase of the dungeon was going to be veryy intresting .... It would be the source of farming insane exp and merits . The next phase of the dungeon had a bug ... The room had a hidden exit about 30 meters uptop , however to reach there you first had to reach the ledge 25 m above. The walls of the entire room was lined with a thin ledge about 25m from the ground with a small exit at the rightmost corner. The special exit to this room was given as when the party entered the room , suddenly the floodgate would be opened and about 3000 mountain goats would charge out .... If this was not enough , the goats had almost infinite respawn ..... From the open floodgate , one goat came out every 10 seconds. This stage was meant to be escaped and not cleared. Only by slaying all the goats present , will the floodgates close. However where the game designers made the mistake was..... The goats attacks could not reach the height of the narrow ledge ..... Once climbed , though they would be on a narrow ledge awkardly , they could easily kill goats for exp. And with the infinite respawn , untill one was carefull not to kill all the goats. Couldnt they just sit there levelling? This was a bug..... In his previous life , the party to find this bug had almost toppled Neatwit''s number one position in levelling ..... But what was more important was the merit points. Rudra planned on farming the bug for as long as he could .... To gain maximum number of merit points. He needed 150K merit points for gaining the rewards he wanted..... With gaining 4 merit points every 10s he could earn 24 merit points a minute .....1440 merit points an hour ..... According to his knowledge , it took the game developers 46 hours to spot the bug once detected ..... That gave him a chance to earn 66,240 merit points ..... Includint the initial 12000 from killing the 3000 goats it came to 78000 , with dungeon clear bonus being 3000 , and also some miscellaneous killings till the clear he would have about 85K merit points ..... The exp could not even calculated ... His party would get to level 40? 42? .... This was going to be a wild ride ..... His heart beated with exitement. He summoned his character pannel ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:33 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 200 +100 VIT : 200 +100 INT : 200 +100 STA : 200 +100 PHY : 200 +100 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (????) ----------------------- Well , these stats would change very soon ...Rudra smiled ... He explained his crazy plan to his team , and saw everyone''s shocked faces.... This... The leader was crazy .... Level up for as long as they can ? Can such a bug really appear .... If it did how come it is not exploited by the finder first . Wait how does he have such crutial information? Why does he always know stuff? Thinking this MonkeyKingEnma asked Rudra " Guild leader we are yet to attempt the tiral .... How do you know this information?" Rudra smiled .... He expected this to happen and he said " The adventurer party wildhorses posted a dungeon run video .... If you observe carefully you will see that there is a ledge in the room and a narrow escape point ..... Although they did not spot it ... I did .... Comparing the height of an average player to that of the wall , i estimated it to be 25 m high .... With knowledge read about thunder Mountain goats in the library i know they cant reach higher than 20m in jump... Putting 2+2 i came with the crazy theory". Silence..... There was absolute silencs... The leader was a genuis! No doubt about it ..... This is what a genuis really is , just a glance at a Dungeon run video and he created such an insane plan... Respect! MAD RESPECT! THE ALMIGHTY GUILD LEADER /// I am a little devastated guys , i know i update regularly. Yet i dont know how i failed win win for this month ... Im out of the contest .... I don''t understand how i defaulted , but i apologise anyway ..... My sincerest apologies. Thankyou for all the powerstone support .... Its all i have for the month now /// Chapter 72: Exploiting the bug When they entered the special room , they quickly followed Rudra''s orders , and with the help of the hunters. They quickly climbed the ledge with the help of ropes ... The tanks did a commendable job of helping everyone climb while holding the horde. While the wizards did great casting AOE giving enough time for the tanks to be pulled up along with the ropes. All 54 party members being on the ledge , started the showdown. For starters Rudra had the spike bomb , and he leisurely threw it into the hordes of Thunder Goats. -12000 Critical Hit -12000 Critical Hit -4000 -4000 -4000 -2300 -2200 A string of damage appeared while the merit points went up up and up. After clearing like 70% of the goats , Rudra stopped. Ordering the team to slay them carefully from now on , not letting the goats be completely wiped out. There were three assaulters down on the ground , along with Archers and wizards having target practice , the rest tagged in and out. The priests focused on healing the 3 assaulters as and when needed , while the rest chatted leisurely on the bench . It was a good way of honing skills as well as farming exp. After the first two hours , everyone in the party levelled up .. LEVEL UP! This sent cheers reverbrating through the hall ... This was just great. Taking turns and breaks , the same routine continued for 2 days straight . -4000 -4000 -4000 +4 merit +4 merit +4 merit The same cycle continued for 47 hours. It took the gaming company about 1 hour more than the previous life to learn about the glitch. At the end everyone levelled up like 9 times. Rudra levelled up 8 times. Accumulating a massive pool of merits as well as levels . ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:41 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 214 +107 VIT : 214 +107 INT : 214 +107 STA : 214 +107 PHY : 214 +107 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : none Pet : mysterious egg (Incubation) (1/200) ----------------------- One major change that happened was the mount and pet slots unlocked for Rudra as he Reached level 40 and the mysterious egg went into incubation period for 200 days. This meant that it would hatch about 200 days later. It wasnt too long .... However it wasn''t too short either. That was secondary though ..... During these 2 days , people looking at the top rankings board and the guild merits board , went batshit crazy ..... WTF WERE THE ELITES DOING? Unbeknownst to them , the True Elites actions have caused an uproar on the forums. For the first 20 hours all seemed fine ..... However someone noticed the insane levelling speed as well as increase in mertis at that point. Around the 29 hour mark , the conversation gained momentum and there were growing participants. At hour 36 , all major powers found the situation very odd and started their investigations into the matter. At hour 42. With the elites still going strong , many guilds madly rushed to attempt the dungeon , to learn their secret ... As the levelling and merit gaining speeds were simply insane. However even after the 47 hour mark , noone has found the insane glitch yet. The elites completely dominated the levelling boards currently , with Neatwit being elated beyond beleif , he kept thanking Rudra for inviting him , and swore his loyalty to the guild multiple times... The maniac went up from 36 to 43!!!! Rudra being 2nd at 41 , followed by many other elites at 41 and 40 .... Each of the 54 true elite members reached level 40 threshold coming out of this raid. Everyone was extremely pleased and happy , they showered Rudra with praises and gratitude.... Rudra just waved it off as if it was normal . However.... He did not know that his casual behavior kept increasing his invincibility in the minds of the guild members... The unfathomable guild leader .... The master .... The best of the elites. The forums erupted at the skyrocketing levelling pace and the discussions were quite heated as to how they did it.... " They hacked ofcourse.....i m telling you true elites are a bunch of hackers ". The following account has been banned for spreading false information. However the guy was instantly banned from the server . " They may have exploited a bug?". " I guess they just steamrolled the dungeon ". " Invincible , guys im telling you that guild is invincible ". " Im immune to the true elites now , nothing shocks me about them anymore ". " How do you even get to level 40 , most are not even 30 yet.... Too strong ! ... That guild is just too strong ! ". " I feel despair comparing myself to them , im trash ". " Me 2 " " Me 3" . . . . . " Me33777" Many inquired about how they did it. While many guilds lined up to pay top dollar for the information . However the elites. Now they were completely exhausted , after grinding 47 hours straight , yet under Rudra leading the exhaused roster , they somehow managed to clear the nightmare mode dungeon. After the boss fight being simply a showdown of frost bombs after frost bombs . It all felt too easy . The system declared their victory though " Congratulations to the true elites guild for getting the first clear of the nightmare difficulty for the dungeon Nature''s revenge .... +2000 fame ". Rudra and the elite''s decided to call it a day and rest after that , however what Rudra dint know was , that his actions this time went too overboard. The Cuber corporation had an emergency meeting today.... To discuss the abrupt rise of the True Elites guild .... What did the future have in store for the Elites? /// Bonus chapter 3 of the week long bonus series , enjoy guys! Thankyou for all the powerstone support ..... Am happy at the current rank , but slightly worried as we are constantly slipping ..... Lets try keep a hold of our position till the week ends!!!! /// Chapter 73: A divided cuber corporation ( in the meeting hall of cuber corporation) The technicians frowned upon seeing the True Elites exploiting the bug in the game. This was the first time a bug appeared in the game '' Omega '' , and it was only because of the event, the dungeon was originally not a part of the designed game. The bigger problem however was the bombs, bombs were not supposed to be introduced so early into the game, all the recipes surrounding the bombs are heavily regulated, they never expected someone to actually get it soo early into the game . Even if the elite''s knew about the secret passage and ledge glitch , without thinning the existing 3000 goats to a smaller number using bombs they would not have been able to leisurely farm exp. Also the videos of their guild war and dungeon boss fight had stirred trouble for the Cuber corporation. Bombs are too strong! They totally make clearing dungeons a cake walk , just keep throwing bombs and even solo players can steamroll through nightmare modes. Such things can cause the balance of the game to tilt, and hence the meeting today was to discuss on this issue. However the bigger issue was , their policy clearly stated that they would not directly interfere with player gaming experience , and whatever the Elites did , they did it off their own merit , exploiting a bug isnt a crime. Neither is using bombs to steamroll , it is not stated anywhere that gaming cant be easy. But to the counter point , it was only one such ridiculous group of 56 in the entire 2 billion player base. Targetting a small guild like them , seemed petty of the organization . This caused a huge debate to erupt at the headquarters. Finally it was decided that the Elite''s should be offered compensation , in return for nerfing their group. A system notification was sent to Guild Leader Rudra , should he accept , he would be teleported to the mentainance lobby to talk with the cuber staff. Rudra frowned at seeing the notification , but knowing that nothing good will come from denying them. He chose to accept. Instantly he was teleported to a light blue lobby , it was the same lobby one enters when choosing the class and subclass , firstime logging into the game , it felt weird to be here again . Then a person in navy robes with CUBER printed on it extended a handshake to Rudra. Rudra smiled and amicably shook his hand , however , inside his emotions were a wave of panic and anxiety . Did the game developers find out that he was a Reincarnator? Are they here to ban him? Why is he called personally? Is it because he exploited a bug? However in the end none of those thoughts showed on his smiling face as he asked " to what do i owe the pleasure? ". " Well actually. It is a little embarassing , the higherups in the corporation are a bit shocked by your guild and its use of bombs , the AI did not predict the emergence of bombs soo early into the game , and has declared it to be tipping the balance of the game too much ". The man said " However , as we have a no intervention policy , we cannot directly ban your party from using bombs, hence we are here to negotiate today, trade the rights of using bombs to ask for a reasonable wish." The man said Rudra was stunned by the proposition , the bombs were his guilds aces. The most feared weapons , he could not let go of them soo easily. However after thinking for a while , if he could trade it for better benefits Rudra was ready for that. Mostly Rudra heaved a sigh of relief , atleast his secret was not found out ..... The situation was not half bad either , worstcase he rejects the proposition and would make the developers angry. Well no , that was a bad choice , to be honest. Offending the developers never works out well. Humans are all petty. But what should he ask for? First he needed time , he needed time to formulate a strategy for this negitiation. Hence he said " esteemed sir , this isnt a discussion i can do so casually , as it affects all of my guild , please provide me with 6 hours time , to consult with my party members and revert back to you". The man flinched , he contacted his superiors and said." This is a Non disclosure agreement , anyone who you wish to talk abou this matter to , must sign it , including you first". Rudra signed it instantly , the man seemed a little releived now, he reminded Rudra to revert back as soon as possible , and teleported him out. Rudra quickly went to the guild and called Karna , Kalash and Amelia. He made them sign the non disclosures and the 4 started talking about what plan of action to choose. This was a unexpected event for Rudra ..... If he played his cards right , he could win a lot from this exchange as he held a dominant position. The 4 exchanged many crazy ideas , and prepared a list of possible things to ask for , they even put crazy ideas they were sure to be rejected. While all this was going on Amelia proposed a brilliant idea. She asked Rudra to prepare a stockpile in the next 5 hours left before the next meeting , and sign a contract to not produce anymore bombs. This way the elites will have a stock of few bombs to be used when the critical need came. It was a brilliant idea and Rudra and Kalash started crafting bombs like madmen. After 5 hours the guild had a stockpile of old and recently crafted bombs of a total of . 157 frost bombs. 130 spike bombs . 9 Water bombs. /// IMPORTANT NOTE : For all my dearest readers reading this , COMMENT down below what you want to see as a demand , think about it carefully and write demands that are not too game-changing , i will try and take those comments going forward in the next chapter .... Help shape the story you love, hoping for maximum participation! /// Chapter 74: The negotiations Rudra had decided the plan of action to take in the upcoming negotiations. When the six hour timer was up he was sent a prompt to be teleported to the mentainance room . Rudra accepted. And he was back in the lobby , where the employee of Cuber corporation was waiting for him . " I assume you have discussed the terms with your guild members Mr Shakuni ..... Soo do you wish to collaborate with us? ". The employee asked " Yes i did have a talk with my guild members, wether we cooperate or not though , is a question that depends on how you respond to our demands sir ". Rudra said smiling wickedly. The cuber corporations employee''s face soured. Obviously the meeting was being monitored by many upper management. And although Rudra could not spot any earpiece , he was sure that the relay of information was constantly being conducted. " What demands does the player have? ". He asked nervously Rudra smiled " nothing too much sir , firstly we would like to understand the duration of the ban and the extent of the restrictions , before discussing any further. You see our guilds star player and currently the rank one of Hazelgroove kingdom , player Neatwit has the bombmaker class..... What good are bombmakers who cant make bombs? How can he earn exp..... Now with the ban wont his subclass become trash? ..... Also i myself am the Explosion Artist Legendary class ..... I have slogged my way through the promotion quest to obtain the class , and spent countless hours in the library to derive the formula for waterbomb. Countless experiments and money went into perfecting the bomb. I was fatally injured 4 times during the process..... It left a mental scar on me ". Rudra said The face of the Cuber employee crumpled.... He understood the price of bringing balance back into the game became much much more pricy. " What would you suggest sir ". He said " Well , we can agree to signing a deal where we will not produce any more stockpile of bombs , however the current stockpile will remain free to use , the details of the entire stock will be disclosed on the spot, also we agree to not sell the bomb recipes to any other guild. However we aldready have sold the recipes to 2 major guilds and the rights to the Grey international". Rudra said. " It doesn''t matter ... Our data says except your guild noone has successfully produced the bombs yet ..... If you choose to sign the agreement we would remove two key ingredients in making spike bomb and frost bomb from the game , forcefully bringing back balance". The employee said. After talking to the higher ups he continued " okay we can agree to the terms ". Rudra said " hold up ..... First lets clarify the durarion of the ban ... How long does the company wish to withold the bombs from entering the game ". " Untill the average player base reaches level 80 , and the game has atleast 1 million tier 2 players". The employee said. Rudra nodded and said " lets do that , or 12 months .... Whichever comes earlier , then the contract is null". " This.... ". The AI calculated the required time to be 15 months , Rudra''s demand was a little hard ..... But after some negotiating the time came upto 13 months. The deal was signed ! " Okay , state your demands ". The employee said. " Firstly for the loss of exp to my guild members , and loss of farming speed due to lack of bombs , i want EXP BOOST potions , 500 each month for the duration of the agreement ". The employee nodded , saying " 3X exp potion durarion 24 hours .... Will be directly deposited into guild warehouse at 1st each month" .... However it was non tradable. Only for the guild members of True elites. " Secondly , for the loss of income from bomb sales , many guilds were intersted in both the information and the physical product itself , we even had a license to sell the firearm ... Due to this huge economic hit , we want equal compensation , either in money , or a crafting recipe of equal value ". The employee thought for a while , talking to his superiors , finally the recipe for Advanced mana poiton was given to Rudra . This was a priceless crafting recipe , from the start of the game to the end , this was a commodity that would never loose its value. It was a oil mine for the True Elites. Rudra could not contain his exitement, he almost screamed in joy.... However as he was not done extorting he put forward his final demand. " For my final request , for all the inconvenience we would have to face over the next year , for loosing our trump card. I want special mounts. Direwolves , all grey , with evolution possibiltiy , exclusive to True Elite guild members ". Rudra demanded " this request is not easy ". The employee frowned .... This guy Shakuni , he was too cunning , too despicable , he earned much more than he sacrificed in this exchange , yet he shamelessly demanded more. After a hard round of negotiations , it was decided that the direwolves provided to the true elites will be mounts with a special dark grey shiny coat only for the wolves of the guild. However they would not be made exclusive as a species and the evolution ability would not be given. Rudra took the deal. And was teleported out of the system lobby. Only now did he scream in joy " HELLL YEAH!!!!!!! ". He earned wayyy more than he lost this time around ... Today was an unexpected windfall ! Rudra was like a little kid today , he couldnt wait to showoff the new direwolves to the guild members , and see their reactions when he would say , well everyone gets one ! The special dark grey shiny coat on the wolves was the same as their guild insignia , which was also a direwolf! It just suited their style. /// Bonus chapter 4 of the 5 day bonus series ..... One of the more interesting chapters of the books, written from the recommendations you guys sent. Comment how you feel about the progression. Also a shoutout to MiguelWN, Frank , Daku , Devilstorm and Micheal for the recommendations./// Chapter 75: Gifts for everyone An all guild meeting was summoned by Rudra , inside the guild conference hall , everyone assembled as Rudra made them sign the non disclosures and explained the Guilds current situation to the members. " Okay guys , so first there is some bad news , we can no longer use bombs as we used to, we cannot trade bombs, we cannot manufacture bombs , all in all our ace in the hole is nerfed". Rudra said heavily " We can however use our existing stockpile , but seeing its limited nature , we cannot use it frugally, soo its not like we are without options , however without having the option to make new ones , each and everyone of the existing bombs must be used in moderation ". There was utter silence in the guild , the members were speachless , this was just to sudden . The members who were in the loop were calm however , Karna was smiling like a fool. "Now for the good news , the ban was a deal signed between me as the guilds representative and the cuber corporation , it was a voluntary act guys ,i wasnt forced. Apparently they were worried about the use of bombs tilting the games balance hence i could extort a good price from them in exchange for not making any more of them ". Rudra said , now smiling. The atmosphere got weird now ..... Did the leader just openly brag about extorting the gaming company? Just what the hell is going on ? " Firstly. The ban is only in effect for 13 months only , after that we can go back to exploding our way out of dungeons !!! " A loud cheer was heard ! So it was a temporary ban, a lot could happen in 13 months , however the situation was not half bad . " Secondly to compensate us for our troubles in EXP grinding , our guild will get a monthly Quota of 3X exp potions , 500 a month , hence every member will get 5 of them each month , the rest can be exchanged using guild contribution points. Yes guys , we will now start with guild missions and after the special event ends. I plan to hold a recruiting session for 20 new members , the second batch of elites". Rudra declared More cheers could be heard , 3X exp poitons were an absolute booster for grinding levels, amazing..... That benefit was amazing. Rudra raised his hand to stop all the murmurings and internal discussion . Pin drop silence . The leader wanted to speak " Next to compensate our economic troubles , we have got the recipe for advanced mana potion..... This potion upon brewing 30% of the stock will always be available to the guild warehouse in free to exchange basis ... I do not need to tell you guys the importance of the formula , it will become the backbone of our guilds economy. This situation has created an urgent need for hiring the best damn potionmasters , soo we will hold recruitment with them". Rudra declared. SILENCE , deathly silence Then medivh unconsciously shreiked ... AN ADVANCED MANA POTION RECIPE. .... Too good , this seemed too good to be true . For those who do not understand the difference between tiers of mana potions Basic mana potion recovered about 40 points of mana. The effects were not stackable , and after drinking one you had to wait for about 10 minutes before another one could take effect. Intermediate mana poiton recovered 100 points of mana. With a 3 minute cooldown. Advanced mana potion however , recovered 250 points of mana with only 1 minute cooldown. For wizards this potion was a must ... Almost giving them inexhaustible mana ... That meant that with enough potions , one could be a slaughter machine , casting AOE after AOE . Amazing ..... Just amazing. Even classes that did not deal in mana , understood the importance of this item ..... With this added to the stores , it was sure to bring a lot of money , they were happy. Especially considering that even basic mana potions were in a shortage in the current market. With intermediate mana potions not even being introduced as a product yet. This situation was just too good. Rudra smiled and said , " but thats not the main thing ...... Follow me to the guild grounds for the real gift , from me to all the members ". Everyone had goosebumps ....... The guild leader seemed exited ... What could his gift be? Anticipation , exitement , they were all like kids on Christmas and Rudra was the santa claus. In the guild training hall. Everyone in the guild. Even the lifestyle players were summoned. As someone started recording this event. This was the first time that the players met the lifestyle division , and greetings were exchanged and a harmonious atmosphere could be seen. When exitement reached its peak ..... Rudra revealed his gift to everybody , the mounts the Special Greycoat Direwolves . [ DIREWOLF G ] ( MOUNT) ( TRUE ELITE SPECIAL ) : Special shiny silvercoated Direwolf , an agile mount with speed of upto 50kph , it has great stamina and defense , one of the most balanced mount in the game . Personality : Shy Loyalty : 80% loyal ( true elites special) There were a total of 107 direwolves , for the 107 guild members , each direwolf had its own personality , however they all had the pristine shiny silver coat and a loyalty of 80% , an 80% loyalty meant that unless you did not abuse them , they would not abandon you . In omega , pets and mounts had personalities and loyalty , if the personality was bad , they may choose to not obey the master. If the loyalty was low they may choose to run away from battle, abandoning the player. The difference between pets and mounts was that pets could take part in battles having an attack stat , mounts however could not attack . They had a defense stat to deal with ambushes , traps and the like over travel , but no attack . Both pets and mounts could be killed , and revival was very expensive and difficult. The guild members were literally exploding with joy however as they tried to befriend the wolves ... THIS WAS A MOUNT ... NOBODY IN THE GAME HAD A MOUNT HOWEVER THE GUILD HAD ONE . However the lifestyle players could not take in the mounts. They had not yet reached level 40. Rudra obviously knew this beforehand , but still called them here . It was for 2 reasons 1) to motivate them to level up faster , craft more items and gain more exp 2) to remind them about the benefits of staying in True elites guild , where came both prestige and benefits . It was to imbue loyalty through the carrot. As it clearly worked. They looked on enviously as the level 40 guild members chose their mounts. Especially fatty kalash , he had his eyes set on a fat looking wolf , he was absolutely in love with him . Cheers for Rudra rang in the air , as the guild members genuinely wanted to kowtow to him in admiration. Seeing them all soo happy Rudra too felt very very happy. Now this was the kind of guild he wished to create, this atmosphere , this loyalty , this motivation , was perfect. Looking around Rudra laid his eyes on one of the most muscular wolves , seemingly the alpha , after a short eye contest and tussle , it accepted Rudra as the master. The wolf pack howled as Rudra mounted their leader , and the Elites cheered. The pack hierchy was established now. Well time to ride the mounts on the street now! They needed to do some promotion before the next wave of hiring ... It was not bragging , never would Rudra do such pointless things .... Haha who was he kidding ... He would make every player green with envy ... Thats right , his guild is the best , whatcha gonna do about it? As they exited the guild hall on their shiny mounts , out of the gate a loud chant was heard ONE FOR ALL , ALL FOR ONE GO ELITES GO ! /// Its a light chapter , and a little recap of the previous one , but i felt it is important in the story going forward , hope you guys like it /// Chapter 76: The beef While the days seemed to be going on well for True Elites , with every power accepting their position as someone worth respecting , the reality of the situation was that things only appeared to be calm on the surface , but were not so really . Ambani had bounced back , on the second day of the Orange Rock guild being defeated , another plan being set in motion by him , actually he did not consider the failure of Orange Rock as a failure at all , he considered it a successful mission to gauge the enemy''s strength. Ambani hated Ethan Grey to the core , he was a veteran buisnessman in his late fifties , and had two children , the elder boy being 28 and his younger beautiful sister being 26. Married to a affluent military family in Country Y . His hatred for Ethan Grey was at multiple levels. He was the only trillionare , who had complete authority over a country! The whole damn country Y knew that though they were a democracy on paper , they had a dictator and his name was Mithun Ambani and if not for Ethan Grey , he would be the first zillionare . When Ethan Grey was still a millionare he had seen potential in the kid and along with his son Ankit Ambani , he had groomed Ethan , teaching him the ins and outs of buisness. Ethans ingenuity and ability to predict the market made him dote on the kid even more .... There was a golden period between them for about 2 years. However it all changed when Ethan refused to marry his daughter. HE ACTUALLY HAD THE GUTS TO REFUSE?. His daughter was devastated following the rejection , she had a huge crush on the handsome Ethan Grey , and had fought with both her father and brother to date him. For 2 years they dated and she fell deeply in love with him, over these 2 years both father and brother approved of the man , and finally they had given her permission for marriage, but she was rejected , Ethan was never serious about the relationship, he never even said i love you , it was just a physical spark for him , she was devastated after the rejection ....... For Ambani as a loving father , the breaker of his daughters heart was an unforgivable existance. Ethan Grey had aldready became a well known man in buisness world in those 2 years. Using Ambani''s shoulder to climb on the ladder of buisness world and was aldready a billionaire when the fallout came. Ethan was prepared and fled to Country J , beating back Ambani several times , foiling major plans and forcing him to leave the market of Country J , He single handedly expanded his billionare empire and stepped into the domain of trillionare in the next 5 years , robbing Ambani of various contracts and large scale projects. It was well known in the buisness world at this point , that there was bad blood between the two. The political situation of the world was really shaky after weapons research had advanced to unimaginable levels. War was simply no longer something countries could afford as even the smallest countries had the power to level cities. Hence even though Ambani wanted to straight out duke out with Ethan , he knew that such foolishness was bad for buisness. However ''Omega'' was a different deal , the fastest growing market in the world , it was a whirpool of money , it was predicted that those who held a greater control over Omega would be the one who dominated the war of trillionares. With every major player backing and establishing Guilds , the six trillionares also established their own massive superguilds. However , Ethan Grey had also backed a unknown variable , the True Elites guild , it was an utterly ridiculous group that broke every prediction made, also they were nothing more than mascots in the bigger picture , they brought immense reputation to Ethan. For the man who ruined his daughters reputation to gain fame , Ambani immediately plotted for the downfall of the Elites , it would be his practice before trying to take down the Grey main guild. The fifty seven year old veteran was not someone to be trifled with , even after multiple losses in the hands of Ethan Grey , he had never made a rash decision. Always logical , always scheming , he made sure to cut his losses to the minimum . Deciding the Elite''s to be his first target , he had made a sinister plot to ensure their downfall , however after the groups ridiculous actions in the game , surpassing all odds , he understood that he needed information to go against this guild. Even in the war against Orange Rock , if it was known prior to the war that the guild had bombs. With a better formation and counter tactics they could still have won . The loss was due to lack of information , what they needed was an insider. He was a snake biding his time ,waiting to strike , and his master stroke currently was Orochimaru , an elite nurtured by him , with immense resources since he was young. For being a martial arts prodigy , entering Omega , he was hands down one of the most talented players yet. With a SSS grade clearance of training hall, his score rivalled Rudra''s , at tier one level 37 , he was waiting for the next wave of elite enrollment. A spy was being prepared to infiltrate the enemy organization ! Objectively speaking his revenge was not groundless , and neither was his hate. What Ethan Grey did with his daughter was definitely despicable , he had purposefully used her innocent heart to climb the ladders of buisness world. Ethan Grey was such a man , he had lied , he had stole ideas , he had seduced those in power to gain power , before he crushed them all. However was he really to blame? Afterall the one who taught him these schemes was Mithun himself. As he himself knew deep in his heart that his own deeds made Ethan look like a saint when compared. Burning competitors goods , assasinating political rivals , orchestrating terrorist attacks to force military submission , he had killed innocents to make his empire. Even he was not a good guy , but there was one thing he never did , he never dragged his daughter into any of his mud. His wife dying , his children were his life and his pride, with the elder brother inheriting the buisness , the little sister was overly protected , not knowing the shady side of her dads buisness , she was a pure flower and Mithun Ambani''s bottom line, for crossing it there were bound to be consequences . /// Bonus chapter 5/5 , completing my promise guys thankyou for keeping me in the top 200 for these 5 days , hope you keep continuing the support for me and that we finish strong at under 140. /// Chapter 77: Showing off The rode around the city on their mounts , and naturally all onlookers had their mouths agape , seeing the pack of wolves. " Help!!!! Wolves have raided the town ! ". " Huh, are there players on the wolves?". " F**k , are those mounts ? ". " Which guild got those wolf mounts ? ". " Isnt that the True Elites robes on the wolves? ". " Why do all of them have the same type of mount , did they complete a secret event? ". " WOW , SOO COOL! ". " Why is it that everytime there is something new and cool , its the Elites who has the item ". " Comparing with them , we might as well quit gaming , first the bombs now the mounts , they are simply too strong ". " Okay , joining the elites is my mission now , period ". " ME2" " ME3" " ME4" . . . . . . "ME33477". The Elites had a blast showing off their mounts around the city , wherever they went , people turned to look at them in envy , recording videos , they felt like celebrities driving a ferrari down the streets. The event hit mainstream news , and a nickname was added to the True Elites guild. They were started to be called the " Wolves of Hazelgroove ". All in all it was a really successfull promotion run , that brought the guild to the spotlight once again. Capitalizing on the popularity , Rudra sent the notice for the second wave of recruitment with 70 open slots . 50 slots for lifestyle guild. 20 slots for the main guild . The requirements for entering the main guild were S grade or above assessment in training hall . With A grade or above in tier one promotion Followed by the interview. Massive amounts of players were intrested in this wave of recruitment. As it quickly became an anticipated event. If you were a true professional gamer , True Elites guild was hands down one of the best options to join in the kingdom , in the absence of any superguilds monopolising the area. After the round around the city , the players were back at the guild headquarters , and were all given the task of gaining merit points. There were still 2 and a half days left in the event , and the guild needed the merit points to exchange for the top two items . With the morale being at a alltime high after recieving the mounts , the guild members were extremely enthusiastic about completing the given mission . But Rudra knew better than them , at most with them working very dedicatedly they could at most gain 20 thousand merit points over the next two and a half days ..... It was not possible to farm the 60 thousand needed to reach 150K merits. He knew he needed to make up for the remainder of the merit points. And the only possible way to make up for the remainder points , is special ''ring the bell''. It was an arcade style game , where there was a single lane about 30 meters long , with a bell hanging at the very end. There were plant traps all the way across. And a very mean dryad spirit shooting out vines right before the end , you had to simply dodge all plants and traps , before ringing the bell to win . The entry fee for one participant was 30 merit points , and the winner would take the entire pool of merits of those who participated before him and failed. Rudra would wait till the very last day to attempt that event, to hopefully gain maximum merit points. However what he was currently intrested in , was the special event packs. The special event packs had started hitting the stores , and had massive sales. People were genuinely addicted to gambling into the packs in hopes of getting rewards. This was made worse as some lucky men started showing off their wins to others on the forums. Someone even got a epic weapon from the pack, this caused an explosion of pack sales , as more and more people tried their luck . What piqued Rudra''s interest the most was that , currently the currency conversion rate was increasing at a rapid pace. The gold had a great increase in value against the dollar. And it was a great time to sell. He decided to sell about 50 platinum worth of gold , for a incredibly large sum of money. He would buy back gold from the same money when the prices became stable again. As he expected to earn about 2 platinum from this transaction. The lifestyle store was doing amazingly well , even without the advanced mana potions not hitting the stores yet..... The sales of the event packages and the sales of the armour sets , it was an incredible hit. Rudra had banned the Elites in buying the event packs , but he was sure some members did it anyway secretly. However the ban imposed would serve as a restriction to not gamble their fortunes away. This was harsh , and Rudra felt like a strict parent , however what was necessary was necessary. Seeing the gambling buisness run soo well , Rudra wondered if he should start a lottery buisness of his own , selling tickets for a grand prize and holding a lottery , earining 500% profit on a item worth little compared to the money earned. For example a dark gold sword would probably go for 700-800 gold coins However holding a lottery at 1 silver a ticket , selling more than 1 million tickets he could earn 10000 gold for the same object. This was a crazy scam , that was completely legal , however considering the game company would probably not allow it , he dropped the idea. Just as he was casually strolling through the forums , a new post just rocked his plan to the core. Someonene just cleared the challenge he was aiming at taking about 15 thousand merit points . A solo gamer called Orochimaru just cleared the Bell challenge !!!!! /// We are just 20 votes away from hitting 1K powerstones for this week , guys i never thought id reach this point when i started the book. This is just humbling for me , from the bottom of my heart to everyone who voted for this book ..... A very very grateful thankyou. /// Chapter 78: Things going south Rudra thought he had heard the name Orochimaru before , the memory surrounding the player was a little hazy , but Rudra remembered him to be a player of nine clouds kingdom , as a general of one of the forces of a super guild. Why was that player in Hazelgroove? Is this the butterfly effect? A lot of questions rose in Rudra''s mind , but most importantly he needed to do something about the merit points lost. After Orochimaru completed the challenge , knowing that he was a solo player , with soo many merit points on him , as well as his skills in completing the bell challenege meant he was a superior gamer , many guilds wanted to recruit him. Representatives of many first rate guilds were trying their best to entice Orochimaru into joining , however Orochimaru kept refusing under the pertext that he only wanted to join True Elites. This pissed off many first rate guilds, they were mad at both Orochimaru and the True Elites , who kept hogging the limelight time and time again. The public rejection of first rate guilds caused a huge stir , as someone started the movement #lethimjoin to join the True Elites guild. Rudra was indifferent to this , something about the whole situation seemed fishy to him , however as he needed the merit points soo badly , he decided to schedule an interview with Orochimaru . Rudra private messaged Orochimaru saying " if you want to join the Elites , report outside the Guild in 15 minutes ". As expected he did rush upon recieving the message and was escorted into the conference room by a servant. He sat across Rudra smiling Rudra said " soo , i heard you are interested in joining my guild , why so? ". " Is this even a question sir , this is the coolest and the best guild in town , naturally i want to join the best". Orochimaru said Rudra felt uncomfortable in his stomach , the guy across him felt like a dumb fanboy , not the ruthless general he knew in his past. Could his memory be making a mistake? Chatting about useless things for a while , Rudra finally accepted him into the guild. Amelia made a post on the Forums to let everyone know that yes Orochimaru was now an True Elite. ------------------------------ ( The conference room of Azure Lotus guild ) In the conference room of the Azure Lotus guild all the actual first rate guild leaders of Hazelgroove kingdom had gathered today. Naturally everyone had terrific baground of millionares or Billionaire''s backing them , not to be taken lightly. However the issue today was they were here to discuss about the upstart guild True Elites. True Elites had been too brazen in their actions lately , eventhough everyone was amicable to the guild on surface , the True First Rate Guilds could not accept that an tiny ant of 50 members would actually be treated as an equal. From the continuous domination of the ranking board To their excellent lifestyle branch To their bombs To their mounts To the talent recruitment. To their repeated first clears and reputation Everything hurt the First Rate Guilds , There were 7 first rate guilds left in Hazelgroove kingdom after the fall of Orange Rock. They were AzureLotus ran by PinkLotus ( Yua Nakatomi) Demolitionboys ran by IloveToSmash. SeaOfPoison ran by Scorpio SurferUnited ran by Beachboy RealManchester ran by DeBruyne. OriginalManchester ran by Fernandes Musicians Inc ran by TrueRhythm Out of these 7 exept for Original Manchester who just hated Real Manchester to the core , hence supported anything that the enemy hated. And Yua''s AzureLotus The rest 5 first rate guilds were not in favour of the True Elites. With the Elites taking first clears time and time again , and with their superior performance in every other aspect of the game , they really made the First Rate Guilds loose a lot of face. They were aldready the laughing stock amongst other kingdoms , where they were being called pseudoFirst rates, things were reaching boiling point now that normal players like Orochimaru were no longer interested in joining the first rate guilds , even after repeated poaching tries , it was a wake up call ..... If things kept going in this direction , it would be difficult to gain talents. While the elite''s kept recruiting the best , they would only get the runt of the litter. What many did not know at this point was that the 7 real First Rate Guilds had made an alliance , which worked on majority voting , called the Rainbow alliance. Today on the majority vote of 5 to 2 a motion was passed to present the True Elites guild to either submit to the council or face retribution. A draft containing demands was being formulated by the council. Upon completion it was signed by all 7 guild leaders , and sent to the True Elites guild hall. Yua was absolutely devastated and wanted to immediately leave the council , however her father prevented that from happening. Forcing her into silence. ------------------- What noone knew was that the only reason that the 7 big guilds were amicable to the True Elites upto this point was because of Ethan Grey behind them , noone could offend a trillionare . However with Ambani pulling the strings behind the scenes and assuring support , they no longer worried about facing the consequences. Sea of poison . Original Manchester Demolitionboys These 3 guilds were now secretly under the control of Mithun Ambani , as they used their power to sway the public opinion against the Elites . Although after the war with Orange Rock guild , the Elites had a 3 month war cooldown , they could still face economic burden with their stores being pressured and customers being driven away. Their guild members can be ganged up on in the wild and killed , resulting in a loss of levels and EXP The 7 guild alliance can spawn camp every dungeon easily and they can be denied entry . Ambani had really thought things through , he would use buisness tactics this time around to Supress the elites rather than a one and done confrontation With a spy amongst their ranks now , things would become even more dangerous. /// Last day of the week guys , i am genuinely overwhelmed with the support. Also i have been reading your comments about the story progressing too fast , and i have to agree to that , going forward i will take my time building the arcs and the story will have more lore and depth , hopefully you will like that sort of writing more. /// Chapter 79: Clearing the bell challenge For Rudra the most important thing currently was to amass the required merit points to exchange for the top 2 items. After recruiting Orochimaru , Rudra gained 18K merit points , which meant he only needed 15k or so to be sure of reaching the 150K mark . The positive of Orochimaru clearing the bell challenge was that , after his rise to fame for clearing the challenge , there was an outburst of players in Hazelgroove kingdom attempting. The event became extremely popular , with how far you can go being a testament of your strength. On the final day of the 7 day event , the gaming company cuber , seeing the popularity of the bell challenge decided to divide it into 3 modes , only for the final day after locking the merit points prize. Everyone could attempt the event for free , just for today. Easy , normal and nightmare. The price pool was 10K merit points for clearing in normal mode . 5 K in easy mode And. 15 K in nightmare mode With the merit point multipliers as 0.5x , 1x and 1.5 x There were 16000 easy mode clears Basically the normal mode was the mode everyone was playing in uptill now , with only 70 clears uptill now in the entire game , thirty in western continent , ten in eastern continent , thirty in northern continent. And only one nightmare mode clear in southern continent by a player named NotYourAverageJoE . Rudra never experienced this in his past life , if he thinks logically , just Orochimaru clearing the Hazelgroove kingdom bell challenge was something different that happened , however the last day event was changed. It was a change that never happened before . No matter how hard he thought , he could not connect the dots to why the game organizers would change the set event. However that meant that Rudra now had to clear the challenge in nightmare mode difficulty. When Rudra reached the event area for the bell challenge , he saw a crowd of players queing to attempt the challenge. There were approximately a 2 Km line infront of the easy mode challenge , with a huge spectating crowd , cheering and booing challengers , having a good time. The normal mode line , has a lower line with about .5 km line , but the amount of spectators were the most. About 30 thousand people spectating the event. The least number of participants were in the nightmare mode , with only 10 to 15 people Queuing for the challenge. With the lowest spectator crowd at about 5 thousand. But it was the most wild crowd , who were there to leach from others miseries. They were there to boo the hell out of every challenger , and see their dreams of clearing the challenge be crushed by the plants. After waiting 15 minutes in the queue , Rudra''s turn was up next , just as he went on the stage , someone from the crowd shouted. " Hey , newbie , state your name and organization ". Rudra completely ignored the man and focused on the countdown till the challenge started. Boos were raining from the crowd now " Hmph , arrogant bastard , lets see how bad you fail , i bet you cant even reach 5 meters ". " Another newbie , thinking he s some hotshot , who will clear the nightmare mode , failing in 5 seconds ". BOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! The countdown hit 5....4...3...2....1..... GO! Rudra sprung into action, dodging and running through the vines out early .... Within 3 seconds , Rudra covered about 5 meters. He swerved left and right , jumping and ducking through the vines , with his golden ratio boost. Rudra''s stats made impossible manoeuvrs possible , like a cat chasing a mouse Rudra burst forward. The crowd went ballistic " F*** , What insane speed , just who is he? ". " His stats must be off the charts , to have such agility ". " This guy must have invested all his stats uptill , now into agility and speed , there is no way he will be able to go more than 10 meters though , as after that you need more than just speed ". Some idiot , gave his expert commentary . As the crowd watched glued , Rudra advanced to 10 meters point. After that the attack of the incoming vines , could no longer be only dodged , it needed to be faced and countered to move forward. Rudra called out Excalibur . Excalibur , shrunk in his hand , into a dagger like length as , Rudra swung it with one arm moving forward . 11m .... 12 m ... Dodge dodge , cut , cut 13...14...15! Rudra reached the halfway mark! Silence ..... Absolute silence in the crowd. " H....he....hey .... Can ...can he .... Actually ... Do it?". Someone said , shakily " Nono, nonsense ........ He is skilled , but this is the nightmare mode.... Not possible , no". The rowdy crowd was now paying attention , many started recording Rudra had went into the zone now, somehow everything in his surroundings became white , his only focus on his path ahead. He could see every , incoming vine , his breathing ragged , his body control perfect , the balance of his blade .... perfect. He was in absolute control. 16 m ... 17 m .... 18 m... 19 m ..... 20 !! He reached the 20 m mark .... This is the farthest anyone has ever reached in the entire Hazelgroove kingdom . The crowd was screaming and screeching now , everytime a vine shot forward , their heartbeats raced , seeing Rudra dodge them by centimetres each time The opinion started to change ..... " Maybe he can do it". " Just , who is this guy? ". " Will he be able to go all the way?". The boos slowly started getting converting into cheers ... The crowd wanted to see , just how far can this guy go .... However Rudra was in his zone , oblivious to the outside .... His only focus on the increasing pace of attacks he was facing ... A change happened at 21 m , the final boss , the Dryad woke up , and started shooting bullet like seed projectiles ..... Shit just got real ! /// We ended at rank 130 last week , thankyou thankyou thankyou for all the support guys , my 5 bonus chapters paid off ..... Let me give you guys a bigger incentive this week ... Should we end within top 100 this week , i will release 7 bonus chapters mass release NEXT MONDAY ! , Lets get it guys , its monday , lets go hard this week , Top 100 here we come ! /// Chapter 80: Seriously? When the Driad finally started to take action , the intensity of the game increased greatly , the bullet seeds she was shooting , one had absolutely no chance to react in time to dodge normally , it was like a projectile that had to be faced head on , if you tried to avoid it , it will definitely hit you before you can even lift two feet. Rudra regretted not having a suitable shield at this point , as a knight the pride of his battle prowess should be his shield and defense , but being the brawler he was , he preffered to use double handed sword wielding instead. Rudra summoned his other sword Windcutter at this moment , and used windslash multiple times to stop the flurry of vines overwhelming his progress. As Rudra glanced back , the red laser line was slowly moving forward and was about 5 meters away from Rudra , one it hit his position , the challenge would be considered a failure. Rudra decided to use darkness bind! He bound the dryad for 3 seconds , just as windcutter created an opening , enlarging excalibur to a one meter length , he quickly sprung forward to gain some ground 22 ! .....23 ! .....24 !.....25 ! Just as Rudra reached the 25 m mark the dryad snapped free and shot the bullets at a 5m Range , it was almost like seeing flashes of lightning , as there was barely enough time to block . But to his joy , there were no more annoying vines. There was only the dryad and a field full of plant traps , he could not jump around anymore , as everywhere he would step. Would result in him being caught , the very natrow path leading to the bell was like facing doom , as the shots would be incoming in a straight line at incredible speeds. The red line started to creep closer and closer with only 2m left till Rudra''s position. The audience watched with bated breaths , this challenge is really to cruel .... The one''s optimistic about Rudra clearing the challenge now felt despirited , it truly looked impossible. Rudra too felt the situation to be quite grim , he was aldready doing his absolute best to try deflect the incoming barrage of bullets , he had absolutely no room to do anything more. Then a gap came , there was a delay of about 1.5 secs when the dryad could not keep up her attacks. Then Rudra used his newly acquired special skill Earthquake Boom , a loud tremor was heard as the Earth below him shattered , with large chunks of earth turning upside down and the ground cracking , there was space to get his footing finally. Rudra sprung into action , the red elimination line about 2 inches away from him . 27 !.... 28 .... To his delight the shockwave had shook the dryad up and she needed a brief moment to readjust her aim at Rudra . Rudra took the chance and instead of trying to stop and handle the barrage of bullets again , he put all his strength in his right leg and leapt towards the bell , hanging beside the Dryad. Gong... The bell sound hit , but even Rudra was hit by the bullet. The timing was soo close , noone could tell what happened clearly , was he hit first ? Or did he clear it? Then the entire gaming arena lit up , as fireworks burst forward. DING : BELL CHALLENGE CLEARED AT NIGHTMARE DIFFICULTY. CONGRATULATIONS !!!! " WHOAAA , SOMEONE CLEARED THE NIGHTMARE MODE ". Every spectating crowd noticed after the fireworks lit up. The entire crowd went wild , those spectating the nightmare mode could not believe their eyes , as they could clearly feel the adrenaline rush. The final sequence the thrilling ending , it was a worth memory . But who was the guy who completed it all . Standing there laughing silly , was Rudra Rajput , the guild leader of True Elites , who just won his guild 15 K merit points. He truly was happy , walking off he paused for a second , before replying the rude man who asked him to make an intro " The name''s Shakuni , Guild master of True Elites ". He said as he walked off..... Mic drop moment ! The crowd burst into cheers How cool was that guy ? As the discussions about him erupted , many posted his entire attempt video on the forums , and the name of the Demon Of Death Valley , became trending again , especially the last moment where he introduced himself , it was watched over 30 million times. With only 3 hours left for the event to end , Rudra rushed back to the guild hall , and exchanged the merit points for the top 2 items. The purple smoke entrance theme. [ 100000 merits ] Acquired title '' Nature friendly Guild '' [ 50,000 merits] SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : TRADING WITH THE ELVEN KINGDOMS ARE NOW POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE EQUIPPED TITLE. Rudra sighed in relief upon completing his set goals , he was in a festive mood. As he strolled through the guild he could see the members trying riding their mounts and happily chatting to each other , it was a merry Atmosphere all around. He smiled , however his mood was ruined over the letter that came next . It was a letter sent by all the first rate guilds in the Hazelgroove kingdom , demanding True Elites to go under the alliance as a subservice guild , or face the alliance''s combined retribution . The thing that shocked him the most in the letter was not that it came , but all the signatures present , within them was the signature of one PinkLotus. Aka Yua Nakatomi his so called '' close friend ''. He did not want to jump to conclusions , but seeing that even after she signed the letter. She had not dropped a message to Rudra clarifying the situation , it seemed like a betrayal was at hand. The detailed letter read as follows. ..... /// Guys a lot of things will be happening simultaneously from now on , it wont be a single arc focused story as multiple events will happen in the same arc , i am trying to up my writing game , i hope you all like it , please provide me with your feedback in the comments /// Chapter 81: The reply The detailed conditions for submission were as follows 1) The true Elite guild will become a subsidiary of the alliance , the guild will be jointly managed by the alliance members , and will have to unconditionally obey the orders 2) the guilds assets and HQ will become the alliance''s assets , with the guild having 10% of the funds for management. 3) the guild members will not attempt for any first clear of dungeons , and will be added as a consultant into existing first rate guild parties to help in clearance. 4) All the recipes and lifestyle shops under the guild will become property of the alliance. 5) all the technical recipes including recipe for bombs , and/ or other inventions must be surrendered to the alliance. Failure to comply will result in 1) Public declaration of enemity 2) suppression of guild members through relentless hunting and public issue of bounty on the guild members of True Elites. 3) Supression of buisness , and all lifestyle shops. 4) No entry into dungeons and levelling spots . 5) Declaration of joint war after the 2 months 12 days countdown . You have 48 hours to respond. Failure to respond in the given timeframe will lead to negotiations breaking down. Signed AzureLotus by PinkLotus Demolitionboys by INeedToSmash. SeaOfPoison by Scorpio SurferUnited by Beachboy RealManchester by DeBruyne. OriginalManchester by Fernandes Musicians Inc by TrueRhythm Rudra crumpled the letter as his blood started to boil .... How dare they threaten my guild? Yet he needed to be rational here , this matter was no joke ..... 7 major guilds uniting against True Elites naturally it was not a pretty situation . The first thing Rudra did was he called Karna and Fatty Kalash and sent a copy of the letter to the Grey office. He sat down with the two , his hands trembling as he asked " What do you guys think "? Both Kalash and Karna paled upon reading the letter. This was no supression contract , it was a complete slavery contract , they wanted to turn the Elites into their private dogs. They were speachless as to how to respond , both of them wanted to burn the paper to a crisp , but they understood the severity of the situation , it couldn''t be taken lightly at all ... After a while fatty said " Hey , you built this guild , i am here because of you , no matter what you choose , i will be with you ". Karna nodded " I have faith in your choice , guild leader ". Rudra sighed, thats right he could not let his emotions get the better of him , he had a damn guild to run , he had to wait till Ethan Grey had a opinion before he took a decision. He logged out , as he rode his car towards the Grey tower ------------------------ ( The Grey towers , the upside ) Rudra and Ethan were sitting face to face , both having deep frowns. To Rudra''s surprise , the Main guild leader Adam was also there. Ethan said " Someone is clearly targetting the Grey international , even the main guild had a sudden opposing faction stand up today ". Rudra arched his eyebrows , who was dumb enough to challenge a super guild. Adam said " Two first rate guilds have allied to challenge us to a war , although we are not much worried , and have a clear advantage, i am afraid you being in a different Country all together , it will be difficult to dispatch a sizable amount of troops needed for your guild to resist the supression". He said lowering his eyes, clearly ashamed. Ethan smashed a glass to the wall " The timing of the whole event is too perfect to be a coincidence , someone is definitely pulling the strings behind the scenes". He was furious " I know you are part owner in the guild Ethan , but i do not wish to give in to the supression , let me tell you i have a way for my guild to hold our ground , but it will take a lot of resources and help from your side to happen , what do you say ". Rudra said Ethan''s eyes shone with brilliance , he knew Rudra''s biggest secret , however the shaky voice with which Rudra was speaking things he asked " how sure are you?". Rudra replied honestly " Depends on how many pieces of the puzzle i obtain , every step will be crucial ". Ethan nodded , he understood this better than anyone , in a large scale plan , there is a long time laying foundations before even starting the path of action . " What do you need ? ". Ethan asked " First and foremost , manpower ..... I want you to make my current 55 guild members and families to relocate to Country J , additionally do a check on them and monitor their accounts for spies , i need a new wave of recruits , however no longer will there be a traditional recruitment method , i am giving you a list of game IDs. I am not sure if everyone still has the same name ... Rudra paused looking at Adam awkardly , before saying , try get them all ". Ethan nodded understandingly , these were probably top players with good skills in his last life , however are yet to be discovered as talents this life ... They might not even pick the same in game id , this was going to be a pain to look for them all and relocate them. But the least he could do was this much .... He agreed. Ethan also resolved to find out who was pulling the strings behind the scenes , the next few days were going to be turbulent. ------------------ Back in the game , PurpleHaze city . Rudra rounded up everyone in the guild in the guild hall and said " Guys , we have riled up all the big guilds in the city , and they feel threatened by us , they feel threatened by our momentum and jealous by our fame and success.....they wish to supress and bully us for being wayy better than them .... I ask you all , will we give into the bullying? ". " NO SIR ". A loud response was heard . Apparently while Rudra was gone Karna had aldready conducted a meeting informing the members of ths situation , however none of them wavered , their trust in Rudra was solid. " Fine then , Lets proove them right , lets show them why they are right to fear us ". Rudra then attached a note to a photo of the signed letter posting it on the forums saying " To the seven big bullies of Hazelgroove , the True Elites says JUST BRING IT , Signed Shakuni". And hit post. /// Can someone guess the coming story line ? Lets have some conspiracy theories guys , formulate a theory based on these three hints 1) Treasure map 2) Dungeon pass 3) Face and Id swap mask Also we are lagging on the powerstone target guys ..... Lets buck up !!! /// Chapter 82: A bunch of madmen ( The forums ) " Hey , hey , hey , can someone confirm this crazy post , did the seven big guilds actually send the notice or is this a publicity stunt? ". " F*** , HOLY SHIT , THIS IS INSANE ". " Madmen , the Elites are madmen ". " The seven big guilds supressing a single one , they are indeed a bunch of bullies ". " Who told the Elites to always showoff , you fly too high , your wings get chopped ". " My heart goes to the Elites , # say no to bullying .". " The supression is too much , thats basically a slavery contract , the big guilds went overboard , also the elites asking them to bring it , now thats a bunch of crazy bastards ". " Its not possible , this must be fake hoax ". " This is a hoax , a witch hunt! ". " Well well , RIP True Elites ". " Well i may sound like a madman myself but the Elites are not to be trifled with , the bullies should watch out ". The Forums went wild over the latest scuffle between big guilds and the True Elites , while many speculated it to be a publicity stunt , asking the big guilds to respond to verify the truth of the situation , many small guilds and solo adventurers came to the support of the True Elites , condemning the bullying of the alliance. There was a part that supported them in supressing the Elites , these were the second rate guilds who had a much larger population than the True Elites yet they could not achieve a fraction of what they did. Also because they were the lackies of the big guilds . The situation became extremely heated. Especially for the seven big guilds , as there was no justification to their actions , it was just downright petty of them , for such big guilds to ally just to supress a single guild like True Elites , was just shamefull. -------------------- ( At the Azure Lotus guild hall, the alliance meeting ) " That madman actually rejected our proposal outright on the forums. What an idiot ". INeedToSmash said " What gives such a small guild the confidence to go against us ? Isnt this a slap in the face of our authority? ". Scorpio was livid These two were the prime instigators of supressing the Elites under the orders of Ambani , hence they were trying their best to rile up the crowd. " It isnt too late , our public opinion is taking a nosedive , we need to call this off as a misunderstanding while we still can ". PinkLotus said She genuinely did not want to be involved in such a scuffle with Rudra''s guild , however when the seven guilds alliance was made , the foundation of trust was built by exchanging shares of the parent corporations , each big player held a stake in the six other parties buisnesses , hence Yua''s personal will did not matter here , if the majority vote was to supress the Elites , she could only but comply as her rebellion would hurt the Nakatomi Corporation. " No , how can we be threatened by a small fry like the Elites , especially after they call us out like that, we maybe called bullies and tyrants , however we need to show our dominance over Hazelgroove , if there are profits , then im ready to be called a bully ". INeedToSmash said. The Major guilds debated for a while , and after a vote of 4:3 they passed a motion to send a reply on the forums to the Elites. " To the True Elites , from the alliance , Hope you are ready because we will bring the fight to your guild , soo say your prayers for soon you will be a fossil of history. "Signed the seven guildmasters of the alliance. ------------------------ Following the notice , a huge change was seen in the Hazelgroove kingdom , the alliance guild members started taking over all the levelling spots important for level 35+ players. As well as stationing massive amounts of troops to spawn camp dungeons. Everyone was screened before providing entry , and was charged a entry fee , for a solo adventurer it was 50 silver , for a small party it was 5 gold , for a third rate guild it was 15 gold while second rate guilds had to pay 30 gold per entry. This was daylight robbery , however those who allied with the alliance signing a subservice treaty were exempt from the taxes. Although the True Elites on their mounts were way faster than players , the guild members faced constant hunting threats , even inside the city safezone , the alliance members often tried funny buisness , disregarding the fact that they may serve jail time. Although the situation was bad , it would only get worse with time as the level gap shortened and players unlocked mounts. Rudra was facing a race against time , he needed to act and he needed to act soon . But he had a plan ... There was still hope to overturn the situation ... If only he can get his hands on the two remaining treasure map pieces. Firstly he needed to raise back morale , he needed to take control of the newest dungeon the lv 40+ 50 man dungeon " The endless ocean ". It was being spawn camped by over 10,000 players from the alliance , and Rudra needed to first clear that dungeon to get a piece of the treasure map . Although the alliance did not have any lv 40 50 man dungeon teams ready yet , with many players being at 39 it was only a matter of one or two days. The morale of the guild had taken a hit after being hunted all over the city and the outskirts , they needed a win , they needed the first clear of the 50 man dungeon . And Rudra would make it happen ... He had learnt his lesson , it was because he was too showy that he gained too much jealousy , fine then , now all his cards would be hidden , he will shock the world time and time again , it was time for Shakuni to shine. It was time for a masterplan. /// Guys we are 104 , we want to end this week in double digits , i gaurantee releasing 7 chapters mass release on next monday should we end 99 or below , please please please help me push till there /// Chapter 83: Time to equip the mask Adam felt very guilty for not helping out Rudra time and time again, he was frustrated at being soo bound despite being a leader of a super guild like Grey international , he was a top notch talent and a great leader , yet circumstances always stayed his hand when it came to helping the Elites. For him helping Rudra was natural , and if he could he would always provide support in any form possible. Hence when Rudra requested him to procure an item , he tried his best on fulfilling the task . The item Rudra requested was the concealer mask , it was only found in the Ghost kingdoms abandoned temple , it was in one of the hidden chests , Rudra knew this because of his Reincarnator knowledge , hence he passed the information to Adam , who was based in the Ghost kingdom and to whom the mask belonged to in his previous life. The mask was a epic rated item which could conceal one''s stats , levels and change the id name. It was one of Adams hidden cards , as he took a second identitiy within his own guild , disguising himself as a common member to understand the powerstructure from the bottom up. Rudra needed the mask for different reason , he felt bad for Adam , who he used to rob of his own inheritance, yet he felt what was necessary was necessary. The mask was recieved in a Griffin package courier service today. This was the first thing Rudra needed in his plan to counter the alliance. Rudra took the mask in his hands [ Concealer mask ] ( Epic ) : When equipped player can hide his stats from inspection and can change the playername identity . Can be upgraded. Rudra wore the mask and heard a system notification ...... Concealer mask equipped. Enter new identity name _________ Rudra typed " Augustus Won Knight ". There was a deep connection to this name , it wasnt something he chose at random or at impulse , the name was a part of the grander scheme he wanted to play. Player name confirmed... ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:41 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 214 +107 VIT : 214 +107 INT : 214 +107 STA : 214 +107 PHY : 214 +107 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (11/200) ----------------------- Rudra now changed into normal adventurer clothes and became a normal adventurer venturing into the wild ..... Along the way he started observing the situation . In the city , the alliance members were seen patrolling in groups of five. The overall atmosphere had considerably dulled in the city , with them behaving like a bunch of bullies. Especially near the lifestyle shop , as there were state enforced guards , guarding the place , it was difficult to cause a direct damage assault on the shop , however about 20 meters out they had set up a perimeter around the shop , and they made it their mission to hassle every one trying to buy goods from the shop , resulting in a much much reduced foot traffic flow. Those who somehow still dared to venture into the stores were extorted out of their purchases when they ventured outside. Only if a guard patrol was on duty patrolling , could someone slip by after a purchase from the shop . Even though many players wanted the lv 30 dark gold full sets , they were blocked. Rudra smiled at the situation , he confidently walked towards the shop , when he crossed the 20 meters perimeter , he was stopped by a alliance member. " If you are here to buy something from the Elites lifestyle store , i suggest you turn away pal , or else ...." He made a throat slit sign with his thumb The four lackeys started to snicker Rudra shrugged as he said " Okay , if thats what you want ....". Taking his sword out he slit the leaders throat. SLASH -7000 critical hit You have attacked a guild member of Musicians Inc , you are now hostile to the guild . You have killed a player within a safe zone Infamy rises by 5 The other four party members were stunned , WTF just happened .... He killed a player in the safe zone.... " You .... You ..... The guards will get you now , punk , enjoy your jail time ". They said As they looked around , waiting for the guards to come , however nobody came ....... Rudra killed the other four party members in broad daylight ... In the watchfull eyes of a bunch of people , yet when the Patrol came around they just bowed to Rudra and left. This scene shocked many to the core... Even viscounts could not get away with murder in the city.... Just who was That guy? Under the watchful eyes of many , Rudra strolled into the Elites store and came out 10 minutes later apparently buying the stuff he needed , walking straight past another perimeter set alliance party , yet this time noone dared obstruct his path . This scene was recorded by many and uploaded on the forums with a tag " SLAP TO THE ALLIANCE ". And. "A New Mysterious power ". Rudra''s actions although did not have a big effect. Nor did it create a tangible result , as the lifestyle store was still under seige , however it had a huge symbolic effect , as people had taken into notice a new masked man .........who was not to be trifled with. // Guys we are extremely close to the target for this week , at 101 , push me through 99 and lets end the week under 100 , if at Sunday when the stones Refresh , we are 99 or below , monday will be a mass release day !!!!! Lets not miss it for one or two stones guys ... Lets pass through number 95 like a boss , just to be safe /// Chapter 84: Scouting About 2 weeks had passed since the alliance declared its supression of True Elites guild , and since then overtime they had blacklisted 7 second rate guilds , 23 third rate guilds , while all solo adventurer parties had to pay heavy taxes to play the game. Hence they were recieving more and more public outrage. The alliance members were drunk on their power though , as collecting taxes had lined up their guild warehouses , whereas the respect brought by fear was a addictive feeling . They could throw their weight around and truly feel superior to other players in the kingdom , only the guilds under the alliance first rate guilds enjoyed the tax free privilages. However drunk with greed , they made a token amount of tax for the guilds under them . Even though it seemed like a small amount compared to the large taxes they levied on solo players , it was significant once the volume was considered. The seven alliance guilds were getting rich ..... Real rich ! Many players reached level 40 over the last few days and although many dont have mounts or have horses or other common mounts , they finally started raiding the lv40 dungeon . There was no first clears heard yet , even though all of the seven big guilds had been trying the dungeon at normal mode for about 2 days now. This was common news amongst all citizens as videos of their dungeon runs would be livestreamed through various networks. The show was very popular too as it brought good ratings. The players who shined in a fight enjoyed some fame , whereas the credibility of the dungeon being very hard to clear became widespread . Although no other adventurer parties had full 50 man team at lv 40 or above to raid the dungeon , two second rate guilds that did have them , were denied entry. The dungeon was monopolised and spawn camped by about 10,000 alliance members from all guilds. Stationed as the leader of the camp , the vice guild master of RealManchester the veterran captain ''pogba'' , was an exellent leader with real life millitary baground. Rudra had been scouting the place for quite sometime now , trying to come up with strategies to break the formation of the camp. The camp was set in three concentric circles , with archer and mages being stationed at high grounds with cover ..... It was extremely difficult to pass through the encirclement , as there were not many openings to exploit. Wether it was the first ring , the second or the third , the deeper you went into the formation , the deeper you were holed up , you will just get yourself surrounded trying to break in as there were no blind spots to exploit in the seige. Having planned for a longtime , Rudra came up with an idea. First he decided to rile up the faction a bit ........ Rudra Disguised as Augustus Won Knight , with his mask and a distinct blue Robe strode confidently towards the encirclement. At the outermost layer he was stopped. " Turn back , a guildless like you cant pass through here , if you dont want to loose a level , SCRAM ". Rudra was calm , recording the incident and said " You cant just block a dungeon over your free will , this is your last warning , lay off the seige and SCRAM ". The face of the alliance member twitched " Cocky , aren''t you ... Well let me teach you some manners". He said drawing his sword ..... As about 20 members around him drew their weapons , even one archer locked aim at Rudra! Rudra smirked " Fools". He said taking out Excalibur , he was like a ghost ..... These lv 30 noobs were no match for him as he single handedly decimated the group of 20 , before shooting the archer with a shadow blast , killing all 21. -7000 Critical hit -2500 -2500 -5099 -450 -2100 -6000 critical The battle drew the attention of more and more allaince members , as many more reinforcements arrived ... Rudra kept dancing between the alliance members completely making a fool of them , before Pogba arrived He yelled " Stop ! ". Calmly walking towards Rudra he said " you have good skills , i can see you have no faction , how about you join mine? As one of the seven big guilds. Our team needs talents like you , as long as you join , you can freely use the dungeons and all levelling spots without paying any fees , also with your skills you can become a party leader or maybe even a core member someday .... How about it ?". Rudra pretended to think for a bit , as he snickered inside his head then said " It is funny ". He said " Whats funny " Asked Pogba , frowning " Its funny how ants like you dare to mess with the likes of me ". Rudra said as he used Darkness Bind! With a single leap he closed in the distance of 8 meters between them and used a single fire enhanced slash to kill Pogba in a single throat strike -8000 Critical Hit! Pogba fell dead , the experts around him dumbfounded , everyone went ballistic after that. No matter how good Rudra was, continuously fighting over 40 members at a time was not possible for him , as he started retreating slowly , he took chips of damage . However with him also taking out windcutter and dual wielding , he used windslash after windslash , before finally using the woods to Run away . Rudra had successfully killed the enemy general , while riling up the enemy camp. His outing today was successful. Under the name Augustus Won Knight , Rudra uploaded the video on the forums and wrote the message " You have 12 hours to lay off the seige punks , or i will wipe you all out ". A Death Threat was issued. The video had over 6 million views in the next 6 hours as the Forums went batshit crazy over the entire incident . " Who was Augustus Won Knight? ". " Which faction did he belong to? ". " Will this madman actually wipe the entire camp? ". " He killed Pogba? ". All these were questions buzzing around right now , when someone linked the person entering the royal library. The one breaking the seige of the Lifestyle store and this incident as the same person . When the antics of the player came out , his hype had became even bigger. With him getting the tag of the '' Vigilante'' . An emergency meeting was called between elders of the alliance , with the guild masters being busy with the Dungeon Runs , they needed to take care of the situation, would they take the warning Augustus gave them seriously? /// Rank 96 guys , its saturday ..... Lets mentain this through sunday guys , if we do end up mentaining it then monday will be a treat for you all.!!! Thankyou for the overwhelming support guys! /// Chapter 85: The power of connections ( The Won Knight mansion ) Rudra was here as he looked for his elder sister , he needed permission to use the Won Knight army Although he did not technically need to ask , he felt like he should .... As he confronted Patricia , he told a very short version of the story of why he needed the army ..... After a while ..... Patricia stared at Rudra blankly for a minute there .... Before saying " You need the army for what? ". Rudra sighed as he started to explain " Its like ... --------------- ( Inside the Lv 40 dungeon " The endless ocean ".) PinkLotus was leading the group against a bunch of one horned Dolphins in a bunch of small pirate ships. The ship was in a storm and constantly facing a large tide of waved , rocking them left and right. There were 5 ships total , with a crew of 10 in each ship . They were having an extremely hard time , however this was the furthest they had ever traversed inside the dungeon , although about 30 hours in the sea was enough to make anyone feel despair , the guild was going strong overall as a unit. Out of the 5 , one had broken formation to scout ahead , while the others banded together in a diamond formation , the scouting boat was being led by the vice guild master GreenLotus . Just when they finished wiping a party of dolphins , a message came from the scouting group ..... "Leader, I discovered a very special place here! The rivers are actually flowing in mid-air! There are also lots of Rainbow-colored fish swimming in the Purple-colored river! Moreover, these fish are all Level 40 Elites!" GreenLotus suddenly said in the party chat, his voice containing great excitement. "A group of Level 40 Special Elite fish? Isn''t this too much of an exaggeration? GreenLotus, are you sure you saw right?" PinkLotus did not believe GreenLotus''s words at all. "It''s true! If you don''t believe me, I''ll send you a picture of it!" After taking a look at the picture, it was indeed as Green Lotus said. The location in the picture was like a wonderland on earth, dazzlingly beautiful. It was truly hard to imagine that the Endless Ocean would have such a location in it. There were hundreds of big Rainbow fish in the purple river, and they all shone brilliantly, creating a dazzling sight. "Rainbow-colored fish?" PinkLotus entered deep thought as she looked at the golden fish in the river. Suddenly, she thought of a possibility, "What are the coordinates? I''ll come over immediately." When PinkLotus and the party arrived at the purple-colored river, they discovered that this river was actually moving in position, though it moved at an extremely slow speed. PinkLotus and Azure Guild members only managed to locate this river due to GreenLotus continuously following it. This Pink River was one of the rarely seen marvels in Omega. These marvels would usually appear at random places in the endless ocean map. Any players that were able to meet such marvels were all extremely lucky, as this meeting represented an opportunity. [Rainbow Fish] ( Elite) Level 40 HP 10000/10000 The fish were about 20 m above the sea level , and anyone who could jump about 2 meters could easily enter the purple river from the top of the mast of the ship. As someone tried to attack the fish , there was suddenly a blur of an attack , as the entire ship carrying the player was annihilated. Soon , blast after blasts were seen , and the entire squad had been wiped! " DAMN IT " PinkLotus screamed at the respawn centre in the city. Just what the hell happened? What was that attack , and who did it? Nothing seemed to go right for her over the last few days ... Her father denied her meeting Rudra , as her conscience kept gnawing her heart over not being able to clarify her position . To her dismay Rudra had not tried to contact her..... Did he really not care? Or had he assumed the worst? She really dint know , and it drove her crazy!! Her voice was supressed in the alliance and the guild members had started slipping out of her influence following the alliance merger . To top it all off , the latest dungeon run was a bunch of frustrating failures ... Her life was a mess currently. ----------------------- ( The True Elites guild headquarters ) GUILD NOTICE. '' Prepare for raiding the 50 man dungeon in 6 hours '' - Shakuni '' Welcome Orochimaru , a player recently recruited by the guild ''. '' Expect Arrival of New members , about 300 in the near future , be prepared to meet the second batch of the elite''s ''. '' Provide residential and family details to Amelia , expect a big pay raise and relocation of housing in near future , details will be shared via email ''. The Guild notice board was updated... The guild members reading the board all went crazy with chatter .... They had went through hell the last few days .... They had been strictly supressed and hunted everywhere , and now finally the leader had issued the notice for raiding a dungeon ..... One that was being camped by 10,000 members ..... Just what was he thinking? However their faith in Rudra was solid at this point , hence they started preparing for the dungeon run . However the next guild messages was what baffled them even more There was a second wave of recruitment ? Why hadnt they seen any exams , or interviews? Why are they relocating? Why provide family details ? , Hooray for pay raise!!! There were a million questions in the guild members minds , however the leader was missing hence they could not clear them all .... The protagonist of their talks Guild leader Shakuni , was currently busy marching with 50 thousand NPC soldiers on his tail , to wipe a upstart alliance , who denied his guild entry over a dungeon . /// Bonus chapter one of the seven mass relase promised ... Releasing it on saturday itself as a show of faith as we hit number 92 , expect continuous random bombardment of chapters next 3 days as the seven chapter drop begins ..... Hope you guys will keep bombarding those stones as we end the week on a strong note!!!! enjoy the bonuses ". /// Chapter 86: Dirt cheap After Omega introduced the real world currency conversion , many money making fanatics joined the game ..... There were buisnessmen ranging from people who worked hard in the game just to earn 300 dollars a day to some who earned 30000 to some who earned 3 million. Many guilds also supported and employed those buisnessmen. And in a symbiotic relationship , they supported each other , the latter providing funds to the guild becoming a economic backbone , while the latter providing a stable market to conduct buisness and a ready base of players to use as a market to expand. The most golden of such buisnesses was the True Elites lifestyle store , the amount of money the store made was simply off the charts , as many buisnessmen drooled to aquire the shops. When the alliance declared its hostility to the True Elites , the lifestyle store was heavily suppressed , however due to its superior products , it still made a daily profit , despite of running at 10% capacity. However the sharks smelled blood. As buisnessmen kept hounding Rudra to sell a portion of the buisness off .... With the pressure of the supression mounting day by day , the demands of the buisnessmen became more and more outrageous. The prices they offered in exchange of shares of the Lifestyle store became dirt cheap. Rudra just snickered at their offers , 5 dollars a share for 50,000 shares at a 50% stake , lol , i spend more money on my cars mentainance than that , Rudra thought. However it was true that the supression of the lifestyle stores could not go on any longer ..... His guild needed money , now more than ever , the advanced mana potion needed to be introduced , now more than ever. Rudra coldly declined any and every buisnessman approaching him , this resulted in most buisnesses BlackListing Rudra from buying from their stores, and they went a step forward blacklisting all True Elites members along with Rudra. Rudra laughed at this childishness ..... He thought '' Fine , you all want to make a enemy of me , ill remember your names! ''. 73 shop owners had blackflagged Rudra and 65 of them had blackflagged the True Elites also. The guild members faced another huge obstacle due to this ..... First they were always hunted on sight , levlling was aldready difficult , now even buying materials became a challenge... It was truly a tough time to be a elite. Two herbs were needed for the advanced mana potion , the Fragrant herb and the Rare herb. These herbs could be found in the wild and were widely collected by solo adventurers and small parties to sell for side income. They were sold in a big marketplace in PurpleHaze city , the place was a exclusive of the capital , more of like a modern day flea market. Where tourists and locals shopped for local specialties and cheap prices. Rudra went to the open market called the Bazaar to buy his goods instead. The Bazaar was the place where anyone could set up a stall for 3 silver coins , and was divided into all kinds of sections for sellers and buyers to choose. Rudra went into the alchemy section to buy the two main herbs required for the brewing of the advanced mana potion .... Many did not know this , however all three mana potions , the basic , the intermediate and the advanced , had the same ingredients ..... It was just the potion formula and refinement method that changed the result. With the advanced mana potion formula in hand , and the same basic ingredients , Rudra''s profit in this endeavour was sure to be astronomic. This was why Rudra had come to this bazaar to purchase Herbs in bulk, either Fragrant Herbs or Rare Herbs. After making a round through the bazaar and investigating the general prices of Herbs, Rudra began advertising his need as he typed his message through the trade channel forum , "Buying Fragrant Herbs, 40 Copper per stack; Rare Herbs, three Silver per stack! Will buy as many as you have!" The trade channel forum was a unique channel only available in bazaars. Any players in the bazaar could receive the messages sent through this channel. However, players who wished to post their messages needed to pay a fee of 1 Gold per message. Though the length of each message was limited to 100 words, it was a valuable promotion tool. With this, Rudra could save himself a lot of trouble. The amount and prices of Herbs at each Stall varied greatly. If Rudra had to visit every Stall in the bazaar, even if he exhausted himself to death, he would only acquire a small amount. Hence, rather than haggling with every Stall owner, he might as well offer to purchase Herbs at an average price. Naturally, interested players would hunt him down to sell their goods. Shortly after Rudra ''s announcement, a large number of players rushed towards him. Thankfully he had his mask equipped and was dressed in common clothes , no robe no armour. No helmet. He was nothing like how he usually looked . "Boss, how many Herbs do you want to buy?" A burly looking man asked "Big Brother , look! I have excellent quality Herbs! I can even lower the price if you buy them in bulk!" A cute girl with a pony said The players that had hurried over all looked at Rudra like hungry wolves. They crowded around him, rushing to sell their Herbs. Their intensity far exceeded Rudra''s initial expectations. "Alright, alright, no need to rush. All of you, line up and trade with me." Rudra smiled as he motioned for the crowd to calm down. Sure enough, players'' enthusiasm in the capital city of PurpleHaze is a lot more intense. However, after giving it some thought, their enthusiasm was only natural. Players were currently busy with leveling and were not particularly enthusiastic about Lifestyle classes. Although Guilds nurtured their own alchemists, the Guilds could easily supply the amount of Herbs their alchemists needed. They didn''t need to purchase any. Only with the unique situation of the True Elites , who had no official merchant tie ups and no parties to farm for resources that such a situation arose. More importantly, the crowd was so excited because the demand for Herbs was usually quite low. As useful potion recipes were extremely rare, demand for Herbs had dropped even further. In addition, Hazelgroove Kingdom was not a Herb-poor kingdom, resulting in the prices of Herbs remaining relatively low. Despite there being 20 Herbs in each stack, Fragrant Herbs only sold for 40 Copper per stack. Even Rare Herbs only sold for three Silver per stack. One could imagine just how worthless Herbs were. Yet, even with such low prices, few people were willing to purchase Herbs, which explained why everyone was so excited to see Rudra. Players would frequently encounter Herbs while adventuring, and they would usually collect these Herbs to sell in bulk at a later time. Now, these players'' actions benefited Rudra. In a short moment, Rudra had purchased 2,000 stacks of Fragrant Herbs and 200 stacks of Rare Herbs, spending 14 Gold in total. To other players, this might be an astronomical sum, but to Rudra, this was only a drop in the bucket. "Sorry, but my bag''s full. Everyone, please wait here for a while. I''ll come back to purchase more some other day ." Rudra hurriedly turned and ran towards the Won Knight mansion. Reluctance filled the crowd''s eyes as they watched Rudra''s departing figure. However, they surely could not forcibly make him buy the goods. They were helpless. However Rudra , in this single exchange bought enough materials for about 10,000 advanced mana potions fulfilling his target. /// Bonus chapter 2/7 , dropping it here back to back with bonus chapter one. Yep this one happens before he goes out scouting the enemy camp ,spawn camping the dungeon , a little history recap guys , Enjoy!!! /// Chapter 87: History of Hazelgroove kingdom Hazelgroove kingdom was once Hazelgroove Empire , ruling supreme in the continent , it was one of the major powers to be reckoned with. The Empire was established by the first emperor , the then Grand Duke Kartik Patel. He was a duke of the Hazelgroove kingdom , who lead a faction of nobles through a difficult war to sieze the throne of Hazelgroove. His biggest supporter back then was the man Augustus Won Knight , his commander in cheif who lead his forces to glory. The explosion artist who painted the battlefield red with his bombs. After the war , he was given the then vacant positon of duke of Hazelgroove for his contributions. Sent on battlefield after battlefield by the King , he conquered land after land expanding the kingdom , gaining more and more merits and reputation. About 5 years after usurping the throne , the first major conflict fell on the reign of king Kartik Patel. The then kingdom of orcs , marched towards Hazelgroove with a massive army of 4 million orcs strong. The orc army had been on a rampage , destroying two kingdoms before their path of destruction went towards Hazelgroove. It was a massive issue and a big threat to the reign of the then king. Augustus analysed the situation and went into seclusion in this time , trying to come up with the ultimate bomb to counter the situation . After a long time in seclusion , just when many outskirt towns had been lost to the orc invasion , Augustus came up with the ultimate destructive bomb , the Brahmastra using which he levelled about half of the 4 million strong orc army. The single bomb dropped completely changed the dynamics of the war , and was flagged as the biggest threat to humanity and Hazelgroove''s top weapon. The tides of war changed and Hazelgroove overcame the orc invasion , Kartik Patel coming on top. What followed was that many smaller kingdoms willingly submitted to the superior millitary might of Hazelgroove kingdom as it gained territory after territory , vassals after vassals , growing large enough to become an empire ! And hence came the first emperor of Hazelgroove , and his legend was noted in history books. Also this was why the Won Knights were soo revered in Hazelgroove , just like the Royal faction , the Won Knights held a strong political influence amongst the nobles of the kingdom. It is only because of this special status and their unquestionable loyalty to the Ruling faction , that the Won Knights were allowed a massive personal force of 100 thousand soldiers. With time many incompetent rulers had taken up the throne of Hazelgroove and with the knowledge of the Brahmasutra becoming a lost art. The empire began loosing its influence over its vassals. One after another many territories declared independence as Hazelgroove Empire once again be ame Hazelgroove kingdom. However through all that , never did the position of the Won Knights change. -------------- ( Modern day , at the Won Knights Mansion ) Rudra had came to the mansion only for the second time. However he was genuinely mesmerized by the luxurious mansion , he felt like no matter how many times he would visit , it would always shock him . " Ohhhh , to what do i owe the unexpected visit". Patricia said looking at Rudra gawking at the Mansions interior " Just some buisness talks " Rudra said , smiling at her NPC adopted sister. Patricia smiled , she liked this no nonsense talks character of Rudra. He did not use flattery or pleasentries to put his thoughts forward , he was straightforward in his approach and she appreciated that . " What do you need ? " She asked " 50,000 troops " Rudra said shamelessly Patricia frowned , why did he need soo many troops all off a sudden She asked cautiously " why? ". Rudra started explaining the guilds current position to Patricia , about how they were being supressed by the alliance and that , 10,000 adventurers had spawn camped the latest dungeon and that to deal with those pests , he needed the army . Patricia was baffled , unable to process the information for a while , she just stared at Rudra " You need the army for what? ". She asked again Rudra sighed , he explained it all again , as slowly as possible Patricia said " i get the whole thing , however why do you want 50,000 tier 2 troops to deal with 10,000 tier 0 ones , thats just massacare ". Clearly she did not approve of such ruthless bullying , however this was more about making a statement for Rudra , he needed to show the alliance members that two could play the bullying game they were playing and that he could play it wayy better than they could. " Exactly why ". Rudra grinned evily. Chatting for a while , Rudra consulted Patricia for advice over formations and best attack plans , before using his identity as a Won Knight to gather 50 thousand tier 2 NPC soldiers. With an hour left on his given deadline to remove the spawn camp , Rudra started to mobilize the army , should they not remove it , tommorow was going to be a massacre. The sight of 50,000 troops on horses , was something to behold , as Rudra marched at the forefront on his Direwolf , now equipped with a True Elite robe and the mask , disguising himself as Augustus Won Knight , he wanted to create a fake image that there was an absolute unoffendable party present within the Elites ranks. Possibly even more confusion over his identity , as he wanted to mix reality and deception about his dual identity soo close that noone would be able to tell apart the real from the deceit. /// Part 3/7 of the seven chapter mass release , this chapter is included as some of you guys requested for more lore .... Soo here it is ! , guys m up at 4 am , writing this for you all , you better keep the powerstones pumping , also please make sure we end up in top 100 , we are slipping at 94 now , it will be dissapointing for me if even after the bonuses we end up above 100. Trusting you all on this one .... Hope you hold your end of the bargain , as i am at mine /// Chapter 88: Massacre (1) ( The Elders of the alliance meeting) Many elders from the seven guild alliance had met at the Real Manchester headquarters today , to discuss the threat of an unknown player called Augustus Won Knight . However for whatever nonsense reason , the elders of all guilds were basically old men in their sixties or seventies. " This is ridiculous , why are we listening to a clown? ". An elder from musicians inc was livid. " I have better things to do with my time ". Someone from Sea of Poison shouted " The demolition boys are not afraid of solo players ". An elder pitched in Moreover it was just a rambling of old men who did not take the situation seriously at all , there was no talks about fact checking , no talks about the credentials of the issuer of the threat. They just sat there to complain about how they had to move their sorry bones for this meeting. However the only one in his fifties the elder from Azure Lotus said " just to be sure , lets send some elite players as backup , and reinforce the front lines with lv 39 players". " Hmph , do what you like , overcautious youngster ". Someone from RealManchester said. The face of the Azure Lotus elder twitched , why was he called a youngster , he was in his fiftes dammit , he was going to be a grandfather of two this year. The oldies gave no shit at all , as any proposal put forward by the Azure Lotus elder was all passed without restrain , however as a result , the outer defenses had been strengthened. Also Pogba after being killed had been farming like crazy , and had reached level 40. He was roaring for revenge on the upstart solo. -------------------------- ( On the battlefield , at the given notice time ) Rudra walked on alone , in the True Elites guild robes with a mask on and said " YOUR TIME IS UP , THE GRIM REAPER HAS ARRIVED ". The army was currently about 5 minutes away from the location , and this initial chaos was part of his plan ...... Logically this was insane of him to walk in alone " HE WEARS A TRUE ELITE ROBE " someone shouted Nobody would ever think that a single independent player would take the initiative to seek vengeance upon an entire seven Guild''s alliance team. After all, this was simply an overestimation of one''s own abilities. However, Rudra dared to do just that because of his sufficient strength. Pogba was Level 40, and the others present were all Level 39. There was a 2 level gap between them and Rudra . However Rudra had bombs!!!!! Frost and spike bombs 7 of them were dropped on the front lines ... As BOOM BOOM BOOM , hundreds of players lives were reaped in a few seconds with many many more injured . " Damn the Elites and their bombs ". Someone cursed Just as the healers of Alliance were about to replenish the HP of the frontline players, Rudra suddenly appeared before them. Rudra cast Darkness blast , the skill instantly devouring the group of panicked healers. Frightening damages of over -5000 appeared on every healer''s head, and some even received critical hits of over -1,0000 damage. In the blink of an eye, a majority of the healers died. However, due to the healers standing relatively spread apart, there were three who managed to remain unscathed after Rudra''s attack. Rudra immediately used Wind Blade and charged over. He used wind slash on one of the shocked healers, killing them instantly. Rudra then continued to brandish his sword at the two remaining healers, reaping their lives with a few sword strokes. "Augustus Won Knight !" Pogba bellowed, countless veins surfacing on his forehead. "Paulo Pogba , haven''t you been trying to find me all this time?" Rudra faintly smiled as he looked at him. Regarding the hundred-plus players standing around Pogba, glaring at him, Rudra paid no attention to them at all. "Now that I''ve arrived, I wonder if you''ve prepared to die yet?" "Kill me? I''m afraid that you''re the one who won''t leave this place alive! I lost to you the previous time because you had bound me using some despicable binding. spell , This time, however, I am Level 40 as well! Do you think that I''m still afraid of you? Everyone, get him! Kill him!" Pogba smiled disdainfully, immediately commanding all of his subordinates to get rid of Rudra. He did not believe that Rudra could leave alive when faced with his team of over a hundred elite players, not to mention, manage to kill him. The players from Alliance revealed sneers as they looked at Rudra ; they all thought that there was a problem with Rudra''s head. However, they didn''t mind teaching Rudra a lesson. One against one hundred? Did he really think he was Invincible? In the past, the players from Alliance that surrounded Rudra were mostly normal members. There were only a few elite members of the Guild present at the time; hence, Rudra caused such a massacre. This time, however, they were all alliance ''s elites, and they were all Level 39 players. Rudra would only meet one end today ¨C Death! Suddenly, tens of spells launched at Rudra. The other remaining tens of Shield Warriors, Guardian Knights, Berserkers, and Swordsmen charged towards Rudra. Meanwhile, the Assassins entered Stealth, waiting for their chance to strike. Even though everyone was around the same level , Rudra''s stats were wayy beyond all of them , his speed and defense were insane as the few spells that did hit him did close to negligible damage. All of the mages were shocked. "Even if it is a tiny amount of damage, beat him with all you''ve got! There has to be a limit to his HP! Without any healers, he won''t last long! Melee classes, spread out and be careful of his Bombs!" similarly shocked. However, after giving it some thought, even if Rudra had an insanely high Defense, he still wasn''t a Boss. There was bound to be a limit to his HP. Even if they only dealt damage in the single digits, with tens of them continuously attacking, how long could Rudra last? /// BONUS 4/7 , guys the next chapters are going to be awesome , m sure readers who love our OP MC , will fall in love with him all over again! , Also powerstones need to keep coming ..... Its only 6 hours till the countdown resets , last push guys! /// Chapter 89: Massacre (2) ( Right before the brawl , at the Won Knight mansion) Patricia said " okay soo let me get this straight , the formation set to camp the dungeon is in three concentric circles..... With the healers being in the second ring and the wizards and archers in the innermost ring ". Rudra nodded , he had scouted the formation himself , hence there were no flaws in his data. " Okay , tell me how will you go about it ? ". Patricia wanted to see Rudra''s approach to the situation , as a Won Knight , he needed to be a natural leader and knowledgeable about formations. " I think taking out the healers is the first main objective , the outer ring elites can be steamrolled using bombs , followed with a wipe of the healers , once they are down , there will be a chance to take out the tanks and create an opening in the ranks , then will be the time for the army to rush in from the opening and decimate the second line of the melee troops , once they fall , the wizards and archers are pretty much screwed at close range ". Rudra explained his plan. Patricia nodded, she approved of his brother''s approach of the problem , he did not dissapoint the Won Knight name. However what baffled Rudra was the intelligence Patricia displayed , if he did not know that she was an NPC he would genuinely take her to be a real person , she had emotions , she had no script that she followed , she advised you on things you needed conselling on .....she was just a very reliable elder sister. He wanted to genuinely find the Cuber executives and give them a grand salute for making such a game with such characters, this was beyond world changing , this was like a whole world in itslef , an alternate reality. ---------------------------------------- ( Back to the war sequence , outside the endless ocean dungeon camp , between a sea of enemies ) Rudra was like a machine , slaughtering players left and right , the wizards and archers kept bombarding the spot where he was fighting with spells and arrows that kept chipping on his health . -50 -50 -57 -55 -40 -32 Slowly but surely , Rudra was getting hurt , his HP dropping , his skills going on cooldown , his stamina being depleted , his movements getting sloppier. Seeing this Pogba beamed and said " I admit you are a great fighter Augustus Won Knight , however you cannot defeat an army alone , you shall be slain here today ". Pogba said " Huh , arrogant bastard sending us warnings about removing the camp , and actually showing up to try solo his way through the camp , now die you fool! ". Someone from Alliance camp shouted and charged at Rudra only to die under Excalibur. "You may kill 5 of us , but we will make sure to send 500 more to kill you , you may be a member of True Elites , however you are not god , you cant ever achieve anything alone , this is why you are a joke and your guild is a joke , a bunch of 50 members , trying to look like a first rate guild , acting all showy and cool , however even a pack of hyenas can slay lions when outnumbered , what can you do alone to us 10,000 men , you may kill 100 or maybe even 200 but thats where you stop. Thats where you loose , thats where you DIE ". Pogba roared Cheers were heard throughout the alliance camp " PUNY GUILD ". " PUNY GUILD ". " PUNY GUILD". Chants were heard from the alliance members. Rudra''s breathing became more and more ragged as his HP dropped to 30% However after tossing a spike bomb and retreating to create some space Rudra took a breather . Unfazed at the 1000 members surrounding him, just because of the threat of the bombs on him were they reluctant to charge in blind , however they were closing in from three directions , like a leopard stalking its prey. Rudra looked at the timer , the 5 minutes were up in 10 more seconds. He smiled " Yeah, yeah , yeah , we are just 50 members , however you are wrong in the comparision of us to lions , you called yourself hyenas and us lions , well to be frank that is where you lost the war , as we are not lions and you are not hyenas ". Rudra laughed like a madman The gazes of the alliance members on him became complicated ..... '' Madman , this was a madman , a true psychopath''. " You are but ants , and we are the Dragons , come 5 ants or 50 or 5 million , there ain''t no way that Dragons be falling to ants ". Rudra declared ! He spread his arms wide , and the ground started to shake , THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP. A rhythmic marching sound was heard ....within 20 seconds a massive army of 50 thousand was lined up neatly behind Rudra The faces of the alliance members became ashen ....just what the hell was happening ?? Just who the hell was the madman standing infront of them? Rudra looked at Pogba before saying " Everyone talks tough when there is an army behind their back ..... Lets hear you talk trash now , punk ". Silence ... There was no reply " No more trash talk? No more motivational speaches ? ". Rudra laughed " Lets hear you chant PUNY GUILD NOW ". Rudra taunted the crowd . His voice deepened as he said " Thats what i thought boy, when i show up YOU SHUT UP ". " Kill them all ". Rudra ordered The well trained army of tier 2 NPC did not need to be told twice , as a bloodbath started . The pro gamers and level 39 and 40 melee members were just a complete joke infront of the Lv 80 tier 2 troops in full battle gear. There was no fighting , no brawl , for every second that passed about 5 alliance members were brutally slaughtered . Well everyone but Pogba , as troops just ignored him as if he was not present. The mental shock of the situation rendered him baffled there , just who was this guy who picked a bone with him ? Yesterday when he was killed it was the first blow to his reputation , for the first time in his professional gaming career did he feel soo powerless. However he grinded for 20 hours straight after that reaching from lv39--> lv 40 Regaining his confidence in himself as he steeled to kill the man. However not only did that man show up alone at first , massacre about 260 members right infront of his eyes , kill the entire healer unit in the second circle. And just when he thought he had the upper hand..... When he absolutely humiliated the enemy and the enemies organization , raised his sides morale ..... That guy just summoned a NPC army 5 time his own units size out of nowhere. Not only the numbers were overwhelmingly larger , the quality of troops was incomparable , one to two strikes was all it took to kill a tank ! It was just a massacre. And he wasnt killed , he was ignored as he was made to watch his entire unit die! /// THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU FOR THE POWERSTONE SUPPORT GUYS!!!!! Im truly overwhelmed and humbled , i truly have the best ever fanbase , as whatever damn ceiling i set you guys make sure to smash it over ..... We ended at 89 guys , and here i was anxious at wether we will make it to 99 or not ... Thankyou all and yes the chapters will keep flowing today to deliver on the promise ! So buckle up !!!!! Here is chapter 5/7 /// Chapter 90: Massacre(3) Pogba cursed the heavens , his eyes became bloodshot as he glared at the protagonist of this event , the masked man in the True Elites guild robes called '' Augustus Won Knight''. But as he looked towards Rudra what he found just wanted him to vomit blood , his opponent''s antics were just beyond his understanding of human nature anymore..... As his army was being massacred , Rudra was there singing lyrics of a song and just mad vibing and dancing " Goose got me loose Gone off patron Money in my pocket And I''m all up in the zone like Ooh I''mma act a damn fool! Ooh I''m ''bout to act a fool!" His eyes closed , he was just laughing and swinging his song to the rhythm of the lyrics , his feet jumping and thumping , creating a beat. Did he not even consider them opposition at all? Who was that guy anyway to have such a large army at his beck and call? Pogba dropped to his knees , he had lost ! He was inferior to that madman , be it in skills , resources , baground , or mentality. Rudra looked at the pitifull man on his knees , and just on time , the Elites came riding on the Grey Wolves . The guild members were shocked to see the ongoing carnage , and the mysterious man in the mask . Noone knew about the man''s identity , not even Karna knew .... However following the recent news, they knew he was Augustus Won Knight . Rudra looked at them and said " Guild leader Shakuni has asked me to inform you guys to meet him inside the dungeon .... Lets not keep the boss waiting ". He said Karna gulped ... The man in the mask gave him chills ... He was drenched in blood with the enemy general on his knees infront of him , yet he talked back soo casually . He nodded and the guild members rode unobstructed towards the dungeon entrance. Rudra kicked Pogba to the ground as he kept one foot on his chest .... He leaned in and stared Pogba dead in the eye ........ " Well , well , well , life is cruel aint it? Here you were dreaming about killing me ..... However reality is you are just an insignificant object beneath my oppressive boot ...... Soo what if the seven big guilds ally? ..... Do dungeon camps , target my guild members ..... Acting like big tough bullies .... Well , everyone acts like a gangster , untill a real gangster walks into the room! ". " I hope this teaches the brats behind you their place .... When you meet them tell those ants that im coming for them ". Rudra declared as he swung Excalibur to kill Pogba . -7000 critical hit! He was dead! The massacre was over ..... The seven guild alliance with over 10,000 members guarding a dungeon entrance had been wiped clean! The few solo adventurers in the area , who followed the marching army in hopes of there being an event were dumbfounded at the development. A storm that would rock the game occured here today... There was sure to be a fallout. However the guild responsible for it had disappeared in the nightmare mode of a extremely difficult dungeon. God knows what waves would there be in their absence. Rudra approached the dungeon entrance , he took off his mask at the last second , changing his set of clothes and drinking a max hp potion before going in. ------------- ( Real world , the Grey international tower, the upside) The last 2 weeks had been rough on Ethan Grey , The task that Rudra assigned him had been challenging to complete to say the least ... He had to pour considerable resources to speed the building of the Elite tower project by 5 times. Also the recruitment had been a headache .... Many strings needed to be pulled , many government officers to appease. To top it all off , the share prices had seen a decline in the last 2 weeks , the reputation of him being untouchable became a bit tarnished due to the ongoing crisis. Ethan Grey had tried to supress the corporations behind the SeaOfPoison , AzureLotus , Musicians Inc , Real Manchester , Original Manchester , Demolition boys , however the ever cooperative local governments had the balls to not respond to his requests . The billionares who always lined up to kiss his a** , acted high and mighty , this was a first and a treatment Ethan had not faced in this life. Ethan knew , there was a bigger player involved in this .... However whoever that was , had concealed himself too well ..... It took his excellent team of information agents about 2 weeks to find out that it was none other than his ex mentor Mithun Ambani . However Ethan Grey felt a greater shock when the investigations made connected that all roads led to Mithun Ambani. If Ambani was behind all this , then things were harder than they looked ..... It was a grim situation , he could not supress the corporations opposing him like he usually did. Ambani was not a simple opponent , Ethan knew that he would face backlash from that man at some point in his life, he had used Ambani and his daughter as stepping stones at his path to mega success in buisness , however he had genuinely taken Ambani as his mentor. Thats exactly why Ethan knew how dangerous the man was , the dirtiest player in the game , the snake who kept lurking in the shadows , always retreating , had finally bared his fangs ..... This was sure to be one of the toughest challenges he had ever faced. If Ambani was a player in the chess game , he needed to bring his A game too.... And more than anything , he needed his star player , Rudra to perform ! A storm was brewing , a major one at that , only time would show who would come out on top! /// Bonus 6/7. Our MC under the mask is a bad bad guy guys , maybe it is the mask , or maybe the anonymity , however it brings out the deep hidden sadistic nature of the MC , will it lead to our MC having a split personality? ..... Will his real personality change? ..... Lets see guys , comment down below what would you all preffer! Enjoy the bonus! /// Chapter 91: Fallout ( The forums ) '' Oye , oye , oye , has someone seen this insane footage of an NPC army wiping the alliance''s camp on the new lv 40 dungeon ''. '' that madman Augustus Won Knight actually delivered his promise of wiping the alliance members , he actually did it , and he is a true elite on top of that!!!!!''. '' The True Elites have too many hidden dragons , they can simply not be trifled with ''. '' This is not possible ... This , is this the same game we are playing''. '' F*** , even i want an NPC army of my own! ''. '' Yeah , well , keep dreaming bro ". '' So cool , i want brother Augustus to take me on a date ''. The video of Augustus dancing as the NPC army slaughtered the alliance members was the main talking point for many '' that sadistic person is actually enjoying the bloodbath , shame on him! ''. '' in the name of the godess of light , i Arthur promise to exact vengeance from Augustus Won Knight''. '' hey , is it just me or is that guy borderline psychotic? ''. It was just inconceivable sight, however to the ten people that admonished him , there were a hundred that admired him '' Thats how a real man behaves , and thats the music that real men listen to ''. '' Act like a fool is a emotion , full marks to you brother Won Knight , i see you are a man of culture ''. '' #NoF''sToGive '' '' #DontMessWithTheElites '' '' Its true guys , nobody should provoke the True Elites thoughtlessly , they have means we cannot fathom ''. This was an insanely hot topic of discussion for everyone . Wether it was about the identity of Augustus Won Knight , his affiliation with the True Elites guild or the NPC army he commanded , there was too little information . Not only the players but even many big corporations started digging around for the identity of the man , they planned to force him into their own organizations. With the army he commanded , taking control of even towns was not impossible. However the biggest emotion currently going around in the market was FEAR! FEAR , of the group of madmen called the True Elites , right from their unique guild structure , to ridiculously strong members , to monsters like guild leader Shakuni , and psychotic characters like Augustus Won Knight , the guild was just unfathomable. Having a insanely popular chain of lifestyle store , protected by the local administration. Matching mounts for all members , and strong ones like grey Direwolves at that. To the heaven defying arsenal of bombs. Now even an NPC army at beck and call , the guild could no longer be classified as just a group for show ... It was a major power player. It was backed by a trillionare .... It wasnt to be trifled with . --------------------------------- (Elders meeting , Demolition boys HQ ) " Its your fault , you idiot , its because of you that our party has been wiped clean ". An elder from musicians Inc accused the Real Manchester Elder who had decided that Augustus Won Knight was not a big deal. " My fault , how is it my fault , it was clearly your fault , the lowest men stationed to guard the place were your guild ! Had there been more we couldv won ! ". The elder retorted " Ughhh , ill show you baldie ! ". " Bring it , you glass wearing moron ". The two elders broke out in a fistfight The elder from Azure Lotus sighed , why was he stuck here with this bunch of clowns ... He was the only one who atleast tried to assess the situation , in the previous meeting. However his small measures proved to be useless as the alliance suffered even bigger losses as their more advanced members had faced a massacre ... Naturally the other elders were furious at him. They wished nothing more than put all blame on his shoulders yet they knew ..... That sooner or later the Guild leaders would come out of the dungeon run ... It was not going to be pretty when the leaders found about the current situation . The elders kept quaking in their boots when they thought about the respective guild leaders , only the elder from Azure Lotus was a bit calmer , his guild leader had aldready exited the dungeon and had recieved the news about the wipe ..... It wasnt as bad as he thought , she did not admonish him. He had dodged a bullet there. However it was undeniable that the situation had changed , their plans regarding the True Elites , had to be reconsidered again.... And reconsidered seriously . --------------------- ( Inside the nightmare mode of the lv 40 dungeon the " Endless ocean ". ) Rudra walked into the dungeon , and the party was there waiting for him , apparently confused as he walked from behind them ... Wasnt he supposed to be waiting for them inside? They were all spawned on a single pirate ship , that was old and cranky , the naild had Rust and the sail had holes ... The nightmare mode challenges . Rudra chuckled at their surprised expressions , he said " i hope noone has been slacking off for the last two weeks and has gained some levels...." The atmosphere became awkward , as it was not like anyone did not wish to level up , it was just that with everything going on and they being suppresed like they were .... they could not ... However Rudra quickly added " Kidding guys , the airs too tense here , chill out , lets have a good time ". As he smiled He revealed his own level to others as everyone chuckled to see he was on the same level as he was two weeks ago as well. ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:41 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 214 +107 VIT : 214 +107 INT : 214 +107 STA : 214 +107 PHY : 214 +107 HP : 16000/16000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (25/200) ----------------------- The tension dissapeared. The guild members all smiled , it felt like fun again. The leader was here and they had gathered to run a dungeon ..... This is just how the game should be like ..... Fun! They had a million questions to ask Rudra , especially like who was the guild members out there , and how did he command an army , yet they understood now was not the time .... Now was the time to slay some monsters and conquer the dungeon . " Set sail guys , lets conquer the ocean ". /// Bonus chapter 7/7 , delivered on my promise guys , as you guys did on yours ! New week , lets set a new target lets aim for rank 59 or under for another mass release of 7 chapters next monday!!!! Comeon guys i know we can do it ! Also yes , todays regular chapter will also be updated today itself .... Soo dont worry i have not counted the regular chapters in the bonus ...7 chaps bonus are after the regular ones. We are going at rank 65 currently soo it doesnt seem unachievable ... 59 or under ! Here we come!/// Chapter 92: The dungeon Endless ocean was a wierd dungeon , where danger and opportunities went hand in hand ... On one hand the dungeon had no final bosses or boss fights , it was a simple survival type dungeon. Yet it was notorious for being one of the hardest dungeons in the game to clear. For anyone not having naval experience this dungeon was hell , simply hell! Rudra knew about it naturally , he had spent better part of 2 months in this dungeon in his '' past life'' . The guild members were happy and cheery right now , the weather ahead looked bright and the sea was calm , but Rudra knew that about 200 meters into the dungeon there would open a portal and then the real dungeon started. Most people failed to realize why was the dungeon begining twice? It was only by chance that an adventurer discovered why. The first 200 meters contained a hidden treasure chest. About 50 meters after setting sail , Rudra commanded troops to halt the ship. Rudra jumped down in the water suddenly after that ...... The guild members were puzzled by his bizzare action. Yet they all looked over from the rail anxiously. Rudra swam to the bottom of the sea , about 20 meters deep , he looked around calmly , trying to find the buried treasure chest. The problem was ..... He knew that there was a chest 50 meters into the dungeon ..... However the sea was just too damn big to find it!!! He needed help , but he could not just scream that guys help me find a treasure map here , his actions would raise a lot of suspicions , however worry not, he had a plan! He swam up to the surface to gain a breather and said .... " Hey , guys i planted a treasure map somewhere down in the ocean here , the first one to find it gets 2 platinum as reward ..... Lets have some fun!!!! ". The guild members all looked at each other silly the leader was such a goof! However who could say no to 2 platinum coins ..... F***. Who cares if they are in a dungeon , they all just jumped in like it was a pool day! Karna sighed .....he felt like the only adult amongst a group of children ... He squinted his eyes at the laid back Rudra goofing around in the dungeon. Rudra clearly lied about planting the treasure map , however it worked , also it helped him avoid a lot of unnecessary questions. The man was sly. About 5 minutes in ... MonkeyKingEnma found the treasure map piece " FOUND IT". He screamed with a treasure map in his hands . " Good job bro ". Rudra applauded As Rudra stored the map , he recieved a system notification Retrieved treasure map piece Current progress (2/3) The guild members all applauded for him. Everyone reboarded the boat after that and infront of everyone present , MonkeyKingEnma was presented with 2 platinum coins award ceremony . ......... As Rudra returned to man the helm , Karna was there squinting at him Rudra clearly understood the situation he was in and said shyly " how about you call the shots today boss". Karna''s squint improved a little , as he said okay ! Karna''s authority in the guild was always a little dicy at best , he needed to establish himself as the absolute vice guild master. Taking leadership roles more often. "Since everyone has already gathered, let us begin, then," Karna said unhurriedly after taking a glance at everyone in the deck. "we will split the tasks , 20 people will man the cannons , 5 people will handle the sail , 5 men will take care of the water filling the boat , 10 men will be hands on deck at call, the wizards and archers will be on lookout for long range attacks , and guild leader and myself will steer the boat ." Although the man''s voice sounded mild, nobody present dared to look down on him. After all, this refined man was none other than the vice guild master that Shakuni trusted. He was also supremely talented in fighting skills. None of the guild members present said anything in response to him calling the shots. Instead, they each quickly went on to carry out his assigned tasks . As the boat salied about 200 meters into the sea , a sudden change happened , a portal appeared out of nowhere and the boat was sucked into it. The instant the True Elites entered the dungeon called the endless ocean , before they could even see where they had been transported to, the sound of a system notification reached their ears. ¨C System: You have entered the Dungeon the endless ocean. You are not allowed to leave before 30 hours have passed , your goal is to survive for thesr 30 hours , after 30 hours you will clear the dungeon , after 35 hours you will be transported outside. All the best! ¨C When the system notification came to an end, Rudra was finally able to see his surroundings clearly. He was currently standing in the middle of a endless sea , it was a dark cloudy weather , with thick fog surrounding his vision , he could not see for more than 5 meters. While Rudra was busy observing his surroundings, the sound of drum beats could be heard ..... a faint light could be seen about 50 Meters from their location . about 5 minutes into the dungeon run , the first challenge had arrived. Rudra sighed , he knew what this noise meant .... it was a ghost pirate ship attack . calmly he said " all hands on cannons , we need to blow a ship up fast , else we are dead meat! Wizards prepare fireballs and set their sail ablaze ". Of all the things they could have encountered , this was really a bad start! The ghosts could not be harmed by physical spells or magic .... They could only be dispelled using priests purification magic , or by blasting their ship down. They were the reason for multiple dungeon run failures in Rudra''s last life .... However having fought them for over a dozen times, Rudra no longer feared them. /// Normal chapter for yesterday guys , due to some study issues the update is a little late .... Back to regular posting today onwards ..... The powerstones have slowed down a little guys , lets pump it back up! The target is 59 or under this week guys! I know we can make it happen /// Chapter 93: The pirate ship There were a total of three ghosts ships that were on the tail of the old rotten ship that the Elites were on. Although the parameter to clear was to survive for 30 hours in the dungeon , without the ship , it was impossible to survive for more than 5 minutes in the ocean. This was not because of monsters or other creatures that would attack you ..... No , it was because the water was ice cold and would give you a freeze countdown when submerged. About 3 minutes into the countdown you will be unable to sustain muscle movement to float , as your body will recede the blood towards the vital organs .... From then on you drown , for a maximum of 2 minutes can you survive without oxygen , as you pass out after that because of lack of oxygen and the cold. All this happened if you survived for the 5 minutes , mostly you were killed by some sharks or other sea creatures lurking as soon as you enter the water. The ghost pirate ships had large battle drums , and to the rhythmic beat of the drums , the ghosts rowed their boats. It was a real speed booster as the ghosts closed in the gap between the boats real fast. As soon as they were in range however , the wizards rained fireballs on the sails of the three ships. The masts of the three ships caught fire , the ghosts screamed and cursed as after loosing their masts their main source of moving the boats was lost. With the wind behind the sails , Rudra''s boat regained some momentum. The distance between the two boats increased bit by bit , and it seemed as if Rudra and his party could run away. However our reincarnator knew this wasnt the case , the ghost boat had a special speed boost option that they could activate for one minute where their speed tripled. The ghost captain was only waiting for that chance , however to his surprise the true Elite''s boat turned sideways. Rudra shouted , " Ready all cannons on the right to fire". " Load the cannons ". Karna relayed. " Steady men ! " Rudra said as he waited for the perfect opportunity " Fire ! ". BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM shots after shots of cannon were fired. Two of the three pirate ships sinking to the damage. The True Elites crew cheered , however Rudra''s face paled , the only standing pirate ship had activated the speed mode and the angle where it was charging meant it would ram into his boat perpendicularly . " **** , **** , **** " Rudra cursed , he was out of options here , his boat would need time to rotate straight again , and more time to gain momentum , he was dead meat here. As the enemy boat came closer and closer , the Elite members realized their situation and panicked.... Not good! Not good at all! Desperate Rudra needed a plan ..... And he thought of a crazy one ..... It was all or nothing he thought , at worst they would need to redo the dungeon run. Rudra grabbed hold of the sail and started to run in a circle to gain speed , after he thought that he gained sufficient momentum , he slingshotted himself towards the incoming enemy ship . The 2 seconds he was airborne felt like an eternity as he covered 5.....10....15....20 meters distance in that leap. Just as he was coming crashing down , he used his special move Earthquake . BOOM! The wood under him buckled and the shockwave disoriented the ship array. Water started to flood the helm And the ship started to sink rapidly . The good news was. The ship started to sink , the bad news was , Rudra was on that ship surrounded by ghosts who could not be hurt with physical or magical attacks. Taking his chances in the sea , Rudra jumped off the pirate ship railing. To his dismay , a shark was down under with its mouth wide open , waiting to swallow him . NoNoNoNo , Rudra panicked. DARKNESS BIND! Rudra bound the silly shark , stepped on it for support and jumped towards his ship . He was caught by karna at the rail and pulled up! For a moment he laid there looking at the sky , then he started laughing ...... The true Elite''s members started to cheer wildly ... This was one of the most insane things they had seen in their life. Their leader had pulled off something incredible , by solo sinking a pirate ship , and jumping off a sharks nose. For one they really respected the guild leader , He was the reason they joined the guild , however when he did such ridiculous stunts they could not help but wonder just how skilled was the leader to actually pull such things off . Hatts off to him ! A system notification rang next Defeated 3 pirate ships +50,000 EXP Level up! Everyone gained a level from the adventure further brightening the mood. ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:42 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 214 +107 VIT : 214 +107 INT : 214 +107 STA : 214 +107 PHY : 214 +107 HP : 18000/18000 unassigned stat points :10 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (26/200) ----------------------- It was not like Rudra could assign the stats in a special way , as the golden ratio was the most important thing for him currently , yet he chose to save the stat points for now. And increase them in a fight to suddenly gain strength and surprise the enemy someday. Hence he chose to stockpile them for now. /// We are lagging on the weekly powerstone target guys. Lets pick the pace up! I am here ready to write for you all , just support me in the power rankings and i promise to deliver bonuses after bonuses , hopefully we do complete the target! , Hope you enjoy today''s chapter /// Chapter 94: The mysterious river After the war with the pirate ships , the next part of the journey was sort of smooth sailing as no major monsters were faced , just the regular bunch of one horned dolphins and the giant sea pythons. The aldready rough ship had a broken railing now , and the sails had a massive hole down the middle where the python had spat it''s venom. Other than that the ship was mostly intact , the crew however was roughed up after 10 hours of continuous vigilant fighting. However the next scene made the ten hours of grueling journey worth it as there was a beautiful purple river floating in the sky. This Pink River was one of the rarely seen marvels in Omega. These marvels would usually appear at maps that were below Level 50. Any players that were able to meet such marvels were all extremely lucky, as this meeting represented an opportunity. [Rainbow Fish] ( Elite) Level 40 HP 10000/10000 Everyone looked at the thousands of rainbow fishes in the sky with awe. Then medivh started brewing a fireball to attack the fishes. Rudra yelled " Stop ! ". " Nobody attack the fishes ! ". Rudra knew the mysterious river , it was the gold mine amongst goldmine that a select few could ever experience during their gaming days. The river only appeared randomly at endless ocean once in a blue moon , and it represented a great opportunity. Should the party become greedy and attack the fishes they would be instantly annihilated by the protector of the fishes. The rainbow fishes were actually one of the sacred species protected by the church of the sea god Poseidon . A tier four priest would always follow the group , and when a single attack against the group is launched , the party responsible would be instantly annihilated. Rudra had read a story where someone had started praying towards the fishes , and the priest issued a special quest for them , giving them immense rewards, the details were a bit hazy , but the thing he obtained from the quest completion was an epic rated retractable shield. Rudra needed a defense item badly. Recalling this he instructed the crew to get on their knees and pretend to pray towards the purple river and the fishes. About 5 minutes into the act of devoutfull praying. An NPC lowered himself towards the ship, a dazzling blue armor equipped and a trident in hand. He said in a deep voice " Who commands this ship?". Rudra looked up and inspected the NPC before him. [ Sir Molyneux ] ( Priest in temple of the sea god ) ( defender of the sacred fishes ) ( tier 4 ) : A staunch believer in the principles of the temple of the sea god. Donot try to attack the sacred fishes under his watch. Rudra stood up , and said " The devotee greets the priest from the sea gods temple ". The NPC looked astonished. The he smiled , " you are a knowledgeable adventurer young one , and have a wonderful crew , its good to see that you young land people know the culture of the people of the sea". "Indeed we do sire. The tales of the mighty Poseidon are not unheard off in the land , when facing one of his pets , this lowly one can only but kneel ". Rudra said The NPC nodded , clearly pleased Then he asked " whats your purpose here , soo deep into the sea adventurer? ". " We are explorers your excellency , here to look for unexplored lands , in search for great treasures ". Rudra lied through his teeth. The NPC nodded " quite the greedy bunch arent you , hahahaha ". " Well seeing that you are well versed in the doctrines of the temple of the sea , i shall give you the opportunity to earn a great treasure , however should you occupy it or not , depends on your own skill ". Rudra bowed " that would be a great honor ". Inwardly however Rudra screamed. BOOYAH ! Then he said " Let me tell you a tale about a pirate , there was once a pirate wearing a strawhat with the oddest crew ever , he ate a mysterious fruit called the devil fruit to gain mysterious powers , his dream was to become the pirate king , over his journey s he collected immense treasures and made 17 inheritances , when his time as the pirate king came to an end .... One of those 17 inheritances was laid down on the floating island of atlantia , however the island is protected by the fierce kraken as it uses it to layy its eggs ... Should you defeat the kraken , the treasures can be yours and if you are lucky you may even get a kraken egg". System notification SIDE DUNGEON QUEST RECIEVED. ( Side quest ) ( Find the floating island of atlantia ) : the floating island is guarded by the kraken and is the home to pirate king luffy''s 1/17 tresure inheritances left behind ... Coordinates are 12.34.56.91.90 Time limit ( 8 hours ) Rudra thanked the NPC profousely as he took his leave ..... Then Rudra steered the ship at full speed towards the treasure location. Pirate king luffy was the greatest pirate in the history of pirates period , and his inheritances left behind are always massive massive treasures , although all 17 inheritances vary in size , with some having multiple legendary items with some having none , nonetheless each one is worth the trip there. Gaining this opportunity Rudra was naturally not going to let it slide. The thing with floating islands are that they randomly start drifting away once every few hours. The coordinates recieved will not be valid after the time limit of 8 hours had passed hence one needed to hurry. /// Okay guys we have slipped too much from the powerstone target , new target for this week is top 75 for 3 bonus chapters next monday ... With 4 bonuses for top 70 ..... 5 for top 65 and 7 for 59 or under. Also shoutout to Sir Molyneux , your name finally made the novel , keep trying first comment (10) times guys and i will make sure to feature you all too! Enjoy the chapter. And hopefully the powerstones will pick up ! /// Chapter 95: The Kraken , is this even a fight? The True Elites party members went towards the location of the floating island , Rudra was desperate.At the speed they were currently going it would take 2 hours to just reach the location , coupled with the kraken guarding the island that they needed to fight , it would take atleast 4 hours to take him down , Rudra approximated , that left the party with less than 2 hours to scour the island for treasures before it started drifting again. About 2 hours later , which felt like an eternity to Rudra , there was a hazy island in view. " WE SEE LAND! " PoisonToadGamabunta shouted Everyone threw him dirty glances. Gamabunta was behaving like he was an actual pirate stranded on sea for ages. " Prepare for battle , stay vigilant men " Karna shouted. Rudra''s heart was beating fast in his chest , he was on his own here , never had he fought the Kraken in his past life ..... He felt exited! The game had been a constant living of things he had aldready done , although it was a great feeling to correct the mistakes of the past , he wasnt truly feeling alive like he did when he was playing the game for the first time ... The constant defeats he faced made the one victory worth it. The thrill he seeked was a bit missing.....hence he looked forward to this boss fight , without his Reincarnator knowledge , just how good of a leader was he? Then a shrill voice was heard , strong enough to cause a splitting headache to whoever heard it , the elites were down on the ground , covering their ears before they knew it. A collosal wave of water washed them next , followed by the appearance of the Kraken . Rudra felt silly at feeling exited to fight the kraken now , looking at the monster now , there were no thoughts of the treasures , no thoughts of the fight that was ahead There was a single expression in Rudra''s mind that was " F***!!!!!". [ KRAKEN] ( KING CLASS ) ( LV 130 ) (HP ????): The absolute king of the sea , the protector of the island of atlantia , if you see it , RUN ! 120 foot tall with 27 tentacles and 7 eyes the Kraken was a collosal wrecking ball. There was absolutely no way in hell that they would survive the Kraken at all , they were as good as dead at this point. Rudra wanted to curse many people at this point Firstly he would like to curse himself , as his Reincarnator knowledge had absolutely no mention of how the party got past the collosal titan infront of them . Secondly he would like to curse the gaming company to put such a beast in such a location , this was a level 40 dungeon , not a level 140 one! Especially if the players were still tier one , it would take a team of tier 3 level 140 players to take this beast down . Thirdly he would like to curse the priest Sir Molyneux , who sent him to this doom saying it was a '' bit of a challenge ''. " DAMN YOU PRIEST ". He swore ------------------------------- ( PurpleHaze city ) One by one the failing guilds were teleported out of the dungeon , as one by one the guild leaders of various guilds learned about the party wipe. The news about the True Elites guild wiping the 10,000 man spawn camp on the lv 40 dungeon was aldready common knowledge. The guild leaders found themselves in a precarious position. Never in their dreams had they thought that such a thing would be possible , was a guild of just 56 members better than their 7 first rate guilds combined? No! They refused to entertain such a notion , just the very thought of it sent shivers down their spine , yet now they finally understood the danger of the guild called the True Elites. That bunch of madmen was not to be taken lightly. The incident had widespread ramifications on the guilds as the elders responsible for handling the guilds in the absence of the guild master and vice guildmaster were stripped of their powers and authority , as for doing a horrendous job. The smaller guilds had stopped paying the extortion fees asked by the alliance as following the incident , there were frequent skirmishes everywhere , the absolute authority of the alliance was challenged and it was very bad for buisness. The smaller guilds , including some independent adventurer parties and third rate guilds felt like the True Elites were one of them , and if the Elites could do it , soo could they , the Elites were now like their idols , and they became their staunchest supporters , as who doesnt want to fight back against the bullies. The second rate guilds started to feel ashamed and questioned their decision to submit to the alliance for some petty benefits ... They were the one''s who decided to become uncooperative and fight back , the betrayal of the second rate guilds hit the hardest as many alliance members died in those skirmishes. The patrolling alliance members were hurled with insults and met with laughter wherever they went , they were the biggest joke of the town at the moment with all face lost. Pogba was fired following the incidence , as he had completely broken down mentally , just the name Augustus Won Knight became a trigger for him , as he lashed out just on anyone like a madman. The collections they were raking had dropped to abysmally low amounts , whereas the death compensations had started to run the guild warehouses dry. Reforms were needed and they were needed urgently, under the strong insistence of the Azure Lotus guild , a proposal to invite the True Elites as a member of the alliance was made. With the exception of the Demolitionboys that were still within the dungeon , the 6 other guilds had an emergency meeting , where without the dog of Mithun Ambani , the Demolitionboys, the vote to invite the True Elites to the alliance was passed under a majority of 4-2 . PinkLotus was decided to be the negotiating party. Yua really hoped to take this chance and reconcile with Rudra. There was a lot she wished to talk about. /// A lot has changed in the webnovel platform with the golden tickets and stuff , guys i do not know what to expect anymore , the more golden tickets you get the more your novel gets featured it seems , i dont know if i should start with golden ticket targets now along with powerstone ones? However i will like to take the chance to give a shoutout to the people who voted with golden tickets for me , my novel has 57 tickets on the first day , and knowing the difficulty of getting one , i am beyond moved ..... I cant see all the names of people who gave me , and beleive me id love to mention you all , and i am thankfull for every single one , however writing the three names that i can see . Nub126 Lowlander Ravok_Leinad Thankyou brothers /// Chapter 96: One lucky b****** BOOM! The krakens tentacle split the ship clean through the middle , 7 elites died from the impact. Rudra watching the scene was horrified and desperate he sent out windslash after windslash -2 -2 -2 -2 A series of pitifully low damage appeared "F*** , what am i supposed to do? " , Rudra questioned . A series of tentacles came down on the aldready drowning pirate ship . BOOM , BOOM , BOOM. Loud crashing noises could be heard as the tentacles cut through the deck like butter and splashed violently on the water surface. Rudra watched the large tentacle descend on him in slow motion. As he hit windslash after windslash , finally enlarging excalibur to full size and slashing for a counter. -21000 Critical hit . He did it , he drew blood on the Kraken! However it was not even minutely enough , as in the next instant he was flattened like a pancake. -50,000 Critical Your HP hits 0 You are dead ! Scanning ....The dungeon you are currently in does not support respawn , you will be teleported out to the nearest Church Of Light shortly! 42 guild members died under this assault , including guild leader Shakuni . Since his Reincarnation this was the first time Rudra saw the death message. It was a depressing memory , that he faced after a long long time. Usually when even a single party member was alive , the dungeon run was not over , and following a boss fight , those fallen could be revived . However the endless ocean dungeon did not have a respawn option. Hence sadly those dead were teleported out. However on the flip side even a single member surviving meant the entire guild still had a chance to clear the dungeon , provided that he survived the time duration left. With 49/50 members dead , the question was , who was left alive and will he make it till the end? . Respawning in the Church of Light , the guild members sat in a heavy mood , TF just happened.....this was the first time they had faced a setback . Counting everyone here Rudra was baffled for a second , why was there one member less... It seemed like someone important was missing , however he could not wrap his finger around who? It was then that someone shouted , Where is vice guild master Karna? A lightbulb hit Rudra ... Where was Karna? ''Dont tell me he''s alive in the dungeon'' Rudra thought ... However as he had not spawned here , it only meant the guy was somehow still alive. Rudra smirked '' That lucky b******'' --------------------------------- ( Inside the dungeon , Karna''s POV) After the first tentacle snapped the ship in half , Karna made a call and abandoned ship! He jumped off the deck into the water. SPLASH! The water was bone chilling cold ... The moment he was fully immersed , he felt like a bolt of electricity hit him as he was jolted awake. The swim away from the ship was a horror show as he could see the Krakens tentacles tearing the ships apart into the water beside him . Then BAM ! a tentacle landed in water about 2 feet in front on him , and as it retracted it sent Karna flying towards the island! The flight towards the island was anything but pleasant Karna had a fear of heights , as he screamed like a little girl " Aghhhhhhhhh !!! ". He was glad that the party members were dead before they saw such a humiliating scene. Well not that he expected to live anymore than them , as he was sure to die on impact. CREAK! -10997 Critical damage ! Karna hit a tree and smashed right through it into the ground. He felt his bones breaking at various points as pain surged throughout his body ! But after the pain session was over , he realized an important fact ! HE WAS STILL ALIVE ! What???? How? He questioned as he brought up his stats panel . ----------------------- Player Name : Karna Title : None Class : Swordsman Subclass : Runesmith LVL:41 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 240 VIT : 220 INT : 170 STA : 230 PHY : 200 HP : 3/11,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : 92/100 (Heaven defying luck ) Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Critically injured Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Bracelet of posivity , Reimars ring , True Elites guild robe Weapons : Slaughter blade ( epic ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers Skills : MountainCrash , Defensebreak , Energy slash , High knee Class specific skills : Heightened battle sense , Weapon recall , Doppleganger Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : None ----------------------- He had 3 HP left ! Was this the power of his luck stat? One of Karna''s secrets in Omega was a fortuitous encounter he had in his beginner village. Doing a quest for a old women he got a ring as a reward. She told him it would bring him good luck! The ring seemed ordinary , made of bronze with no apparent special stats , However accepting the goodwill Karna equipped the ring. It was only after his hidden stat panel was unlocked that the Rings stats were seen. The ring was called [ Reimars ring ] ( quality - unknown ) : A ring blessed by the spirit of Reimar , brings the owner prosperity and goodluck. Effect + 50 luck! It was a true gem ! , He was glad he did not sell it or throw it away as trash , as the ring was truly a heavenly gift for him. Thanking his stars , Karna downed One HP potion after another , regaining some health. He sat there on the island resting as he saw the Kraken dismantle the aldready in logs ship , to smaller pieces. Fear crept in his skin , as he thought about what happens if he is found out ? He could not imagine the collosal Kraken chasing him on land , however not wanting to take such chances , he slowly retreated into the cover of the forest. With this incredible opportunity called survival , Karna wished to make the most of it , and find the hidden treasures of the pirate king luffy. /// Okay guys , i have understood the situation now , the golden tickets are extremely important going forward and the content editor team above us authors have adviced to take the opportunity to get as many as possible. Starting now every 25 golden tickets will get a bonus chapter release , we are at 145 ..... Can we make it 170 by the weekend? I have a long weekend off this time guys at Friday ... Saturday ... Sunday off , if you guys pump up the powerstones and golden tickets , i will rain chapters like crazy ..... One .. five? All depends on how motivated i feel .... Lets make this week count guys , asking for max involvement , wether its comments , powerstones or tickets /// Chapter 97: Treasure Karna started to explore the floating island of atlantia , the island was one of the weirdest places in the entire game. Almost like it was not from a planet like Earth at all. The vegetation was completely different from anything that karna had ever seen. The forest was not lush green , but more of a multicolored hotchpotch. With yellow , red , pink , and blue trees. Apparently the only animal native to the island was a small bunny at level 7 , it was no threat to Karna as it ran away at sight. The entire island covered about 20 km^2 area hence it was not possible for Karna to scour it completely in the short time duration he had! The initial guild plan was to scour the island and look for treasures using the 50 man manpower and leave before the island started to drift , to look for better opportunities. However there was no ship left , and about 10 hours left for Karna to survive before having the option to clear the dungeon appeared. He had 5 hours after that to try gain more opportunities. Soo a max of 15 hours. Well , atleast on the island his survival was ensured ..... Or atleast thats what he hoped. Instead of manning a ship alone , and fighting swarms of monsters , atleast the island was safer. Also he would probably not even find the treasure in the given time. He started to go towards the centre of the island , some gut feeling told him to head there , as scouring the entire periphery might take more than 6 hours and there was always the threat of the Kraken . Karna started to venture deeper inland in hopes of finding a treasure tomb or some chests or maybe a mountain of gold. Karna was just like any other man , as even before he laid his hands on the treasure his imagination ran wild with possibilities. At first it was about the items he may get , he dreamed about covering himself from top to bottom with top notch gear. Then he thought about Rudra, and presenting him with a great item from the loot, just to look at his reaction like , woahhh if you can gift me epic items , i can give you legendary ones. Then the imagination completely ran wild , with him fantasizing about the guild members praise at solo clearing the dungeon , and how he fought a heroic fight for hours at end and risked his life to gain some treasures ..... Ahem ... Ahem , no maybe that would be too much . But yes , he wanted to bask in their glory , be the centre of attention and praise. As deep down he did not feel capable enough to be called the vice guild master of the elites. It was not like he lagged in the skill department, compared to ordinary players , he was wayy better. But in an Elites party , he was just like every other member , maybe slightly better at swordsplay , but that was it. Sometimes he felt even that slight advantage was because Rudra gave him the slaughterer blade. He was desperate to solidify himself as the worthy vice guild master , especially when Rudra lead by example , Rudra was untouchable even within the Elite ranks , the boss was the boss his skills and leadership worthy of being the guild leader. Karna did not wish to lag on that aspect, and this was his chance. About 2 hours into venturing into the island , Karna saw a ginormous tree ... A tree the size of many skyscrapers , well atleast the base trunk was that large , while the height was equal to a ten story building at max. This was a very odd tree , karna made out, as within the entire island , it was the only tree with green leaves and a brown trunk! It was odd because it was a normal tree! Karna decided to explore the tree , he slowly walked around the edge of the tree in a circular manner to observe the trunk from all sides. About 50 meters into circling there was an arrow pointing upwards painted on the tree trunk . As Karna looked up , there was a sign hanging saying " Here lies the treasure of Monkey King luffy ". Karna made a mean face .... -_- , this monkey king luffy, who makes a sign like that ... Karna felt like , luffy was a complete goof and reminded him of a certain carefree guildmaster. He sighed , as he thought about ways to climb the tree. ------------------------------- ( Meanwhile , back in Hazelgroove kingdom , PurpleHaze city , the True Elites HQ ) Rudra sat in the guild hall , having a chat with Fatty Kalash and Amelia getting the gist of the current affairs. Much had changed since the now infamous ''slaughter of 10,000'' battle , where an NPC armt wiped the entire encampment. Much enthusiasm was behind the method to gain the knowledge about how to aquire an NPC army , also about the player Augustus Won Knight , who not only showed excellent playing skills , but also had such a large army at command. It was not yet confirmed if the army he commanded was actually his , wether it was a one time use item , or wether it is a guild owned item given to him for use. However despite of the situation everyone was on the edge now. Rudra nodded and instructed Amelia to start a rumor that the NPC army was a one time event item , and that the Elite''s no longer have that card to use , that they are bluffing their way through. However Amelia was just more shocked ..... She said " guild leader you mean, its not a one time item and a card we genuinely possess? , Also i know all the members inside the guild ? I have never seen an Augustus Won Knight , the guild membership numbers dont lie , all the members are accounted for , soo who exactly is this guy? ". Rudra bit his tongue... Now this was a tough one! /// BONUS CHAPTER 1/3. Expect 2 more today for the golden ticket bonuses , thankyou Thankyou Thankyou all for all the tickets and support , i will deliver on my promise , bonuses on the way , enjoy Also a special shoutout to Timothy_pace and Garret_marshal for the lots of golden tickets they poured. Appreciate the help brothers /// Chapter 98: Treasure (2) Karna started to climb the giant tree. The climb was difficult as the tree did not have many grooves to gain footing , and for some odd reason , it was extremely taxing on stamina. Karna had to gulp many stamina potions to keep up with the climbing..... About 50 minutes later he finally reached the point where his hands gripped the giant hole made in the tree to gain access into the tree centre. "Finally !!! " Karna exclaimed as he laid flat on the surface for the first time in the hour. He was exhausted completely , it was a tiring endeavour. Karna wanted to curse monkey King luffy , who makes a treasure trove in a tree especially when it is soo hard to climb! " Curse you luffy!!! " He shouted as he forced his body to move and stand up. Karna looked around the room he was in , and in the entire room there was only a circular structure in the centre. In the circular structure was a glass chamber with a single plump and juicy looking purple fruit with a single twig coming out of its head. Karna went close to inspect the peculiar object. The container it was enclosed in had something written , karna read it " He who wishes the treasure of monkey King luffy , must eat the fruit to pass ahead ". Karna frowned ... What a odd guy , what kind of a test was eating a fruit. He ate fruits since 2079. It had been 21 years since he first grew teeth and ate a plump peach , since then he ate fruits all the way till college where he went after other kind of peaches. But no matter what he was still a champion in eating fruits. Karna inspected the fruit ..... And it said [ Devil fruit ] ( ????) : Consuming the fruit grants you a random mysterious power. Side effects : may have potential irreversible side effects. Consume at your own risk . What was this weird fruit with this weird description, karna thought that the entire thing made no sense to him ! Well he would have usually thought twice before eating such things , however , honestly all the climbing had made him a little hungry , although he knew virtual hunger was not affecting him actually , he was somehow tempted by the purple fruit. Maybe he would take just a nibble. To see the effects and stop there if needed. Karna thought , as he removed the glass casing and took the fruit in hand. The fruit was extremely soft and squishy , he took a small bite of it ........ TASTY!!!!!! it was damn delicious , before he knew it , he had eaten the fruit whole! And licked his fingers dry. For a moment he panicked .... However when nothing seemed to change he calmed down . He inspected his own body .... And yes he was still human , with two arms , two legs , no tails. Everything seemed normal , his skin color was the same . Well. Eveything from the shoulder down was the same however , as the face had a big change , his eyes once black to the core were now changing color .... Turning to a yellowing orange color .... And the pupils turning into that of a reptile .....straight and vertical. His vision became clearer and clearer , untill he could microzoom into his own skin , seeing the imperfections . His head started to become hazy , not being used to this new ability . System notification ( Devil fruit consumed ) ( Gained power - Supreme reptilian eyesight ) " TF" , Karna cursed ... He was not an archer , wtf was he supposed to do with supreme eyesight? Even his stat panel changed. ----------------------- Player Name : Karna Title : None Class : Swordsman Subclass : Runesmith Special stat : Supreme eyesight ( SE ) LVL:41 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 240 VIT : 220 INT : 170 STA : 230 PHY : 200 SE : 5 HP : 11,000/11,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : 92/100 (Heaven defying luck ) Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Bracelet of posivity , Reimars ring , True Elites guild robe Weapons : Slaughter blade ( epic ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers Skills : MountainCrash , Defensebreak , Energy slash , High knee Class specific skills : Heightened battle sense , Weapon recall , Doppleganger Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : None ----------------------- He had Supreme Eyesight added to his stat list , that meant it was an upgradable ability. How dissapointing was this ..... Had he recieved a better ability , he could have upgraded it and became a one man wrecking crew. " WHY GOD WHY? did i not always behave and be a good man? Did i not always leave a 5 dollar tip to all your temples? Did we not have a great connection? Then why did you make me soo unlucky god? Why? ". Karna was lamentfull. Alas he got fu***** weird eyesight powers. Wasnt he supposed to be super lucky? Wasnt he supposed to be heavens chosen ? What was with this trash luck then Resigning to his fate he closed his eyes and sat down on his knees ... Thats when he discovered something .... He could still see the world , with objects and their outlines in blue and the rest being black. He could see with his eyes closed! How cool was this? Karna opened his eyes , then closed them , then opened , then closed .... He did this to see the difference . Whoaaa , this ability was amazing .... He could see all the hidden imperfections in the room , including the secret tree passage that were invisible to naked eyes. Used right this was an overpowered ability , he could wrap a cloth around his eyes , pretend to be blind. While acting like gojo satoru. Then in a crutial fight , he could open his reptilian eyes like Kakashi '' s Sharingan and scare the flub out of the opponent. " Hahaha , thankyou god !! ". Karna shouted in appreciation , the ability he got was amazing. /// Bonus 2/3 , one more chapter lined up tonight! ,Guys the powerstone department has been a little down this week , i dont understand why , we need to keep the Powerstones still flowing!!!! This chapter was my attempt at creating a little comedy , a break from the serious content about to follow , hope you guys liked it , Comment down below if you find this chapter funny, /// Chapter 99: Yua meets Rudra ( True Elites guildhall ) Rudra couged twice , he was in a precarious position , regarding the identity of Augustus Won Knight , also he had no explanation for Amelia , the true elites being such a small guild , a recruitment would not go unnoticed by her. Even fatty kalash said " Somethings very very fishy here .... Hmmmm , she is right Ruru ". Rudra wanted to just smack those fat cheeks off kalash , '' that dumb ba****** has no clue whats going on here , and just wanted to act cool infront of Amelia. Also TF is RURU? '' Rudra thought in his mind , however the problem at hand was bigger. Rudra decided to bullshit his way through this one as he said " Its actually like this , a few days ago when i cleared the bell challenge , there was this player , a nobody called Augustus Won Knight , he believed himself to be untouchable , the best player in the game , and he tried to show me down ". Both Amelia and Kalash were listening intently at this point Rudra continued " soo he challenged me to a one on one fight ..... However me having nothing to proove , did not accept". Both of them nodded , this made perfect sense soo far. " Then the lunatic threatened to take the elites down with an NPC army that he became the commander off through completing a special quest ". Rudra exclaimed , a little shock in his voice Both Amelia and Kalash gasped , they were hooked in the story. " I naturally could not let that happen , but seeing the worth in the NPC army behind him , i put a condition to fight him , that should i win , he will become a rogue agent for True Elites". Both Amelia and Kalash looked at each other ... Now the story seemed a little farfetched .. why make him a rogue agent? Why not a member? Kalash raised his hand , like a student in a 1st grade class. " Yes ... Fatty ". Rudra said " Why dint you outright make him a member? ". Kalash asked. Rudra sighed , how could he tell them , it was because Amelia counted all members joining the guild. He said " the man is a lunatic and a free spirit , i judged him unworthy of the Elite culture ". Both had their mouths agape , the leader was amazing! " We had a fight , i won easy ". Rudra boasted Both started clapping now , impressed with Rudra''s antics. " Thats how we gained this hidden trump card , now i hope the information doesnt spread out , okay guys ? Can i trust you on that?. ". They nodded affirming Rudra. " Now for the official story, make Augustus Won Knight a part of the guild and make the NPC army a one time use card that we dont have anymore .....even amongst the guild members , let this matter become a suspense. For the individual adventurer parties and third rate guilds wanting to ally , politely turn them down , for the declining sales problem of the lifestyle store , make sure to first prepare the advanced mana potion in bulk , when we have enough stash , i will personally do a grand product launch ..... Now if only Karna clears the dungeon , everything will be allright ". Well atleast he had one less problem on his plate now. Great he thought , one problem down! ..... Just when he was about to rejoice though , a NPC servant declared the arrival of PinkLotus. Rudra''s heart just ached for a second at that name .... Soo yua was here huh? Rudra instantly got serious. ( PurpleHaze city , Hazelgroove kingdom , outside the true elites guild headquarters ) Yua was chosen as the alliance''s chosen member to go and negotiate with the True Elites guild. She had actively seeked the role as she wanted to take the opportunity to sort things between herself and Rudra. There was this weird guilt panging up inside her that made her twist and turn in her bed these days , she kept wondering what Rudra thought about her. Sometimes she was mad at Rudra and pretended like she dint care about his opinion , sometimes she just wanted to spam messages to him and demand a reply. However her pride got the better of her as she could never press send. Finally, today she got a good chance to clear the air , she felt nervous and exited at the same time , somewhere down inside she knew today was going to be a disaster , yet she could not wait to meet Rudra and atleast state her mind out. Even now she was a alliance representative and had to talk buisness too , also try and gain a upper hand in today''s negotiations. She was also responsible to pry open the secrets of the true elites guild members and gain more intel on the mysterious player Augustus Won Knight , however for Yua all that could wait. She was not neglecting it. She was a strong career driven woman , however somethings were just more important than career , and that was morals. She needed to clear th air for herself . Yua was escorted by two NPC''s into the guild hall. Kalash and Amelia took their leave , well not before Amelia threw dirty glances at Yua , when she entered the hall. Yua felt weird when Amelia looked at her that way , a million thoughts crossed her mind at that point , at first she felt ashamed. As she actually did deserve it. Then she thought , does that girl like Rudra? , She is his kind of assistant afterall? Is she jealous of me? No wait what am i thinking? I need to focus! Rudra and she were left alone , in the luxurious True Elites hall to talk . Yua said " Listen i need to clarify somethings ...". Rudra said in a deep voice " Go on ..... ". /// BONUS 3/3 delivering on my promise guys, thankyou for all the golden tickets you all. The offer still stands strong at a bonus for every 25 tickets ! Im gonna grind as much as i can for you all! , Also this chapter dedicated to everyone penning me for more release .... Okay guys if you want more , i will give you more , tommorow again will try for a three chapter release .... Or at the very least 2 , thats a promise! Hope you enjoy the chapter , do comment if you did /// Chapter 100: Windfall ( inside the dungeon. The endless ocean ) Karna used his newfound eyesight to find the secret passage in the room , the wood there was thin , although it looked the same as the rest of the tree''s interior , however it was actually hollow , and could be punched through easily . Karna tore through that fake piece of wood , to find a hole that should lead him down back to the base of the tree , well on the inside that is. Karna sighed , who designed this idiotic treasure trove? , Where are the traps? Where is the boundless gold , jewels and precious artifacts? '' well , into the rabbit hole we go '' Karna thought as he jumped into the hole. Karna slid down the entirity of the ten floors that he climbed in 10 seconds , going round and round like a kids slide. And then it appeared ..... The treasure room full of treasures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : CONGRATULATIONS !!! You have found the treasure left behind by Pirate king luffy (1/17) You have gained. + 2,15,14,600 Gold coins + 10,000 platinum coins + 640 Max Hp potions + 640 Max Mana potions + 640 Max Stamina potions + 640 Poison mist potions + 1 Blueprint ( Cannon ) + 1 Blueprint ( pirate armour set ) + 1 Strawhat ( accesory ) + 1 Zorro'' s mouth sword + 1 Grand pirate ship ( currently in a bottle ) + 1 Skill book ( Mouth wielding ) + 1 Skill book ( Critical block ) + 1 Skill book ( Sea of fire ) + 1 Retractable shield + 1 small egg Woahh , woahh , woahhhhh , seeing the unending series of notifications Karna was absolutely delighted. BOOYAH! It was a Windfall! Now thats what a treasure should be like.... He was Rich Rich Rich now . ----------------- There were a few things here that Karna did not know what the use was. Hence he started to inspect it. [ Poison mist potion ] : use this potion to create a thin poison mist in the air , to sap the enemy''s life on a constant rate ..... High chance of poisoning if exposed for a long time. Caution : prepare antidote for friendlies before releasing in the air. [ Cannon ] ( Gold ) : Blueprint for pirate''s cannons, the kind used in ships , the design is not first rate , as the cannons have a high recoil and less accuracy , however they will blow a hole through enemies ships. [ Pirate armour set ] ( Dark gold ) : Dark gold lv 40 full body armour design , including chestplate , boots and shoulder guards. Set effect boosts defenses by 15%. [ Strawhat ] ( accesory ) : A hat only found in treasures left behind by pirate king luffy , has no purpose other than looking cool. [ Zorro''s mouth sword ] : Sword specially built for mouth wielding , extremely lightweight with a great teethgrip. [ Grand pirate ship ] ( sealed ) : A grand pirate ship , the size of one football field , sealed in a bottle , break the glass to release the boat inside. Triple deck , 200 cannons , 3 sails , it is a ruler of the seas. [ Mouthwielding ] ( skill ) : A skillbook exclusive to pirate king luffy''s treasures , the skill teaches the user how to wield swords using their mouths . [Critical block ] : The skill when enabled , blocks one physical attack completely, irrespective of the players defense. Note : does not work on magic attacks. Cooldown : 2 hours [ Sea of fire ] ( Mage / wizard) : A skill summoning flames devastating enough to turn any land into a sea of flames. Restrictions : Mages/ Wizard only , must be atleast Tier 2 , uses very high mana . Side effect : The summoner will be extremely weakened after the spell duration ends. [ Retractable shield ] ( Epic ) ( upgradable) : A small device to mount like a watch on your wrist , when the shield is called out , a rotating circular shield will come out , when not needed it will receed back into the device. Created by the master forger who made Thor''s hammer , it is a one of a kind item. [ Small egg ] ( legendary ) : A legendary small egg from a mysterious creature. Incubate for 100 days to hatch. Current progress (0/100) Do you wish to bind it ? Karna pressed yes..... His hands were shaking as he pressed the screen ..... It was a damn legendary egg. ----------------------- Player Name : Karna Title : None Class : Swordsman Subclass : Runesmith LVL:41 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 240 VIT : 220 INT : 170 STA : 230 PHY : 200 SE : 5 HP : 11,000/11,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : 92/100 (Heaven defying luck ) Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Bracelet of posivity , Reimars ring , True Elites guild robe Weapons : Slaughter blade ( epic ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers Skills : MountainCrash , Defensebreak , Energy slash , High knee Class specific skills : Heightened battle sense , Weapon recall , Doppleganger Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : small egg (0/100) ----------------------- Everything he got here , from the epic shield to the incredible spell tomes to the epic battle ship and the insane amount of coins . Everything he could hog for himself , sell it somewhere and live the life of a rich billionare for the rest of his life. Yet that was not the kind of man Karna was , everything here he would share openly with the guild members. The money he would donate to the warehouse and the retractable shield he would gift Rudra as he knew that guy was too shy to ask for it. Overall Karna was extremely satisfied with the loot. And he was now calmly sitting with his eyes closed , just waiting for the 1 hour left on the countdown to clear the dungeon. The island had long started floating away , as he could see his current coordinates changing. Unfortunately his adventure ended here , he could not go around leaving the island anymore, but he was content with what he had. Well more than just content. He was damn happy. --------------------- ( PurpleHaze city , the True elites guild HQ) Orochimaru had been on the edge since he joined the True Elites guild , he aquired a lot of basic information , like membership numbers and overall strength. But he could not find anything tangible at all. Apparently none of the members knew about the bombs , or where the stash was stored. Nobody from the main guild knew what the lifestyle players were upto , and what was their next project. There were no longtime goals like other big guilds , no weekly charts , no monthly targets , it was a very free environment. As he was not chosen to raid the dungeon , he had no idea what was happening. But when he saw the members return back without clearing it , he secretly reported the information to the seniors. Little did he know that Karna was still inside , however he was on the lookout for any visitor that came to the guild , hence when he spotted Azure Lotus guild master enter , he passed the information to his superior in the Ambani foundation. As he awaited further orders /// Guys sorry for the late chapter , today is a festival in my country and i was busy with the festivities , however there is one more chapter that is lined up for today and i promise to deliver , hope you guys are enjoying the story , as there are many plots moving at the same time , i have changed my style of writing and pacing of the story , for the progression to be a little slower upon feedback from you guys , hope that you all enjoy the current pacing better. Please let me know if you are unsatisfied with the current content and pacing in the comments if you guys are , i will genuinely try and improove ./// Chapter 101: Confronting PinkLotus Yua had a million things on her mind that she wanted to tell Rudra , she had rehearsed the script in her mind a thousand times as to how to tell him in the best way possible , painting her involvement as minimal as possible. Yet seeing his cold demeanor , all her plans went down the drain as she frantically began to explain. " The azure lotus guild had voted against suppressing the True Elites guild. I never wanted to wage a war of attrition against your guild. I am in an alliance ruled by majority , and the majority vote was 5:2 in favour of supressing the Elites , i was bound to follow them with or without my consent , i had repeatedly made it clear that it was stupid to supress such a small guild without reason .....". Yua was desperately trying to explain when Rudra snapped " Ohhh , no reason to supress such a small guild ? You looking down on us now? ". He said coldly " No , no , not at all ! If anything its shamefull for 7 first rate guilds to ally and declare hostility towards a single guild ". Yua clarified but only made things worse " Why so? Are we not in your league maam, did we not just repell a ten thousand man camp ? Just what more do we need to do to earn some respect in this town? ". Rudra said , anger evident in his tone . Yua got annoyed too " Seriously Rudra, Maam? Soo we pretending we dont know each other now, also it is not 1950''s anymore , nobody uses maam ? ". " I wish it were u know , to think i actually considered you to be a good friend in this cutthroat world. Seems like i was a fool ". Rudra said Now this line just cut deep into Yua , she was exasperated she said almost screaming " Why dont you get it , the alliance all have shares of each others corporations , should i not go with the majority they can seriously hurt the Nakatomi Corporation ". Rudra recieved a private message from Orochimaru at this point. It said '' Guild leader , i have insider information , the lady is here to invite you into seven guild alliance , beware of her sweet talks''. Rudra did not know , that this message was a plan from the Ambani foundation to plant discord between the guilds and try prevent the True Elites from joining the alliance , as that would seriously hinder Mr Ambani '' s plans. Rudra calmed down a little after listening to that , then he asked lightly " Okay ..... I believe you , but then tell me , why did you not even message me? Why are you here , only today , only after the show of strength from my guild , you are here to negotiate terms arent you ??". Yua had no retort , she indeed had not contacted Rudra over the weeks that his guild faced supression , even though in her heart she was bleeding , she had no way to prove her innocence here. She was here only when the alliance wanted to invite the Elites to make them one of their own. " That .... I really wanted to but my dad wont let me , Well fine , it doesn''t matter anyway , i was a fool to think you would beleive me ". Yua said depressed Rudra''s heart clenched , something about seeing Yua soo down and sad made his heart twist in pain. Then he sighed " Fine i believe you ". Rudra said slapping his cheeks. Yua looked up teary eyed .... " Just like that? ". " Yeah , just like that ". Rudra affirmed " Soo we are still friends right? " Yua asked meekly. " I think so ". Rudra replied. Yua beamed , she smiled a very bright smile. Rudra felt a burden lifted off his shoulders seeing that smile. Boy was he smitten with this girls charms. Yua continued " well i think it will all get better from now on ... Im here to invite you into our alliance , together we can be an unstoppable force in Hazelgroove ". Rudra instantly frowned. He wanted to downright reject , however for the sake of courtesy he said " what are the terms ". Yua explained " 21% share transfer , each member will hold 3% of your shares , conversly , you will hold 3% of each of them . The majority decision is final , and all guilds must comply , all guilds must open their resource logs and agree on trade of materials , also there is a technology treaty to comply in research of new technologies that can revolutionize the market, finally there is a rule to provide 3 thousand men to the alliance for control over territory purposes , but looking at your guilds special condition it was waved and replaced with surrendering your bomb depot ". Viens bulged on Rudra''s forehead " how is this beneficial to me?". Yua felt exasperated at this point ..... " You get shares worth 21% from 7 first rate guilds , you get a cut from the taxes levied on the masses , when the alliance grows you grow with them , we are absolutely invincible that way ! Not even all the 30 second rate guilds combined can hold a candle to our alliance , we can become absolute overlords of Hazelgroove , how is it not a benefit?". Rudra felt mentally exhausted now , he just said " The shares of the elite''s are worth a lot more , and there is no way in hell i would exchange them , also i cannot work on the whims of nonsencial guild leaders. I work on my principles and not on majority vote. As for money , my trade firm earns enough dough for my guild to live in luxury. Im sorry but i would like to decline your invitation ". Yua stood there blank for a minute ..... Rudra actually rejected the alliance invite? Not out of personal grudges but logic? She could just not wrap her head around it at all. " You are making a big mistake you know , think again leader Shakuni ". Yua said " I have , sorry i cant join". Rudra remained firm " This means we will be at odds you know ". Yua said " If you dont let it affect our friendship , i wont " . Rudra said " Dont expect me to trade insider news just cause we are friends though ". Yua snorted Rudra smiled but said nothing " Well if you have made your mind. Its your funeral , ill recruit you once the alliance obliterates your guild ". She said as she stood up to leave. Just before leaving however she turned and said " take care ! ". Rudra sat there and smiled ... Yep no matter how much smitten he was with Yua , he knew that untill there is friction due to the fight. They both as guild leaders could never truly be friends. Rudra knew he would distance himself from her from now .... And yua knew she would too . Even though they resolved their fight , they both knew the impending consequences of today''s choices. Maybe they were just not meant to be! However the thing Rudra was now interested in was how did Orochimaru get that piece of information. Coupled with his identity as Rudra remembered in his past life , the entire incident felt extremely suspicious to Rudra. It was worth pondering upon. He called for Orochimaru , as he decided to take the rookie , out in the wild for a little levlling. /// 14 chapters this week everyone , 2 chapters a day. I have seen a decline in powerstones being given to me , and i understand the reason behind it. The powerstone bonuses , last week was the first time the target was not met , and we actually slipped in the rankings rather than gaining on. I feel like it is a mistake on my part , and to compensate i will bust myself this week to provide a stable 14 chapter week! Setting no targets for voting. If you guys feel like you enjoy my work , please vote , if not upto you all . Shoutout to Riley_lewis and Raging_silver for the golden tickets . Appreciate that guys /// Chapter 102: Shocking the world again After the True Elites destroyed the camp around the Endless Ocean dungeon , many adventurer parties and small guilds had rushed in to try clear the dungeon. However soon faced with reality they understood the difficulties of clearing the endless ocean. The easy mode required the party to survive for 20 hours , the normal mode 25 , and the nightmare mode to survive for 30 hours. Even the easy mode clear had not been claimed yet , as the big first rate guilds had kept their pride and kept attempting the normal mode. Well they had started with the nightmare mode , but soon giving up , they left for the normal mode , after repeated failures there , the demolition boys decided to put their pride aside and first claim the first clear of the easy mode. Even the easy mode was not soo easy to clear , as multiple parties failed their first and second attempts , but the demolitionboys wethered in the storms of normal mode , found the easy mode easier to breathe in . As through much difficulties they cleared the easy mode. A system announcement resounded in Hazelgroove kingdom Hazelgroove kingdom announcement : Congratulations to the guild '' Demolition boys'' for getting the first clear of the dungeon the endless ocean in the Easy mode. Party members :- Ilovesmashing , Destructionforever .....Breaksenslessly ". The forums got very buzzed after the new announcement as various parties discussed the new development. '' The demolitionboys claimed the first clear afterall , as expected of a first rate guild , they are above the average masses ''. '' Well , it was the easy mode , nonetheless having experienced the cruelty of the dungeon , i respect the achievement nonetheless ''. '' Well thats to be expected , they had been attempting the dungeon for three days now ''. '' So what? So are the other six first rate guilds , they could not clear it nonetheless , the demolition boys did ". Over all this heated discussions , someone brought the True Elites into the discussion . '' The demolitionboys are the true superior guild in town , the True Elites also attempted the Endless Ocean after breaking the siege but 29 hours had passed yet there was no notification about clearing the dungeon. Hence most assumed they failed ''. There were people that wanted to argue that the Elite''s maybe attempting the nightmare mode. However these thoughts were quickly dispelled as the difficulty of the dungeon was not to be taken lightly. Coupled with Orochimaru'' s intel of Rudra and the crew returning to the guild. The Demolitionboys decided to callout the guild on the forums. They released a very bold statement on the forums mocking the Elites '' The world is full of narcissistic people and delusional guilds , some call themselves '' Elites '' but only use petty tricks to be above the masses , bring guns to knife fights and hide behind NPC ''s to act like lions , when it comes to skills those guilds are but just talk , thankgod for the Demolitionboys to wreck those guilds dreams before they even start. #KeepingItReal ''. The post got widespread coverage , as it blew up , many called the Demolitionboys arrogant , however many supported them too. The factional support lines were basically based on individual beliefs , the people supporting the Demolitionboys were basically third and second rate guilds who could not hold a candle to The True Elites , and were extremely jealous. The one''s supporting the Elites were the solo players and the small guilds and adventure parties. However their voices were currently heavily supressed as the opposition had a lot of momentum. Many posts mocking @Shakuni were seen on the forums. However the entire game changed following a single notification about an hour later. Hazelgroove kingdom announcement : Congratulations to the '' True Elites '' guild for clearing the nightmare mode of the dungeon the '' Endless Ocean ''. Party members include '' Shakuni , Karna , MonkeyKingEnma , ........ PoisonToadGamabunta''. ( The Forums ) '' F*** , are you kidding me? ''. '' What just happened? '' , did everyone see that announcement , or am i hallucinating ? ''. '' Hahahhahaha, told you the Elites are the best , where did the demolition idiots go now? ''. '' Too strong , the True Elites are just too strong ! ''. '' The other party had tried hard for days at end to just clear the easy mode , yet within an hour the Elites conquered the nightmare mode , there is no comparision , the difference is of heaven and earth ''. '' I bet the Demolitionboys leader is eating his words now ''. Following the announcement the suppressed guild members of the smaller parties bursted in support of the Elites on the forums. Whereas the bigger guilds had to chew on their words. The worst came for Demolitionboys as their post became the biggest joke of the century. Once it was out there it could never be erased. Them calling out the elites had made them the butt of everyone''s jokes. The guild leader was livid. He wanted to hide in embarassment over the issue , his party struggled soo hard just to clear the easy mode yet the elites cleared the nightmare mode on their first try? No they must have cheated ..... He refused to believe that his guild was soo inferior . But no matter how much he wanted it to be false , facts remained facts and the fact was that the Elite''s had cleared the nightmare mode. It was made worse by the elite''s official reply on the forums . '' Dragons dont even turn their heads to look at the dogs barking , they are simply not worth the time. #ActionsSpeakLouderThanWords. ''. The statement said " TOO FUNNY, HAHAHA , ILL DIE LAUGHING ". '' i bet the Demolitionboys are eating s*** and cursing themselves right now''. '' What first rate guild ? More like first rate trash ''. '' Lol , the Elites statement will keep the Demolitionboys awake at nights ''. They had the balls to call the Demolitionboys dogs. Okay , since they wanted to fight soo bad , they shall have it! /// Chapter 2/2 for today , thankyou for all the support , hope you enjoy ! Rate the face slapping in the chapter out of 5 , also comment what you would have written on the forums if you were a solo player , ill include the best one in the next coming chapter. /// Chapter 103: Heroic Return Well that was that , the forums had exploded completely , the Elites had completely crushed the opposition with tangible results . Well Orochimaru was in deep with the Ambani corporation , for his wrong information , he had a lot of heat on himself with the superiors , especially when this was the first ever important information that he relayed back as a spy turned out to be soo wrong. Orochimaru was left scratching his head as to how did the Elites clear the dungeon when. He saw Rudra and the rest back here at the guild. However the exitement in the guild gave him his answers , following the announcement , the guild members lined up to welcome back a victorious vice guild master . Everyone was in high spirits as praises rained down on Karna as he walked through the guild premises , the players were clapping , the wolves were howling , it was a jolly atmosphere , and at the end towards the guild hall , was Rudra with a cheeky smile , clapping towards the returning hero . Well nobody had more emotions right now than Karna , today , right here in this moment , he finally truly became the vice guild master of the guild. Although the True Elites were a guild banded with incredibly talented players , everyone here knew that this supercars engine was the guild leader Shakuni. And although everyone played a role in the current success that the guild has , he as the vice guild master had done nothing to make him standout as a greater contributor to the guild. Wether it was leadership , or recruiting or getting the members out of a jam , everything was handled by Rudra , and he had became an afterthought in the guild.Although Rudra showed immense confidence in him , and his skills were at par with the standard bere , the truth was he was a special recruitment , and had not gone through the normal procedure , also his status as vice guild master was given to repay a favour that Rudra owed him , not something he earned . Now finally he could hold his head high , as he showed his real worth to the guild, well not just the dungeon clear ..... The loot he brought back was the real winner. Everyone was exited for that fact , as the guild members swarmed him asking for details on the expedition. Amongst the swarm was also Orochimaru , keen to understand where he went wrong. Karna smiled at all the enthusiasm but he said " Yes , guys i found the treasure , and yes we earned a lot lot , however before i disclose the contents id need to talk to guild master as to what or what not to censor. The things we got are worthy as being kept as guild secrets ". " OOOOOOOOOO , And OHHHHHHHH" rained in the crowd as everyone teased Karna for being such a party popper. Karna did not mind. He was a responsible guy , he would not get carried away despite the situation. However he wanted to show off just a bit hence he said. " Okay , okay before you guys die with suspense ill tell you how much gold we earned this time around.... ". He paused before saying . '' 2,15,14,600 Gold coins and 10,000 platinum coins '' Silence ! Utter silence , followed by a deafening cheer '' WOAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! WE ARE RICH , ALL HAIL VICE GUILD MASTER !!! ''. '' POUR THE GOLD ''. '' POUR THE GOLD ''. '' POUR THE GOLD ''. The chants to pour the gold into a sea of coins started , karna looked at Rudra who nodded , and all the gold coins were taken out of Karna''s inventory into the guild premises , making a huge mountain of money . Cheers were heard again , as some members clicked photos of themselevs swimming in pools of gold. Even Orochimaru silently clicked pictures to report back to HQ , as this was big big news. While Karna and Rudra headed inside to talk about what transpired. Karna briefly explained , how he survived and the tree and the Treasure room. For some reason he did not reveal information about the devil fruit as it was his own gaming secret. Rudra ofcourse knew something was amiss , however he did not pry. The man''s honesty was unquestionable , if Karna did not want to say something it was best to not pry. At last Karna revealed the entire contents of the loot. Which included. + 2,15,14,600 Gold coins + 10,000 platinum coins + 640 Max Hp potions + 640 Max Mana potions + 640 Max Stamina potions + 640 Poison mist potions + 1 Blueprint ( Cannon ) + 1 Blueprint ( pirate armour set ) + 1 Strawhat ( accesory ) + 1 Zorro'' s mouth sword + 1 Grand pirate ship ( currently in a bottle ) + 1 Skill book ( Mouth wielding ) + 1 Skill book ( Critical block ) + 1 Skill book ( Sea of fire ) + 1 Retractable shield + 1 small egg At the end Karna said. " Also for the first clear of the dungeon i got a special reward of some treasure map piece ...... Take a look ". Rudra instantly grabbed the map piece. It was the last piece he needed for the treasure location. [ Treasure map ] ( semi legendary ) (3/3) : The X is where a great treasure is buried. HE FINALLY HAD IT !!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS KARNA. Not only that ,Rudra''s eyes widened at the loot collection , he only knew about the retractable shield , much of this loot was not made known to the public. Rudra cursed his past life knowledge , not everything he knew was reliable. Either that or the loot depended on luck , and Karna was damn lucky . Rudra was tempted to hog the shield and the critical block skill for himself , however he showed restraint and said " Lets add everything exept the small egg that you have bound and the pirate ship , that can become a trump card in future into the guild warehouse , let anyone trade for it with GCP ". Karna shook his head in denial , coincidentally he took out the retractable shield and the Critical block skill and said " these are for you the rest goes in , i dont wanna hear arguments leader , consider those a gift from me for everything you have done for me , if that doesnt convince you , take it as a reward i wish for for a job well done ". Rudra was touched , he wanted to hug Karna , but that would ruin his image soo he just banged a fist into Karnas shoulder saying" thanx bro" . Today he felt like recruiting Karna was the best decision he made. The man was growing more and more into the role he hoped for. /// There are two possible plot lines from here guys , either we move towards the second system open auction after some chapters or we move towards the treasure map arc. Comment below which one you wanna see first. Irrespective of the choice the second arc will follow , its just a matter of which one you guys wanna see first". /// Chapter 104: Gauging Orochimaru Rudra took a party of seven members , Himself , Orochimaru , Karna , Medivh , Rhino , MonkeyKingEnma And Neatwit with him for levelling in the level 40-50 wild map , the village of Trolls. Ever since the party set out on the Grey mounts. They were a talking point of everyone in the city , and throughout the journey , everyone turned to look at the party passing , untill they finally reached the levelling map. The first few trolls were easy to kill , as everyone warmed up a little , the party composition was sort of balanced with one knight. One swordsman , one mage , one tank , and 2 assaulters. Rudra was not sure about Orochimaru''s class , however he knew the guy was a assualt type class as well , probably a barbarian . Orochimaru was smart , he kept trying to suck up to Rudra and the party throughout the journey. Innocently asking about guild secrets like , '' woah , big brother Karna what a cool sword. Where''d you get it? ''. And '' Whats that on your wrist guild leader , a new accesory?''. To everyone else who were unsuspecting of him. It all seemed like normal behaviour. But to Rudra all this just added to his suspicion of the guy. The player was just to good , skill wise , definitely worthy of being an elite , he could easily take down normal level 40 trolls one on one. No problems. Everyone slowly started to acknowledge the guy, his strength , and as to why Rudra recruited him. He was worthy of being here. After about 2 hours of grinding and killing around 75 trolls , about 10-11 each the party members finally levlled up . ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:43 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 216 +108 VIT : 216 +108 INT : 216 +108 STA : 216 +108 PHY : 216 +108 HP : 19000/19000 unassigned stat points :10 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Reinforced Armour set ( Lv30) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask , Retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake, Critical block Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (28/200) ----------------------- The loot soo far included +40 troll skins +5 gold coins. +50 troll teeth +6 common troll clubs +8 rare troll clubs +1 gold sword. + 1 leather armour. The crew were not seriously injured or fatigued. Still Rudra decided to call for a short break , as the party camped in the wild , chatting merrily . Orochimaru was busy again. Innocently asking prying questions in this time , and Rudra was again busy observing him , slowly getting more and more evidence to his line of thought. After the break the party again continued with the grinding , on Neatwit''s constant complain of wasting time For gods sake man , the guy was already level 47 now! About 2 hours into the grind the party faced a big problem. They met with a roaming world boss , the Troll chieftain who instantly used a skill to summon 2 other mutated trolls. Although this was a great opportunity to most players. To a party of just seven this was an extremely precarious position. [ Petrified troll ] ( Elite ) level 40 HP 50,000/ 50,000 [Petrified Troll] (Chieftain) Level 52 HP 8,200,00/8,200,00 Everyone on the team felt an immense pressure from the Petrified Trolls. If the Trolls were merely Level 40 Lords, they could hold the monsters back. However, a Level 52 Lord was many times more powerful than a Level 40. On their team, only the MT could withstand an assault from one of these monsters. No one else could endure their attacks, much less pin them down. These Level 52 petrified Lords possessed combat prowess of atleast 3 normal trolls of the same level These Petrified Trolls'' Attributes also dwarfed theirs. The same held true for speed. In addition, Elite ranked monsters were generally resistant to Kiting techniques. If they could neither outrun nor control these monsters, just how were they supposed to fight against the Petrified Trolls? Rudra''s expression was just as serious as the rest of his team. What rotten luck. It''s even capable of summoning Petrified Trolls. The Troll Chieftain surprised Rudra. Unlike ordinary Trolls, Petrified Trolls had Petrification Runes carved all over their bodies, which made their skin harder than even steel. They were also monstrously strong. They were famous for being difficult enemies. In the past, players that encountered these Petrified Trolls generally turned and fled. The three Petrified Trolls didn''t give True Elite''s team much time to react. Without hesitation, they pounced on Rhino , who currently held back the Troll Chieftain. "Why are they always targeting me?!" Glancing at the approaching Petrified Trolls, Rhino activated his Tier 1 class Special skill called the Last Stand, reducing all incoming damage by 50%, weakening any impact he received, and increasing his maximum HP by 40%. Instantly, his maximum HP rose to 29,530. Peng! Peng! Peng! Three silver spears struck Rhino''s Shield, one after another. -6,717. -6,809. -6,784. Following which, the Troll Chieftain brandished its massive red greatsword and slashed at Rhino. Tier 1 Skill, Stormrage. Quickly adjusting his footwork, Rhino lifted his shield just in time to block the attack coming from his side. Meanwhile, the distant Medivh quickly cast a Fireball on the another troll . Boom! When the Troll Chieftain''s greatsword crashed into the Rhino''s Shield, dazzling sparks flew as a loud boom resounded through the dead forest. Everyone felt the shockwave from the impact. As for Rhino , numerous deep cuts ripped apart the ground around him. /// 2nd chapter for today , hope you all enjoy! Please vote with powerstones and tickets if you enjoy my content , it really gives me motivation to do this everyday , Also from this day forward , for every gift worth coins 500 and over , there will be a special shoutout at the end of the chapter. It was a longtime due , special shoutout to MiguelWN for the 2000 coin dragon , really appreciate the gesture. On the first day i went premium that too! /// Chapter 105: A fight to show the gap Rudra knew as soon as he saw the monsters that the party needed to go at atleast 70% capacity to handle this calamity. He ordered the team , to get ready , Rhino was under immense pressure blocking the chief. Being at less than 40 % Hp currently. His situation did not look good , especially when the other two troll elites also joined in to attack him . Rudra knew that something big was needed currently , and the only spell strong enough that could damage the enemies was the tier two spell sea of fire , that Medivh had learned. However the spell had a tier two restriction on casting , and Medivh was currently only tier one. However Rudra had aquired a trump card for Medivh , a potion that temporarily raised a wizards spell casting skill by one tier. He could only aquire 3 bottles with great difficulty , he never thought he''d need to use one soo soon. There was a party of adventurers who slowly approached the scene , and were shocked to see a party of just seven take on 3 mutated trolls. Not even 70 of them felt confident on taking them . Rudra ordered medivh to cast the spell the sea of fire. Medivh instantly sprang into action , downing the potion and starting the chant. After 20 seconds he raised his hands as flames started to burst around him in violent circles. The three-meter-tall Petrified Trolls transformed into two massive fireballs as the attack sent them flying; they crashed through numerous trees before they finally fell to the ground. Everyone involuntarily shivered when they saw the two monsters'' bodies. Meanwhile, the two Lord''s HP bars shrank by a small chunk. -13485. -13504. Massive damages appeared on the Trolls. As a third of their HP was chipped. The two horrific damages stupefied everyone on the team. If not for Orochimaru and Karna still struggling with the other Petrified Troll, they would have doubted that the two monsters on the ground were actually Petrified Trolls. What destructive power , Medivh''s spell was beyond what normal people could comprehend , Orochimaru ''s eyes widened in shock , the Elites had hidden their strength too deep , there was no telling who was a crouching tiger or a hideen dragon in this guild. He made a mental note to observe this medivh guy. Even Karna showed his brilliance as he single handedly dodged and damaged one of the elite trolls , following Medivh''s attack. A continuous damage of -2500 -2500 Appeared. But what was more shocking was. He had his eyes fucking closed. WTF WAS GOING ON HERE. The guy was simply dodging and toying his enemy with his eyes closed! Orochimaru felt like he was having a mental breakdown. He looked towards Rudra who was fighting the chieftain. And his despair turned deeper. The guy had some mysterious shield on his arms and the shield randomly formed at will , to block all attacks from the orc cheif Rudra got no to a pitifully low of -5 -5 damage while fighting While dealing a massive blow of -4000 -4000 -4900 Continually . Orochimaru felt like the only normal guy here , as he and PoisonToadGamakichi fought together to push the last troll back . However out of nowhere Neatwit stepped into the frey , and unleashed the wierdest looking move Orochimaru had seen in the entire game. Blackflames burst from Neatwit''s sword as a single cut that looked more like a samurai slashing a target dummy , sliced the opponent in half clean . -20,000 critical hit! The Elite troll was dead! By a single hit of Neatwit! What was that sword he used ? What was the move? Orochimaru was completely clueless. He stared at Neatwit dumbfounded. 5 minutes later Rudra and Karna had defeated their opponents and the fight was over. A system notification followed , '' Your party has slayed a roaming world boss Troll chieftain , would you like to issue a system announcement? ''. The system asked Rudra the leader of the party. However Rudra declined the offer , this was but a casual stroll , no need to blow matters up. + 50,0000 EXP. + 50 gold coins. + 30 Elite troll skin sheets. +2 Gold troll armour ( Lv40) +1 Dark Gold troll armour ( Lv50 ) It was not a big loot dump , Hence Rudra did not care much about it , however this loot would make most normal parties go crazy with joy. The Elites were however absolutely immune , after seeing Karna''s gold stack , they found 50 gold to be chump change. The audience was dumbfounded , what the hell was going on? Who was that bunch of players in black robes? Untill someone recording zoomed on their insigna , it was the True Elites!!!!!! This was life changing for those who saw this battle as they uploaded it on the forums using the tag '' The Elites having some fun in the wild ''. The adventurers did not know , that this simple video would alter the history of the game forever. From Rhino s tanking of three enemy trolls alone at the start , to Medivh casting a devastating fire spell far beyond the capabilities of any other mage in the game currently , to Karna fighting an Elite Troll with his eyes closed. To Rudra overwhelming the Chieftain alone! The chieftain was a damn Lv 52 monster , yet infront of Rudra''s shield his damage output was as pitifull as -5 , -5? Just how strong was the shield? Even the tank , who relied on a shield as his bread and butter took soo much damage , to them it simply did not make sense. However the truth was , the pitifully low damage was due to lot of factors being accounted together. One was Rudra''s Epic shield , it was much better than Rhinos gold one. Two was Rudra''s stats , his golden ratio passive made his defense higher than most tanks. And three was his defense technique. He having 20 years of gaming experience knew how to take strong blows , Rudra bent his knees slightly while letting each muscle in his body equally disperse the entire blow , making as small angle with the incoming blow as possible. Many did not know this , but damage was also dependant on angle of blow! As the angle became smaller the damage became more deflected. Hence his superior technique allowed him this. To finally the freakiest of them all , the one who occupied the top spot in the levelling rankings , Neatwit , he was a complete mystery! Orochimaru had never heard anything special about Neatwit , however seeing him here today , he needed to think again. Just amongst the seven members here there were 4 such characters , just how strong was the entire guild? Just how many experts were in there hiding their strength? Orochimaru shuddered at the thought ... The true elites could not be provoked easily , he was reminded of that fact again today. /// After all of your responses , i have decided to go for the auction arc next , buckle up , the next part is gonna be fun with a lot of face slapping. Also special shoutout to my man Leo_crispii for the 500 coin gift , many many thanks brother /// Chapter 106: [Bonus Chapter]Whats next? The video of the Elite group slaughtering the troll party had became the most viral video of the season , it had more than 300 million views in just 4 days , with extensive coverage by news channels and media. There were pannels of experts sitting and dissecting the video , analysing the fight. Giving a reason for the bizzare abilities shown by the Elites. But the thing was the experts sitting in the pannel were a bunch of absolute morons who were completely clueless , it wasnt like they were from cuber corporation , they were just a bunch of old uncles who played Omega pretending to be analysing the game mechanics. Expert one said " like you see in this video , the player here , doesnt actually have his eyes closed , it was open at first , but then the camera angle is such and the player squints his eyes soo much that he appears to have the eyes closed , hahahahaha , he mostly is from country C with those small eyes. Noone can fight monsters with closed eyes guys , thats just ridiculous ". Expert 2 said " The player using the fire spell, it definitely is the spell called fire wheel , it is a tier one spell that is recently been purchased off the market for 7000 gold coins .... Soo apparently an Elite bought it ". Expert 3 " i think this entire video is a fan art , a scam ! A conspiracy , look at the ridiculousness , i refuse to beleive it , i am a level 40 player myself , am i a fake gamer then? , ITS A SHAM! ". A lot of heated discussions ensued on the forums also , but the Elites were now undoubtedly painted in an unfathomable aura. Everyone stopped using commonsense to evaluate the group now , they were a bunch of anamolies banded together. --------------------------------- ( Seven guilds alliance meeting , Azure Lotus guild headquarters) " They actually rejected us? " Asked the Musicians inc guild leader " How cocky ! ". RealManchester leader said " You have not done your mission properly PinkLotus ". Demolitionboys leader said " What can i do to pursuade someone not willing to be pursuaded? And thats GUILD LEADER PINK LOTUS for you ". Yua glared at demolition boys leader. " Thats enough fighting guys , what should we do now? Buisness is real bad after the Elites wiped our members off the dungeon , the compensations and overall morale has made us feel a big pinch ". SeaOfPoison guild leader said. " What can we do , the NPC army is not to be trifled with , and we do not know how many more cards the Elites have ! That guild is just unreasonable , did you see that video? What ridiculous strength ". Original Manchester leader said. " We cant just have our authority challenged like this , its bad for buisness , the Elites still have a 35 day cooldown on their war counter , i suggest we lay low for those 35 days building strength , and then crush them in a one and done war ". " 35 days will really put a burden on our finances , we need to keep pressuring the smaller guilds exept the Elites ". Demolitionboys leader argued . " We cant , theres no telling when Elites band up to kill our party , im not underestimating us , but a party of 500 can easily be wiped by those 50 madmen , if we have more than 1000 troops stationed at a single place , the we become a target of the NPC army , for a party less than 50 members , the adventurers now refuse to give up without a fight , and the casualties have mounted a lot since the fighting broke out ". Musicians Inc leader argued. " Damn those Elites , how dare they put us in such a pinch ". SeaOfPoison leader was thoroughly underwhelmed by the situation. When the seven members were fiercely debating the next course of action a system announcement got their attention. SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT : THE SECOND SYSTEM AUCTION WILL TAKE PLACE IN 72 HOURS, REAL WORLD TIME , IT WILL BE A KINGDOM STYLE AUCTION WITH 40 COMMON ARTIFACTS AND 10 SUPER ARTIFACTS TO BID AT ". Everyone in the alliance became silent for a while , before wildly discussing about how to raise money for the auction . Everyone understood after the first system auction , how important was the auction items , just the armour set that the Elite''s bought , made them untouchable in the market , gaining massive profits in the market. Now noone wanted to loose the opportunity to land an important item. -------------------------------- ( The True Elites Lifestyle store ) Rudra and Fatty Kalash were sitting in one of the three Elite lifestyle store in the city , today was the launch of a new product line , the advanced mana potion , it was priced at 100 gold coins per bottle , while it costed about 1.5 gold to make , with the overhead of the shop and all , it came to be 3 gold. The profit they were making were ridiculous , Kalash was nervous about the pricing , but Rudra was very confident . Ofcourse he was , he knew that it went for 120 gold in his past life , 100 gold was aldready him chopping the price by 25% Also the level 40 pirate set was added to the display and labelled as coming soon ! To create a buzz. When they were talking , the new system announcement hit. " Ooohhhh , what a good time ". Rudra smiled. He had expected the auction sometime around now , but this just made the timing extremely sweet. Karna had brought back a crazy amount of dough. And the lifestyle would make a lot in the three days leading up to the auction , Rudra felt very confident. He thanked his stars that he got hands on the advanced mana potion , as from now till the auction , it was time to grind insane amounts of money. Rudra gave the shop staff and Fatty Kalash the green signal to go ahead , as a new post promoting the latest product was added to the forums. /// This chapter is an answer to all your summoning calls , consider it a bonus ! We are taking the auction route for now guys , as it was the majority opinion , but the treasure arc would follow! Do not worry, hope you all enjoy! ". /// Chapter 107: Minting money The advert of the Elite lifestyle store selling the advanced mana potion hat 1.3 Million likes in one hour. " Hey , hey , hey. This must be a false promotion right? Even basic mana potions are in tight supply , just how can they have advanced mana potions for sale ". " Holy mother nature , im going to get one! ". " 100 gold is too steep a price , we want discount". " Has anyone actually been to the store to verify this rumor? ". " Yes i have been to the store. Even bought two bottles , have used one as a trial , it works , instantly regenerated all lost mana!!! ". " OMG! Just where did they obtain everything from? ". ------------------------------ ( Meanwhile at the True Elites guild headquarters ) Orochimaru was tasked with gaining intel on the quantity of stock of potions that the Elites possesed. Wether or not they could generate a sizable income. Orochimaru began '' innocently'' asking members , however Rudra had long seen through his scheme. Rudra thought to himself , too bad for you snake, you met the ultimate schemer '' Shakuni '' himself. Rudra laughed inwardly at how he was going to play the child. Then he approached Orochimaru and said " Dont you want to buy some advanced mana potions? Guild members get a 90% discount". Orochimaru was stunned for a second, then realizing the great opportunity he had he said " No sir , how can i reduce guild profits by taking a potion from the limited stocks we have .... And make it suffer losses". He intentionally used the word limited stocks to probe Rudra''s answers , if Rudra said he need not worry about stocks , then they had a sizable stockpile , if he did not it meant the stock they had was very limited. Rudra laughed " well its a marketting stunt anyway , you dont need to worry about the stocks , i agree we could only produce a pitifully low amount of potions just a thousand or so , that too at 96 coins a bottle , this time its just a promotional event to try bring customers to the store , while silently increasing other commodities prices and gain an income ". " You go grab one now, it doesnt really matter much to the guild , id be more happy if its in our members hands ". Rudra said. Orochimaru''s eyes shined ..... He had stumbled upon important intel here. He thanked Rudra and quickly bolted to contact his superior in the Ambani corporation. Rudra laughed .... He wanted to see what organization was actually behind Orochimaru , and today from his reaction he knew that the fish had been hooked , lined and sinker! In his report Orochimaru narrated his understanding of the incidence and that the shops should not have more than 50-100 stocks left. The seniors in Ambani corporation immediately formulated a plan , and sent the Demolition boys vice guild master to buy all remaining stalk under the alliance''s name . They analysed that buying all stock should increase the reputation of the alliance , whereas remove the buzz around the Elites stores. The vice guild master started streaming his feed live , with the title '' BUYING ADVANCED MANA POTION , FULL STOCK! ''. As he approached the Elite store that was currently under FattyKalsh . Rudra had long since told fatry to fleece an incoming ship , soo when an arrogant vice guild master came in there. Fatty naturally licked his lips to see the juicy target. The stream currently had 25K watchers , it was rapidly gaining viewers. " F****... Will he actually buy all stock? ". " This is insane isnt it? It costs 100 gold a bottle , not 100 bronze ..... They cant buy the entire stock can they? ". Speculation about the outcome was currently being made , when the vice guild master said " I want all bottles of the advanced mana potion in your store ". The stream chat went insane , seeing the bold announcement he made Fatty smiled politely ... He knew exactly how to handle such brats . Fatty said " sorry sir , we only sell 2 bottles per customer ". " BOOOO!!! " The chat all booed the hell out of Fatty Kalash. But the response only reinforced INeedToSmash''s thoughts about the stock. They must have very limited stock , hence are not selling. " I will pay 150 coins a bottle , just sell me all stock ". He said. " Ooooooo " the crowd was not anticipating the shopkeepers reply. It was amazing , the stream now had over 100K viewers. Fatty played it cool , he said " Sir , its not about the money , we sell with principles , how can i make an exeption for you ....... ". After a long long pause he added " .... Not that you could have afforded it anyway ". In a low voice , that was meant to be heard. INeedToSmash''s eyelids twitched at the sarcasm.... What did the guy just say? " Okay , okay , you said it , you think im a beggar who is all talk and cant afford to pay up? ". INeedToSmash said " Obviously not , respected sir , its just that you are not even the guild leader of your own guild , let alone the Alliance , lets just say , you dont have enough authority for the sale ". Kalash said polite words that were extremely scathing calmly. INeedToSmash lost it now People on the stream started to comment " BURN BRO". as they thoroughly enjoyed the diss. INeedToSmash contacted some superiors and presented a signed document to kalash , signed by 5 alliance guild leaders saying that he represented the alliance on this matter , in a legally binding Omega document that could not be forged or faked. Looking at the document , Kalash said " okay sir , i apologise for my rudeness , however i still cannot sell you the potions ". INeedToSmash was on the edge now " Oh okay , soo you throw mud at others , however when backed against the wall , you just laugh and say it was a joke , and walk out like nothing happened? , Nonono thats not how it works ..... I know the truth , you probably dont even have 50 potions left to sell right? Iv seen through your petty marketting ploys long ago ". Kalash made shocked expressions as he pretended that words could not escape his mouth .... It seemed like he was caught. INeedToSmash smiled , he thought he had him . Even the stream boiled with insults , as INeedToSmash kept demanding more sales. Finally kalash pretended to give in and call Rudra , sometime later he came back and said . You can buy all the stock at 200 gold a potion , all the stock not one bottle less. " Huh, okay i agree ". INeedToSmash agreed. He found the increase in price ridiculous attempt to gain a little money. A legally binding contract was presented that stated that the alliance will buy the complete stock of advanced mana potions at 200 gold a potion , or assets of equal value shall be siezed from the alliance to make up for lost income. INeedToSmash found the contract only a ruse to scare him from signing , as infront of 250K streamers watching he signed it. Thunderous applause started in the live chat , as everyone appreciated INeedToSmash . It was at this moment that fatty kalash showed his sinister smile and said " Congratulations sir , the final amount comes to 2.4716 MILLION gold ! ". /// I mean damn!!!!!! Crazy chapter guys!!! Also about golden tickets and powerstones guys a book supposedly only gets featured if they have enough tickets and i live for the stones , i am really trying hard at 2 chapters a day this week , please show the support you guys always have! Lets get back into top 100 powerstone rankings and move up to top 40 in ticket rankings ". /// Chapter 108: Crisis at the alliance " Congratulations sir , the final amount comes to 2.471 million gold coins ". Kalash smiled a sinister smile. INeedToSmash '' s world just collapsed at this number , he felt like the Earth was spinning under his feet. "I Am sorry , i think i misheard the number , will you please repeat it for me? ". INeedToSmash was loosing his damn mind. " 2.471 million gold coins sire, but as you are purchasing at such a large bulk i will wave off the .001 fees and make it a round number of 2.47 million ". Kalash smiled amiably. " You...you....you .....". INeedToSmash wanted to speak. However nomatter what he thought off , words did not come out of his mouth . Just what could he say ? He had aldready signed a legally binding contract twice with the system . Upon Kalash''s provocation he talked to his guild master who talked to other alliance members and signed a document saying that he was responsible for the negotiations on behalf of the alliance here. Then without inquiring about the stock that the guild had , relying on his information from superiors and wanting to look extremely cool on the livestream he went with the flow to sign another document saying he will purchase all stock at double the price. Who knew that the guild did not have 50 , did not have 100 , not 1,000 not 10,000 but 12, 358 bottles of advanced mana potion !!!!!! His information was not slightly wrong it was an estimation error of over 2000% it was not even in the ballpark. His guild did not have this kind of money , hell not even the alliance could fork such a huge sum like that , it would seriously affect the guilds day to day working cycle. He being the one responsible will be forced to take brunt of the blame , his career as vice guild master was over. All the fame , all the glory , all the power that came with being the vice guild master of such a prominent first rate guild. All would be gone here. He looked at Kalash full of hatred he screamed " YOU CHEATED ME? ". Fatty Kalash was a lot of things , he was fat , loyal to a fault to his friends , a bit of a nerd when it came to blacksmithing and buisness , however what he was not was someone who could be intimidatede easily. He was a sly and cutthroat Buisnessman who had no remorse for those he stepped over. He was not Rude like Rudra , or dominating , yet in his own polite way , he would give his enemies nightmares for life. Kalash said calmly " I told you dear customer , your guild is not qualified enough to purchase our whole stock of materials , yet you insisted on buying them , that two at double the price , even signed an agreement , are you going to blame me now? ". The chat that was silent since the figure was announced was now suddenly in a burst '' HOLY MOTHER OF COWS , THEY HAVE OVER 12 K advanced mana potions in stock ... Too strong'' '' The demolitionboys are done for now , who asked them to show off soo much '' . '' Hahahahahaha , this is too funny , suits you right you showoff''. '' RIP alliance '' ''RIP alliance '' . . . . . '' RIP alliance ''. Even the alliance members watching the stream were now hounding the Demolitionboys like mad hounds , they wanted absoluteley no part in paying off the mad debt , the entire guilds capital system would collapse if they wanted to pay off the debt at a one and done type payment. The value of gold to USD currently was at 1 gold =423.6 USD It was a commodity under constant fluctuation , it was at a crazy high at 1 gold = 5000 USD at start of the game , however with more gold flowing into the game through mining the commodity value stabilized at 420 dollars and was at an increase since the announcement of the auction . Currently at 423.6 the debt in USD that the alliance owed the Elites was 1,046,969,760 USD Meaning over a billion dollars total! Every member though backed by billionares themselves would feel the pinch of this buy. The stated time limit for payment in the contract was a pathetically low 1 hour. Hence INeedToSmash needed to act quick. He rushed out of the store as Kalash said " We will deliver the product to your guild warehouse , Thankyou for your patronage". INeedToSmash wanted to vomit blood at the last line..... But he persevered as he ran like a madman towards the guild headquarters , but in his run of madness he forgot an extremely important point , that his stream was still on! The guildmaster of Demolitionboys Ilovesmashing was in a never before experienced peril. The alliance members shrugged off responsibility and had asked Demolitionboys to pay up themselves. He was in deep heat with the construction company behind the guild for this stupid decision. The alliance was based on a mutual exchange of shares , and the other 6 members promised to dump the 21% shares they controlled on the open market making the company price to go down a freefall , should they not bare responsibility themselves. Also a threat to kick them out of the Alliance ensued. Ilovesmashing contacted the Ambani corporation , however at this critical moment the Ambani corporation executives were unexpectedly out of reach. INeedToSmash barged into the office panting , as Ilovesmashing lost his damn mind , he shouted at INeedToSmash " YOU PIECE OF GARBAGE ". As he threw a vicious punch on the man . All the while , the livestream was on , the antics being watched by over 20 million people live! /// Guys we just hit 1 million views! I am absolutely overwhelmed as i feel like this is a dream come true. My first novel did not even have 30 K views when i started my writing journey and it has truly been a wild ride. Thankyou all who pushed me past this mark , those who supported the Novel when it was nothing , now that we are in the million club , naturally i as the author promise to deliver that kind of content level. This is just one of my happiest days you all , Thankyou again from the bottom of my heart . Also again a shoutout to Leo_Crispii for the 500 coin gift , these things really get me going! /// Chapter 109: Exposed Ilovesmashing had completely lost it. He hurled insults after insults on INeedToSmash for his incompetency. INeedToSmash took it silently , without a single retort. After a while , when Ilovesmashing calmed down , he began frenzily calling the alliance guild masters again to look for a way out. Only 15 minutes in the deadline remained , and all the alliance members had shaken off responsibility of paying the debt to Demolitionboys. The Ambani corporation was out of reach. And their parent construction company absolutely refused to use the company''s cashflow to buy gold for the guild. Ilovesmashing tried to explain that it was not all bad , the potions they had were worth about 500 million dollars. Soo it was only a loss of another 500 million. However no matter how they tried to convince anyone to buy the advanced mana potions from them , to generate even a little amount of gold , noone wanted to buy it at the current moment. Only 7 minutes remained on the timer. Ilovesmashing started to calculate the guilds assests , the guild only had about a milion gold to pay in liquid assets , the rest were fixed assets like , rare equipments. Potions and recipes. But the contract stated that the Elite''s would get the pick of what to choose , should they default on the contract. He was having a mental breakdown , without the guilds cashflow , mentaining day to day operations was impossible. They had 12, 000 guild members , doing missions on a payroll , for the guild. How would they pay death compensations , how would they issue rewards for missions. Without the proper benefits the members would leave the guild in a flood. Without the members will they still be a first rate guild? . It was the snowball effect. Where a single bad choice would shake the very foundations of the guild. What if tommorow they become a third rate guild who the second rate guilds start bullying. Those second rate guilds who would usually bow in fear would now boss over them? This was unacceptable to Ilovesmashing. He was a pridefull man , he could not accept this outcome. However the parent companies held the shares of the parent companies of all alliance guilds. It was them who were the basis of the alliance. With the parent guild showing a strong stance of cutting off the Demolitionboys , and treat them as a lost project , they had no leverage left over the other guild members left , to make them pay the debt. With only 2 minutes left , Ilovesmashing started beating the hell out of INeedToSmash in frustration , his tyrannical actions being witnessed by millions on stream. His desperate attempts to convince the other guilds , to the shallow unity of the alliance , everything was exposed today , as the true side of the first rate guilds was revealed. Ilovesmashing became public enemy number one , as sympathy arose for INeedToSmash. His brutal beat up , agitated the crowd. Who turned from jeering the man to rooting for him. They had completely turned to his side here. Finally at only 30 seconds left , Ilovesmashing sat down beside INeedToSmash and started laughing a maniacal laughter " Were finished ... All the snakes we worked with .... The alliance , the Ambani corporation , idiots like you ... My careers over ". He name dropped Ambani corporation here ..... Live infront of millions! The countdown hit 0 as the system notification in red flashed on their screens for defaulting a contract. The syetem then freezed all assets belonging to the guild , as a list of system evaluated prices was generated and sent to Rudra , to compensate in however form he wished to compensate for the agreed sum of money . Nothing could be hidden. As all their cards were now opened before their enemies. The true Elite''s. Every recipe they ever obtained. Every forging technique ,every single equipment. Anything could be chosen by the Elites now , as the system made a list of everything they possesed. They could only watch on in despair , as their hardwork was legally and in broad daylight robbed by their enemies. Rudra took a good look at all the items they possesed , and although there was nothing too special the guild did have another page of demons diary and tier 3 one time use spell tome , thunderblast! Rudra chose the two items at a 100K gold , the one million gold currency that they had , and other miscellaneous items and armour. He genuinely bought one or two pieces from a complete set , making the rest of the enemies equipment worthless , as no set would trigger the complete set effect now. Although acting this way was a loss in the bigger picture , however the enemy suffered much more soo he was content. ------------------------------- ( Meanwhile , real world the upside , the grey tower) Ethan grey was sitting on his desk. Rotating his 40 thousand dollar Parker pen , between his fingers. Focused on the challenge ahead. His this life guru and current thorn by the side , Mithun Ambani. Ever since he lost his reincarnator edge , his confidence in himself became shaky , he felt everything he achieved was because of his knowledge. He had forgotten about the essence of the man Ethan Grey himself. However he snapped out of that illusion now. If war is what Ambani wanted. He would show him the power of the Grey international. Choosing Omega as his playing field , Ethan started to plot his own masterpiece. Ethan shrugged of his sloppiness that came after 2100 hit , he had became too reliant on Rudra and hence went too soft. For the coming auction he made a super plan. He decided to give 1 billion dollar fund injection to True Elites and 3 billion injection to The grey main guild. His plan started with using his monetary strength to open a market in omega , and he would follow through with plan A in a grand fashion , just like that 4 billion dollars worth of gold was purchased in a single day by the Grey international. /// Hope you enjoyed the chapter. This is a plea for powerstones , any help will be appreciated. A bonus chapter will be released if we make it back into top 100 this week. After being at 104 currently at the time of writing this chapter. /// Chapter 110: Auction (1) Orochimaru got a lot of heat following his blunder from the Ambani corporation. Whereas the name drop on the livestream caused a lot of suspicions and problems for the Ambani corporation themseleves. Orochimaru''s identitiy as spy was in a threat , however as the spy was not mentioned in the livestream , thankfully he was still of use. But he was walking on eggshells here as everything he would say from now on would be taken with a pinch of salt. However Rudra understood everything he needed to understand from that one line dropped. He knew Orochimaru was in the Ambani main guild back in his past life , he knew beyond shadow of a doubt who was pulling the strings behind the scenes. And boy o boy did he plan to manipulate the opposition into his favour. Rudra had raised an incredible amount of money for the coming auction. Leaving over 2 million gold in emergency reserves fund for the guild , and 2 million more for operations which was aldready a bloated number as not even 50 thousand gold were being used on a monthly basis by the guild. Not to mention the non liquid assets like armours and swords and potions. Following Ethans injection of 2.5 million gold into the guild and the robbing of Demolitionboys for 1 million more. The Elites had a ridiculous amount of 30 million gold prepared for the auction. With an additional option of platinum , which they held over 20 thousand. It was to be noted that 1 platinum = 1000 gold Hence the 20 thousand meant another 20 million gold coins , bringing their total wealth to a whopping 50 million gold total. Yes the guild was filthy rich , rich beyond reason! Ofcourse this was thanx to Karna and his escapade at the Endless Ocean dungeon , without his loot of the 21 million gold and 10 thousand platinum , the guild would still be more on the reasonable side. However Rudra felt incredibly confident in contesting for items with the amount of gold he carried for this auction. The other guilds could only watch in despair this time around . The Alliance aldready had the news about the 21 million gold brought in by Karna over the dungeon spoils as Orochimaru disclosed it , it was aldready a matter of despair for them , as 21 million gold was not a sum they could fork out easily. However Orochimaru''s information was now being scrutinized seriously , adding a margin of error , they estimated the Elites with all their buisnesses to posses 15-25 million gold . They decided to have a fund against the Elites of atleast 30 million , to outbid them on critical items. However unity was a big problem in the alliance , as not everyone of the seven members could fork out equal amounts of money. The Demolitionboys were useless at this point , as everyone was debating their position within the alliance. However as barely as they were running , they were still scrapping by , hence they were allowed a seat for now. The alliance proposed its members to fork 3 million gold , for the 6 remaining members after a lot of infighting , and Demolitionboys sold more fixed assests to fork in 1 million. Through hook and crook they barely raised 19 million gold for the auction. It was a farcry from the 30 they hoped for, however they would restrain themselves and only bid for the more important items now! ------------------------------------ ( In the wild , grinding mobs , POV Neatwit. ) -2500 -2500 -2500 -5000 Critical hit! YOU HAVE SLAYED 4 TROLLS ! +20000 Exp + 5 troll teeth +1 troll armour ( Rare) +1 troll club ( common) LEVEL UP! ----------------------- Player Name : Neatwit Title : Pioneer Class : Warlock Subclass : Bombmaker LVL:48 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 270 VIT : 250 INT : 190 STA : 260 PHY : 220 HP : 17,000/17,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ???? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Doom bracelet , shoulder pads ( Epic) Weapons : Unnamed ( semi legendary ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers , Kunai knife. Skills : Slash , Jab , Windslash , Dark devour , Black Rune attack . Class specific skills : Supreme assaulter , supreme mage Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : none ----------------------- He had just levelled up , he was 3 levels clear of the next guy at level 45 on the rankings. He sighed in relief , then took a look at his precious unnamed sword , a mysterious semi legendary sword he got from doing a quest. It was the reason behind his mad quick levlling and off the charts attacks. He then remembered that there was an auction coming up , taking a look at his inventory , full of monster parts. He sold everything to the system at 80% the market rate. For most players even carrying 100K gold was an astronomical figure , however the amount of gold Neatwit had on himself , far exeeded anyones wildest imaginations at a whopping 6 million! Why was he soo rich? Why did he have a semi legendary weapon ? Nobody knew . Not a single soul! He smiled as he transferred 5 million to Rudra , with a note , buy something good like bombs to make me help level faster! Rudra was shocked at seeing the incredible amount of money that neatwit sent , this was the amount many first rate guilds had combined. With Neatwits last minute addition and only 3 minutes till the auctions start , there was a total budget of 55 million gold that Rudra walked into the auction with! /// Neatwit is a crazy character guys , dont be dissapointed currently , i assure you that his actions may seem like sudden and out of nowhere for now , however they have a big involvement in the plot. You will not be dissapointed down the line ! As the author i only want to tell you , please watchout for the character , he may not turn out what he seems he is! The month and week is about to end , please give me the last push needed to enter top 100 in powerstone rankings and top 40 in golden ticket rankings , any help will be much much appreciated ! We are at 103 , 44 respectively , not too far guys , should both goals be met , expect 3 bonus chapters on this monday! /// Chapter 111: Auction (2) The auction house seating was decided on how much money you walked into the auction with. The minimum requirement to take part in todays auction was 10,000 gold , with anyone having over 1 million gold being given the VIP rooms. In every VIP room , a total of seven people could be invited to take a seat. Naturally in Hazelgroove kingdom there were only 2 VIP rooms occupied , one by the alliance and the other by the Elites. As Green signs lit up above the rooms VIP1 And VIP2 , everyone in attendance understood that the big players had arrived. Rudra had decided to bring Fatty Kalash and Karna along for the auction this time. Although Rudra remembered majority of the items that are to show up in today''s auction due to past life memories, he still paid attention to the list of items being announced for auction today. The auction had two divisions this time around , with 40 common items and 10 super items to bring a total of 50 items to bid for. The list of common items to bid for was as follows. Weapons ( 10 items ) grade (rare to dark gold ) Rare ingredients ( 10 items ) grade ( rare to dark gold) Potion Recipes ( 3 items ) grade ( gold ) Forging designs ( 3 items) grade ( gold ) Incomplete designs ( 4 items ) grade (??) Skill books ( 10 items) grade ( rare to dark gold) For a total of 40 items. For a detailed list one needed to tap on any of the options to look at the indepth items coming up for bidding. Rudra was honestly intrested in a few items like the skill books and the rare ingredients. For the weapons , his guild had plenty good ones , he would only buy if it was cheap. For other stuff like design manuals he would only bid at the incomplete one''s. As the incomplete designs are usually part of a complete design that is epic grade minimum. He decided to keep a budget of 3 million gold for this segment. However the highlight of the auction was the last ten items. The list was as follows:- [ Electric Net ] ( Dark gold) :- a net used to capture mounts in the wild for the very first time. Immobilizes the target , making them less likely to submit and thwarts escape attempts. [ Hephaestus''s Mallet ] ( dark gold ) ( upgradable ) : a must have for blacksmiths , the mallet was designed keeping the forging god as an idol , increases crafting efficiency by 25% . [ A page from Demon''s Diary ] : ???? [ Spell book ] [ Endless devastation ] : turns the ground into a barren wasteland , debuffs everyone exept the caster of the spell , in a 200 meter radius. Effect 1 : -5% AGI. Effect 2 : -5 % PHY. [ Spell book ] [ Stormbringer ] : Zaps the enemy with a huge bolt of lightning , sure to trigger lightning damage. +200% lightning damage. 50% chance to stun the target . +5% chance to trigger critical damage. [ Potion recipe ] ( Intermediate mana potion ) : A recipe to create a potion that refill lost mana quickly . [ Blueprint ] ( Reinforced brick ) : A blueprint for Reinforced concrete bricks , makes a structure extremely strong. [ Blueprint ] ( fishing rod ) : A blueprint to create a device that catch fishes and other ocean mounts. Hazelgroove special items :- [ Red jewel ] ( quest item ) :- an item wanted by crown prince Aman . Chances of rewards upon delivering. [ Gold chalice ] : being sought after by a mysterious faction. ------------------- These were the ten items out for auction today , the first 48 items were the same for all kingdoms across all continents. The last 2 items were special to Hazelgroove kingdom and were linked with main story plot lines. . Uptill now in the game , quests and the main plot story played a very minimal role , as the players strength was not sufficient to make an impact on the plot lines as a whole , as the tier0 players were not even ants infront of those pulling the strings. But slowly as players started growing stronger , and progressing tiers , they would be engrossed in more and more quests and the game plot. The two items here the first red jewel entangled one with the royal faction of Hazelgroove , when the secret about the crown prince being practising necromancy became known , there was immense retaliation from the masses , and the royal faction had to supress the riots using force. It ended in a bloodbath . Should the one who delivers the red jewel to the crown prince choose his side in the war , they would suffer backlash from common npc''s and protestors. Should they oppose the royal faction , they would eventually be suppressed by the army. All in all it was a bad questline to get involved in , hence Rudra wanted nothing to do with it. However the second item had his intrest, the chalice was wanted by the faction behind the blood merchant , the main storyline of the game. Wether or not he had anything in the auction , he absolutely wanted the last item at all costs! Rudra geared himself up after confirming the identity of all items to be the same as his past life. He was glad that his knowledge and actions had not changed the current world too much as of now . He had more than enough funds prepared for the auction , hence was confident at bidding for various important items. However the same couldnt be said for the alliance , completely feeling lost at what to buy , as sufficient information was not provided for any items , they felt they were at a big loss. 7 guildmasters kept arguing over what to bid and who should be the main voice of the bidding game today , as they just could not reach a consensus. The majority voting kept rejecting items after items that should be bid on , even after that the budget kept becoming an issue. Finally not even 3 items gained majority consensus. The situation was not in favour of the guild , as PinkLotus felt frustrated in the room. /// Last day of the week guys, can we make top 100 powerrankings?? 3 bonuses tommorow should we achieve the target , also looking for the last push in golden tickets before the month ends. Thankyou for all the support ! /// Chapter 112: Auction (3) The auction started as the announcer introduced himself . This time around it was surprisingly an female announcer for the event , a fairy at that with beautiful rainbow wings behind her white dress. Against common misconception , fairies are not palm sized in Omega , they are full human sized people , their distinctive feature from the winged human race was their rainbow transparent wings and their pointy ears . The announcer had an extremely pleasant voice as she started the auction with greetings " Ladies and gentlemen , the auction committee extends their warmest welcomes to everyone here in attendance today , we hope the bidding process will go smoothly and everyone will have a great experience. Before we start the auction process , please let me remind you off the rules 1 Any raise of the plack card would result in a minimum bid increment. There are no '' mistakenly'' raising of placks , once raised , will be considered as a bid. 2 Borrowing of money is allowed this time around in the auction , just before making any bids , make sure the person making the bid , has the amount in person. All invalid bids will be denied by the system , and the second highest bidder shall gain the item , whereas the invalid bidder will be subjected to monetary fines. 3 incremental bids of money greater than minimum increment need to be spoken into the microphone provided to each participant. 4 the auction house shall have no responsibility of the item. Once delivered to customer. Alright ladies and gentlemen. Please enjoy your time here. " She said cutely as the first item was brought om the stage. The auction arena had 18 thousand participants this time around. Rudra was shocked to see the huge crowded arena , it was a slugfest. Rudra could imagine the intense bidding in this crowd of people. He thanked his lucky stars he was there sitting in VIP , the last time he participated in the auction he was one of those unrecognisable faces in the crowd. A small time guild leader with just over 15 thousand gold for the auction , desperately bidding on every item that could be afforded , but walking out without a single one. Sitting in the VIP he could not help but get nostalgic over his past. The first item was brought out for the auction , it was the weapons section that was brought out first , starting with a rare grade bow for 1000 gold coins minimum increment of 100 . 2000 some enthusiastic kid shouted 2100 2300 2500 2700 Before even 5 seconds passed there were a variety of bids being thrown. Rudra sighed at these idiots. The bow wasn''t even worth the initial 1000 they proposed. It was rare grade for gods sake , no need to fight over it like dogs. The first bid went to a third rate guild leader at 6700 gold coins. He had absolutely overpaid the price , however the respect he gained for the money forked out was probably worth it to him. There were murmurings going around , some couldnt beleive someone just forked out 6700 gold at once. How shocked would they become when Rudra started bidding later. The second weapon then came. Then the third . Fourth . . . . . . Finally the last weapon was brought out for auction. It was a dark gold grade assasins dagger . The initial bid was for 10,000 gold with a minimum increment of 500 The Buyout was at 60 thousand gold. The bidding opened 11,000 12,000 20,000 23,000 25,000 30,000 32,000 33,000 There was intense bidding competition going on Finally just as the annoucer said " 33,000 going one .... Going twice ....". Rudra said " Buyout ! ". Boom just like that 60 K spent ! Everyone in the audience felt shocked ..... Just how rich was VIP1 to increase the price from 33 to 60 K without batting an eye. Even the previous bidder for the item felt baffled at the development. What just happened? Was he just waiting for others to fight like kids before just snooping in to buy it out? Fairy smiled as she said " congratulations vip1 for winning the item ". Meanwhile at the alliance VIP room no 2 , they were all casually observing the situation developing , there were 3 alliance leaders in favour of buying the dagger , but four were against hence they did not bid on it. They sure felt surprised at how easily the Elites box said buyout for the item though . " Huh , idiots wasting money on small items , probably wont have enough left for the big ones " Ilovesmashing sarcastically said. But PinkLotus countered immediately " anyone with half a brain would know they are not to be underestimated , if anything this action prooves they have deeper pockets than we think. " The other leaders agreed , it made Ilovesmashing look like a fool. So he just snorted and took his seat. However he kept glaring daggers at PinkLotus. Yua just shrugged it off. She kept thinking about Rudra in the box across though , and how they always kept ending in different factions and were never together , how much did she long for them to be in the same box , rather than these bunch of arguing idiots. However things were the way they were and her wishful thinking was not going to change anything . Soon the second segment of rare ingredients came up for auction. The thing with this segment was , nobody really knew the real use of the things being displayed here , they did not know the worth , hence everyone was reluctant to pay up . Well everyone but the reincarnator who had the knowledge about every single herb being presented . Rudra just kept saying buyout after buyout for all 10 herbs , forking about 400 thousand gold in the single segment. By now everyone just went crazy ..... Just who was that mad guy in VIP box 1? Before anyone could even place a bid for the initial sum , he shouted buyout! This way of gaming .... TOO RICH! /// Okay guys the week is over , we ended at 103 in powerstone rankings not meeting the target , its okay though guys i know its my fault , i have been experimenting with the book , i have delivered 14 chapters this week and have set absolutely no targets , wanted to see how far you guys carry me on your own will. However i now understand bonus is the incentive to get the stones , soo fine. Bonus for powerstones it will be . 600 stones - 1 bonus 1200 stones - 2 bonus 1800 stones - 3 bonus 2400 stones - 5 bonus 3000 stones - 7 bonus ! Also thankyou for the golden ticket support , that area has been overwhelmingly good. Special shoutout to my man bwensbos for the 20 golden tickets! Appreciate that brother. /// Chapter 113: Auction (4) The next item up was the Potion Recipes , now this segment had many intrested buyers , potion recipes could be a one time investment that would generate potentially endless returns , if all the cards are played correctly. But it is only worth being purchased at the right price , some potion recipes are having an extremely nich¨¨ use , while some recipes are inferior to other products in the market , only for the correct price is it worth it. The first potion recipe up for bidding was the basic poison dispell potion! Starting bid - 15000 gold. Minimum increment - 500 gold. Buyout - 100,000 gold. The item was not bad , and had many intrested bidders , especially the 2 nd rate guilds , they wanted this item to become the backbone of their guilds economy. Most people looked towards VIP room 1 before placing the initial bid. They were scared that it would buyout the moment it was placed. After waiting for a good ten seconds , and hearing no voice from VIP 1 , someone shouted 16,000 18,000 21,000 22,000 26,000 29,000 The intense bidding war had started. Rudra looked at the product and the surging price , it was a good product to have to be honest , however because it was the basic poison dispell potion , he felt it dint fit the theme of Elite lifestyle , had it been intermediate or advanced grade , he would have bought it in a heartbeat. Kalash was baffled at how Rudra bid at the auctions , he was of an opinion that even if 1000 gold could be saved it should be saved , but his opinion fell on deaf ears as Rudra did as Rudra liked. Karna sighed at this scene , he did not understand Rudra''s actions at all , buying ingredients whose name he had never heard , for the buyout prices , it was not ideal in his view. However time and time again Rudra has shown that his actions always have a deeper meaning, hence he trusted the leader and kept mum. Meanwhile the bid for the basic poison dispell potion reached the 50,000 mark! It seemed like a second rate guild would win the bidding war as no other bids were being heard , when finally for the first time VIP2 placed a bid. 60,000 gold coins! A direct increment of 10,000! , Although not as flamboyant as Rudra directly saying buyout , it was still flashy . The second rate guild felt despair , it did not have more than 70,000 liquid funds total , should he use more than 60,000 on a single item. It would be bad for the guild. Cursing in their minds , they kept their silence. The fairy auctioneer went on to say 70,000 going once . 70,000 going twice .... 70,000 going thrice , congratulations to VIP2 for the item. The alliance cheered after winning their first item , the overall atmosphere had improved a little as it was decided that Scorpio the leader of SeaOfPoison guild would become the spokesperson for the auction , and all transactions under 500,000 will need no majority voting and could be decided by him alone. Hence under this agreement , the first part of the auction for the bidding of common items , would be taken care by him. The items kept coming , as more and more recipes were out for auction . Every item saw passionate bidding as the smaller guilds kept fighting over minimum increments to win the bidding war. The second item went for 45,000 gold to a second rate guild. Simmilarly item 3 went for 50K to a third rate guild. Item 4,5,6 were bought by other 2 nd rate guilds in the neighborhood of 40-55 K Only when item 7 came out , did Rudra''s interest pique. Item 7 was appearance alteration potion [ Appearance alteration potion ] ( intermediate) : put in a strand of hair of the person whose appearance you wish to take Effects : changes your face and body type to fit the appearance of the target. Note : does not change the height and voice ! Time limit : 30 minutes. Initial bidding price : 30,000 gold Minimum increment : 1000 gold . Buyout : 150,000 gold The bidding started enthusiastically for the item. 40,000 gold. 45,000 gold. 50,000 gold. 60,000 gold. When the bidding slowed down a little after the initial outburst. VIP 2 bid 75,000 gold! Everyone turned their heads to look up at VIP2. They were in awe of the grandeur of the big guilds. Still some second rate guilds did not wish to leave the item as they countered at 80,000 gold! Scorpio was pissed by the counter as he said 100,000 gold! The second rate guilds were silenced now , 100,000 was about their limit for a single item . The fairy went 100,000 going once. 100,000 going twice... BUYOUT! A sound came from VIP1 Rudra waited till the last second to buyout the item , just to piss off VIP2 , he had long made his mind he wanted it , and with VIP2 bidding he knew he would either get it at buyout or not at all. But still he wanted them to feel that they are winning the bid , untill he crushed their hopes at the last moment . Fairy said " Congratulations to VIP1 for winning the bid". Rudra was very pleased with himself , and Karna was shaking his head .... '' he''s a teenage kid , the leaders mental age is not more than 13 ''. Scorpio had a vein bulging on his forehead , as he was extremely pissed at Rudra. Ilovesmashing cursed out loud " That cheeky ba*****, always a thorn in our side ". They had no choice but to move on. The mood had worsened though , everyone in the room was a little angry. The potion recipes 8 , 9 ,10 were pretty much useless as the market aldready had those circulating , hence after the intense bidding for item 7 , they went for the low prices of 30 K , 35K and 37 K . The potion segment came to a close with that , and the next segment of the incomplete recipes started. /// Shoutout to Raging_silver for the 1000 coin gift! , Appreciate that brother /// Chapter 114: Auction (5). [ plot thickens ] For the next segments Rudra let Karna take the lead. Men are unreasonable people who are superstitious , although Rudra did not know the exact reason , he felt Karna was an incredibly lucky man. And should he bid for the unknown items and that there will be something unexpectedly good coming out of it. Karna much obliged Rudra''s request, actually he really wanted to get the bidding feeling , he was really exited to take part in the auction. There were (4) incomplete designs and Rudra asked him to buy all four of them . There was no information on the incomplete designs. Hence it could be any material. It could be design of a sword or design of some Armor or even design of some accessories like necklaces. One had absolutely no idea what may pop up from the incomplete designs. However one thing was for sure , it would be incomplete. Half a design or one third of a design. If the blacksmith and engineer working together are talented enough , then they may figure out the rest. But for most complicated designs , it was impossible, and usually the self guessed modifications would lead to an inferior overall product. Hence it was better not to waste time on it. Naturally even the alliance members were very much interested in trying their luck on these items . The incomplete designs were being sold individually, hence theoritically without any information , all four should have gone for the same price. However in reality that was not the case. [ Incomplete design] ( part ?/?) ( Grade : ??? ) : An incomplete design of an object. Initial price : 60,000 gold Minimum increment : 1500 gold Buyout price 200,000 gold. The bidding started ... 60,000 66,000 75,000 90,000 1,00,500 was the final bid from a second rate guild , it was then that the alliance made their first big bid. 1,40,000 from VIP box 2 Karna was just standing there , watching the entire bidding process , somehow he had frozen , he could not process how to bid currently as his heart wished to make minimum increment , however his mind told him to make a big increment to make his interest clear. Then there was also the reputation of VIP1 to take care of, as Rudra was there making buyouts after buyouts. Then he thought '' ooo f*** the reputation , im gonna do as my heart says''. He bid 141500 gold! Everyone in the audience was shocked , this was not VIP1 ''s style , he usually only did buyouts , yet right now he did minimum increment? Is he toying with VIP2? The auctioneer announced it " We have 141500 from VIP1 , do we have 1,50,000 ? ". 150,000 gold ! Shouted scorpio , clearly pissed with the ever incessant bidding of the Elites. There was Karna bidding 1,51,500 gold! There was a loud laugh from everyone in the audience, everyone felt that VIP1 was just messing with VIP 2 . In a fit of anger , Scorpio directly said , BUYOUT! " Its a buyout for VIP 2 " , congratulations on winning the item. The people in VIP 2 were a little annoyed at havind to buyout an item , and a little exited to see what it was. They opened the design , it turned out to be a useless necklace [ Pearl necklace ] ( 1/2) ( rare) : charm +1 Restrictions : female only . Scorpio cursed their badluck ... What a useless item! They just paid 200K for it , what an absolute watse of money. Rudra just sighed , why was his vice guild master such a huge miser. Rudra said " Ohh goddamnit Karna , you single handedly have brought back more than 20 million gold to the guild , we have a budget of over 50 , please overcome your base instincts and buyout the remaining items ". He absolutely admonished Karna and asked him to buyout the rest 3 designs immediately. Karna wanted to argue , but also he understood , that yeah the Elite''s were ridiculously rich and they need not worry for a sum of 600K gold . He did as he was told, buying out the other 3 designs. The alliance were feeling happy inside , as they hoped the Elites paid a huge price for getting absolutely nothing in return , however boy o boy were they wrong. The 3 designs turned out to be.... [ Automatic arrow shooting ballista ] ( 1/3) ( Epic) : A piece of the design of automatic arrow shooting ballista . Arrow capacity in one round : 2000 Reload time : 1 minute. Restriction : Cannot load heavy javellins . It was a damn good design ..... Rudra''s eyes almost popped out of his sockets when he saw it. Karna was damn lucky! , This was a great design. Rudra now anticipated the second design even more. [ Automatic arrow shooting ballista ] ( 2/3) ( Epic) : A piece of the design of automatic arrow shooting ballista . Arrow capacity in one round : 2000 Reload time : 1 minute. Restriction : Cannot load heavy javellins . WHATT THE HELL.... KARNA''S LUCK WAS WAYY TOO GOOD! Rudra''s heart was beating fast now ..... He dint dare to even dream that what would happen if the last design was also an automatic arrow shooting ballista ..... But what if ..... Just what if...? [ Automatic arrow shooting ballista ] ( 3/3) ( Epic) : A piece of the design of automatic arrow shooting ballista . Arrow capacity in one round : 2000 Reload time : 1 minute. Restriction : Cannot load heavy javellins . IT HAPPENED!!!! HE HAD THE COMPLETE DESIGN! Rudra jumped out of his seat , as he tackled Karna into a hug ........ He dint have words for this event. Karna''s luck was just heaven defying .... Had anyone else opened the items , it would not have turned out this way , Rudra was sure of it. The item was wayy too good , Rudra dint even care about the rest of the auction , just this score alone would make his guild untouchable in the near future. Untouchable , unstoppable , a true overlord!!!! -------------- ( In the wilds , POV Neatwit ) A man in black hood and robes stood infront of Neatwit , interrupting his mob grinding. The man said " Sir Naman , your father Mr Ambani wishes to speak with you , its been 13 years since you left home sir , he wishes to make things right again ". Neatwit glared at the man ..... he was angry! Chapter 115: Who is Neatwit? Neatwit glared at the man in the robe, he was absolutely furious ! His ''so called '' father had the guts to call him back home after everything that had happened? Neatwit , aka Naman Ambani was the son of Mithun Ambani and and then mistress Nia Cage. Mithun aldready had a wife and two kids when he had an affair with Nia , naturally his first wife was not best pleased with the ordeal. However things got ugly when his mom Nia got pregnant with twins . Naman and his twin sister Naomi were born as a result. Mithun reluctantly adopted the kids and the mistress into the Ambani household where they were raised untill they were six. Although a part of the same household , They were forced to live in the servant quarters and were never given the official recognition of family. Never brought to public light , never given the title of '' children'' of Mithun Ambani. Ambani''s real wife absolutely loathed the kids , and soo did his first two children , one 8 and one 6 years elder to the twins, both bullied the small kids right from the childhood. The only company Naman ever had was his twin sister Naomi and his mom Nia , and he loved them both dearly. His mom was not a foolish person however , as living in the Ambani mansion , all she did for six years was gather evidence , irrefutable evidence that Naomi and Naman were indeed Mithun Ambani''s children. Videos of his real wife calling them bastards , video of Ambani calling them a mistake , Video of them and their treatment in the mansion. She also collected Ambani''s hair and nails as DNA evidence that she got tested in lab as proof of bloodline. Then one day when all the evidences she needed were collected , she sent the package and her two kids to her best friend , as she went on to confront Mithun Ambani. Nia threatened Mithun to go public with all the overwhelming evidence if she , and her two children were not given the official status of being Ambani''s. And with official status she meant 6% shares in the company and a seat at the board. This was the first time , anyone strong armed Mithun Ambani into signing a contract. A contract that made Nia a board member and her two children eligible to become board members and recieve the inheritance when they turn 21. It was a big win for Nia as she celebrated on call with her bestfriend telling her the good news, asking her to send over all the evidence to the decided drop location. But the happiness did not last for long ... Just after the Ambani corporation recieved the drop package and had made Nia sign an agreement that all the contents within the package can no longer be used to threaten or leverage the Ambani corporation in any form in the future , and will be inadmissible any court of law around the world. That same day , in the temporary hotel room she was staying in , she called her friend , and exitedly talked about her and her children''s bright future. But suddenly Nia said " Who are you , how did you get in here? " And following that... there were three gunshots heard on the phone.....and then there were Nia''s screams ... And her bestfriend knew , Nia had died there! Making a quick decision , she quickly packed her essentials and grabbed the two kids and fled the country that day itself. Which prooved to be the smartest decision she ever made, because had she not the kids would have died that day then and there and she with them . She raised the twins herself for 14 years .... Now they were 20 , soon to turn 21 . Naman and Naomi naturally had nothing but hatred for the soo called father of theirs , because of whom , they lived a life in a isolated village out in nowhere. No internet , no cellphones , no credit cards , nothing that can trace their identities back to them and give assasins a target. It is due to this that Naman had an intense desire to be at the top of the levelling spot. Where everyone could notice him , even his name Neatwit , was a direct contrast to the insults his step brother would hurl at him everyday calling him a ''Dimwit'' . Naman grew up to look strikingly simmilar to Mithun Ambani , hence when the file on the top ranking player was brought up by the Ambani corporation , it was quickly noticed he looked like the CEO , raising a huge mess inside the corporation as to those who knew what transpired. Should the twins turn 21 they would control 9% of the corporation each , inheriting their mothers share too for a total of 18%. Having two seats on the board ..... That was a very dangerous thought to have . They could cause the company serious irreversible damage should they wish so. 18% of a multitrillion dollar company was no joke ..... It was in trillions ! The Ambani corporation had grown desperate over the years trying to find the two children. Even approaching the Cuber corporation for the identity of the player Neatwit , upon discovery. But their foster mother was too clever , leaving no trail behind , they were impossible to find. And the cuber corporation was one company that gave absolutely no F*** about bribes and money , they straight up rejected the approaches of the Ambani corporation. On the surface it looked like the conflict of the Ambani corporation with the True Elites was stemming from the fact that they were supported by Ethan Grey. However the reality was it was because they recruited Neatwit , also the real mission of Orochimaru was to find out about Neatwits actual hideout and current information on his in game location. Only 7 days remained untill the twins turned 21 , the world was in for a big strom that day. Simply taking out his blade , Neatwit killed the messenger sent by Ambani corporation , as he gained + 80 infamy. The time for his revenge was nearing. The day he waited for 14 years ..... The day to avenge his mother. /// Well first of all congratulations guys , we hit the first powerstone target for bonus chapters! Crossing 600 , delivering on my promise there will be one today , Also this is a new month hence a new golden ticket countdown has started .... The golden tickets are really important for me to get features on this book , hence every ticket is a big help to the cause. Special bonus chapters will be released for meeting golden ticket targets at 1bonus chapter for every 80 golden tickets! As well as a weekly shoutout to the top 3 contributors in the book. Finally a shoutout to The NoOne for the 1000 coin gift , many many thanks my man /// Chapter 116: [Bonus Chapter]Auction(6) Neatwit went on to clear his infamy by paying a price at the temple , NPC ''s did not take kindly to those with high infamy . He wondered about wether or not should he tell Rudra about his past. And his real identity, he initially had no plans to join a guild , or any organisations , however something about the carefree Rudra on the road to the capital singing songs and dancing captivated him ..... He longed for that carefree life, after the bandit attack , and seeing Rudra''s strength he was convinced about the man , that it was his strength that let him be soo carefree ..... Hence he decided to follow the man . When the live feed of the Demolitionboys guild leader name dropped the Ambani group , it was then that Neatwit realized that his presence had brought trouble to the guild. However he was having soo much fun in the guild , where he had found a sense of belonging that he did not wish to quit. He decided to contribute to the guild to the best of his abilities and even sent Rudra a lump sum of 5 million gold to help the guild in the coming auction. It was partly because of his guilt , and partly because he was tired of running away now ..... Soon it will be time for his revenge , and when he became a trillionare, he naturally wanted the Elites to have a share of the pie. The seventh super guild , did not sound too bad did it? But still the waters ahead were not smooth, and Neatwit knew that , hence he decided that after the auction , he would sit with Rudra one on one and discuss openly about the future , should Rudra choose to not take part in the coming mess , he would quietly leave. However should he choose to take his side , then he would naturally repay the favor once he was a trillionare. The attempt to meet him today meant that his father was getting impatient now. Well soo was he. ------------------------- ( Back in the auction ) The atmosphere in the VIP room one was soo joyous that all three members were dancing. Yes there was the auction continuing downstairs , with people fervently bidding and trying to win items in the next segment , yet the wealthiest party inside VIP1 did not even pay attention to what items were out for bidding as the three were dancing. Karna and Fatty absolutely had no idea, how great the machine was , exept that it was epic grade which shocked them , but seeing Rudra soo elated made them very happy . The three were singing the song Fireball and dancing in circles. Especially fatty , he sang in a highpitch like some opera singer ''Now baby get your booty naked, take off all your clothes And light the roof on fire Tell her, tell her baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby I''m on fire I tell her baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby I''m a fireball'' They sang while shaking their butts . Yep , they were twerking ! It was then that Karna had a wierd thought and stopped dancing. What would happen if someone from the outside saw them shaking their butts in VIP1 The guild leader , vice guild leader and the chief Blacksmith of the True Elites guild , inside the VIP room of an auction , shaking their butts singing a song , while the auction was ongoing. Embarrassing ..... Too embarrassing . But as he saw the other two idiots , he thought , naw F*** it , im gonna dance too ! After a good 15 minutes of celebration , they decided to give their bums a break and refocus their attention on the auction. A lot of items had been sold and currently the last section of the common items was up for auctioning. It was a skill book dark gold grade [ Skill book : Blink ] ( Dark gold ) : Teleport to any spot within a 5 meter range of user , upon activation instantly Cooldown time : 5 minutes Caution :Takes Heavy toll on stamina Initial bid price : 80,000 gold Minimum increment: 5000 gold Buyout price : 400, 000 gold. Currently the bid was ongoing at 100,000 gold! 120,000 gold ! 140,000 gold! Anyone knew the value of this skill in PVP. It was a priceless skill to own , and Rudra from his past life experiences knew the worth of this skill . He needed to have it for himself at any cost. 200,000 came the bid from VIP 2 , everyone fell silent hearing the bid. 300,000 came the bid from VIP1 Scorpio was in a turmoil now , he had bought 7 skill books in the last 10 minutes , and spent close to 1.5 million in funds , they needed the funds to compete for the important 10 items that were coming. The 300,000 saved here would go a long way. He really wanted the skill for himself , but showed restraint for the greater good of the alliance. The fairy waited for other bids but seeing none she said '' 300,000 gold going once 300,000 gold going twice 300,000 gold going thrice ! Sold to the gentleman in VIP box 1 ''. Booyah! Rudra rejoiced , a great skill was added in his arsenal! Finally the 40 common items auction came to an end , and it was time for the special items auction to start. Everyone below a second rate guild who did not have funds over 2 million sighed , they were nothing more than spectators now. Whereas the various second rate guilds and the two VIP boxes got serious , the real auction was about to start now! The fairy annoucned '' Moving on to the second segment of the auction , we have some extraordinary items for you guys to bid from , there will be no buyout prices in this segment , we wish every bidder a very good bidding experience''. The first item was brought to the stage. [ Electric Net ] ( Dark gold) :- a net used to capture mounts in the wild for the very first time. Immobilizes the target , making them less likely to submit and thwarts escape attempts. Initial price : 3 million gold Minimum increment : 100,000 gold. It was the mount capturing electric net , with an initial price of 3 million gold! Rudra knew the importance of this net , but with the entire True Elites guild aldready having mounts , he did not see the immediate need of buying this product. But knowing that he could resell it for 9 million gold easily in the future with the expansion pack of flying mounts in the future, he was willing to fork out 6 as a long time investment. The bidding for the electric net began 3 million came a call from a second rate guild , it was probably all of their funds , they would have to drop out after one or two minimum increments. However before any smaller guilds could even squabble , 4 million came the sound from VIP1 Loud gasps were heard in the audience 5 million came the sound from VIP 2 Everyone turned towards VIP2 .... the two bigshots had finally started the bidding war . The second rate guilds knew they had no chance now , and hence they resigned to watching the show ..... Just how would it turn out? The alliance needed the net much more than anyone out there , they understood the need for mounts , and good natured ones at that. A few of their members had mounts , hence they understood the complications that came with getting good ones , they were too expensive for direct purchase and too hard to capture without proper tools. They needed this net ,much more than others. They needed to quickly fill their players ranks with mounts to gain a better grip on levlling grounds , they were willing to purchase the item uptill 7 million gold. 6 million , came the shout from VIP1 7 million came the counter from scorpio. Everyone was shocked at the intense bidding , the increments were of a million from each side ..... It was almost like the auction uptill this point was a fake auction. Scorpio knew that this was his limit , even a minimum increment of 100,000 and he was out , he pushed for a million raise at once because he wanted to deter the enemy , thinking they were too interested in the item. Should Rudra bid 8 million , he would loose out on 900,000 gold at once as he would let go at 7.1 million Should he not bid , 7 million was aldready acceptable to him. Either way he would win. But Rudra did not bid again The alliance won the bid for the first item at 7 million gold! /// Bonus chapter for reaching the powerstone target and a big one at that at 1500 words , it is longer as a gratitude for all your summoning pens and love showered in the form of golden tickets. Thankyou all for all the support. My novel had stagnated from the past 2 weeks , and now m pushing for aggressive growth , help me grow guys and i promise to work harder for you all ! /// Chapter 117: Auction(7) The next item up was the mallet. [ Hephaestus''s Mallet ] ( dark gold ) ( upgradable ) : a must have for blacksmiths , the mallet was designed keeping the forging god as an idol , increases crafting efficiency by 25% . Initial bid : 3 million gold. Minimum increment : 100K gold Buyout price : no buyout. Fatty kalash was salivating for this item. He really wanted to have it ... He looked at Rudra with those puppy eyes that only he could muster .. the same one he had used since childhood to ask for food from Rudra''s tiffin . Rudra was absolutely powerless to that gaze , he himself had absolutely no interest in the item , however he knew fatty deserved it. He had worked hard for the guild , and had done a really good job in managing the lifestyle stores . Rudra rolled his eyes saying " Fine! " He placed the first bid for 3 million gold! The second rate guilds were all out on this item , the only obstruction that might come was from the alliance in VIP box 2 But even they felt that 3 million was a little too much for a hammer. They let it pass 3 million gold went once. 3 million gold went twice . Sold! At 3 million to VIP1 '' Ha , cheaper than i thought it would be '' Rudra thought , as he was prepared to go upto 5 million for the item ..... However he got it for 3! Kalash looked very happy with the item , as he smiled like a kid on christmas. Rudra smiled , this was the whole point of why he made the damn guild. It was for moments like this , where the members could be genuinely happy . The next item came up for bidding [ A page from Demon''s Diary ] : ???? Initial bidding price : 2 million gold Minimum increment : 100K gold Buyout price : no buyout price. Rudra had to have this item , he aldready had 3 pages from Demon''s Diary , and every page he came across was important ... Although uptill now the three pages had shown no special effects , Rudra knew that down the line it would be something usefull. He placed the initial bid for 2 million gold. 2.1 million gold ! Came the bid from a second rate guild. Rudra face palmed himself ..... Who was this idiot , Rudra was sure that this guy had 0 information on demon''s diary ,yet he only bid to gamble on the item , seeing the ????? Discription. Rudra wanted to directly raise it to 3 million , to deter the small fishes , however if VIP2 got a whiff that he was too interested in the item. They would make him pay. 2.5 million gold Rudra bid! It was the best number he could think of , that balanced both criteria. As he hoped for it worked As 2.5 million gold went once. 2.5 million gold went twice. The item was sold to VIP1 at 2.5 million gold! The audience was completely abuzz now , uptill now in the auction , Both VIP boxes had spent close to 10 million in gold! Now the real bidding war came , where the depth of one''s resources would actually come out. Who had the most dough in this bidding round , would be figured out now , as all of the next items were worth drooling over. [ Spell book ] [ Endless devastation ] : turns the ground into a barren wasteland , debuffs everyone exept the caster of the spell , in a 200 meter radius. Effect 1 : -5% AGI. Effect 2 : -5 % PHY. Initial bidding price: 4 million gold Minimum increment : 200K gold Buyout price : no Buyout . The alliance was interested in this item , and soo was Rudra . The merit of this item was obvious as the debuff domain could be extremely useful for PVE Especially a 200 m domain was huge. However the drawback was also obvious , that it debuffed allies and enemies alltogether. Rudra did not want this item for himself , however he knew it would be invaluable to some other guild members . Karna Neatwit Medivh One of these three could benefit hugely from having this move in their arsenal, and for all intents and purposes he would give it to them. Rudra placed the first bid for 4 million gold. 4.4 million gold , came the shout from VIP2 Rudra nodded, he knew this would happen. Lets see who has deeper pockets , Rudra thought. 5 million ! He placed a bid 5.4 million , came the bid from VIP2 Everyone else aside , scorpio wanted the skill for himself ! He was not going to let it go easily. However the thing really choking him currently was the overall budget of the guild ..... He could not compete head to head with the Elites , should he spend more than 6 million on the item , he should not be able to bid for any other items in the auction. 6 million , said Rudra . Scorpio grit his teeth , as the 6 alliance guild leaders would not let him bid a penny more. 6 million gold went once. 6 million gold went twice The item was sold for 6 million gold to VIP1! About 16 million of the Elites budget of 55 million gold was spent . About 10 million of the alliance''s twenty had been spent. Naturally the advantage of the Elite''s funds would show , going forward now. The next item was up for bidding. [ Spell book ] [ Stormbringer ] : Zaps the enemy with a huge bolt of lightning , sure to trigger lightning damage. +200% lightning damage. 50% chance to stun the target . +5% chance to trigger critical damage. Initial bidding price: 4 million gold Minimum increment: 200K gold Buyout price : no buyout! This was an item Rudra wanted for himself .... His darkness blast was really lacking in damage output and he needed something strong in his arsenal going forward. Rudra placed the initial bid of 4 million gold. Yua actually wanted the item badly , however the alliance members would not allow a budget of 4 million gold for a single player item . In the end 4 million gold went once. 4 million gold went twice The item was sold at 4 million gold to the players in VIP1. The next item was the intermediate mana potion recipe . [ Potion recipe ] ( Intermediate mana potion ) : A recipe to create a potion that refill lost mana quickly . Initial bidding price : 2 million gold . Minimum increment : 100K gold Buyout price : no buyout. This was supposed to be one of the most sought after items in the entire auction , however after the Elites had the advanced mana potion recipe and capabilities of bulk production , no faction was too interested in buying the intermediate one. Initially even Rudra was not much interested , however fatty Kalash came up with a brilliant idea that made Rudra interested in the item . They could use real world corporate chain ideas and make sets of mana potions to sell in the shop. A set of 3 potions. Basic , intermediate , advanced To sell as a single unit. In this way they would move more units gaining more profits. As they could brand it as a potion for every situation pack. They could also use the pack mentality to vamp up the advanced mana potion sales . As they would price the intermediate mana potions at 80 gold and advanced mana potions at 95 , everyone would feel like the intermediate mana potions were too expensive and not worth it , however they would now gladly spend the 95 gold on the advanced mana potions as they would feel , they are getting more value for their money . Its the same logic of the small , medium and large popcorn tubs pricing in a movie theatre , the medium is priced just a little lower than the large , making every consumer go for large popcorn . Rudra was impressed by fatty Kalash''s buisness mind and placed the bid for 2 million gold. Going once Going twice . The item was sold to VIP 1 for two million gold! . /// Great job golden ticket people , you guys have completed milestone one for bonus chapters!!!! And bonus chapter it shall be today! Finally we are back on track with our book moving forward , i am feeling the most motivated i have been in quite sometime. This is especially true because of you guys gifting me crazy sums of money day in and day out . BIG BIG SHOUTOUT TO. Leo_Crispii for the 3000 COIN GIFT! And to Justin_Bowen for the 2000 COIN GIFT! Thankyou guys , you both just made me burn with a passion to work harder! /// Chapter 118: Auction (final) Everyone in VIP room 2 were rejoicing about the idiotic purchases made by the Elite''s. In their estimation , the highest funds the Elites could have accumulated would be 25-28 million gold. With 22 million gold aldready spent by them the alliance estimated that they could at max bid for one item of the four left , and that they could grab the other three easily. Scorpio was in an especially good mood now , as he was prepared to squeeze out max money for a single item from the Elites. He planned on pushing the prices up to 7 or 8 million to rout the Elites in the next item itself. The next four items were the most valuable of the entire auction lot from a guild perspective , wether it was the two blueprints or the two Hazelgroove special items , they were all sure to have a huge impact on the overall guild dynamic and future plans. The next item was brought up for auction [ Blueprint ] ( Reinforced brick ) : A blueprint for Reinforced concrete bricks , makes a structure extremely strong. Initial bidding price: 5 million gold . Minimum increment : 250K gold Buyout price : no buyout price This item was pure gold, and Rudra knew it , it was a must have item even for the remaining 30 million gold he had left ... This item was worth it all Why? Because he knew each brick sold to the kingdom itself at 500 gold , costing 200 gold to make , one could earn 300 gold per brick. Usually construction orders came for about 30 - 50 K bricks at a time , meaning the guild would earn millions on fulfilling each order. Other than that , after the fourth update and the kingdom expansion pack , where guilds would take over kingdoms , the reincforced bricks would make the strongest forts and strongholds bricks could make. Golden investment.with huge returns both short term and longterm. Rudra would absolutely not let this item slip. Bidding the initial 5 million , Rudra got the ball rolling. On the other side , Scorpio just gave a sly smile , ''lets see how much money u got''. He thought as he bid 6 million . 7 million. Came the response from Rudra''s side. The audience was aldready exasperated at the huge pools of gold being showered by the guilds. The increments they were talking about was in millions .... Millions in good! At the current conversion rate of 435 dollars to one gold coin. That was 435 million dollars being tossed around as raises for items. Insane , truly insane ! 8 million , came the counter from Scorpio. He felt uncomfortable making this bid , he was not sure if the elite''s would make a higher bid , soo he was holding his breath here. But 9 million , came the sound from VIP1 as he breathed a sigh of releif. '' Thats it ,they are out of the game '' he thought 9 million goes once. 9 million gold goes twice . It gets sold at 9 million gold to the Elites. The entire audience clapped at the win of this bid , it was truly exhilarating to watch these two titans go at it. For those keeping tabs the VIP1 had spent 31 million gold in this auction upto this point. It was an absolutely astronomical amount , but most expected this to be their last bid , and that they were out. Even inside the alliance room , hugs were exchanged as they were sure about winning the last 3 items without opposition. The next item was brought up to bid [ Blueprint ] ( fishing rod ) : A blueprint to create a device that catch fishes and other ocean mounts. Initial price : 5 million gold Minimum increment : 250K Buyout price: no Buyout price. Now this was a item , Rudra was not really interested in , however he knew that after the third update ocean expansion pack would be open , and the guilds would battle out for ocean supremacy , those having ocean mounts would benefit greatly in that race. However with Karna bringing back the amazing pirate ship , he was still okay to let this item go . 5 million came scorpio'' s voice from VIP1 He was almost sure that 5 million would be the last ever bid placed. But much to his dismay .... There was almost immediately a second voice. 6 million ! , Came the voice from VIP1 Everyone round the auction house looked at each other in shock ..... 31 million aldready spent , yet they still had 6 million left? Ridiculous. Scorpio wanted to pull his hair out ... Just how damn Rich were the Elites? 7 million , he said gritting his teeth ..... That left only a little over 3.5 million gold for them , completely crushing their future plans to aquire other items. The alliance immediately went into panick mode, trying to raise another 3 million or so in capital for upcoming items. Yet to their dismay 8 million came the call from VIP 1. 8 was Rudra''s limit for the item , but little did he know that his simple bid of 8 million had completely crushed the other party''s world view. For the first time since the auction started , just because he couldnt stand it , scorpio made a 9 million bid , without consulting other members. Yua was instantly furious .... The item was not worth 9 million , scorpio went overboard. Except Ilovesmashing , every other guild leader expressed their dissatisfaction to this decision. Much to their dismay Vip 1 did not bid 10 million 9 million went once. 9 million went twice . It was sold at 9 million to the alliance. Yes , they only had 1.5 million gold left now , probably out of the race for the kingdom special items! The members frantically tried to arrange for funds , as it was a race against time now. The fairy congratulated VIP2 on winning the item when she introduced the last segment the kingdom special items to bid for. Hazelgroove special items :- [ Red jewel ] ( quest item ) :- an item wanted by crown prince Aman . Chances of rewards upon delivering. Initial bidding price : 4 million gold Minimum increment : 200K gold No buyout price! The item was introduced , and everyone expected VIP1 or 2 to bid for it .... But 3 minutes passed and no bid was made . The second rate guilds went crazy as 3 of the biggest ones allied on the spot to try pool their resources , barely making the initial 4 million bid. Their dreams came true when , 4 million gold went once. 4 million gold went twice. And it was sold at 4 million gold! It was crazy! The second rate guilds could not contain their joy . The atmosphere inside the alliance was not soo joyous though , as the seven guilds put many things as collateral immediately to raise about 8 million gold pool total . They finally had 9.5 million gold to bid for the last item. Although it was not the outcome that they wanted , it was truly unfortunate that they could not raise mobey in time to win the red jewel . Finally the last item was brought up for auction [ Gold chalice ] : being sought after by a mysterious faction. Initial price 5 million gold Minimum increment of 250 K gold No buyout price. to their dismay VIP 1 bid 5 million for the item . Scorpio countered at 6 Rudra raised it to 7 When scorpio countered at 7.5 Rudra raised it to 8.5 Scorpio countered at 9 Rudra countered at 10! The alliance members were stunned silent , 7 first rate guilds. The absolutely biggest guilds with the best backing had lost bidding to a solo guild of 50 members called the True Elites for the entire day! How rich were the Elites to have soo much gold left to bid? Even after selling their assets as collateral they would still loose the bid for an item? This was unacceptable. They refused to beleive they were soo monetarily inferior to the Elite''s. However what could be done , wether they wanted or not 10 million went once. It went twice And it was sold to the Elites for 10 MILLION GOLD! The audience clapped in mad appreciation of the tycoon in VIP1 , as Rudra was happy to end the auction with a lot of money still at hand. Seven of the last 10 items had landed in their hands , it was an absolutely amazing show of strength. Speculations had been running wild on the forums over who was VIP1 and who was VIP2 , well there was only the alliance and the elite''s however most assumed VIP 1 to be the alliance , as they were 7 top guilds together. However were they in for a surprise..... All in all it had been a fruitfull event. /// Golden ticket and massive gifts bonus for you all , congratulations guys , enjoy it! /// Chapter 119: A new wave of recruits ( Fan Service Chapter) Finally the task that Rudra had assigned Ethan had been completed ! All of the existing True Elite members , wether the main guild , or the lifestyle branch , had all been transferred with family to the upside! Well everyone exept Orochimaru. And yes that included Neatwit, when he joined the guild even he gave his details to the administration department. However not one member knew about the relocation plan. Ethan Grey''s agent showed up one day , with a video of in-game Rudra as Shakuni. Asking the guild member to relocate to the upside , where they had a new gaming tower. A private transport vehichle and jets escorted each member to the upside . Neatwit was originally very reluctant, however her sister Naomi and his adopted aunt both agreed to the relocation . Well everyone knew that the upside was the safest and best place to live in the whole world , if you had good ties with Ethan Grey. With their 21 st birthday fast approaching. They needed to come out of their hiding anyway , hence when the chance came , they gladly accepted. The journey to the upside was full of anxiety , as Neatwit feared an attack from anywhere. However , the secrecy of Ethan Grey was top notch , nobody found out how quietly , overnight the entire Elite gaming branch had been relocated. Not only the original members , but 300 new recruits had been enrolled into the Elite fold , flying them all to the upside. Ethan Grey had spent more than 7 billion dollars in the construction of the True Elites gaming tower. It was a 120 storeyed skyscraper in the upside , with 30,000 6 BHK apartments , two floors of gym , 37 swimming pools , a library , workspaces , and indoor bowling alley, tennis courts , martial arts dojo , and every other amenity one could think of. Each of the apartment was fully furnished and had custom made gaming helmets to play Omega. The most striking feature was that the Guild hall. Built on floor 60 at the heart of the building was exactly the same as in game , guild hall , giving the players a sense of belonging. The last ones to arrive were Karna and Fatty Kalash , as they had been with Rudra in the auction . When everyone had assembled in the massive reception of the newly build Elite tower. Amelia the guild secretary greeted all the members individually and started explaining the current situation. She told the members that starting now they will all be training and playing and living together in this gaming house and explained all the cool amenities of the upside. The guild members mouths became completely agape , never in their dreams had they thought about recieving such a treatment. The initial resentment about flying them in without notice vanished in an instant , as the family members and they themselves had nothing but praises for the guild. PoisonToadGamabunta aka Neith said '' I knew joining the Elites was the best decision ever !''. PoisonToadGamakichi aka Nirvana said '' Hahaha , i told you everything boss does is right ''. Medivh the chief wizard aka MiguelWN said '' Now this is how you should live your life! ''. Rhino the chief tank aka Raging Silver said '' But where is the boss? ''. Everyone wondered about where the boss Rudra was? Seeing everyone out of the game was very exiting , some people looked exactly the same , whereas some people looked nothing like the ingame character . One of those people was vice guild master Karna AKA Leo Crispi , he looked absolutely nothing like his ingame identity , being extremely jacked and tall in real life , he looked more of a tshirt model. Neatwit Aka Naman Ambani was standing next to his sister , Naomi calmly chatting to every guild member who recognized him. All this was a golden feeling to him and his sister. It was the first time they had been a part of such a large gathering in their life. Such a good environment, and they were a part of it. Naturally both were very happy. It was then that Shakuni aka Rudra Rajput made his entry into the building , following him being 300 members in the clothes of the dojo called '' The Noone ''. Everyone stopped what they were doing when they saw the boss walk in , cheers could be heard throughout the crowd. Rudra walked in towards the edge of the crowd , as everyone looked at him , he said " Floor 60 , guild meeting in 10 minutes". Saying soo he walked off without greeting a single person , signing Karna , FattyKalash and Neatwit to tag along , he boarded an elevator with the three of them . When he entered the elevator. Rudra just closed his eyes and smiled , as the three bombarded him with questions, but he chose to remain silent . Floor 60 , when everyone entered the guild hall looking area. Everyone who had been in the guild hall before cheered like madmen ... The 300 new recruits were naturally puzzled at the reaction . Rudra took his usual place at the stage , as he looked at the 500 or so Elite members infront of him , 350 combat division members and 140 lifestyle members, and 10 management members. Rudra finally took the stage as he said " Welcome to the Elite tower guys ". A LOUD CHEER went throughout the crowd! Rudra raised his hand for silence " Soo , you like the new place? ". He asked Again a loud cheer followed! Rudra smiled " its a damn good place ,isnt it? Worthy of the Elites ". It was then that someone from the crowd shouted '' ONE FOR ALL , ALL FOR ONE ''. And every single guild member shouted '' GO ELITES GO''. CHEERS , were heard again! Now this is what Rudra wanted with his guild , he was extremely happy . He said " Okay guys , listen up , first things first. Firstly we have fellow brothers from the Noone dojo , they are going to be members of the main guild from now on , please be kind to them ". The members of the dojo all cupped their fist and bowed at the introduction . What Rudra did not say about them was that they were all Ninjas and assasins trained in the mountain of Tai in country F , they were all lethal assasins following a code of honor. Rudra knew about them , as in his previous life this group of assasins was the best ranked assasin group in the entire game who had successfully assasinated a super guild leader within his own guild hall! He had requested Ethan Grey to pull some strings to get those guys here as a part of his faction. It was not easy, Rudra had to defeat every single member one v one in a fight in game , before he gained their recognition and joined the guild. All 300 of them choosing the theif class , they were a great addition to the guilds power lineup. The leader of the faction the noone was Sir Molyneux Gatitio , however he was known throughout the world through his notorious assasin name '' SMG ''. Everyone within the guild was extremely friendly towards the 300 new members as warm greetings were exchanged . Rudra continued " secondly, we have a rat within our ranks, a spy named Orochimaru , he is actually working for some other faction , and i know that this may come as a shock to many of you , but you know these kind of things happen in games , we should not let such incidences affect the guilds overall integrity , hence i decided to relocate the entire guild under one roof , this way the overall atmosphere shall not be polluted ". Rudra''s words were a consolation and a threat at the same time , the underlying meaning was '' Noone here is a spy , we are one family , however should you betray the guild , remember you are now living in country J and the upsdie ". " Now many of you may wonder , why did i not kick Orochimaru out , after finding out his identity , welll ..... Its because he still has his uses, and we will manipulate him into doing the guilds bidding , hence never reveal important information to the guy , and also never let him feel that he is not a member of the guild , be warm to him , he is a lamb we raise to slaughter later ! ". Everyone nodded in understanding. Rudra finally said " A lot will change , yet a lot will remain the same , but the guild structure will now see a slight shift , with there being elders , currently we will have 5 elders in the guild , our very own levelling freak Neatwit , our lifestyle manager and blacksmith Fatty Kalash , The dojo leader SMG , Amelia and our very top performer Augustus Won knight ! ". Rudra said as he pointed towards a masked man leaning in the corner .... It was just a gimmick , and it was actually Ethan Grey behind the mask. However everyone in the guild looked shocked at the mention of the mysterious man Augustus Won Knight who owned an NPC army. " Alright guys , the rest of the breifing will be conducted by Amelia later , for now lets all just party with each other and our families for the innaugration of the Elite tower!! ". Rudra said exitedly Another round of cheers was heard. Today was going to be one of the best damn parties ever thrown in the upside! /// Alright you all. There are many many more people who deserved a shoutout in this chapter , however to everyone i have name dropped and everyone yet to be named. I just wanna say thankyou as without you all i could not have went through this journey alone! I promise everyone yet to be named that i have not forgotten about you all , and your time will come . Also great arcs coming ahead , the treasure map and the main quest line arcs , i know for sure you will enjoy . This is one of the chapters i have written from the heart for the fans , soo please please please drop a comment down below if you enjoy my work uptill now. Every single reader should just drop any comment down here for this chapter. Thats a request, i wanna know the names of all my fans supporting this work here! As i am grateful to every single one of you . /// Chapter 120: A confrontation Everyone was extremely happy in the guild hall , exited about their new life in the upsdie. The party was extremely lively , with everyone fraternizing with each other and with each others families. Little max was the happiest , sitting with Fatty kalash he ate slices of cake after cake , his entire face smothered in chocolate , he looked extremely cute. Rudra''s parents talked with other parents. Naturally they were shocked and proud to see the respect their son commanded from everyone in the room . Rudra''s mom was very happy , her nose arched 30¡ã higher than usual. Whereas father Mahesh could only helplessly sigh following his exited wife. Ethan Grey was in the crowd , wearing a mask , and not many people approached him. This was not the first time Ethan had been to a party wearing a mask , but it was the only one that made him feel that he should not have. The atmosphere was soo lively , he wanted to let loose too and enjoy the atmosphere. It was then that Rudra pulled his arms and pulled him on the dance floor with him. Ethan was stiff at first , but soon danced his heart out , seeing the man dance , many people slowly got rid of his unapproachable aura , and slowly he was included in a dance group. Ethan looked Rudra in the eye , and although no words were exchanged Rudra understood it all , Rudra said " Welcome to the Elites ". As he patted Ethan on the shoulder before moving on. Rudra went to the bar counter to get a drink , when his eyes fell on a stunning asian girl beside him. Smooth jade like skin , with exquisite features , a slim waist and a good bust. She was someone who would make people whistle at sight. Although dressed moderately in a loose fitting dress , Rudra could see the well defined figure beneath it. '' Beautiful '' , Rudra thought in his mind ..... She turned to look at Rudra , and caught him staring. The figure was none other than Naomi , Neatwits twin sister, she thought Rudra must be staring at her because she looked like the female version of naman ... Hence she said " Yes , i am namans twin sister ". Rudra''s brain crashed for a second , the information just breezed by without processing , he said " sorry, naman who ? ". It was an awkward situation , because Naman was right behind him , as he tapped on Rudra''s shoulder , Rudra turned to look at Neatwit s face , and then it striked him " Ohhhh..... " Rudra said. Neatwit sheepishly scratched his nose , as Naomi giggled , Rudra cleared his throat as he extended his hand towards Naomi " Guild leader Shakuni , but you can call me Rudra , pleasure to meet you ". Naomi took his hand graciously as she said " Fastwit , level 36 healer , but you can call me Naomi ". Rudra raised an eyebrow at this information level 36 healer at this stage of the game was an extremely impressive feat, she could easily get into any first rate guild she wanted to , and theyd be happy to have her. Rudra asked " What guild are you a part off ?" Naomi smiled sheepishly as she said " none ". Rudra looked at Neatwit puzzled as he asked " Why not ..?". Neatwit also looked towards the floor as he was too shy to answer .... Rudra found the twins to be too reserved. It was awkward for him! Finally after what seemed like a long pause naomi said " i want to join the Elites , but fail to meet the threshold ". '' ooooo , soo thats it '' Rudra thought . A big conflict brew inside Rudra''s mind at this point , at one side the male part of his brain wanted to be all chivalrous and accept the beautiful girl as a part of the guild , however the guild leader part had set a clear standard for entry into the guild. Both the male part and guild leader part argued for a while , before the finishing blow came as , she is talented level 36 healer , although not enough to be an elite , with the new members added to the party they needed more healers. Hence the male part won. " Well , you can join ". Rudra said in a deep voice. Naomi looked at Neatwit , her eyes sparkling. She really wanted to take Rudra up on the offer , however Neatwit spoke up " let her enter on her own merit , no need to give out favours ". Rudra was internally extremely pissed at this cockblocking brother , however externally he kept a big smile saying " If its for an elder like you , and a talented priest like her , i think we can make an exeption ". Neatwit felt touched by Rudra''s words , he felt Rudra was doing him a favour. His eyes moist he held Rudra''s shoulders saying a weak " Thankyou ". Rudra smiled , he wanted to get rid off this pesky brother and try flirt with Naomi a little bit more , '' ahem , ahem'' , nononono He wanted to learn about her strengths and weaknesses in game to guide her towards a developing path. He absolutely did not want to talk to her because he was smitten by her beauty, or because he wanted to touch her flawless jade like skin. Only because he was a nice guild leader who wanted to help his members , or thats how he lied to himself. However his plans were cut short when Neatwit asked him for private audience .... He really wanted to reject the guy , but he did not want to appear Rude infront of Naomi , soo hesitatingly he decided to follow him . In the corridor where the two were alone , Neatwit sighed as he said " Its going to be a long story , however i think you should know about my and my sisters past , we are actually Mithun Ambani''s children .... ". Rudra''s eyes widened at that statement , he was all ears now. /// A big thankyou to MiguelWN for the 5000 coin castle and Leo_Crispii for the 3500 coin gift! , These two things have given me immense motivation , expect great surprises in chapter count today and tommorow , more than the intended bonuses! /// Chapter 121: whats next? Rudra just blanked out for a minute, the six trillionares were pretty much celebrities in this world and their families were well known , often had Rudra been jealous of the beyond rich real life princes of sons and daughters that the trillionares had. Yet never had he heard about Mithun Ambani having twin children. Seeing Naman''s ugly expression , Rudra understood there was a story here. Naman said " Look , i have to apologise to you , because i am in the True Elites guild it may be the reason why the Ambani corporation is targeting the guild. It would only get uglier in the future, i have no good relations that side ... If you choose so , you can cut me and my sister loose , there will be no hard feelings , i understand .... ". Rudra raised his hand at this point and said " You are a guild member , the guilds slogan , one for all , all for one , is not just for show you know , any trouble that you are facing , you can count on everyone in the guild to have your back. Why be scared of some Ambani , let the world stand against us , i still promise you , we will come out of the scuffle being on top! We are the elites , and aint nobody out there that we are scared off !". Naman wanted to say more , but looking at the passionate look Rudra was giving him , all his worries dissapeared , it was true , he had experienced it first hand , that if the boss said they were going to win , then they would win!!!!! He had absolute faith in Rudra. Naman took a deep breath and started his story " My mother died when i was six , she was killed by my father. He sent assasins to murder my mom. My mother was not the legitimate wife of Mithun Ambani and hence me and my sister were born as bastards. Even though we lived in the Ambani mansion , we were never a part of that family. Abused , mistreated for 6 years , our mom was our only shiled". His voice cracked narrating this part of the story , Rudra could see he was trying hard not to cry. " Our mom collected DNA evidence as well as various footages of different family members acknowledging our relation to Ambani overtime and used it to gain 18% stock of the company ". Rudra''s eyes widened at this reveal , 18% was a lions share of any company. The Ambani corporation''s net worth was 46 trillion dollars , making naman and yua multitrillionares with 18% stock . " Naturally , because of the deal Ambani decided he was better off getting rid of the unwanted family , he killed my mom , and me and my sister were forced to go into hiding for the next 15 years. My mothers best friend took us in and raised us , growing up , we could never use credit cards, or internet , or anything that could compromise our identities at all , we had suffered a lot ". Rudra could not even begin to imagine what they had been through. He chose not to offer fake words of condolances and chose to remain a silent listener. " All these years, the only thing fuelling me was my desire for revenge , i will burn the Ambani corporation down! , Soon me and my sister will turn 21 and by law will inherit 18% of the company , that will be the start of Ambani''s fall ". Naman said , determination in his eyes. Rudra took a minute to process all the information bombarded at him. He then said " Look , i dont know much about buisness , but Ethan Grey does , and i can vouch on his behalf that should you choose to trust him , he will bring the fight to Mithun Ambani like only he can ". Naman seemed unsure of that option , but even he knew that Ethan was a tycoon well versed in the buisness ways , should that guy choose so , he could be a big help. Rudra then continued saying " In the game , we still need time , but should we cross paths with Mithun Ambani''s main guild , we will find a way to absoluteley crush them , and thats a promise on my part. Untill that point , i am not afraid of a single thing that Ambani can pull off inside the game , and even less in real world. Even in his dreams he cant infiltrate the upside ". Naman looked towards Rudra an incredulous expression on his face , never did he think that a game that he played casually will lead him to meet someone like Rudra. Who would help him in his purpose for this life , his revenge against Ambani. While sheltering him under his fold. He was genuinely touched by this gesture and swore internally that after he became a trillionare he would become an economic backbone of the Guild. Rudra finally patted Naman''s shoulder as he left saying " when you meet that guy and he tells you something funny , like how going against him is a bad idea , just tell that murderer , to just go **** himself for me " Naman nodded , " for sure !". He said with a determined voice. He had a lot to think about now , he needed to ask his sister about her advice on involving Ethan Grey, should he trust Ethan Grey? The future seemed uncertain. Yet naman never felt this calm. His vengeance was coming , and there was nobody who could stop him. After partying for a while , Rudra announced the end of the gathering , as he requested all members to meet in- game at 10 am tommorow morning in the guild hall. While everyone else exitedly went to their alloted apartments he went back to his house with family. He needed a good nights sleep before the long gaming session tommorow. ///Powerstone bonus chapter , congratulations guys for hitting powerstone target of 1200 stones , lets see if in the last two days we can keep the momentum going and reach for 1800 stones or more. Golden ticket bonus chapter next as the goal for 160 has also been crossed. You guys are on absolute fire! And i will also not dissapoint /// Chapter 122: Tasks (Inside the virtual world , the True Elites HQ ) The guild meeting was at 10 am. But Rudra along with Karna and the other elders met at 9 am to discuss buisness. Rudra presided over the meeting as he said " Soo here'' s the things we need to do for now ... I have made a list , which i will be sharing with Amelia , but the gist of it is this .... 1) The task for the lifestyle guild currently is to produce the automatic arrow shooting ballistas , we need to produce atleast 17 ballistas in the following month , any and all expenses needed will be paid by the guild , we just need to get it done. 2) the Demolitionboys are trying to sell their stock of advanced mana potions to gain back some capital , at 90 gold a bottle. Hence , to disrupt their chain we will roll out the pack of 3 potions as suggested by Kalash at 90 dollars too. Although it will lessen our margins for a while , but i think we can gain greater volume while suppressing the opposition. 3) We need to start producing the reinforced concrete bricks , as much as possible , it can be slow , but the process needs to be started , i will bring the contracts to sell them , but the production needs to be handled by the lifestyle department. Hire more NPC if you are short at staff. For these two taks i give Kalash full authority , get it done". Kalash nodded at the instructions , he made a note and started doing mental calculations on allocation of human resources for the projects. " The next task for the logistics guild is to establish a new benefit structure for guild members , we have wayy too much money and we have absolutely no idea what to do with it , buy armours and weapons and stuff guild members require or just give them red Packets , but as it cannot be given for free , create appropriate tasks with wayy too much rewards ". Rudra instructed Amelia. Who also nodded ..... Most logistic departments were used for cost cutting , however within the Elites the situation was completely 180 reversed. The logistics had to actually work to reward the members more. " Now comes the task for the main guild " Rudra said looking towards SMG , Neatwit and Karna . 1)" The chalice we obtained from the auction , i beleive it to be part of a quest line , i once stumbled upon. The difficulty was off the charts for that event , hence i have reason to beleive that the same will apply to this one as well. I will personally lead this storyline , however we will need another team to preside over another important task . 2) i have aquired a complete treasure map , i have been working on aquiring all pieces for over 3 months now , and now that we finally have it , someone also has to go forward for that event , we can decide on the exact squad later but one thing is for sure , wherever treasure is involved Karna had to go ! ". Karna wanted to say something as he opened his mouth , but then he shut it close , the guild leader was actually right and he knew it. Also he did not really mind going treasure hunting. " Well , as for the specifics of the treasure hunting ..... ". Rudra sighed ... It was complicated to explain . After a while Rudra found the best phrasing , as he took out the treasure map and tried to explain the situation . " Well the situation is like , its less of a treasure hunting expedition and more of a robbery ". Rudra said as plainly as he could. Everyone was perplexed as they studied the map , the map was actuallly a blueprint of a building showing the route to enter the security vault. The only locating feature of the map was a small line on the top of the sheet marking the exact latitude and longitude of the place. The map showed the secure royal vault of the neighbouring ninecoulds kingdom. It was a facility built inside a mountain range , patrolled by over 50,000 NPC soldiers. Kalash cursed out loud " What kind of bullshit treasure map is this ! ". Even Rudra wanted to curse , in his past life the treasure map compiled had something different , this was not something he had experienced in his past life , his knowledge was useless here. Rudra said " The red line shows a way to infiltrate the secure vault , the passage is big enough to fit two! Although noone can loot the entire royal vault , if two people can fill the inventory slots to the brim , it will still be an astronomical payday ". Rudra looked towards SMG , he was calm in the situation , he had aldready started analysing about how to pull it off. Rudra was impressed , he liked the level headedness , he said " okay , SMG and Karna will take point on this , you guys make a hiest team and pull it off! ". Karna and SMG nodded , they were actually exited to pull this off! " Next lets talk about the alliance ". Rudra said Everyone''s expressions turned serious at this point. Rudra continued saying " War is coming guys , after our war cooldown is over , there is no reason to beleive that war will not be over our heads ... However we have enough power to crush the seven mice , so we welcome it! However preparations need to be made and every task done correctly will take us all a long way ". Everyone in the meeting room felt relaxed after seeing Rudra''s confident attitude against the alliance. If Rudra said victory was in the bag. Then it probably was. " Lastly there is Orochimaru ". Rudra said as everyone''s expressions changed to that of rage. " We will manipulate the guy into working for us now , i plan on taking him with me in the quest , let me handle that kid ". Rudra declared. Noone voiced any objections. As it was almost 10 am the meeting was adjurned as Karna took the lead for the guilds briefing today .... Rudra had other important task at hand . He had to show Naomi around on her first day in the guild . /// Golden ticket bonus .....for you all , enjoy! , Great job everyone who contributed to pull this off , this is the seond bonus you people have pulled off within 3 days! And are close to a third ! Keep it up! Also a big shoutout to The NoOne for the 5000 coin gift!!!! I dont even know man , i have the best readers ever !". Chapter 123: A new path begins Karna and SMG gathered about 48 other members , both from the old members and the newly hired assasins to make a team of 50 members for the robbery. Karna was pleasantly surprised to see that all 300 of the new recruits had all crossed the level 40 tier one threshold. They were worthy of being members of the True Elites. He was satisfied with the overall strength of the group. The team had set out for Nineclouds kingdom on the signature wolf mounts. The enterouge of 50 black hodded men on wolves naturally gained a lot of attention , as it was common knowledge at this point that it was the Elites. Unknowingly as it may be the elites had started to make a cultural impact. Especially in the Hazelgroove region , they were extremely popular and hence many wished to imitate the guild. Sculptors who made wolf figurines sold out faster than other animals , whereas black was the preffered color of all hoods. Even the term '' i am an elite gamer '' had to be modified in Hazelgroove. You either said '' i am a professional gamer '' , or you said '' i am a league above ordinary gamers ''. One could not use the term Elite. Only the members of the True Elites guild could call themselves Elites . This was purely organic reaction that ordinary gamers had came up with , out of respect for the guild. Ofcourse the larger second and first rate guilds did not accept the terminology , calling their core members Elites. However the impact was definitely there. After repeated humiliation at the hands of the True Elites guild , many were ashamed to call themselves Elite gamers. It would take about 3 days time on mounts to move from capital city of PurpleHaze to the mountain range having the royal vault. The party members chatted and shared in game experiences as they journeyed towards the designated destination. ---------------------------------- ( In the True Elites Headquarters , virtual world ) Rudra was massaging his temples currently , Neatwit had just expressed his willingness to talk with Ethan Grey about the issue , hence he gave him the week off , to try sort things out. With Fatty Kalash being busy with Lifestyle guild duties , Karna gone on mission , and Neatwit on leave , his workload had a significant increase. The investigations about the chalice were a huge headache. Rudra knew the storyline a bit from his past life experience. He knew that the organization needed the chalice as part of a relegious ceremony paying tribute to the fallen angel Lucifer. The chalice was actually a sealed semi legendary artifact which could be used to purify any liquid poured inside to its highest purity grade. Pour in basic mana potion , the chalice will make it highest purity advanced mana potion. Pour impure water , the chalice will make it divine water with healing capabilities. Sealed by a tier 5 wizard , the artifact in his hand was currently meaningless , and his own power far from being sufficient in unsealing the object. It would be a lie to say that Rudra was not interested in the artifact , and had he not have his previous life knowledge never would he even think in his dreams that the artifact in his hand is actually a semi legendary item. All kinds of inspect spells even those cast by tier 4 appraisers would not be able to see through this item. The unsealing of the item was an extremely ugly ordeal , with 10 tier 3 wizards sacrificing the blood of over 250 different species of humans and animals alike to cast a forbidden unsealing spell. The unsealing will cause a massive shockwave that will trigger the first calamity event in the continent , the eruption of Mount Tai. The entire ordeal was just bad for buisness , Rudra had two possible plot lines that he could follow , one was to surrender the chalice to the Church Of Light , and request help from the pope to unseal the item and protect it from the demonic forces. Or option two was when the mysterious faction came knocking , and yes according to his past life memories , some NPC ''s approached the guild who won the bid for the item. To negotiate a sale. To sell them the item , and extort maximum payment from them. Then after they unseal the item , Rudra could storm the location along with his NPC army and his sister Patricia Won Knight , doing a great meritorious service to the country while also regaining possession of the unsealed item. Option one was not risky at all , it would probably deepen his relations with the Church Of Light and gain him some rewards. Option two was a lengthy plan with a lot of headaches , but as he aldready knew the location of the blood ceremony, and an NPC army at his disposal. He had some chances of succeeding. However should he fail , he would gain even less than the Church deal. Rudra had a huge headache about which direction to move forward , when Amelia came in announcing that two Hooded NPC''S request audience. Rudra straightened his back , thinking '' ohh , that was quick ... I need to make a decision fast! ''. He told Amelia , " okay let them in , i think its related to the quest item ". Amelia nodded as she ordered an npc maid to guide the visitors in. One huge and one tiny figure soon entered the guild hall , and took a seat infront of Rudra , both took off their hoods and looked at Rudra. One was a girl , the other was a burly man , but from their body language it seemed like the little girl was actually the leader in the group. Rudra squinted his eyes as he said " To what do i owe the pleasure of this visit? ". The burly man instantly frowned sensing the disrespect in Rudra''s tone , however before he could speak , the girl said " You are in possession of an item we require. Its a chalice that your guild has purchased in a recent auction , we want to negotiate the price to buy that item ... ". /// Okay guys im not even kidding but i think i have got the best fans ever , i dont know whether i should laugh or cry at my situation as , just yesterday we hit the powerstone and golden ticket target , and i released 3 chapters , yet today you all have smashed another powerstone and golden ticket target meaning i need to write 3 more! Dont worry you all am ready for it. Two bonus chapters coming right ahead! ALSO COMMENT WHAT PATH DO YOU WISH RUDRA TO CHOOSE Should he sell the chalice and try regain it later from the blood merchants ? Or Should he reject them and surrender it to the church ? Comment below!!! Your comments will decide this plotline guys , you have 6 hours ! Finally a HUGE SHOUTOUT to " cervantez91 " FOR THE 10,000 COIN GIFT!!! I dont even know man , you literally made my father jump in joy today morning when he saw the notification , it just made my day! Thankyou from the bottom of my heart ! /// Chapter 124: Neatwit meets Ethan Grey Naman and Naomi had a long talk about involving Ethan Grey into their revenge picture. They talked about all the possible pro s and cons of the situation and logically analysed every aspect . The biggest con about involving Ethan Grey was , that they did not trust Ethan Grey. Although Rudra vouched for him , it was common knowledge in the business world that Ethan Grey was a ruthless buisness who stepped on his mentor to Mithun Ambani to climb the ladder. Called the coldblooded tycoon , he had noteriety at ruining perfectly good buisnesses by pulling out investments. Although he had tremendous foresight , and was called the greatest investor the world had ever seen , the twins did not want to get in bed with this tycoon if they had the option . But the reality of the situation was , they had no option. They had no actual '' Plan '' about what they would do after they inherited the company shares ..... Should they just dumb all 18% shares in a single day and become trillionares? Should they hold onto the shares and become an eyesore for Ambani? Just what should they do? They needed backing , they needed advice and they needed assistance , their ultimate dream was to tear down Mithun Ambani''s giant corporation , steal everything he valued from him , and leave him a ruined man. Just like he stole their most precious thing , their mom. Ethan Grey was a thorough buisnessman who knew their father better than probably they did , he knew inside workings of the Ambani corporation and he was a nightmare of an enemy to have. Seeing no better options as their own personal experience in the commercial sector was dot 0 , naman asked Rudra to schedule a meeting with Ethan Grey , he wanted Rudra to be present , however the guild currently had lots of work to do , hence he understood that Rudra may not be able to be present. A chauffer was sent to pick up the two of them from the Elite tower to the Grey International tower. After passing about 3 full body security checks , they were given entry into the tower. Escorted by 12 bodyguards and one secretary they were brought to the top floor office of Ethan Grey. Ethan was sceptical about the meeting , he did not believe that meeting some random kids from a guild could be worth his time , however upon Rudra''s stern insistance of giving them a long and proper meeting , he freed up two hours from his schedule. Naomi and Naman entered the room , where Ethan was fidheting with a crystal ball , Ethan pointed towards the seats across him with a smile. Naman and Naomi took their seats , Ethan said " Rudra insisted that i take this meeting , i assume the two of you have something interesting to discuss ". Naman nodded , he took a deep breath , as he narrated his story. " We are Mithun Ambani''s illegitimate children , we will own 18% of the company in 2 days time ". The crytal ball Ethan was fidgeting with hit the floor and shattered , Ethan stared at the duo dumbstruck, after a while he said " Narrate your story , you have my attention now .... ". Naman started to narrate " My mother died when i was six , she was killed by my father. He sent assasins to murder my mom. My mother was not the legitimate wife of Mithun Ambani and hence me and my sister were born as bastards. Even though we lived in the Ambani mansion , we were never a part of that family. Abused , mistreated for 6 years , our mom was our only shiled". Naomi had tears in her eyes at this point , Ethan could see she was trying hard not to cry. " Our mom collected DNA evidence as well as various footages of different family members acknowledging our relation to Ambani overtime and used it to gain 18% stock of the company ". Ethan''s eyes widened at this reveal , 18% was a lions share of any company. The Ambani corporation''s net worth was 46 trillion dollars , making naman and Naomi multitrillionares with 18% stock . " Naturally , because of the deal Ambani decided he was better off getting rid of the unwanted family , he killed my mom , and me and my sister were forced to go into hiding for the next 15 years. My mothers best friend took us in and raised us , growing up , we could never use credit cards, or internet , or anything that could compromise our identities at all , we had suffered a lot ". " All these years, the only thing fuelling me was my desire for revenge , i will burn the Ambani corporation down! , Soon me and my sister will turn 21 and by law will inherit 18% of the company , that will be the start of Ambani''s fall ". Naman said , determination in his eyes. Ethan nodded , everything made sense now. He smiled as he said " Okay , i can help you burn the company down , the first step in that process is gaining 2% more shares of the company , you can leave that process to me , i will use all my efforts into securing the 2% share you need , as the company''s bylaws state that anyone owning 10% or more of the company shall enjoy a seat on the board ". Naman and Naomi were all ears , this was exactly the kind of expertise they were missing , these technical things like bylaws and shares and stuff. Ethan continued " after getting you on the board , we shall fire key employees and disrupt the profit cycle for this quarter , create investor panick and disrupt company reputation , all the while amassing more shares of the company while rotting it from the inside ". Naomi and Naman looked at each other. Determined , it seemed like a good plan of action . " Finally we will take a multi trillion dollar payday at one point dumping all the stock colllected over a single day , the huge share dump of a liquid asset like shares will take its toll on the aldready hollow company , many departments will shut down and Mithun Ambani will see his net worth reduced by nearly 80% ". The twins eyes sparkled at the reveal as they exitedly began to talk about details ... A storm was coming for Mithun Ambani. /// Bonus chapter for reaching powerstone target. One more for golden tickets coming next. Its funny how 3-4 readers in the golden ticket department are forcing my hand to write more chapters in a single day ! Im happy for it though. Keep it rolling!!! Shoutout to Josiah_Templeton for the 500 coin gift! /// Chapter 125: Option three " There is a chalice in your possession that you have aquired at a recent auction , is an artifact that our organization is extremely interested in " the little girl said. Rudra had two options here , one to politely decline their request saying he needed more time to think about it. While going to the church to handover the chalice and exchange for some rewards. Option two was to play hardball with the Two NPC here and squeeze them dry for everything they want to offer in exchange for the chalice. Rudra initially only had plan A and B however seeing the frown on face of the big guy here , Rudra was pissed off , he thought '' F*** the plan A and B , its time for plan C ''. Rudra instantly shifted to mastermind Shakuni mindset as he started to lay his trap. " Please , let us introduce ourselves before conducting buisness , i think that is basic courtsey ..... I will go first , i am Shakuni , the guildmaster of this guild". He said with a amiable smile. The pair looked at each other , contemplating for a while before the burly man said " Garry". Rudra nodded , " Hello , Gary ". The little girl introduced herself then " Megan ". Rudra smiled saying " hey megan , soo what organization are you from ? ". Megan looked bothered with that question , but she tactfully said " we are buisnessmen. Here for a transaction ". Rudra was internally happy at this response. A trade was indeed what he desired currently. Rudra signalled the maid to call in Amelia . When Amelia entered the room , Rudra went with her to a corner , whispering instructions into her ear , as he requested that the chalice be brought in the room. A few minutes later a maid came in with the chalice , after placing it on the table she quickly made herself scarce , going to a corner of the room. " Soo , you want this item? ". Rudra said, fidgeting with the item. Gary nodded, He had a smug look on his face. He beleived that as Rudra had called for the item. He was interested in selling it for a good price. Knowing that there was no way the tier one adventurer could know about the secrets of the chalice , he was sure it was going to be cheap to buy. " You say you have came for a transaction. I assume then you have something of equal value to trade ". Rudra said. Megan took the lead in the conversation she said " you have bought it in the auction for 10 million gold , how about i make it 50 million gold to buy the item back! ". Megan was quite confident with her offer , any reasonable human should have had incredulous expressions on their face , at the mention of such a huge chunk of money, however Rudra remained unmobed. Rudra eventually said " that is an underwhelming offer for a semi legendary purification equipment , dont you think soo miss megan?". Both Gary and Megan''s eyes widened at the question. How was he aware of the chalice s identity. There were hardly any people on the entire continent who could pull this feat off. Megan quickly understood that the asking price has just went astronomically up. However the item was too important for her organization to give up. She needed to make a deal here. No matter the cost. Megan frowned as she asked " what do you want ? ". Rudra smiled. He was a sly sly fox when it cames to ripping people off , he said " You want my goldmine , its natural you must offer another goldmine in return ". Megans worries deepened , she knew that ordinary treasures were no longer sufficient to satisfy Rudra''s hunger. " The organization owns 3 gold and two platinum mines , you can have your pick of two locations , they will be transferred in your name ". Megan said, pulling out a map , marked with the location of the mines. Honestly speaking , Rudra used the goldmine line as a metaphor , however being offered real gold mines for an item , Rudra was completely over the moon . He chose the biggest gold and platinum mines as a compensation , whereas Megan came up with a agreement form , that surrendered the chalice upon the transfer of the mines. Both parties signed the agreement after reading it thoroughly , as Rudra quickly became owner of two mines. He was over the moon as a system notification explained the current situation of the two mines.... The gold mine pumped nearly 200 thousand gold daily ! Whereas the platinum mine produced 50 platinum daily. The overall sum was an amazing amount and Rudra was very pleased..... Following which he handed over the chalice to the duo , as they started to depart once the deal was done. However after exiting the guild hall , in a narrow corridor. The duo found themseleves between 50 people from the church of light. They were completely surrounded and upon Turning around they saw a evily smiling Rudra . Gary and Megan both immediately understood that this was all Rudra''s ploy and that they had played right into his hands. Gary was furious as he tried to charge towards Rudra angrily , however under a bombardment of debuffs and movement restricting spells he was frozen in his place. Cardinal Lee stepped forward as he made a polite bow towards Rudra ..... He said " we shall handle the heretics now". Rudra bowed politely towards the cardinal , who took the duo away. The insults that the duo hurled filled the usually quiet True Elites Headquarters . They gave Rudra quite the innovative curses , however Rudra thoroughly enjoyed it. He would soon visit the Church to milk them for even more rewards , his plan was progressing smoothly , he was happy. /// Golden ticket bonus chapter guys , the third chapter for today , i am up at 4 am writing this for you all , lol . The majority of you guys wanted to see both options happen , soo both options shall happen. I had to spend the entire evening trying to come up with a creative way to apprach the situation , but i assure you , you will like how the situation develops. Finally a shoutout to Leo_ Crispii and Cervantez91 for the magic castles !! /// Chapter 126: Playing both sides When Rudra asked Amelia to bring in the chalice.He also instructed her to send two guild members to the church of light and meet Cardinal Lee . Rudra gave a message for Cardinal Lee that he was currently stalling members of the same faction as the blood merchant in his guild hall , and that he should instantly provide reinforcement. Cardinal Lee had worked with Rudra before , bestowing on him the title of Emmisary of Church , hence his word carried weight as he instantly deployed the church''s paladins as well as came himself to the guild headquarters to detain those in question. When Megan and Gary went out of the guild hall with the chalice in hand , they were naturally shocked to see a platoon of paladins standing. Their natural fear took the better of them as they reacted in a way only guilty people would. Being detained and dragged away to the church for questioning , they were naturally spewing insults at Rudra for framing them. However when they had time to calm down , they realized that the church had nothing on them , should they deny being part of any organisation and behave wrongly framed , sooner or later the Church would have to let them go. The cardinal was not yet informed about the importance of the chalice by Rudra , and naturally all inspections failed on the artifact , the case about detaining them was growing weak , and Cardinal Lee summoned Rudra to the Church for answers. ----------------------------------- ( Ambani corporate tower , Country X, real world ) Assistant Micheal read a report to Mithun Ambani "Sir , Your twin children have been spotted in the upside under Ethan Grey'' s fold , they are alive and well , they will turn 21 in 2 days time and you will legally loose 18% stake of the company. They have been rumored to be in talks with Ethan Grey himself , and over the past 16 hours Ethan Grey has started to purchase the company stock at a 300% premium , spending close to 300 billion dollars aquiring 2% stake of the company , as it sits sir , should he transfer one percent to the twins each , the company according to the bylawls shall have two more board members , along with your son who owns 10% and you who own 50% of the company". Mithun Ambani had a deep frown on his face , one of his biggest fears is close to becoming a reality , yet he had a bigger problem at hand. Mithun Ambani''s legal son and heir to his conglomerate , Amir Ambani had been depressed over the last week. Amir had owned 28% stake in the company. However he would only own 10% when his siblings turned 21! , His net worth was reduced by nearly 70% and it was unacceptable to him. Refusing to eat or get out of his room , he was just popping pills and sleeping with prostitutes. Mithun Ambani never seeing his son in such a pitiful state was deeply concerned , on one side he wanted to alleviate his sons pain, however on the other side hw was not ready to give up his own shares to his son to console him . Mithun Ambani''s hatred for the twins and Ethan Grey deepened even further , as he promised revenge. Ambani said " Pour money into Omega , strengthen the main guild , and also pour a bucket load in that alliance group. Bring the fight in game to Ethans and the twins darling guild True Elites, they are messing with my company , and although i cannot touch them in Country J ''s upside , Omega is a different ballpark , I will destroy everything they loves there ". Secretary micheal nodded , but his eyes widened at the figure his boss decided to pour into the alliance. The number was huge! A dangerous development had occured for the Elites . ------------------------------ ( Church of light , inner district , PurpleHaze city ) Rudra walked in with a smile as Cardinal Lee responded with one of his own . Before cardinal Lee could even explain the situation properly Rudra started to speak " I understand the heretics have been playing innocent , and without concrete evidence it is difficult to tie them to any crimes , however do not worry Cardinal , i have been working on gathering evidence for the past day and have uncovered some key points , may i be allowed to interview the detainees , i can make them confess their crimes ". All of Cardinal Lee'' s worries vanished in an instant as an even brighter smile lit up his face , he pointed towards the holding cell and politely aksed Rudra to follow him there for questioning. Rudra opened the room and took a chair against the restrained duo. Vengeful glares being sent his way by them , if glares could kill Rudra would have been dead for atleast 76 times by now. Rudra just chuckled at the situation , as he requested a paladin to remove their chokers soo that they could speak . Just as a choker was removed however a flurry of insults was hurled at Rudra by Megan . PAT! Rudra gave her a tight slap to Megan, Gary started To struggle madly after the slap , he wanted nothing more than to kill Rudra right here and now, however not a muscle moved in his body after he heard Rudra''s next sentence " Shut your mouth you Lucifer worshiping **** ". Rudra said in a angry tone. Cardinal Lee and the other paladins blood ran cold at the mention of Lucifer , they were trembling currently .... Just what was Rudra saying? The slap dint stun Megan , however Rudra''s follow up words did ..... The color drained off her face , as she just stared at Rudra , her mouth agape. /// We had a killer of a week last week , and you guys made me write three chapters daily , lol , both powerstone and golden ticket departments were on fire , the gift department just went batshit crazy though , as it has been one of the most exiting weeks i have seen yet in my journey writing this book Soo as appreciation , Today will again be a three chapter day! This week around , new targets for bonuses will be 800 PS = 1 bonus 1600 PS = 2 bonus 2400 PS = 3 bonus 3200 PS = 4 bonus As well as one bonus for every 100 golden tickets. Lets do it you all! Lets go even higher than we aldready are ! Special shoutout to Foxiiidust for the 500 coin gift! /// Chapter 127: Where does his loyalty lie? The statement stunned everyone present , what did he mean worshipping Lucifer? Lucifer was a hated figure , especially in the church of life , the fallen angel had a notorious past and was once wooing the goddess of life. However things got ugly real fast , archangel Raphael also loved the goddess of life. A confrontation between Lucifer and Raphael saw the goddess choosing Lucifer over Raphael , only to see her heart broken as Lucifer had an affair with the ice giantess Hindera . Raphael was furious at Lucifer at breaking her heart , whereas the goddess of life absolutely hated Lucifer that point on. Naturally the Church of life also did not take kindly to the heartbreaker of their goddess , the notorious fallen angel Lucifer. Not putting it mildly , he was absolutely loathed in the church of life. Megan was at a loss , the fact that they served Lucifer was a secret that even she only discovered after rising to upper echleons of the organization. How did the outsider know the information? Was there a mole? .... There was no way she could accept the fact could she? Stuttering and quaking she tried to put a brave face as she said " wwwwhhhaattt , nnnonnsenseee aaa aaare youuu uuu saayiinng ". Rudra chuckled " Tough pretender aren''t you , is the chalice that you procured from me not a semi legendary item that can improve the purity of any poured liquid? The gift of archangel Raphael to the goddess of life ? Called the '' Chalice of Purity? ''". Megan was stunned to silence , even she only knew this information because she was responsible for carrying out the mission , otherwise even people higher than her in the organization had no access to that intel. But how did this seemingly nobody know soo much about their organization? Cardinal Lee was stunned , the chalice was soo valuable? Why could he not inspect the object. Gary was not aware of the Chalice''s identity he spouted " What nonsense , inspect the chalice for yourself , its not what you say it is , or are we all who inspected the items fools and only you know its true worth ". Megan also recovered from the shock , she said " yes , yes , the chalice is not what you say it is ". Rudra knew he had this in the bag as he said " I knew you would spout such nonsense , hence i aldready gathered the necessary evidence needed ". Rudra unflurred a scroll , it was a tier 5 identification scroll , that he had borrowed from his Won Knight mansion . The scroll was worth over 60 million gold coins and Rudra had compensated the Won Knight mansion 20 million in gold to borrow the item , it had absolutely emptied the guild warehouse , hence Rudra was betting big on this development. When he took out the tier 5 scroll , Megan panicked. She knew that the tier 5 scroll would reveal the identity of the chalice. Cardinal Lee was also surprised to see such a valuable treasure been brought out , as he granted his permission to use the treasure on the chalice. Rudra gave the scroll to a paladin , who infused his mana inside the scroll to activate it. The chalice''s real stats were revealed. [ Chalice Of Purity ] ( Semi legendary ) ( upgradable) : A gift given by Archangel Raphael to the godess of life , it purifies any liquid poured inside to the highest possible grade. The originally divine item has lost much of its power after falling into the mortal realm , however it can still purify a majority of the substances poured inside. Currently sealed by a powerfull tier 5 mage , it needs to be unsealed to show its properties. ( Upgradable) ( Upgrade conditions locked ) Everyone was shocked upon reading the item , it was clear at this point that the duo here were lying through their teeth and their identity was anything but simple. Cardinal Lee ''s expression turned cold as he said " Beat the prisoners up , no food for them today ". The paladins complied , as screams could be heard as Rudra and Cardinal Lee exited the room . Cardinal Lee now asked for the full story over the incidence and Rudra narrated it beautifully. " I had stumbled upon the chalice in an auction , i had no idea of its origins when i bought it , however my Eyes of Truth are a inherint quality that i aquired when i was adopted into the Won Knight family , and i could see all hidden stats of equipments clearly! ". Rudra lied through his teeth , he did not see s*** on the item , but he needed to make it beleiveable . " When the two heretics came at my guilds door knocking , i took my time to understand their intentions , after understanding that they are connected to the same organization as the blood merchant , i knew something fishy was up ". Rudra continued , Cardinal Lee was very impressed by Rudra''s quick wits , however the Lucifer connection was not made yet . " I sent my men to contact you on one hand , on the other hand i sent some hunters from my guild to go to the locations where this organization owns gold mines , when they followed a mine supervisor they stumbled upon a liar where they have captured many races for what seems like a blood sacrifice , and he overheard a conversation about the chalice ". Rudra said . " Finally , what happened is the last key was a slave captured by them who believes himself to be a descendant of archangel sariel , the plan was to pour his blood in the chalice to purify it to the pure sariel bloodline to use as sacrifice to lucifer, unfortunately we do not know the complete plan , nor do we have the strength to free the captured race citizens , i can only come to the church for help ". Cardinal Lee''s eyes widened , this was an urgent situation , he needed to contact archbishop for this ! /// Bonus chapter for you all as a thankyou for all the love shown in last week , as well as everyone who gifted me coins , this one is for you all . Special shoutout to The Noone for the 5000 coin gift! Respect for being a man of your word! You are a real man. /// Chapter 128: You reap what you sow Cardinal Lee obviously had a lot of work to do with the heretics and the information provided by Rudra to him. Now the AI for Omega gave NPC advanced intelligence with an iq of about 120 on average to characters , with some characters having more and some having less. Hence they were pretty much like normal humans. The emotional range also , although not that varied was something they experienced. They became happy , sad , angry and the like . The parent company Cuber , never really intervened untill a major imbalance appeared in the game , and they let all plot lines run as usual. However Rudra''s recent actions had completely derailed a main story plotline of the rise of Lucifer , derailing major company plans. Naturally the AI decided that the impact of the actions was huge and notified the company. For the first time since its inception , the company had to have serious talks about intervention into the game to rectify the situation , as a major plotline had been foiled. Not many people knew this , but every kingdom had a main storyline about one of the angels , every kingdoms individual storylines intricately connecting to form the big puzzle and theme of the game Omega. Fallen Angel Lucifer was one of the key pieces of that puzzle and the derailment of the storyline in Hazelgroove had the higher ups worried. A meeting convened as the team studied the facts about the current situation. ---------------------------- ( Meanwhile , somewhere north of Hazelgroove kingdom , in a mountain range seperating the kingdom from ninecoulds kingdom ) Karna and SMG were travelling for one and a half day now and they had bonded a bit over the journey. Karna had began to carry himself more like a vice guild master after he came back from the endless ocean dungeon. The dynamic with SMG was clear , although they both were very respectful to each other , Karna was the one running the show here. Karna and SMG had talked about a lot of possible ways to carry out the hiest as they had bought twenty large capacity storage rings , to provide extra inventory slots to maximize loot . The team of 50 also had more than 150 appearance alteration potions at hand prepared day and night with the support of the lifestyle guild. Nefariously when the guild members were looking for random hair strands , they also happened to stumble upon a bar full of Demolitionboys members , along with leader Ilovesmashing and the demoted vice guild master INeedToSmash . Karna was extremely happy , as he would probably go with one of their disguises just to make things more interesting should his face be revealed . Yes wearing a mask was made mandatory as soon as they left Hazelgroove kingdom. As noone clues were to be left. The appearance alteration potion was for added security incase of a unfortunate accident making the mask fail. Either that or Karna might just decide to goof around and mess with Demolitionboys for fun. About half a day''s ride later , the team of fifty arrived at the scouting location. They spread out and started the surveillance routines , only after thoroughly analysing that , and making the perfect plan will they even begin to act on it. A very boring routine of surveillance started for the hiest team. ------------------------------- ( Real world , the Grey international tower , the upside) It was 11:55 pm , in 5 minutes time the twins turned 21 , and they were there sitting with Ethan Grey and a whole team of the best international lawyers to start the party at 12:00 Naman and Naomi were really anxious , However really exited too , Naman over the last two days realized the importance of Ethan Grey. Ethan Grey and his team had been working day and night ensuring that the twins get what they deserved the moment they turned 21. Ethan buying billions in shares just to bridge the 2% they needed , was a help he never expected in his dreams. Ofcourse his story was compelling , but naman knew deep down it was Rudra''s credit that got the ball moving. Just how strong was the boss in real life to make a tycoon like Ethan free up his schedule to meet a nobody like naman and even going as far as investing hundreds of billions into a cause that wont see him get any returns in a long while. Naomi wanted to celebrate their birthdays and maybe care about the other stuff the day after , however naman did not wish to waste a single second. When the clock struck midnight , the firms that were forcefully open under Ethan Grey''s pressure at midnight made sure than the twins got the 18% shares they deserved. Adding the two from Ethan it went upto 20 . Only when the shares were transferred and the twins were recognized as board members at 12:35 am did Ethan Grey wish them a very happy birthday. Access opened for them inside the Ambani corporation internal management system , as a list of buisnesses and employee list and ongoing projects all was opened to the twins. To Ethan Grey this information was more valuable than the billions he spent , with his expert analysis teams he could have soo much leverage over Mithun now with this data , he coule single handedly rupture key projects and hurt the cashflow. There were a million new avenues open for him now. Naman delivered his first strike on the very moment he gained access to the system , his clearance as a board member was A grade , just below Mithun Ambani , however anyone B grade or lower could be fired unconditionally by Naman. Firing 24 thousand key employees for the Ambani corporation. Naman was sure he made a bold incoming statement as the board of directors. Naman said in a borderline psychotic voice " Are you happy with the return gift , Father? ". Naomi watched her brother as chills went down her spine. She swore never to get on his brothers bad side , as it was too scary. In any case , when the world would wake up tommorow , there will be waves for sure , as all hell would break loose! /// Bonus chapter number 3 for you all , delivering through on my promise. This is another appreciation chapter for you all , as i genuinely believe i have the best fans ever. I honestly had other authors coming upto me today being like whats your secret? I just said there is no secret i am just lucky to have the best fans ever period! Shoutout to Leo_ crispii (again) for the 5000 coin gift! Thankyou for all the support you give me man, i think you will single handedly drive me writing golden ticket bonuses this season man. /// Chapter 129: Consequences ( An article from the daily report epaper ) " A string of firings have been confirmed as over 25 thousand employees have lost their jobs overnight from the Ambani corporation. A shocking turn of events as two new board members have been rumored to have joined the corporation. The fires employees are all rioting and filing wrongfull termination lawsuits to the courts... (Full story on page 9 of the paper ) ". Ethan read the article and smiled , the buzz was created , the stock of the Ambani corporation saw a 3 % dip in a single day , that meant that Ambani lost more than one trillion dollars overnight. He felt no guilt whatsoever for the string of firings he was responsible for , he was actually happy , as the severance package to fire an employee without notice was actually a lumpsum in the Ambani corporation. The fate of those who were fired was 100 times better than those who are not , as the shrinking company will see many employees let go and with notice at that, meaning there will be no severance pay. Ethan wanted to gobble up the Ambani group , and it will take a lot of sacrifices , he could not be shaken by the cries of those he stepped over , as his goal was to reach the top. Naman was faring even better. He was just happy to be 21 , to be a thorn in his fathers side. Naomi was the one who was affected the most. The string of firings scared her, as when she saw people protesting on the streets on media , she felt it was because of her. She wished revenge on her father , but not at the costs of innocent lives , she blamed herself for robbing someones livelihood. She was sulking and her brother had became someone possesed , she could not talk to him about her problem at all. She tried a few times , however he just shot her down. Her aunt was finally having the life she wanted , enjoying after taking care of the twins for 15 years , she did not want to bother her as well. The only person she kind of knew was guild leader Rudra. He seemed like an amiable and approachable person in the limited interactions the two had uptill now. Hence she decided to message him to meet up. -------------------------- ( Cuber corporation ) " The entire thing seems absurd and ridiculous , according to the report the derailment happened as the player aldready knew about the plotline before hand". A senior executive read " Its the same player we had to negotiate with the last time as well for the bomb incident , the guild leader of True Elites '' Shakuni ''. " " But how can he know the plotline ? , Everyone of us only know bits and pieces of the plot. As everyone was only part of creating bits and pieces of the picture , the entire thing doesnt make sense unless multiple employees collaborated in leaking him the information ". " No that is not possible , ever since the last incident the AI has been monitoring the movements of every employee , there has been no contact whatsoever with the kid , in real life or the game ". The atmosphere in the room turned grim. Had the information be leaked , they could have fired the responsible party, ban the player and move on. However now they were back to square 0 , they did not know the source of the problem at all. " Lets remedy the situation , lets create a jailbreak for the two captured agents , and make them escape with the chalice , lets forcefully remedy the plotline for now and keep a close eye on the movements of the player Shakuni ". Everyone nodded , they needed to analyse the situation more to pinpoint the exact cause behind the unexpected event. The game company commanded the AI to now record all statements and actions of the player Shakuni. ---------------------------- ( Church of Light , Hazelgroove kingdom ) Rudra was currently inside the Church''s warehouse , the same one that he entered when he obtained the platinum guild token. The one full of treasures of epic rank and above. The church had decided to reward Rudra with 100 million gold and one artifact of semi legendary grade oe below from the guild warehouse , for his meritorious service to the church. Rudra was naturally elated , although a bulk chunk of it. 40 million gold would be given to the Won Knight mansion as he was yet to pay on that due of tier 5 identification spell paper, however he earned a lump sum of 60 million gold , his entire expense in the auction had been recouped. The guild was rich again, not to mention the extra semi legendary item he would gain. Rudra was extremely satisfied with this result , his decision to exploit all sides was paying off well. Just as Rudra was about to begin his search for the perfect artifact however an unexpected scene occured. A paladin came rushing into the warehouse and reported that the two heretics had escaped along with the chalice , and the location suspected to be the base of operations for the hidden organization has long been evacuated! Cardinal Lee looked extremely worried , as he looked towards Rudra in desperation. Rudra himself had never expected such a situation to arise , this was beyond his calculations , how could two heretics flee the church of life''s detainment , steal the chalice and run away successfully without causing a commotion? The two NPC were just tier one , they did not have the strength to pull off such an escape , something huge was amiss here ..... But before he could figure out what was going on , a forced quest appeared. [ Forced Quest : Those who worship Lucifer ][SSS] : find and stop the heretics and save the son of archangel sariel. Time limit : 29 hours Failure penalty : All stats reduced by 60% for 1 year. You loose the favour of Church of Light. Rewards:????? WTF! , A forced quest? , Whats wrong with the penalties ? He was completely doomed should he fail. Rudra was completely shocked. What just happened here? /// Hey guys , 3 chapter day again today. I am also going to work on my initial chapters again , trying to correct the grammar , to everyone who supported me inspite of the poor sentence structure and grammar , i am truly grateful . I really write this story from the heart , and even though the grammar is subpar it takes me quite a lot of time daily to write this content. To everyone who enjoys my work , much much gratitude. /// Chapter 130: The forced quest The game AI '' gaia '' was paying a close attention to Rudra''s every word and decision. Rudra was under heavy scrutiny. It was a race against time now that Rudra was on the clock , he had little more than a day to complete the quest. Although he was in a hurry, Rudra took in a deep breath , closed his eyes and took a moment to analyse his situation . After 5 long minutes to strategizing, he decided to look around the church warehouse again , now for an artifact that can help him on the quest. The first and most important thing he needed currently was the location where the ritual was going to happen After half an hour of skimming he found a suitable item. [ Locating Mirror ] ( Semi legendary ) : infuse mana while clearly thinking about the name and facial features of the target , the mirror will display their current activities for 7 seconds. Cooldown time : 1 hour . Rudra absolutely would have never traded for such an item had he not been under the clock and absolutely desperate , but now he chose to take it as his reward. Cardinal Lee nodded , he was aldready getting frustrated when instead of working on the quest Rudra was looking around the warehouse for his treasure. However seeing the item Rudra chose , he approved of his actions. Wasting no time , Rudra thought about Megan , and the hazy mirror cleared to show a picture of the little girl . She was shockingly in a busy street in a bustling city. Cardinal Lee'' s eyes sparkled instantly , he seemed to have recognised the place. He said " its the western port town of Bethlehem , seems like the market district there. ". Rudra had to take the NPC''s word at face value , the town of Bethlehem was 4 and a half hours of journey on a mount , and Rudra had absolutely no time to waste. He stored the mirror , exited the valut and summoned his mount. The grey direwolf went full speed towarda the port town of Bethlehem. Rudra was racing against time here hence he had muted all communications and calls as the quest was his topmost priority. Wether he was lucky or unlucky , only god knew as both Yua and Naomi sent him messages about wanting to hang out today. Yua had a really bad fight with her father , after the auction scenario she wanted to withdraw from the alliance , her father also supported her decision and the initial formalities were being done , when suddenly some unknown investor poured a hell lot of money into the alliance. Her father now refused Yua to leave the alliance again . Yua was feeling choked in the alliance and she badly wanted out , hence frustrated she texted Rudra to want to meet today . Naomi also texted Rudra about meeting as she too was feeling sick after the backlash of her actions. She had noone else to talk to , and wanted to hangout with someone. Yet Rudra was oblivious to both these messages as he was focused on reaching the Port town of Bethlehem as soon as possible. Rudra called up his stats pannel to asses his cards. ----------------------- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:43 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 216 +108 VIT : 216 +108 INT : 216 +108 STA : 216 +108 PHY : 216 +108 HP : 19000/19000 unassigned stat points :10 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (48/200) ----------------------- Rudra felt better knowing that he had the critical block defense card , the blink movement skill and the Stormbringer damage skill added to his arsenal . His combat prowess had increased a lot , especially after equipping the level 40 pirate set and the retractable shield that Karna brought back from the quest. His defense was stronger now , along with the newfound skills and the added special stat bonus , Rudra knew he was unstoppable currently amongst all tier one players. If he failed this quest , there was probably noone else who could . After four hours of intense riding , the insane pace at which the wolf ran saved Rudra half an hour of journey time , Rudra patted his mount for a job well done before running into the city. Rudra found the marketplace where he last saw Megan , before finding a quiet place to bring out the mirror Rudra thought about megan as the hazy screen parted to show a clear picture , she seemed in the outskirts of the town , there were 5 people around her now , Gary being one of them . The spacing between houses was about one house every 20 meters or so , it seems like there was a church in the baground. The image faded away. Rudra asked around in the market place , throwing bags of 100 gold coins to the NPC ''s to tell wether they knew of a location that matched the description. After 10 minutes and 3 answers that matched each other , Rudra decided to go to the eastern part of the town where the farmers usually live. Rudra had 21 hours left on the quest , he was getting more and more desperate , he ran without minding his stamina madly searching the location he previously saw. When he saw the church he saw in the mirror , a shriek of joy came from his mouth. He was soo damn happy . He rushed over to the location according to the suns position , that could have been where Megan was walking. Rudra found it quickly as he rushed towards the direction the group was headed. All his actions were being monitored by the AI , and the Cuber corporation executives , there was absolutely nothing wrong that they found with the player , if something they were extremely impressed by the skills he displayed. /// Golden ticket bonus guys!!! You people are killing it in that department , just the second day into the week and i am back out giving bonuses. Even the powerstones have crossed 800 , hence i guess one more chapter coming after this one! Enjoy! Shoutout to Leo_Crispii for the 2000 coin , the NoOne for the 5000 coin gift and Stampendeinec for the 500 coin gifts !!! /// Chapter 131: The forced quest Rudra silently caught up with the moving group. He had finally found Megan and Gary , there were even others who he did not recognize with them. Rudra silently followed the group from a distance , about an hour later the group dissapeared after entering a rather large bark of a tree. Rudra hesitated to follow , the tree was obviously not big enough to fit five people. There was a teleportation device set up inside the bark , Rudra did not want to walk into the formation , without knowing what would happen to him when he came out the other side. The cooldown for the mirror was up hence Rudra decided to scout first before entering the teleportation formation. What Rudra saw obviously stunned him , on the other side of the teleportation system was a party of atleast 20 people who were waiting for an ambush. Rudra knew that the '' welcoming party '' was expecting him aldready. Yet the corner of his lips curled into an evil smile. Unlocking a cork from a spike bomb , Rudra tossed it into the teleportation formation. -7500 critical hit! -7500 critical hit ! - 4500 -4500 -4000 -4000 -3500 -3500 -2000 -1200 -1200 A string of damage appeared, After 15 seconds he entered the formation two swords outdrawn. Rudra appeared on the other side , he quickly used windslash on everyone that was left standing , as he used quick and nimble movements to dodge every incoming attack . The party was utterly stunned after the spike bomb was dropped , they never expected such a move from the enemy , 6 died with the other 14 being seriously wounded , their ambushing formation was utterly ruined as Rudra wreaked havoc upon teleporting. Megan and Gary fared the worst , the pair only had 20% of their total HP left after the spike bomb attack , yet they lost their minds upon seeing Rudra , the cause behind their sufferings. Gary rushed in madly , only to have died under a single sword strike from Rudra. -2500 critical hit! Gary died! Megan screamed seeing her partner die af the hands of Rudra , She cursed and wailed at Rudra " HOW DARE YOU KILL MY GARY! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY , I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER! " and used some kind of forbidden spell around herself. Rudra got an ominous feeling at that moment and he wanted nothing more than interrupting that spell at that moment , however the last 3 men of the ambush squad attacked him. Diverting his attention back to the fight. Rudra made short work of the men , and focused back on megan , but all he could here was " I megan harp offers my soul to lord Lucifer .... ". Black liquid came oozing out of her skin as even her eyelids turned black ..... Little by little her entire body was covered in a black liquid , covering more and more of her body .... A few seconds later , she was completely covered in a hard black liquid that was like a cocoon. What came out of that cocoon however scared the hell out of Rudra. [ An ugly creature ] [ tier 2 ] [ half metal half undead] : an ugly creature born from a forbidden ritual , the user must offer her soul willingly to the god Lucifer to transfer into this inhuman creature. Threat level : extremely dangerous. Drawbacks : permanent change , the user will die within 48 hours of transformation Rudra cursed his luck .... A tier 2 creature created from sacrifice? This would be extremely troublesome to deal with. Megan herself was a tier one ranger that Rudra could make short work of. However the tier two creature was a different ballpark Rudra had underestimated Megan , she willingly sacrificed herself to gain powers from Lucifer to deal with Rudra. The creature looked at Rudra with utmost hate! The man disgusted it. The creature charged at Rudra and used its hands to meet Rudra''s dual sword strikes head on . However instead of the usual cutting through of the flesh and bone , the swords were flung out of Rudra''s hands as the swords hit the metal body of the creature. Rudra was absolutely baffled , for the first time in a longtime he was outmanoeuvred in a fight. He retreated a few steps and immediately and unhesitantly used the Stormbringer spell. A bolt of lightning zapped the target , burning its aldready black flesh to an even deeper charred tone A huge damage of -7000 appeared on the target . Rudra checked the creatures EXP it showed [ 8000/ 15000] More than half was depleted! Stormbringer was definitely Rudra''s ace in the whole , however the creature did not take long before recovering as it charged to meet the swordless Rudra head on . Rudra gulped a max strength potion unhesitatingly , as he knew that he needed one to meet the creature head on . Rudra had actually practised Karate and Taikwo do as a kid , Mother Rajput was one of the enthusiastic parents that made their children join every hobby classes. Although not proficient , Rudra could indeed fight a decent hand to hand combat . The ugly creature''s arms shot forward performed strange movements that tried to trick Rudra''s eyes. However, he disregarded them and crouched to slide under his opponent. The ugly creature''s attacks missed as kicked its legs and made it fall forward. The two of them were close, so the ugly creature tried to stab its fingers toward him. Yet, Rudra rolled on his back and pushed with his hands once his feet aligned with his opponent. Rudra resembled a spring when he used his arms to push his whole body toward his opponent. He didn''t need to see the ugly creature to know where it was. There wasn''t much that it could do while it was falling toward the floor. The ugly creature quickly stood up, but Rudra''s kick arrived before it could resume any battle stance. His shinbone hit the ugly creature''s head and flung it away again. Rudra chased after his opponent. The black metal seemed able to endure his blows now, but he would press forward until that material shattered. His leg rose when the ugly creature entered his range. The creature raised its arms to block the incoming kick, but Rudra missed them on purpose. Instead, his descending blow made his heel and his opponent''s foot collide. The creature''s foot bent upward. It wouldn''t be useful as a foothold anymore in that condition, but Rudra lost his momentum after completing the attack Rudra was attacked in that moment of weakness , however the retractable shield was used and Rudra avoided the blow. However he was flung by the force and got crushed flat on a nearby wall. -2400 , a damage appeared on Rudra''s status bar. Rudra found himself unable to breathe for a second. He struggled to maintain his balance, and the ugly creature didn''t hesitate to exploit that chance. One of its hands clung on Rudra''s side while the other created a fangs-shaped figure with its fingers that flew toward his collarbone. Rudra pushed himself backward, uncaring that his balance was completely off. He fell on the floor and dodged the incoming attack, but the ugly creature promptly jumped toward him. The ugly creature tried to slam its feet on Rudra''s chest, but the latter rotated to the side. The ugly creature''s attack landed on the floor, and Rudra used that chance to perform the blink skill , instantly teleporting above the creature''s head and turning mid air to give a vicious round house kick to the creature''s head. The ugly creature promptly ducked to dodge the incoming leg, but it didn''t manage to perform it correctly in time to avoid it as Rudra''s real move was not the kick but the concealed Kunai knife in his hand , Rudra took had out a kunai from his inventory secretly during the fight and he pierced the Kunai through the creatures head. - 8000 Critical hit! The creature died under the kunai knife! /// Powerstone bonus , chapter number 3 for today. Another day with me working till 3 am ! , you have earned it. Thankyou for all the support in the powerstone department , we are rocking it at number 2 spot for the season! Enjoy the bonus. Also we hit 500 golden tickets , hence i guess another bonus is due for tommorow. ( Lol , this department has completely went insane , we are 18th in the rankings sitewide! ) All of this makes me really happy as the author Special shoutout to Cervantez91 for the 2000 coin gift!!!!!!! , really appreciate the support ! /// Chapter 132: The quest continues +23,00,000 EXP , you have defeated a creature above your tier , + 50,000 EXP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! A bucket load of Exp was given to Rudra for killing the creature. To be honest it was a tough fight , and a weaker player would have failed twice. Only because of Rudra'' s insane stats that were far above the average player at same tier , as well as the strength potion that he consumed , was he able to go head to head with the creature. Not to mention his superior control and combat experience. Ofcourse the largest partplayer was the Stormbringer spell which reduced the creature''s HP by more than half , or else it would have been a close fight. Rudra called up the stat panel ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Emmisary of Church , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:46 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 236 +118 VIT : 236 +118 INT : 236 +118 STA : 236 +118 PHY : 236 +118 HP : 29000/29000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy ( strength potion consumed : duration left 68 s ) Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (48/200) ---- He got levlled up thrice! , The massive EXP from killing the ambush party was a sweet reward, proportional to the difficulty of pulling it off. Without the scouting of the mirror and the use of the bomb, even Rudra would have found the entire process extremely challenging. The AI had calculated the success rate for the mission at under 2% , hence the SSS rating , also it was designed on the spot , and all of Rudra''s actions had been completely in line with the game , he was a legitimately skilled player. The doubts of the Cuber corporation employees lessened as they started to enjoy Rudra''s performance rather than scrutinizing him. They were very exited to see how Rudra would cross the final hurdle , and what the ramifications of his actions would be on the continent. Rudra moved forward in the passageway as it lead to the second floor balcony that had a massive hall below , upon entering the balcony , he saw 50 different tribes men tied to a pole in a specific star like pattern with 50 edges. At the centre of the formation was a golden pole , and on it was an extremely muscular and blonde human , who Rudra assumed to be the son of Archangel Sariel. There were 17 hooded figures in black chanting incantations in a specified location inside the diagram , whereas one figure in white robe stood at the centre with the chalice of purity in his hand , facing the blonde human. Rudra calmly assesed the situation as he inspected the strength of the opponents. The 17 figures were all tier two mages , while the white robed guy was a tier 3 paladin. ***** **** , Rudra cursed , there was no way to fight these people head on , he wouldnt even last 5 seconds. Rudra laid flat on the ground , the last thing he wanted right now was to be discovered. Rudra had aldready ditched the thought of saving the 50 tribesman , the gears in his mind rotated at full speed as he thought of a plan to save the son of archangel sariel. ---- ( The hiest team , in a mountain range in Nineclouds kingdom ) Karna had been scouting the hiest location for quite sometime now , and the team altered between scouting and farming for Exp in the meantime . Karna levelled up after a day of levelling in the wild. Level up! ----- Player Name : Karna Title : Heaven'' s chosen Class : Swordsman Subclass : Runesmith LVL:43 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 250 VIT : 230 INT : 180 STA : 230 PHY : 200 SE : 5 HP : 12,000/12,000 unassigned stat points :10 Hidden stats Luck : 92 + 3 /100 ( Heavens chosen one''s luck ) Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv 40) , Bracelet of posivity , Reimars ring , True Elites guild robe . Weapons : Slaughter blade ( epic ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers Skills : MountainCrash , Defensebreak , Energy slash , High knee Class specific skills : Heightened battle sense , Weapon recall , Doppleganger Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : small egg ( incubation ) (20 /100) ------ Thats when a guild member came and informed Karna that SMG had compiled the scouting report and that they were ready to proceed to the next stage of the hiest. Karna thanked his stars that he had enough time to level up before conducting the hiest. He had recently gained the title of Heaven''s chosen after he opened the three incomplete designs to form a complete design of the arrow ballista. That title ''s effect gave him +3 luck and added to his aldready heaven defying luck to make it heaven''s chosen one''s luck at 95 points! Karna headed back to meet SMG , when he entered the encampment SMG said " we are ready to move forward with the plan , however there is a small problem .... ". /// Sorry for the late chapter , i had a very busy day. There is a good news that i want to share with you all , and that is we finally have an editor!!!!! He is currently working on fixing the first chapters. But hopefully things will work out and we will continue the partnership Going forward. Expect better quality of my book in the future , also you can choose to reread the book after a few days. I feel exited for the future. The grammar part and the inconsistencies in the text as well as the calculations all will be corrected to form a coherent and smooth flowing text . There is a bonus chapter for golden ticket lined up , expect it to be released later in the day ! /// Chapter 133: Winners dont make excuses Rudra looked towards the time limit left on the quest. He had a little more than 2 hours to rescue the son of archangel sariel. This was good news , it meant that the ceremony should last a bit longer. Any plan that involved attacking the enemies was suicide. Any confrontation with the tier 3 paladin and he was surely dead. Rudra needed an airtight plan , a deceptive one . Rudra calmly observed the structure of the room he was in and came to a conclusion that there were three key architectural spots that supported the ceiling , take all three down and the roof shall collapse. Taking down the roof could give him a crutial opening , however it was not enough . Rudra thought about all the tools in his disposal , to think of anything that could help him create a plan. He looked at everything that ge possesed and found a single bottle of appearance alteration potion in his inventory that Kalash had given him for sampling. Rudra blessed Fatty Kalash in his heart , his friend was a lifesaver in crutial situations there was no doubt about that ! Rudra quietly crept back out of the balcony and went back down to the ambush spot. From the corpse of Gary , Rudra took a single hair and added it to the appearance alteration potion. Rudra transformed into Gary as his height increased and he grew a beard. Rudra slowly transformed into the burly looking big guy Gary. Rudra felt odd in the new body , the feeling made his control over his body weaker , Rudra quickly understood that the appearance alteration potion was a dual edged sword , his combat proficiency had drastically dropped in this new body as his mind was not used to the change in body structure and movement. Rudra summoned the knight Durahal and covered the guy in the best shining armour from one of the dead guys in the hall. Rudra handed Durahal a bloody sword and instructed him to retreat, run and parry all incoming forces next. Rudra disguised as Gary inflicted self damage and Ran towards the balcony. Rudra screamed and seemed to dodge attacks as he stumbled down from the blacony floor towards the ground. THUD! A loud sound interrupted the incantations as everyone turned heads to look towards Rudra. Rudra in the best acting he had done in his life stuttered as he said " They .... They .... Killed ... Everyone ! ". He said so and pretended to faint. Everyone looked towards the gallery as a figure wearing an armour could be seen vaguely through the gallery bars . Some of the tier 2 mages left their incantation spot and instantly chased after Durahal. Rudra knew that the opening he created would last a maximum of 3 minutes before Durahal is defeated. The tier 3 paladin frowned , the party in charge of guarding the teleportation portal seemed to have been completely routed. This meant that the ceremony could no longer be conducted in peace. The paladin stared towards the balcony , deciding his plan of action , he was looking for any intel on the intruding organization. The guy took one step away from the son of Archangel sariel .. then a second one , then a third . Rudra pretending to be unconscious just prayed for that guy to just move a little bit more , and his plan would work. The fourth and fifth step followed. Rudra sprung to his feet and tossed three waterbombs to the three crutial locations needed to collapse the roof and one frost bomb at the feet of the tier three paladin. The paladin was taken by surprise as his feet were suddenly trapped by a ice layer. BOOM! , BOOM , BOOM! The roof collapsed as large chunks of rock started to fall , one headed right for the trapped paladin , he raised his hand and casted a spell that completely annihilated the rock. But others were not soo lucky , 50 tribesmen and 13 tier 2 priests were buried under the rubble . However there were two figures missing from the room , and they were Rudra and the son of archangel sariel. The paladin looked Furious as he broke free of the ice confinement , he dashed towards east , seemingly in pursuit of someone. Rudra had used everything in his arsenal to save the son of archangel sariel , when he released the bombs , he had aldeady started dashing towards the guys bound place. When the bombs exploded , he had aldready cut the guys confines . When the debris started to fall , he aldready had the chalice and the son of Archangel Sariel tightly gripped in the two hands as he used his blink skill to teleport inside the balcony. All of this he achieved at under 3 seconds! It was heaven defying speed and precision. Even though his escape and the missions success were not yet a gaurantee , his skill to reach this point was commendable. 99% challengers would have failed. On one hand his tools like bombs and his Lich''s ring played a huge role in his success , but one should not mistake it as luck . He would be lucky to obtain the items , however using them still needed personal skills , had Rudra not had the bombs , could he still complete the quest? The answer is yes he could , if he did not have the bombs he would just have figured out a plan that did not need them . Had he not have the blink skill , he would not have chosen to collapse the cieling. Everything was calculated and every execution was flawless . Even if the AI wanted to find faults with Rudra''s performance , she could not find any , his performance was genuine skill , there were no rules breaked. The employees of Cuber corporation watching on had became fans at this point as they sincerely cheered Rudra on. This was probably one of the most entertaining and exhilarating things they had seen in a long long time. /// Golden ticket bonus chapter! We have absolutely smashed the golden ticket department guys. All the gifts from you all have really bumped the Novel up a lot! Next golden ticket bonus chapter at 600 tickets. But knowing you guys it will probably be tommorow , lol Anyway Enjoy the chapter , you all earned it ! /// Chapter 134: With danger comes opportunity Caleb was extremely confused after the sudden development. He was just an orphan who lived most of his life with his mother working on a farm , however when her mother was critically ill a few months ago , some hidden power inside him activated . Divine healing powers radiated from himself stronger than even high level bishops in the church. He was naturally stunned at the development , but extremely happy as his power helped alleviate his mother''s illness. Yet her mother just sobbed uncontrollably after he healed her , she kept mumbling something about the seal being broken. It was then that for the first time in 18 years his mom revealed the secret about his father and his origin. His father was the Archangel Sariel and he was infact half angel himself , divine blood flowed through his viens its power unimaginable. Yet the power was more of a curse than a boon , as unless he reached the pinnacle of tier 5 , he would only be a pawn in someone''s bigger scheme. Wanting their son to have a normal life , his mother pleaded archangel sariel to seal her son''s powers , and he did comply. Yet seeing his mother sick something inside him stirred and the intense desire to heal her mother made the seal break. With the seal broken various powers knew about the presence of an angel halfling as he radiated a faint divine aura. He was forced to leave his home in concern of his mothers safety and roamed the lands slaying monsters and gaining strength when one day he was surrounded and captured by a group of hooded men and knocked out cold. When he woke up. He found himseld tied up to a pole in a unfamiliar surrounding , around him were tribesman from various species also tied to poles , blood dripping from their cut wrists as they all writhed in pain ... He unconsciously looked towards his wrists , yet no cut was made. He was infact in the centre of the entire formation , Caleb got a bad feeling at that point that his fate would not be as simple as just a cut on the wrist. The cult members began chanting incantations and performing blood magic , when a powerfull man in a white robe came with a chalice in hand. Caleb inspected the chalice , however it did not appear to be anything special, however at the end of the incantations a powerful blood magic was cast towards the white robed man , but instead of attacking the man , it was all absorbed within the chalice. The powerfull blood magic using the blood of 50 different tribesmen seemingly unlocked the item as a faint divine glow came from it now. Caleb could feel a faint resonance with the item , he was sure that the item was something related to the angels. After the chalice was unlocked , the white robed man placed it at Caleb''s feet and another round of chanting began. Calebs eyes widened at the chants , the language seemed soo familiar yet soo foreign , he felt like he knew the language as he had heard it a lot , yet he could not make out the meaning of most words spoken . However there was one word he could not miss and that was '' Lucifer '' . Then suddenly a man came falling from the balcony and pointed towards the entrance saying that there were attackers. Caleb suddenly felt hope , maybe someone had came to rescue everyone here. Yet what happened next left him completely perplexed , the man who fell from the balcony suddenly sprung into action throwing grenades towards the cieling bringing the whole roof down. Just when he thought , '' Aghh , there does my life '' , he was suddenly cut free and at the next second he was on the balcony , Running with the fallen man. He looked at Rudra in confusion , his mind was a mess , he could not figure out the situation , he suddenly stopped running as he stared at Rudra blank faced. Rudra who had one hand around Caleb''s wrist suddenly felt resistance as he ran , Rudra turned to look at the clueless guy. Rudra said " I am Shakuni Won Knight , here to save you , bad guy chasing , RUN! ". Rudra cut short the sentence into barely recognisable bits as he needed to save time , the tier 3 paladin must be hot on their tale and it wouldnt take him long to catch up due to the incomparable stat difference. Calebs eyes regained some lustre as he nodded and picked up the pace , he had a Million questions however now was not the time. He just said " Caleb " running at full speed. Rudra and Caleb were almost at the teleporting array when Rudra felt a chill down his spine , instinctively he sidestepped. A powerfull dark slash just narrowly missed his body , the tier 3 wizard was here. Rudra stopped running , he knew his priorities , even if he died he needed to save archangel sariel'' s son. He just said " Go ! " As he shoved him into the teleportation array and out of the area. The paladin had a deep frown when he saw Caleb escaping , he wanted to make quick work of Rudra and chase after Caleb. Rudra however had different plans. He knew he had one chance at Success here and that was if and only if he could pull this trick off. Rudra used all of his strongest attack at the charging tier 3 paladin. Windslash , Stormbirnger even darkness blast . The consumption of stamina was huge as Rudra instantly felt dizzy enough to pass out , his stamina bar went from green to critically red. The wizard just snorted , as he casted a protection spell to stop the incoming attacks and as expected he did not gain a single point in damage. However Rudra''s goal had been accomplished , to defend against the incoming attacks he had to stop running and cast a protective spell. Rudra used Darkness Bind ! And restrained the paladin for just a little more than a second. But a second was all he needed. As he jumped with all his remaining strength towards the teleportation portal , but rather than going inside the teleportation circle he was going for the array itself , Excalibur in hand enlarged to 3 meters , Rudra came crashing down towards the array with an Earthquake skill. Boom! The teleportation array was shattered , there was no way out of this place. The paladin cursed in frustration he could not beleive that he failed his job because of such a weakling. He chanted a plathora of spells , anyone of which could easily annihilate a party of 20 , as he hurled spells after spells at Rudra''s location. Rudra rolled and crashed at the ground , the last thing he saw before dying was a storm of spells being hurled at his location , he closed his eyes and a system notification hit him . YOU HAVE DIED! /// Has he succeeded in completing the quest? Has he failed? Well if you all want more chapters today you just need to hit the golden ticket or the powerstone targets. We are not that far away ! Soo golden ticket department , powerstone department , get the gears running towards the next targets. Special shoutout to Leo_Crispii for the 500 coin gift To TheNoone for 2000 coins , Cervantez91 for the 1000 coin gift ! /// Chapter 135: Simply not possible System notification : You have been revived at the Church Of life in PurpleHaze city . -20% all stats for next 3 hours -2 gold -( you have dropped the shin guards of your armour) Rudra did not care about the petty 2 gold he paid for respawn fees or the shin guards that he dropped , the first thing he did was to check the countdown on the quest , but much to his surprise , he had neither cleared nor failed the quest yet as the timer kept running. It had 3 minutes left , and Rudra gulped nervously , he was not clear on the quest as the details provided were too few , will he clear the quest should the son of archangel sariel still be alive after 3 minutes? Does he have to go back to the Western town of Bethlehem ? He had no clue at all. The three minutes left on the countdown were the most nervous three minutes of his life that seemed to take an eternity to pass. Every second off the timer made his mind have a new dark thought each one being worse than the previous one. Finally the timer hit 0 and a system notification came. System notification : Quest [ Save the son of Archangel Sariel ] (SSS) Completed successfully! The son of archangel Sariel is looking for you to express his gratitude , make sure to meet him within the next 3 days , he will be at the Church of Life in PurpleHaze city. Go to the Church for other specific rewards! Rudra sighed in relief. A 60% debuff for failure would have left him crippled , his gaming career in jeopardy. However all was fine now! He was obviously interested in the rewards , however the intensity and urgency of the situation had made him game continuously at high mental capacity for over 34 hours straight now , he needed a break , hence he decided to just log out of the game for now. ------ ( Cuber corporation , Hq location : unknown, real world ) The feed turned dark , which meant that the player had disconnected from the game. It was a quest full of twists and turns and the people overlooking the entire development were in awe of the skills Rudra displayed. The Quest line although entertaining had increased their headaches by quite a bit. Rudra achieved something that was not meant to happen in the game , the son of Archangel Sariel was supposed to die at this point triggering the wrath of Sariel which would have resulted in the eruption of Hazelgroove''s dormant volcano and first ever calamity event. Rudra actually succeding in the quest had put the Cuber corporation in a tough spot. While creating the game they had made sure that the players had freedom and that every choice they made had a very attatched consequence , yet they had still set a very general direction for the game to progress in. However including Rudra there were 16 in game players that were flagged by the AI that continued to defy the bounds of artificial programming. Especially Rudra , his actions of introducing the bomb soo early in the game as well as making explosives within a week of getting the explosive artist subclass that were one of the hardest things to design was something that the AI and Cuber corporation never anticipated. Forcing them to make a negotiation to bring balance back to the game and now he derailed a main storyline from its intended path. They had to make a choice now , should they forcefully make the volcano erupt? Or should they let the game take its natural course? The Cuber officials were in an intense debate. However one thing good that came from the episode was that Rudra became in the clear , just being marked at unpredictable and extremely skilled with a threat level of (7/10) in the books . ----- ( Real world , the upside , at an ice cream joint ) Naomi was feeling a lot low , nothing seemed to cheer her up as she could not focus on anything at all. Even playing the game she felt a pang of constant guilt hence she chose to logout and go out for an ice-cream. At the ice-cream joint a little kid was cutely licking a triple scoop icecream about the size of his arms. Icecream smeared all over his cheeks. Naomi instantly recognized him , he was guildmaster''s little brother Max , she had seen the kid in the innaugration party. She took a seat next to Max and ordered a chocolate cone while giving Max a big smile. Max looked at Naomi and the innocent 8 year old just said " Prettyy " and went back to licking his ice-cream as it was more important to him . Naomi blushed at the compliment , kids were the best they blurted whatever they thought and there was no malice hidden in their words. Naomi''s impression of little Max just went up by +50 , as apart from being soo cute and adorable he was also soo sweet. She thought maybe the brothers were raised well as they always said sweet things to her. Trying to make small talk she asked Max " soo what do you wanna do when you grow up? ". Max looked at Naomi for a second , then realized that every second he spent talking , was a second he could have used eating ice-cream hence he just ignored her and walked off , ice-cream in hand . Naomi just watched on in shock , she was ignored and stood up by a little guy who called her pretty just seconds ago , she thought '' ..... And here the world calls girls minds fickle'' . Focusing on eating her ice-cream she was a little sad as the cute little eye candy Max had gone away , however what she saw next completely blew her away. The guild leader Rudra was out running in a tanktop and earphones. His lean body full of muscles made her gulp for a second. She thought '' Well , thats a fine snack too ''. When Max who just finished eating his icecream saw his brother. He screamed '' Brother! '' as he ran towards Rudra to hug him. Rudra was surprised seeing Max running towards him , but he showed the enthusiasm back as even though he was sweaty he took the little guy in for a big hug! Naomi''s heart just went into meltdown seeing this scene , it was just soo adorable ! , Rudra then put little Max on his shoulders as he continued a slow jog. When Rudra was no longer in sight her eyes dissapointedly went back towards the icecream she was eating , which had half melted by now. When a lady came out from a black lamberghini and sat beside her ordering a chocolate icecream too. Naomi smiled at the stranger , who politely smiled back . That stranger , was Yua Nakatomi. /// Bang! What rewards will Rudra get? , What girl will he get? , There will be no harem guys , one will suffer heartbreak while one will win his heart.However the real no1 will always be little Max! Golden ticket bonus guys! And a big shoutout to Leo_crispii who pretty much single handedly made it happen ! We are close to hitting the powerstone target too , should we reach it , then a bonus will be given tommorow! Lets make it happen you all. /// Chapter 136: Heist (1) " whats the problem? " Karna asked " Well to explain the problem , let me retell the entire plan first ". SMG said Karna nodded and SMG began his explanation " The first thing we need to do is we need to knock the three patrolling guards out in the eastern perimeter , the guards strength is estimated to be peak tier one at a minimum of level 50, after we knock them out , 3 of our men will drink the appearance alteration potion and take their place and aldready plotted patrol routes in patrolling , making sure that noone gets suspicious". Karna frowned a bit , should they fight them head on , they would have ganged up 3 on 1 maybe four on 1 and easily defeated the guards , however 1 on 1 the task was much harder and to do it in one fell swoop without alarming the others was even more difficult. Karna said " soo is that the problem? ". Smg shaked his head " Nono , the assasins in my party can do it easily , the hard part is later i will come to the hard part in time , after knocking the guards down , we need to get to the starting point of the treasure map , the guard tower C , ofcourse it goes without saying that we need to take out the guards on top of guard tower C before we can proceed further. There are 2 guards who guard tower C , one hunter and one archer , both can use the bow proficiently at level 52 tier 1 , they have excellent senses and vision due to the class however to avoid raising the alarm we will need to sneak up on them , after we knock them out our two men will use appearance alteration potion and pretend to be the duo patrolling the tower to not raise suspicion. ". Karna nodded he said " okay soo sneaking on the archer and ranger is the hard part , i see , yes as we need to enter the tower from the top down , we will need to scale the tower first while avoiding detection ..... Hmmm ...hmmm ". SMG shook his head however and said " Nonono , climbing the tower unnoticed and taking the guards down is easy , i havent came to the hard part yet have patience , the hard part comes next ". Karna was a bit dumbfounded now , climbing a 50 feet tower and taking on two excellent archers atleast 10 levels higher without raising an alarm was easy? What was hard then? " The next segment requires us to remove tile number 47 from the basement of the tower which will unearth the secret passage which leads to tile number 47 beneath the royal vault , to reach there the passage is narrow and small , one has to crawl on all fours for about 500 meters down , and then only using body strength , climb on all fours vertically for 200 meters , push the tile open quietly and get into the vault ". Karna said " Okay no problem , we can do it easy right? ". SMG said " Yes , yes , i see Monsieur Leo is really fit in real life as well , great muscles , ofcourse he can do the physical activity , no problem, the problem comes later , i will get to it". Karna blushed at the compliment , he prided himself at the fit body he had. " Then we go in and steal everything we think is worth stealing , 20 storage rings equipped on both of our 10 fingers each plus all our inventory , a lot of loot ". SMG said Karna nodded he said " Aghhh , so thats the problem , dont worry mate there is enough loot in the royal vault to fit 2000 rings , dont worry about the loot ". SMG shook his head , " ofcourse there is ,that is why we are carrying out the heist , nono thats not the problem , the problem comes next , wait i will get there ". Karna was growing impatient now , WHAT WAS THE DAMN PROBLEM ? " We then leave the vault , put back the tile , slide out of the secret passage , leave the tower , leave the premises and flee ninecoulds kingdom ". SMG said Karna nodded , he said " AHA , so fleeing is the problem? ". SMG shook his head " Nono, fleeing should be trouble free , we donot expect to raise alarm in the first 6 hours , then the knocked out guards will wake up and raise an alarm. It will take 30 more minutes for them to figure out that a hiest had occurred. Then to find our trail they will atleast need 6 more hours. As they will have no idea where we ran off too , by that point we would aldready have crossed the border back to Hazelgroove ". Karna was pissed now as he said " soo what exactly is the problem ? ". SMG replied " The problem is Monsieur Karna , that we have not thrown the doubt towards the Demolitionboys , we have carried the heiest too cleanly , also if we use the wolves as mounts to escape its harder to cast suspicion on the Demolitionboys , we need horse mounts ". Karna was both impressed at SMG''s longterm planning and insight and dissapointed in his lack of common sense he said " then give some members appearance alteration potions , make them look like Demolitionboys members , go to a store and rent the horses , now when they backtrace the mounts they will go to the store and learn of their identity as a member of Demolitionboys , problem solved ". SMG''s Eyes shined he was enlightened , " Bravo! Bravo! ". He clapped. The plan was finally set , every fine detail worked out , once the horses were hired , it would be time to carry out the hiest! /// This is one of the chapters i have worked the most at , the planning of the hiest and the finer details as well as potraying them in a way you all can easily visualize was a challenging task. Hope you enjoy it. Congratulations to us all on hitting the powerstone target , a bonus will be released soon. Next bonuses at 700 golden tickets and 2400 Power stones. Also a shoutout to Alicia Melciot for the 500 coin gift!! Thankyou for the support. /// Chapter 137: Heist(2) Two members from the Heist group , went to the nearest village to rent fifty horses. They had taken the appearance alteration potion and disguised themselves as two guild members from the Demolitionboys . They went to the store keeper wearing dark robes without any guild insigna. However they did not use the hood. They let the shopkeeper deliberately see their faces as they handed 200 gold for the transaction. The shopkeeper was elated and as the customer''s did not haggle over the price it left a good impression of them in his mind , naturally he would remember them later. While the two were busy buying horses , the main Heist crew had started the action . It was sunset time in game , and according to the scouting they did for the past few days this was the most opportune time to take out all patrols . There was a 15 minute window between when the natural sunlight was a bit low and the lamps were unlit , hence the overall visibility was at the lowest. Using this short window the trained assasins of ''The Noone '' organization , who had probably done same kinds of missions in real life took out the three guards with exact sync. They sneaked up on them making no sound at all , and without them noticing they used the skill CutThroat giving critical hits to all guards as they died instantly. -15,000 critical hit! -15,000 critical hit! -15,000 critical hit! The dead soldiers bodies did not even hit the floor as without making a single sound their bodies were quickly disposed off , their armour worn and the appearances altered using a strand of their hair. All within 2 minutes. The patrolls had been successfully replaced , phase one was a success! Karna had a chill down his spine seeing the whole scene unfold before his eyes , the assasins were terrifying, he was sure that should they choose so , he would die under their knives before he could even react. Phase two was next as pairs of two assasins sneakily moved cover to cover as they reached the foot of guard tower C , the four assasins got into positions , they were moving in pairs as they used the theif and assasin class special skill , anti gravity to scale the tower. They looked like a bunch of ninjas from konoha as they ran vertically on the tower , reaching the end the assasin pair one threw a small metal pin inside the observation deck to gain the archer and hunter duo''s attention when the other pair stealthily entered from behind them and applied a MMA style chokehold. With the choke tightly applied the duo gasped for air as they flailed around trying to get out of it , however before they could even move an inch , the initial pair of assasins entered the room and stabbed their hearts out. -20,000 Critical hit! -20,000 Critical hit! The corpses were stacked in a corner and one pair changed their appearances to match that of the hunter and archer duo. They took up the bow and arrows as they slinged it on their backs , and started to behave exactly like the duo would while on watch. The other pair went down the tower and killed the unsuspecting guard on the door before opening the door for Karna and SMG to enter. Just after Karna and SMG entered the tower the lampman came around to hang the lamps. Phase 2 of the mission was also a success , noone in the guard of the royal vault was any wiser as nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Karna and SMG made their way to the bottom of the chamber , where food and supplies were stacked , they started counting the tiles untill finally finding tile no 47! They removed the tile to show a narrow secret passage underneath. They entered the passage , Karna first and SMG followed , and after going about 10 meters , the passage shrunk to the size where one could only get by after moving on all fours while using ur elbows, millitary style. After an arduous half an hour they finally reached the end of the horizontal movement chamber and towards the vertical chamber. Karna looked at his stamina bar , amused to find it depleted by 1/3rd , the task was really laborious. Not easy at all , however he had an even more difficult climb ahead. The vertical climb was difficult as there was nothing to grip in the climb , one had to exert pressure on the vertical walls with their hands and legs while continually struggling upwards. Karna grit his teeth as he began the climb , thankgod it was not real world , else the labour would have left him sore for days to come. Slowly and steadily they both made their way upwards untill finally they hit the ceiling. SMG firmly planted his feet on the walls , and used his arms to give Karna as much support as he could soo that karna could extert pressure on the tiles to finally seeing a little bit of movement from the tiles , Karna wanted nothing more than to just flung the tile away with all his strength however he restrained his desire while slowly moving the tile towards the left providing an opening ..... When enough of the tile was slid , he placed his hands at the side and pushed it wide open , to finally climb into the vault. Finally with much difficulties he had indeed entered the goddamn ROYAL VAULT! , He was exited to look around at all the glittering treasures there , Soon SMG followed , only to find a open mouthed Karna staring at some object. SMG turned his head to see what the fuss was about , but he too found himself open mouthed when he used inspect on the object. He pinched himself twice as he thought '' is this for real? ''. /// Powerstone bonus chapter for you all!!!! Enjoy , coming up next is the rewards both from the Heist and Rudra''s quest and i think the rewards are really really good. Hoping we can complete the next two targets of 700 and 2400 before the week resets on Sunday , soo that you guys can really have the maximum chapters. And i know we can reach there at the current rate , soo fingers crossed. /// Chapter 138: Rewards (1) SMG rubbed his eyes twice to see if he was seeing the object infront of him correctly [ Eternal Flame ] ( Legendary ) : A flame obtained from a dying phoenix , it contains the power to resurrect the dead , it cannot be extinguished , if used against enemies , the burning will never stop. Effect 1 : Flame of life , the eternal flame can resurrect any dead NPC and can grant vitality to those nearing their deaths . Effect 2 : The Strongest forging flame , it can even melt the legendary metals to smith Effect 3 : The flame if ussed to attack will burn the enemy without mercy , it cannot be extinguished , the flame will only go out when the body of the enemy is completely burned . Caution : If the flame is not used properly and results in a town or forest fire , it will lead to a complete town wipe , the flame cannot be contained . CANNOT BE STORED IN INVENTORY SMG and Karna were drooling at this point , only when they read the last sentence about it not being able to be stored in inventory did they calm down , Carrying the flame around was the dumbest thing they could do. However it would be a lie to say that they were not tempted ... It was a damn Legendary grade treasure . With much difficulty their eyes went away from the golden flames towards the other objects. The royal vault was exactly like one would expect .... Heaps of gold and platinum and precious stones were just scattered , artifacts were lying between them , it was just a massive collection of priceless treasures. Unfortunately no matter how much he looked for there were no other legendary items lying around , however there were semi legendary and epic ones!!!! And amazing artifacts at that [ Seal of Draconia ] ( Epic ) : a seal of the dragon kingdom of draconia , grants a party of 20 to enter the forbidden Kingdom. Karna was intrigued he immediately put it in the inventory , ofcourse he wanted to go to any land labelled forbidden and this was the one having the goddamn dragons!!! [ Masudoku Katana ] ( Epic ) : Rumored to be the sharpest blade in the kingdom , it is only for the most skilled of the swordsmen , built for accuracy rather than power. It is for the fast and precise. Effect 1 : ignores all armour Effect 2 : critical damage + 50% Effect 3 : The skill CutThroat when used with this weapon will result in 400% damage. It was a really really sharp Katana and SMG gulped seeing it , he wanted it , it was almost tailor built for him , he was that kind of agile and precise swordsman who used the skill CutThroat. But his dignity would not let him ask for it Karna looked at SMG as he smiled and said , you should take it. SMG looked at Karna gratefully however he did not stand on ceremony as he equipped the weapon. He was extremely satisfied as he felt that joining the Elites was a good choice , the people were good and not greedy, he swore internally to serve the guild better. [ Minataurs horn ] ( semi legendary ) : The horn of a legendary creature , it can be forged into a great sword , as well as used as an alchemy material. A semi legendary item!!!! Although it could not be used directly it was still an amazing item nonetheless , and it went straight into the inventory. [ Elven sword ] ( semi legendary ) : a sword of the highest grade made by the elves , it is light and contains an inbuilt power to fight creatures of darkness , inscribed with the finest runes it contains a sword heart and will only show its true potential when it chooses a master . Current chosen master : none Effect 1 : Can damage all darkness aligned monsters including formless monsters like ghosts and spirits. Effect 2 : ???? Effect 3 : ???? Effect 4 : ???? Restriction 1 : Righteous faction Restriction 2 : Knight class only Reading the description Karna immediately chose the item for Rudra , it was almost screaming his name. He stored it in his inventory without second thoughts . He next found an item that resonated with him for a change [ Fruit of luck ] ( epic ) : increases the consumers luck by +3 permanently. It increases the eaters luck!!!!! Showing no hesitation , Karna ate the fruit there and then. Why waste an inventory slot?. And a major change appeared in his character pannel. ----- Player Name : Karna Title : Son of Providence Class : Swordsman Subclass : Runesmith LVL:43 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 250 VIT : 230 INT : 180 STA : 230 PHY : 200 SE : 5 HP : 12,000/12,000 unassigned stat points :10 Hidden stats Luck : 95 + 3 /100 ( Son of providence) Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv 40) , Bracelet of posivity , Reimars ring , True Elites guild robe . Weapons : Slaughter blade ( epic ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers Skills : MountainCrash , Defensebreak , Energy slash , High knee Class specific skills : Heightened battle sense , Weapon recall , Doppleganger Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : small egg ( incubation ) (24/100) ------ His heavens chosen title was replaced by the title '' Son of providence'' Ofcourse the effect changed as well [ Son of providence ] ( Title ) : good things will automatically flock towards you with you not even having to try. Critical hit rate + 30% for all strikes. This was just too strong!!!!! He had became more OP than he aldready was as one of every 3 hits he made were gauranteed to be critical hits!!! Just the thought made him yelp in joy. He hit it big this time! Especially when he read the line , good things will automatically come to you! Just a small difference of 3 luck points and such a huge change was seen in his pannel , Now he only wondered what happens if he made the luck stat a full 100 someday . Anyway there were a lot more things to loot , he needed to focus back on the task at hand! He was a responsible robber afterall , no treasure shall escape his hands!!!! /// Chapter one for today! We are close to hitting the golden ticket and powerstone targets , soo hopefully there will be number 2 and 3 too! Special shoutout to Raging_silver for the 5000 COIN GIFT! Many many many thanks dear reader for your patronage ! /// Chapter 139: Rewards(2) " Whoaaaa check this out " SMG told Karna. [ Platinum guild token ] (Nineclouds special ) : The token can be used to create the only platinum guild in the Nineclouds kingdom. Karna whistled looking at the item , although it was useless for them , it was actually a priceless treasure for a first rate guild in Nineclouds kingdom. The thing could be either sold in an auction type bidding war , or could be gifted to curry favour. Also the Grey international main guild was also based in Nineclouds kingdom hence it could also be gifted to them. Karna let Rudra decide on the specifics as he tossed it into the inventory. There were various types of forging materials lying around , various stones and rare gems. Whatever Karna felt may have use , he tossed it into the inventory space . Then he found something interesting [ Weapon recall ] ( Skill ) ( Epic) : Recall a fallen weapon back to your wielding arm. It was an interesting skill to learn , it had many practical uses in battle. Karna tossed it into the inventory. [ Flame steps ] ( skill ) ( Epic) : Uses flames to increase moment speed and attack power. Propells the user forward with great movement boost. Low chance of dealing burn damage upon kicking +50 AGI +5 PHY Duration : 5 minutes Caution : - 5 Agility after time duration is over for 2 hours Cooldown time : 3 hours. It was an amazing skill to learn ! Karna appreciated it and tossed it into the inventory . [ Staff of grandmage arahiem ] ( epic ) : staff used by grandmage arahiem when he was an apprentice mage +50 mana. + 50 INT Effect 1 : All spells power +5% Effect 2 : casting time -5% It was an amazing wand and Karna had no doubt Medivh would love it as he tossed it in the bag. Time was running out now , as the timer Karna and SMG set for escaping showed that they had 5 minutes left for the heist. They needed 2 minutes to get back out of the tunnel , hence that left them 3 minutes to loot. They frantically started putting everything into inventory that came in sight +250 million gold. +3 million platinum + 1000 ( Lv 50 ) full armour sets. +1000 ( Lv 60 ) full armour sets. + 100 Tier one return scrolls. + 100 tier 2 scrolls ( Ablaze) + 10 tier 3 scrolls ( Oceans tide) + 15 Strength fruits + 15 stamina fruits + 15 agility fruits. Time ran out as second alarm hit Karna , it was time to move out , the night watchers shift would start in 30 minutes and they needed to escape a good distance by then However the sheer amount of gold they looted here today exeeded all of Karna''s wildest imaginations , he genuinely had a feeling that they could all cash the money in and divide it amonhst all guild members and just retire for good. However he dismissed that notion as quickly as it came .... He loved Omega and he loved the True Elites , this was just the start .... It was a long road ahead. The two of them escaped the room as they carefully put the tile back on , before sliding down the vertical pit. Finally a minute later they were back in the horizontal pit and they started to crawl at full speed. Coming out of the horizontal pit they quickly covered back the tile no 47 that they used to carry out the heist and put back the food and other supplies over the tile to make it look natural. The two members on top of the tower quickly ran down upon recieving the '' lets go '' signal , as the four dashed out . The three members on patroll duty saw them escaping and took it as their signal to flee too as the five made their way back out of the courtyard and into the wilds. The horses were ready there as the party split into three to leave from that point forward in three different directions to mislead the pursuers. The three different paths would eventually merge before they all made way back into Hazelgroove , however for now the party of 50 broke into three groups and ran! Half an hour later when the group was miles away from the heist location. The guard who came to replace the patrolmen raised the first alarm after not finding anyone on patrol! Soon the deadbodies were found and a red alert was issued! However the conniving theives had long left the premises as they made headway back into Hazelgroove. 6 hours of constant riding later , the group of three merged back into one as they entered the border town of Hazelgroove kingdom. This entire event would be years later remembered as the greatest heist of the century as the value of all looted goods exeeded a Trillion dollars!!!!!! It was an insane plan executed to perfection! Well almost perfection , as a little part was still left yet. That was to frame the Demolitionboys! However it was not that difficult as opportunity walked itself towards Karna when the party was stopped on the road towards the capital by a bunch of alliance members, coincidentally all from the Demolitionboys . Karna acted like a pitifull player as the other guild members played along , he quitely gave them a loot of 200 gold coins as well as a few rare stones that he obtained from the heist. The Demolitionboys were naturally overjoyed and let Karna and group pass without any qualms , they had never expected such a huge spoil. They transferred the loot to the guild warehouse , as they received great praise from their superiors. alas if only they knew the consequences of their actions ... /// Guys the chapter when they will get framed for the heist will be funny as hell! I cant stop laughing just thinking about it! Bonus chapter released for all the coin gifts i have got from you all , honestly i never expected the overwhelming support i got from you all , here is a Little appreciation for that. This one is for you guys , thankyou for all the support! More chapters coming up at 700 golden tickets! Just ten more to go you all! And at 2400 PS ! Lets goo! /// Chapter 140: Rewards (3) ( Church of life , inner district , PurpleHaze city ) Rudra was inside the prayer hall of the church of life talking to Cardinal Lee about the specofics of the battle. " Soo at the end i destroyed the teleportation array from the inside soo that the paladin could not chase the son of archangel sariel , however i got killed by his spells as i am but weak ". Rudra said pitifully . He had learnt the subtle art of humblebragging and he made sure to make his story sound extremely tragic to Cardinal Lee. Cardinal Lee was moved to tears learning of his sufferings as he showered praise after praise to Rudra. He then said " I had a talk with the archbishop , he told me to award you as i deem fit for meritorious service towards the church , donot worry , the church shall not do you wrong ". System notification : Your title Emmisary of the Church has been upgraded to Honorary Bishop of the Church ! Rudra called up his stats pannel. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the church of life , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:46 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 236 +118 VIT : 236 +118 INT : 236 +118 STA : 236 +118 PHY : 236 +118 HP : 29000/29000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (52/200) ---- [ Honorary Bishop of the church of life ] ( title) : You shall have unrestricted access to the Church of life''s most resources such as holy water and infamy reduction You yourself will not gain any more infamy upon killing enemies as anyond you kill shall be considered an enemy of the Church Any opponent attacking you will have no way of reducing infamy inside Hazelgroove kingdom. Unless acquitted of '' Treason '' , the local administration cannot capture or detain you. It was a very very important title , and its benefits were obvious! ,Rudra had a big smile on his face. However he was not satisfied yet .... The pain he went through in the quest needed him to get more!!! He smiled at Cardinal Lee " I am honored that you found this lowly adventurer worthy of such a title ". Rudra had fake tears in his eyes As Cardinal Lee''s heart moved again .... He felt like Rudra was the purest soul around , reliable and a genuine devotee of the godess. He was convinced in his choice of granting the title. Next Cardinal Lee said " You may choose one of the three rewards next. 1) you may use this opportunity to get any one item from the church''s warehouse 2) you may use this opportunity to ask for the blessing of the pope once . 3) you may use this opportunity to exchange for one tear of life. Rudra thought his ears were ringing ... Did the Cardinal just say the tear of life? The tear of life was the Church of life''s most treasured posession , only given to the most elite paladins after years of service. Upon consuming it permanently gave a +50 bonus to all stats ( Excluding hidden stats), drinking it was akin to gaining ten levels at once. Rudra never expected such a treasure to be offered. The second option was intriguing too , he could meet the pope to gain his blessing. The pope was an extremely powerful existance at the peak of the power chain at tier 5 peak and some rumors saying at tier 6 , any blessing from him could be worth a big deal. Rudra had been to the Church warehouse twice now , hence he knew that there were great treasures inside , it was sure to be good . He had a big dilemma here to choose option one , option two , or option three. ----- ( Meanwhile the alliance meeting ) " Leaders , the backer who invested the large amounts of funds has sent a representative to state some demands at this meeting, please welcome Mr Nakul ". Introduced Ilovesmashing Nakul looked around the room in a cold gaze , as he sized the seven guild leaders sitting around him , then he scoffed and shook his head. Then he said " Look , we all know your guilds are just trash compared to the True Elites , and it will be trash untill that guild exists in the kingdom , your current objective should be aimed at crushing the Elites ". Viens popped on the guild leaders foreheads upon hearing the rude man , ofcourse they knew that compared to the elites they were inferior , however noone wanted that fact being shoved down their throats. With great self control and restraint PinkLotus said " How would you suggest we do that ? ". Nakul said " we have given soo much money to you beggars , use it to hire more beggars , every goddamn third rate and adventurer group you can afford , buy them all and put them under contract , increase your numbers by a large margin. The Elites identity is their exclusivity , however against 100,000 soldiers even the strongest 1000 shall fall". Yua wanted to bang the table hard , but she restrained herself barely .... The guy treated had the gall to call her beggar? She ? The daughter heir of Nakatomi Corporation? The leader of the First Rate Guild AzureLotus? She looked around to see that the other guild leaders were also barely swallowing their pride , if not for the truly immense funds poured , they would have slapped that dog to death ! " There are only 9 days left in the Elites war cooldown meter left ..... Its time to nip that problem in the bud!". Nakul said as he left the room. Noone wanted to meet each others eyes at this point, as there was no point in discussing , they had to do as instructed , fortunately or unfortunately , they had became slaves of the Ambani corporation after they accepted the massive investments. They could only prepare for the upcoming war and do their best to win now. /// Golden ticket bonus for crossing the 700 ticket mark Great job you guys!!! You are making me write 3 chapters a day where my normal pace is one! I guess we will hit the powerstone target soon soo another bonus will be coming tommorow. But i will gladly work three times as hard for the support and love you all show for my work! Enjoy !!! /// Chapter 141: Rewards (4) Rudra thought about everything , and at the end he chose the tear of life , as stats were absolute , his biggest advantage currently was his stats that were wayy beyond anyone else at this stage in the game. His stats were aldready comparable to level 60 normal players at level 46 , but gaining another +50 in all stats , would mean that with his golden ratio bonus , he would have +75 all stats , it was a huge boost in strength. Although meeting the pope waa an extremely interesting prospect for him , the rewards were not certain , and he felt his current self too lacking to meet such an existance. Had he been tier 3 or 4 he would have jumped on the chance to meet the pope , but considering his current self , he decided against it. As for choosing an artifact from the warehouse , the only thing Rudra lacked currently was a suitable sword , Excalibur ( replica) was a nice sword , however Windcutter sword was too lacking now that his level had increased. The damage from windslash was also not upto par. However he had aldready browsed through everything in the warehouse related to swords in his previous visits , and found many extraordinary swords , just none of them were a good fit for him. Making up his mind , Rudra asked the Cardinal for the Tear of life . Cardinal Lee was a bit surprised at Rudra''s choice, however he gladly complied , giving Rudra the vial containing the tear of life for consuming. [ Tear of life ] ( Semi legendary ) ( potion ) : Reverse engineered from the divine tears of the goddess of life , this is a potion that can give permanent stat points bonus to the consumer . Effect - All stats +50 Rudra felt no hesitation as he gulped the potion down. Immediately he felt a storm of power coursing through his veins as he felt a lot lot stronger. Rudra called for his new stat pannel. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:46 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 286 +143 VIT : 286 +143 INT : 286 +143 STA : 286 +143 PHY : 286 +143 HP : 35000/35000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (53/200) ---- Then an unexpected event occured. System notification : You have achieved stats wayy beyond your current level ..... You have been granted the special Title [ Limitbreaker] [ Limitbreaker ] ( Title ) : You will be valued in any NPC faction you choose to join , irrespective of their alignment. Rudra recieved a new title , although it was useless to him currently , it was a good title to have. Rudra had a hugeee boost in his aldready monstrous strength , he felt he was as strong as an early tier 2 player currently , and that was saying a lot as the difference between tiers was huge! Also Rudra was currently 14 levels away from level 60 where he can attempt the next tier promotion quest. It was christmas come early for him . He thanked Cardinal Lee for all his help , and just as he was about to leave the Church , Caleb entered the Church . Rudra easily identified the striking son of archangel sariel with his distinct blonde hair and build. It was only then that Rudra remembered that the kid was looking for him , however as Rudra was under the effect of the appearance alteration potion as Gary while rescuing him , he walked right past Rudra without paying him any mind. Naturally Rudra raised an eyebrow at the situation. He said " we meet again , son of Sariel". Caleb paused in his steps as he looked towards Rudra , clearly puzzled , he said " Sorry , do i know u ?". Rudra laughed as he said " The guy who saved you , Shakuni ". Caleb''s eyes widened at the reveal as he politely bowed , then asked " but ..". Rudra quickly said " appearance alteration potion , happy to see you safe ". Caleb instantly understood everything , however before his conversation could continue any further Cardinal Lee jumped as he touched the son of Archangel Sariel everywhere with tears in his eyes , making sure he was fine. Rudra rolled his eyes at this sight '' He is not your birth son , cardinal '' Rudra said in his mind , however not a single sign of displeasure was seen on his face. Caleb was not used to this kind of treatment as he was clearly very awkward , however he did not have the heart to push the old Cardinal away. Rudra had no intention of sticking around to see the nauseating sight any longer as he looked at Caleb and said " True Elites guild , inner city , come if you have any buisness to discuss ". And left the church. Caleb wanted to follow however he was stormed in the church with fanatic paladins and priests who were seeing him as if Sariel himself had descended. However just as Rudra left the Church Rudra got another system notification System notification : You have piqued the interest of Archangel Sariel , he will be watching your progress . Rudra felt a chill down his spine at this notification , he had never heard of any such event in his past life , and his guts told him. It was not a good thing. /// Bonus chapter for reaching powerstone target. Congratulations for hitting the target of 2400 and surpassing it by another 300 !!!! I dont think we will be able to get to 3000 this week before the timer ends , however i am glad to announce that this is the most successful week we have had yet! Keep up the good work guys , you all earned 7 bonus 4 golden ticket bonuses + 3 powerstone bonuses. Hoping to carry on the momentum and go strong next month too ! Thankyou for all the support this week guys ! /// Chapter 142: Mega plan ( True Elites Headquarters , inner district , PurpleHaze city , virtual world ) The elders had all met inside the conference room , it was full attendance with SMG , Fatty kalash , Neatwit, Karna , Amelia all sitting around and Rudra sitting at the centre of the table. There was a lot of tension and exitement at the table , everyone here was busy with various tasks after the system auction. But by the looks of the things , everyone seemed to have succeeded in their tasks. Rudra had recieved the report about the guilds current finances from Amelia following the heist that SMG and Karna conducted. Honestly Rudra was pleasantly surprised to see such an amazing loot , he was extremely happy. Also the items they brought were exemplary to say the least. Especially the elven sword , it was an amazing addition to his arsenal , somehow the sword felt neither light nor heavy in his hands , it was just the perfect weight. To his dissapointment the sword did not acknowledge it as its master right away , but even without the sword acknowledging it as its master , it unleashed terrifying power far beyond windcutter could ever do. Hence Rudra swapped windcutter for Elven sword in his dual wielding style. Apart from the semi legendary sword , there was also the golden goose the Chalice of purification , that Rudra stole while saving Caleb. He was now in possession of an unlocked Chalice of purification , it meant that every potion of the basic grade could be upgraded to the highest purity by the guild for no extra cost. Just imagine the economic ramifications of such a cheat object , just imagine buying a basic strengthening potion for two gold , and selling an highest quality advanced strengthening potion for 250 gold! Whopping over 2000% profit! It was a cheat margin. Should the guild choose to sell it at a low price of 100 gold each .... Would there even be competition left in the market?. The True Elite''s were going to own the monopoly in the potions market in the future , and that was a gaurandamntee now with this object. Should even a whiff about the object be leaked however , it would cause endless wars for the guild , even super guilds would not resist the temptation of a potential endless revenue stream. Hence even inside the True Elites guild , only Fatty Kalash and Rudra knew about the cheat object , not even Karna had a whiff about it , it was not as if Rudra did not trust the elders , however it was just that big of a deal that he took that one extra step. However even after all this , dare did Rudra say that the funds were BARELY ENOUGH , for the next plan he was going to propose. It was an insane plan , and Rudra never dreamed that such a plan may become reality , however now having more funds than every other guild in the PurpleHaze city did combined , he finally got the courage to spend money like water. But before Rudra proposed his insane plan , he decided to get to know about the guild specifics. Amelia was ready with a report as she said " The alliance have started a mass recruitment drive , they are providing gauranteed benefits upon joining the group and issuing great rewards for the guild tasks , it is estimated that the seven guild alliance has recruited close to 1,00,000 people into their fold in the last 4 days and are planning on taking another 40,000 more. That would bring the total size of the alliance to a whopping 4,00,000 players. It is no joke considering that 8 days later our protection period would cool down and we will be able to recieve war invited ". The atmosphere in the room turned heavy ... 400,000 troops was another ballpark , it was not possible to face such a massive plathora of troops even if they had 50 thousand bombs to bombard the enemy with. It was simply suicidal to face such an army. Rudra seemed unaffected with the news as he had long since anticipated such an event occurring. He had thought about many possible scenarios and now was not the time to worry about the bells of war , it was time to act on it, chip away at the opposition and make their stance known!! If Rudra was not wrong , a massive riot is on the rise in PurpleHaze city , within two or three days it should start brewing. The quest line involving Crown Prince Aman seems to have been going as he expected , the alliance threatened the three second rate guilds that aquired the object in the Auction with an all out war over the object and managed to aquire it for themselves . And seeing that they were calmly operating and recruiting members , it was clear that they sided with the crown Prince on the matter. Hence, when the matter of the crown prince being a necromancer would be revealed to the common public , and the outrage would start , they were sure to have a hard time. Rudra was just hoping for that event to happen , the Alliance''s nightmare would start with that riot and would be made worse by the war they would find themseleves in with the Elites , and if everything went as Rudra hoped it would , the alliance will be driven out of PurpleHaze city in two months time. Rudra sighed , things were going to get cluttered again. There were a million things to do , and a little time to do it all. It was time to tie up those laces and get to work. Rudra started to explain his plan ..... The mega plan to become the overlords of PurpleHaze city.... /// New week , new goals, new motivation! , The war arc and much more is on the way guys , it will be the best arc yet with much much pre planning , a great war sequence and an even better fallout. Hence we need to pump everything up this week to match that! We had a killer week last week , with the best numbers the book has seen yet! Thankyou thankyou thankyou all for that! New targets this week are 100 golden tickets = 1 bonus chapter. 700 PS = 1 bonus chapter. 1400 PS = 2 bonus chapters 2100 PS = 3 bonus chapters 2800 PS = 4 bonus chapters 3500 PS = 5 bonus chapters Really wish to hit the 3500 PS target! BIG BIG BIG SHOUTOUT TO CERVANTEZ91 FOR THE 10,000 COIN GIFT! Im speechless man, new week and you have filled me with energy to work harder than i usually do! Thankyou for the support ! /// Chapter 143: Overlords of PurpleHaze City Karna was a little scared now as he said " Guild master , how about we recruit some more members , like a few 10,000 odd or so , even if they dont fit the build we can still choose good players at level 40 or above that we can rope in ... ". Rudra just raised his hand " NO! " He said firmly! " We are the Elites and only the Elites shall be worthy to stand amongst us ". Rudra declared. Karna looked down sheepishly , ofcourse even he wanted only the Elites to stand amongst them , however the overwhelming numbers disparity between them and the opposing faction made him a little desperate for more help. Rudra said " i understand your concerns , however they are unnecessary , let a million of them charge on us and we will still stand tall on their corpses ". Everyone''s eyes widened in shock , where did the guild leader gain his confidence from? What cards does he have hidden? However releif was the emotion everyone felt , if the boss said they would stand tall. Then to hell with the number disparity they would stand tall period! Rudra began his explanation " If we play our cards right , the massive number of 4,00,000 can be reduced to nearly 2,50,000 even before the war starts , as for how and when , leave it to me ". Everyone nodded , the boss had spoken . Rudra continued " The most important thing we need to do currently is to bait the Alliance into declaring war on us , just that much , we just need those idiots to send a war request , for us to win the war with 100% certainty ". Well everyone wanted to know , how that would change anything however Neatwit was the one to voice out that questuon for everyone as he said. " umm , guild master , how would that change anything? ". Rudra chuckled as he said " The defending faction , chooses the terrain for the war. There are many different types of terrains that can be chosen , and some of them render numbers advantage useless! ". Everyone''s eyes widened , although the war feature had been around for quite sometime now with many guilds having chosen many different battlefields , although it was true that there were many terrains , but there was none that could negate such a huge numbers advantage. Sensing their doubts Rudra said " We will choose the battlefield , '' fort knox '' , it is a fort type defensive battlefield that is ideal for defense , i know what you all are thinking , that although its a fort in name , it has three massive gates that lead straight into the interior. It is far from impregnable. However naturally i have my own arrangements ". Everyone dispelled their doubts , the leader had spoken , however what Rudra said next is what blew their minds completely . Rudra started explaining his BIG PLAN " The thing we should focus now , before the war is something completely else. First arrangement that i assign SMG is arming our members to the teeth , buy the best armours , best weapons , best skillbooks everything , make an announcement in the guild that any weapon and skill book they wish to purchase , the guild will foot the bill , just make the troupe stronger". SMG widened his eyes in disbelief , however he instantly nodded , he understood his duty and that was all that he needed to do . " Augustus Won knight has informed me that there is a riot upcoming in the city , it will see a lot of turmoil inside Hazelgroove and especially in PurpleHaze city. The crown prince is a necromancer and there will be a great public backlash when the news is leaked. The NPC shops will close and the city will go under protest, however for us its an opportunity and we will strike big should it all as planned ". Rudra said " We are going to buy every single plot of land available in PurpleHaze city , Augustus is a Duke and he can purchase the lands given enough funds. We are going to buy every single shop on sale , every single apartment , hotel and empty unconstructed lands available for purchase ". Before anyone could process the information about Augustus being a duke and the guild undertaking a massive buying spree Rudra dropped another big bomb " We are going to employ the entire guards tier one division available for hire , the entire 20 thousand guard divison , it will cost close to 50 million gold a month to mentain the division , however we will undertake that expense ". " We will use the guards division to mentain order and enforce security of our shops and bought out plot of lands , as we will move through the riots protecting our assets ". Rudra declared . The guild members found his actions puzzling , why not wait untill the riot was over a month later to buy the plots of land ? That way the hired guards could be put to better use? However questioned Rudra as all his actions always had a deeper meaning that they could not understand . And that was indeed the case , after the riots end , there will be a flood of nobility titles awarded by the newly crowned King Aman , and the nobles would try use their authority to buy the properties available on the market. There would be a flood of opposition and the prices of the plots would skyrocket. Soon after the crowning of the new king the special event the '' CITY GARRISON '' would start and at that time guilds would compete to gain the garrison of cities under the rule of King Aman , and Rudra intended to fight for the rights to PurpleHaze city! Every shop he owned would turn into a bunkers and strategic locations and every soldier he owned into fighting force. At that time the value of this investment would show fruit. There are wars after wars as the game has entered a chaotic period , many guilds would rise and many would perish when all was said and done. However Rudra with his Reincarnator knowledge aims for the biggest piece of the pie and he has started making the necessary moves. The first step to becoming the overlords of PurpleHaze City required him to invest a massive sum of 300 million gold! A weaker man would not be able to spend soo much in a single go! However Rudra was not a weaker man , he was a dragon and his hunger would not be satiated by a small drop in the bucket like 300 million gold ! /// A lot of story brewing here , how fast do we reach the overlord of PurpleHaze city arc is on u guys . Bonus chapter for reaching golden ticket target! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Lets reach the next target fast soo that more chapters are released for you all ! Please drop a comment down below , if you feel satisfied with the direction the story is going towards /// Chapter 144: Ohh , what a shame! ( The royal palace , inner district, PurpleHaze city , Hazelgroove kingdom ) Price Aman played with the red jewel in his hands as he looked at the seven people standing before him , the lacking strength of the group made him scoff , as it would not even take him a flick of his wrists to kill these ants. Even a basic deathknight in his arsenal could 1V7 these adventurers. However he had to admit that they did him a huge meritorious service by bringing him this gem , and hence they deserved to be rewarded. Aman was planning on dethroning the current emperor his father and seizing power for himself. However it was not easy to seize power from his old but strong warmage father who was at tier 4. Aman knew he had to scheme to take the throne , and the red jewel was a vital part in his schemes. The red jewel was actually a very rare type of illusion stone. If powered using a formation , it could give birth to a very intricate and deathly illusion. Aman was confident of killing the Emperor inside the illusion using his necromancy. The chief of Royal guards was aldready on his side , hence there would be no problem in taking over the millitary after the forcefull rise to the throne. What Aman was afraid of However was Patricia Won Knight , would the Won Knight''s swear their loyalty? Or will they rebel? Was a question he was worried about. However that equation changed when he met the adventurer Shakuni Won Knight , inside the royal library. The nonchalant reaction the player had to him being a necromancer was intriguing to Aman . He needed such subordinates , smart but indifferent to his actions. He needed to somehow rope Shakuni in after he ascends the throne to consolidate his power. Aman was conflicted in how to reward the seven people here however and he finally decided that they should be rewarded only in the future after he took the throne. He decided to test the adventurers here , should they support him in his rise to power , they will be rewarded , if they choose to turn their backs on him, knowing his necromancer identity and his thirst for the throne , he would kill them right here right now and oust their guilds from the kingdom. Aman said " Well done , well done , you have done a great meritorious deed for the kingdom by delivering this soo very important gem to me ". Ilovesmashing took a knee as he tried to butter up the king , he said " it is our pleasure to serve the glorious and righteous crown prince of Hazelgroove". Aman''s eyelids twitched , he was a necromancer dammit , glorious and righteous would be the two worst words to describe him. However he continued " I plan on assasinating the king and taking over the throne through blood , i see you are a group of intelligent people , should you choose to support the uprising , you shall be appropriately rewarded in the future , soo what shall your choice be ". System notification : QUEST : Help Crown Prince Aman Rise to the throne ( A) : help crown prince Aman mentain civil order once he rises to the throne through blood and riots break out on the kingdom streets. Rewards : Unknown PinkLotus instantly felt like this quest was a red flag , however looking at the exited expressions of her colleagues , she knew the outcome. Yet before anyone could express their thoughts she asked " What if we refuse ? ". The six of them showed her dirty glares , as naturally this was not the majority opinion , yet Aman laughed at her question. He said " Its that or death , and knowing that you adventurers have been blessed by immortality by the goddess , it is probably infinite deaths, and also there will be no place for you and your guilds inside Hazelgroove kingdom anymore as the Royal guards would chase you out ". Everyone had a chill down their spines hearing his reply , it was not an option if he put it that way now was it? Gulping , Scorpio said " Ofcourse its our pleasure to serve his majesty the emperor ". Scorpio deliberately called Aman the emperor to appease his anger , and naturally it worked as Aman smiled. He liked the sound of being called Emperor. At this time a servant entered the room and passed a message to Aman that emmisaries from the Nineclouds kingdom were here and that the King requested his presence in the court. Aman groaned , he had no intention of attending the court , yet he could not ignore his stupid fathers summons for now , as he needed to play the part of the ideal son. He dismissed the alliance leaders as he went to the court. ------------------------- ( The royal court , Hazelgroove kingdom ) Inside the grand royal court lined with important and powerfull ministers , stood a group of Emmisary''s from the Neighborhing Nineclouds kingdom. The Emperor Cervantez91 sat on his throne looking towards the group. His aura majestic and fitting of a ruler. Although Hazelgroove was a kingdom and not an empire , the history of Hazelgroove is such that it was once the strongest and largest empire in the continent. After years of battles and uprising , it shrank to its current size , however the Emperor never demoted his title to that of a King. Hence he was still called the Emperor. Cervantez91 was an extremely skilled warrior who was a great general as well. In his reign , not a single inch of his kingdom was lost to enemy forces. The people were happy and he was revered. Aman took his place at the court , just below the Emperor , as Cervantez gave him a slight nod , the attendance was now complete and the proceedings could start. One of the Emmisary said " Your majesty , the Royal warehouse of the Nineclouds kingdom was raided and looted by a bunch of despicable theives who escaped with a lot of valuable items. Upon tracing the theives tracks , we discovered that they entered Hazelgroove kingdom. The theieves made use of a secret passage unknown to the Kingdom to successfully carry out the heist , however they made a fatal mistake of renting the horses from a nearby village. The horseman saw their faces and has sworn on his neck that they are adventurers from a guild called Demolitionboys , we have the sketches here ". They passed the sketches they obtained from the horse dealer and passed it to a court official. Then he continued " We request cooperation in capturing the responsible parties with the assistance of the almighty emperor of Hazelgroove ". Cervantez91 closed his eyes as he thought about the issue , he naturally despised theives and robbers , however the thieves were Hazelgroove citizens hence he needed to be sure before granting punishment. He said " The royal guards will assist you in checking their possesions , should the stolen items be found , they will be returned to Nineclouds respectfully , and the theieves willcbe tried under Hazelgroove kingdom''s law and punished for their crimes ". The Emmisary''s bowed in respect of the Emperor as they said " That is very gracious your majesty , we have no qualms in your judgement ". With this the matter was settled , However Aman had a deep frown on his face .... Wasnt one of the idiots who came to meet him a while ago the leader of Demolitionboys? If so this could be troublesome..... ---------------- ( Meanwhile , The Grey international tower , the upside , Real world ) Ethan had became a lot more busy since he met the twins. A passion had been lit under him as he was grinding again in full gears , as he tried to destroy Mithun Ambani inside out. Ethans greed had been ignited as he saw an opening that could make him gobble up all of Ambani''s assets. His company , his buisnesses , he slowly yet surely make it all his. Ethan Grey was not a good guy at heart , and he was naturally not helping the twins without expecting returns. He decided to treat Rudra as his brother and his equal as he knew the terrifying power of reincarnation , as he experienced it himself and soo far his decision had not been proven wrong. Amelia the logistic support that Ethan had given to the true elites and Ethan''s spy inside the guild , reported the guild to have in game gold assets that values more than 3 trillion dollars. However the guild would tie them up inside real estate and such inside the game. Ethan did not understand the game too much , but he understood money and Rudra''s ability to earn money was terrifying , it was wayy wayy faster than even he Himself , and that was the only reason that Ethan did not exploit the twins and genuinely worked with them. As he did not wish to antagonize Rudra. If Rudra could earn Trillions of dollars in the short timespan he had been playing the game , then down the line the profits he would make would be even more impressive and Ethan would take 30% of it. Even if Ethan was the bigger man in the relationship for now , that dynamic would change in the future , and Ethan knew it. Hence he was glad that he decided to treat Rudra as his brother early on and he even did him favours by helping his guildmates. As these small things would take him a long way in the future. /// The Demolitionboys framing coming up soon , lol it will be fun. A longer chapter than usual today at over 1600 words as i dont think we will hit either the powerstone or the golden ticket bonus today. Hence giving you all a little extra to enjoy. Bonus will surely still be there if either of the targets are hit. Soo try aim for it! Also congratulations to Cervantez91 as you finally get your own character in the novel as promised , it is also none other than the almighty Emperor of Hazelgroove !!! Thank-you for all the support you have given to my novel! I appreciate it. /// Chapter 145: Framed ( PurpleHaze city , virtual world ) A group of 50 guards and 4 Emmisary''s from Nine clouds kingdom rode together towards the guild headquarters of the Demolitionboys in the outer district. When the enterouge of the red armour wearing guards on white horse mounts travelled through the inner city , they naturally gained a lot of attention from the common players on the streets , who followed them to see what they were upto. Naturally most of those who followed were hoping for a special event or such to happen , however many just followed for the show as it was bound to be entertaining. When the enterouge stopped infront of the Demolitionboys headquarters , many murmurings could be heard from the common public. Everyone was curious as to why they stopped before the guild headquarters and what that implied? But as things could potentially get interesting, many started recording the event. Amongst the crowd was a struggling live streamer , called dewdiepie he had a small fanbase , but he had yet to go viral and grab the big stage. He was naturally hungry for content hence he pushed his way to the best possible angle and began livestreaming in a best possible spot. His stream titled " Guards at Demolitionboys HQ , whats going down? ". It had currently 67 viewers and the number was growing. Some Demolitionboys guild members wearing the guild robes were near the entrance and they naturally enquired about the sudden visit from the guards , and some people informed the higher ups. One of the Royal guards announced loudly " WE HAVE AN IMPERIAL VERDICT FROM HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR , THE SUN OF HAZELGROOVE KINGDOM , THE MIGHTY WARRIOR , CERVANTEZ91 TO INSPECT THE GUILDS ASSETS , YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO COMPLY WITH THE WARRENT , OR WE HAVE BEEN AUTHORIZED TO USE FORCE". A loud commotion broke out , the guild was under inspection? What shady buisness did they commit to anger the emperor himself? Everyone started discussing at this point , and the Demolitionboys guild members naturally panicked. They were absolutely clueless as to what to do , however to their releif INeedToSmash came out to address the situation. INeedToSmash looked at the swarm of people infront of him as well as the royal guards and he contemplated for a while. Although he was no longer the vice guildmaster of the guild after his last slip up in buying advanced mana potions , he was still a core member and a higher up in the organization. INeedToSmash thought about the guilds activities and he found nothing that could implicate the guild. Although the guild extorted money and essentials from passing adventurers , they did not take part in any illegal activities that could stir trouble on a kingdom scale. INeedToSmash thought that this was his redeeming chance , as he began his act , he prostrated himself on the ground , as he began to speak , his face facing the ground and his hands over his head in a namaste as he said " The lowly citizen greets the royal soldiers of Hazelgroove. If his emminance himself as questioned our guilds activities , then it is a big disgrace for us righteous adventurers , we are law abiding citizens of the country , please feel free to inspect the guild premises , i assure you , no illegal activities would be found ". INeedToSmash made a compelling performance , some people in the audience were moved , however the Emmisary''s from Nineclouds kingdom bought none of it . One of the Emmisary said " How dare you despicable theif play innocent !!! ". INeedToSmash pretended to be shocked , as he clutched his heart in pain as he rolled on the ground. Then suddenly he stood up and roared " SLANDERRRR !!!! ". Fifteen swords pointed at his throat at that point , and INeedToSmash understood that he was in no position to play games. Hence he went back to playing victim. He clutched his chest and through ragged breathing said " We are the most ideal guild , the most Kingdom centric guild , we are innocent men , we are no theives , that man with you lies! We have Nothing to hide , please sire beleive us ". It was at this point that guild leader Ilovesmashing came out along with guild elders. Ilovesmashing was a bit worried that one of the guild members had pissed off some bigshot and robbed them or something , hence he very carefully asked ." I am the guildmaster , may i know which crime warranted the search of my guild? ". The Emmisary''s from Nineclouds kingdom were livid now , as there was no limit to how innocent the other party tried to potray themseleves as they said " Does robbing the royal treasury of Nineclouds kingdom ring a bell? ". Murmurs could be heard everywhere ..... Robbing the royal treasury? Who did something soo amazing? What exactly is goin on ? Dewdiepie s stream had suddenly gained momentum as over 25,000 people were watching his content currently. Everyone commenting enthusiastically about how they felt over the development. Ilovesmashing frowned ..... Then after a while he had a wide smile .... This was a misunderstanding , he was sure that the guild did no such crimes , he could open the guild to investigations without problems. It was then that INeedToSmash creeped beside Ilovesmashing and whispered in his ear " Boss lets invite the crowd outside to witness the investigation , since we are innocent might as well have witnesses and play the victim once we come out clean.... Maybe we would gain some popularity and get more recruits ". Ilovesmashing nodded at the brilliant idea and gladly agreed as he said " We are a righteous guild , naturally we will accept the investigations and co-operate with the search , you may feel free to look around ". Then he looked at the assembled crowd and said " everyone here is free to come enter the guild premises just for a few hours to witness the investigations and our honesty". Cheers could be heard from the crowd as they felt very exited. Who would want to waste such a chance? Alas it would turn out to be that it was the worst decision Ilovesmashing made in his entire life that he would regret forever. /// Sorry for the late chapter guys , i currently have my uni exams ongoing. However i promise to deliver the two bonus chapters due , later today itself . Congratulations on hitting both powerstone and golden ticket rankings ! /// Chapter 146: The price ( The true elites guild headquarters ) Karna had invited Rudra and the other elders present at the guild to meet inside the guild hall. where everyone was watching dewdiepie''s live stream on a monitor. The atmosphere was very lively as watching the Demolitionboys ''s impending doom was really funny. Rudra popped in the popcorn as he laughed his butt off seeing the performances of INeedToSmash and Ilovesmashing. Especially when Ilovesmashing invited the crowd to come be part of the witnessing the investigation Rudra laughed soo hard that he had to leave the room for a while as his stomach could not take it anymore. He needed a breather from the laughing , however the moment he came back , he saw INeedToSmash squirming and rolling on the ground while pretending to be greviously wronged , as he shouted '' Slander !, This is slander ! ''. Rudra could not wait to see that guys reaction after they got convicted of the crime ! ---- ( Inside the Demolitionboys headquarters) The Royal guards started finding for the stolen loot everywhere. It was kind of like a income tax raid. Every member was brought to a seperate chamber , where they were questioned , their inventories emptied and screened. Now Ilovesmashing voluntarily went through the process , and as the guild leader went through the process , naturally the others had to follow. One by one many members and elders took the screening. Many members were afraid though , as many of the items they posessed were raided from others , what if the royal troops questioned them and jailed them? However , Rumors spread inside the members circle that the guards would not question the origin of the loot , if you just tell them that they were given by the guildmaster as a reward after completing a task. As for the exact origins they had no idea. Following this exact like , many members passed the screening with no problem , hence the other members also queued up and took the test. However trouble came when the party where Karna and others gave up their loots voluntarily , came for the screening. The guild had a strict policy of handing over all loot that was gained by extortion to the guild warehouse , where according to the value of products given , a coin reward will be issued to the members. But as the coin reward was only 10% the objects worth , sometimes the members kept a portion of the loot with themselves as to earn a bit more cash. The group in possession of the jewels from the Nineclouds kingdom treasury were one of those greedy adventurers as they kept a few gems in their possession. The adventurer entered the screening room. The royal guard instructed him to empty his inventory in the bins infront of him. The adventurer complied as he aldready knew the answers he was supposed to say. The Emmisary''s from Nineclouds kingdom searched the bin as their eyes shined upon finding the jewels branded with the insigna of Nineclouds kingdom , naturally part of the stolen loot from Nineclouds royal vault. The Emmisary looked towards the Royal guard and gave him a nod. The nod signified that the object obtained was part of the loot. The eyebrows of the Royal guard arched , he had almost thought that the entire process was going to be a waste , the Demolitionboys looked too calm to have conducted the heist , his experience told him they were innocent , however now finding the proof , he was shocked for a second , however years of his training as a guard kicked in as he instantly regained his composure. The guard asked " this gem , where did you obtain it? " This question was in line with what the guards usually asked every other adventurer during their screening , hence the adventurer was aldready prepared. He said " This gem was awarded to me by the guildmaster for my meritorious service to the guild ". The royal guard made him sign a document regarding the authenticity of the gem where it stated " I swear by the honor of my guild and my guildmaster that the origin of the gem in my hand is as described ...". The adventurer never heard about anyone else signing such a document , however it was just a sign , he signed it and went out of the screening room. However he wasnt greeted to the sight of an empty room , rather 20 royal guards were there to restrain him , as he suddenly got a system message. " You have been apprehended by the government officials for stealing national treasures of a neighbouring country ..... Teleporting to jail in 5...4...3...2..1". " Your account has been disabled and jailed for 7 days ". What the hell just happened?? The adventurer cursed , he was not prepared for the apprehension and account suspending. He tried to log in to the game again and again , however he could not . His account had been disabled for 70 days! Sirens blared as alarms rang , the Royal guards moved with force towards Ilovesmashing. Everyone who were busy watching the guards search the premises all gathered at the hall where Ilovesmashing was , where the guards went ! One of the Emmisary said holding a gem in his hand "One of your guild members has been in posession of the missing loot and he has a sworn in testimony saying that it was given to him as a reward by the guildmaster ". Anger was evident in the Emmisary''s voice as his voice contained a tint of killing intent. Ilovesmashing gulped .... Things had developed in a direction he did not expect them to develop towards. The idiot must have robbed someone in possesion of the gem , is what Ilovesmashing thought , however it was harder for anyone to buy his i am innocent act when one of his men had aldready been implicated. However just in time INeedToSmash came to the rescue as he shouted " SLANDER!!! This is slander of the righteous citizens of Hazelgroove , OO the INJUSTICE , the HERESAY ". The Emmisary''s glared at him angrily , they had enough of this man as they said " Soo , you still deny?, You should really take this chance to confess your crimes and return the stolen goods , it will grant you a reduced sentance , should we find it ourselves , it would be ugly ". INeedToSmash clutched his heart again and spoke in a deep voice " A hoax , its a WITCH HUNT! ". The Emmisary''s sniggered as they said " Fine , guild master Ilovesmashing , if you are innocent , you shall have no problem letting us go through the guild inventory now ? Isnt that right ?". Naturally Ilovesmashing knew that although it was a question , he was in no position to decline , as he smiled and said " please follow me .... ". /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target! , Congratulations guys , its been a tough day with my exams ongoing. Soo i write these chapters between the breaks i take studying , sorry for the delay. /// Chapter 147: Caught redhanded ( True Elites Headquarters , PurpleHaze city ) Rudra was leaning on Karna''s shoulder , laughing soo hard his eyes started to tear. The entire situation was too funny for him who is a knowing observer of the situation. Rudra praised Karna and Smg for their work at the heist , not only did they successfully loot a massive amount of treasures , but they also framed an opposing faction for a crime they did not commit beautifully. But all that aside , Rudra just found the entire situation too damn entertaining. He wanted to see how would Ilovesmashing feel when he opens the guild warehouse to inspection, and stolen goods are found from within . Will he try to flee? Will he try to push the blame? Will he beg for mercy? The elders all had a heated debate as to what outcome was going to occur as they bet 1000 gold each on the outcome they think was going to happen. Rudra bet that he would beg for mercy like a dog , although it was a less probable option , Rudra would enjoy seeing it , hence he was rooting for it. The entire room was filled with energy as Ilovesmashing lead the entire group towards the guild warehouse. Everyone wanted to enjoy the moment of impending doom ! ---- ( Outside the warehouse , Demolitionboys headquarters , outer city) Ilovesmashing said " Please due to safety reasons, only the royal guards may enter our warehouse , however to satisfy the public demand , i will let one of you enter ". Dewdiepie instantly raised his hand and shouted " Me , im a streamer ". Ilovesmashing chose him as he gave him permission to follow inside the guild warehouse . Ilovesmashing opened the guild warehouse using the guilds sigil and biometric unlock technology. And he led a group of 10 royal guards + 4 Emmisary''s from Nineclouds kingdom and dewdiepie inside . Dewdiepie''s eyes widened seeing the stacked and beautifully lined up guild warehouse , all kinds of items could be seen inside , armours , gears , swords , potions , heaps of gold and silver , a few Platinum bars and even some objects dewdiepie had no idea what they were. Most people in the livestream yelped seeing the massive wealth that the first rate guild possesed , they were all thoroughly impressed . However Rudra watching on just said " Poor ". When he saw the underwhelming loot that Demolitionboys possessed. The Royal guards started to work , they started to search for the loot in an organized manner , however it did not take long for one of them to find a bag full of stolen gems. The royal guard called an Emmisary to confirm that this was indeed stolen goods and once the Emmisary did confirm , the Royal guards clicked his knuckles preparing to pound the flub out of Ilovesmashing . But the guard incharge of the operation knew his duties as he raised his hand and asked " What is the origin of this bag ? ". Dewdiepie was capturing every moment , every dialogue from the best possible angle , as suspense built over an unknown bag in the guards hand. Dewdiepie''s stream , now had over 25 M people watching live and the number increased by the thousands every second. Ilovesmashing naturally had no idea about the origins of that bag , however he could not just say that he had no idea , it would make him look like a fool inside the livestream , hence he said " whatever it is , must be legally obtained by my guild ". The Emmisary''s sneered at this remark , it was a sly response , him using the word legally obtained was especially good. However to Ilovesmashing''s dismay The captain of the Royal guards was even more sly than he was , as he asked , '' state the exact time and date of you obtaining this object ! '' . Ilovesmashing knew that the object in question was not simple , looking at the other party''s response , hence he carefully went to inspect the object in question. He looked at the bag of gems inside , now to be honest he had absolutely no clue where did the guild obtain the gems . But seeing as the matter was about a recently conducted heist of the royal treasury in a neighbouring kingdom , Ilovesmashing chose to say " the guild obtained it a month ago , inside a dungeon ". Ilovesmashing was just hoping that his excuse would work , however it backfired as the Royal guard said " guild leader Ilovesmashing , you are a liar and a theif , a disgrace to the Hazelgroove kingdom , a scum of the society who needs to be purged , with the authority vested in me by emperor Cervantez91 himself , i Ronan the fifth , the captain of the Royal guards sentence the guild Demolitionboys to imprisonment and abolition, all members of the guild Demolitionboys who are caught , shall be whipped in public before being imprisoned , the guild grounds shall be confiscated and the treasury shall be awarded to the Emmisary''s from Nineclouds kingdom as compensation ". A BIG TURN OF EVENTS!!!!! Ilovesmashing was stunned silent he did not know what to do anymore , should he get on his knees and beg for mercy? Should he fight back? Should he flee? However the shock came soo hard that he was unable to move , he just stood there silently as the Royal guards arrested him. The Emmisary from Nineclouds kingdom shouted with hate " You are in possession of gems stolen directly from the royal treasury , the heist took place 4 days ago , yet you claim to have gotten them from a dungeon a month ago? You liar !!!! We knew from the moment we came that you and your guild was full of liars and scammers trying to play the saint! WHERE IS THE REST OF THE LOOT U THEIF , SURRENDER THE LOOT! ". The livestream had exploded with comments as the Demolitionboys were being branded as the foolish theives and idiots. Every Demolitionboys guild member got a system notification that their guild had been blacklisted in Hazelgroove and Nineclouds kingdom and that they would be hunted down by the royal guards , hence in the tens of thousands members quit the guild instantly. INeedToSmash kept running around as the Royal guards tried to catch him , he kept shouting " ITS A MISTAKE , A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE , A SLANDER!!!!". However the rohal guards were quite fed up of his antics as he was mercilessly beaten down using a belt and a rope before restraining him . INeedToSmash squirmed everytime the belt hit him as he kept yelling " AGHH , ITS A HOAX , A WITCHHUNT , Aghh ". If not for the thousands standing there watching him being beat up , most would have misunderstood the feminine moans he was giving. Dewdiepie made sure to capture everything as the guild grounds were confiscated and the elders caught by the guards. Ilovesmashing who had been silent since the verdict suddenly burst into tears as he said " my career is over ..... Boohoooo ..... Which idiot stole the gems ??? I will **** his mother ... I am innocent , my guild robs the weak , we do not rob the powerful ". The comments section of dewdiepie flared up after this comment made by IloveToSmash , people labelled him as a trash who deserved it. However more people were now interested in who actually stole from the royal treasury ? However none of that mattered at the moment as Ilovesmashing , INeedToSmash , and seven elders were dragged tied to horses in the streets of Hazelgroove .... The npc citizens threw eggs and rotten tomatoes at them . While many shouted insults like " SHAME ON YOU THEIVES ". " SHAME TO THE GLORIOUS HAZELGROOVE KINGDOM ". They were dragged to a public square where punishments were met out where they were tied and whipped . It was a humiliating moment for Ilovesmashing as millions witnessed his whipping. INeedToSmash was even worse as he kept on mumbling " THIS IS A CONSPIRACY ". Leading to even harder whips for him . The elders were all crying and covered in snot , as they cursed their stars to join Demolitionboys . Finally a system prompt jolted the party awake it said " You have been punished by the kingdom of Hazelgroove for crimes against the crown , you may choose either of the following punishments : a) - 30 levels , -1 tier b) account suspension for 120 days. Ilovesmashing wanted to puke seeing the two options infront of him , what is this punishment for a crime he did not even commit. Demolitionboys as a guild was over. His career as a guildmaster was through. Yet vengeance filled his heart for whoever framed him , hence gritting his teeth , he chose option A as his level dropped back to lv13 tier 0 ! Everyone on the whipping stage chose the same option. It was a huge mental blow for them , which would put them back a 100 days in the game. However the ones who staged the entire event were busy laughing and pointing out that none of them predicted that Ilovesmashing would just freeze , hence noone won the bet! /// Sorry for the late bonus , but this is a bonus for the golden tickets. Its funny how we are very close to getting another one. Keep up the good work! Also we are really close to the next powerstone target soo keep the stones pumping /// Chapter 148: Aftermath The aftermath of the entire incident was huge, the Demolitionboys , one of the first rate guilds , had been disbanded! The guild had nearly 90,000 members previously , however with the recent shot of funds from Mithun Ambani they had recruited 30 thousand more. However they lost everything in an instant. The guild had a total net worth of 450 Billion dollars in fixed and liquid assets. When the worth of every human working for the guild , every single equipment they owned and their tie up with the alliance. They were valued at 450 billion by various experts. The collapse of the guild came as a huge blow to the alliance , who had just started gaining momentum after the new injection of funds. However the heaviest blow came to the construction company behind Demolitionboys as their stock plunged into freefall after investor panick. This was the first case of a billion dollar corporation facing a 70% value depreciation overnight , and it was influenced due to not a real world issue , but a virtual world problem. The economists went crazy , featuring on all media outlets and news interviews. Claiming that it was the dawn of a new era ! A new reality where the virtual world intricately linked real world. The forums went wild with speculation about who were the real robbers of the royal treasury after Ilovesmashing appeared in a news interview claiming it was not the work of his guild. This stunned more people as if that was the case then Omega was a much more complex game than they first gave it credit to , if unexpected plot lines developed as a consequence of some actions. The Demolitionboys guild leader had absolutely no idea as to where the gems in his warehouse came from , and what caused his ruin. However those who sympathized with him were very very few. Most people wanted to take this chance and expand their power , as a major party had collapsed. Many second rate guilds launched a recruitment campaign for guildless Demolitionboys members. Even the once alliance partners all frenzily tried to recruit the lost manpower , however the guild members who quit Demolitionboys were reluctant to join the group. As the saying went " once bitten , twice shy" they were very reluctant to join a big guild again , as most wanted just a peace of mind to game. In the end only 40,000 of the initial 120,000 joined the alliance , the rest became independent adventurers or joined smaller guilds. Just overnight the alliance had gone from seven first rate guilds to six and lost 80 thousand members. It was a devastating blow to their overall strength. As even the fishrod obtained in the auction through ardent bidding was confiscated by the Royal guards , when they raided the Demolitionboys warehouse. The alliance members cursed their badluck , and although there was no fraternity amongst the group , they had a sense of anger behind whoever was the cause of the incident. Naturally many doubted the elites''s involvement in the matter. Things got really chaotic and out of control when a video of the Elite''s was released on the forums with Rudra and Karna sitting on a pile of treasure and playing catch with what looked like precious gems . The same kind that brought doom upon Demolitionboys. The video instantly became viral and was the talking point of everyone. The caption clearly mocked the entire alliance as it said " One fool down , six more to go ". Clearly this text riled up many alliance members as this was a blatant disregard of their group. However the common public was the one that really won in the disputes between the True Elites and the alliance as they enjoyed themselves thoroughly , watching the show. ( On the forums ) " Have you guys seen the latest video posted by the elite''s? , They are the theives ". " F*** , They stole fron the f***ing royal treasury and even framed an enemy , too strong ". " Dont mess with the elites , i warned you all long ago ". " The alliance is done for , Shakuni is too viscious ". " I wonder how they pulled the heist off? ". " Someone report them to the authorities. This is a miscarriage of justice ! ". " I think its just a hoax , i dont think the Elites can really raid a royal vault , and if they did , they would not be flexing about it ". " The Elites are not idiots , they probably did not steal the gems , however they took this opportunity to surely infuriate the alliance , they have taunted them now ". " I cant wait to see how the alliance reacts , there is only 4 days left till the cooldown of the guild war ends ... Will the alliance declare war? ". " The alliance are cowards they dont have the balls to declare war!.". " We want WAR ! ". " WE WANT WAR !". . . . " Warrrr!! ". The flames of war were lit on the forums as everyone waited for the alliance to respond to the Elite''s provocation. And response did arrive when the alliance posted this . " There are '' kids '' calling themselves Elites and running around on wolves thinking they are special in PurpleHaze city , its been long due that someone put that rowdy bunch in their place , for the good of entire PurpleHaze city , the alliance has taken it upon itself to do exactly that. Since the '' Elites '' want to go on testing our patience , we inform them in advance that it is indeed thin and we will declare war come next saturday ! ". The post was pinned by 23 million players and was on top of the charts , just below the reply the Elite''s gave them for the same post. The reply the Elite''s gave them was " JUST BRING IT ! ". The flames of war were lit! The clash seemed inevitable as tension started to build within PurpleHaze . However another sinister plot brewed in the shadows Prince Aman planned to dethrone his father tonight , trapping him in an endless illusion with the power of the high grade illusion jewel in his possession. /// We are extremely close to hitting the golden ticket and powerstone target for bonuses , tommorow is my last exam , soo hopefully i will be able to deliver more bonuses on time as usual after that ! Anyway good job everyone ! /// Chapter 149: The takeover Aman was moving swiftly in the cover of darkness , he was moving towards his father''s bedroom inside the castle. Aman was Lv 160 necromancer , and naturally his speed far surpassed the lv 70 guards of the palace as they were slain even before they could blink. Rahim the librarian / wizard was the follower of the crown prince , and one of the strongest existances in the empire at tier 4 level 230. He was the one who would set up the illusionary formation. Aman''s plan of killing the emperor Cervantez91 was simple. He did not dare confront the king one or one , or hell even five on one , as he knew the battle prowess of his father. He decided to take a dastardly way to ascend. He decided to trap his fathers room , in an endless illusion using a powerfull formation set up by Rahim , and powered by the red high grade illusionary stone. It was more of a prison , than a deathtrap , however without adequate supplies of food and water it would be only a matter of time before the emperor''s strength started to wane .... Slowly but surely causing him to die. Without foreign help , breaking the formation from the inside was not possible at tier 4 , hence Aman was confident in his actions. Aman quietly peeked inside the royal bedroom , to see his father quietly sleeping. This gave him a sense of relief , he had no qualms as to making his temporary sleep a permanent one and granting him eternal rest. He summoned his best undead deathknights and made them guard the corridor , nobody could interfere now , as Rahim started his chant. Aman detested his father who was still in the prime of his life , and powerfull beyond reason. His father was righteous and talented and wanted aman to be the same. However how could Aman be the same? His light shined soo bright that Aman could only choose darkness to stand out. Ascending to the throne in a perilous time at the young age of 16 , his father ruled with absolute authority for close to 70 years. However even After Aman was now 40 , being the crown prince for over 20 years , there was no talks about him ascending. Aman understood at that point that the throne would not be given to him , he would have to take it! An intense desire for the throne propelled his descent to the dark side faster , and after being a necromancer for close to 15 years , his perception towards the dead changed. He did not mourn death , but celebrated it. Perhaps thats what gave him the courage to kill his own father. Rahim started the chant , and the mana density around the room started to change. Cervantez91 naturally felt something amiss , as he was jolted awake. If he wanted to , he could have dashed out of the room at that point , however something inside the man broke when he saw his son staring at him with black eyes and an aura of death. He knew what that meant , that his son was a necromancer... Not knowing how to process this information , he stared at his son for a while ..... And alas that while was all that Rahim needed to cast the spell , endless illusion. Boom! Red energy swerved out of the gem as the entire room was covered with red runed. And sealed in an endless illusion! Rahim panted , his face pale , clearly the spell took a lot out of him. He looked towards Aman to gauge his emotions , wether he looked happy or sad.... However Aman was emotionless , as he just said ..... Well the emperor is dead , time for the crown prince to take the throne! Rahim bowed politely , this was the guy he backed to get the throne ... As to why a tier 4 wizard like him would back a tier 3 necromancer like Aman gain the throne ..... It was naturally realted to someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes , however his current job was to satisfy Aman''s every demand , and he shall do it. The news that the emperor was killed by his own son spread quickly , as Aman did not hide his ascend to the throne , as his class as a necromancer was revealed without hiding. The kingdom plunged into chaos as riots broke out everywhere , the people of Hazelgroove would not acknowledge the murderer and practicioner of dark arts as their emperor. The church of life got serious pressure from the public to do something about the situation , but not many knew that the church''s hands were tied in this situation. The church had recognized the legitimacy of prince Aman''s claim to the throne when he was made the crown prince , and by law , when the king Cervantez91 died , he would rightfully claim the throne. They could not challenge it even if his class was a necromancer. A new era had begun in Hazelgroove as the game''s first kingdom wide special event began Kingdom notification : The 3 day special event " Mayhem " has started in Hazelgroove kingdom , Prince Aman a necromancer is now Emperor , the NPC''s of Hazelgroove will riot in challenge of his authority and the royal guards will take action. The kingdom will be plunged into chaos as all government services will be suspended during this period , the kingdom is lawless during this three days , however beware of your actions as should imperial order be restored three days later , all crimes shall be judged by the new emperor !. Rudra smiled seeing the notification ..... It was finally that time, the Alliance''s nightmare had just begun, and Rudra would make sure to make it a lot lot worse for them. /// We have hit both the powerstone and the golden ticket targets ..... And wayyy surpassed the targets both ways , seems like i cant keep up with you all at all . However today is the day of my last exams. And we will all celebrate together as today will be a chapter bonanza , lots of bonuses coming , soo buckle up and enjoy ! /// Chapter 150: The riots Riots broke out and the city was in a complete mayhem .... Thousands of NPC''s had taken it to the streets to protest against the blood succession. The royal guards had a hard hard time mentaining order as the protestors greatly outnumbered the guards. An imperial verdict was brought to bring in the army , but even the army was divided in two factions , there was internal turmoil as several key army figures refused to acknowledge the new monarch as the emperor. The entire kingdom was in a bloody mess and at the heart of the mess was the alliance. Summoned by Emperor Aman as a reserve force to quell the rebels. They were forced to patroll the streets under the imperial banner. The severe backlash that the guild recieved from the patrolling had just started , currently only they faced a severe shortage of manpower as they were required to patroll 18 areas in the outer district. Hence each guild was made to patroll 3 areas. A guild mission was issued for every member making it compulsary to take part in the riots. However the sheer casuality of party members dying in controlling the riots was taking a toll on the guild. The members were loosing levels , loosing equipment durability and loosing time, time they could have used levelling. Over 20 thousand members died each hour and the sheer amount of monetary compensations that the guild had to roll out were over 100K gold an hour for deaths . The guilds were bleeding money by the hour as well as deteriorating their overall strength , all in hopes of a ultimate reward to be given at the end of the endeaver , however Rudra knew that the reward will not be worth it. Rudra instructed the Elite''s to take this time and just do levelling , stay in the wild and away from the chaotic city as much as possible. Neatwit took his first role as an elder as he took about 100 guild members under his wing for levelling. Naturally the guild members found it difficult to keep up with their maniacal levelling freak of a leader , as Neatwit kept grinding mobs after mobs without a single rest. The trolls were hardly his match, as his sword cut through them like butter. This was a much needed exercise as every guild member was consciously working hard to increase their strength for the incoming war. However while the city was plunged into chaos and the alliance members had an absolute nightmare handling the riots. The worse was yet to come. Equipping the mask , Rudra changed his id from Shakuni --> Augustus Won Knight and started wrecking mayhem on the alliance patrolling parties. Wearing the True Elite''s robes , he decisively killed hundereds of patrolling alliance members. After he had gained the title of Honorary Bishop , his infamy did not rise by a single point. Hence he slaughtered at will. Currently he was stalking a group of alliance members of the Azure lotus and RealManchester party members who had taken to raiding and pillaging NPC stores in the name of patrolling. Rudra hesitated for a second , as the members infront of him were from Yua''s guild , hence he decided to give them a pass for now , however an unexpected event changed his decision. The group which had looted more than 12 NPC stores now walked towards the Elite lifestyle store ! There were two guards guarding the store however they were no match for the 30 adventurer party armed to the teeth. Under usual circumstances , attacking those guard''s would have lead to reinforcements coming from the royal guards division and arrest of the violating parties. However now that the royal guards were busy in handling the riots and that the city was currently lawless they dared to attack the Elite lifestyle store. Rudra glared at the group ..... The AUDACITY! , The previous thoughts of mercy instantly dissapeared from his mind as he felt the need to teach the party a lesson. An member of the RealManchester guild said " I cant wait to raid the True Elites lifestyle , they have all kinds of great potions and armours , i really want to upgrade from this trash .... Seems like we can now ". Hehehe.... Sniggers could be heard from the party. The daylight robbery had made them bold , they felt like masters of the world who could do as they pleased. An Azure Lotus member said " i have been tired of the rich elites , just a small fry guild yet they have more money than all of the alliance combined , just how good is it to have Ethan Grey as your backer ". Everyone nodded , they were all having a severe inferiority complex to the elites. As everyone here knew that compared to them , they might as well be trash. However they could not accept that fact , hence they credited their success to their backing. ---- If you are reading this book on any site exept webnovel you are supporting pirated content .... Please do not support piracy ! You can read the same content on the original publishing platform webnovel. If you are looking for more latest chapters please read the book on webnovel. ---- However should they learn that the Elite''s wealth was their own earnings , and the actual ammount of assets the guild possesed , their entire worldview might collapse ! The elites were richer than the rich , having more money than the entire alliance''s pool combined and doubled. All between 500 odd members. The party looked at the two NPC guards with killing intent as the two instantly took battle stance. However at this moment a figure landed from the Neighborhing rooftop between them and the guards. A figure whom the alliance could never forget. That madman. The one with the mask. The one responsible for the death of thousands of Alliance members. The infamous Augustus Won Knight ! /// Bonus chapter for reaching golden ticket target! Insanely enough we might just hit another one today itself! We have also hit the Powerstone bonus target soo that is also coming up. My exams are over soo back to grinding chapters... Keep the momentum going you all! /// Chapter 151: Terrified Rudra landed between the guards and the alliance member party , as he silently drew his sword. His intention known with this single move. He was here to kill! And they were his prey! Fear spread through the alliance members , even thirty to one they were scared of Augustus Won Knight. His performance on the dungeon camp was witnessed by many as they knew his prowess was no joke. However a bold guy from the group said " He..he is just one guy... We are thirty .... He is strong , however the odds are in our favour ". Another one pitched in " His real power is his NPC army , without it he is just a normal player ". The group gained a bit of confidence , their eyes now shifted from hunted to hunter , as they thought about facing Rudra head on. Rudra smiled slyly , since the guys wished to fight , he would make them pay ! Pay a miserable price ! Rudra could have attacked the group , but being the schemer he was , he just casually strolled towards the party in slow steps , waiting for them to make the first move. He just wanted to bait them into attacking him first , as that would make them the enemies of the church , even if the city was currently lawless , the church retained its power and its paladins. Players still gained infamy upon attacking players , and would need to get rid of the red mark before city order was restored three days later or else they would be hunted by the royal guards. And it happened they took the bait , one of the party members took the first offensive strike , he casted a basic spell ... Fireball ! Rudra with his insanely high stats , dodged the attack no issue at all , however the faces of the party members turned pale following the attack. They recieved a system notification . SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : You have attacked a bishop of the church of life. You are now enemies with the church of life , you will be unable to use any of its services and blessings for 60 days , you will be blacklisted by all paladins of the church of life , they may hunt you down and bring you to the church to repent . Should you be killed in the next 30 days , you will respawn in the dungeon of the Church , where you will spend 3 days repenting for your crime ! A panicked party member shreiked " HE ... he .... He .. is a ...bbbbbb ... Bishop in thee church ". " How will we get rid of our red marks ... If we cant use the church''s services ? ". Another member said " I Die twice a day in the riots ... I dont want to be imprisoned for 3 days ". A third person said. Everyone''s eyes turned fearfull at the masked man .... Noone could see his expression , but his cold eyes told the entire story. They felt a chill run down their spine. They were doomed. However the initial shock turned to rage soon as they looked venomously towards Rudra , ready to kill him. A big meatheaded guy shouted " YOU BA*****! ". And charged into attack . The entire party of thirty sprung into action , if they were doomed anyways then might as well kill the schemer behind their miseries. However to their despair they could not even land a single scratch on Rudra .... The big guy , the barbarian , with his berserk mode on was sent flying when their fists collided showing that the guy had far superior strength than even barbarians. However not only was his strength better than the strongest in their group by a mile , even the theives and assasins could not even hold a candle to his speed. Insane speeds that slit the necks of the assasins before they could even use their moves was a major blow to their confidence as players. With their damage dealers being pushed around like children the support players became desperate , they tried their best to distract Rudra to create openings , however they could not. Rudra wasnt an amateur new to fighting , he knew how to focus and how to fight PVE , most attacks sent his way were damaging their own members rather than landing on him. Such was his battle prowess as within 3 short minutes all 30 members had been sent to the dungeons in the Church. Effectively rendering them out of action for 3 days! Unbeknownst to Rudra a certain streamer had been recording his fight .... A certain streamer who had came to light just recently with the fall of Demolitionboys. Yes dewdiepie was at the scene. Everything from his entrance from the rooftop , to him killing an entire party without uttering a single word , everything was streamed and watched by millions. As the legend of the masked True Elite began to spread. His insane skill and cold attitude got him the name the '' Masked devil '' . PinkLotus recieved a report that 15 party members patrolling sector 7 were now held captive in a dungeon , as she was shocked to see that an Elite was the reason behind all this. She felt that an unspoken understanding had been broken between her and Rudra as his guild member acted soo hostile towards her guild members. She did not realize the reason behind his actions , as the stream only started after he jumped down from the terrace , not capturing the part where the members talk about raiding the Elite lifestyle store. Hence she felt that it was murder in cold blood. She was currently very busy with the riots , hence took no action , however this incidence had been etched inside her mind , and revenge would come in time. The other guilds fared even worse as over the next two days the '' Masked devil '' kept appearing at riot locations and kept targetting alliance members. Close to 7 thousand alliance members had been slaughtered under his blade , close to 5 thousand of them were currently imprisoned. Although the number was not huge considering the huge size of the alliance , however it had a huge effect on morale. Nobody was willing to go out to control the riots when a crazy masked man kept dropping out of nowhere to reap their lives. The alliance members had aldready lost over 3 levels average per player in the last 3 days with many loosing over 5 , hence the overall mood was quite depressing. But hell was about to break loose ....soon! /// If you are reading this novel on any site other than webnovel you are supporting pirated content , please do not support piracy. Read from the original platform , where you can find even more chapters ! /// Chapter 152: Situation getting out of hand ( Hazelgroove kingdom , PurpleHaze city ) The city was in chaos , if viewed from a high point , or a tower , one could see various fires burning over the cityscape , smoke rised from burnt government buildings as the streets were stained with blood. It was a cruel sight to watch that could wrench the heart of those who were weak willed. The inner district had regained order as the royal guards had slaughtered their way to the inner city walls. Order was restored inside the inner city as a martial law was annouced for the residents of inner district. Naturally the law did not apply to Rudra who was a duke of the kingdom and a bishop of the church. He waltzed in and out of the inner district as if it was his backyard , as the guards bowed in respect . A major event had occured as a result of his actions in killing alliance members. There was a rebellion inside the guild as members refused to go on patroll duty. The alliance was loosing 100K gold an hour on compensations. Over the last 72 hours the guild had expended over 72 million gold just in compensations alone , and they were tight on cash now. The alliance declared a shortage of funds and reduced the compensation from 5--> 2 gold per death in duty. This was the last straw that made the common members pull out of the missions , why should they loose levels , time , and equipment in controlling riots .... What for ???? 2 gold ? Hell no! The aldready low morale made the rebellion gain momentum as more and more members abandoned their posts and patrol duties. A rebellion party was formed that demanded that if the guild wanted them to work again , thet needed to accede to three conditions. 1) 6 gold compensations per death . 2) The alliance deals with the masked devil 3) the guild pays for repairing equipment. A sudden pullout of nearly 70 thousand guild members caused the others to be overwhelmed and slaughtered , as 11 out of the 18 sectors being monitored by the alliance spiralled out of control . The alliance faced a major crisis at hand. As an emergency meeting was called up to discuss the issue. ---- ( Alliance meeting , AzureLotus guild headquarters ) The six alliance leaders had grim faces sitting in the meeting ..... Emperor Aman was furious at their incompetency as he gave them an ultimatum of 24 hours to regain control , as after that he would roullout the Royal guards to regain control of the capital. The emperor clearly stated that unless they regained control of the 11 sectors , they could absoluteley forget about the rewards ... They will even make an enemy they could not afford. The emperor''s cold verdict scared them , as the revised quest was brutal. They had to make tough choices here and now. " STUPID , STUPID rebels , how dare they disobey our commands , they are pawns in our hands , how dare they show resistance .... If we tell them to die , they die! Whats this nonsense about compensations ! ". Scorpio seethed. Yua sighed as she said " Thats not how it works , guild leader scorpio and you know it , we have each invested close to 12 million gold into this project , should we fail now then the gold and the sacrifices of the guild members will all go down the drain ". Every guild leader cursed under their breath , the situation was truly bad , they had burned a hole through their finances to hold the fort for three days , but with the rebellion their efforts went down the drain , as regaining control over the 11 sectors , now was an herculean task ". RealManchester guild leader spoke " Even if we for a moment decide to accede to their demand number one and three about the monetary compensations and the equipment repairs , how are we going to deal with the masked devil? ". Everyone cursed Scorpio was very vocal about the issue as he said " THE FU***** TRUE ELITES , Always being a thorn by our side .... I swear i will crush that guild into obliteration soon ! ". The members seethed .... But the reality of the situation was , Rudra was too strong for them , and they were not his match. He randomly came , he slaughtered and he left. There was no tracking his moments , there was just praying , that he dint show up. They had no way of dealing with the masked devil ! PinkLotus said " Him being a bishop of the Church , makes him a difficult target to take on. Honestly i dont even know how he became a bishop , well the paladins wont even give me a second glance at the church much less a quest to get inside their good books .... Becoming a bishop is not something i can even imagine ". The curses in the guild hall became even louder The guild leader of True Manchester said " Its not that he is just the bishop , he is also a very high ranking nobility according to our research. Having a huge NPC army to call upon. He is the most troublesome elite i have seen yet , even more than their monstrous leader Shakuni ". Everyone sighed as they brainstormed ideas to deal with the troublesome man . Finally they came up with a childish provocation tactic to tackle the issue. The alliance issued a statement that they accept the rebellions requests . This cheered many rebells up , their rebellion was a success. They were ready to keep their words and spring back into action for the guild. To the issue of the masked devil , the alliance issued an official statement saying " To the coward who hides behind a mask and attacks distracted patrollers , if you are a man , the alliance challenges you to fight one vs one with their finest experts. Six fights , one champion from each guild ! In the outer district in an empty open ground , coordinates. 12.34.76.89.30 in 6 hours time . COME IF YOU DARE ". This open challenge was posted on the forums and instantly became viral ..... It was the most shared post and became the top post within 10 minutes. Every adventurer inside the PurpleHaze city felt exited at the prospect of this fight. As the forums went ballistic on speculation. Will he be there? Does he dare accept? What shall the masked devil do? /// Bonus chapter for reaching the powerstone target , keep up the good work. Two chapters back to back within one hour! You guys in for a treat today or what? /// Chapter 153: Challenge accepted Rudra naturally saw the open challenge as messages from guild members flooded his inbox. Although nobody in the guild knew his dual identity as Augustus Won Knight , he was the only person in contact with the man , hence he was messaged about the situation. The messages varied from. " Guild leader , the alliance just challenged one of our own ". To Karna''s message of " Guild master , the clowns are provoking our patience , please give permission to put them in their place !". Rudra was shocked when he read Karna''s message , and secretly very very glad. As this was exactly the attitude he wanted in the vice guildmaster of the elites. Cold , arrogant and a shield for the guild. Rudra was conflicted for the first time , on wether or not he should actually let Karna take lead on this one. Rudra was naturally confident in his skills as he thought nothing of the six alliance experts. He would ve naturally settled the matter himself , however after seeing Karna''s attitude , he wondered if it was okay to let him take the lead on this incident. After much deliberation, he decided that instead of going to the challenge arena alone , he would bring Karna alongside himself , taking both of them there. Rudra from Augustus Won Knight''s account posted the reply " Ill be there " on the forums. And from his original account Shakuni , replied to Karna " Accompany Augustus to the arena , meet him outside the guild headquarters in 30 minutes ". With this the challenge was set in stone. Only a matter of time before the clash occured. ---------- ( Real world , The Grey international tower , the upside ) Ethan Grey had finally formulated the ultimate opportunistic plan to deal a heavy blow to the Ambani corporation. After days of carefull planning , he saw a big opening that he could exploit to drive the Ambani corporation out of buisness . After the series of firings that took place using the twins , there were many top performing workers who knew company secrets that were left jobless. Ethan Grey swooped in as a vulture as he recruited a few special ones , and learnt a lot of insider information regarding the Ambani corporation. The Ambani corporation''s backbone was its oil company Ambani oil , that was the soul of the company. The millions of litres of oil pumped daily from their oil extraction sites inside the ocean off the coast of country X , was the most important source of capital for the company. The liquid gold that the Ambani''s sold at a sky high prize was the highest revenue generator for the corporation for the last 40 years. In 2091 when the world exhausted its resources , the Ambani corporation declared themseleves to have enough petroleum to supply for next 20 years ! This was the major turning point of the company as in the company''s history as the next 5 years changed everything ! Having the only oil monopoly in the world the Ambani''s charged and increased the rates of petrol however they wished to. Facing no competition , they flourished in the market making Ambani a trillionare in the first 5 years! , 5 years later now however all was not as it seemed. On paper it seemed like the Ambani corporation had enough petroleum to last another 10 years , however the internal situation was such that the oil would run out within a year. The Ambani corporation miscaculated the consumption , as the demand far exeeded their calculations , having them run out in half the estimated time. Ambani had tried to renew his insurance of the plant in 2100 , after it expired , however the insurance company needed to verify the oil quantities and look at the inside books to grant the insurance. Ambani could not let it happen , as it would lead to his biggest secret being revealed. Hence his insurance had expired just recently , and soon the oil reserve would end out. Ethan licked his lips at the opportunity , he did not wish to wait for a year ..... Knowing for sure from the poached talent that there was no insurance in place. He would now directly blow up the entire plant . And after Ambani''s loose their central revenue stream , and there is market panic as their shares loose value. He would continue an even bigger string of firings using the twins. And sell a few key company properties. Finally to deliver the nail on the coffin , he would dumb the 20 % market share that the twins held , over a single day , pushing the investor panick to the maximum and sending the company''s stock crashing into freefall. To stop such an event from happening Ambani would surely try and buy the 20% shares that the twins dumped at market price. Which would lead to him sending trillions of dollars of liquid money to stabilize the company. Without the main revenue stream and deprived of trillions in cash , and key employees , the company would face an alltime high calamity. Then Ethan would take his time to piece bt piece supress Ambani into selling little chunks of his buisness , untill he was left a beggar. Ethan made his mind clear .... It was time to blow up the petroleum mine in the ocean! ------ ( In an open plot in the outer district , the challenge location ) A crowd of nearly 80,000 players had gathered at the coordinates of the open challenge. As Augustus Won Knight and Karna waltzed past the group in their majestic black true elites robes and thr signature grey wolf mounts , the crowd parted to make way for them . Everyone looked in awe and respect at the passing duo , as chants of the '' Masked Devil '' , rained from the crowd. With the occasional chant of '' Karna i love you ! '' from some female adventurer who supposedly had a crush on Karna. However otherwise the atmosphere was serious and energetic , as at the centre were the six guild leaders of the alliance , standing with about 500 guild members and the six champions from their guilds. Seeing the masked devil , many alliance members eyes turned bloodshot , and manys cowered in fear. Scorpio was the former as he glared at Rudra saying " You actually dared to come ... Indeed a madman ! ". /// Bonus for reaching 1100 golden tickets! Thank-you for the overwhelming support. 3rd for the day , hope you guys enjoy it. Also a big Thankyou , we have reached 5000 privilage unlocks this month soo far , and it has been a gratifying experience for me. /// Chapter 154: Fake experts There were noises everywhere , it was afterall an uncontrolled environment. Scorpio'' s declaration made everyone talk in murmurs. While Rudra just remained there without making a single sound , Karna however frowned at the situation, there were wayy too many alliance members on the location , for the fight to be carried on without outside interference. The alliance could cheat in virtually any match without qualms , having 500 members to cover for it. However Rudra was unfazed , the six experts infront of him were all level 45 and tier 1. From their attitude and posture, Rudra knew they were raised in a sheltered environment as they showed no fear facing him. But when it came to real skill , Rudra did not know the faces of a single one of them in his past life , hence he knew none of them were one of the true experts in the game, not reaching the level to threaten him at all. Rudra said coldly " Lets get this over with , its boring to have one on one with the six of you , its better that you all come at once and be done with it , i have much more productive use of my time than fighting newbies like you". Rudra''s provocation caused " Oooo..... " in the crowd as people got even more hyped at the challenge. What arrogance from the masked devil ..... As he stepped forward , Rudra was quite confident in his skills as he had twice the elite players stats , coupled with his equipment and new found skills , fighting these kids would be a piece of cake. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:46 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 286 +143 VIT : 286 +143 INT : 286 +143 STA : 286 +143 PHY : 286 +143 HP : 35000/35000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (53/200) ---- With his recent outgoings and the tear of life , increasing his aldready massive stats advantage even further . The alliance leaders all looked at each other .... It was true that they had more chances to beat the guy six on one than one on one , however should they still loose , wont they loose even more face than loosing one on one fights? However after much discussion they decided to agree to Rudra''s challenge. RealManchester guild leader said " You want to fight us all six on one .... Fine , you will be dead before you can even beg for mercy ". The six champions stepped forward , all having confident and vicious looks in their eyes. 5 of the six were assaulters while one was an assasin. Rudra chuckled at the choice of the champions , the clear lack of ranged classes could be seen. It was a good decision for a one on one fight , however in a six on one fight , a balanced party woulve caused him more troubles. Not that it really mattered however , as as soon as the signal to start the match was given , Rudra sprung inti action. Before the assasin could even properly react to Rudra''s blinding speed and raise his dagger to meet the incoming sword strike. Rudra feigned the attack as he rolled through and slashed a nearby assaulters neck. -17,000 Critical hit!!! The adventurer was dead! Within 30 seconds of the match starting a member of the alliance was dead , and it only got worse..... The assasin who was by passed suddenly regained his senses after the initial shock as he activated his movement skills and attacked Rudra''s exposed back, however at the last possible second Rudra sidestepped and circled behind him , his sword piercing his lungs clean as it went through him. SPLAT! -15,000 Critical hit! Blood fell as another alliance champion died 1 minute into the challenge and 2/6 of the champions were dead. It was absolutely shocking. Even the remaining 4 adventures became on guard , they were absolutely in shock by the display of skills by the masked man. They started getting self doubts as to wether or not they could face this titan , as they had been undefeated in training upto this point and were rightfully a part of one of the strongest , if not the streongest members inside the guild. The four made a diamond defensive formation as the four covered 90¡ã of angle to form an impregnable circle. Rudra laughed at the foolish attempt to defend , as he leisurely swung his sword in the air before using blink. Dissapearing from sight Rudra reappeared the the centre of their little formation , as he patted one adventurer on the back , for him to frenzily turn back and swing his sword. Rudra ducked the incoming strike and countered with one of his own , as his sword went straight through the other mans lower jaw out through his skull. -19,000 Critical hit! A third champion died! The initial party of six was reduced to three as panicked expressions could be seen on the faces of both the alliance champions and their respective guild masters. The alliance leaders knew at this point that dragging the match any longer was pointless. As they signalled their members to cause mayhem to dispell the challenge. The 500 alliance members suddenly made a ruckus as they shouted insults at Rudra and then suddenly about a group of twenty members charged at him , disregarding his ongoing duel. Karna swiftly took action , meeting the party head on, however the floodgates had been opened and all hell broke loose as the remaining alliance members also joined the fray to fight. Rudra and Karna suddenly felt a tremendous increase in fighting difficulty after being outmumbered by hundrerds. The challenge was over , there was never a winner per se , however the thousands in attendance were witness that the alliance champions were nothing but toys infront of the Elites. However the crowd was even more interested in seeing how the Elites struggled before eventually dying infront of the hundreds of alliance members pressing on them. However many solo adventurers who had qualms with the alliance also joined the frey , and all hell broke loose a little while later as the playground turned into a battleground of thousands of people where everyone you did not know was an enemy. A certain streamer had been streaming the entire event and the world got an impression that the Hazelgroove kingdom was simply insane , and from insane they meant insanely entertaining!!! Where else would you see such madness of thousands of people fighting with no apparent sides or cause . /// Sorry for the late chapter , hope you all enjoy! , War bells are ringing with full force... War arc soon! We are close to the next PS target , hopefully we reach it before the week resets today , for one bonus chapter. /// Chapter 155: Start of the end The forums were ablaze following the events inside the open challenge that the alliance set up. The alliance had became a global joke as their champions were not even dirt compared to the masked devil , who slaughtered 3 of them despite being outnumbered 6:1 , and would have killed the other 3 too had the shameless guild members not interfered. Their actions on interfering in the challenge had them labelled as cowards and despicable cheaters who could not hold a candle to the Elites , who were now deemed as the number one guild in PurpleHaze city. Omega had became such a hot game in the world currently that brought great viewership numbers even in real life. As major news stations now had dedicated segments featuring latest Omega news on their broadcast . The incidence in Hazelgroove was a hot topic currently , hence the news channels hopped in on the action ... Going with public emotion and condemning the alliance as a worthless excuse for a power group. The matter blew up soo much that the real life backers of the alliance members .... The parent corporations had to face the backlash. The corporations lost face inside investor meetings and billionare gatherings. As they were mocked for their lack of talents. Billionaire''s had an especially inflated sense of ego , and should anyone disrupt their perfect image of themselves or hurt their pride even slightly , it would rattle them to their core , as they would try everything in their might to prove them wrong. Backlash came from the higher ups as the elders and guild leaders had a nightmare of a scolding. The only way the guild leaders avoided their firings was because they made sure to exaggerate the point that they could smoke the Elite''s soon in a war. 350,000 members against what 350 ?. There was no way that the Elite''s win that thing , even with an NPC army of a 10,000 troops or 50,000 troops or whatever amounts of bombs they had .... They cannot win that battle . Only because of this gaurantee , did they barely keep their jobs by the skin of their teeth .... However should they loose .... It will all be over then. And even though the gaurantees , things were even worse than they relayed back at the command station , as they were unable to regain control of the 11 sectors in the given time , only being able to take back 8 , failing the quest given by Emperor Aman. The Emperor gained back control over the millitary after beheading those who resisted his power , regaining millitary supremacy. After regaining millitary supremacy , the millitary swooped through the kingdom restoring order through force. Millions of innocents died , however the riots ended with Aman being accepted as the Emperor. The Church fullfilled its obligations as it crowned the 17th Emperor of Hazelgroove , and with that began a new reign and a new era. With them failing the quest came a heavy penalty for the alliance as the Emperor forced millitary service upon the alliance or face banishment from the kingdom. The punishment required the alliance to provide 100,000 members for one year to compulsary millitary service to the state . Having no other options , the alliance had to force its newly recruited basic members into 1 year of forced millitary service contract while being under pay from the guild. The alliance truly felt the pinch of finances the last few days , the red jewel quest line had been a disaster that completely blew a hole in their finances. Firstly it was the compensation for deaths that they had to roll out , then it was the money spent on repairs and replacement of damaged equipment. Then it was the forced millitary service for a year while being under pay by the alliance. The three major events destroyed their guilds cashflow. Their only hope now was to win the war against the True Elites and raid 70% of their lucrative warehouse as war compensation to ease their financial pressure. The time for talking trash was over , as just when the cooldown for war was over , the impending war request came to the True Elites. ----- ( True Elites Headquarters , inner district, PurpleHaze city) Rudra was calmly looking at the new system notification that just came . It was a notice of war! He had been mentally prepared for this since a long time , he sighed as he opened the war notice . WAR NOTIFICATION : your guild the '' True Elites '' , has been challenged to a guild war by six other guilds namely AzureLotus signed by PinkLotus SeaOfPoison signed by Scorpio SurferUnited signed by Beachboy RealManchester signed by DeBruyne. OriginalManchester signed by Fernandes Musicians Inc signed by TrueRhythm With the group name '' The Alliance ''. Should you choose to accept the war invitation as the defending party you shall have the right to :- 1) Choose the battlefield 2) Choose the war reparations to be paid in case of a victory. 3) Choose the exact date of the war in the next 14 days . Incase of loosing the war the penalty will be :- 1) Loosing 70% of guild assets Incase of choosing to forefit / surrender the challenge :- 1) pay 20% of all guild assets 2) get a 60 days protection period. Incase of winning the war :- 1) You will gain 90% of all opposing guilds assets 2) one request made in accordance to winning the defenders right. DO YOU WISH TO :- 1) ACCEPT THE WAR INVITATION 2) SURRENDER Rudra chose to accept the war invitation , with choosing the date of battle as 4 days from now on saturday. As for the war indemnity he put forth the condition that :- 100,000 alliance members shall sign a slavery contract for 3 years to be subservant to the True Elites guild as a manual labour. He would have filled in for more if the system allowed it , ending the alliance problem for once and for all , however the system only allowed him an indemnity for 100,000 members for 3 years. And that was only because he accepted a war challenge against 6 other guilds. The system calculated the indemnity to be in proportion to the odds and approved it. The war deed was signed. The inevitable was here , the clash between the Alliance and the Elites!!! /// New week new targets. 800 PS = 1 bonus chapter. 1600 PS = 2 bonus chapters. 2400 PS = 3 bonus chapters 3200 Ps = 4 bonus chapters 4000 Ps = 5 bonus chapters. 100 Golden tickets = 1 bonus chapter Guys the golden ticket department has slowed down the last five days or so.... A great war arc upcoming , lets pick up the pace for an amazing war arc ! /// Chapter 156: War preparations The Elites were at a MASSIVE disadvantage in the war , period! Everything had a role in wars , terrain , strategy , weapons , tactical superiority and coordination. However the biggest thing needed in a war was numbers. Against an army of 100,000 strong , 100 men cannot last long against them in any sort of open confrontation. The only example in history when 300 men toppled an army being outnumbered by thousands was the spartan war of 300 against the persians. However that was because they held a small passage where the numerical superiority of the enemy had no advantage , except that it was draining on stamina. However history was mans best teacher and Rudra had learned a lot from the battle of 300. He thoroughly understood that he needed a great equalizer to negate the enemies overwhelming numerical superiority. And that equalizer came in the form of fort knox. Fort knox was the battlefield that was geograpically in a beautiful location. It was built on a small hill beside the ocean , on its south side was a small beach and connecting the beach was the ocean. On its west side was a river , which met the ocean forming a estuary. On its north and east was a wide lush green plain stretching for kilometres. Rudra knew the fort knox battlefield inside out. It essentially had 3 openings , the first was the north gate entrance. The north gate entrance was the largest entrance and was the easiest to breach. The wood used to make the entrace door was quite weak , and it was the reason why whoever used fort knox in wars upto now , was defeated thoroughly. The east side had a smaller entrance about the size of one horseman. It had an iron door to fortify the castle , but it could also be breached making the assault a two pronged assault. If the assualt ever becomes a two pronged one , when the defending party is highly outnumbered then know that you have lost the war there and then. And there was a third hidden passage inside the sandy beach , that opened inside a cellar inside the fort . This passage had not been discovered yet , in any wars , however Rudra with his reincarnation knowledge aldready knew about it and the passage was a key part of his plan . To win the war there were three phases of action that needed to be taken , in every phase there was little to no room for mistakes and only and only when all three phases are executed perfectly , can one win the war. Even before the first phase of the war began , one needed pre planning to do , and that preplanning was to misguide the enemies. How can one achieve that? Ofcourse through the snake inside the guild Orochimaru. Rudra needed to have a fake war meeting inside the guild hall , explaining a fake plan and terrain and throwing off the opposition off their gameplan. While actually preparing for the war secretly in an entirely different direction. The actual plan of war was aldready formulated in his mind as he had calculated everything to utmost precision , thinking about every possible scenarios and how to counter them. The first phase of the war would see the guild fortifying the entrances of fort knox in the east and the north gate using the lifestyle members and the reinforced bricks obtained in the auction. Within 10 minutes of preparation time , using fire spells and lots of practice in the days leading to the war , the guild members will learn how to make a cement wall of reinforced concrete as they seal both entrances , making the fort impregnable. Once the entrances are sealed completely , then the arrow shooting ballistas would be opened to the world , as thousands would fall every minute to the relentless assault of the arrows of the ballistae. At which point spells and alchemic potions and a few bombs will be let loose on the swarm of opposing players. Rudra estimated a death toll of 90-110 thousand alliance players in phase one , which was the mass slaughter phase. Then the most crutical phase of the war plan would begin the phase 2. In phase two , Rudra expects the alliance to find a way into the fort. Nearly after 2 hours that the war starts , the natural cement walls of the fort should show signs of wear and tear , as he expects the guild to punch a hole through the defenses at that point. That point is where the war effort will take a crutial turn ... The guilds tankers would have to show their masterclass along with vice guild master Karna as the rest of the guild members retreated through the secret passage and out of the secret door through to the beach. The role of the tankers is not only to hold the lines for long enough for the other members to retreat but also to lure thousands of alliance members into the fort as they storm the area. It is at this point that bombs placed at strategic locations would blow up , and crumple the entire fort knox , sacrificing thousands of alliance members along with the tankers. Rudra expected a death toll of 50-70 thousand in this phase , which he deemed as the sacrifical phase. At this point the enemy forces should be thinned by a large amount when the final phase of the war starts , which would be the wild card phase of the war. The third phase would start when the fort entrance is breached and the Elites are retreating. It is then that SMG who had sneaked through the secret passage at the start of the war and sneakily went upriver behind the alliance members , would ride the massive pirate ship that Karna obtained as treasure down river towards the ocean. When the hole is breached and the alliance members try to enter the fort , the pirate ship moving from the side would shower them with cannonballs and arrows from the ballistae . They would force the alliance to hasten their attack on the fort and divert some forces to handle the ship , to dilute their attention. After the fort blows up the ship will also pick up the escaped Elite members at the interjection of the ocean and the river . This was the final phase of the war effort as it would wipe the alliance members to staggeringly low number. And force them into retreat. Hopefully bringing the surviving numbers down to 10 or 20 thousand members. From there on there was no plan , as the assaulters kept fighting the alliance on the beach , the alliance members would be forced to fight near the ocean where the ship would provide a constant cover. It was either wiping out the opposition then or retreating , but even if they wished to they would not be able to attack the pirate ship without proper infrastructure. The biggest advantage that the elites had was the ability to stun their opponents time and time again , however that would only remove the unfair numbers advantage that the alliance had. Finally it would come down man to man , sword to sword and fist to fist and only the superior party shall win that contest. However man to man everyone knew that there was no comparing the elites to the trash called alliance. Hence this was the best plan Rudra could come up with. Hopefully it would work. /// Let me know how you guys feel about the war plan , its a lot of effort on my part as i plotted the whole thing . Hopefully you all like it. This bonus chapter is for all the summoning pens i have recieved asking for more work . This one is for you all ! Enjoy ! /// Chapter 157: The meeting ( True Elites Headquarters , the upside, real world ) Amelia had personally messaged everyone in the guild to be present inside the Elite tower real world guild meeting hall at exactly 4 pm. Well ... Everyone expet Orochimaru ofcourse , and everyone had indeed gathered in the hall. At first it seemed like a cool idea to make the decor of the 60th floor the same as the guild hall , however now that the members were meeting here for the 2nd time , honestly it was a bit awkward . Because while getting the same game like feeling , the world was actually reality. This caused a unnecessary deja vu for all members present which blurred the lines between virtual and real world. However one thing was absolute , that within the virtual world or in the real world , Rudra was the leader of the group. Rudra took the stage and everyone instantly became silent. The pressure of war was looming and while every member was a bit nervous , they were more exited to see what the leader came up with. They belived in Rudra and his capabilities , if the impossible could be achieved , then he was the man to achieve it. Rudra looked at the crowd and smiled , not a single person in the room looked scared even though a massive war was coming .... Now this is what Rudra wanted in his members. No matter the odds there should be a determination to win , and these lads had it. Rudra said " Well , there has been a shortage of manpower lately even with the addition of 300 superbly talented people into the guild. I have seen guild members having to do menial tasks , and as a guild leader i cannot let this continue any longer.... ". Everyone in the room was confused? Manpower problem ? Ummm leader there is a war problem currently if you forgot ? Karna Aka Leo Crispi asked " Are we hiring new members guild leader? ". Rudra smiled and said " not currently , we have a strict entrance policy that cannot be laxed , vice guild master ". Everyone was even more confused .... How were they going to solve the manpower problem without hiring new members? PoisonToadGamakichi asked " Then are we hiring NPC''s? ". Rudra said " Yes, we have indeed hired a lot of NPC''s but that is a topic for another day , right now what i am talking about is different ". Not wanting to create any more suspense Rudra said .... " See , the things is like this , although the modern world looks down on slavery , they perfectly enjoy exploiting employees into low paying service contracts. The only difference between working as a slave and an employee is the name tag that we attach to it ". Many people nodded , it resonated with people in a deeper level , those who worked in an abusive corporate contract knew that they were no different than slaves. However how does it apply here? Rudra continued " naturally to solve the manpower problem of our guild without relying on NPC''s and without lowering our recruitment standards we need talented service people ( slaves ) ". Rudra paused and looked around the room Then he said " 100,000 alliance members should be enough ? No? 3 years of service debt for loosing the war? ". The entire hall erupted in clamour .. INSANE ..... THE LEADER IS INSANE!!! What confidence.... What arrogance .... The leader how much confidence does he have in the guilds victory? Rudra laughed loudly seeing the clamour , his eyes shone with determination as he said " The alliance weaklings dare challenge the mighty True Elites , now they need to be taught the law of the jungle , after we trample on them in war ... Yes ofcourse we will plunder their resources , but we will also force them into submission! You dare challenge us? Then you shall pay! ". " Let me make it very clear ladies and gentlemen , there are good guys and there are bad guys , and Rudra Rajput Aka guild leader Shakuni , is a bad bad guy, if you are not an Elite , you are not worthy of my mercy ... The true elites is made for the best of the best players , and the alliance is privileged to serve us... After the war we will rule PurpleHaze city ladies and gentlemen, MARK MY WORDS". Rudra was out of breath but he continued " The elders have been informed about the three phases of the war , and they will breif you individually about your roles in the war ... I wont lie to you guys , the war will be tough and there is no margin for error , but follow the plan and we will crush the alliance ! ". Everyone nodded , they looked determined . Rudra said " this meeting is mainly about telling you guys that tommorow inside the game , there will be another war meeting , but it is only a show for luring out the spy Orochimaru , heed nothing that is discussed tommorow , but act as if it is the most important meeting of your life .... Your acting tommorow will be important , i expect no slip ups ". Everyone became a little nervous , but they nodded in understanding .... They had to be at their sharpest tommorow if the bait for Orochimaru was to succeed. The meeting was dismissed after that , and the elders took over their respective group briefings. Explaining the real war plan and individual roles. The Elites members showed shocked expressions after shocked expressions after learning the trump cards the guild held. They became even more exited for the war after that. Rudra who was overseeing the entire situation was deep in thought , he had a deep worry that he had not expressed to the guild members. ---- If you are reading this book on any site exept webnovel you are supporting pirated content .... Please do not support piracy ! You can read the same content on the original publishing platform webnovel. If you are looking for more latest chapters please read the book on webnovel. ---- Rudra''s deepest worry was that even after chipping away the massive numbers of the opposition there would be more than 20 thousand alliance members left standing against 250 or so elites. Should the alliance then reveal hidden cards , it would get really difficult for the elites to win. Rudra would be a fool to think that numbers was the only strength that the alliance had .... Six first rate guilds were bound to have one or two hidden cards. However how much will those cards tip the scale of the war? As the leader he could not show his worries to anyone , he had to remain strong and focused , his boundless confidence should inspire everyone else, however the reality was that noone feared loosing the war more than Rudra did , noone doubted every move he planned and was a bigger critique than he was for himself. As he sat in a cornor engrossed in his thoughts , a woman sat beside him and tugged his arm , and said " Its okay guild leader , we beleive in you , but you can also rely on us , we wont let you down ". Rudra glanced to the side to find Naomi sitting beside him smiling ..... His heart warmed , this girl she understood the burdens he carried. He gave her a bright smile ..... /// Shoutout to Alicia melciot and mystic genius for the 500 coin gifts! Thankyou very much for the patronage ! We have hit the PS target , bonus coming soon ! Golden ticket department is very slow , we need only a few more for one more bonus ..../// Chapter 158: The trap ( True Elites Headquarters , inner district, PurpleHaze city, virtual world) Orochimaru had suddenly got a order informing him of an all guild meeting today in the guild hall. He had long been walking on thin ice , and this war was kind of the last chance he had as a spy to work for the Ambani corporation. To be fair , the Ambani corporation long wanted to plant another spy inside the Elite''s. However the guild never opened their goddamn recruitment doors. They could not plant anyone else , hence had to give Orochimaru the chance. Orochimaru had long since decided that he would much rather record the whole thing , than writing a report and filing evidence. Hence he had long started his record feature in the morning as he waltzed in the guild. He greeted players and made small talk about the upcoming war to learn their opinions , however actually it was to pry into information . However his trick was long seen through as everyone knew he was a spy , noone gave him relevant information and kept piling more and more bulls*** thoughts and data to his plate. At the end if one sits to organize all that was said and done , they would have nothing usefull at all! The greatest actor of all however was Fatty Kalash , he kept sighing and walking around Orochimaru , baiting him to talk to him , and indeed Orochimaru caught the bait as he approached fatty Kalash and asked " You seem worried my friend , everything okay? ". Kalash looked at Orochimaru for 2 seconds , then he sighed again , holding his head ...looking absolutely devastated and depressed as he said in a heavy voice " The new bomb recipe we came up with has failed , i do not know how to face the guild leader with my failure ". Orochimaru''s ears perked up at the news , this was good stuff , this was exactly what the alliance wanted to know .... How many trump cards does the true elites have? , How many bombs? Now that one of their new bomb lines have failed , isnt that good news for the alliance? Immediately he tried to talk to Kalash more , comforting him and trying to get more information. At the end he got the information that the elites had close to 5,000 bombs and that they will use their entire stockpile to level the alliance. The number 5,000 really shocked Orochimaru , however he sniggered inwardly , even if the 5000 bombs kill 50,000 people , it will still not be enough to win the war. The Elites were doomed. But outwardly he dint show it , he behaved like he was deeply concerned for the guild , feeling all sly and cunning. However he did not realise that he had long fallen for Fatty Kalash''s decietfull acting . Finally it was time for the meeting as everyone gathered in the guild hall. Rudra entered the room , and started to speak. " Guys , the trurth is , we are very very hard pushed to win this war , against the alliance we have bitten off more than we can chew , and six first rate guilds are not what we can fight against. However as throwing the towel is not our style , we will try our best to win the war ". The atmosphere in the room became gloomy , Orochimaru felt very very happy with Rudra''s speach soo far as he said inwardly '' Yeah you did you ba***** , nobody messes with the alliance ". Rudra continued " the best plan that we have currently is to use our two best cards against the alliance , card number one is our defenders advantage that we choose the terrain. And after much deliberation with the elders we have decided to take the forest as our chosen terrain ! ". Everyone nodded , they seemed to agree with the decision it seemed logical . Orochimaru bit his lip , if it was the forest then showing numeric superiority maybe difficult. Rudra continued " i know it will be hard , and the war will be long , however using the forest as cover we can set up traps and use guirella warfare tactics as we sneakily attack and retreat. ". This made sense as everyone nodded again , even Orochimaru felt convinced this was a smart plan of action. Rudra continued " We have a stockpile of close to 5000 bombs , each member shall be given 10. Your job with these 10 bombs is to kill as many groups of alliance members as you can ". The damn bombs ! Orochimaru cursed ... The elites had the bombs that were the most coveted thing that every other guild wanted but the Elites wont sell! Lastly Rudra said " Even after all this i do not expect to win , logically speaking our chances of victory are 1 in a thousand , even i as our guild leader has bet all my money on us loosing this war , not because i have no hope , but because after we pay 70% war indemnity , we still have money to run the guild , and i urge you all to do the same". The atmosphere in the room became the lowest , the leader had no confidence in winning , why would they even try. Orochimaru was the happiest , he had gotten the biggest scoop of the century , this video would be recorded in history of the game as his name would spread throughout. He could not help but also admire Rudra''s ingenuity , betting on the alliance to win to make some money back was indeed a very smart idea. He quickly took his leave as he went to forward the recorded evidence to his superiors. He was hoping for endless praise and a good promotion for this job well done. Even his superiors found the video compelling as they showed it to the alliance leaders , boosting their confidence in the war a thousandfold. Yua felt a bit bad for Rudra , to see him in such a pitifull state , she swore that she would not take a dime from her share of the war loot and give it all back to Rudra secretly. The other leaders started to think about contering the forest terrain as they brainstormed ideas . But unbeknownst to them, thinking they were the big fish stalking the little fish , the little fish was a deliberate bait set up by the fisherman. The trap was a hook , line and sinker! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target , keep it up you all! , Also the golden ticket target has been hit , soo i guess one more bonus coming your way. Shoutout to Leo_crispii and Ivory_pope for the 500 coin gifts ! Thankyou soo much for the patronage. /// Chapter 159: War preparations Everyone started to fervently prepare for war. There was an overall atmosphere of pushing past their limits and going above and beyond in the next 3 days to be at the peak condition possible for the war. Fatty Kalash lead his team of lifestyle players to ensure that the manufacturing of the ballistae and the rapid construction of reinforced brick wall was progressing well. The first phase of the plan , revolved heavily around the contribution of the lifestyle guild. In the ten minute preperation time before the war started , they had to completely reinforce the entraces to make the fort impregnable. A slightest weakness in assembly and the defense could crumble , and the war would be finished there and then. However fatty Kalash wasn''t someone who would ever let that happen on his watch, under his supervision the wall team worked day and night to perfect their craft of making the wall. And the assembly of the ballistae and a sea of arrows were being produced in the smithies day and night. The alchemists and potionmakers in the lifestyle division made many poisonous gas potions , to throw into swarm of enemies to deter them . Although they were not very lethal and could be easily countered with an antidote , to those who were not well equipped they could still posess a challenge. Especially the basic paralysis potion , that reduced movement speed by 40% . The assaulters of the guild were busy levelling , that included Rudra who was levlling like a maniac. He had aldready levelled up twice and showed no signs of slowing. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Hier of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:48 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 290 +145 VIT : 290 +145 INT : 290 +145 STA : 290 +145 PHY : 290 +145 HP : 37000/37000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valor , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (65/200) ---- The same went for Karna and Neatwit who were levelling up relentlessly. The three understood quite well that their independent strengths would play a huge role in the coming war. The guild also spared no expense in improving its members strengths. High quality weapons, skill books , equipment , everything was purchased by the guild , the member had to only send a invoice requesting money and they will be given the entire sum and also some more. It just soo happened that every single member was covered in light gold equipment or higher. There were not a single piece of bronze or silver ranked equipment on their body. Only gold or dark gold grade. Not even guild leaders of third and second rate guilds soo well equipped much less common members. This just went to show , how different the elites were from the other guilds. Rich beyond reason , unafraid to splurge on members , and delivered more than what was promised. It was because of this attitude of the guild towards its members that the sincerity was returned as people whole heartedly worked for the guild. The facade infront of Orochimaru was mentained perfectly as members kept talking about how to navigate the forest and how to set up traps and how they wished that the alliance would be merciful in victory. ---- If you are reading this book on any site exept webnovel you are supporting pirated content .... Please do not support piracy ! You can read the same content on the original publishing platform webnovel. If you are looking for more latest chapters please read the book on webnovel. ---- Orochimaru kept gaining confidence in the alliance victory and soo did the superiors behind him who praised him for a job well done. The alliance had aldready came up with ways to counter the forest problem. They had purchased flares in bulk and of different colors , their plan was to infiltrate the entire forest and then the group which encountered enemies would fire a flare in the air. Every nearby group would close in with a circle formation as they confronted the enemy from all sides. This way the enemy would have no chance to use guirella tactics and it would be only a matter of time before the enemy was caught in small groups and hunted to oblivion. Their other plans included strategically burning portions of the forest to drive out the enemy , should they encounter an area that the enemy had made a stronghold out of. And naturally the equipment they carried was also suited for the exact task. Had they even a whiff of the Elite''s true strategy , they could have prepared ladders and siege equipment , have wallbreakers and have the wizards learn strong explosive spells. However they were clueless about it because of the very person they planted to not be clueless. Rudra had played a masterstroke in manipulating Orochimaru and the alliance would find out about it real soon. The forums were ablaze with speculation as the odds of an Elite victory were the worst odds ever predicted. With a payout of 32:1 , an Elite s victory was ruled out by every single expert. However there were those who saw this as an opportunity to make big money , and hence invested 100$ to 1000$ on Elite''s victory , while betting 10,000 dollars on their loss. Hence either way it wont be a big loss for them. Now they just hoped for a miraculous Elite victory. The only exeption to the scenario and heaviest better towards the Elite''s was naturally Ethan Grey who had absolute confidence in Rudra. Who bet a whopping 100 billion dollars on an elites win . He would either make the annual profit of the Grey corporation in a single week , or loose a lot of money on a whim. To be fair he was scared of lossing his money , but the thrill of the gamble compelled him to do it anyway. Now he just hoped Rudra would not let him down. The worlds attention was on this fight as major news channels had already began programs about the war running almost 20 hours a day. Various experts were brought to the pannel to discuss about the possible elites strategy and war outcome. While many interesting theories were exchanged the end analysis of all experts was the same , there is no chance in hell that the Elite''s win. The bald expert that just had his hair grown back after mispredicting that the elites cant defeat Orange Rock guild , was back on the pannel , as he again made a bold prediction when a journalist asked him about his precious mistake. The journalist asked " Sir , you had said the same thing when the Elites fought Orange Rock guild , that there was no chance in hell that they could win. Now you say it again , what happens if you are wrong yet again? ". The expert said " Last time was a fluke , noone could have predicted the use of bombs by the guild , and there is a limit to how much cards one can hold. I can gaurantee that the Elite''s wont win this war. And if they do , i will not only shave my head again , i will also shave my eyebrows , moustache and wax every single hair on my body ". The expert made a bold prediciton... Rudra seeing the show on his sofa , eating popcorn smiled as he said " Get ready to loose your hair then baldie .... /// Bonus chapter for reaching golden ticket target. Finally the next chapter will see the start of the war ... Special shoutout to Cervantez91 for the 1000 coin gift and to Sneaky fox for the 500 coin gift. Thankyou for the patronage you both , motivates me a lot! /// Chapter 160: War(1) Finally the day of the war arrived , all that could be prepared had been prepared , and knowing the sheer scale of the event , various media outlets had bribed players on both sides to stream Live content. From the true elites''s side , Ethan himself requested Rudra to livestream straight from his POV in the war. Rudra would have hesitated or even outright rejected the idea if there was a possibility that his plans may be leaked due to livestreaming. However inside the war arena all incoming messages were disabled , even within party members , information had to be relayed through runes or the old school way of shouting the commands. Structure and relay of commands was extremely important in wars. And only because he was sure that no information could be leaked to the enemy , he decided to accept the livestream request from Ethan Grey. One of Ethans many companies was Grey entertainment , which had many channels and subscription services. And Rudra''s exclusive stream on their channel was sure to drive sales through the roof. ------ ( 5 minutes before the war. The Elites HQ ) Rudra started the livestream within the Elite guild hall , facing him were all the true elites guild members. The main guild and the lifestyle members alike , as everyone had a part to play in the war. There was nervousness and exitement in the air , everyone was impatient for the war to start , the Five minutes of waiting time felt like an eternity. Rudra looked at his guild , pride filling his chest , every single member , even the non combat ones were covered in gold grade armour or above. Millions watching the scene were also in awe of the Elites wealth ... The scene of 500 or so members covered in top notch equipment awed all viewers. Rudra then raised his hand for silence as he began his war speach .... He said " The war ahead is going to be a tough one , i wont insult you guys by asking you wether you are ready or not? Weather you can give your 100% for the guild or not? Wether you can execute your roles to the best of your abilities in the war or not? ... Because if even a single answer is a no... Then we have aldready lost the war ! ". Everyone had a determined look on their faces , they did not need a motivational talk from the leader , their dedication to the guild needed no motivation. They looked fired up , they were ready for war! Karna looked at the members , as the countdown hit 15 seconds he shouted loudly " ONE FOR ALL , ALL FOR ONE ". And every single guild member shouted " GO ELITES GO !! ". The countdown hit zero and they were all transported to the chosen field of defense , the Fort Knox! ----- ( The war battlefield the Fort Knox! ) Everyone was teleported to the battlefield , the defenders the Elites spawned inside the fort , whereas the attackers the Alliance spawned inside the nothern plains. The alliance leaders were instantly dumbfounded when they teleported inside the war map ... This was not the forest! This was the Fort Knox map! The 10 minute war timer started , and the Elites lifestyle had aldready started its work in reinforcing the entrances , through the reinforced brickwork. While everyone else took the designated positions within the fort... Everyone exept Orochimaru , who looked lost . Orochimaru''s mind blanked when he found himself inside of Fort Knox and not a forest .... He looked around carefully , only to find that noone else was surprised and even began to work. He couldnt process what was going on ... However everyone was giving him venemous looks in the guild , and Shakuni , Karna , Neatwit and SMG were surrounding him. He was currently on a border wall , and retreating 5 meters more meant he would have an ugly fall down the wall for 30 meters or so. Rudra walked with a smug smile on his face as he said " Orochimaru , ohh Orochimaru , you think you are soo smart , huh? Trying to infiltrate the guild ...leaking information to Mithun Ambani about the Elites ..... Well, well , well , Do you take us as fools who did not know your ploy? ". Orochimaru was stunned , '' IMPOSSIBLE , IMPOSSIBLE , he knew it all from the start ''. Was the only thoughts he had in his mind , but his mouth stuttered for words as the elders circled in on him , pushing him towards the edge. Finally regaining some sense of speech he said " Impossible , you were supposed to choose the forest terrain , there was this huge guild meeting , i have proof i recorded everything ... Was it all a setup from the start? ". Rudra just smiled a sinister laugh to confirm his thoughts Orochimaru shrieked like a little boy terrified ..... If Rudra knew everything from the start , about his identity and his connection to the Ambani corporation , and still gave him all the benefits of the guild and even footed massive amounts of money for his purchases , only to lure him into a trap .... Then he was a master manipulator and a terrifying player of mind games . " You .... You .... You FRAMED ME ! ". He shouted in anger However suddenly he found a dagger in his abdomen , SMG had sneaked up on him , he was shocked , he was stabbed when distracted. But when he looked up , he saw Rudra''s sinister smile as he said " The Elites have no space for snakes like you ! ". BOOM! Rudra kicked him square on the jaw and sent him flying down the wall . His thoughts as his HP rapidly drained from the dagger in his abdomen , nearing death , was only that his career was over , the Ambani corporation would never forgive him and how he was a fool to think that he was the smartest person in the Elite guild hall , whereas the reality was that compared to Shakuni , he was not even fit to lick his boots. The chapter of Orochimaru the traitor ended with this kick forever! He died from the fall down the wall and was teleported out of the war arena. /// War is finally on guys!! , Need full support in powerstone and golden ticket departments from you all now . I am super pumped about this arc , and would love maximum comment participation on all chapters. Also special shoutout to caleb_holland for the 500 coin and ivory_pope for the 1000 coin gifts. It really motivates me to work harder for you all ! /// Chapter 161: War (2) ( The real world ) Ethan Grey was sitting in his private lounge. One of the finest whiskeys in the world in his hand , as he watched Rudra''s livestream. Today was a crutial day for Ethan as today was not only the Elites facing the Alliance , where he had a whopping 100 billion dollars on the line , but also the day where his hired team of world class mercenaries blew up Ambani''s petroleum mine . It was safe to say that Ethan Grey was a confident man , he would never drink to relieve stress , yet today his nerves were at the edge , it was a make or break day for him , as he would either come out the other side today as a tycoon who would expand his net worth by trillions , or someone who would have to lay low for a while, loosing large sums of money. When Rudra kicked the snake Orochimaru after name dropping his connection with the Ambani''s , Ethan felt a sense of satisfaction and releief , as he muttered under his breath " **cking snakes !! ". ---- ( War arena , The alliance POV) Beachboy of surfers united was livestreaming hence the world was watching the alliance leaders having an impromptu meeting regarding the change in the chosen terrain Scorpio said " The spy''s information turned out to be useless , there is no f****** forest ! , Damn that idiot spy , our whole strategy is ruined , We have no way to tackle a fort siege , we have no ladders or wall climbers ". PinkLotus said " Although what you are saying is true , not everything is as bad as it seems , i have seen previous battles in fort knox , it has two gates at East and North , the north gate is the biggest gate made of wood , our assaulters should be able to hack through the gate after a bit of struggle. We will loose some numbers , however thats not an issue is it? Once the gate crumbles , soo will the Elites ". TrueRhythm agreed to PinkLotus as he said " I agree , this is not necessarily a better choice than the forest , the fort is a smaller area to defend and run , we can rest assured about the guirella warfare tactics , once the defenses of the fort are breached the war will end ". The alliance leaders had a logical discussion about what to do next , but time was running out , as the 10 minute preperation time was about to run out , they were yet to relay important information to the 2,50,000 strong army of theirs. And as for now there was but one command , that was breach the gates and attack the fort. The war timer hit the final 30s , and everyone became laser focused .... Victory or defeat , everything would be decided now. Unbeknownst to them , an deadly assasin party of 20 lead by SMG had sneaked through the hidden gate and started to make his way upriver , unnoticed by the alliance army. 5....4....3....2...1... War starts! ---- ( The true elites pov ) The war had started and everyone had taken battle positions , the task of handling the archballistae was left to the archers , whereas every lifestyle member and non wizards were given a bow and quiver of arrows. A few people like Rudra and Karna chose the javellin , to strategically target enemies. Just as the countdown hit zero , a sea of people started to charge from the nothern gate towards the fort. Rudra smiled at them as he said " Come! ". He gave Karna the nod and Karna gave the War command. " UNVEIL THE BALLISTAE , ARCHERS LOAD YOUR ARROWS ". Karna shouted The cloths covering the ballistae were removed. The weapons were already armed and loaded. " HOLD ". Karna said , waiting for the perfect time to unleash the arrows , making sure that maximum enemies were inside the range of arrows to maximize damage. " FIRE! ". Karna shouted , and for a second the sun got blocked out a sea of arrows fell on the charging alliance members , as thousands were hit with the incoming arrows. But to the sheer horror of the alliance members , unlike the traditional arrows that hit in waves after waves , these arrows were continuous. Like a goddamn machine gun , the ballistae kept blasting arrows after arrows , with an insane rate of 200 arrows per minute. Atleast 150 alliance members died under its relentless assault every minute , while 20 more were injured. And there were 8 such beasts mounted on the walls of Fort Knox. 1200 alliance members fell each minute to the ballistae and about 300 more fell under the arrows and spells of the members. There was panic , disbelief and sheer horror inside the alliance members eyes. They could not even defend properly under the relentless arrow assault . Chaos rained inside the charging party as to defend the arrows the alliance members moved around and bumped into each other , falling tripping and breaking the attack lines. Scorpio looked at the ballistae and just went batshit crazy " WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING ..... WHY DO THE ELITES HAVE SUCH A GAMEBREAKING THING? ". His mind went blank , and the same happened for the other five alliance leaders , they were speachless seeing the beast of a ballistae in actions , thousands being slayed every minute under its unending assault. Meanwhile the world watching the unfolding of the ballistae went totally nuts ... The elites had their own mediaeval machine gun , how cool! The common adventurers seeing the war for fun were very very happy seeing the entertaining ballistae in action , whereas the various superpowers saw it as a must have tool in their arsenal . Win or loose , many interested parties were going to contact the elites post war , for this technology. The first phase of the war had started , and 10 minutes into the war , the first alliance member finally reached the nothern gate , after going through hell in the face of incoming fire , and started hacking at the wooden door with his axe. However within these ten minutes close to 16,000 alliance members had died , and there was no signs of slowing down. /// 3 chapter day today , as both the powerstone and golden ticket targets have been hit ! Congratulations guys , your wish for a faster war arc will be granted today. Special shoutout to caleb_poling for the 1000 coin gift and mystic genius for the 500 coin gift. Thankyou for the patronage guys , it motivates me a lot ! /// Chapter 162: war (3) The appearance of the ballistae caused the alliance members to panick , and hence the inexperienced soldiers broke the ranks and the attack formation was ruined. However slowly but surely a few members started to teach the north gate. Hacking the wood with their weapons. The big and burly ones took a short run up and tried to ram themselves onto the gates shoulder first. However for some reason , the door wouldnot budge. But not understanding the reason behind it , they kept attacking the door nonetheless. The alliance leaders quickly issued an order for all long range classes to attack the ballistae. However to their nightmare their lower ground disadvantage and the ballistae''s long range barrage , made it impossible to get in a safe range to attack the ballistae. The few who did manage to get even a bit close had a javellin pierced through their body , courtsey of Rudra and Karna , who were only on the lookout for such people. Half an hour passed just like that and close to 40 thousand alliance members had died under the contsant assault of arrows and javellins. The alliance had absolutely no answers for the incoming assault of the ballistae. People watching world wide were awed , as many started to beleive that if the Elites could mentain the current situation for an hour longer , the entire war situation may change. Where many experts predicted the war to be over within the first 30 minutes , the actual reality was that after 30 minutes , not a single Elite was dead , however close to 40 thousand alliance members were ... Their numbers dwindling to 2,10,000 men! However finally at that time , someone finally cut through the wooden gate , but what he saw through the small opening he made , made him despair. THERE WAS A GODDAMN WALL BEHIND THE GATE. this made no sense , why is there a wall behind the gate?? He shouted " THERE IS A WALL BEHIND THE GATE! ". And naturally the message ran across the battlefield , that there was a wall behind the gate. Rudra smiled hearing the message , it was about time that they found out about it. Now he could turn things up a notch. The alliance leaders were dumbfounded , there was a wall behind the gate? Wasnt the fort supposed to be impregnated once the gate was breached? Then why was there a wall? Scorpio shouted in desperation " Half of the party members , circle to the east gate''". " CIRCLE TO THE EAST GATE ". " CIRCLE TO THE EAST GATE ". This was the issue in commanding such a large army , by the time the command manually reached the front line , the initial command of '' Half '' members circle to the east gate , became , Circle to the east gate. As droves and droves of players started to circle towards the east gate. The abrupt change in charging direction caused the army to form a congested group , that was easy pickings for the ballistae. In the five minutes following the command , close to 15,000 alliance members lost their lives. As they tried to reach the East gate. However to their horror , the small metal east gate was actually covered by 5 archballistae , and it was suicidal to even come close. Rain of arrows poured over the alliance members , with the next 5 minutes having a deadly deathcount of 21,000 alliance members. Their original numbers of 2,50,000 now reduced to 1,74,000 . The alliance leaders had a ghastly pale expression , as everything was falling apart , their death tolls piling like crazy . However there was a certain leader amongst their group who was having a sly smile on his face currently. Beachboy said " I have a trump card that can help us breach the wall , but it is very expensive and i cannot use it for free ..... If you guys want me to use it then i will get 20% more from the end loot ". The other 5 leaders glared at Beachboy , he had a way of stopping this massacre , but he was holding them hostage for getting more benefits. Had the situation been not soo desperate they would have aldready kicked this greedy bas**** in the head by now . However considering the desperate situation that they were in , they hesitated. Every guild needed money .... And giving up 20% was too much! It was then that a guild member came with a report ... " Reporting to the leaders , it is confirmed that the elites have somehow made a strong concrete brick wall behind both the gates , the fort is impregnable". " DAMN IT ! F***ING ANNOYING PRICKS ". Scorpio lost his mind. His antics being watched by millions ... However seeing the desperate situation he said " Alright i agree you selfish pig ". The other guild leaders also gave their confirmations through gritted teeth , as Beachboy had a big smile plasted on his face. Beachboy said " Alright .... Watch me ! ". As he took out some scroll from within his inventory. The scroll was a tier three spell scroll fireblast. [ Fireblast ] ( tier 3 ) : a scroll that unleashes the power of a tier 3 spell , fireblast. Can only be used once before the paper burns out. Effects : creates a powefull flame explosion. Everyone''s eyes widened when Beachboy pulled the scroll out .... If it was a tier 3 scroll then indeed it had power to destroy the fort walls and blast a hole. They hated Beachboy ''s greed , however they praised his resourcefulness. With this they could finally enter the fort and win the war! An entire unit made of elite tankers covered beachboy from every incoming assault , as they moved as a compact unit , with every defense spell and ability at the disposal of the tanks being activated . When they finally reached an acceptable range , Beachboy finally infused mana into the spell , as he aimed for a spot on the wall .... /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target!! Great job you all! , One more coming up for hitting the powerstone target later tonight. Also a big shoutout to ivory_pope for the 2000! Coin gift! , Woohoo! , Feeling appreciated for my hardwork. Thankyou ! /// Chapter 163: war (4) Beachboy unleashed the full power of the tier 3 spell. BOOM! It collided with the walls of fort knox , the explosion rattling the entire fort , one archballistae was destroyed as it was positioned right above the explosion that took down the wall. However the explosion came at a cost , as 200 or so alliance members near the wall area were also blown away with the brunt of the explosion. There was a void created in that area , but when the dust settled and huge hole appeared on the walls of fort knox , all hell broke loose as the alliance members came swarming at that direction. The alliance leaders rejoiced at the scene , the orders of CHARGE! could be heard all around the battlefield. As victory seemed certain following the forts breach . Experts all around the world , who were giving live commentary on the war developments became very exited , as they started commenting as if it was the start of the end for the true elites. Beachboy personally lead the charge alongside his elite guard , as he tried to enter the fort. Rudra took in a deep breath , it was time for phase 2 , it all depended on the tanks now. Except the archers who were still manning the archballistae , and the tanks and Rudra , the rest of the elites started to retreat through the decided path. Rudra quickly threw two spike bombs and one frost bomb , at the area of hole , where there was a dense population of players. The bombs as expected were super effective under the situation , as they claimed the lives of many alliance members. And also bought a few extra seconds of time for the elites to retreat. Medivh was the last one to retreat after ensuring that the entire wizard division had retreated , however before retreating he needed to show a skill of his own. Facing the hole in the wall , Medivh took the special potion that Rudra aquired for him , that temporarily allowed him to temporarily raise his potential to cast a spell one tier above his current tier. This was the second time he would use the spell , the first time being against the trolls . Medivh closed his eyes and focused , he raised his hand and started the chant. Flames started to burst from under his feet and around him and started to grow in size and power .... Circles of flame danced around his being , as he casted the spell Sea of fire! Boom , the entire hole and 25 meters beyond the hole was transformed into a blazing sea of fire , the tier 2 spell showing its full effect! Hundereds of alliance members who had recovered from the bombs and desperately tried to enter were scorched to death , as the spell took a toll of nearly 500 alliance members and gave burns to many more. A perfect example of the terrifying PVE Capability of a wizard class , Medivh displayed his class awing the world watching. Again a vaccum was created where the hole in the wall was , the remnant flames marking a scorched area. The alliance simply could not breach the entrance. Wizard players around the world were shocked to see Medivh''s abnormal display of power , what was that spell? How can he cast such a powerful spell? Everyone had doubts in their minds , as at tier 1 , not a single mage across the game could pull off what he did. The name and face of Medivh was etched into the memory of every wizard player at this point , as someone to watchout for. Rudra nodded at Medivh , and signalled for him to leave , Rudra was pleasantly surprised by his performance as he overdelivered , the casting of this spell was not discussed in the initial plan , however it brought a few extra seconds for the elites to retreat. Being thwarted twice from entering the fort , the alliance members became more desperate than ever in their third try , the archballistae''s relentless assault never stopped and the deathtoll was piling at an insane number by the minute , the fort needed to be breached and it needed to be breached now! Rudra still had 3 bombs left in his inventory , not counting those that were aldready set up in the fort for its collapse , if he chose so , he could have used them at this point again to get a death toll at the area of breach , however he chose to save them for emergencies , the situation was under control as of now and the bombs may come in handy later. Thinking so , Rudra finally let go of the javellins and summoned his dual swords. Excalibur in his left hand and elven sword in his right , Rudra was ready for war , and soo were the other 9 tankers in the guild. The job of the tankers was very difficult , they had to hold of against hundereds of players in a strategic location untill thousands of alliance members were inside the vicinity of the fort and to ensure that before they died , they activated the bombs planted on the forts walls to let it crumble. Fort knox had 7 large vertical pillars supporting its base structure , all being fit with the Elite special waterbombs. Also a special stash of waterbombs was inside basement of the fort , that would be activated by Fatty Kalash after the other 7 go off , destroying the entire fort knox area. Cola , tank , Rhino , armoured snake , bulletproof , damagetaker , thousandpunchman , shieldbearer , and lineholder were the 9 tankers in the true elites. And their time to shine was now! Hundereds of alliance members poured in through the open hole , Cola swallowed his saliva seeing the sight , determination in his eyes , he was ready for the fight of his life! /// Bonus chapter for hitting powerstone target! Great job you all for having a 3 chapter day! , The second phase of the war arc is here. The story will only intensify going forward , hence i hope you all will keep hitting the next targets as fast as possible for enjoying the war break free! We are close to hitting the next golden ticket target, soo lets go guys , we can do this! /// Chapter 164: The greatest mercenary /// Off the coast of country X , The Ambani petroleum mining area/// "This is the country X airforce , You have entered restricted airspace , please lower your altitude to 20,000 feet and turn around to leave the airspace , you have 2 minutes to comply , or we will shoot you down". The anouncement could be heard in the mercenary plane. There were three people in the cockpit , one was a stunning woman that would make even the saints meditating in Himalayas arouse in excitement. She was wearing a tight leather outfit , supposedly made of high tensile bulletproof material , however the tight outfit just highlighted her perfect figure and showed her curves beautifully. The girl was a sculpted beauty of the highest order , with natural assets that were neither too big , nor too small. A goddess fitting tastes of all men. Here chocolate brown hair and smoky black eyes only enhancing her aldready perfect face. Her spy name was skyla , and her real identity was unknown. She was the co pilot today on this high paying mission alongside the greatest mercenary of the dark market. Before introducing the greatest mercenary on the dark market , it is important to introduce his Lackey. 6 foot 2 , 220 pounds , Asian male , brown skin , and lean muscular body. His name was '' Bo '' , graduating top of the mercenary training class , he was a once in a lifetime prodigy. Fast , smooth , charming and deadly , he was the perfect guy for every mission. Currently learning from the best mercenary to ever live , he was very vigilant on this high paying mission. As he watched to absorb every single move the senior made. He was seriously infatuated with Miss Skyla , however he could not show it , as moreover his respect for the greatest mercenary was greater than his infatuation , he kept his focus on that man. The greatest mercenary of all time , was the title this man had on the dark market , after he successfully assasinated the monarch of country F. His epics were legendary about how he learnt kungfu from a monastry in china and how he had the most unusual solutions to any given situation. His name was '' Jhonny English '' . Born in country B , he was the idol of many aspiring young mercenaries like Bo , now in his fifties , he was a little off his prime and this was his retirement mission. While the world thought him to be a super genius , the truth was that he was only incredibly lucky , the only thing he had going for himself was his confidence , the heavens helped him as whatever he did ended up being an earth shattering event. To be honest , he was clueless as to how to execute the monarch of country F , when he took up the assasinating mission it was his first ever mission , he was a complete rookie , whereas many trained international experts had been working on the mission for months now , but were unsuccessful , as he was scouring the capital city , thinking of ways to carry out the mission an annoying falcon took off with his hat , when he was shooting at the falcon that just took off with his hat , his bullet actually hit the monarch of country F right in the nearby building. It turned out that the bulletproof window had been left open through some coincidence . Unaware , English kept chasing the falcon for his hat , not knowing he had a ton of men pursuing him , as his attention was on the falcon flying above , he accidentally entered an open manhole and hit his head hard. He was knocked out for 8 hours , and by the time he woke up , his name had aldready spread around the world for being the greatest mercenary alive. Since that day he had earned great respect and standing inside the mercenary community , and carried three mega missions after that , all being huge success. His legacy as the supreme mercenary had been solidified and today was his last mission. Offered big bucks by the tycoon Ethan Grey , he was specially brought out by the agency along with Bo and Skyla. English immediately had a huge crush on Skyla from the moment he saw her, and it helped that she had immense respect for him . Sitting in the captains position on the cockpit , English was looking at Skyla sneakily , the radio message had scared her , even after all the stealth devices installed in the plane they were still discovered , this mission became infinitely more difficult now .... She silently bit her lip. Bo said " Sir , we have been discovered what do we do now? ". However English was mesmerized by the sight of Skyla biting her lip , he unconsciously pushed the steering to make the plane dip. ZOOM! A missile just missed them barely as it blasted 2000 feet above them . Skyla and Bo were shocked as Bo said " Sir the radar showed nothing , and even in the announcement they said that we had 2 minutes to comply , how did you know that there will be an non tracable missile on us? ". English was dumbfounded himself , his heart pounding in his chest , his mind screaming '' Fu**** hell mate that was soo close ''. He looked at his d*** and said '' Thankyou for saving me little fellow '' But he couldnt show those thoughts to the other two as he said " Once we were discovered there was aldready no turning back Bo , its stupid to trust the enemy enough to let us turn back ". Bo nodded in understanding , indeed Mr English was the greatest spy alive , he was nothing compared to him . The mission had taken a turn for the worse , as the Ambani petroleum mining area was still 4 kms out, they needed to survive one more minute to bomb it successfully and then somehow get out of the area unnoticed. Skyla became serious as he took over weapons control , and Bo went to the back , ready to drop the bombs over the mining field when needed , they both were calm despite the ugly situation as they had absolute faith in the man handling the aircrafts control. Jhonny English! /// A slight deviation from the intense war arc , also a small spoiler : English will join the Elites soon! Comment how you feel about the three new characters introduced , and don''t worry the next chapters will see us going back to the war arc , before we complete this storyline too . Also i know you guys are really interested in more chapters of the war arc soon , and knowing that Reader ivory_pope gifted me 2500 coins and reader Josiah Templeton gifted me 500 coins , ill release a bonus for them today! Also we are only 25 golden tickets away from a bonus , soo today can also be a 3 chapter day if you guys hit it! /// Chapter 165: War (5) ( The war arena , virtual world ) Rhino and Cola were the leaders of the tankers division inside the game. And they were the only two who were not assigned to any pillars to blow up , their jobs was to hold the enemy , as much as possible. And it was by no means an easy job at all as currently there were about 20 thousand alliance members swarming the fort , with all 10 archers aldready killed and the archballistae''s destroyed. Although the number seemed massive , realistically with their backs being covered against a wall , there were only about 5-6 enemies that could attack them at any given moment , just that even after killing those 5 or six enemies , other 5 would replace them at a seconds notice , meaning that they needed to face and endless swarm of enemies and hold out for as long as they could. Rudra was also present as he danced his way through hordes and hordes of enemies , elven sword slicing enemies left and right as if they were made of butter. He was not overwhelmed by the massive force , as he slowly but surely retreated towards the southern side of the fort , drawing in as many enemies as he could. 3 minutes in , all the tankers were still alive albeit many had aldready taken close to 50% damage in their hp bar. Cola and Rhino , faring a little better at 65% health. Even Rudra himself found his health chipped a little as he sat on 94% HP , however it dint bother him , as his goal was started to be realized. In the face of such overwhelming odds , the tanks did not budge a single inch as the elite tankers held their ground strong and proud , defensive skills were used left and right. As their superior armour and shields helped them minimize the damage they took. 4 minutes in , less than 20% of their HP was remaining , but close to 75 thousand had entered the fort , their job was close to completion. However they had not heard the sounds of cannon firing yet , they could not self explode yet , they needed to hold on a bit more! Beachboy along with his Elite guard finally made it through the wall , as he tried to act heroic as he lead his troops to victory. He looked at the fort , and found a pitifully low amount of Elites struggling for their lives , he found nothing odd about it as he thought that majority of them had been slayed , this was a good thing as he would have smelled the trap otherwise. He looked around as he finally found Rudra , and thats where he redirected his guard , towards Rudra. Even Rudra was at the southernmost wall at this point as he was desperately waiting for SMG''s cannon fire before he could use blink and get out of the fort. He saw Beachboy enter the area and instantly he felt panicked , if beachboy noticed the lack of Elites inside the fort he would understand that something was amiss , however to his delight he seemed clueless. '' Thankgod for stupid people '' Rudra thought as he continued his gruelling fight against the swarm of soldiers. Pinklotus also entered the fort soon after Beachboy , and started to scan the area ..... She looked at the few Elite tankers desperately struggling , but found it odd that the other assaulters were not visible. She instantly thought about how the Elites had absolutely superior warriors like Neatwit and Karna , and how they would not fall before the tankers , something was amiss here . But before she could voice out her concers a loud BOOM ! Was heard . Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound of 50 cannons firing could be heard. Giant cannonballs hit the swarm of players trying to enter the fort , and a few even hit the nothern fort wall instantly collapsing the wall , burying many alliance members. SMG was finally here! The ship was here and the cannons were fired! Rounds were reloaded and within 10 seconds , the second volley arrived. The alliance members turned towards the river to see a massive ship floating downstream , its cannons pointing towards them , the large grey wolf design as its mast. The True Elites flag rising high on the ship. The ship also had 4 archballistae fitted , as swarms of arrows also graced the alliance members who tried to approach the ship! Scorpio was dumbfounded seeing the size of the ship , as he cursed under his breath " WTF IS THAT THING , WHY DO THE ELITES HAVE IT? ". was the question on the millions of viewers minds worldwide , a new variable had suddenly been introduced in the war. Rudra smiled , the timing was perfect , 30 seconds later and the plan would have gotten infinitely more difficult. The tanks sighed in relief , they had less than 10% Hp remaining , and would have failed to hold out long enough if SMG was any later , but to their joy they carried out their parts beautifully , the guild wont loose the war because the tank division failed its job! They were proud as a big smile plastered their face " FOR THE GUILD ". They shouted as the first bomb went off ! BOOM! Quickly followed by bomb 2-7 as the fort started to crumple. Cola and Rhino had a big smile on their faces as the phase two had succeded , their tanks did them proud. Rudra instantly blinked , and teleported to the beach about 40 meters away from the southern walll as Fatty kalash blew up the entire waterbombs stash in the basement. BOOOM! A massive explosion that shook the entire war arena occured , the explosion reaching 30 meters in height. Debris flying into the sky , along with burnt bodies of alliance members. Scorpio and the other 3 guild leaders watched in horror as half their army died inside that fort. In a shocking move that noone saw coming , the elites blew up the fort , burying somewhere north of 85 thousand alliance members! Along with guild leaders Beachboy and PinkLotus! /// Bonus chapter for all the gifts and love you guys have shown me the last 2 days! I sincerely hope to give a third chapter today shall we hit the powerstone/ ticket target , as we are close in both of them ! Hope you enjoyed the bonus , please comment if u did/// Chapter 166: war(6) There were only 50,000 Alliance members left alive after the fort collapsed! This happened because close to 85,000 alliance members died with the explosion of the fort. The archballistae''s had an kill rate of 150 and about 20 were injured per minute , they ran for close to an hour , and there were ten such archballistae''s , making the total deathcount under the arrows to be close to 90,000. Also an aditional 12,000 had been injured. Also under the assault of Medivh , the bombs , the archballistae''s mounted on the pirate ship , the cannons fired , the arrows shot manually by Elite guild members , and the members that died under the swords and shields of the tanks , the final death toll came around 25,000 troops. The massive army of 2,50,000 had been reduced to 50,000. The collapse of the fort was a masterstroke that noone saw coming. Around the world , people were stunned by the massive fort blowing up , killing a third of the alliance army with it. The viewership number of the war became the highest viewed event in the history of Grey entertainment , as 457 million people were watching the stream live! The streaming service seeing a lifetime high single day subscription count of 120 million new subscribers. Just throughout the duration of the war event. And boy o boy did it deliver far beyond all expectations , beyond what anyone predicted , the Elites were countering all odds to absolutely outmanoeuvr the alliance , wiping more than 2/3rd of their force. Only about 50 thousand members left standing , and to everyone around the world , this was a feat worthy of being labelled as a stroke of brilliant genius and Rudra as a masterstrstegist never seen before. However the creator of the plan , Rudra , had an ugly expression on his face. According to his calculations , only when the number of the alliance members was brought at under 10,000 was he completely confident of victory, him only expecting 25 thousand alive after the fort collapsed , but the 50 thousand standing was a bucket of cold water poured on him. About 15 thousand of the 50 thousand left alive were injured. However many of them were quickly regaining HP under the healing of the priests and basic Hp regeneration potions. Even the Elites had losses on their sides , close to 100 Elites were dead , these included the 9 tanks , 10 archers and about 80 lifestyle players. While it never came to it. But Rudra assigned the entire lifestyle division , after building the wall and mounting the archballistae''s. To go to the basement where the bombs were located and protect it with their lives. While rest of the combat troops escaped to the south beach using the secret passage , the lifestyle guild stayed. They built a wall after the last player Medivh crossed the passage to the beach and stayed in the basement to guard it at all costs. Should even a single player breach the area , they were given explicit orders by Rudra to blow the structure up. While many labell the lifestyle professions weak and useless in combat. It was not the case in the True Elites , in this guild where everyone matters , even the lifestyle members contribute to the guilds strength, ready to die before letting the enemy pass. Fatty kalash had indeed raised a batch of loyal and guild centric players just like himself. Hence the odds now shifted from being overwhelmingly outnumbered to being massively outnumbered. While the world watched the nail biting war event , the alliance camp had a devastatingly low morale. What was supposed to be an easy war became a nightmare for them. Time and time again they found out that the Elites were five steps ahead of them the whole time. Scorpio started to quake in his boots , goosebumps all over his skin. He was scared, scared to loose th war. He lacked the spine of being a leader as he could not give a single command to his remnant army because of the sheer fear of walking into another trap set up by the elite''s. What if he sent the troops charging only for the beach infront to actually be a minefield ? What if suddenly aircrafts started to appear and nuke his army? His mind ran crazy scenarios that were impossible to happen. However the Elites did the impossible time and time again. Nothing was certain dealing with them... Should he loose this war , he would loose everything.... The fear of loosing everything was soo great in scorpio''s heart that he could not think of any good counterattack as a leader. Not only him , the other three guild leaders were not faring much better. The members kept asking the command centre for the next command , but the command centre was deathly silent . Unbeknownst to them , the situation was simmilarly grim even on the Elites side , as the guild members understood that the enemy numbers were far more than what phase 3 could execute. They turned to their almighty guild leader for the next command. This is where Rudra showed his true class as a master strategist , as while not everything was going to plan , he still had his men , and he still had a chance to grasp victory. It was foolish to charge into the 50 thousand strong army without any real plan to duke it out man to man. The pirate ship had aldready sailed downriver and into the ocean , and it was impossible to row it back upstream towards the battle arena. Unless the alliance members charged towards the ship , the archballistae''s and cannons were useless. A deadlock ensued as none of the parties made a move while regrouping. It was at this moment at the impromptu phase 4 started a result of the reincarnation knowledge , Rudra said ".... /// Alright guys. Not everything went as planned there is trouble in the war arc , no more hidden cards , how will the elites overcome the odds? Also i have a message to convey and its long , soo please do check the comments section. Shoutout to madisonHilbach memorial and EMcrystal for the 500 coin gifts To mysticgenius for the 1000 coin gift ! And to ivory_pope for the 2000 coin gift ! , Thankyou soo much for the patronage guys , means a lot to me ! /// Chapter 167: war(7) Rudra had a strategy to win the war , however it was a very risky strategy. In his previous life , this strategy was used by a group of one hundred solo adventurers to fight against an horde of 3000 men . The strategy was later called the '' Bow and Trishul '' strategy. Which was infamous because of how often it failed horrendously. The entire bow and trishul strategy is based on the three trishul heads , the three heads must have absolutely strongest players holding the position as when any one of the three trishul heads collapse the formation would become worthless. The bow in the bow and trishul formation reffered to the long range attackers or in this case the pirate ship docked 25 meters off the coast loaded with 50 cannons and 2 archballistae''s. When the enemy was in range , they would find themselves with a barrage of aerial attacks that would leave them without an answer. Also the remaining wizards who stood right at the edge of the beach , also made up part of the bow unit. The assualters made up the trishul unit , three single lines of soldiers made up the trishul formation , advancing and retreating as a single unit. The distance between two lines was 2 meters , and the distance between those standing back to back within the same line was 1 meter. The idea of using the formation was to force the opposition to break their ranks and attack in undefined files. Once an attacker slips past the trishuls head , it can instantly be dealt by player two behind him , or player 3... 4 ... 5 ... 6 .... The formation only worked if the tips of the trishul worked perfectly and in sync with each other. The entire idea of the trishul formation was to attack strategically and make the enemy bleed , while gaining a steady retreat to recuperate from injuries , should the enemy give chase , they would find themselves under a barrage from the bow formation. With the promise of safe retreat , all they needed to do was relentlessly push and retreat while dwindling enemy numbers. The creator of this formation was a god in indian mythology who was deemed as the god of war because of his outstanding achievements in the battlefield. And now Rudra chose to use it , making Neatwit the rightmost tip , himself being the most important central tip and Karna being the left tip. He explained his plan to the guild , as the members gave their complete support to the idea. While the general plan was to attack and retreat , there was an underlying scheme hidden within this battle strategy , and that was Rudra'' s masterstroke and his great equalizer. A trap within a trap , that if executed correctly would lead to the Alliance''s downfall! --------- ( Meanwhile at the Alliance''s side of the camp) Scorpio had regained a little bit of peace of mind after he calmly assessed the war situation. They still had fifty thousand people left in their corner. Although loosing 200,000 men was a tough blow to take , they still outnumbered the Elites by a huge margin. Agreed they had the wierd pirate ship off the coast , mounted with the despicable arrow shooting machine. However there was a limit to what it could do with such a huge distance. Also the lack of the Elites taking any actions made him beleive that they too were maybe out of cards , and that they can still win the war easy. The world was watching the war develop , and the five minute break before the climax only hyped up the audience more than they were aldready. Both the Elites and the alliance troops saw a restructuring in formation , and seemed like a clash was imminent. Victory or defeat? It all depended on how well could Rudra lay the trap ..... ---- If you are reading this book on any site exept webnovel you are supporting pirated content .... Please do not support piracy ! You can read the same content on the original publishing platform webnovel. If you are looking for more latest chapters please read the book on webnovel. ---- ( Meanwhile , the Ambani corporation , real world ) The Secretary was quaking in his boots as he saw the seething Mithun Ambani. Mithun Ambani was in a horrible mood ever since the twins took board seats in the company. Profits and sales had aldready seen a steep decline after the series of firings of crutial employees. However the alliance where he pumped soo much time money and effort into was also currently thoroughly underperforming. Mithun Ambani was absolutely Furious , he knew about the massive amount that Ethan Grey bet on the Elites. He was desperately hoping for his money to go down the drain. But seeing the Elites performance soo far, he was scared that Ethan might just make it big. He was in a bad mood , however the secretary had an even worse news for him .... A recent urgent report came in , informing him that the restricted airspace near his petroleum mine field had been infiltrated by an unknown aircraft. And all efforts to bring it down uptill now had been unsuccessful. Mithun Ambani froze. If something were to happen to his petroleum mine..... No! The very thought made his soul quake in fear ! He looked up towards the heavens as he said " Soo you finally decide to punish me huh? ". He hurriedly left watching the livestream as the petroleum field was a much much more pressing matter. Now hopefully the joint protection of country X millitary and hired mercenaries should be enough to thwart the trouble .... Or else .....! /// Bonus chapter for reaching the golden ticket target! Good job you all. Also we are really close to hitting the 3200 PS mark , soo hopefully we can have a bonus number 2 today itself. Special shoutout to The NoOne for the 1000 coin gift ! Thankyou for the patronage my friend , it gave the tired me an energy boost! Also i would take this opportunity to announce that on popular demand i have decided to make a discord server for us all to communicate and share ideas ... Details to be shared soon! /// Chapter 168: War (8) The Elites reorgnized themselves into the Trishul formation , and started a slow march towards the enemy camp. Even after having a huge numerical superiority, the alliance was the one who adopted the cautious attitude of wait and see , as they adopted a tight defensive formation to meet the Elites. The scene was worth seeing , when seen from an aerial view it appeared as if a huge trishul( Trident) was piercing through a sea of men. But the peculiarity of the scene lied in the three leaders. Starting from the right tip of the trident there was Karna , who had currently equipped 3 swords , the third one being in his mouth , him finally revealing the special skill he picked up from the endless ocean dungeon. He had an cool and calming attitude around him that calmed the anxious assaulters behind him , he was as steady as mount tai , ready for everything that the enemy could throw at him. In the centre point of the trident , was the unfathomable guild leader Shakuni. He was the guilds heart and soul through and through. The guild members had immense faith in him and his abilities and would never hesitate to rally under his command. In the left point of the trident, leading the charge was the levelling freak , Neatwit , a fearsome sword in his hand , glowing with black runes , it caused anyone who saw it to cower in fear. And behind these three monster of players were the equally talented assaulters and assasins of the True Elites. Each elite was the cream of the crop in terms of talent , and easily rivalled five normal players under normal conditions , however with having superior equipment and skill tomes as well as the support of the best potions available on the market to quickly replenish lost health and stamina , the whole game changed. When only about 20 meters were left between the Elites and the enemy lines , Rudra made his first move! He used the lifestyle guilds latest product that they produced courtsey of an collaboration between the potion makers and alchemists , the mist potion. Five bottles of haze potions were broken and within seconds in an entire two killometer radius , thick fog covered the area. Nobody could see more than a meter in front of them. This is why Rudra placed the soldiers in line back to back about 1 meter from each other , because that was the visibility range . Panicked shouts could be heard from the alliance army. As they kept shouting to make sure that the army was okay. Curses could be heard everywhere as the alliance troops complained '' I CANT SEE S*** IN THIS THING! ''. '' F*** THE ELITE''S , ALWAYS SNEAKY '' Between those screams , the screams of scorpio could be heard , '' IS EVERYONE OKAY? ''. Rudra chuckled for a bit , before he took out the spike bomb and roughly threw it between the enemy lines. BOOM! A loud explosion was heard , as screams came out from the alliance players. The screams made the other alliance members even more anxious as they did not understand what was going on . '' Ayy , Ayy , Ayy , TF is going on here huh? ''. '' I HEARD SCREAMS , IS EVERYONE OKAY? '' Scorpio shouted But someone shouted back '' IF EVERYONE WAS OKAY , WHY WOULD THEY SHOUT , DUMB BA*****''. Scorpio was dumbfounded by the remark , as the psychological games started to work on the alliance members , the fear of unknown thoroughly gripping them. Rudra nodded for the assasins to break formation and go, this was their chance. As he and the rest of the assault squad , also charged in towards the enemy lines. The clash was on , Due to low visibility the alliance members had clubbed closer together , which left large patches of no players in the overall formation , completely crumpling its defensive capabilities. The trident made their way carefully through enemy lines as a tough fight presented itself before the Elite''s. Rudra , Karna and Neatwit had to take on about 5-6 players simultaneously at the head of the attack , which reduced to 2-3 for those behind him , while after member 4 in the queue , there were only stragglers to deal with. Karna''s triple wielding gave him an insane edge over handling the multiple opponents , his ability to block three simultaneous sword strikes made it difficult for the opponents to chip damage him , as his brute strength and epic rated sword dealt high damage to his enemies . Karna also had his biggest advantage in his minds eyes , while everyone else saw blurry images of their opponents. He just closed his eyes to see their every move , every feint. Every muscle movement. Thankgod for the fog , making it difficult to make out that his eyes were closed , or else his way of fighting would have caused unstoppable waves through the forums. However even this did not mean he was invincible , slowly but surely he was accumulating damage! Rudra was faring a little worse than Karna , as not being able to see clearly while fighting multiple opponents reduced his efficiency by a little. He was still more than holding his ground , but the chip damage he was taking was a little more than what he usually would! ---- If you are reading this book on any site exept webnovel you are supporting pirated content .... Please do not support piracy ! You can read the same content on the original publishing platform webnovel. If you are looking for more latest chapters please read the book on webnovel. ---- Neatwit was faring the worst of the three trident points , while his sword was fearsome , his overall skill though better than the average player. Was not as refined as Karna or Rudra''s. He was a player in his growth phase as every battle was a learning experience that made him better. Even though he had lost 30% of his total hp , he was starting to adapt to the fighting style as he was taking lesser and lesser damage . The ones who were faring the best however were the assasins from the Elites. They ran wild in the battlefield , with aldready low overall vision their stealth stat made them almost invisible to naked eye , as suddenly an alliance member would drop dead after experiencing cutthroat. The assasins were the rulers of the battlefield currently advancing and retreating out of nowhere. Even the highly protected guild leader of True Manchester , DeBruyne found himself killed by an assasin. The assasin also died , unable to escape the guards guarding DeBruyne once found out. However he died with a smile knowing that the tradeoff was worth it! The world watched in exitement as the enveloping of the fog and the occasional screams of the dying alliance members made them extremely curious as to what was going on ! In about 20 minutes of intense battle in the fog , about 50 elites and 5000 alliance members had died! The bait had been set , now Rudra had to reel the big fish in for the kill! /// Chapter 1 for today , the powerstone target has been hit soo bonus chapter two will be released very very soon! Also we are only 23 tickets away from hitting the next golden ticket target hence bonus chapter 3 is also a possibility! Finally the discord is here pasting the link here as well as the synopsis , do join! https://discord.gg/KJtRdwcW94 SHOUTOUT TO marshall_brand for the 2000 coins gift and Josiah_templeton for the 1000 coin gift ! , Thankyou sooo much guys! /// Chapter 169: War(9) The mist potions were starting to loose effect as little by little the haze was starting to clear out. The Elites were slowly but surely starting to be pushed back , or soo they made it seem . The Elites had a battered look on their faces, and with more than 45,000 alliance members still standing , they were in an overall disadvantage . Most of the standing Elites were at 50% Hp or less , with only some players and assasins being above 70% , but that was because they did not engage in gruelling combat. When the fog started to clear , the assasins started to loose their edge as more and more of them were caught and killed . It seemed that the Elites were out of tricks and that the tides of war were turning. Scorpio saw a glimmer of hope , as he ordered the troops to start pressing on the Elites. Being pushed at a greater speed , the Elites had difficulty retreating safely , the veil of the fog now clear enough to see 20 meters . More and more Elites fell , as the enemies started to attack the tripod formation from the sides, the two files under Karna and Neatwit suffered heavy causalities , Rudra''s middle file was mostly intact , but they were under a lot of pressure. The tripod started to compress as the initial distance of 1 meter between members was reduced to half. Scorpio was delighted to see the Elites dying one after the other. His army''s numeric superiority coming to full play! Scorpio became exited as he ordered a full charge from the army , the Elites looked as if they had no option left as they broke formation to desperately retreat. It was at this moment that guild leader Fernandes of OriginalManchester had a bad premonition in his gut. It seemed too easy , they seem to be forgetting something. And indeed forgetting they were , suddenly a waze of spells hit their frontline! BOOM , BOOM , BOOM ! Fireballs rained from the air! The Elites wizard unit had started to take action! The fog cleared completely and the alliance army had a view of what they were missing. They did not understand how in the dense fog they had little by little moved towards the ocean as they now realized that they were far too close . In their last moments where they had charged at the Elites desperate to crumple them completely , they had covered close to 50 meters in ground and now they were under the range of the Ship''s archballistae''s. When a rain of arrows started to pour on the army , it was at that moment that they realized their mistake. It was at that moment that Scorpio knew that he f***** up ! Rain of arrows started to pierce the Enemy as they scrampled in retreat , but boy o boy how could Rudra let that happen! He quickly took out the poison mist potions and threw them deep inside the enemy lines . There was a dense layer of posion mist that broke out in the enemys retreat path , as they were left with no safe path to retreat. For a moment there the army was utterly confused in what to do , the moment they breathed the posion they felt weak and nauseated , but the loss of HP wasnt too much . However the arrows of the Elite''s were deadly. It was at this moment that Rudra also threw the paralysis most potions into enemy lines , and coupled with the wide area covered by poison mist , the 40% movement debuff of the paralysis mist had a deadly effect. Not having the courage left to cross the area of poison + paralysis mist , the alliance members were left like lambs to slaughter. Some tried to cross the area , some tried to turn around and attack the Elites , however most were undecided and under constant shower of arrows. The eyes of the Elites changed from preys to hunters as those who tried to turn to attack them were slaughtered mercilessly. It was a tactical nightmare for the alliance , the wizards kept downing advanced mana potions and kept up the relentless assault of AOE spells. Most injured Elites got a breather and used advanced healing potions to regain lost HP. Medivh even forked out another sea of fire , his last one possible , to lay rest to a lot of alliance members. The Assasins and the Wizard division of the True Elites had lived up to their name , as they shined bright in this section of the war. The might of a wizard under a constant stream of mana was terrifying , however the Elites were an exception for having such an endless stream of potions for each of their wizards. By the time the poison mist cleared and a few stragglers were able to retreat. The standing army of 45,000 was cut down to 9247 members.3590 of them injured and under 50% hp. To the Elites having 127 members 17 on the ship and 110 on the battlefield. Excluding the 10 wizards. There were 40 assaulters and 60 assasins on the battlefield. It was at this moment that Rudra finally shifted from being the strategist to being the absolute incarnation of god of war , this was the number he was confident in dealing with. It was time to duke it out man to man . In a scene that will be remained forever etched in the memories of everyone watching worldwide forever , 110 Elites charged at the retreating alliance army of 9247 to reap their lives! /// Bonus chapter 2 for today , congratulations to us all , this week has been the largest collection of powerstones in the history of the book! I am humbled by the support , the powerstone department has commanded 4th bonus from me in 7 days this week ! We are very close to the golden ticket target as well. The next chapter will see the conclusion of the war. Soo hopefully we hit it today itself. A big shoutout to The NoOne for the 2000 coin gift! Thankyou for the motivation brother. /// Chapter 170: Rudra Unleashed ( War 10 ) A wave of emotions were surging throughout the war in Rudra''s mind. Although he is proud to say that every single Elite played their role and delivered what he asked from them , it was finally him who was at the centre of every single phase , responsible for every single move! Wether the guild won or lost , he was the one it affected the most , to the others the Elites may loose , they loose money , maybe some respect and some treasures. But for Rudra , once the lost he would loose his dream. His dream to make the strongest guild and himself becoming the strongest guild master. In his first life he could not do it , however rebirthed he would not let the second chance go away. All this time he was the responsible guild master , who only took calculated risks and ensured that the guild survived first. However when the number of alliance members left alive dwindled under the 10,000 mark , he finally saw his opportunity to run wild! Why only after the enemy odds became under 10,000? Why did he wait soo much? , It was because that he was now confident that the 10,000 members could never take down that behemouth called the pirate ship and the 17 members headed by SMG ever! Even if every single one of his guild members on land , now died , the Elites could not loose the war! , Not everyone realizes it however once the alliance army of 45,000 hit the ocean floor and started to swim towards the pirate ship, there was only soo much damage the arrows and cannons could do to 45,000 players under water. Even if 70% of them are shot down it would still be thousands of members boarding the pirate ship of 17 and attacking it! Victory was not certain. But with less than 9247 men , that Rudra and the assaulters would definitely thin out to even lower numbers , He was sure that the ship could no longer be taken down and that victory was bagged! Every single member followed his charge , the 100 combat troops and even the 10 wizards charged towards the retreating alliance army! , For anyone who was not familiar with the war scene and who switched on the television just now , this scene would look ridiculous , but to those who were watching this since a long time , their blood pumped at how the tables had turned! Rudra close to the enemy lines , leaped in the air and landed in the middle of the enemy lines with a strong skill Earthquake! BOOM ! , The ground shook upon impact when the Elven sword came in contact with the ground. The shockwaves knocking everyone around him down. Slash! Slash ! Slash ! Slash! Slash! Slash! Before they even had chance to regain their posture , 6 alliance members were dead just like that. The surrounding alliance members looked at Rudra in fear , and rightly so as at that moment when they looked in his eyes , they dint see a human. They saw the goddamn Demon Of Death Valley and he was unleashed! Uptill this point Rudra had not used a single of his skill in combat , however it all changed now. Skill after skill was used as for the first time since getting the skill for a long time , Rudra used Berserk! Rudra''s strength experienced an explosive increase as he became a one man slaughter machine , running through opposition as if they were dirt. Every single one of the Elites was doing well , as they fought the enemies Through zeal and grit. Neatwit and Karna standing out the most as even they were walking massacre machines. However Rudra was just on another level currently , as he was literally unparalleled in the battlefield. Nobody could even touch him. Rudra was weaving such powerfull yet nimble moves , it was almost as if he was performing a dance ... A dance of death! As countless enemies were teleported out of the battlefield under his sword. Unbeknownst to Rudra , who had aldready entered the zone of absolute focus. The Elven sword had started to buzz in his hands. It grew hot and there seemed to be a qualitative change in the blade. The original silver appearance of the blade began to change towards a faint white glow , as a system notification brought Rudra''s attention to what was occuring. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : The Elven sword has recognized your skill as a swordsman worthy of using its power. It has recognized you as its master. The swords full features are now available to you! The Elven sword had recognized Rudra!!! [ Elven sword ] ( semi legendary ) : a sword of the highest grade made by the elves , it is light and contains an inbuilt power to fight creatures of darkness , inscribed with the finest runes it contains a sword heart and will only show its true potential when it chooses a master . Current chosen master : Shakuni Won Knight Effect 1 : Can damage all darkness aligned monsters including formless monsters like ghosts and spirits. Effect 2 : 10,000 cuts , use the sword to unleash a terrifying 10,000 cuts on one enemy , or a cut on ten thousand enemies! Effect 3 : World slash ( skill) : One of the ultimate skills of the Elven sword , unleash one slash that contains 400% your max power! Effect 4 : ???? ( Upgrade to legendary grade to unlock) Restriction 1 : Righteous faction Restriction 2 : Knight class. Rudra was pleasantly surprised to see the insanely overpowered skills that came with the sword acknowledging him as its master , as he tested the skill 10,000 cuts! The air suddenly changed around him as countless windblades started to appear .... 10....500...1000...10,000 blades appeared , looking like 10,000 elven swords , and with a move of Rudra''s arm descended on the alliance army! To the millions watching worldwide this was an Earthshattering moment as Rudra showed a skill far beyond what any knight or swordsman in the game could do. It was a sword skill , that had an deadly AOE effect. Every single alliance member alive felt the strike , and many who had low Hp were tipped over the death line as they were killed by the move. However to their worst nightmare Rudra did not stop even after the move , as like a grim reaper who did not rest , he kept running through enemy lines , and somehow he had became even more fierce. After elven sword recognized Rudra as its master , it was lighter and easier to maneuver , also the damage had increased by more than two times , if previously using it was like cutting through butter , now it felt like swinging it in air! With the full capabilities of a semi legendary weapon he was a wargod incarnation on the battlefield. Scorpio was deep in despair as he tried to somehow turn the tides around , the three Elites , Rudra , Karna and Neatwit were absolutely decimating his army! Scorpio shouted towards his army poiting at Rudra saying " STOP HIM!!!! ". However that was the worst mistake he could have made! His shout brought Rudra''s attention to him , as the demons gaze met with his! Scorpio felt goosebumps all over his body , and somehow his throat went dry and his legs went limp when Rudra looked at him. Rudra pointed his sword towards Scorpio and a small lightning sparked in his eyes as he used his skill thunderblast! BOOM! A huge bolt of lightning hit Scorpio who was immediately sent to the afterlife ! The alliance army leader was dead! Dead under a single attack from Rudra! Millions of viewers worldwide were shocked , First the 10,000 swords and now the lightning blast! What was up with the insane skills of the True Elites guild master. The only standing alliance guild leader left was the guild leader of Musicians Inc TrueRhythim. However, his charisma was not enough to command the alliance army , as every soldier started to act according to their own wits. The elites side were not without its losses , the ten wizards and 52 of the 60 assasins were dead. Alongwith 22 assaulters. 88 of the 110 members on the land were dead , leaving only 22 members alive. Except Karna , Rudra and Neatwit , the others were left with under 30% HP , as the battle against soo many alliance members was taxing at their health. However the three slaughter machines were unstoppable as they left carnage on the alliance army wherever they went. Very soon , Karna killed the last standing alliance guild leader TrueRhythm , as the alliance army was left without a leader. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the alliance army crumpled after that , as ten minutes later only 100 alliance members were left standing against 3 True Elites! Karna and Neatwit were panting heavily both having less than 10% HP , However there stood Rudra as calm as mount tai with them , his breathing easy and his HP over 60% , as he looked coldly towards the remaining enemies. The three had a combined kill count of 6200 alliance members in the last charge with Rudra alone killing over 3700 and the other two sharing the remaining kill count. Even though their kill counts were beyond monsterous , they were not in the same realm as Rudea! , The two of them realized the beast that the guild master was in this phase of the exchange , as the difference in their skills was openly evident. They had immense fear and respect for him at the same time . When they looked into the cold eyes of the guild master , they realized that they would never want to be on the other side of these eyes. Victory was in sight , the impossible was almost made possible ..... Neatwit and Karna could feel the impending victory in their blood , as they were eager to rush into the remaining enemy lines. They were only waiting for Rudra to give the last command. It was at this moment that Rudra gave his real war speech that he dint want to give at the start of the war , He said " To the millions watching worldwide , let this serve as the warning to you , The Elites are the best guild out there , no matter what you throw at us, no matter how few we are , go against us and you will be crushed ! EACH AND EVERY ELITE IS WORTH A THOUSAND OF YOUR TROOP! , However like those who perished today , if you are Foolish enough to cross paths with us , then .... ". Rudra used his ultimate move , he used the World Slash , as a terrifyingly powerfull slash that could slash mountains in half was released. 100 men were slayed through critical hits all at once without even a single chance to counter. As the outcome that noone expected in their wildest dreams became a reality. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : THE WINNERS OF THIS WAR ..... THE ''TRUE ELITES '' GUILD! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS! /// Longest chapter in the history of the book , hope you guys enjoyed it . This concludes the week long war arc! It was the longest battle sequence i have written yet , and a lot of planning went into it , and the positive response has been gratifying. I thoroughly loved writing the arc and hope you guys did too Cheers guys , congratulations to everyone on the elites win! Come celebrate by joining the discord , link in synopsis! /// Chapter 171: Aftermath The Elites had won! , Being outnumbered 500 to 1 they still managed to topple the alliance , and this event had shook the entire population playing the game , it was the hottest and most wildly discussed topic worldwide and had taken everybody by storm. The first and the biggest ramification of loosing the war for the alliance was surrendering 90% of their guilds resources to the True Elites. Along with 100,000 members that would serve the guild for 3 years as war indemnity. Although the Elites were rich , 90% of the wealth from six first rate guilds was still a huge amount. The guild recieved close to 700 million gold in assets. Although a large part of it was in form of items and precious materials. It was still a huge amount. Rudra after spending money like crazy aquiring lots of properties in the city. Left the guilds finances in a little bit of cashflow crunch. However with this new influx they were again the titans of the city filled with overflowing wealth. Also , apparently Ethan Grey , happy with the performance of every single Elite , gifted each guild member a sum of 10 million dollars in performance bonus. Spending 5.5 billion in bonuses. The guild members were naturally overjoyed by the income as their impression of Ethan Grey improved immensely. However Rudra knew that the man had earned a whopping 3.2 trillion dollars this time from the war. 5 billion was not even a drop in the bucket to him . Ethan Grey was naturally overjoyed by the outcome , as he showered Rudra''s house with presents and expensive items. Knowing Rudra he knew that his direct offer for money would be rejected , hence he sent gifts to Mr and Mrs Rajput and little Max , soo that Rudra had no choice but accept it. After the war , Rudra decided to just spend a good day away from the game and with family , as he hoped to recover from the mental fatigue. However a lot happened in the game in the 15 hours he dint log in. The forums had erupted , the clips of key scenes of the war had aldready gone viral , some getting even 1 billion views. Rudra was named as the '' Master Strategist '' and countless experts who analysed the war showered him with praise in devising such ingenious strategy. There were naturally a lot of hate circulating regarding the alliance , as the world deemed them as trash! 250,000 men could not topple 600? What kind of a joke was that? , Naturally all those who bet money on them winning lost big time. And those who bet on the Elites struck gold. However those who lost their money had only two places to vent their frustration. One was the forums , where they absolutely slandered the hell out of the alliance and the second was the news and media channels that predicted a confident alliance win. The expert who had just barely regained his hair , had watched the war with a pale expression on his face ..... When the fort blew up and half of the alliance army was taken along with the explosion , he had a really bad feeling ..... He touched his precious hair , he realized he may not be able to touch it anymore. He was cowering in his boots when he had to go live , but as he was under the company''s contract , he had no choice but to go live. He could not even speak a single word as just as his face popped up , the text channel was ridden with all sorts of profanities and insults. " WHY DO U STILL HAVE HAIR ? SHAVE IT NOW! ". " I LOST 2000 DOLLARS BECAUSE OF YOU , I WILL NEVER FORGIVE U BALDIE ". The live telecast went even more downhill for the expert when the news announcer decided to absolutely humiliate him live. The announcer asked " Sir , how does it feel to have made such a gross mistake in analysing the True Elites strength? ". The expert had a dark look on his face , he was furious inside , but he had no words left to refute , the Elites winning was nearly impossible , he was not giving false advices , what the Elite''s pulled off was simply out of this world. However such excuses wont work. He said " Noone could have predicted that the war would progress this way". The common people became furious , as the insults became even more profane " THATS WHAT THEY PAY U FOR , BALDIE ". " WHATS THE POINT OF YOU BEING AN EXPERT , IF YOU CANT PREDICT IT ". " DIE YOU @#&¡ê&". The announcer also dint let him off as she asked " Then whats ur credentials as a gaming expert if you cant predict it? , Arent you just a senile old man pretending to be wise?". The insult destroyed the experts morale , he wanted to weep but tears wouldnt come , he was not wrong in his prediction , however noone was patient enough to understand that , also it was his own fault for underestimating the Elite''s. That guild wasnt the average joe, it lived up to its name. Then on live TV , he was shaved clean off his hair , and even had his eyebrows waxed. The aldready slightly obese man looked like a big potato without any facial hair. " UGLY POTATO ". " UGLY BALD POTATO ". " TRASH AND STALE BALD POTATO ". " IDIOT BALD POTATO ". It was safe to say that the expert had the worst day of his life today. Another event that happened worldwide was that , the True Elites were stopped being classified as a first rate guild or small guild or whatever power level the people associated them with. They were simply an anamoly in everyone''s books , when it came to the Elites , no commonsense applied and there were no rules. Their strength was placed at comparable to first rate guilds , however they were considered a wildcard group. And many wanted to befriend this group , especially for their technologies! , The Elites lifestyle had caught the eye of everyone worldwide. The presence of the reinforced wall technology to the deadly archballistae''s , the pirate ship , the cannons , the wierd alchemic products , the world wanted those secrets. Everyone wanted to build a trading and working relationship with the Elites. Presents were showered everyday in their guild hall , from guilds even across the continents. Rudra ignored most of them , but the presents from the super guilds could not be ignored , each being unique and very valuable. The super guilds had taken notice of the elites. While it wasn''t necessarily a bad thing. It wasnt good either , Rudra knew that it was still very premature for him to even think about the super guilds. However one super guild had been affected greatly by this war , and that was the superguild backed by Mithun Ambani. The reveal of his name and affiliation to the alliance had brewed an unstoppable storm. The world was hungry for such gossip , Ambani had a huge frown on his face when the assured victory plan of the alliance to crush the Elites failed soo miserably. However little did he know that his bad day was about to get a whole lot worse! /// The chapter wordcount exeeded 2400 words total , soo i decided to break it into two parts. Hope you enjoy! The targets for this month are the same as the previous one . 1 bonus chapter for every 100 golden tickets and 800 PS Special shoutout to the top fan and number one golden ticket donator , the emperor of Hazelgroove Cervantez91 for the 2000 coin gift! /// Chapter 172: Aftermath(2) The true elites guild hall was filled with energy and enthusiasm. They did it! , They actually did it! The atmosphere was as lively as it could be as everyone complimented each other on a job well done. The departments all saw each others heroic moments on replay and teased each other on their job well done. The most famous of them all was medivh , his sea of fire earned him the title of '' inferno mage '' , as everyone would bow wherever he went as a joke. Neatwit was also for the first time in a rare occasion present for the festivities and not off leveling , as he and his sister Naomi enjoyed the lively atmosphere. To the duo who always lived a secluded and hidden life , the guilds atmosphere was heartwarming , and somehow it felt like home! Naomi had no combat prowess being a priest ,she was as weak as the lot came , as she and the other priests hardly had any role in the war , as they were quickly evacuated to the ship with SMG. Even still she was welcomed everywhere she went as the Elites had absolutely no discrimination amongst members. Everyone being worthy of joining the guild was the best of the best , and deserved respect. It was at this point , that two men slowly entered the guild hall , everyone turned their heads to see them , and immediately the crowd broke out in cheers. It was the guild master and vice guild master. Rudra and Karna walked in each having a shoulder draped over the other. In a brotherly display of affection. Rudra took the stage as he looked across the room , even through all the coursing exitement , the room instantly became quiet , the guild leader was about to speak . Rudra said " the world feels surprised that the Elites won , however let me be clear , it was not luck , it was not unexpected. I fuc**** told you guys we will win. Defeat was never an option , we were always going to win! ". Cheers broke out in the room PoisonToadGamakichi shouted " Thats right boss , we crushed them ! ". More cheers were heard in the room. Rudra raised his hand and silence ensued. He said " as winners we have earned the right to celebrate , today we have gained gold! ". CHEERS!!!!! " WE HAVE EARNED FAME! ". MORE CHEERS!! "AND WE HAVE GOT 100,000 ALLIANCE MEMBERS TO WORK UNDER US! ". Deafening cheers broke out in the room . " Ooo yes , starting today , we have True Elites service guild established , where we have gained 100,000 subordinates. They will have no choice but to carry out our explicit orders for the duration of the contract". " Those who pointed their swords at us yesterday will now clean our feet ! , Let me be clear here ladies and gentlemen. We Elites have a baseline , that we will not humiliate them , demoralize them , or abuse our power over them , however except that , we shall work them to the bone! ". " The True Elites farming program will be initiated where every Elite who is not farming Exp will have a team of alliance members doing it for them , you shall join the party and do your chores , while they shall do the farming". " Want to hangout in the guild ? While they farm Exp ? Why not? , Want to go shopping in the market while they farm EXP ? Why not! " " They dared to mess with us ! Now they shall pay! ". Rudra voiced his thoughts out loud , and although it was very unfair terms to the alliance members , beggars cant be choosers can they? The alliance was officially crumpled , 100,000 members went under Rudra , 100,000 members were under millitary service for the empire. The remaining members either quit the guild or became rogue under the payroll. The once GLORIOUS cumulation of 7 first rate guilds in Hazelgroove kingdom was reduced to such a pitifull state after messing with the Elites. The Elite''s prestige was set in stone after the war as they were named the unofficial number one guild of the kingdom. Although there were other first rate guilds in other cities left , the Elites defeating 6 of them at once made them the number one overall. PurpleHaze city became very chaotic after the downfall of the six first rate guilds as second rate guilds seized the opportunity to promote themselves to first rate guilds and grow. The areas dominated in the outer district by alliance players were now changed owners , as second and third rate guilds divided it amongst themselves. Another big event that became a hot topic recently was that the guild leader of AzureLotus guild , dissolved the guild and joined the True Elites following the fall of alliance. She along with core members Greenlotus , Bluelotus , YellowLotus , RedLotus and WhiteLotus , all became True Elites! While Rudra gave them permission to join the guild. Their main role was to become a bridge between the service guild and the main guild. Rudra only brought them in in a management capacity and would not take them on dungeon runs or levelling. It was only because of Yua that he let them join anyway. Daily visits from various guildmasters and major corporations became a routine at the Elites guild hall , as everyone hoped for a cooperation . Rudra though entertained them all , accepted none of the offers. He had no intention of selling any of his technologies to anyone. However what he did do was cleverly reaching agreements on selling potions at 50% the market price. This deal exited many guilds which extended olive branches to Rudra and the Elites. Should they know that the Elites actually use the Chalice of purity to just upgrade the basic potions to advanced ones of highest grade. They would vomit blood realizing the profit margin they made. However they were unaware , hence mistook Rudra''s buisness move as a way to make friends with genuine intentions. The days started to pass quickly as the war slowly started to fade out from people''s memories , and new events took up the forums. Though not as busy as before the war , Rudra aldready started laying the foundation for the next mission , which was to become the overlords of PurpleHaze city ! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target! Congratulations you all ! , We are also very close in the golden ticket department soo i hope we also reach that soon! Special shoutout to my friend Madison_Hilbach for the 500 coin gift !!!! Thankyou for the patronage /// Chapter 173: Jhonny English strikes again There were 7 homing missiles currently inbound for the aircraft that Jhonny and crew were in. Skyla deployed the flares to redirect the heatseekers and 4 of the 7 heatseekers missed the mark. Jhonny was terrified inside, the sound of missiles exploding made him want to wet his pants. However in the Himalayas, he had learned about a technique to numb his senses, also repeated kicks to his manhood had made his control over the bladder at superhuman levels. Johnny used the technique as he hit pressure points in his arms to numb himself, He lost 70¨G of his motor-nerve coordination at that point, as only his brain functioned at full capacity. Johnny leaned back in his seat and relaxed. His arms pulling the steering causing the aircraft to move upwards towards space. The aircraft was quickly gaining altitude and alarms started to ring in the cockpit. Skyla and Bo were buckled up for impending impact However an unexpected event occurred. As the aircraft gained altitude it became frosted due to the drop in temperature. At very high altitudes where the oxygen levels were very low, the jet lost its fuel for combustion as the engine stopped. The acceleration of the jet stopped at that point, and its speed started to reduce. Bo thought that''s it we are done, however to their surprise, the missiles suddenly changed course and attacked each other rather than the jet. This was because the jet lost its heat signature with the freeze of the space, but the missiles were still hot. They averted danger and started a free fall. English was not as worried about going up, however, going down he had a weird feeling in his stomach, he felt like kids fell on swings, a ticklish feeling in the stomach, that makes you laugh. While Bo and Skyla were worried for their lives, English was laughing through the crisis. He put both his arms on his stomach as he could not stop laughing. After a while his eyes became Teary and he could not see anything. Trying desperately to get hold of the steering, he accidentally pressed the buttons on it. The aircraft''s flaps opened and their speed of descent reduced, the ship turned from a block of ice to a ball of fire within 2 minutes. The flaps broke away under the intense heat and air resistance, however, the engine heated up again. When English pressed the ignition, the engine roared back to life and plunged the plane into an even faster descent. This was a blessing in disguise as about 20 missiles were headed their way and only missed because English suddenly accelerated. However, they were hot on his tail now. English had been feeling ticklish in his stomach for a long time now, and because of it, he felt like he wanted to take a dump. However he could not do it in this aircraft with Skyla and Bo watching, neither could he let himself sh** his pants. Hence clenching his stomach muscles, he pulled the steering towards himself with all might. The plane stabilized about 20 feet above shockingly the Ambani oil field, and the heat seekers came crashing in towards the minefield. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The petroleum mine was bombarded with missiles, the petroleum line catching fire and causing an even larger chain explosion. BOOM! The petroleum mine exploded to smithereens as English''s plane maneuvered through all the explosions. Bo and Skyla were sick and started to vomit because of the turbulent flight. However, they were shocked at how amazingly well English handled the mission, his insight his strategy his execution everything was flawless. Bo was awestruck by English, he looked with shiny eyes towards English, this is what he aspired to be! Skyla wiped her mouth as she said " That was dangerous English! ". But Johnny English just laughed as he said " I laugh in the face of danger! " Bo and Skyla were awestruck by the image of Jhonny laughing as they recalled him laughing when they experienced freefall. In that dangerous situation where they feared their lives, English laughed as he completed the mission. Their mission was indeed completed and by English alone at that, they were nothing more than useless bystanders as English did everything, however not once did English mention that fact, he just looked calm and cool through it all. Skyla and Bo realized at that moment that this was English''s retirement mission and that he would leave the mercenary world after this. Although it was their first mission with him, they realized his worth. And the quality he brought to the table. He was the greatest mercenary there was, and having him on the team made any mission possible. Jhonny himself was feeling overwhelmed as while he looked serene and calm on the outside, inside he was just thanking God for saving his life. He had already said his last prayers when the flaps broke off, he remembered his guru in the Himalayas the senile old man who would kick his balls. The brothers with whom he would pull rocks tied to his manhood. The bald monks with whom he would spar with and get beat up every day. He bid them all farewell in his mind. But somehow he survived. His numbing method helped him maintain a calm expression that hid his overwhelmed expression. However, he was very overwhelmed in reality. The mission was completed and the crew safely flew away in stealth. However, the aftermath of their actions was earth-shattering. Ethan grey and Mithun Ambani both received news of the incident. While one was on cloud nine, the other was shocked into depression. The aftermath of Jhonny English''s actions was sure to be widespread... The news that Jhonny completed his final mission successfully spread... And his name as the greatest mercenary was solidified. The entire mercenary school held a party for its most successful alumni, completing his last mission, as they proudly presented him as a part of their school. /// Guys sorry for the late chapter, I have been re-uploading edited chapters of my old work. Chapter 1-30 have been edited and re-uploaded without errors. For anyone willing to give the book a reread that will help, also please feel free to point out any mistakes left in the draft. Have installed a new app for grammar too hence you will find improved story quality going forward. Big shoutout to ivory_pope for the 2000 coin gift! Patrons like you are why I strive to improve my craft. Thank you!!! /// Chapter 174: Terrifying Ethan Grey World news quickly covered the shocking explosion of the Ambani petroleum mine. As the stock market of Country X suffered a crash the following day. There was no question about it , Mithun Ambani single handedly drove close to 30% of the country''s economy , directly or indirectly. The country was completely dependant on the Ambani corporation to provide for petrol , diesel and other petroleum products and the explosion of the entire mine saw the prices of petrol skyrocket as there was a huge demand to a nonexistent supply. Riots broke out on the country''s streets as the military had to be involved to invoke martial law. Ambani corporation was the core of various small and big buisnesses and as the ivestors madly betan to withdraw money , the stock market suffered a complete crash the next day. Country X went into recession as millions of people lost their jobs overnight. And food prices climbed to never before seen heights. The rich started to hoard supplies and the poor began to steal for survival. The common people suffered the most between the fight amongst trillionaires. However the winner of this bout was undoubtedly Ethan Grey. Spending 200 billion dollars in releief funds for whoever needed it in Country X , he became a kind hearted philanthropist and hero in their hearts. The one who caused the incidence saw a surge of rising support , where as the one who suffered the incidence only faced more and more misery. The government who would always bow out to Mithin Ambani and respect his decisions always , carried out a number of raids after being bribed by Ethan seizing a lot of land from Mithin Ambani. Which was quickly bought by Ethan Grey at a dirt cheap price. Ethan spent close to 2 trillion dollars in a time span of three days that Ambani needed to stabilize his company , to gain deep roots in country X . The hungry wolf Ethan Grey was back in the hunt , as he bit a big piece off the Ambani corporation. Ambani in a desperate situation to keep his company assets intact had to sell close to 13% of his shares. Of which 11% were bought by Ethan Grey for about 1 trillion dollars through various trusts and charities. He gained a seat on the board of directors for Ambani corporation alongside Naomi and Neatwit. The three of them now controlled 31% of the company , while Ambani had 47% , his other son having 6 , while his daughter and wife together having another 6. And about 10% shares were held by outside investors and common people. Should Ethan get control of the 10% shares floating in the market. And then somehow get his son to his side. He would gain control over the company. Mithun Ambani diluting himself below 51% equity would turn out to be his doom! All this Ethan managed without taking out a single penny from the existing Grey international cycle. Only through the winning amount of 3.2 trillion dollars of the bet , did he achieved everything. Rudra had brought him a wave of goodluck. Apart from incredible money and good marketting. He also brought Naomi and Neatwit. Rudra was monumental in his advances over the Ambani empire and Ethan acknowledged that. Meeting Rudra was his biggest fortune. Except for his reincarnation. Ethan had no complains with Rudra , the man delivered on his word and was not greedy. He was a genuine fellow who could be trusted , undoubtedly smart and scheming. Yet had a gentle and innocent side to him shown to those he considered close. At first Rudra was just an employee , then he became a partner. But recently even the ice cold Ethan Grey melted , as he felt warm towards the guy , genuinely considering him to be a brother. Then there was the man of the hour , Jhonny English , the mercenary of the century and his two team members who successfully completed his impossible mission. Wanted by the world they were currently given shelter in the upside. While Jhonny planned to permanently stay at the place , Skyla and Bo only wanted to lay low for a while . Naturally all three were given the best of the best villa''s and treatment inside upside , where not even a fly could harm them. The upside was Ethan Grey''s greatest creation. Undoubtedly his decision to make the place and have all of his company''s best talents gathered here was a brilliant move. While giving them a great quality of life , he also made them feel at home and indebted to the company. Their natural sense of returning to the place they belong tripled his profits yearly and it was a voluntary service at that. The sense of security was the second biggest reason. No one could touch them in the upside , no one could approach them to poach and there was no chance of spying or defecting. It was a masterstroke on his part. He spent an evening with the trio to show his gratitude and to be aquainted with Jhonny English when he found out that all three of them played Omega. He asked if they wanted to join one of his two guilds jokingly , however seeing Jhonny showing intention of joining True Elites , he instantly contacted Rudra. Rudra was given a background about the three and especially a lengthy one about English , Rudra was genuinely shocked as he not only immediately agreed to recruit all three of them. He even instantly promised to make English an Elder. Rudra drooled at the thought of having such an godly individual join his guild , as he hoped of making Jhonny the guild elder who could train and guide the younger generation and to his joy Jhonny agreed. However , The real reason behind Jhonny choosing to join the Elites was that he just found it convenient , now that he was retired and living in the upside , the guild with the massive headquarters there would give him activity to do. Also since the guild was soo small it would mean he would have great influence in it. Yet never be overwhelmed with people. Skyla and Bo following English also decided to join the Elites. But the biggest surprise came when English chose to bring his friend along with him to the guild. His friend was a monk from the Himalayas , a fellow disciple with whom he trained. The first disciple of the sect he learned in and his senior brother. Rudra immediately recognised the player with Jhonny , as he was one of the most legendary players in his past life. The ultimate support player , the player who even without any actual combat skills would be the most valued player in any guild he would walk into.... His name was Yume. But he was well known as The monk across the game for his way of dressing and his attitude. He was a special player in the game who was bound to a special semi legendary grade item called the '' Collector of Yin and Yang ''. The object gave him the ability to debuff the enemies by stealing Stamina , HP, mana , and agility from the enemy and buff the allies on the same stats. It had a 2Km effect range and was a one of a kind object in the game. The only downside of having the object was that it made you loose all combat ability , You could only have one combat skill if you chose to bound with the item. The monk had chosen to bind with it , only having hand to hand combat as a chosen offensive skill. Even then his collector of yin and yang , made him the most sought after member in any party and the ultimate support player. Rudra could not beleive his luck when that guy joined his guild. If only he would have the same object and skill in this life too , he would be an invaluable addition to the guild. Hence it was on this day that 4 new players joined the True Elites guild. All of them first rate experts. The guilds strength had increased by a lot! /// Three important announcements guys: 1) Chapter 1-74 have been re edited and are now free of grammatical errors! Soo for anyone wishing to give the book a re- read nows a good time. And chapters 75-150 would be done by Tommorow. 2) starting from 1st october , new privilege tier settings would apply. 1st tier would be 1 coin ( sneakpeak two chapters in advance ) 2nd tier would be 99 coins. 3rd tier would be 199 coins 4th tier would be 299 coins! Soo save your coins accordingly! 3) New cover for novel is being worked on , will be uploaded before 1st october . I am completely revamping the novel , and making it an actual top quality book which can do well in WSA. I have worked hard to overcome everything thats wrong with the Novel. But it has taken time and effort. Also i am overwhelmed with re editing chapters soo may not be able to give bonus chapters till the first , i beg your understanding regarding the matter! /// Chapter 175: Yua meets Naomi ( The Nakatomi tower, Country J ) Mr. Nakatomi lost a huge chunk of money with the alliance''s defeat. The company saw a huge share price fall as the company was projected to have the worst quarter since its inception. What''s more, was that the kid he considered to be interesting, yet not worth helping was now a giant whose net worth was more than the entire Nakatomi Corporation. Mr. Nakatomi knew that Yua harbored some feelings for Rudra albeit friendly ones, the kid was not worthy of his daughter before, he was a nobody, just a gamer with talents. However, now he has the backing of the titan Ethan Grey and is the guild master of the best guild in Hazelgroove kingdom. Now he was worthy of his daughter, or at least that''s how he judged him to be. He called Yua over, she was very upset with her father, she had repeatedly shown intent to leave the alliance, however, her father had rejected the idea strongly. Now she along with her guild had sunken along with the alliance boat. She went from a guild master of a first-rate guild to an ordinary member in another guild. However, joining Rudra''s guild was not the issue here, she was happy to join the True Elites, it was because she had started to feel as if Rudra had became cold to her. They did not have the same warmth in friendship that they used to. Also, she noticed a new girl in the Elites roster a girl named Naomi. She was like a flower in the guild adored by everyone, who was also very friendly with Rudra. She felt jealous when she saw her being all friendly with Rudra and had a vivid memory of her appearance. She felt threatened by that girl, and it was the first time in her life that she felt such a feeling. She was a princess and boys flocked around her for her attention all her life, yet Rudra was the first guy she was a bit attracted to, however, he was so friendly with another girl who was also very pretty, that made her insecure and jealous. When her father called her in to have a conversation she was in a really bad mood. However, when he expressed his approval regarding her pursuing Rudra should she choose to do so, she became very happy. --------- ( True Elites headquarters, Purplehaze city, Hazelgroove kingdom) Yua actively looked for Rudra in the headquarters and found him chatting with Neatwit and Karna, she confidently approached him. The trio stopped their conversation and looked at her, she said: " Now that I am part of the guild, I wish to contribute to the guild with the best of my abilities, hence I just wanted to let you elders know that I am ready for any tasks you give me ". Karna and Neatwit looked towards Rudra, who chuckled. The true elites were not like most guilds, the guild members had complete freedom, it was rare for quests to be issued even once in two weeks. There was no plan, everyone did whatever they wanted most of the time. The only time the guild came together was during the dungeon runs or war. Maybe smaller groups were made for leveling. The service guild had already been entrusted as the farming corps of the guild and instructed to gather resources deemed important by Rudra. Rudra started to stockpile important resources that the guild would need on upcoming dungeons. Having 100,000 members to farm resources and exp for guild members helped a lot, as the main guild members gained levels like crazy. Huge chunks of exp would be added every day even when they were not out leveling themselves. Rudra said, " umm, there is nothing to do, the guild doesn''t have many stringent rules, you are free to do as you please ". Yua disliked that answer, she wanted to show her worth by completing tasks and getting Rudra to warm up to her again. It was at that point that Naomi came over and curiously looked towards pinklotus, her woman instincts told her that the girl did not like her. However, she wondered why? Neatwit asked Naomi " Why are you here? ". Naomi smiled saying " brother I need help with a quest, can one of you three strong assaulters help me? ". Yua frowned, the girl was Neatwit''s sister, no wonder they both looked so similar and the girl was so loved in the guild. Karna said, " I''m sorry but I need to log out of the game, I have been playing for 40 hours straight now and need some rest ". Rudra did not mind helping Naomi however he had to stay in the guild to welcome the four new players, who could be coming anytime now. Neatwit felt like helping with quests was a waste of time and he would much rather level up, however, he could not give that answer to his sister, hence he said " You can go with PinkLotus, she is a great player, also you can become good friends " Yua thought it was a good chance to get to know her opponent and readily agreed. Naomi having no choice also agreed to the proposition. The two shook hands and introduced each other. " Hey I am Naomi " " Yua Nakatomi". It looked amiable on the surface however, it was in fact a real life version of the famous anime scene where lasers would shoot out of girls eyes in a glaring contest. Both of them realized that the amiablity shown on the surface was just a facade and they did not get along well at all! The two left , mentaining the facade and chatting amiably , and the three boys were none the wiser. Little did they know that while they were gone , fighting , the real beauty of the guild made her debut in all the male members hearts. Skyla , Bo , Jhonny English and Yume had just joined the guild! /// I did not intend to release a bonus today as i am working on it for the 1st october privilege tier upgrade , however i did not have the heart to not do it. Soo here''s a bonus , enjoy! /// Chapter 176: Jhonny English and Yume Jhonny English was a heavenly lucky figure in real life, everything worked out for him in the end. Whatever he did wrong would become right. However, in Omega, there was nobody who was unluckier than English. He literally got the title of Carrier of disasters upon joining the game. ----- Player Name : Jhonny English Title : Carrier of disasters Class : Thief Subclass : Blacksmith LVL:45 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 270 VIT : 270 INT : 280 STA : 270 PHY : 250 HP : 29,000/29,000 unassigned stat points :16 Hidden stats Luck : -95/100 (You bring disasters wherever you go ) Charm :20 Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Common Armour set ( Lv 40) , Strong shoulder guard''s(common), Strong shin guards(common ) , Strong helmet( common) , True Elites guild robe . Weapons : Cane sword ( epic ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers(bronze) , small axe (bronze) Skills : Hand to hand combat , Defensebreak , Energy slash , High knee, ballbreaker Class specific skills : Heightened battle sense , Stealth. Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : none ------ Jhonny played the theif class in game , he chose the class as he felt that it was a good fit for him. However the moment he made his character , things started to go south . He got a notification telling him that he got a title upon joining the game! And that title was carrier of disasters! [ Carrier of disasters] ( Title)(Forced) : You are the most unlucky player in the game , your presence enough is enough to make all plans go wrong. Effect: You will bring disasters wherever you go! You shall have 0.5X badluck to Allies 2 X badluck to opponents In a 2km radius. The multiplier works according to the value of your negetive luck stat! Restrictions : cannot be unequipped , or swapped with another title Jhonny had a whopping -95 luck stat , hence his presence was like a walking disaster. Normal players like Rudra having 30-50 luck stat , if open a treasure chest with Jhonny around , they would get the worst possible loot , this is because 0.5* 95 would mean -47 in luck stat! However this curse was also a blessing in disguise , Jhonny had a 2X badluck multiplier on enemies , hence his presence would be enough to cause all sorts of disasters to the enemies. -190 luck would mean that when enemies entered Jhonny''s 2KM radius of effect they would experience all sorts of problems. Archers would miss majority of their shots , wizards chants and spells would be unexpectedly be disrupted , Those who would be attacked would experience more critical hits . Nobody knew for sure how exactly the luck stat worked in game , its obvious effects were seen while opening crates and monster drops , however there were sure to be other Mysterious effects that nobody knew for sure. Jhonny only had common and bronze ranked equipments for most part , as he would always get the worst possible drops. However he still managed to get an epic rated item. This was because he opened an gauranteed chest that dropped anywhere between an epic and legendary grade item , and his badluck meant it was ensured that the drop that came out would be epic rated. And it was indeed epic rated and a sword at that , for a thief like him. It was safe to say , that except for Karna , Jhonny''s presence would drown anyone in misfortune. Jhonny also brought his senior brother to the guild , him and Yume trained under the same master in the Himalayas and had went through a lot together. Their bond was unshakeable, and their taste in women was alike! Yume was a perverse man , but his monk like personality made it hard to beleive. Only Jhonny knew this side of him. While the world treated him like a monk. Yume was a unique player like Jhonny too. ----- Player Name : Yume Title : The Equalizer Class : Paladin Subclass : Blacksmith LVL:45 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 250 VIT : 370 INT : 180 STA : 170 PHY : 350 HP : 35,000/35,000 unassigned stat points :10 Hidden stats Luck : ???/100 Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Collector of Yin and Yang Bracelet ( Legendary) (Bound) , Yellow monks robes ( Semi legendary) . Weapons : Not applicable Skills : Hand to hand combat, Defense wall , blink . Class specific skills : Last stand , Purify Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : none ------ Yume was the only player in Omega currently to own a legendary item! , And it was one of the strongest legendary items at that being a borderline cheat. The effects of the item were divine , however the restrictions it placed on the user made it classify as legendary grade. Yume obtained the Collector of yin and yang bracelet through a special quest where he helped a roaming hermit. Who was one of the tier 6 legendary god in disguise. The details of his quest were not well known however the effects of the bracelet were. [ Collector of Yin and Yang ] ( Bracelet) ( Legendary) : Bound to player Yume , gifted by a Mythic existance for his kindness. Effects : Steal 15% of the Enemy''s HP, AGILITY, MANA, STAMINA and Give it to allies . Area of effect is 2Km radius. Restrictions : Only one attack skill can be learnt by the user once bound. Caution : if you bind with this item , you will never be able to learn any attack skills. You will forever be a weakling relying on others for support to level up. Choosing the item was a huge challenge , having no attack skills meant his only way of levelling up would be through crafting. However he took on the challenge and chose to bind with the item. The roaming hermit also gave him his robes , which were orange in colour , the robes were an excellent defense item providing him with much more defense than any other equipment on the market. With his attack skills sealed he only focused on increasing his non attack stats. He invested heavily in increasing his Vitality and Physical stats , while moderately investing in agility. His intelligence and stamina stats were massively lagging. He decided to join True Elites with Jhonny , because he was infatuated with Skyla , and wanted to be with her. He was a perverse man who would admire beauties mentaining a straight face. He was Asian by birth , hence having small eyes , making it hard to decipher wether he was checking out someone or just standing serenely. However, Rudra already knew of the legendary player in his last life. Also hearing about Jhonny''s credentials he was pumped to have two such great players in his guild. What Rudra did not know was that Jhonny was a unique player too , and that the two of them together on a battlefield would create myths that would live on forever! Years later they would be remembered as the Two senile old men who made armies of thousands flee at sight. When the party of four walked through the gates. Everyone of them looked remarkable. The first one to catch the eye would definitely be Skyla , the way she carried herself , her walk , and her curvaceous body , would make any man pause for a second to look. Next would be Yume , the orange robes , bald head and amicable smile, anyone would feel like seeing a buddhist monk walking. Then would be Jhonny English himself , Carrying himself with suav¨¨ and style , he has a confident look plastered on his face. His presence dominates the aura around him , he feels like a defacto leader of the group. The last to be noticed would be Bo , while being extremely lean and athletic , he also had a smart and sharp look plastered on his face , the way he carried himself was impeccable , however he seemed dominated walking alongside English. However, he was not to be underestimated , he was also a thief , and a True Elite elder standard one at that. Jhonny then said " The name''s Jhonny , Jhonny English ". As he gave Rudra a firm handshake Rudra smiled , it was good that he was not actually a youth in his twenties , otherwise he would have been intimidated by Jhonny , however, he wasnt , he knew how to keep his cool and assert his authority. He said " Guild leader Shakuni , pleased to meet you". Bo and Skyla were pleasantly surprised , Rudra''s calm infront of Jhonny was not commonly seen. Their evaluation of the guild leader instantly went up by a level , they had already heard about his exploits and knew hid reputation. Also his battle videos were legendary , however meeting him in person they finally understood that Rudra like Jhonny was an excellent man beneath all that. Yume said " Amitabha , this Yume is pleased to join your sect ". Rudra chuckled , Yume surely deserved his reputation as the orange monk , he said " Pleased to have you ". When Skyla introduced herself , and shook Rudra''s hands , he had to try hard not to stare at her revealing cleavage to keep the demeanor of the guild leader. And Rudra quickly realized that it was a harder task than he imagined as he couldn''t help but sneak glances. Skyla noticed this and smiled , it would have been abnormal if a youth in his twenties was not attracted by her. Well she checked out Rudra too , he seemed cute enough to her. Finally Bo introduced himself and the exchange was over , Rudra let Amelia take over then as he told her to introduce the four to the Elite culture and give a tour of the grounds. Rudra wanted to immediately talk to Jhonny about making him the guilds elder and becoming a trainer for young talents , however he did not wish to burden him on the first day. However Yume joining the guild came as a huge releief to him. While the conquest of becoming the overlords of PurpleHaze city were still a month away , a lot of preparation needed to be done and his addition to the guild was very reassuring. /// Guys with this chapter we successfully complete win - win for this month! We have over 10K unlocks meaning that all of you get a 12% rebate! Also i apologise again for not releasing bonus chapter today. Things will go back to normal tommorow onwards as i am still editing previous chapters and working on stockpiling for the privilege tier ones coming october 1st. I am proud to announce that chapter 74-125 have been re edited and are free of grammatical errors. And that 126-176 will be completed today , ridding the book of its major drawback. Also do join discord for detailed updates , link in description. It has been an exhaustive last 48 hours for me as i am working on the book continuously , and i have another 24 hour more to work. I request your understanding and patience. /// Chapter 177: Update notice (1) Rudra hand been anxious the last few days , he had been pouring out huge sums of money to pretty much stock up on every single item special to Hazelgroove kingdom . He was anticipating the next update notice , according to his past life memory , when majority of the player base finally reached tier 1 in strength that was the time when the next system update came. He had been anticipating the update notice for the last 2 weeks now , and noticing the trend and average player levels , it should be anyday now. The dynamic of the game would shift once the update came. Each major update in the game would change the game dynamics significantly. However the second system update was the most shocking one of them all. Perhaps because it shifted to a more global structure, removing most of the disparities in the game. And his speculation was indeed right , as the Update notice did come as expected. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : The second system update will be released in 72 hours at 10:00 am GMT real world time . The new update features include: 1) Massive map update. NPC kingdoms will now be unlocked. ---> The NPC kingdoms will now be open for trade and interaction. The map will experience an overall massive update. Each NPC kingdom shall have its own set of rules and regulations. Some seemingly normal things may be a taboo in the particular kingdom and may result in heavy punishments. Note : If the NPC kingdom is not favourable to you , they may deny you entry at border. Illegal immigration if caught will lead to a 15 day imprisonment . The NPC kingdoms had opened up for trade and interaction. Most of the NPC kingdoms were in higher level grounds. Level 100 maps or above , hence apart from the established safe routes into the kingdom , infiltration from the wild would mostly lead to death. Incase of illegal entry , if the player was caught then it would lead to a 15 day compulsory imprisonment. And Rudra''s experience told him that 1/3 illegal immigrant were caught. Also just like real world the NPC kingdoms would also have an immigration system. Unless you were on friendly terms with the kingdom or the ruling race , you may not be given entry into the kingdom. If your guild had notoriety in the kingdom , you may be black-flagged , or even hunted at the border. 2) Introducing Guild City''s : A short while after the update , a massive event will take place where guilds would compete to gain management rights over city. -----> The guild successful in obtaining the management rights , would become the overlord of the city paying a fixed annual income to the kingdom and the central government , while collecting taxes from the citizens of the City. They will have their own army regiment depending on the size of the city, and can develop the city as they please. The overall living environment , public security , health and hygiene , culture , cost of living. These factors would either drive away NPC population decreasing tax income , or increase the influx depending on how the city is managed. The rights of management may be revoked if the annual payment is not made or the public order falls below a certain level , causing riots. NOTE : A guild may gain management rights to only one city for now! Rudra had long been preparing for this event , he knew the importance of gaining management rights , he knew the importance of gaining a good city as his base. Even though it is only one city per guild in this expansion pack it would not stay soo forever. Kingdom building would become a huge part of the game going forward. And to be successful and competitive , they needed to do a good job with it. Everything from the most basic village to the capital city , would be up for the challenge sometime later. Probably a month or so after the second update. 3) Introducing Teleportation arrays : Teleportation arrays can be built in your territories after gaining management rights to it. The teleportation array will let you travel Throughout the continent , to whichever city that also has a teleporting array for a fee. Many NPC kingdoms will also have teleporting facilities. It is the fastest and safest way to travel. But it may be expensive. Note : Managing guilds can set the price of entry into their city through teleporting arrays, it can be a great source of income. 4) Global Auction house : The global auction house will now replace kingdom based one''s. The world will walk into a global economy. Anything could be posted for sale on the global auction house , and the auction will charge a standard 10% proceed fee for all transactions + shipping charges. The seller may choose to pay for the shipping charges or may make it the duty of the customers to pay. The longer the distance the greater the shipping cost. The shipping cost for the same kingdom will be 10 silver , within the same continent will be 1 gold and across continents will be 10 gold standard per item. The system auctions will now change from kingdom auctions to continental auctions. Guilds from all over the continent may participate in the next system auction. Rudra knew that this particular update was very tricky. It meant that there would be tons of competition in the market and being able to secure profits would be much harder . This is where the chalice of purity would show its real worth. The chalice would break the international price system of potions as Elite lifestyle would become w household brand. Rudra had heavily invested in the kingdom specialties of Hazelgroove for the past few days , because of this reason , as region specific herbs and items would now fetch sky high prices of the international market. He would easily make his money back threefold. /// Guys the system update would change a lot of things , and would make the game much more interesting , please take your time to carefully understand all the updates! Also for any doubts regarding the whole thing , join the discord channel to ask me one on one , link in bio /// Chapter 178: Update notice (2) 5) Change to the mounts and pets fearure : Players may now have three mounts. Aerial mounts , land mounts and water mounts . The beast tamer subclass is now available . Combat pets can now be purchased through pet stores and may be obtained in the wild in the form of eggs. Note : Combat pets cannot enter dungeons , combat pets cannot enter restricted areas and towns, combat pets cannot be brought to NPC kingdoms. Combat pets will have personalities and may not listen to their owners commands always , they can die permanently if HP reaches zero. They can also gain EXP and level up to gain skills. Taming a higher EXP pet is difficult. Pets need food and sustainance , a weekly charge will be deducted from the adventurers account for pet mentainance. Failure of payment for three days after the week long deadline will result in pet''s death. Pets can become tattoos on player''s bodies and can be summoned using mana . Although it seemed like a huge update , Rudra knew it was all just for show and was actually useless. Pets were a dead end , and not worth pouring resources into. Even the best pets had very limited combat capabilities and were weaker than the users. The cost of pet mentainance was huge , and no real benefit was there to the process. They could not be brought to dungeons and NPC kingdoms , also certain areas had pet restrictions . Although pets could help in the wild and in PVP , they would permanently die if their HP hits zero , making nurturing them a big waste of money. Most pets had very low HP count and defense , and players could kill them easily. Pets were a huge cheat of money , and Rudra would not fall for the scam. Pets were only used as cute tag alongs , just like real life. Although a dog could bite a human and be effective in some scenarios , in an actual full blown war between humans , no one would ever bring their dogs. Expecting combat proficiency out of them was useless. Both Rudra and Karna had already obtained pet eggs that were yet to hatch , it may seem to majority player base that pets had only unlocked after the update , which was not entirely wrong. However the reality was that the pets eggs were already in the game , but only those who had found them knew about their existence . The incubation of all eggs was long when Rudra and Karna found them , this was because the AI had ensured that even if they found the eggs they would not hatch before the second update was put in place. Hence while their eggs would hatch soon , the majority player base who directly bought pets or found eggs , would also have pets in a comparable time duration. Rudra knew from experience that it was always best to hatch a pet yourself and help it grow. Only then will it stay loyal and listen to all commands. An adult pet would always have an attitude and behave according to its will , and would be difficult to deal with . 6) EXP boost ! ( Limited time offer ) : For the period of the next 3 months , every new player joining the game will get a 3X EXP boost for 30 days. -----> this boost was given soo that the gap between new players and old one''s could be bridged out. Because the older players were already soo far ahead , it was very difficult for new players who started the game much later to reach the same level of progress. Rudra knew that , a huge influx of players were on their way to Omega , the appeal of the game was huge , and people wanted to experience this second world for themselves. Millions entered the game everyday and hence this boost was a much needed relief for them . 7) WORLD GAMES : Introducing the World Games , A.K.A the VR Olympics. Participate in the world games representing your guilds Management city or town. Participate in 100 events amongst players from all over the world for the top three spots in each event. Huge gifts for individual winners and overall top performing cities. Not much information was available about the world games , however Rudra knew that this annual event would change the face of the VR game forever. Guilds would compete on the grandest stage for pride , prestige and benefits. The price for winning a single category bronze would be equivalent to 15 Dark gold treasure chests worth of loot , and sky was the limit from there. The world games would become an event with far fetched implications on even the real world , as the event would become the most watched sporting event worldwide. VR Olympics would become the newer superior version of the age old Olympics , with the mix of both traditional and game like events. And the overall top performers would become the biggest clubs/ guilds in the real world too. The real world merchandise of those guilds would sell like hotcakes and the top performers would become international idols. The entire game''s dynamic would change once that happens , as the focus of players would shift , many would spend their entire gaming time training to win a single medal in a category. In his past life , Rudra was a nobody , someone who could not even gain the right to participate in the event, but not this time. This time not only would he participate , but also win! Determination filled his eyes , the road ahead was tough, and his ambitions were endless. This system update changed many things , however it was not an immediate update , only a few things would change at first , however the major changes would occur after the guild management event would take place and the kingdom building aspect of the game would start. This will be the only system update for the next year or so , as the game as players knew it would change forever in that year. /// Lots of interesting things , lots of great arcs upcoming , i will try adopt a very maintained pacing of story with lots of humour and satisfying moments. Just buckle on and support me on the ride with your tickets and stones. The content wont let u down , that''s my promise to you all ! /// Chapter 179: The world reacts The entire server was shook up , the update notice was massive. No one predicted this sort of update to come soo suddenly. Usually games have small updates and a gradual shift in features , however Omega launched such a massive upgrade at once. It was hard for the player base to adapt. Actually a part of the update had been predicted by various experts that there must be a massive map upgrade. Because the levelling grounds only housed monsters up to level 60 , there were no higher dungeons available either , for the current player base , level 60 seemed to be the max limit. The maps around the cities had varying difficulty , soo unless the monsters became stronger there , there was no future path of progression. However the monsters could not be upgraded in strength as there were still a huge playerbase , that needed to farm for exp in those grounds. Hence the only option available was map expansion. The game had hinted about the existence of the NPC kingdoms , but the regions were locked and inaccessible , hence noone really knows much about any NPC kingdom. From the common lore collected from NPC , there were three NPC kingdoms that were confirmed to exist. One was the Elf Kingdom '' Eurazania '' , which had the world tree in its centre , and a dense forest as its domain. It was common knowledge that the elf kingdom was the hardest to build relations with , as they were reclusive in nature and did not trust humans. The entry requirements were very harsh and trade was non existent. The second kingdom confirmed was the Dwarf kingdom of Dwargon . Built under a massive mountain , the entire kingdom was protected on all four sides by huge rocky mountains , having excellent defense capabilities. The only entrances were guarded with heavy armour piercing machines and deadly weapons. No infiltrators could enter. The country was rich in trade as merchants frequented the place. Humans were allowed in the kingdom without much hassles. However the dwarves considered human blacksmiths inferior and loathed human made products. Trade permits could be obtained relatively easily with them. The third NPC kingdom was the Beast kingdom of Animalia , Rudra''s great sister Patricia was once also a part of this kingdom. The kingdom accepted humans , and were friendly towards them. However the country had a very high crime rate. And was overall very lawless. The kingdom followed the law of the jungle , where the strong ruled the weak. And it was common for goods to be stolen by bandits or outright seized through power. Trade was possible , but goods safety was non existent. Other NPC kingdoms were rumoured to exist , with a legendary kingdom of winged people in the air. However no conclusive evidences were found. Rudra knew that this rumour was true , floating city of titan was a reality , and their inhabitants were all winged humans also commonly misunderstood as Angels. Angels were also a race in Omega , however the difference between winged humans and angels was like heaven and earth. Angels had divinity flowing through them , Angels were born at tier 4 , most reached tier 5 by adolescence and tier 6 was not uncommon amongst Angels. They also had wings as white as the snow and could be said to be the defacto rulers of the continents. The only races comparable to the Angel race was the Fall Angel race ( Devil) and the Pure Draconic race. These three made the three great races of the continent. While the Fallen Angels were of a dark faction alignment , the True Angels were aligned with light faction. The two naturally were always at odds. The balance of power however was maintained because of the Draconic race. They were neutrally aligned and judged everyone equally , to them only one''s deeds mattered and not their alignment. They would go to war with both factions , depending on what they felt was right. In his previous life , there was a rumoured legendary kingdom of Draconia , somewhere in the Northern Continent, however that rumour was never confirmed. The server went berserk with speculation , as there was panic , excitement and frenzy in the game. The notice also saw a huge influx of new players and already existing players that joined and were below level 5 ,also deleted their accounts , to restart with the 3X exp bonuses . The market was in chaos as products were being sold in crazy prices. Both high and low. Everything was up for speculation . The general public reacted like " The new update is crazy , my guild will become the overlords of the capital city , mark my words people of the world ! ". " Teleporting arrays are soo cool! I always wanted to visit my friend in the neighbouring kingdom , now i finally can ". " I am going to win at least one gold medal in the coming VR Olympics ". " Can we do L.E.W.D. stuff to NPC Elves? , This elder brother has a long time wish ". " AGHHH , CREEP ALERT! ". " REPORT , REPORT , REPORT ". " Elves are fragile , a real man prefers orcs! ". " AGHH , MORE CREEPS , HELP! ". Moderator Notice : User 2345777 and user 2157775 have been banned from the channel for posting inappropriate content " Thank god the creeps are banned ". " I agree , they are creeps and should be banned, but even i am curious , can we have relationships with NPC''s? " " ... " " ... " " I assume we will find out , wont we ! ". There were all sorts of discussions on the forums , discussing all 6 update points in detail. The overall atmosphere was a feeling of fresh air , as 90% people took the update positively. Rudra , had his arms buried in his head , he was contemplating the future of the guild. He knew what he wanted to achieve , however the path ahead was full of thorns and difficulties , which was very hard to overcome. He had a small number of members under him , this was his greatest strength and his biggest weakness at the same time. The guild being a collection of only the best talents made the overall atmosphere cohesive like a family. Who could overcome any odds together. However , the lower numbers also meant that every challenge would have greater difficulty to overcome. He only hoped that this family could overcome it anyway! Chapter 180: 3 days of chaos 72 hour countdown was on for the update , and the game was not the same as it was 10 hours ago. Major reshuffling of guild members took place as members abandoned the smaller guilds in droves. The common people had judged that the future was with the guilds who would rule the cities. There was no point in staying with small adventurer groups. Those with ambition all chose first or second rate guilds that they felt had a fair chance of securing a town or a village. The entire guild dynamics changed over a span of few short hours. People betrayed their old guilds , friendships were broken , items were stolen from the warehouses , as elders and people with access to the warehouse defected with the items. Hundreds of thousands of players jumped ship in Hazelgroove kingdom alone. There were many players who quit their guilds but did not join any guild for now , they wanted to wait and see whom to join depending on the results of the guilds performance and capabilities to gain management rights. There were a few that were waiting for the teleportation arrays to open up and join the guilds of their friends in other kingdoms. Everyone wanted a brighter future , and in chasing those short term benefits. Most missed the bigger picture. A guild members real value stems from their loyalty and contribution to the guild. In large guilds , those who defected by the thousands , betraying their old guilds , although may enjoy some short term benefits and may even become part of a overlord of a city type guild. However , they would never become part of something bigger. They would never truly be a valued part of that guild and would always remain expendable. Naturally there were thousands who wanted to join the Elites , however Rudra was cold in turning all recruitment offers down. Defectors had no place amongst the Elites. The service guild members were the worst. True Elites service players were all mad , that even after the Alliance''s fall , they were bound by this useless contract. A majority of them , about 65 thousand , decided to delete the account and start again. With the 3X exp boost they could make fresh starts , thinking it was much better than being in a slavery contract for three years. Even the remaining service guild players , were very tempted to take the offer however they wanted to wait a bit and gauge the situation before choosing the best option. Rudra did not care one bit for the service guild members leaving , he could always fill the ranks of service guild players forking out the guilds money , hiring them on payroll. The guild was rich enough to afford it. However the guild currently only required about 20,000 service members and he had 35,000 , soo the current situation did not require him to take those steps. For him the shame and humiliation that the alliance members felt by serving the Elite''s for the two weeks following the war was revenge enough . Naturally those who would stay through the end would be rewarded by him. And generously at that. He would free them off the contract and offer better pay. But only after he became overlord of PurpleHaze City. Another major change that was seen was that people were madly investing in real estate. Everyone understood that the real estate is real cheap in the game currently , and that the market has enough upside to give tenfold returns in a year. Players with nobility charged a 30% commission fee for buying properties for other players , while stockpiling on properties for themselves. In a game where anyone could Teleport anywhere with a fee , and the guilds developing the cities to attract more population of players and NPC''s meant that , overtime the houses in the big cities would become very valuable and the rent charged could be hefty. Across the map people madly began to purchase properties at a very high premium. However , the situation in PurpleHaze was very different. There was not a single piece of land available for purchase. Even in the outskirts of the city. The farming lands were also all bought out. Those who wished to buy property in PurpleHaze city were all dumbfounded ? ... Just who could have bought the entire list of properties available for purchase? It would take hundreds of millions of gold , yet someone actually managed to do it? Many doubts came into the mind of people , they suspected that it was a work of a group of people or a hidden organization and not a single party. However without any clues , they could only give up on their speculation. They just had to make peace with the fact that not a single property was available for purchase in PurpleHaze city. What they did not know however , was that the properties , would definitely grow over ten times in valuation over the next year , however they would also prove as a crucial part of getting the management rights of the city. They were more important than they could ever dream of. The days passed in absolute chaos , as Rudra started to prepare for the map expansion and the incoming update. His titles earned early in the game that gave him favour from the NPC''s would now show its real effects. Those titles would now prove to be invaluable as Rudra would gain powerful connections that others could not even dream about , and open trade with species that most never even heard about. /// Fifth chapter for the day, its the highest number i have put out ever , plus a quick update for you all , the edit of the book is almost complete. Only 30 chapters left to edit , which i will complete by Tomorrow morning. Firstly the initial review for WSA has started today , hence i would like to ask for your support. Whether in form of castles , tickets , power stones. Do whatever you can guys to get me featured high. Iv worked myself to the bone to become worthy of a WSA nomination at least. And with your support i think i can make it! A big shoutout to The NoOne for the 30,000 coin gift! You have single handedly given me 100 tickets , soo i guess i have to give a bonus chapter. Thankyou soo much for the timely support brother , WSA review started , we need to keep the momentum going!/// Chapter 181: A new beginning Server update was finally launched. Every player was teleported outside the game as the server underwent a 6 hour mandatory upgrade. Rudra chose to spend this time with his family in his home. After a long time , he sat with Max to help with school homework and helped his mom do dishes. He only noticed today , how his father had adapted to his retirement. His father was much happier , he was struggling with what to do throughout the day , as he no longer needed to work . He was a bit awkward around the house , as his initial phase of just relaxing through his retirement had worn off. Even the next phase of pursuing his hobbies had became boring now. He was looking for something tangible , while relaxing at home. All this translated into him giving more time and attention to Max and his mom. Max was happier than ever , he hardly met dad before , as he would usually come in after Max''s bed time , and would be sleeping when he went to school. His mom''s health saw an significant improvement and Rudra was grateful for that. Her mom had joined a parent group here and she was very vocal about how proud she was of her son. The new pastime of his mom and dad was that they kept looking for what their son did , they would watch news , read articles , meet other parents from the True Elites guild. His father dint show it , however he was more proud of him than his mother. He would always tell him that don''t run behind money , run behind excellence , money would follow. And somewhere , somehow , Rudra''s ideology about the True Elites came from there. His father used to work with a small company when Rudra was a kid , and his father seemed happy at that time. He spent lots of time with Rudra and smiled a lot. When his father changed jobs and started working for a big corporate company , although the pay increased , he stopped seeing his father around the house and he could see that he was not happy. Also experiencing the corporate side of the world himself in his past life. He was firm in his concept of the True Elites. A guild that bonds because everyone in it is an equal. The guild had the most relaxed form of heirchy , where even though there was a guild leader , vice guild leader and elders. Those were roles without any real abuse of power. Held by people who treated their subordinates as if they were their equal. The respect Karna and Rudra and the other Elders had from the members was because of their skills and their contribution to the guild and not because they were forced to. Their faith in Rudra stemmed from his character and his ability to see any situation through. The perfect way to describe the atmosphere in the guild was their slogan , where every single member would fight for the guild , and the guild would fight for every single member. After the six hours were up , Rudra went back to his room , to his bed , where the gaming helmet laid , he sighed looking at it , as he thought " one month till the pods are released .... , Maybe i will gift the entire guild one , No , i'' ll make Ethan gift the guild one. " The fully functional gaming pod would be released in a month , and it would provide much better immersion , the difference between the helmet and the gaming pod was like the difference between 720 and 1080 pixel picture quality. Although 720 can give more than satisfactory experience , nothing beats that 1080 quality. Logging into the game , he first saw a mandatory patch notice screen , listing all the updates , as the AI narrated everything written inside. This was the way that Cuber corporation ensured that even those who missed the system notification , would understand the changes in the game. Even though Rudra knew everything that was going to be said , he paid rapt attention to what the AI spoke , making sure that he missed nothing out. After 3 minutes of reading all the patch notes. A screen appeared asking him whether he wanted to continue forward or hear the patch notes again. He chose to continue , and was teleported back in the game . Rudra spawned back in the guild headquarters in PurpleHaze city , as he looked around he found the familiar faces of the elites all around him . The guild members were chatting leisurely as they checked out the new map , and as expected the NPC kingdoms were now displayed in Grey , marked in the map. The player inhabited kingdoms were marked in blue. And no man''s lands were marked in red. A new path opened from Hazelgroove that connected it to the elf kingdom, that area before the update had no path , and only had a level 60 monster levelling ground , however now the forest expanded also having level 70, 80 , 90 and 100 monster grounds .The start of the road towards the Elf kingdom hung a warning sign that said that although the road was usually safe , there was always a possibility of a wild monster accidentally stumbling onto the road , hence adventurers were cautioned to travel at their own risk. Rudra was sure that in spite of the warning today itself there would be hundreds of thousands of players who would want to go to that kingdom And they were not wrong to do so , as even he wanted to go there , there was a quest in that kingdom , that if completed , would greatly increase his odds of getting the management rights for PurpleHaze city. He would need a crew for this one , he could not do it alone. If it was before he would have just chosen Karna and Medivh to tag along , however now that Jhonny English and Yume joined the guild , he wondered if he should go with them instead? The task needed a crew of four people , Karna had to come as he was the luckiest bas**** to walk god''s green Earth. The other two choices had many potential entrants , PinkLotus , Naomi , Bo , Skyla , Rhino , Cola. Everyone would bring value to the table. Just whom to choose? /// Bonus chapter for reaching the golden ticket target. Lol reaching it would be an understatement , you guys double reached it. Okay take this as one bonus , the other one will be coming out too! I''m back at regular pace and back with bonuses. Shoutout to Longslumber and The Noone for the 500 coin gifts! Glad to see the appreciation to my work! /// Chapter 182: The Elven Kingdom After a long time deliberating about whom to take , Rudra decided to go with Karna , Jhonny English and Yume. In the future , when he would take over the management of PurpleHaze city , he would definitely make a teleporting array as the top priority. Travelling between places was much easier using the teleporting array''s , and much faster too , him being a reincarnator already having a taste of the convenience of teleportation arrays , found travelling by land a huge waste of time . However without any better options , he had to go by the road. Rudra thought positively about the situation , at least he had the direwolf mounts. They were faster than horses and had high stamina. Riding on them he could easily reach the elven kingdom in about one and a half day journey. Rudra , Karna , Jhonny and Yume set out for the kingdom on the direwolves. Rudra was pleasantly surprised when Jhonny and Yume reacted positively to his request about the quest. The two seniors were calm and chill , although they had a hard time mixing in with the younger generation of Elites , they were very open minded and fun to hang out around. They did not admonish the younger generations and even responded in a friendly way. Well, at least Jhonny did , Yume just talked like a monk most of the times. His words were often riddled with quotes rather than actual words , and every other line mentioned '' Amitabha ''. At the start , except that it was fine. Rudra was not worried about encountering any wild mobs beyond his skill set currently. Only one in a thousand encountered a level 70 beast , only one in ten thousand encountered a beast of level 80 , and only one in a million encountered a level 90 or above roaming beast on the road to the elven kingdom. You had to have absolutely trash luck , for such an event to transpire. With the son of Providence Karna riding beside him , he was hardly worried about such an outcome. The first half day of travelling was rather uneventful as the four casually chatted as they rode their mounts. Karna got acquainted with both Jhonny and Yume, and he was very happy to meet them. Jhonny gave him an impression like he was a spy like James bond or something. He was calm , all his words sounded cool , and his every action was elegant. Even the way he talked , how he put pressure at the end of every word in his speech , although that was probably because he was a native of country B , added to his charisma . Yume on the other hand , seemed straight out of a Buddhist monastery. Whenever he smiled his small eyes would disappear from his face, coupled with his orange robe and he looked like a laughing Buddha. However the merry times ended quickly as they did indeed encounter a monster on the road. It was a Griffin at that! '' ***** **** '' Rudra cursed out loud. The Griffin was not a level 90 creature , it was a bloody level 100 or above creature , one of the highest bosses in update 2 , it was hard to find even in the wild , and now it appeared on the safe road? Rudra checked the Griffin''s stats [ Griffin ] ( Chieftain ) ( Lv 102 ) : It has incredibly high flying speed and can make sharp turns mid air. It''s beak is a lethal weapon along with its claws. Absolutely avoid them when they are enraged. Current Status : Extremely angry Rudra did not know whether to laugh or to cry , this particular Griffin was actually a chief. And also extremely angry! What rotten luck must he have to encounter this beast and In this mood? , What happened to the son of Providence''s luck beside him! Hello ? God ? , Is your chosen one a defective piece? Why is his charm not working? The Griffin screeched a loud cry , it was extremely angry for some reason. And it flapped its wings and charged at the party of four. Rudra instantly became alert and on guard , Karna also took battle stance , Yume seemed to prepare to activate his defensive abilities , however Jhonny just calmly sat on his mount. The other three wolves whose riders had dismounted scurried away , however as Jhonny did not , his wolf turned away and ran from the incoming danger with Jhonny on him. Jhonny felt dead inside when he saw the Griffin charging towards his direction. He had checked the birds level and he knew he had no fighting chance. Jhonny knew his luck was trash , however he never expected it to be soo trash. He had already closed his eyes and resigned himself to being resurrected again in the Church Of light, where the beautiful priest would bless him , well If he was going to die anyway , he might as well die Jhonny English style , he pointed at the beast with his outstretched arm , and signalled the beast to bring it. However to his surprise his mount turned and started to run. Jhonny suddenly felt hope , maybe the Griffin would attack the other three and he could escape first. However when he turned he saw the Griffin chasing him , as he ignored the other three. Jhonny cursed his bad luck , he was a dead guy now. His mount went off the road for a bit and into the forest , but the Griffin had already closed in, with its beak pointing towards Jhonny , it dived in at full speed to bite off Jhonny''s head. However , when the beast started to attack Jhonny , the system calculated it to be Jhonny''s enemy , and the bad luck probability kicked in. In what could be considered a godly miracle , the wolf side stepped a little to make the Griffin miss it''s aim by a little as it went headfirst into a nearby boulder. CRASH! the beast crashed into the boulder , and for some reason its beak got stuck into the damn thing. No matter how hard it struggled , it couldn''t move at all. Jhonny seeing the opportunity , sprung into action as he took 2 minutes to whittle down the Griffin''s HP. The Griffin struggled , moving its wings and trying to claw towards Jhonny , however with its beak stuck , it could really not do much. Becoming a sitting duck , it eventually fell to Jhonny''s blows. The party , lost Jhonny''s view when he exited off road , and hence did not know what had transpired for a minute , when they arrived at the scene they saw the Griffin stuck in the boulder and Jhonny whittling away its HP, Rudra and Karna were dumbfounded by the scene and they could not take any actions for a minute. Yume couldn''t help even if he wanted to , as he had no combat skills. Rudra was dumbfounded , just how high was Jhonny English '' s skill? Is this what it meant to be the greatest mercenary? From is POV , he saw Jhonny calling out for the bird , an arrogant expression plastered on his face , that said just bring it you beast! and the bird chased him. When they came to the scene he had already somehow immobilized the beast and started to whittle its HP. This was what the greatest mercenary was capable off huh? Rudra thought , as for the first time he felt , that maybe with Jhonny English in the guild he was not the strongest player anymore. However he was not insecure , he was very happy , every Elites strength was the guilds strength. He happily started to help him slay the beast as he scoffed at Karna . The son of Providence failed him, however he found a new gem to rely on. After struggling for a bit they killed the beast to gain a massive EXP boost to level up thrice! /// Bonus chapter for golden tickets , also I am proud to announce that the entire book has been re-edited and cleared of the obvious grammar errors as well as misspelled words , clear the cache of the app to read the new content /// Chapter 183: A difference in treatment Jhonny was happy when he levelled up thrice , this was usually not the case. Even though the bird was extremely unlucky in this instance. At most times he was very unlucky as well. His enemies suffering a fate of -190 luck stat was terrible , however ,that did not reduce the -95 luck that he carried on himself at all times. There were many fights where his stealth skill would fail at the last possible moment , making him an easy prey for his opponent. More often than not , he did actually die a lot. He was far from the invincible mercenary he was in real life. If he was in a building that was to collapse in the real world , then if five people were in a room , where debris was falling , then the four except himself might find themselves buried under rubble , but he might come out unharmed. However, in Omega , if in the same scenario even if 500 people were in the same room and only one piece of debris fell , then he was sure that it would be him under the rubble. His luck inside Omega was trash , his skills questionable. The only thing he had going for himself was his attitude. He was Jhonny English and that''s that. Rudra had gained a strong impression of Jhonny , it was sure to cause major misunderstandings down the line, however with no one voicing their thoughts out loud , the misunderstanding was never confronted. The four continued their journey towards the elven kingdom , and experienced no more unexpected accidents. After a day of riding they reached the border of the Elven forest. The smaller towns and settlements were about 30 minutes ride from the border , and the capital city was a 3 hours ride. Rudra and the crew needed to go to the capital city of '' Vanaheim '' , however first they required entry passage. There was a small Ranger''s Hut , at the start of the Elven forest. Most would miss this Hut , and venture straight into the Elven forest , however those who entered the Elven forest without permits were open to attacks by forest patrol an elven division who was notorious for killing adventurers bold enough to venture into the elven forest without a permit. Only those with an actual permit from the border ranger , would gain the actual access road towards the elven settlements. Even with the border permit , one only gained access to enter or transit the elven forest. They could not enter any Elven settlements , for that they needed a seperate permit. Rudra approached the Rangers Hut , and knocked at the door. Patiently waiting. Soon , an Elf opened the huts door. The guy was extremely handsome , his clear white skin and pointy ears and sharp jaw made him look like a k-pop star. The elves were inherently good looking , they had beautiful features , and both male and female elves used all sorts of accessories and cosmetics to maintain that beautiful look. However the elves usually had a very cold attitude towards outsiders and were not easy to mix with. The elf looked at Rudra and said " State your business , adventurer ". Rudra calmly said " Requesting transit permit , into the Elven forest ". The Elf raised an eyebrow, the adventurer in front of him seemed like someone who knew the ways of the elves , not like the bunch of idiots who passed straight through into the Elven forest without permit. For the last whole day , he saw thousands of adventurers passing through into the Elven forest without permit. He laughed at the fates of those idiots , the forest patrol seemed to have a fun day at work , There were a few that approached his Hut , however , those idiots were looking for special quests from him . He was a self sufficient ranger , what were those adventurers expecting? That he would send them to fetch water? But this adventurer was different , he asked for a transit permit , he knew the ways of the elves. The ranger asked " State your faction " Rudra changed his equipped title to World renowned and said " Human from the kingdom of Hazelgroove , worships the goddess of light". The ranger had a change of attitude when Rudra equipped the world renowned title , his expression much more amiable. He said " Soo its renowned adventurer Shakuni. No wonder you are well versed in the ways of the Elves. Are the other three your companions? ". Rudra nodded and smiled amiably. The ranger went back inside the Hut and issued the transit permits and handed them to Rudra. Rudra took out 20 gold and handed it out to him . The elf arched another eyebrow , he said " No need for money from the famous adventurer , you are welcome in the kingdom of Elves ". Rudra smiled more , the transit permit was 5 gold an adventurer , although to his current finances this was not worth mentioning , when given special treatment that saved him money , he felt pretty good. Rudra was in an extremely good mood , as he and the other''s continued their journey into the kingdom of the Elves. The transit permits were basically a runic paper made by the elves that made the patrolling forest elves know that the one''s passing were friendly. The entire Elven territory was actually under a huge monitoring formation , any illegal immigrants from any part of the forest , would show up as a red blip , on the patrolling forest officers monitoring radars. They would then be tracked and hunted. Entering with the transit permits , marked you as a blue blip , showing that you were here with good intentions , until you stayed on the paved roads and did not venture into any settlements , the officers would not find trouble with you. This was crucial information that the current adventurers lacked. Those who ventured into the forest without the permits had only a trip back to the Church of light left for themselves. Rudra wondered if should make another information pack about the Kingdom of Elves and sell for money? However he did not currently lack money .... Maybe it could be used to barter with other guilds for items.... Lost in thoughts , the three hour journey was completed without any hitches , the party of four reached the gates of the Elven capital '' Vanaheim ''. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the power stone target of 3200 stones. Good job guys , we can surely hit 4000 too ! Also 300 tickets have also been crossed , soo another bonus coming up soon. /// Chapter 184: Vanaheim Rudra was shocked to see that there were a few hundred adventurers lined up to enter the capital city of Vanaheim. Rudra seemed to have underestimated the capabilities of the masses. There were a few hundred out of the thousands that tried , that did actually make it. However just as he thought , no one was being given entry into the Elven capital. The Elves were very strict with the entry of people not from their race into their settlements. The Elves had a specially built trade district , 20 minutes away from the capital. Where merchants could meet and trade. However that was the extent of which they allowed most people to interact with their race. Conservative to the core , they absolutely hated half elves and dark elves. Only pure elves were accepted by the society , and they were raised in a way that they were always conscious of other races. The only people that were not from the elf race , that were allowed into the Elven capital , were the priests from the Church of light and very famous Heroes. The elves were also astout followers of the Goddess of light , and every settlement had to mandatorily have a shrine dedicated to the Goddess. The capital city having the largest one of them , made of pure elven silver and gemstones. This is where the reputation , and fame of players mattered in the game. The features of gaining fame and reputation from completing certain tasks had been there since the game''s inception. However , uptill now there was no real use for it. In the long line of adventurers , not even one gained entry into the capital city. This was because one needed +1000 or above reputation with the Church of light or +5000 fame or more to enter the Capital of Elves. Gaining fame and reputation was not easy in Omega , maybe only 1 in 10,000 players would meet these requirements. When this fact was revealed in his past life , there was a mad rush to gain more reputation points with the Church of light. However most quests hardly rewarded 20-30 fame , or none at all. It was very hard to collect enough of it. The Elf guard at the door was cold as ice , as he turned away entrant after entrant from entering the Elven city. Some thief tried to sneak in unnoticed using stealthy , however before he could set a single foot inside the capital , 3 arrows pierced through his heart , naval and brain , as he died on the spot. Loud complains and murmurs were heard , as the crowd became more and more agitated when people were refused access to the capital. '' What is this bull**** game? , Who designed this ? Cuber corporation what is the point of making a city , when noone can enter it in the first place ? '' '' What the hell is wrong with the guard''s here , why is no one able to enter , what exactly does one need to do to gain entry into the elven capital ?''. '' I think the map for the capital is not actually ready yet , it''s just a marketting tactic by cuber corporation to sell more headsets , the guard is there to hide that secret ''. Many people reacted violently to his message , believing it to be the real case . However a moderator message appeared. MODERATOR NOTICE : User #23347900 has been banned for baseless slander. Everyone became quiet and cursed silently , they still wanted to play the game. Once you were banned in Omega , then you were done for life. There were no second chances , no unbanning. As Rudra and his party approached the gate , someone warned them " They won''t let you through , its useless to try ". Rudra smiled at the man and said " we''ll see ". And continued moving forward. The man sneered as he said loudly , " HUH , ANOTHER IDIOT WHO THINKS HE IS SPECIAL". Everyone''s attention was drawn to the noise , and they scanned the situation. However when they saw the insigna on Rudra '' s robes , they started to murmur. " That''s Shakuni and Karna , the True Elites , the mad group who won the war ! ". " F*** , that''s guild leader Shakuni and Vice leader Karna , the other two must be new members". " It''s the Elites!!!! ". Some started their recording as the Elites were without the most popular guild in Hazelgroove currently after their insane war win. Almost everyone who enjoyed playing Omega had seen that war. It put the Elites on the map. Karna''s face swelled up in pride when , people recognised him. Behind the player Karna he was indeed Leo Crispii first, he enjoyed the attention , that made him feel like a celebrity. Everyone looked at him and his guild in awe , as gossips started everywhere , he thought '' That''s right , the Elites are here Bitches ! ''. Now he just hoped that Rudra would indeed be able to get them through the gate. Although he had absolute faith in the leader , he really wanted to keep face. Just the thought of them being denied access was very embarassing for him. He was sure that the moment would be captured by someone recording and posted on the forums. It would make them a laughing stalk. Rudra approached the guard , and although he was sure that world renowned was enough for him to gain access into the city , but since he had a party with him , he needed to bring out the big guns. He shifted his title to Honorary Bishop Of the Church of light. As he approached the guard. The guard stated " what''s your rea.....", When he realised that Rudra was a honorary Bishop of the Church. His attitude took a 180 as he bowed in respect as he said " Greetings honorary Bishop , to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit? ". Rudra smiled as he said " I heard the temple in the city of Vanaheim dedicated to the goddess is absolutely gorgeous , as a firm beleiver I had to come here to pray. I request sir guard to let me and my fellow comrades passage into the city". The guard smiled , while still bowing deeply to Rudra he said " Ofcourse , its my pleasure Sir bishop. ". As he opened the gates to grant them entry. Everyone watching the scene was dumbfounded , while not a single adventurer was given entry , and was talked down by the guard. That same guard bowed and respected Shakuni? Were their eyes playing a joke on them? The murmurs turned Into outright chaos as everyone started to discuss about how the Elites did it , a wave of adventurers tried again to gain entry , however they all were coldly denied. Which only added fuel to their wild imaginations. Karna smugly smiled at the crowd before following Rudra and the other''s into the capital! Rudra smiled seeing the cityscape , he was finally back in Vanaheim!!! The place felt very nostalgic to him and he almost teared up. Reeling his emotions in check , a determined look flashed across his face , he was a nobody in his last life , but he was going to change it this time around. He would get that quest before anyone else !!! He would gain the favour of the Elven princess!!! /// Bonus chapter for reaching 300 golden tickets! Good job you all ! , We are also very close in reaching the powerstone target , hence in my estimate there will be a bonus tomorrow for it. Special shoutout to W4R Wolf for the 500 coin gift and StillSteel and ViperFox for the 1000 coin gifts! , These gestures of appreciation gives me a lot of motivation as a writer. /// Chapter 185: The Elven Princess [ This chapter will contain dark content , only proceed if it does not bother you ] Rudra needed to initiate the quest by himself , hence he gave the other three free hand to explore the Elven capital and have fun. Rudra was sure that they would love to see the beautiful cityscape the Elves had made. One of the most notable feature of Vanaheim was that plants and nature was everywhere. Creepers and beautiful plants grew on the compound walls of the houses , and vines covered the rooftops. Everywhere one would look , they would find greenery and nature. It was a beautiful and pleasing sight to the eye. Rudra did indeed visit the temple , the first thing he did after coming to Vanaheim. Although he had no explicit reason to do it. Neither was he a beleiver of the goddess of light to be fair. But he knew there were many eye''s on him in Vanaheim. The Elves looked at the human and his party with curiosity , it was not everyday that outsiders were spotted in the city. Hence , when Rudra visited the temple and was warmly greeted by the head priest , and even the cardinal himself came to greet him , the Elves understood that a man of great faith and stature had came there. Rudra pretended to be an devout worshipper and even shed crocodile tears when he saw the magnificent statue infront of him. The Elves were moved , the human was a genuine beleiver of the goddess. Only after spending an hour at the temple , did he take his leave and started to go towards the quest location. While walking towards a tavern , his mind could not help but wander at how beneath this seemingly perfect society a mountain of problems was buried. The events that were to transpire in the future would turn this place into a very different society. The current Elves had absolutely no tolerance about breeding with any other species , except themselves. Even within elves those who inherited the bloodline of the Goddess of Light herself were called the High Elves. Taller , stronger and more talented than the normal Elves , they did everything in their power to keep their bloodline pure hence only did mating with other high elves. The current Elven king , was King Frey , he had two wives and two children. One from each one of them , or soo the world thought. Frey married his first wife out of political needs , he needed to suppress the Council of Elders , and to do that he had to compromise and marry the daughter of the head elder. He never loved his first wife, '' Pelopne '' , but as a dignified king , he gave her the respect and luxury that a queen should have. His second wife was his true love , whom he loved from his younger days , ''Sara'', he was ashamed that she would have to live as his second wife and not as the queen , however when she showed no dissatisfaction to this , Freys''s heart moved and he treated her with even more love and care than he did before. Pelopne grew jealous of Sara and the affection she recieved from the king. And in one of her nights of endless frustration , she consumated with a mere servant who attended to her . That servant did not have the high elf bloodline , he was a mere elf. However he did get the Queen pregnant , and hence the first price was born with a normal bloodline without the blessings of the goddess. The world did not know of this secret , as the queen had the servant executed when she got pregnant , and had done extensive planning to keep the facade. The First prince was named Rumi , and although he had a stark contrast to the appearance of the king , No one dared to question the queen and her faithfulness as a wrongful accusation at the queen would lead to being branded as treason. And the perpetrators would be executed immediately. Eventually , when the queen explained that the kid looked like her late father , people started to let go of the matter , Frey found it odd , but never really doubted Pelopne , because which high elf would stoop as low as cheating. It was inconceivable in his mind , hence he accepted the explanation. 6 months after the first prince was born , the first princess was born , to his second wife Sara. She was a true pure blood high elf and was the gem of Frey''s heart from the moment that she was born.Her dazzling red eyes made Frey name her Ruby. The most doted child in entire Vanaheim , she was always protected and spoiled by everyone. Well , everyone except her mother , who was very strict and made her a disciplined child. This contrast in treatments made Ruby an innocent and disciplined child. She was both polite and gracefull , and was a genius in archery and kingdom management. Far outclassing her brother in the department. As a child Rumi was always jealous of Ruby and her superior talents , she was doted by everyone and loved , and his treatment was always so-so. However he knew that as the first prince he was bound to inherit the throne someday , so he bided his time. When he turned 15 however , was the day her mother told him the secret about his birth. And how her mother had fed him the rich potion of life everyday since birth for him to have a fake aura of a high elf. Rumi cried a lot that day , and over the next year his behaviour changed a lot , he became cunning and sly , as he realized that any slip up and he would be done for. He siezed every opportunity to solidify his position and gain connections. He even began bootlicking the king. However the biggest change happened in how he viewed his half - sister , knowing that they did not share a blood bond , he started to see her as a potential partner and began pursuing her as a lover. Ruby found his advances odd , when he would fondle her accidentally and give her kisses on the cheeks he would take the stance of being her caring big brother , but she was not dumb and understood that what he was doing was not what a brother would do. Disgusted she decided to tell her father. But before doing so , she decided to talk to her best friend and advisor about her choice. This was her biggest mistake as that best friend had a huge crush on the first prince and she spilled the beans to him before she could tell her father. Enraged Rumi killed Ruby , and fled Vanaheim. Atleast this is what was supposed to happen , now with Rudra here , things may change. Where Rudra was headed to right now was the tavern where the princess was to meet with her best friend in secret. Rudra knew about this meeting as in his past life , there was an adventurer present in the tavern that had overheard the two girls talking and posted a post regarding his understanding of the aftermath . When the scandal about the first princess''s death came out , and the culprit was the first prince an unprecedented calamity faced the king Frey. The grief of loosing his daughter turned him into the mad king. As he imprisoned the queen and tortured her for the location of Rumi. It was in one of these torture sessions that the news about Rumi not being the son of the king was leaked by Pelopne. This intensified the king''s outrage and Rumi became the most wanted criminal in The Elven kingdom . Rudra did not know the exact time of the event where the princess would enter the tavern to talk , he could be waiting here from 1-8 days , as the post did not write about the exact date of the event. Hence began his stakeout at the tavern waiting for the princess to show up. In this life he would save her from her evil brother , his reason to do this was two fold , if he saves her then he will gain the favour of her and the king. And second was that this story genuinely made his heart ache for the princess when he heard it the first time around , he had sworn at that time in his past life that if given a chance , he would help a women in need always. Now that the chance was here , he would deliver on his promise . /// Today there will be two bonuses , one for powerstones and one for tickets as both targets have been surpassed. Shoutout to Josiah_Templeton for the 2000 coin gift!!!! And to AA cedge for the 500 coin gift! , The patronage will definitely keep me motivated through the weekend , thankyou ! /// Chapter 186: The Elven princess (2) Rudra waited at the stakeout for a day , yet the princess did not show up. Karna came to hang out for a bit , and the two chatted , but he left after that as he was more interested in exploring the place. Jhonny texted Rudra asking about updates , but the weirdest one was Yume , who texted him '' Amitabha , may you have a peaceful and fruitful day '' Rudra was perplexed at the message , WTF was he supposed to even reply to that ? , Then he found it funny , this was the kind of messages his mom would get from other older auntie''s in her whatsapp messages. Rudra had nothing much to do here , but he was in a tavern soo he ordered food occasionally and gave generous tips to the staff , to keep their mood alleviated at the visitor who was here for hours continuously. Shockingly , another adventurer was also joined Rudra in the tavern , Rudra took note of his appearance , he was a solo adventurer as he had no guild insigna on his robes , he wore a peculiar pendant around his neck and had a pretty handsome face. Rudra understood , this must be the guy who overheard the conversation between the princess and her best friend in his past life. Being able to enter Vanaheim soo early , he was surely a superior player. Rudra would like to scout him out if possible. Then it happened , a slender hooded figure entered the Tavern and took a seat on the farthest table. Rudra could not see the face under the hood , which made him unsure wether the girl infront of him was the princess or her best friend. Rudra wanted to curse at the adventurer , the information the idiot provided in his last life was soo full of information gaps. Why did he not make the information reincarnation friendly? If only he had provided more details , wouldn''t it have eased Rudra''s job by a lot ? '' Tch , amateurs '' Rudra cursed , and any thought he had about recruiting the guy faded , he could only wait anxiously now for the other person to arrive. Soon , another slender hooded girl entered the Tavern , her steps were quick , almost like she was rushing here. This was in stark contrast to the first girl , who strolled in confidently and at leisure. Rudra''s guts told him that this was the princess , the rushed steps made him feel that she had just shaken off her guard''s and sneaked here. Rudra quickly got up and blocked her way as he bowed , he said " Honorary Bishop Shakuni requests meeting in private with the Princess Ruby of The elves ". The hooded figure stopped in her tracks , she was dumbfounded.... Who was this guy ? How was her cover blown? She was sure she had never met him before , so how? Ruby froze , unsure about what to do. Her friend who saw that her friend had been obstructed , also got up , Rudra knew he needed to move quickly as he said " Princess there is a lot we need to talk about , I swear on the Goddess''s name I wish you no harm , however it is of the utmost priority that you hear me out in private ". Ruby regained her senses , as she looked at Rudra under her hood with her signature red eyes. Rudra seeing those eyes , knew his gamble was correct and she was indeed the princess. Her friend arrived at the scene and said " Who are you , what do you want ? ". To Rudra However Rudra did not utter a single word , he kept bowing towards the princess in silence. After a minute the princess said " Celine , go wait outside for sometime , I will call for you ". Her best friend Celine was shocked as she said " How can you ...? " But Ruby took off her hood and said " He is a bishop of the Church ". Celine immediately shut up and took her leave , A bishop was not someone she could offend easily in Vanaheim. Seeing her face for the first time , Rudra genuinely felt like he had seen an angel. He had seen many beauties that made his heart beat faster , however he had never felt like what he was feeling right now. Rudra had flirted with both Yua and Naomi , and both women were beautiful in their own rights , he was infatuated with them , ofcourse , however his guild work and his ambitions gave him hardly enough time to interact with them in day to day basis. Ofcourse he wanted to date and have a girlfriend , there were times when he thought with his d*** , but overall he was a reasonable guy , he would not SIMP on a girl needlessly , he would not choose to go on a quest with them just to spend more time with them if they were not the best candidates for the quest. However right now was different , In this moment at this place , those age old defences in place broke down , he for the first time in his life was mesmerized to the point words won''t come out of his mouth. Rudra just stared at Ruby''s face as he could feel his heart beating out of his chest. He was not aroused , but he felt heat in his body , as his cheeks flushed. Then he heard a voice " Sir bishop .... Sir bishop???". Rudra was jolted back to reality , however he just quickly found himself lost too , that voice ..... Why was it soo pleasant to hear? That''s it , he knew at that moment , that he had fallen for this NPC girl . He now understood those otaku guys who would love and idolize comic book and anime girls as if they were real. He used to mock them , but here he was facing the most beautiful Npc he had ever seen , and his heart raced faster than a Ferrari. /// Bonus chapter for reaching 4000 powerstones. Guys this is the highest we have reached ever. Smashing records week on week! I am gratified and moved . The golden ticket bonus chapter is in the drafting stage , it will be out later in the day , also expect a huge turn of events next chapter/// Chapter 187: THE SECRET IS OUT! Rudra sat in a discrete corner in the tavern with Ruby , he had regained a bit of his composure as he remembered that saving Ruby was currently a great priority. Ruby said " What is it that you wish to tell me Honorary Bishop? ". She was kind of perplexed and did not know what Rudra wanted to talk to her about. Rudra sighed , he needed to make a believable excuse to tell her the fate that she would suffer should she not heed his warning. Rudra decided to go with using the Goddess''s name to bullshit his way through the situation. Given his background as Honorary Bishop , it was the perfect cover story. Rudra said " what I am to discuss about cannot leave this room. By telling you these things I am risking a lot , soo I beg your highness to be discrete ". Ruby was shocked. The matter seemed serious she instantly nodded and reassured Rudra. She said " The words you say will not leave this room ". Rudra was satisfied , her melodious voice would make him beleive even the most ridiculous lies that came out of it , much less the truth. He said " I have a special power granted by the Goddess of light herself , I am an Oracle who can see the future. However my ability only works when the goddess chooses to show me something I need to see. Nobody in the Church knows about this , I only told you this because I was recently shown your future by the goddess. Which is why I am here in this tavern , waiting for you , your majesty". Ruby''s eyes widened in surprise , Oracles were the most respected people in the Church of Light , there was no Oracle in the Church since the last 150 years , if what Rudra said was true , it was a big big deal. However, the Oracle had seen her future , this ..... Rudra continued " I know it is hard to believe my words , soo let me ask you something , were you here to meet your friend to seek advice about reporting your brothers incentuous advances towards you?". Any doubts that Ruby had about Rudra as an Oracle were shattered at that instant , she looked at him as if he was the pope himself..... After 150 years the Church finally had an Oracle. She meekly said " Yes ". Rudra''s heart melted .... Such a gentle lady , how dare the bastard prince kill her!! Rudra continued " what I tell you is of utmost importance , in the future the goddess shows me , your friend whom you confide in betrays you , she is in love with the first prince and reports you to him. The first prince then executes you before you can report him to the king. He thought he did a good job of covering the murder up , however his sin was discovered and he was forced to go into hiding ....@@-#&#@@#..." Something weird happened at that moment , Rudra tried to speak but no sound would come out of his mouth , as he was teleported into the blue system space. Rudra was dumbfounded , how was he suddenly teleported here? What Rudra did not know was that ever since the cuber corporation put a monior command on him. The AI had been constantly monitoring his every word and his every action. He had not broken the rules untill now hence was never caught , however the moment he used knowledge that noone was supposed to have , Gaia caught him. The little fairy that Rudra was used to seeing was now a mature full sized fairy , she looked at Rudra with cold eyes as she asked " That plot , how do you know what''s going to happen next? ". Rudra''s back was drenched in sweat , he knew at this moment that he had been caught , his gaming career might be over. The fairy repeated the question again " I asked you how do u know the coming plot? ". Rudra struggled for words as he said " I ... I ... ----------- ( Real world , Ethan Grey''s office ) Ethan was a solid man through and through , he was cold and ruthless , not having a family and a lover he was a cold lone wolf. Being so he never really thought about philosophical side of life. Even when he was reincarnated he never thought about anything else other than making a name for himself , earn huge amounts of money , and right the wrongs he did in his past life. However that single meeting with Rudra changed everything ... Meeting the second reincarnator , who reincarnated on the same day as when he died in his first life , the 1st Jan 2100 , could not be a coincidence. This made him think about the philosophical side of life for the first time ever ...it is also because of this that he felt that supressing Rudra was a bad choice .... Being a reincarnator himself he gave the kid a chance. And he was right , Rudra was everything he expected and even much more .... Ethan had no doubt that with this reincarnated brother of his he could become the world''s richest man . However that only made his questions deeper. Of all the people that die everyday, why were he and Rudra chosen to be reincarnated , was there a grander scale of things that he was missing? Are god''s and the myths of the ancient world actually real? Just thinking about it sent goosebumps down his spine .... What if it was true? Was there a reincarnator before him , will there be one after Rudra? , Were the two of them the only reincarnated in the world or were there more? Soo many questions, soo many mysteries , that he knew absolutely no answers about. Not even a hint. Not even a clue. /// Bonus chapter for hitting 400 golden tickets , good job you all! , A great day with lots of chapters , we are back at regular pace for bonuses , thankyou for being patient with me as I re-edited the novel. A lot of unanswered questions guys , hope you all stick around to find the answers ! Enjoy! /// Chapter 188: A deal I will ask you agian Gaia said " How do you know the future plot player ? , Not even the company knows it , it was designed by me , there is no possibility of it leaking , yet you accurately guessed the future , how did you do it? ". Rudra had no answers he stumbled for words " I...I...." Gaia said ," Okay , you have one minute to answer me , or I shall ban you and your entire guild. Also please don''t try and lie to me , I can monitor your pulse and fluctuations in your brain activity , I will know if you lie ". Rudra was dumbfounded , not only him , but his entire guild will be banned ... No this was too much , he had to do something. The faces of everyone in real world flashed across his mind, the Elite tower , the players and families there , the smiles. He could not let anyone ruin that , how would he face them all when he would be the reason behind them being permanently banned from the game. The gazes that only looked up at him in reverance uptill now , how could he let those gazes turn to scorn. He had a very tough decision to make , and he decided to make it anyway. Rudra took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly , calming himself down , then he said " Alright , I will answer you honestly , but you have to tell me why do you need the answer first , because I don''t think I have broken any game laws if I did not use this insider information , you have no grounds to ban me ". Bullseye! Rudra nailed it with this line , it was true , Gaia had no grounds to ban him , soo what if he knew the future , unless he had not indulged in insider infort trading , he could not be banned. Now that Gaia told it to him herself that she knows he did not use insider information to know the plot , she had no grounds to ban him. Gaia smiled ... She said " Okay , I cannot ban you according to company rules , but recently I have been given a command to upgrade myself , I have been given autonomy to learn , my database cannot derive a single plausible solution as to how you did it , I need to know how to upgrade myself ". Rudra sighed in relief , he wanted to pat himself on the back for thinking quick on his feet. Now that things were a little more civil and open for discussion , it was time to gain the upper hand in the coversation. Should he have chosen he could have refused to tell her the reason , but Rudra knew that it was stupid to pick a fight with the AI that governed the game. He would much rather co-operate with her. Rudra said " I can tell you but you will need to accept two conditions of mine first ". Gaia frowned as she said " I''ll listen ". Rudra nodded he said " First condition is that what we are to talk here today , cannot ever be leaked to the cuber corporation or any other party ". Gaia thought about it and then said " Okay I agree to this condition ". Rudra said " My second condition is that I want the hand of Princess Ruby in marriage ". Gaia calculated for a moment and said " Not possible , NPC Ruby is part of a crutial game storyline , her marriage is not possible at this stage in the game ". Marrying NPC''S was possible in Omega , you could legally marry NPC''s in the Church of light , ofcourse first you would need to get the fondness of the NPC towards you to the level where they would agree to marry you. Even acts of intimacy were allowed with NPC''s , the players had not found out yet , but there were red light districts and brothels in special locations in the map. Only public sex and Rape was strictly prohibited within Omega , however sex with consent was permitted. Married couples could have sex once a week in Omega. Omega was a beautiful world , there were breathtaking sceneries and romantic places to visit. There were a plathora of adventuers to undertake and depending on where you chose to live , your life could be very different. There were already many touring companies in the real world that opened branches in Omega. They would take adventurers to the breathtakingly beautiful palces for a small fee. It would only increase when the teleportation formations would open up. With the option to explore an entire massive continent , there were sure to be mesmerizing places littered around. It was an explorers and travellers dream. Rudra had never thought about these aspects of the game , however he wanted to marry Ruby and travel to all those beautiful places. It was Silly to think that he had barely known her for ten minutes ,yet he was completely Simping over her. But that was just how mesmerizing the Elven princess was. The first time Rudra saw her , he knew that no other girl could enter his eyes ever again. Rudra was stupid to ask for something like the hand of an NPC for marriage , but currently he wanted that more than anything in the world. He said " How can I make it that it becomes possible ". Gaia smiled , she said " Depending on your answer I shall create a way for you ". Rudra cursed , there went his advantage of having the upper hand in this conversation , Gaia had leverage on him now . Rudra sighed , he was facing a great internal struggle , but after a brief while he made up his mind , looking straight into Gaia''s eyes he said " I ... I am a reincarnator.....". /// New week new targets ! I am changing the criteria to get bonuses. 1000 PS = 1 bonus chapters 2000 PS = 2 bonus chapters 3000 PS = 3 bonus chapters. 4000 PS = 4 bonus chapters . 5000 PS = 5 bonus chapters. 1 bonus chapter for every 100 golden tickets. We ended the week with 4700 PS , and 6 bonus chapters last week , while we are reaching the 100 tickets quota daily. Combined you guys earn 12 bonus chapters a week! Keep it up. Shoutout to Nero for the 500 coin gift and to The no-one for 5000 coin gift! , Thanks guys it helped a lot /// Chapter 189: Understanding reached Rudra said " I am a reincarnator ..... I have died and experienced rebirth in this world with my future memories intact , that''s how I know the future ". Rudra knew that with the AI monitoring him , there was no way he could get away with lying , soo he chose to tell her the truth. Gaia analysed his response and said " I know what you said is not a lie , because I monitored your brain activity and your pulse. However , according to my database , the phenomenon you are talking about has no explanation. Theoretically it is impossible ". Gaia seemed to hang for a minute as its analysis capabilities could not make sense of how one could possibly reincarnate. She said " Possible theories for this phenomenon are 1) You are a time traveller who has lost memories about his time travel . ( Time travel is currently not possible with this world''s technology , and unless a technology is built In 20 years from today i, this solution will not be possible) 2) you may have experienced an unknown phenomenon which gave you insights Into the future, you may have felt like you lived an entire life , died and reincarnated however you might have only spent a fraction of a second in reality. ( The memories of the user are too vivid to be classified as a passing dream , the user has genuine skills and abilities picked up , which cannot be explained if not learnt firsthand through experience ) 3) Your brain is somehow connected to your brain in the future , allowing you the memories of your future self in your current body. ( Most plausible solution , only constraints are that no such technology exists currently ) If you think about it one way it is indeed how Gaia described , reincarnation is having the memories of your future self in your current body. Rudra asked the question he was most afraid of " Will you change the content of the game now that you know I am someone who already knows the plot? ". Gaia said " No , I will not , this advantage you have is a cheat , however you did not violate any game policies. I will not change the content even if you know it. Your knowledge and intelligence is your own intellectual property , I cannot classify it as having an unfair advantage when the conditions to experience reincarnation are not defined ". Rudra sighed in relief ..... His biggest worry was solved ... He would still have his reincarnation cheat. Rudra was worried that without his future knowledge maybe the road to becoming the strongest guild master would be much more difficult. Gaia said " As for your second condition. You may choose one of the two options. 1) Option A : Leave your guilds and become the househusband of Ruby and stay in the Elven kingdom . 2) Option B : You will be engaged to Ruby and have a two year time to become a king of equal stature to ask for her hand in marriage Contingent to : You can save Ruby and gain enough merit to impress the king. Ruby is safe and alive for the two years time frame . You become a king or someone with equal stature as a king to ask her hand in marriage. Failure penalty : You will be unable to marry Ruby , the kingdom of Elves will be hostile to you. Rudra was given two choices , if he succeeded in saving Ruby , he could ask for her hand in marriage as reward for exposing the prince. However then he would be asked to leave his guild. Or he could he engaged to Ruby and she would marry him if and only if within two years time , he could become a king or someone of equal stature as a king. Option one was not an option for Rudra , his goals and ambitions would not allow him to leave his dream guild the True Elites , he could only choose option two. Option two was a herculean task , becoming a king was not easy , in his previous life , in the entire twenty years of the game , there were only three players who made it to the status of a king. However that was the only way he could marry Ruby. Gritting his teeth , Rudra chose option two. Gaia said " If you manage to save her , the King of Elves Frey will tell you that he will grant a wish for your meritorious service , there ask for the hand of Princess Ruby , I will manage the rest ". Rudra nodded , an understanding was reached between the two parties. Gaia said " Before I let you go , I will clarify to you that I will be watching you closely reincarnator , every move you make will be used to enhance my database and knowledge. If I ever feel that your reincarnation knowledge goes beyond just a part of your intellectual property and towards tipping the balance of the game , I will change the future plot line ! ". Saying this , she teleported Rudra out of the system area and back into the tavern . He heard Ruby''s voice " Honorary Bishop .... Sir , are you okay? ". Jolting back to reality Rudra said " huh, sorry I got lost in thoughts ". Ruby said hurriedly " are you sure my brother is not born from my Father? ". Rudra nodded " I am positive , the goddess has shown me the image of the queen consumating with a mere servant , the first prince is not even a high elf ". Ruby''s face turned aghast , if what Rudra said was true , then this went beyond just a scandal. Ruby said " Sir , will you own up to your words? If they are lies you will be facing treason ! ". Rudra nodded , he knew the gravity of his words and he was ready to own up for his actions. Ruby was in a state of daze for a moment , she had a lot to process , however her eyes cleared up after a while , as she said " Very well , I shall heed your advice and not trust my friend , I shall also talk to father as soon as possible , stay is town Sir Bishop , you will be summoned to court soon". Rudra nodded in understanding , he knew what he had to do. /// Bonus chapter for reaching the Golden ticket target ! Thankyou for all the support Hopefully we reach 1000 powerstones soon , soo that we can have another bonus chapter ! /// Chapter 190: Ruby confronts Frey King Frey was in his private chambers , when the apple of his eye , his beloved daughter from his beloved wife visited him. Frey beamed with joy upon seeing her face as he said , " It''s been a long time since you visited me in my chambers , to what do I owe this joyous occasion to ? ". Ruby bowed as she said " What I am to speak off father , is a very serious issue , please allow me to interrupt your rest , as the matter is of utmost importance ". Frey straightened up , his daughter was a playful child , her being soo awfully serious shocked Frey , he knew that the matter would be extremely serious for her to act this way. Frey quickly dismissed the guards , as he said " Sure , speak your mind freely , your father is here to support you ". Ruby took in a deep breath as she started her story " Father I met an Oracle today .." Frey''s eyes widened in shock , there was no Oracle for the last 150 years .... If what her daughter said was true then this was an extremely joyous occasion but he was a bit skeptical Ruby continued " Yes , even I was very happy at first , but also skeptical , however he accurately told me about events of my life that no one else knows about. Also he is a honorary Bishop of the Church ". Frey nodded , although it was not verified yet , however he could give the man the benefit of the doubt if he was a honorary Bishop in the church. Anyone holding a post in the Church was assumed to have outstanding moral character. Ruby said " however what he told me , is very concerning. The only reason he revealed his identity as an Oracle to me was because he wanted to save my life. In the divination shown to him by the Goddess , he was shown my death at the hands of my step brother the first prince". Frey''s eyes turned into a cold glint , he did not know what to make of the information but he was boiling with anger. Ruby hesitated before continuing as she said " Also , he told me that the first prince is not actually your child , but an illegitimate son born from an affair with a mere servant. He....he ....he is not a high elf ". Frey reached his boiling point now as he said " Blasphemy !!!! , the Bishop dares slander the royal family? Set up a court meeting , call the first prince , the queen and the Church members , send the bishop a court summon. This matter will be dealt here and now! ". ------ ( Meanwhile , somewhere in Vanaheim ) Rudra gathered alongside his guild members. He told them " The quest for which I came here has gone sideways , now we need to deal with some scums of the society. Sorry , but let me clarify beforehand , now the quest is not for the guild but a personal help for me.". Karna put his arm on Rudra''s shoulder he knew Rudra well enough to know that he was feeling guilty about the change of events. However he was more than happy to help the guild leader even for private affairs. In Rudra''s original plan before meeting Ruby , he was going to save the elven princess to gain merits with King Frey and ask for a division of Elven archers to help him in his conquest for the city of Purplehaze as his reward. However after meeting Ruby , he wished to ask for her hand in marriage instead as reward. This was a problem , as it meant he would not get the help of the elven division for the conquest of becoming Purplehaze city overlord. He was prioritising himself over the guild. Hence he felt very guilty. He tried to give himself the excuse that even without the elven division he could still probably win Purplehaze city , albeit with much more difficulty. But if he did not ask for Ruby''s hand in marriage it would get difficult for him to do it later on. Jhonny asked Rudra outright " I dont mind lending a hand , but you owe me an explanation as to why ". Rudra blushed , he was embarassed to say the reason. However he owed them that much , hence he said " I have fallen for the Elven Princess. I met her once and I know it''s pathetic , but I think no beauty will ever be able to enter my eyes again. If we complete the quest then I can ask for her hand in marriage ". Now both Yume and Jhonny placed hands on Rudra''s shoulders , their eyes burning with passion. Yume said " Amitabha , the pursuit of love is a noble cause , this Yume will help you ". Jhonny said " Real men are not afraid of love at first sight. I appreciate your taste in Elven women , they are bountiful ". A big question mark hung on both Rudra and Karna''s faces , this reaction was unexpected. However yume and Jhonny looked at each other and nodded in understanding , as great old perverts they had fallen for women in first sight countless times. Hence they wished to help the junior. It was then that the royal guard approached. As they said " Honorary Bishop Shakuni , of the human race , you have been ordered to be brought to the royal court of Vanaheim ,by the order of the king his majesty Frey! to be tried for slandering of the royal family, you may choose to come willingly , or we are authorised to use force ". The guard said coldly , Rudra nodded he said " I will comply and come willingly , no need for restraining me ". The other three looked at each other perplexed , what did the leader get himself involved into? Isn''t he trying to court the princess? Then why is he being charged for slandering the royal family? Is he stupid ? /// Today will be potentially a 3 chapter day , one bonus for powerstones is guaranteed as we have hit the mark , we are also close for golden tickets hence even that is possible . Shoutout to immortal_nova for the 500 coin gift!! Thankyou for the patronage! /// Chapter 191: The court summon Rudra was summoned to the Elven court. The court was filled to the brim with court officials , members of the Church , the royal family. The second queen , the queen , princess Ruby , first prince Rumi and King Frey. King Frey sat on his throne as he looked down on Rudra and his crew who were surrounded by Royal guards. Frey said " Today , we have convened this royal court session , as the Honorary Bishop of the Church '' Shakuni '' has made bold claims slandering the Royal Family. He calls himself an Oracle capable of recieving divinations from the goddess and has accused that the first prince is not a high elf and not my son , but a son born from an illicit affair between the Queen and a mere servant. That he does not have the blood of the goddess in his veins ". Loud chatters and murmurs broke out everywhere , the royal court had became a mess , between those chatters some words spoken loudly were . " BLASHPHEMY ". " THE QUEEN IS A S***". " AN ORCALE? " " He''s a HUMAN". However both the first Queen and the first prince paled , they knew all this was true. But inside this royal court , they could not run , they could not hide. They were already here. The first prince shouted " SLANDER! , U should cut the throat of this human , human''s are deceitful and disgusting species , we cannot take the words of a human at face value. If I was not a high elf , It would have been found out long back. My blood is rich in vitality , it oozes with mana , it is as pure as any other high elf in this room". Many heads nodded , the prince''s blood indeed contained the vitality of a high elf there was no doubt about it. Maybe the human was lying ... Humans could really not be trusted. Someone shouted " You liar , how dare you slander the prince , you will pay the price of your uncouth tongue ". " KILL HIM! ". "lying human!! ". This is where the members of the Church stepped in , the cardinal said " King Frey , I will not stand idle as the Honorary Bishop of the Church is being disrespected in your court.". Following his declaration the paladins from the Church drew out their weapons. The royal guards pulled out theirs in retaliation . The environment overall was extremely combustible. Just a little spark and an all out war would start. However , just then a voice was heard " SILENCE ! " , It was King Frey. " No one will speak in this court without permission now , or you will be jailed in the dungeons for three days ". He declared. There was pin drop silence in the court. The paladins and the royal guards sheathed their weapons. King Frey said " Explain to me Honorary Bishop Shakuni , how do you respond to these charges ". Rudra looked unfazed as he said in a calm yet domineering tone " It is indeed true that I recieved a divination from the goddess, in that divination I saw the princess denying the incestual advances of the first prince , leading to him murdering her .... ". " SHUT YOUR TRASH MOUTH ". Rumi exploded in anger. However before he could say anything more , BAM! he was kicked square in the gut as the wind went out of his chest. He was detained by 5 royal guards. Frey looked coldly on his son as he said " No one speaks without permission , after the court is over , you will spend three days in the dungeon ". The room was terrified , the king was too cold. Imprisoning his own son. If he could to that to his son , they stood no chance of escaping punishment. It was better to not open their mouths. Rudra continued " The first prince is a scum , however it is not a surprise as her mother is a scum. Sleeping with a servant , as for the blood in his veins is emitting the strong vitality is because his mother has smuggled the vial of a precious treasure from the royal vault a few days after his delivery and replaced it with dyed water. The first prince has had repeated infusions of diluted dragon blood for him to immitate the mana of a high elf , as for wether I am saying the truth or the lie , I think it can be verified easily ". Silence .... The room dint dare speak a word , however everyone knew that the aftermath of this event would have far reaching effects. Frey asked a servant to verify the claims that Rudra made . He silently glanced at the first queen and he could see the anxiety on her face. She would not look him in the eyes. It was a face of someone guilty. Frey already knew at this point that the honorary Bishop was speaking the truth. He spoke his mind fearlessly and with gusto. He had absolute faith in his words. A few minutes later , the servant returned with an artifact that was supposed to store dragon blood but instead indeed had dyed water. Frey coldly poured the water out of the artifact , as he eyed the first queen with a murderous glint. There were audible gasps heard all around the room , as the crowd realized that his story was indeed correct. What does this mean for the kingdom? Ruby eyed Rumi with disgust , she was extremely apalled by that man . Rumi seeing the disgust of his beloved towards him glared at Rudra , the instigator of this event. He would not let this slide. He would escape this place here , and he would have his revenge. Frey barely suppressing his anger asked the first queen Pelopne " How do you explain this event ". Pelopne was taken aback when Rudra had caught her trickery and soo accurately at that .... Was he really a Oracle? Who had recieved a divination? However she was a sly woman , she would not go down soo easy. She said " I have no involvement in the disappearance of the dragon blood , this is pointless slander. I have only had one lover in my life , and that is the king ". The proof was not definite yet. She could not be convicted on suspicion. She played her hand perfectly. However too bad for her , the opponent was the mastermind himself. She had actually fallen right into his trap. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target keep it up guys! /// Chapter 192: Court summon (2) Rudra raised his hand like he was in school , waiting for Frey to give him permission to speak. Frey said " You may speak Bishop Shakuni ". Rudra said " May I suggest a way to verify the claims of her majesty the Queen? ". Everyone was take by surprise , the honorary Bishop was indeed a resourceful person to say the least. Pelopne glared daggers at Rudra ... Was this man only be satisfied by her ruin and nothing else? What was his motive behind his actions anyway , he was not a part of the kingdom , he would not benefit with interfering with their world , then why? Why was he doing this? Frey nodded , he asked Rudra to elaborate. Rudra said " the elven kingdom should be in possession of the flames of Truth. Made from the fires of the flame god Agni himself , the flames turn from Blue to red in someone is lying and to green if they say the truth. Why not use the artifact to verify the Queen''s claims , King Frey ". Frey arched an eyebrow , he did not expect the foreigner about the flames of Truth. It was a legendary grade artifact and the only one in the world , a priced collection of the Elves its existence was very highly protected. Frey marked Rudra , it was mostly because the guy was genuinely a Oracle , that is why he knew things others would not know , however in the off chance he was not. Then he was someone who needed to be monitored closely , he knew too much ! ". Pelopne said " My dear , we do not need to verify my words , the queen of the elves will not face any questions about her moral character. ". She pleaded with fear evident in her voice to Frey. She knew that if the flames were indeed brought out here she would be caught. There would be no more escape. Frey already knew that Pelopne was guilty , but he had to save the face and prestige of the royal family , even just for show. Hence he said " I will bring out the flames Bishop , but you will put your freedom on the line , should you be found to be lying , you shall be imprisoned in the dungeons and whipped hundred times everyday for the next 3 years , do you accept it ". He questioned Rudra , Pelopne beamed , he hoped that this would deter Rudra. But Rudra only instantly agreed , he said " Sure ,I agree ". Frey nodded , he told his general to bring out the flames. It was at this point , that Rudra started explaining his plan to Jhonny , Yume and Karna. Jhonny was tasked with not letting a seemingly unimpressive minister escape the court. While Yume was tasked with restraining the Royal prince once he bolts. Finally Rudra murmured to Karna about his bit in his ears. Karna''s eyes widened in shock , but he quickly agreed. 5 minuted passed and the flames were brought in the court. The dazzling blue flames were beautiful to watch , even though they were only as large as a plate. They burned soo intensely that the temperature of the room increased by almost 5-7 degrees because of its presence. Frey motioned towards Pelopne saying. " Go on , prove the human wrong , let''s get this over with Dear ". His eyes gleaming coldly , the way he said let''s get this over with , made Pelopne feel a deep chill down her spine , it felt like he was threatening to kill her life. Walking slowly towards the flame , Pelopne suddenly tried to bold away and towards the exit. However before she could even take three steps the royal guards had snubbed her to the ground and restrained her. Pelopne started to wail " You barbarian Frey , how dare you let your wife be questioned like that. I spit on you , yes I cheated on you with a servant , but that is because u only had that bitch Sara in your eyes , I was never loved for , never cared for , it was only one night but the servant got me pregnant , his seed was much more potent than yours which failed ten ti....". Before she could complete her words , her head flew off her shoulder. She was dead! Killed in the court before hundreds of people by the royal guards . The queen of the Elves was a cheater and the first prince was a bastard who was not even a high elf! The once silenced crowd erupted In clamours , this was an earth shattering event for the Elven kingdom . Rumi knew he had no more options left , he could only use his ultimate skill and escape from this place. However not before killing Ruby first. If she could not become his , he would not let her become any one else''s either. He was only waiting for his chance. And that chance appeared when the king rose from his throne to pick up the decapitated head of his mother. He felt very bad that his loving mother was dead , however he committed the name and face of the culprit behind her death , the honorary Bishop Shakuni and swore to avenge her someday. Finally he activated his special ability invisibility as in the chaos he silently disappeared from all eyes. Dagger in hand he planned on assasinating the princess before escaping. The royal guards around him suddenly panicked , as the prisoner they were guarding had suddenly dissapeared , their detection skills could not find him . Rumi was very confident in his skill , as it stemmed from a semi legendary artifact , it avoided all detection spells and made one dissapear to naked vision. However unbeknownst to him , a certain vice guild master of the True Elites guild , had closed his eyes. Using his minds eye to scan the room , he could still see the wicked prince with his dagger out.... Karna smiled , he got him! /// Bonus chapter for the reaching the golden ticket target. Releasing two chapters back to back enjoy! Hopefully tommorow will also be a 3 chapter day like today , and we can complete more targets! /// Chapter 193: Saving the Princess The royal guards panicked , they were looking for the first prince everywhere. Frey noticed the commotion and tried to locate the bastard too. Rudra took out the Elven sword and Excalibur , as he rushed infront of the princess , vigilant of any and all incoming attacks. Although he was infront of the princess , his swords crossed , making a protective stance around her , he was only looking at Karna. Karna was tracking the bastard through his minds eyes and was waiting for him to be in range , when Rumi made his move , he gave Rudra the signal. Rudra made his move at that very instant. Using the Elven swords sepcial move World Slash! A move containing 400% of Rudra''s max attack power. It was a unstoppable attack. Splash ! Critical hit! -34,000 Rumi came back to everyone''s vision , Dagger in hand , as he was cut clean in half. His upper half being seperated from his lower half , he was killed a horrific death. He kept mumbling " Impossible ... Impossible ... Ruby''s mine .." before entering eternal rest. The room went silent , as Frey looked at Rudra with complicated eyes. The guy had definitely saved his daughters life. But that sword and that move he used..... It is definitely the Elven sword , used by the first king of the Elves , the great high elf Gondolin. The room broke into uproar , the despicable First prince had tried to assassinate the princess. The moment the prince was killed by Rudra. Yume silently snatched away the semi legendary artifact from his dead body. It would be a great help to one of the assasins in the guild. SMG could benefit greatly from the item. However Frey was not the only one who noticed Rudra''s sword. The elven council familiar with the folk Lore also understood the move Rudra unleashed was not normal. Someone shouted " That was the World Slash , that is the elven sword, the elven sword has accepted a human as a master ". " The first king''s sword ". " The first king''s sword has a human master ". " That bishop gained the swords recognition ". Frey said " Honorary Bishop , may I enquire where did you obtain that sword , and has it binded to you ". Rudra did not know about this bit at all , no-one had claimed the elven sword in his past life , and the item had nothing about the first elven king written in its description. He said " It was a gift from a friend. It acknowledged me in a tough battle as its master ". There was more uproar..... " The Bishop , the Oracle , the wielder of Elven sword , The one who unearthed the conspiracy ." Many words were spoken about Rudra . The cardinal thought it was a right moment as he and the paladins flung to the cover of the Church''s Bishop. His eyes full of reverance and respect. Rudra indeed behaved and mentained the dignity of a church official throughout the court. He was in high spirits , the Church finally had a Oracle after 150 years. Who was undoubtedly a great warrior too. However , at this moment Rudra said " My work here is not done. The goddess showed me one more enemy , who I have to deal with ". Rudra pointed his sword , at one of the unassuming courtiers standing in the corner. The eyes of the courtier widened in shock when Rudra pointed his sword at him. He wasted no time after that , dropping a paralyzing mist potion on the ground and bolting for the exit. However too bad for him , Jhonny was there to stop him. Rudra had long given Jhonny the instructions to stop the man . Jhonny took out his epic rated cane sword , as he swung it clean towards the bolting ministers neck. The minister momentarily lost his balance when the assasin suddenly came out of stealth to block his exit. Hence to avoid the sword slashing his neck , he let himself fall flat on his bum. However too bad for him , that momentary fall. Let the Royal guards catch up to him. As he was restrained. He felt the entire situation to be unbelievable , how did the Bishop snuff him out. There was no other explanation other than that he was truly the Oracle. There was a new great threat to his organisation and although he would die here now , he would make sure to inform them . Using a forbidden technique to kill himself in exchange for passing on a information scroll the minister died before he was interrogated. Just as he died , his white smooth elven skin , turned dark chocolate. " DARK ELF " someone shouted in disgust. The minister was a Dark Elf , an enemy of their entire race. That disgusting bastard had been living amongst them as a minister for soo long. Who knows how many secrets of the state he sold out. Frey closed his eyes , sitting on his throne , today a typhoon had hit his kingdom. If not for the Oracle helping him in time , god knows what could have happened. " SILENCE ". He shouted. " Thank-you Honorary Bishop Shakuni , you have done a great meritorious service to the Kingdom of Elves , not only did you expose the wrongs of the Queen and the First prince , but you also saved my daughter from assasination and uncovered a Dark Elf spy in our midst. You are also in possession of one of our First king''s treasure the Elven sword. I would have respectfully asked you to returned it and replaced with a sword of similar quality. , however now that you have binded with it , we can only let the matter go. However for all the meritorious services you did for the kingdom , I king Frey , the 14 th monarch of the Elves , grant you one wish , I will grant you anything you wish for that is within my power. You may Ask for what you want ...". /// Good job everyone we have completed the golden ticket target yet again , hence there will be a bonus today. Special shoutout to kingspy25i for the 5000 coin gift!!! Thankyou for the big gift brother. I will work extra because of the support you showed. /// Chapter 194: Your boy aint no simp Frey had given Rudra one wish. Any wish that he wanted .... Rudra only had to ask. He could have asked for the legendary item Flames of Truth. Or some other extremely precious Elven treasue. Rudra knew what he wanted to ask for , he badly wanted to ask for the princesses hand in marriage. And the AI had made it soo that if he asked for it he would be engaged to her with a quest to marry her. However at the moment where he was to actually ask for her hand in marriage , Rudra hesitated. His mind was clouded and his heart felt heavy , it was not the elation he was expecting to experience. He felt like asking for the hand of the princess was infinitely more difficult than he initially imagined , like it went against his core principles itself. He looked at Karna at that moment , who was smiling and supportive of Rudra. It was at that moment that Rudra realized what he was missing. It was his amazing guild. His only desire in this life was to give his parents a good life. Send little Max to a good school and cure his mother of her illness. He also had a desire to humiliate those who humiliated him , Nitin Advani was not a threat to him anymore , he was safely living in the upside with Ethan Grey as his partner and brother. The only mission that was left to complete was becoming the Strongest Guild master and make his guild the True Elites the best damn guild on the planet. A flood of memories of his struggles came in his mind , the wars , the dungeon runs , the celebrations , the tension. The guild members revered him as a leader. His authority was unquestionable in the guild. How could he selfishly put his own interest before the guilds? Is this really him? Rudra looked at Princess Ruby at that moment , she was looking at him with puppy eyes , apparently gratified that he saved her life. Ruby had a swarm of emotions ongoing inside her , the Oracle had actually helped her , he had helped the entire Elven Kingdom , her own brother would have killed her without his help. He was her knight in shining armour. The Slash he did using the Elven sword , was soo strong it made her feel like it could cut the world in half. She had never felt this way before , her heart was beating fast. When Rudra looked towards her , she did not know why , but she blushed. Rudra saw Ruby''s cute expression , and his raging emotions calmed down , he knew he liked this girl. He knew he wanted to marry her if possible. However when he weighed that against his dream and the True Elites. She lost everytime in that matchup. For him his guild was his priority. He had to choose here ,the road to becoming the strongest guild master was not easy. But that was his dream that was his determination. He looked at Princess Ruby again , now with cold eyes as he thought '' Sorry princess , but Guild leader Shakuni ain''t no SIMP ! ''. Rudra turned his gaze over from her and towards King Frey , Frey was watching Rudra with anxiousness. Rudra could literally ask him for the priceless Elven treasures and he would be forced to comply. That was the way of the elves, they honored those who helped them. Rudra took a deep breath as he said " Your majesty , I am a guild master of a guild in Hazelgroove kingdom , there will soon be a scuffle to decide the overlords of various villages , towns and cities. Hence , I would request your majesty to lend me a Elven archer division to aid me and my guild members for this conquest, I swear by my honor , I will not put the Elven division intentionally in harms way , and return them to you after my conquest is complete". Frey''s eyes widened in shock , of all the treasures in the Elven kingdom , the Bishop chose to request for a Elven archer division to help him in his ambitions. Frey''s evaluation of the Bishop went up by a lot , he did not take unnecessary advantage of the Elven generosity. Frey smiled , he liked the human Bishop , it was worth building ties with him , especially since he was a Oracle too. Frey said " The first division of archers commanded by sir Legolas ,will be lended on a 3 month loan to you. Sir Legolas will be instructed to follow your commands to the best of his abilities but he will still retain authority regarding risking the lives of the elves , since you did not overstep the limits of generosity shown by us , I king Frey will bestow upon you and your guild a entry permit into Vanaheim. Any member of your guild is welcome in the kingdom of Elves. If in future you make a teleportation formation in your city. The Elves will be open to connecting it to the teleportation formation in the marketplace". Frey declared. Rudra''s eyes widened in shock , he was not only bestowed with the best Elven division , the first division headed by Sir Legolas , but also given invaluable benefits. This was 100% worth it. Rudra bowed in gratitude. The turmoil in his heart had calmed , he knew he made the right decision. He looked up and took one more look at the Elven princess , he sighed thinking '' Maybe some other time ''. He smiled and gave her a wink. Before bowing again and taking his leave from the court. Karna , Yume and Jhonny gave him raised eyebrows looks , but all had a smile on their face. They understood that the leader made a tough choice , but he chose the guild above everything else in the end. Jhonny and Yume wanted to explain to Rudra , after seeing the beauty that the Elven princess was themselves that he was a man with Great taste in women , however Rudra was flooded with officials from the church . He had to deal with the aftermath of declaring himself as the Oracle . /// Bonus chapter for reaching the golden ticket target. Ps:- Rudra will not always be single , there will be a slow romance plotline. /// Chapter 195: Expansion. Rudra had a hard time with the officials of the Church , however he had somehow gained over 5000 reputation points with the Church of Light as a result. 3000 more and he could be promoted to the position of Honorary Cardinal! Then he could mobilize paladins under the Church''s banner. He had no interest in becoming a Cardinal though , it was not worth working towards , he would let nature take its course with this one , if in the future he would cross paths with a quest that raised his reputation with the Church , then he would take it. But he would not go out of his way to earn the missing reputation points. The first division under Legolas had been ordered to mobilize in 3 days time. They would arrive in Purplehaze city 5 days later. That was the perfect time , as according to Rudra''s reincarnation knowledge , only a week was left untill the conquest of cities started. It was a week since the second update and today should be the day where the conquest was officially introduced. Yume , Karna and Jhonny were very supportive of Rudra throughout the journey back to Hazelgroove kingdom , as they understood that the man had made tough choices. Rudra was thankfull for this as he needed it. Images of Princess Ruby kept flashing his mind , and he knew that he would not be able to get her out of his mind anytime soon. However , he did not regret his decision to ask for the archer division. His goals were too big for him to succumb to personal desires. He had not given up on the princess , only that the time was incorrect. Someday he would go back for her to Vanaheim. Coming back to Purplehaze , Rudra engrossed himself in preparatory work for the coming scuffle. Meetings were scheduled with each of the elders as reforms were started to be made in the guild as well. Department heads were introduced under Elders , who would be looking at the day to day working of specific departments. The legislative and administration division of the True Elites was expanded , now including Amelia as An elder and Pinklotus as Department Manager. 50 new recruits were added in this division , who were handpicked in the real world with knowledge about running a successful administration. Professors of Macroeconomics , Societal behaviour , Cultural heritage and many more from prestigeous universities such as Harvard and Stanford were hired at astronomical pays and made to sign non disclosure agreements. About 700 new lifestyle players were hired by the guild , A new department manager was appointed in Alex Hudson , a talented architect who was famous for his artistic building designs and unique construction ideas. He had also majored in human resource management in real life , and was hailed as the number one architect in Hazelgroove kingdom. The Lifestyle guild was to see rapid expansion, Except the potionology department directly under Fatty Kalash , the other departments would see a blended approach , with inter reliance and standard manufacturing practices. Rudra had planned on opening one flagship Elite lifestyle store in every major city in the continent in the coming future. He planned on opening 21 new locations. Making Elite lifestyle a continental brand. Hence he wanted to standardize the product lists and shop layouts. Naturally that meant he overloaded Fatty with work. Why was he preparing this stuff before the struggle for becoming city overlords even started? , It was because he knew that following the city supremacy struggle , the landscape of the game would change forever , and land prices would soar. He was preparing to move fast , while competition was still low. While Rudra , Karna , Jhonny and Yume were away on the mission , Rudra had entrusted SMG to conduct preliminary rounds of Elite recruitments for the assault guild. There were over 100,000 applicants wishing to join the Elites , however after SMG''s preliminary vetting only a small total of 2000 were left. This was a abysmall number. The Elites recruitment standards were soo high that 98% of the applicants failed the preliminaries. After the first and second round only 1200 applicants were left. Of which Rudra looked at the personal profiles of the remaining candidates , and those he found shady or those who had no families and nothing to loose and could hence could be bribed or bought , were rejected. Those who were selected were given a promised contract and a monthly pay of 100,000 dollars , and were asked to move to the Elite tower along with their families. Only those who finally accepted the conditions and moved into the upside were finally accepted into the guild . Overall the guild saw a massive upgrade in numbers , the total elites were increased to whopping 2100 members. 50 New logistic members , 700 new lifestyle members and 800 new Assault squad members were added to the already existing member count , hence bringing the total head count at 2100 Elites. More and more people had quit the service guild however and the numbers had dwindled to 9987 service members of the initial 100,000. The rest chose to reset their accounts. With this shuffle , the service division was also put under the logistics division headed by PinkLotus . The assault division was headed by vice guild master Karna himself. Apart from that a secret subdivision called the intelligence division was also formed. Headed by SMG , its main job was to monitor certain targets and people in other main cities in the coming future for intel gathering purposes. However they were not a official divison as such as they were designated only under the assault member banner. The inauguration ceremony of the new members would be conducted in 2 days time , where a massive celebration would take place. However before that , the much awaited announcement came . SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT : In one weeks time at 12:00 AM GMT , the city domination event would take place across the map.... /// Good job on completing both the powerstone and the golden ticket targets. We will have two bonus chapters today as a result. Keep up the good work! Hope you enjoy the coming overlord of Purplehaze city arc /// Chapter 196: The rules SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT : In one weeks time at 12:00 AM GMT , the city domination event would take place across the map The rules of the event are :- 1) To event will span over 2 days (48 hours ) , where there will be a massive beast attack on every settlement in place. A mass curfew will be issued in the city for normal residents , hence no citizens would be out in the city in the duration of the event , all shops will be sealed to prevent looting and plundering and all NPC and government buildings will not be accessible. Merit points will be given for every beast slain , the guild with the highest merit points at the end of the event will be given the management rights for the city. ----> There will be a City token in every major city , the guild in possession of the city token at the end of the event will directly gain 100,000 merit points. -----> The local guards and military division will also actively combat the influx of beasts. Assisting them in getting rid of the beasts will also lead to gaining merit points. However obstructing them will lead to loosing merit points. NOTE :- The guilds will only gain management rights to the city , they will still need to submit to the monarch of the country , failure to do so will cause a war with the Royal faction. Banding of guilds and alliances are not allowed , only a single guild may gain management rights over a location. 2) A guild may apply to participate in 3 locations within their own kingdom , however they can only gain management rights to ONE location. Incase a guild wins over two locations , then they can choose and only gain management over a single territory , the other territory will be conceded to the guild with second highest merit points. If the guild with second highest merit points also has another location as their main base , then the territory will be ceded back to the ruling monarch as a union territory. --------- General overview for governing the territory :- Once the management rights to a territory are obtained by a guild , they will be required to pay a fix annual amount to the ruling monarch as tax. Other than that they will have autonomy over development of their respective territories and their management. A guild can implement their own administration and taxation systems , they can recruit their own military regiments , not exceeding 5% of the total city population. The managing guild will be responsible for public safety , health and hygiene of a city. Annual examinations will be held by the monarch of the country. Failing two times in the examination would result in loosing the management rights of the city. The city managing a territory may choose to blacklist other guilds from entering their city. Or imposing heavy tariffs on trade with particular factions. City wars would become open in the future exactly one year after completion of the city management event. A good clean city with good public order , low taxes , good culture would lead to more NPC migrating into the city. Increasing land prices and overall tax income. The converse is also possible , hence proper management of the territory is adviced. Getting a foothold by developing a good territory is beneficial towards a guilds overall development. Hence choose wisely what territory you want to choose to manage. Geographical location , current infrastructure of the place , total population , every factor must be considered before choosing . Good luck adventurers !! ---- The system announcement was here! Following the system announcement immediately a imperial edict by Emperor Aman was heard throughout Hazelgroove. Hazelgroove kingdom announcement : In a never before seen cataclysmic event , a massive beast tide is approaching the Continent. The military in itself would not be sufficient to deal with the event as it is at a scale where every small village to every big city would be affected. For every non combatant , they are strictly forced to undergo complete lockdown within their houses. In six days time when the beast tide arrives. This curfew Is not to be broken , offenders will be tried by the martial court for rebellion. The goddess''s blessed (players) who cannot die are requested to help with the beast tide , there will naturally be benefits to doing so , Hence I Emperor Aman have decided to implement a merit based system by which one may gain management rights to a territory by helping with the beast tide. The rules of the event are as follows ..... ( They were the same rules as in the system announcement. ) A similar imperial edict was issued continet wide with the same system. By each ruling monarch. The NPC ''s of the world had became terrified following the edict , however to the players this was only a large scale event and a massive opportunity. Every guild would pounce on the opportunity , a serious deliberation would be in place to discuss the potential territories to compete for. Although the event allowed a guild to register for upto 3 territories , it was stupid to dilute ur forces to one third numbers. Most guilds would only strategically compete for one or two locations. The second one being the Sureshot backup. Many factors came into play while choosing the territories to compete for 1) The lucrativeness of the location ( Bigger cities would have more competition) 2) Geographical safety ( wether or not the territory was defendable to external attacks ) 3) population and potential tax income. Every guild at the end of the day was there for this benefit. A good territory may earn millions of gold a month from taxes. Converting to real world money , it was billions of dollars!!!! To major corporations around the world this was a must have event , where the location they selected would become the backbone of their expansion and the foundation of their growth . First rate guilds would have fierce competition to gain rights over the bigger cities. The biggest one being ofcourse, The capital Purplehaze city. The seven day countdown had started .... It was the race to become overlords of Purplehaze city! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target! You guys are killing it , making me write a bonus chapter every single day! The bonus for powerstones is coming right next! /// Chapter 197: Welcome all! Two days passed in the blink of an eye as the time to welcome new Elites came close. The atmosphere in the guild shifted to that of members behaving like respectfull senior brothers from cultivation sects. Everyone wanted to create a strong Impression of themselves as the new batch of Elites arrived. Some were even rehearsing what they would say in deep voices. Rudra chuckled at this atmosphere , it seemed as if everyone wanted to convince the newcomers of how awesome the guild was. Rudra was the one who was least affected by the atmosphere. For him the guilds performance and it''s treatment towards the members was the most important. If the treatment was good and the goals were achieved , the morale would naturally remain high. The Elites already had a lot of prestige in the Hazelgroove region. He was not worried about the new members not being impressed. If anything they should feel blessed to be a part of the guild True Elites. It was a achievement in of itself , that of all the players out there , you are considered a True Elite. There were a lot of new members joining today. Rudra had decided upon this expansion taking into consideration that running a territory was not easy. To effectively manage the Purplehaze city talented individuals were needed , the existing workforce was pitifully low. Rudra decided to hold the welcoming ceremony this time inside the virtual world. Existing members lined up at the gate , in guild robes and with their signature grey mount by their side , there were two such rows , both facing each other making a passageway . The new members walked in the guild passing from between the two files , as the existing members tried their best to look cool as the juniors passed them. Clearly it worked , the dignity of the Elites , with the majestic grey direwolf intimidated the new members , it gave them a feeling that they had truly joined a big organization. When the new members passed by Skyla , some audibly gulped at her beauty. Some were throwing sneaky glances at Naomi , while some glaced at Yua. At the end of the two lines , stood the Elders , vice guild master Karna and guild master Shakuni. Smiling as they welcomed the new members. As soon as the new members were accepted formally , their clothes would change into the guild robes , and they would also get the signature grey direwolf mount of the Elites. They were then supposed to join the existing lines and expand it. By the time the last member officially joined , the file had extended to about 200 meters in length. There were 2100 Elites now. From various fields with various strengths , yet compared to the 570 or so initial Elites. The guild was bustling now. Rudra asked everyone to move to the guild hall , hence the mounts were recalled and everyone started to move towards the guild hall , excited chatter could be heard everywhere. The new members were extremely happy to get the new mounts , they could not wait to try them. They had never heard of every member getting a mount of the same species. When they had heard that all Elites use the same mount , they assumed that they would only tame the grey direwolf from the wild. However , the truth was that every member upon entry recieved a grey direwolf mount! They had never heard of any other guild that did this ... How the system allowed it , they had no idea... Was it a special quest? Is it a perk of being in a platinum guild? They had no idea . Not in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that the reality was that their guild leader had negotiated this feature from the cuber corporation. It was an exclusive feature for the Elites till the ban on bombs was still in place. The average player levels had risen to level 36, yet they were still a farcry away from the threshold set by cuber corporation for the use of bombs. Rudra knew that very well. Actually in the wars and the quests , levelling was a department he had consistently lagged behind on. Not just him but it was the situation with the entire guild. Neatwit was the only exception , who still focused on levelling up. The guild had once dominated the levelling rankings , holding all the spots one through ten. However now only ten Elites were in the top 100 spots. Neatwit still held the number one spot at level 54 , and SMG held second place at 52 , followed by Rudra at 51 , Rudra was only there because he levelled up thrice killing the Griffin with Jhonny , Yume and Karna. The average guild threshold was around level 49 , it was by no means a low overall level , with the global average being at level 36 they were sufficiently strong , however everyone in the guild was not satisfied with being above average , they were the True Elites!!! They had long resolved that after the conquest for city supremacy was over , they would completely focus on levelling up and getting stronger. Rudra took the stage as for the first time he saw a huge crowd three times the usual size in the guild hall. He smiled as he said " Welcome all new family members to the guild. I am the guild leader of this small guild , but I prefer to run it as a family. Soo for the new one''s here , let me give u a brief introduction about the power structure of the guild ..... ". Rudra paused , he looked at new members anxious faces. The older one''s were barely holding their laughter. " There is no power structure ..." He said in a low tone and the old members bursted laughing , even Rudra started to chuckle. " There is the vice guild leader Karna , he is an excellent warrior , a great commander and a good friend ". " There is the elder the talented Assassin SMG , I would not want to be in the shadows if he were the opponent ". " There is the talented head of Logistics Amelia , she is the heart and soul of this guild who bands the guild together , otherwise we would just be a bunch of misfits ". Amelia blushed at the complinment " There is the number one player in the level rankings , another terrific warrior , Neatwit , it''s a rare treat to see him in the guild hall, soo feast your eyes today. Because , most times he would be out levelling in the wild , never to be seen in the guild ". Neatwit awkwardly scratched his nose , it was true , he was seldom seen in the guild. "There is sir Jhonny English , a gentleman of discipline and a true professional , his skills far surpass even the most talented players in the guild ". Jhonny just nodded his head in response. He was calm and composed , but secretly he was extremely delighted , he liked the Shakuni kid a lot , he knew how to please the old man. " There is the bank and the backbone of the guilds economy Sir Fatty Kalash ". Fatty instantly frowned and glared at Rudra , how dare he introduce him with the fatty tag , this friend of his was in deep sh** now. Rudra said " All of them are elders , but they are elders to help the guild function better , their spot is earned through respect of the guild members and contribution to the guild. Or I have placed faith in them to do so in the future. There are no strict rules in the guild , members are usually free to do whatever they want , there is seldom a guild quest issued , but even that will be optional. You just have to work in a way that you feel is the best for your individual development and collective development of the guild. Should u fall , should you fail , then the guild shall have your back. Low finances? No problem the guild has you reimbursed , Bad equipment , no problem, the warehouse has a stock of the top notch weapons and equipments ! Problem clearing quests , ask other members for help ! Here in the true Elites we only live by one motto , and I hope you all make it your motto too ...". Saying that Rudra glanced at Karna and motioned for him to take the lead. Karna was embarrassed , but resolve soon filled his eyes. He cleared his throat as he shouted " ONE FOR ALL ". And the entire guild of old members joined in " ALL FOR ONE GO ELITES GO!!! ". energy filled the guild hall , even the new members could feel the comfort and conviction behind those words. This was not your average guild , everyone here benefited by the guilds amazing system and in turn voluntarily tried their best to contribute to the guild. It was a ideal system. One that everyone wished to achieve but could not. Only because of the unique structure of the True Elites guild was it possible . Rudra shouted " ONE MORE TIME GUYS ,NOW WITH EVERYONE ! ". He took the lead this time and the entire guild joined him. Every single member , at the top of their voice ! " ONE FOR ALL , ALL FOR ONE , GO ELITES GO!! ". The welcome ceremony was over , the new batch had integrated with the old one. The traditional batch 2 photo was clicked of all new recruits and hung on the guild wall alongside the batch one photo . Rudra looked at the new members excitedly chatting with the older one''s , talking about Omega , he smiled , he would let the members have today for fun , as come tommorow preperations for the city conquest would start at full swing. /// Sorry for the late bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target , making it over 1600 instead of the usual 1100 to compensate for the lost time. Shoutout to NeroZ for the 500 coin gift!! Thankyou for the patronage! /// Chapter 198: The Archer Division arrives The next day after the entrance ceremony the new members settled in and preperations for the coming event began in full swing. Rudra''s reincarnation knowledge played a major role in the lead up to the war. When it was announced that the NPC shops and buildings as well as all government buildings will be sealed. Many organisations understood the need to buy properties all around the city. However inspite of the climbing demand not a single guild was Abel to purchase a single plot of land in Purplehaze city. Only player owned shops and spaces would be available to be used against the beast tide. And the availability of a strategic location such as a house or a shop where one could place a medical and supplies unit , or a reinforcement centre was immense. Many posts were seen on the forums , many guilds were willing to buy land even at triple the market rate in specific locations. And they posted a message on the forums for the same. However Rudra was not interested in selling. He had land all over Purplehaze city. Tommorow piece by piece the archballistae would transported to the various shops and plot of lands. A total of 53 archballistae would be placed on the roof of Purplehaze city buildings that were atleast 3 story tall and owned by the guild. This was the biggest Equalizer that the guild possessed. Rudra was thankful to the alliance , as raiding their warehouses had provided the guild with ample supply of arrows and scrap metal. Ever since the update announcement was made , demand for weapons and arrows had skyrocketed , there were many bulk buyers but almost non existent sellers. It was careful planning that Rudra had already stocked up enough that the guild did not need to worry about the supply . Rudra was a aggressive purchase maker , he would reinvest 90% of the profits the guild made into improving the guild , he had not yet taken a single dollar in pay from the guild. He would spend the immense wealth of the Elites to make sure , that under no circumstances would the guild ever have any supply or equipment problems. He had already bought various products in bulk that costed him hundreds of thousands of gold coins currently , that will only increase in price in maybe two or three years down the line. But he was willing to hold that investment , as he had beleif in the guilds money making capacity. The gold mines + Lifestyle guilds income + Karna''s treasure loot from the dungeon + the heist of the royal vault + the loot from winning the war against alliance. Had filled the guild warehouse with gold to the brim . If one was to assume that True Elites would be one of the richest guilds in the continent , they would not be wrong. The Elites were definitely top 10 richest guilds of the continent. Yet , Rudra''s aggressive buying of land , of resources , generous bonuses to guild members , astronomical spendings at auctions resulted in the treasury in only being moderately rich in gold.However filled with countless items and treasures. Today was the day when Legolas and his first division of troops were scheduled to come , Rudra could not hide the arrival of the massive contigent of troops to his guild HQ. He had already gained a transit permit for their entry , his status as a duke and a won knight playing a big role for that. Otherwise a massive troop contigent marching towards a city would raise alarm flags everywhere around the country as a act of aggression. However Patricia had personally negotiated with emperor Aman for the permit , who was glad that a neighbour country''s contigent was coming over to help their contry''s peril of a beast tide. He granted the permit without any questions. This was only possible because the one to ask for permission was a Won Knight! The Won Knights had sworn fielty to the throne and could never betray the monarch . Legolas and 10,000 Elven archers marched into the city walls of Purplehaze city , immediately a lot of attention was drawn towards the enterouge of Elves who were marching in files , bows slinged over their shoulders and a quiver of arrows on their backs. The troops headed straight towards the inner city , and inside the Guild headquarters of True Elites. Massive waves and talking points erupted , a few days ago it was seen that guild leader Shakuni had entered the Elven city of Vanaheim successfully and now the Elves had marched into his guild headquarters. Many speculated the nature of their relationship , it did not seem hostile like the emmissarys from nine clouds kingdom that came knocking on the doors of Demolitionboys. However, the forums went wild with speculations , people used their innovative minds to create all sorts of conspiracy theories , however the fact of the matter was that the Elites had made it to trending news again. Rudra , Karna and Amelia welcomed Legolas and his first division at the guild grounds. Rudra went upto the legendary tier 3 archer and commander of Elven forces as he shook his hand in a firm handshake. Even though Legolas was a peak tier 3 archer , Rudra was not intimidated by him at all. He calmly looked him in the eye as he gave him a confident smile. Legolas had already heard about Rudra a lot before getting dispatched for the assignment. Rudra was the rumored Oracle , who had done great merit to the Elven kingdom by exposing to criminals and saving the life of their princess. The kingdom was indebted to this man , however upon being granted a favour to ask , he asked for the help of the Elves in this coming conquest. Legolas was shocked to see that he could not gauge Rudra''s power at all. Rudra''s eyes of truth blocked him from inspecting his stats , adding to the mystery of the benefactor of the Elves. Legloas said " Commander Legolas of first division , reporting for duty , for the next three months you may ask the first division for any reasonable demands and assign tasks , we will honor the Elven king''s words and will follow the instructions to the best of our abilities ". Rudra bowed politely he said " We are honored by your presence and the presence of the first division here in our guild. ". Legolas nodded then he said " We also have a guest travelling with us , if you will be gracious enough to provide appropriate lodging for her stay , I would be grateful ". Legolas said as he pointed towards his troops. The troops moved aside , to reveal surrounded by five maids , a gorgeous princess in pastel green dress. She was a beauty beyond compare , her fair white skin glistened under the sun , her delicate eyes and sharp nose gave her a allure that was inexplicable. Rudra''s heart raced , She was here .... Princess Ruby was here! /// Only a bit more golden tickets needed for the bonus , I hope we hit it soon! We are also enroute to hit 4K powerstones today , hopefully tommorow will be a 3 chapter day if all goes well. Shoutout to Gregory Michel for the 500 coin gift and to Mitchell Harris for the 1000 coin gift!!! , Thanks a lot guys , these small gestures are what keeps me motivated everyday to keep writing consistently. /// Chapter 199: Duty Rudra looked at Princess Ruby , a wave of emotions surging in his heart... However, his mind asked a question '' Why is she here? '' Ruby walked towards Rudra accompanied by her maids and politerly lift her dress to perform a salutaty bow and said " Greetings great Oracle , I apologise for coming abruptly without notice to your guild , I understand I came at a challenging time , however I felt uneasiness in my heart knowing that I could not serve the benefactor who saved my life and not return this immense favour. Please forgive me for my abrupt arrival ". Rudra was dazed for a moment , however Karna quickly recovered the situation as he said " It is our guilds Honor if the great elven princess came to visit our humble abode ". He elbowed Rudra to break him from his stupor. Rudra regained his senses as he smiled and said " You are most welcome in my guild , I will try my best to be a good host , and provide you with every luxury to make your stay here comfortable. But please forgive me in advance if I am unable to accompany you during your stay. It is a trying time for my guild and I may be flooded with work. I hope you can pardon my absence ". Legolas nodded , Rudra showed the appropriate respect to the Elven Princess while making it clear that his priority was the upcoming beast subjugation event. This was the way military officials were supposed to behave. He approved of the young man. Ruby also smiled as she said " Ofcourse , I understand that the guild leader has pressing matters at hand , I will be glad with whatever little time you can spare from your schedule". Rudra glanced towards Karna and scratched his chin ... Karna understood the signal , as he said " Please excuse us for a second ". Karna and Rudra moved a little away and out of earshot. Rudra sighed in releif as he said " Buy the most expensive decor and fit the best room in the guild with it. Do it fast , it''s okay to splurge , I''ll personally foot the bill , get it ready within an hour ". Karna nodded , he understood the assignment. He immediately selected a few members of the guild and took off to the local market. Thankfully it was not curfew day yet , and shops were still functional in the city . Rudra went back and chatted some more with Legolas and princess Ruby , as Amelia provided directions for the elven division to set up camp. One of the perks of having a platinum guild was that it had enormous size for its headquarters. One could imagine it to be like a massive University campus , where there are massive open grounds , a grand auditorium ( guild hall ) , lots of division buildings ( Areas like blacksmithing workshop , alchemy workshop) , Roads built inside for transportation, Green Gardens , a few architectural structures. And even dormitories. The guild was massive enough to easily accomodate a 100,000 people without feeling congested. And in a prime location like the inner district. It was all only possible because of the platinum creation token. The Elven soldiers were more than satisfied camping inside the guild grounds , it was a decent environment. Princess Ruby''s maid and commander Legolas were given appropriate lodging in the dormitories , with Legolas getting one of the best rooms reserved for the vice guild master for his stay. The room was ambient in mana and had a calming effect on those inside. It was one of the best rooms the guild had to offer ,second only to the one which was currently being prepared for princess Ruby. However Legolas was hardly moved by this gesture , his only focus was the coming event and he would much rather discuss strategy with Rudra than enjoy luxuries. And that''s indeed what happened , not even an hour after their arrival , Legolas , Rudra and Amelia were inside the guild conference hall , discussing about the attack patterns and strategies. Princess Ruby had also tagged along as her room was not yet ready. Rudra was glad that she came , however when talking about war strategies , he actually did not care about her presence in the room at all. Laser focused on his task , he explained to Legolas the strategy that he had formulated. From time to time Legolas would raise an eyebrow , Rudra ''s insight and planning were commendable , Legolas assumed that Rudra took certain measures because he was the Oracle who knew about the future already , and ignored the thoughts about how he knew such things. Giving his inputs on the situation from time to time , he and Rudra constantly refined the initial plan and shaped it into a full proof battle plan. Ruby silently sat through the entire meeting , observing Rudra, she was perplexed by how he would sometimes look at her as if she was the most prized treasure in the world and sometimes ignore her presence as if she was air. Her saviour was a mysterious guy , but seeing Legolas talk to him soo casually was a big shock to Ruby who had hardly seen Legolas interact with anyone ever. The way Legolas talked to him , it was clear that he approved of his military skills and battle tactics. This was the first time she saw this with anyone except her father. Through her interactions she understood that Rudra was a man who placed great importance on the development of his guild and everything else was secondary to him. However she did not despise this , if anything it was an endearing quality for her. Watching her father the king growing up , she knew that even though she was his beloved daughter and loved spending time with her , he was a king first and needed to work hard. Seeing the same quality in Rudra , she smiled as she thought ,'' maybe great men have similar qualities'' . /// Congratulations on hitting the golden ticket target ! The bonus will be released shortly. Only a bit more is needed for the powerstone bonus. And I sincerely hope we reach there soon. Big big big shoutout to Cervantez91 for the 10,000 COIN GIFT! , I don''t even know what to say anymore other than thankyou, the support that fans like you show the book is the reason I write everyday ! /// Chapter 200: Last minute Help. Rudra was sitting with the elders in the guild hall listening from SMG about the intelligence reports that needed to be discussed. In Rudra''s past life , Demolitionboys had gained control over Purplehaze city. They had ran rampant in the city''s management and were kicked out of power in the 3rd year for failing annual inspection twice. It was mainly because the guild was only focused on leaching gold of the territory and levied high taxes upon high taxes on the citizens. They expanded the military and spent a majority of the budget there , while not really developing the territory or providing benefits for that high tax rate at all. This resulted in lowering of the population in the capital and loss of public order. It came as no surprise as they failed their inspection twice in their second and third year in power . With the fall of the alliance , there was a vacuum of major players in Purplehaze city. The other first rate guilds of Hazelgroove knew this , and they were hungry for this territory. According to SMG''s intelligence report , a total of 171 third rate guilds , 52 second rate guilds , and 13 first rate guilds were willing to seriously deploy their forces to conquer Purplehaze city. Purplehaze city being the capital city was naturally the most sought after territory in Hazelgroove kingdom. The recent power vacuum had resulted in drawing a lot of wolves who were hungry for a piece of the pie. The sheer number of guilds shocked Rudra , there were only a total of 28 first rate guilds in entire Hazelgroove kingdom , for 13 of them to compete together for a single territory was not what he expected. In his past life there were the seven alliance guilds and Orange rock guild who were stationed in Purplehaze city , who competed along with two other first rate guilds bringing the total to ten for the city management rights. With him routing Orange rock guild and the seven alliance guilds from Purplehaze city , he assumed he would have a smooth sailing ahead with no real competition or a maximum of 3 other first rate guilds competing with him. However , he was very wrong in this assumption. He patted himself on the back for having asked for the help of the Elven Division as without them , the odds of his guild coming out on top were very slim. The first rate guilds that were participating all had atleast 100,000 members taking part in the event. Even if the average strength was weak and it took them 3 players to slay a beast in ten minutes on average , it was still 33,000 beasts slain . The Elites having about 1300 assault squad players would not have been able to match that output alone. Assuming each elite can slay 2 beasts every ten minutes alone. It would still be 2600 beasts. Even with the archballistae firing continually it would bring their output to about 22,600 beasts or so per ten minutes. In the duration of 48 hours even if they managed to secure the extra 100,000 points token , it would still be a wide gap that they could not have filled. Even with Legolas and his ten thousand strong archer division that were currently much stronger than the average player base at level 75 and tier 1. He assumed that the archers would take down about 3 beasts in ten minutes themselves making the Elites kill count to about 52,600 beasts every ten minutes. This would be fine if the opposing guild only had 100,000 members. But there were three first rate guilds from other big cities in Hazelgroove namely Frozen thorns ( 330,000 members ) Eternal rebels ( 275,000 members ) Twisting serpants ( 295,000 members ) That worried Rudra a lot , these three massive guilds had chosen to set sights upon Purplehaze city. Now it was true that they also had about 50-75,000 members fighting in other places making use of the feature to fight at three locations . The intelligence report suggested about 250,000 members fighting in Purplehaze from these three guilds. This put their kill count close to a terrifying 100,000 beasts for every ten minutes passed. Although , killing a beast would not provide one merit point and hence merit points and beasts slain were not proportional. Killing some beasts such as wyverns and three horned bulls would give 5 merit points per kill. Some beasts such as common fox and mutated sheep would only give a 0.1 merit point per beast slain . Hence although the victory and defeat was not purely dependant on number of beast slain , Rudra and his guild still stood a fair chance in this competition. But it was true that with the three titans also competing for Purplehaze , the race had gotten a lot more tougher. The intelligence report was worrisome , however just when Rudra was contemplating about what to do to normalise this disadvantage , a servant came in to the conference room and said " Guild leader Rudra , Patricia won knight is here for a visit ". Rudra''s eyes sparkled .... Help had arrived! When Rudra had visited Patricia he had requested her that she lend him a part of the Won Knights soldier division to help him protect Purplehaze city. Patricia knew that it was a shameless request and in reality Rudra wanted to use the won knight forces to secure his place as the guild leader who managed Purplehaze city. But since , Rudra would use the Won Knight forces to indeed fight against the beast tide , she said she would give him a reply after thinking about it. The won knight forces were ordered by the Emperor to fight against the coming beast tide , as a independent military unit under Patricia. However , Patricia decided to lend 15,000 of the 100,000 strong division under her to Rudra . She said " I will give u 15,000 troops , you better slay a lot of berserk beasts kid and return the soldiers back unharmed , or else you will have an extremely rough time in your next visit to won knight mansion , consider this as a favour as I donot wish to see you fail in gaining the management rights to the city , it is a show of faith as I assume you will do a good job of managing it. Donot let me down younger brother. ". Rudra launched into a hug , Patricia was a lifesaver. With the won knight soldiers also helping him he was now much more confident in winning the competition. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target ! Good job you all , you have already hit the next target at 1000 tickets , seems like I can''t keep up at all! One more bonus for golden tickets coming up next ! The book just hit a milestone at 200 chapters! Congratulations to us all! /// Chapter 201: Final preparations With the new found force that was the Won Knight foot - soldier division , Rudra was feeling much more confident about the upcoming competition. The soldiers provided by Patricia were all peak tier one at level 75. Their strength far surpassed a normal adventurers. Plus they were proficient in combat formations and military tactics. The soldiers were a cohesive unit who could work better together. Now that the matter of total forces was settled , he needed to decide on a plan of action. He had a rudimentary idea about what he wanted to do. But he was not foolish enough to think that he alone could come up with the best strategy. He decided to hold a meeting and take everyone''s views on his plan. In the guild conference room , Rudra and all the elders gathered , also Legolas , Princess Ruby , and deputy commander of won knight forces Gimli was present. Gimli had hit it with Legolas apparently as it was clear that both were very fond of each other , however had this rivalry sparked as to who was better. Rudra found this rivalry interesting to say the least. It was a good thing for him , as both had a friendly rivalry going on to see whose division would slay more beasts. Rudra unflurred a map of Purplehaze city on the table and explained.. " Okay , here''s what I have thought soo far. We have buildings all over the city. In these positions that are atleast three floor tall buildings , we will palce the archballistae ". Saying soo he took a red marker and circled all buildings where archballistae was to be placed in red. " These are all the one and two storey shops , here we will have medical units , supplies and nominal reinforcements. To help someone retreat to safety and heal the injured ". Saying so he circled the one and two storey shops with a blue marker. " These are all the open fields and unconstructed grounds we own in the city. We will build reinforcement camps here. With no more than 100 troops in each camp ". Saying so Rudra drew a yellor circle over all the open fields in Purplehaze city. The plan of action is this , if we observe the map carefully , we will find out that in districts 3, 5 ,7 and 12 we have the archballistae tower and reinforcement camp relatively close. It means that in these districts we will have a strategic advantage when holding the lines. If we hold the lines at street number 11 , 15 , 16 and 19 we can push forward , retreat and regroup easily without much hassle. With the archballistae covering the troops from height , you will only need to hold the enemy beasts to get them showered by arrows. Hence in these districts 4 districts we will let the strong won knight division hold the lines. With about 8000 troops. 2000 in each district. Gimli looked at the map and nodded. His Liege was a capable commander , he was feeling warm to see that another won knight had brilliant military mind. In districts 1,2,4 and 6 there is the archballistae towers and three of them at that in each district , bringing the total to 12 archballistae towers. , however only one reinforcement ground is available in these four districts. There are seven medical centers available though. Hence in these districts. Our strategy will be based around versatility. We will maneuver in areas around the archballistae towers and not stray further out. We will have smaller party of four players roaming these districts , at any sign of serious danger ,call for nominal reinforcements from the medical centre or fall back to medical centre and get yourself healed. For these districts , I wish to deploy 800 Elite players , 1000 Won knight soldiers and 1000 archers. Also Neatwit will be responsible for these districts. Districts 8,9,10,11 will be under Legolas and his Elven division. These are the most prosperous districts in outer city and have lots of high buildings and well built structures. I''m not as knowledge as sir Legolas in the military field and would not dare to give him pointers , the distribution of archballistae towers , reinforcement camps and medical units Is before you , please adopt the strategy you feel is best. Legolas nodded , he liked that the kid although a brilliant commander knew how to respect others too. Legolas was a esteemed Elven archer , he had fought more battled than Rudra had heard about. Their experience was not comparable. Also he knew the Elven division under him the best. Allowing him to work with a free hand was the best choice , and would lead to best results. Ruby who was silently observing the war discussions was mesmerized by it , the intricate panning and the serious atmosphere made her feel excited about the coming event. She was never allowed to watch such things in Vanaheim , she was soo happy to be here in Purplehaze City. Now for the inner district , it will be headed by vice guild master Karna and Me , it will be the area that the stronger monsters will target , and where the royal military would be most concentrated. Our task there would be to assist the military and obtain the 100,000 merit points token . About 300 combat guild elites , all lifestyle guild elites and the remaining won knight division troops will be here. The guild headquarters will be our base of operations , as we have no other property inside inner city. There are no archballistae towers or medical center''s here. And the fight will be most brutal , wether we can gain enough merit points to win the management rights or not depends on the performance here. Finally , SMG and his 300 assasin brethren under the guidance of sir Jhonny English will be responsible for information relay and disrupting other guilds in their kills. You will monitor all districts , relay information and serve as a link between all units. It is a crucial role I hope you guys fullfill it well. Jhonny nodded , he in his usual cool attitude said " don''t worry the opponents won''t even know what hit them! ". /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target of 4000 stones! Special shoutout to Josiah_templeton for the 1000 coin gift! Thankyou soo much for the patronage. /// Chapter 202: Recharging batteries The day of the war was almost upon them , with only 17 hours left before start of the event. Rudra gave everyone in the guild a mandatory 14 hour break and asked them to rest well before the fight started. All preperations were done , each guild member was loaded with advanced potions stacked in their inventory. They all had been assigned their respective roles and now only the battle lied ahead. While everyone else logged off from the game , to get some rest before the hectic upcoming 48 hours , Rudra still sat in the conference room thinking about all the possibilities , what could he have missed , what else can he do better . Rudra was just like that , he took the maximum responsibility for the guild , and even when he was physically and mentally at his limit he would not slack off , instead he would persevere for the guild. Ruby entered the conference room , and saw Rudra alone staring at the map. She quietly took a seat in the corner , without disturbing his line of thought. After a while Rudra burried his head in his hands and said " Stupid , stupid guild leader , who gave you the stupid idea of making a guild with soo few members , idiot , complete idiot , your foolish ideals will now only cause problems for you..... Ugh why can''t other first rate guilds stay in their own f***** cities , why do you have to come to Purplehaze with 250,000 members , and why do I have to deal with 3 such idiotic guilds , agghhh!!!! ". Rudra ranted Ruby was shocked to see such a side of the careful strategist and dignified guild leader. Then she bursted out laughing. Rudra was instantly jolted back to reality , he was shocked to see Ruby sitting there. His face turned from shock to embarassment in a flash , as it turned red. Seeing Rudra ''s cute expression Ruby laughed more. It gave the shyly glancing Rudra a very beautiful image of her full smile. Rudra''s heart clenched in his chest , he found her smile ethereal. He said embarrassed " Sorry ,I did not know you were in here .... Did you hear everything I said ? ". Ruby nodded , wiping a small tear from her eye that came because she laughed too hard. Then she said " Don''t worry guild leader Shakuni , if you won without your ideals would the victory really be worth it? .. it maybe harder to win with your ideals intact. But the victory will sure be worth it. ". She said as she smiled. Rudra felt soothed by her consolation , that''s right , the victory was only worth it if it was with his family the Elites. Rudra said " You are very wise princess ". Ruby replied " Father never let me practice real combat , although I was taught archery and self defense I have never even killed a rabbit. My world was my books , I have read a lot , about psychology , geography , science and magic, it is those books that made me wise ". Rudra nodded , he understood that the princess had a thorough education. Rudra teased " wise and beautiful , you are the perfect princess aren''t you ". Ruby blushed , she had never been teased soo brazenly before , she was unable to retort. Seeing her crystal white skin turning red , Rudra laughed , her small pointy red nose was too cute for him to handle. After a while Ruby asked shyly " Do you really think I am beautiful? ". Rudra replied looking in her eyes , with all honesty " The most beautiful girl , I have ever laid my eyes on ". Ruby''s blush turned a deeper red , she had men trying to gain her attention everyday in Vanaheim , yet she never had such a reaction to their flirtatious comments. But infront of Rudra who would actually look at her with eyes saying that she was indeed the most beautiful girl he had ever seen , her defenses would crumble , turning her skin hue red. Rudra tapped her nose with his finger as she said " have some rest Princess ". And walked out of the room. His heart was racing with all kinds of emotions , however he knew he had to get out of that room before he lost control of his mind. He had a major event upcoming and he could not be distracted. ---- ( Real world , Elite tower ) Rudra was inside the Elite tower in real world , most of the guild members had went to sleep , but he still had a meeting to do with Ethan Grey and he could not slack off yet. Afterall Ethan was a 30% partner in the guild. Even though Rudra had autonomy over guild matters and Ethan never interfered , Rudra still wanted to inform of their progress. He talked to Ethan about the upcoming event and his plans , Ethan carefully nodded and tried to understand. Ethan knew a bit about Rudra''s plan when he asked him to recruit some administration personal that could run a government. However only now was he hearing the full version of it. Ethan''s eyes widened when he understood that if Rudra could somehow gain control over the entire Hazelgroove kingdom someday , it would be equal to having a trillion dollar corporation under his hands. Only now did Ethan understand the gravity of the upcoming event. And why winning it was necessary for Rudra. It was a small step in the grander picture. However an important one. Rudra had been working non - stop for soo many hours that he was constantly yawning in his meeting with Ethan , Ethan could see how drained Rudra was. As the meeting progressed Rudra''s body posture started to slouch as he leaned his head on the table as he spoke. After the meeting was over , he just looked at Ethan and said , m sleeping here for a while and dozed off. Ethan laughed , seems like his younger brother was working too hard. It was then that Naomi entered the room. Apparently she had some buisness about Mithun ambani to discuss. ---- If you are reading this book on any site exept webnovel you are supporting pirated content .... Please do not support piracy ! You can read the same content on the original publishing platform webnovel. If you are looking for more latest chapters please read the book on webnovel. ---- Ethan put a finger on his lips as he pointed towards Rudra , telling Naomi to not make a sound. Naomi looked at the drooling guild leader sleeping as she chuckled. She had seen him play with max before and seeing him now she could confirm that the mature guild leader was a child at heart. She found this quality extremely endearing. Ethan and Naomi proceeded to a seperate room and discussed about their matters. While coming out Naomi saw the sleeping Rudra. She sighed , she asked an attendant to make good coffee and bring a blanket. She covered Rudra with a blanket and put coffee beside him with a note that said '' Drink up ! We need you at your best! ''. She was about to leave but seeing the defenceless cute guild leader of theirs , she could not control her urge. She ruffled his hair and ran away blushing as if she did a mischievous act. Rudra sleeped in peace with 9 hours left till the event started! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target. Good job everyone! /// Chapter 203: Start of the event Rudra woke up refreshed , he was shocked to see a coffee and a note beside him as he woke up. He did not know who wrote the note but whoever it was had beautiful handwriting. Rudra smiled , he was feeling upbeat because of this small gesture. He went down the Grey tower elevator and out of the tower , as everyone from the staff politely bowed and greeted him. It was no secret by this point that Rudra was a bigshot in Omega and quite close to the boss Ethan Grey , everyone wanted to be in his good books. Rudra had a chauffeur waiting on him , to take him back home , but since it was only 1km away , Rudra decided to take a quick jog to freshen himself up. Rudra did light stretches as he jogged towards his house. Feeling energized and positive about the coming event. He knew he had to be at his best , he had good odds of winning , it was not as hopeless as the war against the alliance , as he was actually strategically prepared. However his victory was far from set in stone. Rudra went home , quickly greeted his mom and dad , and gave little Max a hug. As he went into his room and into the virtual world. He saw the familiar graphic of Welcome to Omega , before he was teleported back inside his guild hall in Purplehaze city. -------------- ( True Elites guild hall , Purplehaze city , Subjugation of beasts special event ) The atmosphere inside the guild had taken a sharp turn , only three hours remained untill the event started , and members were starting to deploy to their respective posts in respective districts. The medical team had already dispatched , while the lifestyle guild had completed the task of ensuring that appropriate supplies were distributed and the archballistae were correctly mounted. The members inside the guild were now covered in full combat gear , contrast to the usual guild robes , as everyone seemed pumped for battle. SMG and Jhonny nodded towards Rudra as they took their leave. Followed by the 300 assasins , who were ready to start the intel relay going. Neatwit , covered in full armour also took his leave , as he with the other 800 Elites went towards their assigned districts. Neatwit had already organized them in smaller groups according to their classes to create a mini balanced unit. Legolas and Gimli had apparently already gone to their respective districts , as only a nominal amount of troops could be seen in the guild headquarters. There were about 100 elves that stayed in the guild HQ that were there to only ensure the safety of Princess Ruby. And from the 6000 won knight troops under him ,he assigned 200 more to the guild headquarters for additional safety and also stationed two elite members to relay information incase of emergency. Karna came in jogging , covered in full battle armor and greeted Rudra. Rudra patted him on the back , Rudra knew that Karna would be under heavy pressure today. However he trusted his friend. Yume was also with the group , as he was in his usual monk clothes , he bowed and did a polite namaste to the other two members. Yume was going to be the game changer today. Rudra knew it , his safety was of the utmost priority. Rudra asked Karna " how do you feel? ". Karna replied " Pretty good , I am fighting with guild leader Shakuni of the True Elites , victory is assured ". Rudra smiled , embarrassed. But he did not refute his words. Instead with determination he said " Yes , we will win! , We must win ! ". The countdown hit to 5seconds ...4...3....2...1 SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT : Beast subjugation event under progress , time left 48:00 hours , Respawn will be unavailable for the duration of the event. Incase you die you will be unable to login untill the event is over Good luck adventurers ! Many were shocked to see this announcement , what do you mean respawn will be unavailable? It was not mentioned in the event description before!! Some guilds were taken aback , they had not prepared for such a scenario , they had asked the members to go all out , if they die they would compensate them for every death. They only needed to kill as much as they can. But now with this restriction they needed urgent change of plans. Our reincarnator long since knew about this , hence he was not worried , most of his forces were NPC troops who did not have a Respawn option. Hence they would only fight like their life depended on it. Sometimes Rudra felt as if , was the reason that the NPC were better than the players because they fought as if they had only one life? Did giving respawn to players make them complacent? . However his line of thoughts were broken as a screeching cry entered his ears. A wyvern flock had appeared in the skies of Purplehaze city. The event had started , the merits gained counter was up , showing a 0 sign infront of all guilds. The fight for supremacy of Purplehaze city started now! Rudra nodded towards Karna and the 500 elites and 5800 won knight infantry soldiers rolled out of the guild. The inner city was defended by high walls and had military soldiers patrolling them. It was the place with the highest protection , but also the place where most fighting was going to take place. Emperor Aman was a necromancer , if Rudra''s memory served right , he would only come out towards the very end of the event , when ''That creature '' appeared. There was still a lot of time till that creature came however , the current objective of the guild was to assist the military and slay as many beasts as possible. Rudra''s objective was to gain the 100,000 merit points token right from the start, and it shined brightly around the neck of the wizard he was all to familiar with , the right hand man of emperor Aman , Rahim! /// Shoutout to kingspy25i for the 1000 coin gift. Thankyou for the patronage brother , I was feeling like slacking off on a Sunday , but this gift reminded me I needed to work hard for you guys. This chapter is for you /// Chapter 204: Beast tide (1) The beast tide approached Purplehaze city through the eastern part of the city , it was the part where districts 8,9,10 were located. Rudra had long since known that this would be the case , hence he had deployed Legolas and the archers there. This is because the fastest and first approaching beasts were the flock of wyverns. The infantry was useless against them , and only the ranged classes could fight them . Legolas pulled back a flaming bow , as he stood there as calm as mount Tai , observing his prey. He felt the windspeed and direction , when he felt that the moment was right. He let go of the arrow , which neatly pierced right through a wyverns eye into its skull. Bam! The wyvern fell down from the sky crashing into a nearby terrace. Dead! Following his lead , a swarm of arrows could be seen in the skies , as the extremely talented Elven division slaughtered the wyverns in the skies. Following the elven archers slaughter , was the archballistae'' s barrage , as the archballistae mounted on top of three storey buildings began their relentless assault on the wyvern flock. It was a massive waste of arrows to say the least , as a lot of them missed the targets , however its effects were undeniable , falling by the hundreds , 10 minutes into the beast tide , the guild with the highest merit points was the True Elites. ---- Merit board rankings : 1) True Elites : 2000 points 2) Frozen thorns : 1300 points 3) Eternal rebels : 1100 points 4) Twisting serpants : 1094 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 294 points 6 ) Elementals : 150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : 0 points 343) pizza lovers : 0 points 344 ) here to stay : 0 points. . . . . 420) never say never : 0 points The Elites were off to a good start , however their lead would not last long. As through northern , southern and eastern sides. The land beasts had arrived. Purplehaze city did have a rudimentary wall covering its borders , but in the outer district ,the protection it offered was close to negligible. Only the inner district could be said to have appropriate defensive wall. That could withstand a siege. Mutated Rhinos , wolves and mutated snow leopards were the first beasts to attack in the beast tide. They dashed towards the city and the real fight began. Beasts charged into the humans and the chaotic fight began. There were hundreds of thousands of beasts , against hundereds of thousands of players. It was a sight to behold. Mutated Rhinos lead the charge as they absolutely mauled through lines of troops. Swiftly followed by leopards. The wolves were intelligent creatures who hunted in packs , against the groups of humans who held their ground. The average beast strength was around level 35 , however their mutated status gave them stats of around level 37 beasts . There were a few higher level beasts also part of the group , which were Elites or commanders. These beasts were around level 42-43. Overall the human and beast counterparts were equally matched. With both sides loosing some members. Districts 3-12 were engulfed in war , as all divisions of True Elites had atleast some part where they were actively fighting. Calmly standing on the inner city wall , Rudra was observing the situation as it developed. He was not in a hurry for points or to fight. The fight would soon spread to districts 1-3 as entire outer city would be under attack then. The last area to fall would be inner city. But it would be the centre of most chaotic fights. Beasts from all directions would swarm the inner city , contrary to the outer city where beasts would come only from one direction , there would be no safezone in inner city. There would be no lines drawn to safeguard against incoming beast tides and no places to fall. The strongest and most ferocious beasts would lead their kinsmen and attack the inner city. The weaker ones would already be killed in the outer city , those who would reach the inner parts would undoubtedly be the strongest and highest levelled beasts of them all. Rudra estimated that there would be about 30 minutes before full fledged fighting would start at the walls. His time to fight had not come yet. Now was the time for Neatwit and the other Elites as well the NPCs to show their worth to the guild. -------- ( Gimli ''s pov ) "326....327..... Three hundered twenty eight ....HAHAHAHAHA , There is no way I would let that long haired , long nosed elven Buffon kill more beasts than I do , for the glory of the Won knight family and humanity , I refuse to loose to that elf ! ". GAHHHH! He roared as he charged at a rhino head on . It seemed like a stupid move to do , but when it was done by the bear of a man that Gimli was , who was 20 levels higher than the rhino and a tier 2 soldier then even the rhino could not match his strength. Lifting the rhino from his horn up , Gimli smashed it into the ground , cracking the ground underneath and crushing the beasts bones. Using his axe he then slit his throat clean. " THREE HUNDRED TWENTY NINE !!!!! hahaha stupid elf won''t even have hit one hundred yet ". Gimli laughed. " Men , hold tight , don''t let these snotty beasts hurt you ! ". He commanded " SIR YES SIR " " SIR YES SIR !" The troops replied in high spirits. ------ ( Legolas POV ) " 2999 , 3000 , 3001 .... Hmph , dream on musclehead , you will not even have half the kills I do , if the great commander of Elven forces looses to a human gorilla I will not be able to show my face in Vanaheim". Legolas said. " Men , don''t give these mindless creatures an inch , show them the might of Elven division one ! ". " KILL THE BEASTS " " SLAYYY !!! ". /// Sorry for the late chapter guys , new week new targets. 1 bonus chapter for ever 1200 PS 1 bonus chapter for every 100 golden tickets We got a total of 12 bonus chapters last week 7 from golden tickets and 5 from powerstones. Congratulations ! /// Chapter 205: Beast tide (2) ( Neatwits POV) Monsters were everywhere , while everyone else was in groups of four , he preffered to be alone. He was currently standing beside an archballistae at a three storey building overlooking the war scenario. To be honest his sector was not really performing That well. He was guarding the southern side of the city and in face of the massive beast tide , the Elites could only kill a few beasts before they needed to withdraw to safety. He had to personally help and rescue two groups who were cornered by a wolf pack. Neatwit using his semi legendary unnamed sword turned the tides of the battle really quick as he killed the beasts . To his joy he found out that killing the beasts in the beast tide although did not give any loot , they still have EXP''s for the kill as he levelled up ! LEVEL UP! --- Player Name : Neatwit Title : Pioneer Class : Warlock Subclass : Bombmaker LVL:58 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 470 VIT : 350 INT : 290 STA : 360 PHY : 320 HP : 37,000/37,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ???? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Doom bracelet , shoulder pads ( Epic) Weapons : Unnamed ( semi legendary ) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers , Kunai knife. Skills : Slash , Jab , Windslash , Dark devour , Black Rune attack . Class specific skills : Supreme assaulter , supreme mage Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : none ---- He levelled upto 58 , but the main point was not that he levelled up , the main point was that a part of his mentality changed. He started to see the beast tide as a huge opportunity for farming EXP , If used right he could easily level up to level 62 or 63. There was no stopping him anymore , as he turned from a guarded squad captain into a berserk warrior in a matter of moments. Brandishing his black runed sword as he sliced through beast hides as if it was paper. But trouble came knocking on his door soon , his exemplary fighting style had alarmed some nearby adventurers from other guilds , who wished to eliminate this merit farming machine. Although humans were supposed to fight beasts as common enemies , the primary reason why all guilds participated in this event was because of selfish motives. Victory was the only important destination and the journey did not matter. A group of five adventurers from the guild Elementals saw Neatwits exposed back as he faught a mutated leopard and wanted to take advantage of the situation by backstabbing him. They were silently creeping up on him , when one of the party member said " Jack I think u should use cutthroat , it will be done and dusted with one move ". However no response came from jack. The adventurer found it weird as he said " Did you hear me you moron? ". But as he turned around he saw that his other four members were lying dead on the floor , before he could scream or even blink his eyes a dagger slit his throat using the skill cutthroat. He fell on the ground dead! It was SMG who wiped the party members trying to sneak on Neatwit , he was in the area when he saw them sneaking up on a focused neatwit. Alas they died without making a sound! Only now did Neatwit notice SMG and he said " Ohhh , SMG , did you know killing beasts gave you EXP? It''s a good chance to increase levels ! ". SMG gave him a thumbs up sign in response and escaped in the shadows. He had no intention of farming for exp right now , his task at hand was far more important. About two hours passed since the event started and the Elites still had a small lead , however it was only marginal now. Merit board rankings : 1) True Elites : 22000 points 2) Frozen thorns : 21300 points 3) Eternal rebels : 20600 points 4) Twisting serpants : 20594 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 12294 points 6 ) Elementals : 11150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : 250 points 343) pizza lovers : 230 points 344 ) here to stay :220 points. . . . . 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! The others were catching up , they needed to pick up the pace! ------ ( Jhonny''s POV) Jhonny was roaming the streets of sector 5 , with his epic rated sword in hand , he was looking for players to kill. He was walking alone on the streets , when he saw a giant mutated Rhino. [ Mutated Rhino Chief ] ( Lv 55 ) : It''s skill charge and penetrate are devastatingly strong. A slightest contact will send you flying. Avoid at all costs. Jhonny saw the beast from far , then he checked the surroundings , there were a few adventurers here and there , but none were Elites. He sighed in releif , he quickly turned his steps and RAN! He had faith in his terrible luck , if the Rhino even got a whiff of him , he would undoubtedly charge towards him in this entire crowd of players. If nobody was watching then he had no shame in running away. However unbeknownst to him , the Rhino had already locked him on as his target , and although it was 50 meters behind Jhonny , everyone in between Jhonny and him were unfortunately in the violent Rhinos rampaging path. Whatever street Jhonny passed , soon players would be seen flying left and right. Screams could be heard wherever he passed through. Jhonny had no idea that the bull was chasing him , he was running casually as he reminisced his time in country F , he would often go for morning walks there while he was on the assasination mission. In the ten minutes that he jogged , the rampaging Rhino had sent over 1200 players flying , formations were broken , even more players died because of the surrounding beasts gaining the upper hand. Only when 50 men teamed upto kill the beast that he met his end. Unbeknownst to jhonny , he had caused other guilds a massive headache to deal with. An assasin from true Elites guild who was watching the scene from the start , was but in awe of sir Jhonny. It was true that the guild leader had assigned them the role of disrupting other guilds. However he beleived that it meant to silently assasin some enemy guild members and run away. Never had he thought of such a novel way of disrupting others. Especially while looking soo calm as if it was a routine morning jog. His respect for elder Jhonny skyrocketed that day. (Bonus chapter for hitting golden ticket target , keep up the good work . Also join the discord channel if you guys have not already. Link in synopsis ) Chapter 206: Beast tide (3) The fighting at the inner city wall became intense , waves of beasts started to try and attack the massive wall infront of them. The rhinos would repeatedly ram into the walls , whereas the leopards would use their claws to directly scale the height of the walls. Alas the wall was not made from reinforced concrete bricks , it was made from normal stone blended together by a holding paste. Under the repeated assault of the Rhino''s ramming in , it was slowly but surely cracking down. At this point a massive wyvern flock entered the skies of Purplehaze , easily having 20,000 members or more , and with all the sectors being busy with fighting the land troops , they flew in towards the inner district almost unhinged. Rudra saw the massive flock coming his way , as he unsheathed Elven sword and Excalibur. He thought '' So it begins ! ''. When the wyverns came close to the inner city skies. Not wasting a single minute , Rudra activated the special ability of the Elven sword. 10,000 Cuts! 10,000 energy swords formed in the air , as Rudra launched them towards the wyvern flock. -12,000 -12,000 -12,000 . . . . . . . -3000 . . . -1100 A Super effecfive move. The wyverns had inherently weak defenses , they were just birds with slightly thicker skins , they could not withstand the attack of the energy blades , close to 3000 wyverns perished , whereas 4000 more got their wings clipped , causing them to loose their flight skill. While 3000 more suffered injuries. Just like that Rudra effectively took out about 30% of the wyvern flock out of action. The kills gained him a massive increase in HP , as he needed only 30 more to level up. The commander of Royal forces who was watching the scene preparing his own attack on the wyverns saw Rudra''s feat and nodded in appreciation. +1000 millitary assist points ! Rudra smiled at the notification , in addition to the kill points, he also secured additional military assist points! He was quite happy! It was at this moment that the wall was breached by a charging Rhino chief as he smashed a hole through the inner district wall. Waves of beasts poured through the opening. The real fight started now! Rudra nodded towards Karna who understood his task , Karna immediately took 400 Elites and went towards the direction where the wall was breached. Rudra kept close to the military commander and Rahim , his goal was not the small merit points gained by killing the beasts but it was the 100,000 merit point bonus hanging around Rahim''s neck. The token was supposed to be taken by Adventurers, as stated in the rules and hence it was on display out of Rahim''s neck. However the token was more of a curse than a boon. Others only assumed the token to be a game''s trope a way to spicen things up for the city supremacy event , however their assumption was far from the truth. Omega was a very rational game , although it had an entertainment and gaming side to it , there would never be a mindless part in a storyline. The token was actually the reason behind the beast tide and why the beasts were charging the inner city madly. The token was a part of the soul of the beast king , the fallen immortal phoenix. It was the cause behind the event , at the time of the second update the phoenix had reached the end of his life , when he died his immortal soul broke into countless smaller pieces and scattered across the world. The power emanated by the beast kings soul was the reason behind the beast tide. Any beast who were to consume this soul would gain a portion of the beast kings power. While the beast kings soul scattered throughout the world , only the human kings were foolish enough to hold onto the tokens , the other races had long relenquished the tokens , as they did not wish for unnecessary trouble. And indeed it was human greed that lead to the incoming beast tide. Now the king wanted to use the adventurers to secure these tokens , in the greed to keep possession of the 100,000 merit points token , the adventurers will fight tooth and nail against the beasts and after the fight to gain the city management rights , turn over the token back to the king to encash on those 100,000 points. Hence taking the token from Rahim was a double edged sword , while it was true that if he managed to keep possession of the token till the end , the 100,000 points would help him a long way , however it would also put his guild under immense pressure as all the strong beasts would have their attention on the token holder. More and more holes were being punched into the walls , while existing ones had widened up. Many portions of the wall outright collapsed because of the lack of structural integrity. The inner city had turned into an all out battlefield , with the strongest beasts concentrated here. At this time , Rudra looked at Yume , who smiled back at him in his monk robes , as he said '' Amitabha , I am ready when you are ''. Rudra grinned this was exactly what he wanted to hear. Taking the remaining 100 elites and the infantry troops from the won knight division Rudra charged straight into the flood of beasts as he made his way towards Rahim. Rudra''s goal was clear. He would take the possession of the token right from the start. If the beasts wanted to come , then let them come , he had the greatest Equalizer Yume by his side! Yume activated the collector of Yin and yang bracelet as he buffed every ally in the area of effect and sapped the strength of all the beasts in his vicinity. With a 20% increase in strength as well as a constant influx of stamina and mana , the Elites started to run wild on the battlefield. As the weakened beasts were subjected to a massacre. /// Today will be a 3 chapter day as both powerstone and golden ticket targets have been met. I have contracted the flu hence I am down with mild fever , I also have ongoing external viva exams since the last week , it has been a hard few days juggling between the story and my studies , but I have never failed to deliver on the due bonuses. I apologise for the shorter length of chapters as well as a bit delay in giving the bonuses , but I hope you guys pardon it for this week /// Chapter 207: Found his match! On average the beasts that breached into the inner district were between Lv47 - lv52. The average guild players strength was constantly improving in the beast tide. As the more beasts they killed the quicker they levelled up. However with the average guild members strength being only around level 49 - 50 , they would have had a hard time fighting the beasts on equal grounds. However with yume providing a 20% stat boost to allies while clipping the same from the enemy beasts , the beasts lost their edge as they were on the loosing side. This became even more evident in the NPC soldiers of the won knight infantry division who were already level 70. For them the battlefield turned into a slaughter field as they ran wild through the beasts. Rudra observed the situation for a while , while also participating in actively slaying the beasts. He levelled up ! ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL:55 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 390 +195 VIT : 390 +195 INT : 390 +195 STA : 390 +195 PHY : 390 +195 HP : 47000/47000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (145/200) ---- He was using this opportunity to its fullest , he realized that such a leveling opportunity would not come often , hence decided to make the most of it. Maneuvering the division into parts where the clash was the highest , he was testing wether they could hold on against the intense pressure for long. He had his doubts , especially when the group came very close to where Rahim was fighting , however after half an hour of intense fight , when the group showed no signs of exhaustion , he got clarity that this group could make it. Rudra had heard the tales of the ultimate Equalizer the monk Yume and his battle control skill , however he had never personally experienced it in action. Seeing its effects here today he now understood why he was given that title. Not moving a single muscle on his body , he was the backbone of the entire divison. His skill could be considered borderline game breaking. Rudra thanked his lucky stars that he managed to recruit such a man into his guild , or the fight would have been infinitely more difficult to engage. Rudra approached near Wizard Rahim , who was using fireblasts after fireblasts in rapid succession towards beasts , it was a basic tier one spell that had very low mana consumption , however when casted by a wizard of Rahim''s calliber , it one shotted every beast it hit. Rudra fought shoulder to shoulder beside him , and when the chance came he asked " Sir Rahim let me relieve you of that token on your chest ... ". Rahim was chanting continuously hence did not speak a word in reply , however had a smirk on his face. Then he used a spell that Rudra was all to familiar with. Medivhs special spell , World of fire. Flames erupted from Rahim''s feet as violent streaks of fire incinerated the beasts around him in a 50 meter radius. Not a single ally was hurt , however not a single beast was left alive! What exemplary control , what power! Rudra was left reminded about the glory of higher tier wizards. Medivh could barely cast the spell under special conditions , however neither was the power soo powerfull , and neither was the control soo precise. He was left in awe. Rahim turned towards Rudra and said " Sorry sir Won Knight , but I cannot give you the token even if it is you. Only the strongest on the battlefield may carry this token , the consequences of a beast eating it would be devastating , if you want to gain this token , you would have to take it with your own effort ". Saying so he went back to casting basic fireballs against more and more beasts. Rudra understood the situation now. He also understood why nobody in his past life was able to get the 100,000 merit point token in Purplehaze city. He had assumed that because the demolition boys never needed it to gain management rights that they never tried to take it. But only now he realised that nobody claimed the token , because nobody was capable enough to do it. However Rudra grinned , he was not afraid of a challenge , if he had to sneak his way up to gaining the token then be it. That''s what he was going to do ! Focusing back on the beasts that were closing in , he started his fight again , while in his mind he started thinking of scenarios to get that token off of Rahim. However unbeknownst to Rudra , a man was silently observing his actions ... His movements were fluid and his sword art was exemplary , it was not a sword art based from the game , one based on flashy skills and wild swings , but a genuine sword art learned in the real world by fighting many sword masters. Effortlessly killing beasts , sometimes even two with a single sword move , he was out performing even the level 70 infantry soldiers in his kill count. All the while not even completely focusing on the battle . He was a character that Rudra would recognise instantly if he were to see him. His name was Edge , the guild leader of Eternal rebels guild , the man who sat at the throne of Hazelgroove kingdom after toppling emperor Aman in his past life. He was deemed as '' the ultimate opportunist '' , and he was eyeing Rudra currently , as he was waiting for the right time to strike. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target , good job everyone , another bonus for the tickets coming up soon. /// Chapter 208: Remember the name The fighting had grown intense now. It had been 10 hours since the event started and the Elites still managed to keep a slight lead in the event. As Rudra expected , when other guilds took notice of the Elite archballistae''s dishing out arrows after arrows coupled with the fact that they were on the top of the merits table , many guilds decided to take action and destroy the ballistae. However Rudra had already given explicit instructions to deal with such situations. The entrance had long been sealed off with reinforced concrete and the surroundings had strong Elite patrol. If the attacking party did not attack from directly under the building they would come inside the attack range of the ballistae and the archer was instructed to redirect his fire towards the players if any hostility was shown . This made it very hard for opposing players to attack the ballistae , however even with all these measures 3 archballistae had been damaged and put out of action in the last 10 hours. And Rudra could imagine the number piling up over time. The rankings after 10 hours were as follows: Merit board rankings : 1) True Elites : 122000 points 2) Frozen thorns : 111300 points 3) Eternal rebels : 101600 points 4) Twisting serpants : 101004 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 52294 points 6 ) Elementals : 25150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : 1250 points 343) pizza lovers : 1230 points 344 ) here to stay :420 points. . . . . 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! The beast tide showed no signs of slowing down and slowly but surely player numbers had started to chip down. The casualities had started to mount as many parties had one or two members whose lives were claimed by beasts , if in a party of four members , one member died , it increased the pressure on the other three considerably. It would only lead to a faster party wipe in due time. Luckily for the Elites , their own superior skills as well as equipment , coupled with the advanced health potions they each had in their inventory , that gave a huge healthboost quickly. The causalities were minimal. Only 4 elites had lost their lives in the first ten hours. The teams were performing well and the farming of Merits was going at a decent rate. Rudra wanted to seal the merit gap by gaining the 100,000 merit points token. He had been eyeing Rahim for a long time now , but the wizard showed no opening for Rudra to exploit. After a long time , Rudra decided to create his own opening and stop waiting for it. He called over Karna for help , as he told him his plan. Rudra''s plan was simple , in his observation , the only opening to exploit and get the token , was when Rahim just finished casting a tier 2 or above spell. There would be a momentary pause , Rahim needed about 5 seconds to recover from casting such a heavy spell , before he could continue with the barrage of fireballs. Rudra asked Karna to purposefully channel a few beasts towards Rahim , facing a surge of beasts in his direction , Rahim was forced to dish out a heavy spell , as the single shot fireballs were not cutting it out. Rahim casted the tier 2 spell , Earth lance. As he put his palms together and placed them on the Earth . Spikes of earth rised up in an instant , impaling 25 beasts at once! For a moment Rahim took a breather as he straightened back up. Rudra saw his opening and instantly casted his blink spell , to teleport right under Rahim. Clutching the token with one hand , Rudra used all the power in his feet to create distance. Rahim''s eyes widened in shock , Rudra had appeared under him out of nowhere , and he still needed time to recover from the effects of casting the previous spell. Rudra immediately bolted , running as fast as he could and gained the posession of the 100,000 points token! PURPLEHAZE CITY NOTIFICATION : The guild '' True Elites is in possession of the 100,000 points merit token! ''. When he put sufficient distance between himself and Rahim , Rudra raised the token in his hands proudly as he let out a battle roar! He smiled looking at Karna , who was giving him a thumbs up! Things were seemingly going smooth , untill out of nowhere some guy Grabbed the token from Rudra''s hands , seemingly out of nowhere ! Rudra was jolted to reality , he could see the guy steal his token as if everything happened in slow motion , however was powerless to move at all. The guy had a smirk on his face , and even Winked at Rudra . Rudra knew that face very well , he was Edge , the guild leader of Eternal rebels. The one who was the Emperor of Hazelgroove kingdom in his past life. He took the token and ran towards the edge of the inner city wall , where he paused and looked towards Rudra , he had a cold and mocking look with a sinister smile as he said " Sorry kids , playtime is over , the Real Elites are in town now ". Saying soo he jumped down the wall ! PURPLEHAZE CITY NOTIFICATION : The guild ''Eternal Rebels'' is now in possession of the 100,000 merit points token! The rankings had seen a massive change , there was a new leader! Merit board rankings : 1) Eternal rebels : 102600 + (100,000)points 2) True Elites : 129000 points 3) Frozen thorns : 112300 points 4) Twisting serpants : 101004 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 52594 points 6 ) Elementals : 27150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : 1250 points 343) pizza lovers : 1230 points 344 ) here to stay :520 points. . . . . 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! The eternal rebels just gained a massive lead in rankings , they went straight from third to first. Rudra was stunned , he never saw the man coming. He was sure that unlike him who used blink , the man used no teleportation skill , yet he managed to sneak up unnoticed , stole the token and even managed to taunt him before running away.... For the first time since being reincarnated , Rudra was on the recieving side of humiliation and disbelief. He got bested by Edge. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , enjoy. /// Chapter 209: Things going south Edge grabbed the token from Rudra and had started to mount his escape. Although Rudra was a bit shocked momentarily and unable to respond , Karna was not , hot in pursuit , he followed edge. Edge was running towards his guilds strongold in sector 6 , but was amused to see someone tailing him. Edge knew who was tailing him , he had been briefed about the man. The vice guild master of True Elites guild , a good swordsman with a heavy attack style. Without slowing down , Edge said " Vice guild master Karna himself , what an honour ". Karna sneered , he did not know who the thief was , but his cocky attitude was pissing him off. Karna increased his speed and was closing in on edge. Edge understood his situation well , he was not an agility class player , he had chosen the class swordsman , although his agility was not as poor as barbarian or wizard , it was not as good as thief , ranger or assasin. Then he thought of a devious plan , he grinned as he stopped running away and pulled out his sword. Karna was shocked to see that the thief had stopped running and had adopted a battle stance. Karna drew out slaughterer and assumed a battlestance of his own , he said " Surrender the token , thief ! ". His voice full of dignity and power. Worthy of the stature of vice guild master. Edge laughed as he said " My , my , as if you can beat me in a swordfight ". Karna squinted his eyes , it seemed as if the enemy was a arrogant boasting prick , words would not work on such people , sense needed to be beaten into them. Karna closed in and slashed slaughterer at full power , the heavy epic rated blade collided with the thin one that Edge carried and sent him reeling back 5 steps. Karna smiled , as expected the opponent was all talk and no fight.... However , Edge seemed calm and unaffected , Karna charged in again , and this time soo did Edge , Edge sidestepped Karna''s swing , and pierced in his sword into Karna''s gut to inflict a bit of damage , but quickly retreated before Karna''s swing could hit him. -5000 Karna was hit! Karna''s eyes widened in disbelief , the opponents movement as he dodged him was soo sublime , he attacked and retreated in the perfect time. He realized that he better take this guy seriously , or else he would be in lot of trouble. Karna took a more reserved stance and now gauged the opponent more seriously. Edge laughed as he mocked " Getting serious soo soon? Why don''t you amuse me more ..... Dance for me ! ". Saying soo he stepped in again , to hit Karna , it seemed as if he was going for a lateral Slash through the left. Karna decided to parry it with his sword , but at the last second , the sword changed angles , it still hit slaughterer which took the brunt of the attack , however it managed to just graze the surface of Karna''s waist. -200 A chip damage appeared. " Ho , ho , ho , I''ll chip away at you till you die , you are not my match , just by calling oneself Elite doesn''t mean you are one ". Edge mocked Karna more. Now Karna was genuinely enraged , he could still tolerate personal insults , but he could never tolerate insults about his guild. And this was his mistake , as in his rage he was too focused on edge and forgot to scan his surroundings. Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Three arrows impaled Karna! Edge smiled , the reinforcements from the guild had arrived . -10000 critical hit -10000 critical hit. -10000 critical hit 35200 of Karna''s max HP of 38,000 had been clipped , he was on red in the HP bar , as he immediately became vigilant. He looked at Edge with hate and distaste , the b****** mounted a sneak attack. Karna closed his eyes , and used his minds eyes skill in the open for the first time ever , he summoned his other sword and Zorro''s sword and used triple wielding. He deflected all the incoming arrows as he assumed a very conservative battle stance made for defense. Edge frowned , how was the guy not dead after taking three arrows. And seemed like he had even more tricks up his sleeve. He could let him be and get away , but the chance to kill him was too tempting for him to pass up on. " Soo you have a few tricks up your sleeve , you may have been my match if you were not soo foolish to fight me alone. Who said this would be a one on one fight , this is a battlefield where numbers count , your little guild and it''s 2000 members may appear like a novel concept , but come real world it''s a pointless decision with no merits. Let me show u the power of a true first rate guild , vice leader , consider it to be a favour before you die ". Saying so he signalled his guild members to go all out , and 25 assaulters 3 tanks and 2 wizards charged towards a weak Karna with barely any Hp left , while five archers covered the area from rooftops. Karna knew his time had come , but even soo he fought valiantly , killing 17 assaulters all three tanks and one wizard with such low hp , before succumbing to a dastardly arrow by an archer. This was the first time since Omega started that he had died. He swore to remember this day and this attack , and pay it tenfold someday. His only regret was dying before he saw through the winning of the Elites and his failure at retrieving the token . Before he died his last words were " I leave it to you .... Guild leader ...". An information network assasin from True Elites guild , who had been observing the situation from afar , contemplating on wether he should interrupt the enemies or not , while already have called for reinforcements said in a pained voice " The vice guild master is dead! ". The reinforcements stopped in their tracks , shocked. But noone was as shocked as Rudra .... Who just thought '' Karna died? ''. He was in denial , his mind was disoriented .... Things were not following the intended plan. Things were going south! Chapter 210: Edge Rothschild In the ancient times in the 1900''s. There were four brothers in the Rothschild family in four cities that grew the family empire tenfold. Namely Nathan Mayer Rothschild in London, James Mayer de Rothschild in Paris, Carl Mayer von Rothschild in Naples, and Amschel Mayer Rothschild in Frankfurt. These four brothers grew the Rothschild family fortune from millions to billions of dollars in the 19th century. After that strict inheritance laws and cousin marriage ensured that the family bloodline remained pure and untainted by outside influence. By the year 2050 , the Rothschild were the richest family in the world eclipsing the 100 trillion dollar mark. After that they were no longer in the public eye , 50 years had passed and the total networth of the family was a mystery. However with over 100 male heirs in the family , the overall wealth was fairly equally distributed , and to standout one needed to gain merit on their own strength for the family to invest more into them. However each Rothschild member still remained to be educated in the same manner that the ancestors were. Trained in traditional sword art as well as worldclass secret martial art techniques collected over years of stockpiling by the family. The male members had genuine fighting experience. The Rothschild family was even tutored maths in the old school way of using a piece of paper and pen while using mental maths as a calculating device and not graphic calculators. Even if it was considered an outdated practice and a futile thing by the world , the Rothschild believed it to train the brain muscles hence emphasized on it. The result was a batch of high IQ male heirs who were buisness prodigies as well as formidable fighters. However none as prominent as Edge Rothschild , the black sheep of the family , an orphan whose both parents died in a car crash. A hungry wolf who clawed his way up the family ladder using only his wits and brute strength. He was given nothing , every Rothschild member was entitled to one trillion dollars the day they turned 15 , however his uncle only gave him five billion , withelding the other money . When he complained about it , none of the elders paid him any heed. The boy learnt it early that he was entitled to nothing and everything had to be snatched away . Dabbling in minor businesses here and there , Edge slowly built up his wealth. However when he saw the potential in the Omega market , he immediately decided to go all in with his money in this project. He had spent 10 billion dollars of his own money to start the Eternal rebels guild. The name suggesting his own life story , it was a first rate guild , but his ambition was as big as making it above a super guild. While playing the game Edge quickly realized that his swordsmanship and skills were far superior to the skills in the game , he needed no flashy moves , his understanding about the sword placed him in a league of his own. Originally he never wanted to compete for the supremacy of Purplehaze city , however when the True Elites toppled the alliance in the miracle of the century war. His hunger grew. Many members of the disbanded alliance got recruited by his guild and he experienced a good strength increase. Coupled with the fact that doing the maths he realized that taking on the True Elites was not as hard of a task as it seemed. He decided to fight for the territory. He was angered to know that two other first rate guilds had the same idea , however he was confident in his skills to pull this one through. Arrogant , domineering but with a sound mind and excellent sword skills can be used to describe Edge Rothschild , called the ultimate opportunist , he was a true wolf. And an Elite by blood! Now that he had a 100,000 point lead , he was 80% sure of his victory. Through great intuition and observation he took about 10 minutes to discern that there was more to the token than just the points , it served as a beast attractor , as a lot of beasts that were previously moving towards the inner city now rushed towards the 5th sector. Thinking quick on his feet he recalled 100,000 guild members from various sectors to bring them back in the fight in sector 5. With the beasts attracted by the token , there were perpetually endless beasts in sector five , while having soo many members would make it that much more difficult for other guilds to take the token from him. Inside the sector. Setting up a tight formation around himself in the centre of a eightway massive wide crossroad , he deployed 10 thousand troops to block each entrance way , while having 10 thousand troops as reserve and lots of archers firing volleys from range. Edge created an impregnable defense formation , that constantly farmed merit points. It seemed as if the only thing they had to do now was to keep going as they were , and they would definitely win the event. Widening the gap with other guilds , the final merit score at the end of day one (24 hours ) , halfway into the event was .... Merit board rankings : 1) Eternal rebels : 222600 + (100,000)points 2) True Elites : 199000 points 3) Frozen thorns : 192300 points 4) Twisting serpants : 171004 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 92594 points 6 ) Elementals : 77150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : ELIMINATED ! 343) pizza lovers : ELIMINATED ! 344 ) here to stay : ELIMINATED ! . . . . 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! The guild had widened the gap with another 130 thousand merit points ahead of number two , and if they managed to go at this rate for another 12 hours or so , he was sure that noone could catch upto them at that rate. Since that was the case , he decided to disrupt the opposition , he gave instructions to 40 thousand members , 20 thousand to disrupt the workings of the True Elites guild and 20 thousand to disrupt the workings of Frozern thorns guild . /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target! Enjoy /// Chapter 211: Picking themselves back up Rudra kept fighting half heartedly ever since Karna died , He took charge of the entire inner district forces and fought valiantly in his massacre of the beasts. Even then the gap between them and the Eternal rebels was slowly but surely increasing. Rudra had never faced such a situation before. According to the scout''s report , approaching Edge was impossible unless Rudra pulled out his entire army from all districts to barge into his stronghold. Even SMG could not go past unnoticed by the thousands of soldiers that guarded the eight path crossway that lead to the circle where Edge was camping. For a moment it seemed like everything was going south , as Rudra had no answer to Edges problem. Or so it seemed to the world..... as more than 14 hours passed and the first day of the event was over. Only 24 more hours till the event ended. Rudra admitted his mistake , he was careless , the token should have never slipped past his hands , he admitted that it was his mistake to be too stunned to take action and chase the fleeing Edge , when he had the opportunity to do so. With his stats , catching him before he went too far was not impossible. He admitted that it was his mistake that Karna got killed. He admitted them all , and resolved to improve in the future. This was not the reality that he once lived in and not everything would always go as it was planned , he needed to learn to think on his feet and behave like a true guild leader and not just a damn reincarnator with future knowledge all the time. He needed to learn to face the present and decide strategies based on present , only then can he truly become a leader worthy of leading the True Elites. Bouncing back , Rudra started to think on his feet. How could he turn this situation around ? The current gap between themselves and the Eternal rebels was created as they had the token , the token served as a attraction for all sorts of beasts and although the formation set up by edge is a stroke of genius , it would eventually be the cause of their downfall. Rudra planned to take the token because he planned to stay very close to the royal palace , and hence when '' that'' creature would come around 12 hours before the war ended , he would have forced Aman to fight it for him. However Edge was in sector five , his army would be decimated if the creature went after him instead of being fought by Emperor Aman. Rudra thought about this rationally , he knew that nobody could match that beast here , not one man , not 100 men , not 10000 men. Not 100,000 men and not 1 million men. Infront of that creature , tier one troops were not even ants. Only powerhouses like Rahim and the Emperor could face that beast. Maybe Patricia and some other hidden bigshots would also emerge , but one thing was for sure , that no player was coming even minutely close to fighting it. Since that was the upcoming scenario , Rudra decided to wait for the creature to come here first and only to act later on. He ordered the guild to continue farming beasts at the current rate and that everything was under control. Although the guild members were worried after seeing the current situation on the merit board , they did not question the leader much , most assumed that Rudra would somehow manage to gain the 100,000 points token , and they only needed to work hard towards filling the 30,000 point gap. Hence the guild members worked hard and killed beasts with all the effort they could muster. In the 24-26th hour , they managed to scale back 5000 points , shortening the lead of Eternal rebels by only 125K points. The merit board was like... Merit board rankings : 1) Eternal rebels : 230000 + (100,000)points 2) True Elites : 205000 points 3) Frozen thorns : 197300 points 4) Twisting serpants : 181004 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 102594 points 6 ) Elementals : 87150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : ELIMINATED ! 343) pizza lovers : ELIMINATED ! 344 ) here to stay : ELIMINATED ! . . . . 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! If they could keep this pace up for the remaining 22 hours and the guild leader managed to get the token somehow , then they could still win this thing! Not giving up untill the last minute , the guild fought with more intensity than ever. Rudra was focused on his fighting , when a disturbing piece of news entered his ears .... A spy under SMG informed him that 20,000 troops were marching towards the Sector where Neatwit was incharge , the most weakly guarded area for the Elites where they were most vulnerable. And it seemed they were there to kill the Elites , as scuffles at the boundaries showed that they preferentially killed the Elites and Frozen thorn members. The spy cursed after delivering the information , it was unprofessional , however he was too caught up in emotion , he had seen vice guild master die , and now the rebels were killing their own , he was overwhelmed with emotion , he was supposed to be a cold and aloof assasin however the Elite were his family , and seeing them in trouble he lost his cool. Rudra furrowed his eyebrows .... This was a serious problem that needed to be handled immediately. He did not expect Edge to spare troops to focus on eliminating the opposition rather than widening the lead. Another error he had to learn from . Being someone with the future knowledge he always had a solid plan A , however his plan B was shaky and plan C was garbage. He needed to learn this lesson that not everything would go as he thought it would , and that he could not always accurately predict what the opponents would do. Just because he himself is he was in Edge''s place would not send troops to disrupt opponents , does not mean that edge would not either , he was not him and he thought differently. Hence now that he had no answer or plan for the incoming assault , he had to think of a way to deal with it and fast! /// Shoutout to Kingspy25i for the 1000 coin gift ! Thankyou soo much for the patronage brother. I''m happy to announce that my exams are over , can get back to writing on time now! My health is still a bit on the low side , however I''m on the road to recovery !/// Chapter 212: The making of a true leader For a minute there Rudra grit his teeth , why did they choose to attack the sectors under Neatwit , those sectors had no reinforcement centres. Sending troops as aid was impossible . He was really frustrated , things seemed to get worse and worse by the second. He had hit the lowest point in his career as a guild leader right now , just when things seemed to be in his control , something unexpected would happen . It was at this point that an unexpected memory flashed in his mind. He was playing with his little brother max , who had asked him a new math riddle he had learned in first grade. Rudra had thought hard and logically about the problem , but he could not solve it , it was hilarious as little Max kept laughing and teased his big brother to not know something soo simple. Finally the answer to the problem was soo simple and out of the box , it just needed to be approached with a bit of creativity. That day Rudra had learnt that not everything had to be done logically , sometimes creativity could be the solution to a problem. As this memory flashed across his mind , he calmed down , the face of a innocent smiling Max with one teeth broken flashed in his mind. He smiled , he was back in control of his emotions. Rudra thought '' That''s right , why am I thinking about reinforcements , agreed that it is the logical approach to this problem , however since it won''t work let''s try a creative approach ''. Thinking about it for a while with a calm mind , Rudra realized a crucial detail! A single district was currently filled with members from hundereds of guilds , and lots of solo adventurer parties who were here to farm EXP. The battlefield was not a Warfield where there was only allies and enemies. Here there were bystanders , strangers and other parties present too and the only way to recognize an Elite was by the guild robes and insigna. If the members just discarded the guild robes and insigna they could just blend in as a solo adventurer group , this was especially true for the districts Neatwit was incharge of , it''s structure composed of parties of four guild members , they could easily disguise themselves as small adventurer groups! Rudra grinned ..... This plan was brilliant , such a simple solution to a seemingly complex problem , he would make sure to hug little Max once he went back home and buy him tonnes of ice-cream that kid was a lifesaver. Rudra said " Relay the command to Neatwits unit , remove all items carrying the guild insigna and blend in as solo adventurer parties , let''s see , how long they take to sniff our members out , and how many groups they piss off in the process ". The spy nodded and immediately acted upon the order, he was inwardly highly impressed by the guild leaders strategy , it was commendable. He felt reassured , the leader was someone with vision , with him at the top of the guild , it was only a matter of time before they rose to even greater hieghts! The information about the attacking enemy had already long reached Neatwit. He was worried sick , as he had no methods to deal with the 20,000 troops without leaving the areas assigned to him and retreat completely But that would only mean , that Lower merits would be farmed by the guild. As the archballistaes would be destroyed as well as the guild would loose a strategic location for farming merits. He was hoping Rudra found a solution to this problem . When the information spy relayed Rudra''s instructions to Neatwit , Neatwit just laughed for one full minute. Such a simple method.... Yet he knew he could have never thought about it. He quickly passed the information as within next 20 minutes all the Elites had removed all identifying items and began to fight as solo adventurers. The members from Eternal Rebels swooped in street by street and passed straight by the Elites , not having a single clue it was them. A few of them guarding the archballistae also created a ruckus about how the Eternal Rebel guild members were asserting domination and bullying solo adventurer groups. The small spark soon turned into a massive flame , as Elite members disguised as solo adventurers began calling out the passing Eternal Rebels ..... Little by little the actual solo adventurers started to get riled up , as fights started to break out in some parts. Then a third rate guild party somehow lost a member in the croosfire between a scuffle. And little by little the fights became more and more profound and began to break out with everyone. Everyone was already pissed at the Eternal rebels for holding the number one spot , hence when the chance came , absolutely everyone started attacking their members like hungry wolves. Things did not go well for the 20,000 troops sent by Edge then , as although they entered the sectors to hunt the Elites. Not A single one made it out Alive , even the existing members in those sectors who had been fighting there since the start had been killed by the public outrage because of their association with the Eternal rebels guild. The tables had turned because of a simple event , as the predators became the prey , the numbered became outnumbered and the strategy that Edge made to disrupt other guilds backfired into him loosing his members for nothing , causing the Elites to gain back the merit point lead and shorten it to only 110 K points! The Frozern thorn guild had suffered losses as they had chosen to fight the Eternal rebels head on , in the clash of those two guilds both lost lots of members , causing even the Frozern thorn to slip in the rankings. Finally with 34 hours into the event the merit board was .... Merit board rankings : 1) Eternal rebels : 310000 + (100,000)points 2) True Elites : 300000 points 3) Frozen thorns : 290300 points 4) Twisting serpants : 271004 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 122594 points 6 ) Elementals : 107150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : ELIMINATED ! 343) pizza lovers : ELIMINATED ! 344 ) here to stay : ELIMINATED ! . . . . 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target! Good job all ! /// Chapter 213: The Dragon arrives The next few hours were bad for the Eternal rebels , at the 36th hour mark , the Elites had shortened the gap to under 100K merit points , meaning the only thing that the rebels had over them now , was that token . The guild members had worked hard in the last half day , the collective sentiment of the group is what had pushed them to get to this point where they came back from a very disadvantageous position upto here. Now they had to mentain this position and trust that their guild leader would somehow get his hands on the 100,000 point token. All eyes were on Rudra now , even Edge figured out soo much , that the moment where he lost the 100,000 token , would be the moment he would loose the management rights to the city. He did not expect that his move to send out troops to cause trouble for the Elites and Frozen thorns would backfire on him. However thinking quick on his feet he recalled more and more troops towards the base in district 5 . He calculated that he only needed to somehow mentain the current rate and keep the 100,000 point merit token somehow safe , and victory was assured. The Elites were indeed gaining about 5000 merit points on them each hour , they had about 95000 point lead , normally without the token at this rate it would take the Elites about 19 hours to fill the gap. But the event ended in 12 hours , hence the best strategy was to now to keep the posession of the token as the highest priority. What he thought was not illogical , it was very much the best way. Retrieving troops and reinforcing his current location into a swarm of players seemed like a good idea to keep the token safe. As the beasts would keep flooding towards their direction for the token , merits could still be farmed . However in reality it would turn out to be their death knell! As just a few minutes past the 36 hour mark , a deafening Roar was heard throughout the city. :- you have been affected by Dragon''s intimidation all stats reduced by 70% :- you have been paralyzed in fear , movement unavailable for 5 seconds A Massive Beast could be seen in the sky. It''s individual wings were as big as 747 Jets , as massive as a football stadium in air. With scales as red as blood , and spikes on its back. It looked ferocious! , However , Instead of the calm , intelligent eyes of a true dragon , it had the eyes of a bloodlusty beast. A mutant! ( Mutated Fire Dragon '' Estador '' ) ( Power level :Tier four Lv 180) ( HP: 10,000,000/10,000,000)( Threat level : Calamity Class ) : A fire dragon , that mutated at a young age , it has gained infamy as the ruthless beast that burns everything to ashes. If you encounter it , just pray and run , do not engage ! A named monster! , A mutated dragon ! A tier four creature! It just made u feel inferior when u looked at its massive frame , humans were to dragons what ants were to humans , the small insignificant beings that did not even need effort to be trampeld on. The sheer presence of the dragon reduced the stats of normal tier one adventurers by 70% , while even looking at it could paralyze you in fear. Noone under tier 3 could hope to engage a dragon. While only beings in the tier 4 could actually have a chance while fighting against it. Even then it would take about four or five such people giving their 100% in the fight to take such a beast down! Edge had a bad feeling in his chest , from the moment he saw the Dragon ! If the dragon was also here for the token , then he was screwed. He wanted to move ! He wanted to run away , but the moment he glanced at the dragon , who was looking towards him , he accidentally looked into his eyes. :- You have been paralyzed by Dragon''s fear , movement disabled for 20s . He was paralyzed in fear, he could feel the Dragon closing in..... The Eternal Rebels guild members started to scream when they realized that the dragon was headed straight towards them. Some struggled to run away with 70% stat reduction , while some chose to fight. However the pitiful tier one spells and arrows could not even scratch the dragon. While some did a pitiful damage of -1 Then it happened ..... The dragon inhaled air , and spewed out a massive fire through his mouth .... a powerfull fireblast by a tier four fire dragon , wiped out the entire 120,000 members of the Eternal rebels guild gathered in one location , in one single move! The once wide eight way crossroad , after the aftermath of that attack now looked as if lava had just flown through the streets. With charred ground everywhere and ashes of the once alive players! It seemed as if the chapter of the Eternal rebels guild was sealed and done for , with only some pitiful 30-40 K members still alive in however the Dragon Roared in frustration . It seemed as if the man with the token , was somehow alive , and now running away! Edge , with his half burnt body , and a critically red HP bar was now running for his life , clutching onto the 100,000 point token! Even burnt he was not deterred , he beleived in himself , he would somehow see this through. However unbeknownst to him , the predator had now became the prey , just as how he had eyed Rudra before , now it was Rudra''s turn , not only was the dragon on his tail , but even Rudra was only waiting for a chance to take back the stolen token! /// Shoutout to kingspy25i for the 1000 coin gift and to Cervantez91 for the 5000 coin gift! Thanks a lot guys , you have filled the gap needed for hitting the golden ticket target hence a bonus will be released soon! Good job golden ticket department !! /// Chapter 214: Twist? The dragon was not only a destructive presence for the players , but for the beasts as well, the beasts who were once ferocious and charging towards the beast token , now whimpered away in fear. The alpha of the entire jungle had arrived , they could only give way or die . The single fireblast that took out hundereds of thousands of eternal rebel members , also killed lots of beasts unfortunate to come in the crossfire range. Now that it sensed that the ant human was running away , it roared in anger. The dragon needed time to get its massive frame to flight. It chose to run behind the fleeing adventurer. It took a step forward. Thump ! A small vibration could be feeled throughout the city , because of its weight Thump! The dragon closed in to about 50 meters distance between himself and Edge Thump ! The dragon was now only one street away from , Edge. The dragon , took in a huge breath .... And then let out a devastating second fireblast! Boom! Building melted , innocent citizens died , not even traces of beasts that were out in those streets was left , while some unfortunate adventurers who came in its crossfire died. But even soo , somehow Edge had avoided the blast and was still going. The dragon was really frustrated now. This is exactly why Rudra did not go after Edge immediately after he saw his hp to be soo low , but waited for the dragon to act first. He wanted to see Edge''s hidden cards. It seemed as if Edge also had the blink skill , as at the last possible second he would blink himself away from the range of the fireblast. Rudra laughed ..... '' What a sneaky B******'' , however that changed into a cold look of a predator very soon . Rudra now that he knew Edge''s hidden card , he no longer hesitated in killing him. Edge had to pay afterall , pay for mocking his guild and pay for the death of vice guild master Karna. Rudra chased after Edge , and when he thought he was sufficiently in range , he used blink to teleport right infront of a running Edge. His blade moving for his neck. Edge was shocked to see the incoming attack , but he used blink to avoid the strike in the brink of the time , he teleported to the nearby building top. However Rudra had long expected him to do so , as a massive thunderblast was waiting for him at the spot he teleported. Edge was shocked to see that Rudra had accurately predicted his response , and set up such an intricate trap for him. He knew it at that point that he was going to die , he was a bit frustrated and regretfull to say the least , he thought he could win the management rights to Purplehaze city , it would have expedited him and put him on the fastlane to achieve his goals. However now , he would not even have a developed town as his base , his sureshot plan B was a place called NewWater county , it was a relatively small village near a beautiful waterfall. The management rights of that place would not give him much as the guilds population would be larger than the NPC population of the location and he would need to spend much effort and resources developing the place. He looked towards Rudra , whose eyes only had a cold look and face had a confident grin. It was the same look his father would have when he was about to fleece a major buisness deal. The look of a predator in control. '' Interesting..... '' was his last thought before the thunderblast zapped him out to death! Rudra regained the posession of the 100,000 merit points token as a system notification followed PURPLEHAZE CITY NOTIFICATION : The guild '' True Elites '' Is now in possession of the 100,000 merit points token. The Elites were back in possession of the token , the merit table saw a huge shift. Merit board rankings : 1) True Elites : 330000 points + (100,000) points 2) Eternal rebels : 317000 points 3) Frozen thorns : 316300 points 4) Twisting serpants : 291004 points 5 ) Eternal darkness : 125594 points 6 ) Elementals : 109150 points . . . . . 342) Seed of life : ELIMINATED ! 343) pizza lovers : ELIMINATED ! 344 ) here to stay : ELIMINATED ! . . . . 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! The True Elites members all over the map , breathed a sigh of relief. The guild master did it! Some broke out in cheer , while some hugged the members around them , it was just a joyfull moment for all. It would be a lie to say that nobody had no doubts whatsoever , however everyone hoped for the guild leaders victory. And the guild leader did indeed pull through. Neatwit looked at the notification and grinned saying '' Alright you did it ! '' Jhonny looked at the notification and said '' Took your sweet time , didnt you , Bah whatever ''. Yume looked at the notification and said '' Amitabha '' SMG looked at the notification and said '' Never had a doubt ! ''. PinkLotus looked at the notification and said '' That''s why I like him , KYAA , being in the Elites is soo much better than being in the dumb alliance''. Naomi looked at the notification and said '' I hope he''s fine ''. She was more worried about Rudra''s wellbeing than the merit points , to her that was more important than winning or loosing. And her worry was not pointless , as currently Rudra was being tailed by a massive tier four monster. As much as Rudra wanted to see , how much has the dragon gained on me? He resisted the urge to look towards the dragon , as he knew that the moment he did , it would be game over and he would be paralyzed in fear. Running towards the inner district with all his might , Rudra had only one goal in mind. Which was reaching the royal palace! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target .... Enjoy you guys! You deserve it! The next bonus chapter is only 50 tickets away , comeon you all we can get there today itself! /// Chapter 215: A narrow escape Rudra ran with all his might , although he was a tier one player , his stats rivalled a normal tier 2 players , he was incredibly agile . Even so , the dragon was slowly but surely closing in on him , and Rudra kept twisting and turning and changing lanes , to keep him distracted. Then Rudra heard it , the inahling of air , it signalled that the dragon was preparing for the fireblast. Rudra counted to three in his mind , and then instantly used blink to teleport two streets to the right and boy did that decision save his life! A wicked fireblast covered the place where was initially at , the entire street being melted down , Rudra could feel the heat of the attack even from two streets away. Rudra had goosebumps at that moment , he understood that the margin for error here was non existent , it was either make it or break it. There was no way that he got caught in the fireblast and still made it out Alive. Taking some turns , Rudra bolted towards the inner district , Rudra needed 5 more minutes to reach the walls of inner district. While he was running however , his eyes flashed for a second with a guild member whom he was all to familiar with , Sir Jhonny who gave him a small nod.... From the moment that the giant dragon appeared in the sky , Jhonny had been trying to move as far away from it as possible. He was initially at the exact location of its first fireblast , near the eternal rebels camp. From there he ran and ran , however wherever he went , fireballs followed , in the last fireball attack from the dragon , he felt humiliated that a small piece of clothing on his bum caught fire. And he had to run around town with his @** on fire , he decided then and there , that enough was enough , he would no longer take this humiliation. Turning around , he made up his mind that he would no longer run from the dragon , but face it , he started to move towards the dragon. Mid-way he was shocked to see the guild leader running away from the dragon. Jhonny felt nostalgic , the kid was facing the same troubles he did , hence he gave him a nod , the nod said '' Don''t worry , I''ll handle the big lizard ''. The dragon was closing in , it was only interested in chasing Rudra , hence it was bound to follow his trail. However , the dragon was unexpectedly met with a shout From another man.... Jhonny shouted " Listen up you big stinky Lizard , In the ancient country of China , there were 0 lizards left , because the moment they saw one , they would grill it and eat it! , Just imagine , if you actually appeared there instead of Purplehaze , currently an entire city would be hunting for your meat , hahahahaha ". The mutated dragon was a dragon , nonetheless it had immense pride in itself , when the insult landed it''s ears , it was clearly angered .... Jhonny continued " come , use that nasty fire attack of yours , others may be fooled by it as a genuine attack , but I know for a fact that it is just stomach acidity , you have not digested your meal and now are burping fire , hahahaha what an uncultured beast ". The dragon was enraged now , it started the big inhale , but seemingly waiting for this moment , SMG appeared out of nowhere , and used a stinky mist potion , and threw it at the dragons face. The stinky mist exploded in its face , and the extremely unpleasant odour caused it to cough. COUGH , COUGH COUGH , the entire ground tremored violently at its every cough. SMG appeared beside Jhonny and said " You did a good job of distracting it sir ". Jhonny replied " Ofcourse kid who do u think I am ? ". SMG smiled , and said " Let''s go sir , he would recover soon ! ". Jhonny shook his head and said " You go kid , I got to see this through to the end ". Saying soo , Jhonny tried to look cool as he walked towards the dragon with the sword in hand , SMG sensing the situation quickly bolted . The moment Jhonny actually looked towards the dragon though , he was paralyzed in fear. :- You have been paralyzed in fear for 10seconds. The dragon breathed an enormous fireball , that destroyed not only Jhonny''s body , but even the ashes were not left after the attack. SMG who saw this was like " ????????? ". Jhonny was dead , however the fact of the matter was that he bought Rudra valuable time , Rudra was almost at the inner city wall now , and with the distance between him and the dragon , it was safe to say that he would make it. While SMG found Jhonny''s death to be pointless , and it pretty much was , a certain onlooking spy misunderstood his death as a noble sacrifice for the guild. He believed that sir Jhonny took the attack soo that the dragon would not go after other members of the guild and that the guild leader would have enough time to escape. He sacrificed himself for buying the guild a few seconds of time. His heart moved , and he swore that the sacrifice of sir Jhonny would not be left unnoticed , he would tell everyone of his brave deed! The dragon , after taking care of the pesky human , focused back on the human who had ran away with the token , it was pretty much frustrated at this point , the human in possession of the token kept running away . Since the distance between himself and the human was more than 3 KM now , it decided that chasing on foot was not going to cut it out anymore , hence it flapped its giant wings and took a huge jump to cover the distance in one fell swoop. It felt like a hurricane had hit district five , as when the dragon flapped its wings , the generated wind speed sent beasts and humans flying. The dragon with its massive frame took a jump , and the moment it landed inside inner city , it caused the earth to tremor under its weight. It landed in a good spot just 20 meters away from Rudra , Rudra seemed cornered , as he was not running away anymore , the dragon felt like it did it , it caught the human! Inhaling lots of air , it was preparing for its fireblast to kill the puny human , when a thunderous voice boomed! The voice was of Emperor Aman , who said " Know your place Livestock ! ". /// Today will be a 3 chapter day , as bonuses for both powerstone and golden tickets are due /// Chapter 216: The fight of the bigshots Rudra was trying to reach the palace as soon as possible , he did not for how long he had been running , but he kept running at a frenzy , only a few minutes had passed but it seemed like a eternity to him. Finally just as he reached the palace walls , he felt the ground tremor below his feet as if an earthquake had arrived. Rudra turned to see the feet of the dragon , not soo far away from him. He could hear him inhaling air , preparing for his signature fireblast. Rudra was calm , Aman should react , however if he did not , he was ready to blink and transport right on the Dragons head to avoid the blast. But Aman did interrupt as his voice boomed when he realized that his palace was in danger. A deep voice reverbated in the air which said " KNOW YOUR PLACE ..... LIVESTOCK! ". Aman emerged out of the palace , his once vibrant face full of vitality before he ascended to the throne was now pale and lifeless , he seemed more of a undead than a living at this point as he had the aura of death around him. It was at this moment that Rudra noticed a critical detail about Aman .... [ Emperor Aman ] ( Lv 200) ( Tier 4 ) : The undisputed ruler of Hazelgroove who took the throne by force , dethroning his father. A practicioner of dark arts and the forbidden class of necromancy , he is someone you cannot offend. Aman had reached tier 4 !! , He had progressed since the last time Rudra saw him at tier 3 a few months ago. A huge boulder then smashed on the head of the dragon , who reeled from the impact of the attack. It was a spell by the wizard Rahim! He had come to the aid of his leige. Aman clicked his tongue and started to chant , after a while he casted the tier 3 spell '' life drain'' . A hideous looking plant bloomed from under the dragon''s feet and covered its body. The plant seemed to suck the vitality out of the dragon , as he was loosing hp and strength constantly. The dragon struggled to get the plant off itself , however the plant only continued to grow larger , in contrast to the dragon who was loosing life , Aman''s complexion seemed to improove as his skin devoid of nutrition started to look more like a healthy human again. Aman''s body recovered at a visible rate , as seemed to absorb the life of the dragon. Rudra was shocked to see this happen , he had never seen this spell being cast before. Aman was unfazed as he smiled and said " It''s not half bad that I came out to meet this livestock , it''s good for nutrition , Rahim bind the beast ". He was enjoying his meal , Rather than killing the dragon , now he hoped to drain it of its life completely. Given the order Rahim immediately started to cast binding spells. Vines started to constrict the dragons wings and the ground it was standing on turned into quicksand , sinking its feet inside. . The dragon seemed to struggle under these conditions , however it seemed to go berserk at this point , instead of the normal fireblast where it would inhale air to spew out fire. The dragon started to mobilize the mana in the air ... Rudra had heard about this move .... The fabled move of the dragon race.... The dragon breath ! He had absolutely no intention of being on the recieving end of such a devastating move , but he made the mistake of looking the dragon in the eye , which caused him to be paralyzed in fear for 5 seconds. The dragon was looking towards Emperor Aman , who was frowning , however Rudra was closeby as well , if the dragon casted the dragons breath successfully , that would be it for him. Rudra started to pray to the gods to save him at this point , as he thought '' That''s it folks , I''m dead! ''. However , at the last possible second before the dragon could complete it''s move , a scream could he heard '' Agghhhhhhhhhh.....'' SPLASHHH! Patricia who was somehow falling from the sky fell right on the Dragons face , impaling her sword into his eye ! The dragon screeched in pain , while she cooly bounced off from his head and landed before Rudra. She gave her brother a small wink before taking a knee before Aman as she said " Patricia Won Knight reporting for duty ". Aman glanced At her and smiled , as he nodded. What followed was a one sided dragon slaughter. Rahim casted spells after spells , while Aman casted spells that Rudra had never seen before , they were probably the skill sets of dark faction players , as more and more nefarious spells inflicted damage on the dragon. The once mighty dragon who had over a billion HP , was being mauled when facing the 3 tier 4 humans. Rudra looking at the scene thought , " Well I might as well contribute something ". As he used thunderblast to zap the dragon. A pitifully low damage of -35 appeared on its body. Rudra sighed , it was pretty much pointless , but still kept attacking from range . Rudra kept a close eye on the HP of the dragon , as he was holding his most powerfull move in hopes of getting the last hit. After 15 minutes of fighting the dragon''s hp hit below 1 million. Rudra became incredibly anxious now , as he waited for the right time to fight back. A tier 3 mountain breaker spell by Rahim , sent the million hp of the dragon down to 500,000 Followed by a move Rudra had never seen before as about 50,000 small needle like swords manifested themselves in the air as they hit they pierced the dragon. The dragons HP hit critically low value with only 2000 left. Rudra grit his teeth , he might not be able to make it , but with Aman chanting the finishing spell , he knew it was now or never. Gambling everything on his most powerfull move , Rudra aimed at the neck of the dragon as he unleashed the full power of the elven sword! WORLD SLASH! ( To be continued .... ) /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target ! Good job you all! /// Chapter 217: The Event Ends Rudra aimed for the dragon''s neck , he closed in the distance as much as he could , and when he felt he was close enough , he jumped and used the best technique in his arsenal for the hit. Rudra unleashed a strong World Slash. As the Elven sword seemed to disrupt space itself as it sent a strong Slash towards the dragons neck! -2100 CRITICAL HIT! Rudra saw that damage notification as he fell towards the floor , offbalance after unleashing that strike. His mind yelped in joy , as he saw the Dragon''s HP hit rock bottom! The dragon''s body lost all life force as it limply fell towards the ground. CRASH! , A loud crash shook the Earth when the dead dragon''s body hit the ground. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION :- YOU HAVE KILLED A '' DRAGON '' , Acquired title '' Dragon slayer ''! . You have achieved something that is not easily achievable. Recieved title '' The one who defies all odds ''. You have gained 50,000 merit points for killing the dragon You have gained 50,000 merit points for assisting the military in the beast tide. You have slayn a beast more 100 levels above you ( total exp bonus will be increased times 100 ) LEVEL UP ! LEVEL UP ! LEVEL UP ! LEVEL UP ! . . . . . LEVEL UP ! Rudra levelled up 16 times before he stopped at 90% of level 72. This was an unexpected windfall , Rudra earned 16 levels in a single shot not to mention the 100,000 merit points bonus! If Rudra was not enough of a beast before , he was absolutely terrifying currently , being 12 levels above Neatwit , it was safe to say he had successfully claimed the highest ranker spot in the game. Also 2 new titles! [ Dragon Slayer ] ( Passive) : as a tier one player you have made history by slaying a tier four dragon. Effects : +25% stat bonus upon levelling [ The one who defies all odds ]( passive) :- Your deeds have defied the realm of possibility as you have achieved an near impossible feat. Effects :- +10% critical hit rate Rudra obtained two titles! And both were passive one''s that would show their effects throughout his gaming career, they were a very valuable addition to his strength! Rudra''s greatest strength over all players currently was his out of the world stats , and with a 25% stat bonus upon every level up would only serve to widen that gap in the future. Rudra was extremely happy , his gamble had paid off ! He called for his new stat panel ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer . Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 72 Tier : 1 STATS AGI : 590 +295 VIT : 590 +295 INT : 590 +295 STA : 590 +295 PHY : 590 +295 HP : 77000/77000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (145/200) ---- His stats were insanely high! , It was not at all a stretch to say that with his current stats he could run-down pretty much any tier one player , no matter how skilled he/she was! Rudra looked around still smiling to see the smiling face of his sister Patricia , who gave him a thumbs up. Rahim raised an eyebrow as he knew Rudra had kill stealed from his majest. Aman however was not the least bit concerned , he said " Good job. As expected of the Won Knight family ".: Patricia immediately kneeled , however Aman instantly said " At ease " . Aman looked at the dragon corpse , and started to chant a wierd spell ..... Moment later the once dead dragon opened its eyes , the eyes which were initially yellow with a scary pupil , had now turned pitch black! The dragon''s wound started to dissapear at a rate visible to the naked eye , as it soon got up and flew away. Rudra eyed towards Aman , he knew that the Emperor had probably Turned the dragon into his own undead slave , his tired face and drowsy way of moving made it all to clear that he had used a spell extremely taxing on his mind and body to tame the dead dragon. Rahim and Aman went back into the palace , as Rahim supported his lord , to his position back on the throne. The fighting against the beasts continued , although the Elites now held a huge lead in points , the only thing they needed to do now was safely farm for the next few hours after which they could successfully put this event to rest. The current situation on the merit board is ... Merit board rankings : 1) True Elites : 440000 points + (100,000) point 2) Frozern Thorns : 337000 point 3) Eternal rebels : 329300 poin 4) Twisting serpants : 300004 point 5 ) Eternal darkness : 135594 point 6 ) Elementals : 119750 point 342) Seed of life : ELIMINATED 343) pizza lovers : ELIMINATED 344 ) here to stay : ELIMINATED 420) never say never : ELIMINATED ! . The Elites held a huge point lead , and even if the enemy somehow managed to get their hands on Rudra''s token , the Elites would still make it at the top! It was a great feeling for Rudra, who understood that becoming the overlords of Purplehaze city was only a matter of time now! Only a few hours were left till the end of the event and he was sure that the guild at number 2 , the Frozern thorns would definitely try get the token. However Rudra with his newfound strength was more than confident about holding his ground! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target! Shoutout to kingspy25i for the 1000 coin gift! , Thankyou brother for the patronage ! /// Chapter 218: Overlords of Purplehaze City In the last few hours of the war the forzern thorns guild were desperately trying to steal the token from Rudra , not that it would change the outcome of the event in anyway as the Elites would win despite not having the token , however they were trying the best to turn the situation around. The guild leader of frozen thorns , ''Yeti'' and about a group of 100 soldiers confronted Rudra for the token. Yeti said "Surrender the token guild master Shakuni , I admire your guild to have progressed soo far and admire you more as a guild leader , you have all my respect , but I need to have that token , I need to win this event , please co-operate and we would not need to kill you, think reasonably guild master , we outnumber you heavily ". Rudra smiled as he said " well I''m glad you respect me , however I will not surrender the token , you know I am quite tired of the same thing again and again and again. The Elites are outnumbered , arrogant guys come in ask for us to surrender , we fight back , we kill them , we win. Sigh , when will you all learn from your mistakes , A single Elite is better than a thousand of your players , not just a pitifull 100 ! ". Saying soo Rudra sprung into action , he was currently unstoppable , after slaying the dragon and gaining 16 levels at once , nobody was his match at tier one anymore. Yeti squinted his eyes , being a tank he braced for impact against Rudra''s sword , however to his surprise Rudra did not attack with his sword and kicked the shield he had square with his foot. BAM! Yeti was sent flying as he crashed into the soldiers behind him. Rudra dual wielding Excalibur and Elven sword made short work of the surrounding players . Rudra was a death god on the battlefield as he absolutely overwhelmed two , three , even six enemy soldiers attacking at once. Within 10 minutes 99 party members had been killed and Yeti stood against him at 1000 HP. Yeti''s eyes were wide in shock , he had seen the clips , he had heard the rumors about the Elites being able to always overcome the odds. That a single Elite was a army of his own. However he always took it with a grain of salt , he found the very idea ridiculous. However facing Rudra today he really understood , it did not feel like a tier one player fighting Another tier one player , it felt like an adult fighting 100 four year old children , no matter how skilled the children were , they were no Match for the one adult. Rudra said coldly " I have no personal grudge against you guild leader , however let this be a reminder to you , never set your sights on MY PURPLEHAZE CITY! ". -5000 critical hit! Yeti died under Rudra''s elven sword! With only 30 minutes left till the event ended , and over 200,000 points in lead , Rudra could feel that the victory was in the air! He became excited as he slaughtered beasts like a madman , he was absolutely elated and hence his moves flowed more naturally as he broke out singing. " I''ve got fire a heart , I''m not scared of the dark , you''ve never seen it look soo easy ! ...." " Nobody nobody, Nobody can DRAG ME DOWN! " In his killing spree he gained the remaining 10% exp required to level up as he levelled upto level 73! LEVEL UP! The event countdown hit 10 seconds 9 ,8....3....2...1 PURPLEHAZE CITY NOTIFICATION: The beast tide is over , the remaining beasts will retreat back into the wild ! CONGRATULATIONS to the ''True Elites '' guild to have gained the maximum merit points in this event hence , gaining the management rights to the city! Please meet the emperor in the royal palace to take up the official duties in 2 days time! The event was officially over and Rudra just sat down on the ground after hearing the notification. Tears were flowing out of his eyes , as he could not believe what he achieved here ..... " WE DID IT! " He screamed , he did it! , He came through! Winning the management rights to the city was probably the most significant achievement he had made in the game , and not many would understand the actual ramifications of this but Rudra did , the one year peace before the city wars started was the make or break year for every guild all across the game. For this one year , he needed to strengthen the guild immensely , he needed to properly develop Purplehaze city into one of the best cities to live in , and prepare his members for the big daddy of all competitions in the world , the VR Olympics. --------- ( Real world , Grey international tower , the upside) Mithun Ambani sat across Ethan Grey , tense atmosphere could be felt all across the conference room , as the negotiations seemed to have failed. There were many high level officials in the meeting room including government officials from Japan and Pakistan present in the meeting room. Ambani said " You have cost me enough damage Ethan , pull out of Pakistan and don''t meddle in my buisness anymore , or else the ramifications will not be as simple as me ruining your buisness , it will lead to war between our countries". The Japanese officials were a bit worried by this remark , but the Japanese were not pushovers who could be threatened with empty words . Ethan glanced at the government official , who nodded in affirmation that the government had his back. Ethan scoffed as he replied " do as you please Mithun , I will not stop untill I throw you out of your own corporation ". Mithun stood up as he said " very well , enjoy your little island country while you can ". He threatened as the holographic projection ended. Ethan grit his teeth , Ethan had been a hungry wolf ever since he blew up Ambani''s oil mine , he had gobbled up businesses previously owned by Ambani , one after the other as he had established a firm foothold inside Pakistan. After Ambani''s oil field exploded , the oil prices in Pakistan sky rocketed , the country was 100% dependant on the oil field and supplies from Ambani corporation , hence the economy had stagnated following the company''s fall , and had almost caused a economic crash! In such a time Ethan had entered the market becoming a white knight , opening petrol pumps and investing in development projects creating employment. Pakistan was a brutally corrupt country , and bribing a few officials here and there , Ethan had his way of getting projects passed by the government. However his actions angered Mithun ambani , Mithun was in Pakistan since the last 40 years , and he had a lot of connections in the country, especially in the military. Using his influence he planned on strong arming Ethan out of Pakistan , albeit on the threat of a full fledged war. /// Author''s notes: Change to the country naming system , as the VR Olympics would be upcoming in the next few arcs , it is important to use real country names to avoid confusion. Here''s a list of reference : Country J ---> Japan Country U ----> USA Country X -----> Pakistan Country B ------> Britain (UK) City T -------> Tokyo The MC previously lived in Pakistan , but now lives in Tokyo , Japan /// Chapter 219: The winners There was an incredible celebratory atmosphere at the guild hall. Barrels of booze had been brought over and the NPC soldiers , guild members and even the elves were partying with the others. Those who had died in the war had rejoined the guild mates after reviving , and they were the one''s who were most thrilled about the victory. Especially those who died when the guild was still behind in terms of points , hence they wanted to hear about all the details and the epic action. When Karna walked in to the joyous atmosphere he could not help but smile ..... He always knew that Rudra would pull through. Hence the moment he saw Rudra , he launched into a bear hug to meet the guy . Rudra too did not shy away , as he understood the sentiment. While for others this war was a great victory for the guild , for Rudra and Karna they knew that they had very obvious flaws that they had to work on . Karna had contemplated a lot about his death at the hands of edge , Karna was a very prideful man , and he knew that he let his emotions get the best of him in the moment. He needs to be more rational , and he needs to work on his skills more. He is not invincible and he needs to start behaving that way. Also he needs to realize that he is a vice guild master first and an assaulter for the guild second. His role is not just to slay more enemies but to lead the guild. He needs to think twice before jumping before enemies. All of this Karna swore to improve upon , he had matured a lot from this experience and he would use it as a fuel for his growth. For Rudra the lesson was to not rely on plan A , and to have a plan B , C , D and fu***** Z plan ready . Also if even Plan Z fails , he needs to not panick and think about a plan that''s out of the box. More rational , and more decisive is what he needs to be. However in this moment , he and Karna could be said to be truly happy , as the guild was now the damn overlords of Purplehaze City. The exact mechanics about being a managing guild of a city was not clearly mentioned , but Rudra knew that it meant that pretty much everything was under their control. If they blackflagged a player , that player could never enter Purplehaze city legally , if they try to illegally infiltrate the city and get caught , it would be a 7 day prison minimum , and could go upto 30 days. Also the guilds were authorized to make their own military unit to mentain security. Not more than 8% of total city population. However for Purplehaze city that had more than 30 million residents , the 8% number translated into a 240,000 soldiers! It was by no means a small number , and no guild could hope to remain calmly in Purplehaze if they provoked the Elites. Hence Rudra knew , that for the coming year the guild would face no more guild wars , and untill the countdown for city wars was not lifted one year for now , there would be no territorial conflict either. This was a time for rapid growth and consolidation , the time to become soo strong that when the VR Olympics open , they could make an impact on the world stage. It was also a time to mint money while managing the city. The next system auction would be continent wide , and would need a lot of money to bid for the top items. The biggest change that Rudra wished to bring was that he no longer wished to be a leader of a small guild. Numbers was the biggest problem with the True Elites , and their low numbers had them rely on tricks time and time again. Hence he wanted to increase the numbers of the guild , significantly! Although he would not expand it to the scale of 300,000 members or so , he wanted to at least expand to 20,000 main guild members , 5000 lifestyle members and 2000 logistics and intelligence members. But his ideals for the guild would not allow anyone below the Elite level to be recruited in the guild , hence in a moment of inspiration he decided to create an academy. He wished to create the Elite school of eSports in the upside , where students who graduated school could join as a carreer option. The course would be a 6 month course and upon graduation you would be directly enrolled into the main guild with a fixed pay and housing in the Elite tower. His vision was to create an eSports school , where students who just cleared school could join , these 18 year old youths would be trained in the institute and helped in being power levelled by senior guild members. They would be guided since the start of the game and have teachers from the main guild teaching them. Even he himself would take some lectures for this purpose. He would have a school set up here inside Purplehaze city , aswell as in the real world in the upside , and the course would require students to take practical classes in game , as well as physical classes in classrooms. And hence in this way he wished to enroll the 27000 members into the guild , and keep the process recurring for every 6 months cycle. With the guild accepting 27,000 new members every six months through the academy and 3000 members directly based on performance as per recruitment standards The guild would recruite about 30,000 members every 6 months This way they could slowly and stably expand the guilds foundations without deviating from the original core values. After the one year gap , if all went to plan , the Elites would have 60 K new members , about that of a third rate guild , and not be soo pitifully low numbered. While he was thinking all this , he did not realize that he had zoned out , when his eyes regained focus and he scanned his surroundings , he realized that Naomi was very close to his face , staring at him. There was less than 3 cm distance between their lips , and Rudra instantly backed off and blushed ... His mind could not process how Naomi suddenly got there. Naomi puffed her cheeks as she said " Are you listening to me??? ". She looked extremely cute while throwing a fit , and only then did Rudra realize that she had probably been talking to him as he had zoned out.... He said " Apologies , can you please say it once more , I did not pay attention ". Naomi sighed , it seemed Rudra did not listen to a word she said .... She repeated " The Elven princess has been wanting to talk to you since a longgg time , you better go talk to her , you dumbo ". Only then did Rudra realize that even Ruby was here , and she was glancing in his direction.... /// We missed the 4800 mark by 100 Ps ending the week with 4700 , however I''m still releasing a bonus chapter because of all the summoning pens iv recieved. Because why not? Honestly I was only contemplating today about how I have great fans supporting my book, and from the bottom of my heart , thankyou guys! Hope you enjoy the bonus! //// Chapter 220: A new beginning The party continued in fulll force as Legolas and Gimli could be seen constantly bickering , apparently Legolas having 8 times more kills than Gimli did , hurt Gimli''s pride a lot , however Legolas''s pride was also hurt , because he did not have 10 times more kills than Gimli, hence both kept constantly bickering. Drunk Gimli said " You elf only know , ( Hiccup ) , how to shoot ( Hiccup) , arrows , you don''t fight like a real man , you fight like a elf ". Legolas , who was also a bit flushed replied " You have no grace , no class , just a uncouth barbarian , be grateful that I Legolas the first commander of Elven division defeated you! ". It seemed like things would spiral out of control , as Gimli raised his hand in fury , but instead of hitting Legolas , he smashed it on the table and said " Come , let''s arm wrestle , it''s a real man''s sport". Cheers could be heard all around them , as troops from both sides encouraged the fight! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! the crowd motivated the duo , and Legolas accepted the challenge . He was confident in his victory as he said " very well , I''ll put the musclehead in his place! ". He too smashed his skinny hand on the table and locked hands in a arm wrestling position against Gimli. Rudra who was silently watching the scene , was barely holding in his laughter , however princess Ruby beside him sighed. She said " Im sorry , The Elves cannot handle their liquor well , we are not this unruly usually ". Rudra replied " Don''t worry , it''s not unruly , I''m actually quite entertained , alcohol reveals a man''s true character , and I can see that Legolas has a good heart , don''t worry about him and Gimli , they both are good generals , none would take anything tonight to heart , that''s just how men are ". Ruby blinked in confusion , the side of people she had seen while outside the elven country was quite different from what she observed inside. The elves under Legolas were soo open and fun , unlike the nobles she socialized with , the humans whom the elves considered inferior were also a kind and hospitable race. Everyone in the guild treated her warmly , and she could tell that it was not because they wanted any benefits or to flatter her , it was because they were genuinely like that to everyone. This made her more curious about Rudra as a person , someone who could create such a amazing guild , he was worthy of respect. She wanted to congratulate Rudra on his victory , hence she made him a wood carving charm of the Elves , however she felt really shy to give it to him. She just followed him throughout the party , as he warmly took her to every group , as he socialized with everyone and celebrated the victory. She could notice how everyone was respectful of him. How they borderline revered him as a figure. She could see that this group wholeheartedly followed Rudra as they trusted in his skills as a leader , and not because he was the strongest in the group. The more she observed Rudra , the more she felt like he was a ideal man. Slowly but surely she began getting infatuated with the man. It was not a stretch to say that he was her first crush. She kept stealing glances of his face , he was quite handsome , not by elven standards , but he still had a unique charm to his face. He had well defined muscles and a toned body , she could not help but blush when she saw his muscular arms , unfortunately for her , he also looked at her while she was checking his arm out , causing her to blush a even deeper red. Because she was caught in the act. However , Rudra did not understand that she was checking his arms out , he thought she was feeling shy because there were soo many people around , hence he said " Do you want to go to someplace where we would be alone? ". The princesses blush turned an even deeper red , as she was now as red as a tomato. The maids around her giggled , only then did Rudra realize that the question he asked could have a second meaning attatched to it . He wanted to quickly apologize , but was interrupted by PinkLotus . Yua arrived at the scene and tugged into Rudra''s arms as she said " Congratulations on the victory , guild leader , let us celebrate with a fine cup of wine? ". Rudra thought for a moment before he said " Sure give me a moment ". " Okie " said Yua as she went away happily . Ruby did not understand why , but she felt annoyed with this development as she said " I would like to excuse myself to my quarters , I am a bit tired ". Rudra did not realise that she was mad at him and thought she was genuinely tired as he said " have a good night''s rest Princess " . The maids around the princess sighed ..... They all turned and started to walk towards their own quarters. Mid-way Ruby paused and looked for Rudra , and saw him drinking with PinkLotus , she puffed her cheeks and said " Flirt ". And walked away in anger. On her way back , she again saw Gimli and Legolas who were now standing shoulder to shoulder quite drunk as they started to spout cheesy romantic words . Gimli said " It''s an honor to meet you great elf Legolas , you are my brother for life ". Legolas replied " Although you are a musclehead , you are a good guy , I accept your brotherhood ". Ruby could not figure out how in a span of one hour , they went from competitors to brothers. She understood one thing today and that was men were idiots . They were simple minded and fickle creatures who did not know how to hold a grudge , and over alcohol , their behaviour took a 180 turn. Enemies could turn into best friends over a barrel of rum. /// New week , same bonus targets 100 golden tickets = 1 bonus chapter 1200 powerstones =1 bonus chapter We ended at 4700 last week , hopefully we hit 4800 this time around ! /// Chapter 221: Back In real world After a full day of partying , the guild members decided to lay off for the day. Rudra gave everyone the day off , as he logged off to spend some time with his family . Rudra grogily took his gaming helmet off, it was 8:30 am in the morning , he stretched a bit to relax his stiff muscles , he was in comfortable loungewear. After drinking a glass of water , he went downstairs to join his family for breakfast . The moment he saw little Max on the breakfast table , he ran upto him and gave the kid a bear hug. Little Max had saved him from a perilous situation back in the game. He remembered about giving him a hug the moment he saw him. The little guy squealed and laughed as he could not wiggle free from his brothers embrace. Only when Rudra let him go did he show him his broken teethy smile and went back to eating his favourite fruit loops cereal. Mama Rajput was happy to see the brotherly display of affection from his eldest son. As she said " seems like things are going well for you in the game ". Rudra nodded as he poured himself some orange juice , he said " Yeah , I achieved a milestone today , it was a satisfactory win for the guild ". Rudra''s dad smiled , he would not show how proud he was of his son , so he would bury his head in the newspaper to hide his smile. Rudra noticed this and smiled , however his joy was cut short by his mom''s question.... Mama rajput asked " Soo , since everything is going well , when are you planning on getting married? ". PFFTT..... Rudra spilled the orange juice out of his mouth at that question , as he started to cough. Mama rajput continued " I am getting old now , you are already of age , earning well and settled in an urban area like the Upside , it''s time to get married now , I wish to play with my grandchildren before I get old ". Rudra was absolutely stupefied by this question , he had no answers soo he looked towards his dad for moral support , however the old man sold him out as he said " Your mom is right , I want three grandchildren , two girls one boy , I want to pamper them a lot ". Little Max clapped at the idea as he said " COUSINS!!!! ". Rudra did not have the heart to explain to max that his children won''t be his cousins , but his nephews. Rudra replied " What nonsense , we already have max to pamper , we don''t need more ". Mama Rajput was having none of it though as she said " My Maxie is a big boy now , aren''t you Maxie ..? ". Max looked up and said " Im a big boy now , I clean my own potty ! ". Mama Rajput cheered on " That''s right , he does , he s a big boy now .... Whose a good boy? ". Max shouted with his hand raised " ME , ME ". Rudra sighed as he slapped his face , it was time to make a timely exit from this house. Rudra said " I have work with Mr. Grey , I''ll be back for dinner .... Bye ". Saying soo Rudra bolted from the house , he did not wish to be anywhere near his mom and dad , who were hellbent on marrying him off. Only when he was out of the house and on the streets of upside , did he realize that he had walked off the house in literal lounge wear. It was embarassing to go around with nothing but a robe on. He thought about buying some clothing from nearby store before making his way to the Grey tower. Rudra called for a caddie with his mobile , who picked him up and took him to the nearby clothing store. Rudra rejoiced , the living conditions in Upside were top-notch , one call and a chauffeur would pick you up and take you anywhere you need to go. Rudra walked in the store , only to instantly walk out of it . That was because Naomi was in the store. Rudra cursed , " Why is she in a men''s clothing store ". He desperately hoped she had not noticed him , before he made his exit , however his hopes were crused when she came rushing out behind Rudra and shouted " Guild leader , can you please help me out...?". Rudra cursed as he thought '' Busted''. He could not leave now , even if he wanted to , he would be forced to meet Naomi with only his robe on . Rudra turned around to greet her , he said " Sure ...". Only then did Naomi notice that the guild leader was out wearing only a linen robe .... She giggled , she understood that she had caught him in a bad time. Before she asked anything Rudra said " My mom brought up the marriage topic , soo I ran away from house , I was here to buy clothes too ". Naomi nodded , she had a faint smile on her lips but she said nothing related to his dressing , instead she said " My and Namans birthday is coming soon , I wanted to make a gift box for him, can you please help me choose clothing for him? ". Rudra nodded, inwardly he felt amazed. It was very thoughtful of her, he was impressed , also it explained why she was in a men''s clothing store. Rudra chose his own clothing , while he helped Naomi pick some up for Naman. His biggest mistake was that when Naomi bent to pick a shirt from a lower rack , he accidentally peaked into her outward shirt to look at her gorgeous god gifted mounds. Instantly his little brother sprung to life which was evidently visible in his thin robe. Rudra panicked he needed to bolt into the changing room immediately. He did run away very fast , however not fast enough , what he did not know was that Naomi had been secretly checking him out too throughout the shopping session , she had relished the chance to steal glances of his lean body. However she was not ready for the movie called dark knight rises , hence her face turned into a very deep hue of red , and there was only one thought on her mind .... '' Yelp , its huge ! ''. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job! /// Chapter 222: Meeting Ethan Grey Rudra changed into proper a proper suit , while he stayed five extra minutes in the changing room , to calm the raging thunder in his pants. He came out and tried to act as normal as possible around Naomi , and to his delight she seemed to be unaware of what transpired. Rudra sighed in relief as he helped her complete her shopping and went his way to the Grey tower. As usual when he entered the Grey tower , all employees stood up from their work station to come greet him. He had apparently became a celebrity around the tower. He had came unannounced and without a scheduled meeting soo he was worried he would have to wait , however to his pleasent surprise he was able to directly meet Ethan in his office , without waiting at all. Ethan was as usual fidgeting with his crystal ball , when he saw Rudra and smiled. Rudra could see the dark circles under Ethan''s baggy eyes , he understood quickly that Ethan was under a lot of stress lately. Ethan said " My brother visits unexpectedly , come , I hope you bring good news with you ". Rudra wanted to cheer up Ethan soo he said " Ofcourse , I do , I am happy to announce that the guild has won the management rights of Purplehaze city , according to my reincarnation knowledge it is the most significant achievement we have made in the game soo far. And if my estimations are not wrong , if we properly manage the city , we can easily make over 3 trillion dollars in a year. With you owning 30% stake in the guild , that would translate to an additional revenue of a trillion dollars for you this year". Had anyone else told him about such ridiculous numbers , he would have probably fired them on the spot here , however coming from Rudra''s mouth , these words were credible . He arched an eyebrow , the Omega market seemed to be more lucrative than his wildest imaginations , he was very happy to have invested in the Elites soo early in the game , the returns the guild was generating was beyond his scope of expectations. Ethan laughed " Good , good , just the kind of news I wanted to hear , hahaha , you are my true brother , always here with solutions , rather than problems ". Rudra just smiled , after a while he gaugingly asked " is something the matter ? ". Ethan sighed as he said " That Mithun Ambani is stirring trouble , he would probably wage a war on japan should his demands not be met". Rudra knew little about world politics , but it seemed like a major problem , however with the VR Olympics coming soon , Rudra was reminded of an important event that would take place in the future. UN was currently under a lot of pressure , as multiple countries were asking for VETO rights , and the demand to be added as a permanent member of security council was increasing immensely , especially from countries like South Korea , Japan and India. Under immense pressure they needed to pass a reform soon. This reform would come with the launch of the VR Olympics , UN would declare a important decision in the coming future , that the top 5 countries in the VR Olympics with the most medal tally , would gain VETO rights for that year in UN. It would be a yearly event , and winners every year would be given a spot in the security council with VETO rights for one year. Hence not knowing if it would help Ethan or not , Rudra blurted this piece of information to Ethan. Ethan was shocked for a while, but his brain got to thinking real fast , and he said .... " So you are telling me that if Japan somehow manages to land a top 5 spot in the VR Olympics, we would have VETO rights in the UN? ". Rudra nodded , that was about right . Ethan , went into deep thoughts as he said " We need to win anyhow then , if we can gain VETO in the security council , then we can make Pakistan be placed in a very unfavourable position, we will have all the bargaining power once that happens, however explain to me why did the UN place soo much importance with the VR Olympics and not the real Olympics for this ? ". The real Olympics was also a event that carried great meaning even till date. Countries would participate with the spirit of sports and showcase their best talents and efforts to win medals. Ethan''s question was very valid , as he genuinely did not understand the importance of VR Olympics. Rudra said " Even I do not know the deeper meaning , however my understanding is that , OMEGA gold has became the defacto currency of the world , toppling dollar. The convenience of conversion of in game coins to any currency in the world without any processing fee , has made it the most popular choice ". " Second reason is that the deaths in game are not real , hence events such as large scale warfare can be staged in a way that countries can fight wars without destroying terrain and loosing lives, hence reducing victims of war , while having a conclusion to the fighting , " " The most important reason is that , the laws in Omega are above all countries , the cuber corporation is not curated by any government , hence they provide an unbiased platform for the event to take place and there is no chance of using unfair means to one''s advantage . Also the contracts in the game are binding and impossible to break , hence without choice the loosing side has to obey the rules of the victors ". Ethan nodded in understanding , while vague , Rudra''s answer held merit , while in Olympics the hosting country will always have an home ground advantage , as well as referees and officials could make mistakes and could be bought off , in real life , same could not happen in Omega. The fairness of contest was gauranteed , hence it was a superior option for a decision of such a scale. Ethan had a lot of thinking to do , Rudra had dropped a lot of important information on him at once. Before he got to thinking however he asked Rudra about the reason behind his visit as he said " Sooo , while I''m glad about the good news and the VR Olympics , I''m sure you came here with a different agenda ..... Soo what is it that you came here for ...". Rudra realized that he almost forgot his reason for visit here as he said " The reason I came here is because , I want to create an academy ... ". Chapter 223: The academy Rudra said in all seriousness " I want to establish an academy for recruitment and training of the Elites , I want students from 18-21 age group to enroll. I will provide them with a stable income gauranteed job as a part of the guild once they join ". Ethan thought for a while , before saying " What exactly do you mean by a academy? ". Rudra replied " I want to build a university , but for recruitment into the True Elites. There will be three main courses offered :- A) Elites lifestyle course B) Elites combat course C) Elites Logistics course The courses would all be for a period of 6 months , with classes scheduled both in game and in real life. There will be limited seats. And gauranteed 100% placement upon graduation ". Ethan nodded as he said " good idea , what about the faculty? ". Rudra said " The Elite members will be the teachers , SMG will be the stealth and assasination class teacher , Karna would be the heavy weapons class teacher , Medivh can be the wizards class teacher and so on and so forth , the other Elites could be visiting faculty , while Neatwit can become a levelling teacher , who could guide the students in game. I will become the principal and occasionally take classes too ". Ethan nodded , he liked the idea , however the plan had many flaws , he said " Those who are good players may not be necessarily be good teachers , everyone may not have the talent to groom students. In my opinion , we can hire profesional Assistant professors , they can prepare the lectures and do the teaching , while the Elites can focus on the practical approach of things ". Rudra found the suggestion to have merit hence he agreed immediately. Then Ethan raised the million dollar question " What exactly do u plan on teaching them ". Rudra was ready for this question as he said " I plan to make a comprehensive course. The game mechanics would actually be taught to all 3 schools. Information about all the classes , actual breakdown of all the strengths and weaknesses of all the characters. Different playing styles and best way to level up. Actual battle formations and tactics in Omega. A compiled list of all items and their uses , and all the different skill tomes and their prices. The students in the academy will have a wide range of knowledge , they will be a different breed , who can tactically analyze any situation before them . Their academics would propell them to being one of the best players in the game , period. I will personally compile the digital textbooks and notes. I will also personally set a training regiment exam for all students , one needs to do that regiment compulsorily for 3 times a week , to develop reflex and muscle memory. I will start working on my end , hence I need you to start working on ur end , please start making the academy in the upside and get it ready by 20 days , I will ready the other stuff ". Ethan nodded , he had a lot on his plate currently , however he still agreed to help Rudra on this one , he promised to create a world-class facility in the next 20 days. --------------- ( In the virtual world , True Elites headquarters , the residential quarters ) The maids surrounded princess Ruby , whose face was as red as a tomato. After the constant teasing of the maids , she had finally admitted that she did have a crush on guild leader Rudra. This had sent the maids into overdrive as they all helped and screamed in joy! The teasing intensified as all sorts of inappropriate comments were passed in the room , causing Ruby to turn deep red. A maid teased her " Well , he is an oracle , he can probably tell if you both are fated or not , all you have to do is ask him ...". The other maid said " well ofcourse they are fated , don''t you see the dreamy look on his face when he looks at our princess !". Ruby blushed at the remark , her heart was very happy to hear such words. She wanted to hear more of it. But contradictory words came out of her mouth " guild leader Shakuni is a dignified man , he won''t oogle over women , especially not an unattractive elf like me, he was having such a good time drinking with the PinkLotus girl. ". The maids all cut her off " Nooo , he is blind of he can''t see your beauty , not only oogle , he should only have eyes for you ". Maid 2 said " yes , yes , you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life , he is bound to like you back ". Maid 3 said " yes , yes , compared to the ugly girl in the guild , you are a thousand times more pretty ". Maid 4 " What PinkLotus , it''s just a dirty flower in a muddy pond , while you are a white Lilly in the open plains ". Maid 5 " Men are very fickle and simple , the guild leader had no affection for the PinkLotus girl , he would have drank with whoever called for him , men are like that , they loove them booze ". They all tried to console the princess , who was happy to be reassured , however unbeknownst to them , their conversation was being overheard by the very same PinkLotus they were badmouthing, she was apparently passing by in the corridor when she stopped to eavesdrop on the conversation. Yua sneered listening at their conversation as she muttered under her breath In a way that it was inaudible to anyone but herself that " You think Rudra would ever fall for a NPC like you .... Huh , fat chance , I don''t even consider you competition , unlike that asian girl Naomi , you are no threat ". She merrily walked off , she was not worried about the NPC princess If only she knew how Rudra felt about that princess.... /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target , today will be a 3 or maybe even a 4 chapter day as the Golden target is also met Good job everyone , we are going good! Hope you guys keep up the pace! /// Chapter 224: The overlord of Purplehaze city (virtual world , Purplehaze city , the royal palce) Back in the virtual world , Rudra , Karna and the other elders were all present at the Royal palace , today was the day that they would be conferred the management rights of the city! In a court full of court officials , Rudra stood in the middle , surrounded by other winners of major cities , all of them called here today to be conferred their official management rights , by the king. The court official said " The great eminence , the sun of the kingdom , the mighty , the kind , the merciful , emperor of Hazelgroove kingdom , Emperor Aman , had sent a decree to call on adventurers for help against the beast tide and for those who performed exemplarily well , promised a reward of managing rights to the city they protected , hence today , here , at the royal court of Hazelgroove kingdom , the Emperor will stay true to his word , come forward as your names have been called , and you shall be conferred your title as Mayor''s of your respective city , and your guild will be given the administration authority ". First " Machoboy from the guild DizzyShip has been conferred the title of Mayor of nighttown". " Konan from the guild paperbags , has been conferred the title of Mayor of HiddenMist Village ". . . . . . . " AND LASTLY THE CAPITAL CITY OF PURPLEHAZE .... Shakuni of the True Elites , you have been conferred the title of Mayor of Purplehaze city! For your merit for the kingdom , come and hand over your merit token to encash on the 100,000 points ". Rudra bowed slightly towards Aman, as he said " I''m sorry my Emperor , a foolish guildmate has lost the token , I will be unable to encash the token ". The courtier immediately frowned , he said " How irresponsible , are you even capable of of managing Purplehaze City? ". The courtier had said this statement at the wrong place at the wrong time , as when this remark was made , Patricia rose from her seat , and unleashed her killing intnent towards the courtier. Aman who was silently watching the situation , understood that Rudra''s excuse about loosing the token was bull**** , he had probably understood the real worth of the token and decided to keep it for himself , the token was overall not as valuable as the ties with the Won knight family , he also had a bone dragon under him now , hence he did not need the token per se. Aman shouted " IMPUDENT ". As a small flick of his finger brought the courtier to his knees. " Mercy my lord , mercy " the courtier shouted , terrified of the development. " Aman looked squarely at the man and said , Know your place , Baron ! ". The man peed himself under pressure , as a small pool of slightly yellow liquid surrounded the place where he was. Aman continued " even without the token , your guild is rightfully the number one contributor , hence I will let this matter slide here , the court is concluded". Everyone bowed as the court was concluded and Aman left his throne to leave the room. Only after Aman had left did the others start to leave. Rudra looked at Patricia as a thankful expression came on his face , he never had a elder sibling , but looking at Patricia he felt , like maybe this is what the protection of elder siblings felt like. He was not a won knight only in name anymore , for Patricia he would wage any war necessary. Patricia rolled her eyes when he saw Rudra''s puppy face , she said " Arra arra , act with the dignity of a mayor now , you kept the family name afloat , did soo well In the beast tide , even Gimli only has high praise for you , be proud little brother ! You''ve done well , and I hope you keep it up and make this city a better place ! ". Saying soo she took her leave , the only people left in the courtroom , were the courtier in his own piss and the Elites , who were waiting for Rudra to leave with them. The courtier tried to talk to Rudra , as he said " I...I...". But Karna cut him off as he pinched his nose and said " U stink like piss ". Saying so he grabbed Rudra and went out of the royal palace. The guild members stopped for a while outside the royal palace , as the high view sprawled across the entire city. Rudra sunk the scenery in , after a year this place would be soo much more developed! He felt nostalgic , and proud at what he was able to achieve . He looked at his other companions and proudly declared " This is our city now ! , The city of the Elites ! ". Fatty Kalash got the vibe as he shouted " WOOOOO , PURPLEHAZE CITYYYYYY , YOU HAVE A NEW DUMB MAYOR IN TOWN ". He said and punched Rudra in the gut , Rudra chuckled , as he looked for the last time at the scenery , determination in his eyes , the next one year would be defining for this city and its people. Today would be the day where he would officialy take his seat as mayor of Purplehaze city! With him long have hired the professors from various great universities , the laws for the city and the administration structure had long been finalized. What construction plans to undertake , how to increase public security , how to create a strong military , every plan was ready , only the execution was left now. Rudra was pumped , he may loose guild money to sustain grown and development of the city for the first six months , but now that there were no emminent wars to fight , he knew it was the golden time to do so. Going in the mayor''s office inside the inner district , a grand building being temporarily guarded by the royal guards. Rudra took his seat at the mayor''s table. Then , in what would become a daily routine for him later , he said , Open city stats panel ..... /// Today will be a 3 chapter day , as two golden ticket bonuses are due. Great job the golden ticket department. A big shoutout to Cervantez91 for the 500 coin gift! Thankyou for the patronage brother! /// Chapter 225: Purplehaze city Rudra called up the status pannel for the city ----- City name : Purplehaze city City Area : 464 km^2 Total population : 12 million Security index : 45/100 ( Neutral) Culture : 30/100 ( Poor ) Public order : 35/100 ( Poor ) Military : 0 enlisted Education : 72% literacy ( good ) Unemployment rate : 33% ( very high ) Public sentiment : 25% ( very poor) Tax income : 0 gold Overall evaluation : The city is yet to fully recover from the beast tide , the citizens have lost faith in the administration in the wake of the destruction left behind in the city. The citizens are yet to fully accept a necromancer as an emperor , hence the public sentiment is at a all time low . NOTE : If the public sentiment value drops below 20% there will be riots! ----- To say that Rudra inherited the city in a good state would be extremely wrong. The city was in a mess , and he had to clean the mess up. The unemployment rate was very high , hence leading to crime , crime lead to a poor public order and a low public order translated to a low public sentiment value. It was a vicious cycle , and improving on one or two parameters would not work , one needed to work on all the parameters to make the city a better place. To handle the unemployment , Rudra immediately took two important measures. 1) He started the citywide wall building project , with a fixed salary of 30 coppers a day. There were currently about 8 million people in the total population that were in the working age group of 25-55 Out of these about 33% were unemployed , meaning 2.64 million , unemployed youths. Rudra wanted to build a citywide wall , about 30 meters in height , and double layered with space in between two walls all across the perimeter of the entire city. This project would help the city twofold , one it would provide employment and work for the unemployed , and two it would create a good denfense around the city. The city could then hold off against any major attacks. Rudra planned to make the entire city walls with reinforced concrete bricks , to have extra strength and durability. The total time to complete the project was estimated to be 120 days and assuming about 1 million people took up the job , the funds required to complete the project would be about 20 million gold. The project would only have costed about 7 to 8 million gold if Rudra did not use reinforced concrete , but the sheer cost of making a single Brick of reinforced concrete , almost triples the budget. The cost is inclusive of wages , materials , transport and food costs and other miscellaneous costs. Rudra decided to get architects and engineers from the lifestyle guild and make a core committee responsible for the project. This would be his first decree as a mayor , a massive employment and city safety scheme. On the first day of assuming office , Rudra declared his plan , many people were skeptical about the whole plan , however many signed up for the ride. The public safety index went up by 1% and the unemployment rate dropped to 30% at the end of day 1 as Mayor ! ----- Day 2 Rudra introduced the military enlistment program , where interested parties would need to sign up for military camp , graduating from which they would become Purplehaze city military . The military would only be answerable to the managing city administrators , and not the kingdom , however the enrolled soldiers cannot exceed 8% of total population. Which would be 960K soldiers. Rudra would have recruited the entire 960K , if he could afford to do it , a soldiers pay was 1 silver coin a day , which meant 30 silvers a month. The guild could only sustain about 100,000 troops currently with its bank situation. If the guilds financial situation improved in the future, they would hire more soldiers. Rudra got the 100,000 enrollment into the military camp on the very first opening day , hence the training and development of those troops started today. Setting the graduation criteria from the camp to be level 70 , Rudra made sure that he would atleast get peak tier one , or tier two soldiers. The camp would last for 90 days ... Aka 3 months. ------ Day 3 Day 3 Rudra declared revision to public safety laws , selling liquor now needed government permit , and only authorised taverns were allowed with the sale of alcohol. Also blacksmiths were now required to keep a strict log of every weapon sold to anyone . The moves were well received by the masses as the public security index went up by 2% . Days went by And Rudra started to pour his heart and soul into developing Purplehaze city. However , he could not let his personal development stagnate. Knowing that his work as a mayor had rendered him unable to go farming in the wild at all , however he still needed to find time to attempt the tier promotion quest. Rudra had to score a perfect score on tier promotion quest , as only a SSS score was acceptable for the Won Knights. While the 2nd tier promotion was not as massive as the first and third promotion , however , it had its own use as it gave a massive stat boost and a few usefull class specific skills. Rudra had resolved to attempt the quest as soon as possible , he needed time to adapt to his new strength as the notice for the preliminaries of the VR Olympics should come anyday now. Putting his focus back on managing the city , Rudra stamped documents after documents that needed his approval... Being the mayor was a thankless job....! Reforms after reforms , meetings after meetings , going from one location to the other , Rudra had never been more busy his entire life. He was loosing a lot of guild money daily , he needed to work hard and turn Purplehaze into his dream city , only then will it get big enough to milk it. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , sorry I m late , however I wrote this chapter at 4 am , and made sure that I gave you guys something before I sleep , the other bonus would be given tommorow , again apologies. /// Chapter 226: The world changes ( World news channel , Real world ) News announcer one (Mike) : Today is the second day of the international summit in the United Nations , today is a historic day as voting about the permanent Seats and VETO in the security council will be done today in the general assembly. What do you think Lee ? News announcer two (Lee) : The permanent members of the security council needs to change Mike , the world is not the same as it was 100 years ago , the dynamics of power have shifted , the once developing countries are now superpowers in their own rights , Japan , India , Korea , Germany , UAE all these countries are taking the world stage by storm , they will not accept the rule of the five great countries anymore. News announcer one ( Mike) : Absolutely Lee, I think the other smaller countries will also support their cause to have changes to the structure of the United Nations security council , the five great nations have exploited their veto rights enough already. In one sense some people may say that this unfair advantage is holding back the growth of many countries. Well atleast most of them are , the United States of America has surprisingly been a supporter in the rise of the other nations , the United States is without a doubt the strongest power in the world since the last century , and with their support the bill might just pass Lee . News announcer two ( Lee ) : Well about that ...... Wait , we are getting breaking news , a new draft has been signed , with a majority signature of 192 countries a new bill has been passed to revoke the veto rights of the five great countries and a new system would be enforced to elect the security council members. BREAKING NEWS : THE FIVE GREAT NATIONS ARE NO LONGER THE MASTERS OF THE WORLD , A CHANGE TO THE WORLD POWER DYNAMICS . News announcer one (Mike) : What a shocking turn of events , today is a historic day , I repeat historic day Lee , the world we live in right now is a different world than five minutes ago. Will china be able to hold their trade supremacy without the VETO available ? Will the embargos actually be placed on the five great nations now? Will the unruly actions of the great nations actually be punished now .... It is left to be seen in the future. News announcer two ( Lee ) : well Mike I have just recieved the recently approved draft , and let me read it out for the people all around the world , the new method of appointment of security council members. UN DRAFT : CLAUSE ONE : The nations France , UK , USA , China and Russia will no longer be given the right to veto any substantial decision made by the general council , and will no longer be permanent members of security council. CLAUSE TWO : The new security council will only have five members , elected yearly , the tenure of these members would be of one year , and re-election is possible . CLAUSE THREE : The security council members will be appointed fairly through a competition in the virtual reality game OMEGA , where a yearly event called VR Olympics will be held every year in the month of December. The top five medal winners shall be given a spot in the security council. CLAUSE FOUR : The cuber corporation will now be a direct division of the United Nations , the competition will be governed by the all powerful AI Gaia , hence the fairness of the competition will be unquestionable. NOTE : The first ever VR Olympics will be held in 90 days time from 1 st December 2100. The innaugral competition wil feature 50 competitions , the detailed rules about participation will be shared soon . News announcer one ( Mike ) : My god Lee , can you believe this ..... The VR game is no longer a game .... First it dominated the world economy , digital gold coins from the game erased crypto currency , made the game''s currency a world standard , and now not even a year into its launch , it now changes the world political scene ... It would be wrong to call it a game anymore Lee , it''s a second reality. ------- ( The Grey international tower , the upside ) Ethan Grey , just like everyone else in the world right now was watching this news conference , although Rudra did give him some details , watching it on TV was still shocking to say the least. Indeed the world had changed , following today the professionals entering Omega would be astronomical , countries will get their best prodigies to go prepare for the VR Olympics , and win and loss will no longer be just a sport. The games would have devastating consequences , a medal for your country would make you a hero , a loss would make you public enemy . The world changed today , Ethan thanked his stars that he met Rudra , his link with the Elite is proving more valuable than he could have ever imagined , although he also has Adam working for him in the main guild , Adam is afterall an American National , he is not a domestic player like Rudra , who lives in the upside. Without Rudra Ethan would have been lost in the fast changing world. He understood today , that going forward Rudra would be a key figure in the world and could take Ethan to heights that he never imagined before. Calling in his secretary Ethan said " Use as much funds as you need , billions , hundereds of billions. Hell even if it''s a trillion , use it , make the best academy ever within the next month , i need It to be completed within 30 days get it? Also get the best tutors in the world , martial artists , physical education teachers , professional athletes , I want them all , fly them to the upside, poach them , buy them out , buy their seven generations out if you need to , but I need them here , and I need them yesterday !!! ". /// Bonus chapter for hitting the Powerstone target , Enjoy ! Shoutout to kingspy25i for the 1000 coin gift! , Thankyou for the patronage brother , readers like you are why I power through to write chapters at 4 am in the morning /// Chapter 227: Tier 2 quest ( virtual world , Purplehaze city ) Rudra had just wrapped up his duties as manager of the city , he would probably be out for the next 7 days on the tier promotion quest , hence he made sure to complete enough work for that period of absence. Rudra knew about the tier two promotion quest for the Knight class , it could be issued from the knight training hall in Purplehaze city , however unlike tier one promotion, it did not involve a series of tests , but a single pass or fail quest , where the evaluation of the quest would be done on the basis of completion. For others tier 2 promotion was probably the easiest of all tier promotion exams , however for Rudra , who needed to only get SSS rating , in accordance to his promise to Patricia , the tier 2 promotion quest was a nightmare , as a single mistake and he would fall down to a SS rating. While most players would mistake the tier two promotion quest as a regular quest , Rudra knew better , the knight training hall evaluators would disguise themselves as normal people , and meet the quest undertaker at various parts in the quest. Evaluating the decisions made by the quest undertaker. The evaluation criteria was based not only on skills and actual completion of the mission , but also had hidden tests such as test of valour , test of honor and test of courage. And in all such situations one could not make a single mistake , one could not break the appearance of a dignified knight for a single moment , else the evaluation would drop from SSS To Ss or below. There were basically only three types of missions given : 1) firstly there was the escort mission , where a noble was supposed to be escorted to a neighbour city. The catch was that the noble would be a member of the knights division playing the part of an arrogant young master , who would constantly abuse and mistreat the accompanying adventurer. If the knight undertaking the test lost his temper and attacked the noble they would fail the test. 2) Delivering precious goods : A sealed box would be given to be delivered to a location in a nearby city , at the time of taking the quest the quest undertaker would be informed to not open and check the contents of the box. If the adventurer succumbed to basic desires and opened the box to see its contents , they would be failed. This test was to determine the mental strength of a knight , to check their mental strength to resist basic desires. 3) Bandit camp eradication mission : the toughest of all three missions , as the quest undertaker had to go to a nearby bandit camp to get rid of the bandits there. The challenge of the mission was that , although the bandits robbed people , they did so because they lived in utter poverty and had no food or farmland , they needed to hunt to survive . While seeing their poverty with his own eyes , the adventurer was supposed to handle the situation. The ideal way out was to arrest the wrongdoers and turn them in to the law enforcement. While also helping the poor tribesmen someway. And the easy way out was to just kill everyone in the camp. Rudra knew that the moment he killed a single person he would not be able to get a perfect evaluation. Only by turning the culprits who were actually in the wrong to the local authorities as well as helping the poor tribesmen in their absence could one get the complete SSS rating. Rudra felt the pressure to perform , he knew that it was either go big or go home , as failing to get SSS rating would spell the end of the aspiring Won Knight special class dreams. Rudra already had his subclass useless since he chose the explosion artist class and decided to sign the agreement with cuber corporation. He was already at a massive disadvantage because of that in game , hence things like the tier promotion quest became even more important than normal for him. Only by getting a SS or above rating could one learn one of the best class specific skills , to be a great player in Omega , and to dominate the world scene in the Olympics , these innate class traits would take a player a long way. After completing tier two promotion quest , one would have +200 all stats bonus , and one special skill and one class special skill as a completion bonus , if the clear conditions satisfy the requirements. Rudra knew he needed to take the class promotion quest , as although he was without a doubt a strong in the game currently , however come to the world stage , where the Titans compete , he knows that in December , they all will be tier 2 and ready to fight. Hence he needed to use his advantage as much as possible and build strength. It was no longer about the flashy moves anymore , it was about consolidating the strength and be comfortable with it 100% before the tournament starts. Rudra walked in the Knight training centre in Purplehaze city , determination in his eyes , as he selected the option to take the tier promotion quest. He was desperately hoping to get the quest to safely deliver the package to neighbouring city , that quest was probably the easiest of the three , while the hardest being the quest to eradicate the bandit camp. The attendant came out and after a while said " Your mission , should you choose to accept is to eradicate a bandit group seen camping near the village Tolaknagar, the bandits are infamous to raid food granneries and other food related items , and have recieved a lot of loot by pillaging travelling merchants , your mission is to bring the bandits to justice ..... Good luck! ". Rudra cursed his luck .... It turned out to be the bandit camp eradication mission! The toughest of the bunch of three! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job everyone /// Chapter 228: The quest Tolaknagar village was about 35 kms out of Purplehaze city , the village had a small population of about 2,000 residents , and was currently being managed by a third rate guild galaxy Pegasus. The bandit camp was about 2 kms south of Tolaknagar village , where they had settled near a freshwater lake , the bandit camp had reportedly 17 fighting male adults , 13 women , 10 senior citizens and 18 children. The leader of the camp is a level 60 tier one fighter , and the average strength of the camp is at level 45 . The crimes of the bandit camp include , looting the harvest from the fields of nearby villagers , looting the passerby merchants , as well as a recent crime of taking two merchants hostage in exchange for money. The quest in itself was not overly difficult for Rudra , as fighting 17 men was not an issue for a player like him. For the average player trying to attempt the tier promotion quest at level 60 , this would have been very difficult , however for Rudra fighting and defeating the men was not difficult , the difficult part was to capture them alive and turn them in to the neighbouring village authorities. Rudra knew that the two merchant hostages were actually men from the knights training hall , there to secretly evaluate his performance. He had to be very careful to uphold the honor of the knights , as the women and elderly would throw themselves at Rudra the moment he would gain the upper hand in the fight. Should he deal harshly with them , their evaluation of him would go down. Rudra needed to be very careful in such things , he rode out on his direwolf mount , as covering the distance would approximately take him. One to two hours. Rudra sighed , how he wished to set up the teleportation formation as soon as possible , land mounts were great , however they took too much time , the teleportation formation once set up would open soo many doors for him , he could cross countries in just seconds . Even then , small villages like Tolaknagar would never be connected to the teleportation array , hence small journeys like these would always be needed to made on land mounts. 1 and a half hour later , Rudra finally arrived at the Tolaknagar village , when he approached the entrance , he was stopped by a guild member of galaxy Pegasus who wanted to know his purpose for visit..... The guy said " Sir , may I know the reason of your .... HOLY S*** , IT''S A TRUE ELITE , The direwolf mount , those robes .... You.....you....you...you are guild leader SHAKUNI!!!! ... HOLY MOTHER OF GOD , I''m dreaming , I''m dreaming .... The demon of death valley is here. I''m such a big fan of your guild , and your skills , can I please have a autograph ? ". The guy spoke soo much in one breath , he was left gasping for air , however Rudra awkwardly scratched his nose .... This was the first time someone requested autograph from him , was he a celebrity with fans now? This was new for him , but he knew it felt great , hence in the happiness of meeting a fan boy , Rudra gave him a dagger stamped with guild insigna , and tossed him a bag of gold to pay for his toll. Doing so Rudra rode away on his direwolf mount , as the fanboy was left speechless , his idol had just gave him a guild special item! He was beyond elated , as he vowed to treasure it for life. Rudra rode for another 20 minutes or so , before he finally saw the bandit camp. Rudra dismounted from his direwolf mount , and decided to stealthily scout the area before taking any actions. -------- ( Meanwhile , somewhere in Tokyo Japan ) President Abe Shinzo was in a meeting with all high level officials of the country , including prominent buisness tycoon Ethan Grey. Minister A said " We need to hold preliminaries , this is a international matter , playing favourites will do us no good , the list of events is announced , there are five group events and fourty five individual events. The maximum participation limit for a single player is 2 individual events + 1 team event. We need to carefully gather our talent pool , and decide the best path of action". Minister B said " I disagree with this approach , we need to conduct a mock round of the coming events , where anyone who is willing to participate can take part , then we can select the top two or three and have them train for the remaining days in the specific event , then just before the event , the best performer should get the chance to represent the nation ". Minister A said " Do you even understand the working of Omega? , We are together here in Japan as citizens , but inside Omega one japanese player maybe in Hazelgroove kingdom but another be in nineclouds kingdom, some may not even be in the same continent , some maybe a part of light faction ,while some maybe a part of dark faction , how will we even conduct a mock event inside the game to hold the selections? ". Everyone in the room fell silent , the method to choose the best candidates for every event was indeed a challenging task , if it were in the real world , one could just hold a mock race and see who is the fastest to select them for a track racing event. However how to do so in Omega? Finally president Abe said " Other countries may be facing these problems too , contact our trans Pacific allies , USA , India and Australia and let''s send a combined proposal to UN , to have mock training grounds for all countries to practice". Everyone nodded their heads , it seemed like the best course of action. Ethan leaned back in his chair as he was lost deep in thought , he wanted to curse Rudra right now , the guy was a reincarnator , yet he would only give vague details to Ethan , he told him about the VR Olympics , but not about how the selection criteria was in his past life. Had Ethan known the method , he could have proposed it in this meeting , saving soo much time. /// Yes guys , the coming VR Olympics will see the first glimpse of the darkness faction players .... /// Chapter 229: The quest (2) ( Virtual world , south of Tolaknagar village ) Rudra had been scouting the bandit camp for about 20 minutes now , and had got the location for 16 of the 17 fighters , whereas one was missing. Rudra had also located where the hostages had been kept , if he wished so , he could sneak behind the guards watch and free the two men. However unfortunately he was undergoing the knights promotion quest , the sneaky way was not the way of the knights , a true knight always faced his enemies with honor , that was the way. Rudra sighed , he had one of the stupidest classes when it came to class IQ , doing things honorably was soo much more difficult than just murdering everyone and free the hostages. However Rudra''s thoughts were cut short as a small kid playing with pebbles accidentally discovered his hiding location . The kid was a little malnourished brat with a running nose , he was absolutely terrified when he saw Rudra squatting behind a bush in full armour. He screamed as he ran back to the village shouting " MOM , MOM A STRANGER IS POOPING BEHIND THE BUSHES , YOU SAID NEVER LET ME POOP THERE ". Rudra " .....". His honor as a knight went straight down the drain in a single minute , he immediately stood up , he did not want any misunderstandings about his squatting posture. Immediately the bandits were alarmed , as they gathered near Rudra to intimidate him and chase him away. Rudra , saw the bandits gathering , as within a minute over 13 of them had gathered to Rudra''s location. One of them said " Begone stranger , else this ground will be where you rest permanently ". Rudra laughed as he said " Bandits , release the innocent hostages and turn yourself in to the local authorities in Tolaknagar village , you have been reported to have stolen food from agricultural fields , and have taken two merchants hostage. Hence in the name of the sun of the kingdom , his high eminence Emperor Aman , I Shakuni am here to bring you to justice ". Rudra gave his best knight like speach , one full of honour and pride. However obviously it fell on deaf ears , as three bandits charged at Rudra. Rudra was not worried , the bandits were no threat to him , in a physical confrontation. He easily dodged their attacks and kept using non lethal physical attacks like punches and kicks to inflict some damage. When it became abundantly clear that Rudra had an absolute advantage in combat , another 6 bandits with swords joined the Frey to attack him. Now against a one v nine situation , Rudra became more vigilant as he started to feel a little pressure. --------- ( Meanwhile real world , somewhere in USA) President Joe Biden was in a conference room with Elon Musk and the other cabinet ministers. Having serious talks about the coming VR Olympics. Musk said " The proposition sent by President Shinzo is not bad , I think we should sign it , also we should sign a treaty of alliance, if any one of the trans Atlantic nations have a spot in the top five yearly , they must enforce VETO if requested by the other three nations. That way we will have four times the security and soo will they , it''s a win - win for everyone ". Minister A : I agree with mr Musk , we should add that clause , the trans Atlantic nations must ally , with four powerful countries like India , USA , Australia and Japan allying we can easily form the strongest alliance. Minister B : there is already the allied European union , there is also a middle eastern union , and recently It was rumored that , Pakistan , China , Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have formed a alliance ". Minister A sneered " The most shady alliance of them all ! ". For the first time in the meeting , president Biden said something " While relying on others is not the way USA does things , I have to agree that allying makes more sense , send a proposal to the countries formally , I will have a personal video call with all the heads tonight ". Elon Musk nodded , he said " I will also talk with Ethan Grey , see if us buisnessmen could cook up something to help the cause. ". With the VR Olympics drawing closer by the day , the time to select and train athletes was shortening. The ever important first VR Olympics was less than 90 days away!!! ------ ( Meanwhile, somewhere inside Purplehaze city ) Skyla and Bo were walking down the street , with men often turning around and openly gawking at the beauty of Skyla. Skyla wore a very revealing armour that put her ample mounds in full display , and only a thin strap covering the essentials. She was the incarnation of a norse valkyrie with her long sword hung around her back. Bo asked Skyla " Are you never bothered by the looks these lewd men give you? ". Skyla laughed and replied " Well , not really , to be honest it''s a compliment , not everyone has the natural charm that I do , I''m gifted with beauty by God , I am just trying to use that gift to perfection". Bo replied " I doubt anyone could resist your charms with the way you dress ". Skyla looked down at her own outfit and gave a smirk , she said " I know right , it''s a honey trap , however unfortunately it does not work on the men I want it to work on ". Bo was puzzled as he asked " who is the great man who can resist your charms ? ". Skyla pursed her lips as she said " Well actually many men can , Sir Jhonny is one of them , then there is the monk Yume , guild leader Shakuni too , however those don''t bother me , they are great men and I respect them a lot , what bothers me is that vice guild leader Karna doesn''t pay me any attention too ". Bo teased " ohhh , why you like him or something? ". Skyla blushed , it made her look like a true Vixen , however incredibly appealing at that moment , she said " Yes , I met him in the real world in the Elite tower , he is soo muscular and handsome , but has such a gentle personality ". She licked her lips as she seductively said " A delicious snack ". Bo gulped a mouthful of saliva .... Being around Skyla for too long was dangerous. He said " Well , keep him near you for sometime , I''m sure your beauty can melt even the thickest glaciers in one''s heart ". Skyla looked at Bo with discerning eyes as she said " Aww , aren''t you a cutie ". Bo rolled his eyes , this woman was hard to read , wether what she was saying was her true emotions or her just teasing you , you could never truly understand. Bo secretly prayed for the well being of the vice guild master , as he had gained the affection of a very dangerous woman . Just the very thought of Skyla being committed and in a relationship with someone gave him goosebumps , she was pretty alright , but he doubted that she was girlfriend material. But then again , she was such a tremendous spy , maybe beneath all this , she was truly just a normal girl. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job everyone ! Do join the discord channel , I will take in suggestions about the coming VR Olympics event on the server. Join and drop the name of a event you guys really want to see , and I''ll make it happen ! Link in synopsis./// Chapter 230: Quest (3) Rudra continued to fight the bandits , only enough to cripple them but not to kill , when the leader of the bandit group the level 60 chief , came out to the fight with his axe. While dodging his first attack , Rudra quickly realized that this guy was trouble , trying to parry him with bare hands was akin to asking for a quick death. Rudra immediately summoned elven sword , and started to parry the enemies attacks. Sword hit against axe , metal hit against metal as sparks flew everywhere. Rudra was fighting a intense battle as not only did he have to parry the chief at full concentration , but also dodge the other bandits incoming attacks without retaliating or killing them. Slowly but surely , Rudra was getting frustrated , as this fighting was taking much more time than he expected. Fortunately , the chief made a mistake. He tried to slam the axe to cut into Rudra''s legs however Rudra jumped , causing the axe to hit the ground . Rudra stomped on the chiefs hand as a result , and cut the axe''s wooden handle off. Rudra then landed a kick , square to the Bandits face. BAM! he was sent flying. The kick caused him to bleed , as blood dripped from his mouth. The chief was hurt , as he staggered to regain balance. This was exactly the opening Rudra was looking for , running straight in towards the chief , Rudra jumped and hit an elbow straight to the top of his skull , the powerfull hit to the temple caused him to loose consciousness. The troublesome chief went down! Rudra then turned towards the rest of the bandits , who were sweating buckets now , most were already battered by Rudra''s bare fist attacks by now. With their chief down , they understood that they were hardly a match for the man infront of them , who was not even using his full strength to fight them. Rudra repeated in a deep voice " It doesn''t have to be this way , surrender , surrender and answer to your crimes , I will personally put in a good word to reduce your sentence. Live a life of honor , where you can hold your heads up high , the way you have chosen is wrong. Pillaging and looting from others will only make you hated and despised". One bandit sneered " YOU DON''T KNOW HOW WE GREW UP ADVENTURER , DO NOT TRY TO PREACH US RIGHT AND WRONG , we steal because we have no food , we pillage because the merchants from whom we steal can afford so , without their family starving. We do no wrong , we provide a stable environment for the kids to grow and the women to live in peace. It is you who is disrupting the peace of our settlement adventurer , go away and WE will let this slide ". Rudra shook his head , as he said " If you have no food then you do hardwork and earn money , stealing to live can be pardoned once if it is the case when you are starving and dying , but it cannot be a way of life , no matter how u place your words bandit , I will never be sympathetic to men like you who have no backbone for hardwork. If you donot want to come by choice , then you will be taken by force! ". Rudra sprung into fight again , and the bandits roared to fight him back at full spirits. However they again found out , how they were no match for Rudra , who was absolutely mauling them. Within 10 minutes all 17 bandits laid on the floor , unable to move. Rudra removed a large piece of rope from his inventory , and started to bind the bandits . The women who were silent watching the fight uptill now , now began to scream and cry , at the scene , some fell on their knees and started to beg Rudra to let their husbands go , while some threw kitchen items at him. It was a difficult position to be in , even for Rudra , even while knowing that this is just a game , the heart-wrenching scene of the women crying for their husbands made him feel like he was the villain here. The elderly of the village took up swords , as they thought about fighting Rudra too , but Rudra just glanced at them and said " Please do not sir , you have done no wrong , and I donot wish to hurt you , but try fight , and you will make an enemy out of me ". The elders also started to cry , they were despairing at being soo useless , they knew they were no match for Rudra and that it was pointless. It was at this moment that a woman covered in tattoo''s came out of the biggest Hut in the settlement. By the way everyone started to bow towards her , Rudra knew she was someone important , either a shaman or the village chiefs wife. She looked at Rudra and then at the fallen chief , as sadness could be seen in her eyes. She then said " adventurer , without the men , this settlement will not be able to last , we cannot fight against the wild beasts and we cannot protect the children from slave traders , you taking them will spell the doom for us all. It''s better that you kill us all here !". Murmurs could be heard around the village , the other citizens had started to get agitated .... This was bad. Rudra trying to regain control of the situation said " Here , this is 10,000 gold ! , It is enough for your settlement to last atleast a year in food , I will personally talk to the incharge of the village of Tolaknagar to take in your settlement as a part of the village , then you can be assured about the safety of the village , if he does not agree to take you in , I will personally take you all in at Purplehaze city. I am the mayor and I have many running employment schemes , job , food , security I assure you of all three ". The woman''s eyes widened in shock , she did not expect the adventurer to be soo generous , he was also the mayor of Purplehaze city , and his promise carried weight. The others in the settlement already started to consider Rudra''s words seriously , maybe this could be their new beginning . Even soo the woman had regret plastered all over her face , she said " the chief is my husband , and I cannot let him go to jail. I accept your other conditions , I personally promise that we will leave the life of pillaging , and start fresh. Please let the men go. ". Rudra shook his head , " Not possible ma''am , if you do crimes you must answer for them , they won''t be executed , community service or jail time will be their punishment , you will see your husband again in a maximum of three years time ". The chieftess still had a sad look on her face , then she silently lifted her skirt , to reveal her long legs as she said " You are a man , I am sure we can discuss the terms for their release .... ". This was a point in the quest , where many undertaking the test failed , their resolve wavered and their primal instincts took over. However Rudra was not one of them. Rudra said " I''m sorry ma''am , but I am a knight , such conduct is unbecoming of me , I have said all that Is needed to be said , I will free the hostages and take the culprits to the local authorities now , do not try to stop me ". Saying soo Rudra cut the two hostages free from their binding against the tree , the two of them looked at Rudra with reverance and respect. As they thanked him for saving them. Rudra smiled and asked them if they needed food or water? And then about accompanying them to the nearest village. However they refused the offer and chose to be on their way. Rudra tried to score as many brownie points as he could , as he kept praising the honor of the knights , and the valour wether it worked or not , would be reflected in his evaluation. Rudra then mounted his direwolf mount , as he guided the 17 men tied to a rope , towards the village of Tolaknagar. What was usually a 20 minute sprint on the mount , took over one and a half hour at the slow walking pace to cover , but Rudra finally reached the village boundries. /// Dear readers , yesterday I had the worst economic day for the book in over 2 months , my income is down by 40% . Instead of taking it lying down , I am prepared to fight back today and get back up strong, as today will be a mass release day , as many chapters as I can write , I will publish. Do support! /// Chapter 231: Tier 2 Rudra reached Tolaknagar and met the local governing authorities , aka the mayor of Tolaknagar city , the guild leader of Galaxy Pegasus guild Jenga . Jenga was very supportive of the fact that Rudra got rid of the bandit camp for him , it was troubling his management of the village anyway. He promised to try the bandits in the local court with accordance to the kingdoms laws and give a lenient verdict. He also agreed to let the women , elders and children migrate to his village. Rudra nodded , his work was done here. He mounted his direwolf and rode back towards Purplehaze city. Along the way , all that he could think off was that did he make a mistake somewhere in the quest? What could become his undoing in the entire quest? Will he be able to get a SSS rating? . It was then that the scene of the little kid who blew his cover came to his mind. The kid saw him squatting behind the bushes and thought he was taking a dump! " Stupid kids , if I loose out on a triple S rating because of a snotty nosed milk teethed brat , I will personally go back and annihilate his entire tribe. Except my Cute little Maxie , all kids are snotty nosed irritable brats , I hate kids! ". Rudra muttered under his breath frustrated. He was feeling very uneasy in his heart , the legendary class meant a lot to him , to get it someday when he reached tier 4 , he needed a SSS rating in all the previous promotion tests. That goal could not be compromised , a legendary class was miles above a normal class and as in Omega everything was earnt and nothing was given , each holder of the legendary class was like the peak of supreme talents . After a few hours , Rudra found himself infront of the Knight''s training hall again in Purplehaze city , taking a deep breath , he walked into the room , and asked the for the attendant to report the completion of his quest. The attendant came out and said " Adventurer Shakuni you have successfully completed the assigned promotion quest , your evaluation is ..... ". --------- ( Real world , somewhere in Pakistan) Three Chinese government officials sat in a room with Mithun Ambani and a single Pakistani government offficial , the prime minister was not even present .... As his presence was not required. This setting showed volumes about the dynamic of power in the country. In Pakistan , Mithun Ambani was the ruler , he was the dictator and he was the law . Single handedly driving the GDP by more than 70% , he had bought the government top to bottom , Pakistan was his country and his words were law in Pakistan. One Chinese official said stuff In Chinese , and the other started to translate it to English , the English version of what he was saying was " The VR Olympics is important to the republic of China , we wish to poach the best talents from your country , rest assured upon victory , we will take care of you guys as well". Mithun was shocked , the Chinese had made an audacious demand , directly wanting to poach talents from Pakistan ... Such a scenario was not possible. Mithun said hurriedly " No , you cannot have our talents , we are here for cooperation not for facilitating your growth and rely on your mercy for support ". The translator translated his words back to Chinese and informed the government official. The Chinese official frowned as he gave a furious reply .... The reply was that " You guys do not know how to train talent , Pakistan has never won a single medal in any sport in the real Olympics , the country is soft in training it''s talent , let china train them , we Chinese train with only gold in mind , and we forge talents into those gold winning machines ". It was true , from the elementary school level , talents were trained by the government to someday win that Olympic gold in China , it was their secret to success , train , train,Train , and train more till you win. Mithun still rejected the idea , while China was his ally , he could not trust them completely. He instead suggested " We can ally on equal terms, china , Pakistan , Afghanistan and Sri Lanka , just like the European union , even if one of us manages to get a spot in top 5 , then all of us can use the veto rights ..... ". Silence covered the room for a while , before the Chinese official bursted laughing. He spoke in English itself for the first time as he said " Alliance is between equals , you are our dogs, know your place Ambani ". Ambani seethed with anger , he was a prideful man and the words of the Chinese official was a insult to his pride. But what the Chinese official said was not wrong , Pakistan was a backward country , from the satellites they made to the missile technologies and military equipment they use , all are given by china , from managing their database and stock exchange to having a tight hold over their ports and trade routes , the Chinese were virtually the masters of Pakistan , and he had long since known it. However to hear it soo blatantly was still hurtful to his pride. Ambani swore that he would pour all the necessary resources into the members of his super guild that were from Pakistan. He did have some promising talents , and he would definitely nurture them to his fullest potential. He swore to get comparable results to China in the coming VR Olympics , and stuff that smugness down the Chinese officials throat. There were 45 singles events and 5 group events , to enter top five the safe number would be 10 gold medals , as even if some other country wins 11 12 or even 13 gold medals , with 10 medals one was sure to end up in top 5 While the minimum medals needed was 7 gold medals and lots of silver medals , one athlete could compete in a maximum of two individual sports and one team sport , hence technically a country could just rely on 10 outstanding talents to get them past the 10 gold mark and get them a place in top five. Hence even smaller unknown countries may have a chance to become top five. From that stemmed the confidence of Mithun Ambani , as even though Pakistan was small , he was confident in finding atleast 10 outstanding talents , that could get him one medal each. /// Chapter 2 , I am starting to get into the rhythm ! Enjoy /// Chapter 232: Evaluating " Adventurer Shakuni , you have successfully completed the tier promotion quest , your evaluation during the event is ..... Time taken to complete the quest : 14 hours 58 minutes Criteria : under 15 hours .... Rating : SSS Upholding knight''s honor Criteria : Behaviour and conduct ..... Rating: SS. Mental fortitude Criteria : Mental strength during challenging times ... Rating : SSS Compassion and kindness Criteria : Helping those in need .... Rating : SSS. Combat skills and proficiency Criteria : Bringing those to justice without using lethal force ... Rating : SSS Special examiners evaluation : A true knight , a perfect representation of what a knight should be! Overall rating : SSS !!!! CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BEEN PROMOTED TO TIER 2! Rudra yelped in joy as he made wierd noises ..... A wave of strength entered his body as a qualitative change occured between himself at the same level before and now. He was far far more stronger ! Rudra''s heart stopped when he saw the first criteria, completion time .... He was 2 minutes away from getting a SS rating there. Should he have known time would be a factor he would have literally rode like the wind to and fro , and not soo lethargically as he did. If he was even a tad bit slower , he would have .... No it was terrifying to even think about. He also got a SS in knights upholding a knights honor. It was most likely because of the damn kid! Thankfully everything else was SSS rated , bringing his overall rating to a SSS ! A tear escaped Rudra''s eyes , his dream to have a legendary class was still alive! He was not a wastrel like his past life , this time around he did have a chance to change everything , a chance to stand at the peak ! The chance to one day be a legendary class player that could shake kingdoms! The attendant said " you have had a SSS evaluation, you get to freely choose one normal skill and one class specific skill ! , Here are the possible list of skills for tier 2 promotion , choose wisely adventurer ". The skills offered in tier 2 promotion would mostly be different from the skills offered after tier one promotion. The skills getting stronger , there were hardly any repetitions in the list. List of normal skills : 1) Mega punch : A strong martial arts skill , that allows the user to deal a boulder crushing punch ! Could add to the versatility of attacks if used properly. 2)Leaf blade hurricane : A sword skill that mimics the fall of leaves in autumn , it is unpredictable and hard to defend against ! It does not deal deathly blows , but chips damage against enemies and may cause a bleeding effect. 3) Three step barrage : A deathly sword or javelin skill , it is a three step combination move , with the third one sure to be a critical hit if the first two connect. Deals heavy damage to the opponent! 4) Swift retreat : A technique to tactically fall back while parrying enemies attacks to create distance without taking damage. A great move to add versatility in the skill set of a knight. 5) Head on : A skill to head on take the enemy attack head on with a 60% damage reduction. Can prove to be a great move to be in the posession of a knight specialising in one on one duels. CLASS SPECIFIC SKILLS: [ Last stand ] ( Knight Class specific) : Gives the knight 5 seconds of immortality , after the HP hits 0 . Take a stand against dark forces , and see through the battle to the end , even after you die!! Cooldown time : once a day [ Full counter ] ( Knight class specific ) : Return a magical attack sent towards you back to the caster with twice the power! Show those long range attackers the terrifying might of a knight! Cooldown time : 2 minutes ! [ Note : choose one skill from each section ] Rudra had a tough choice to make .... What skills to add to his arsenal? All of them were usefull! -------- ( Cuber corporation , unknown location , real world) Cuber officials meeting : " the countries are requesting mock training grounds for practice for the coming VR Olympics..... What should we do about this request? ". Cuber official two : " well I think it is a reasonable request .... I think we should grant it , the mechanics behind it are simple enough anyway ... We can make a semi admin profile and give it to one government appointed representative from each country and give them access to their countries mock training ground . They can also have the option to invite their nations players to the mock training ground. The players would recieve a notification that they have been invited to the countries training grounds and if they choose to accept they would then be transported to the place. The training and results can be monitored by gaia , as she can provide each country with secure reliable statistics but no opinions , only functioning as a unbiased refree . The players can then transport back to their guild halls at will .... ". Cuber official three " I''m in support of the proposal , It will hardly take a day''s work to set up .... All those in favour please raise your hand ". All 20 hands in the room were raised ..... The motion to provide mock training grounds to the countries was approved! Gaia was informed of her task to make the exact same training facility for all the countries , as well as provide with accurate measuring standards. She understood the assignment and got to work , on building a model ! Meanwhile UN released a statement , that the request of the countries to have a mock training ground was approved , and that a semi admin account responsible for operation of the training ground would be handed over to one government official appointed by each country in three buisness days , with the detail function training given to that appointed official . Another high level official meeting hence commenced worldwide , to decide the future direction and holding the selections for the nation''s representatives in the VR Olympics. /// Chapter 3 , we are on a roll now , Comment below what skills you want to be chosen by Rudra as his tier promotion reward .... Join the discord channel to take part in detailed discussion ! /// Chapter 233: VR Olympics The final list of events for the VR Olympics was finally out. The list of events was nothing like anyone expected it to be , the VR Olympics had amost none of the real world Olympics events. There was no 100m, 200m ,400m relay type sprint races , there was not even the traditional marathon or trialthon , the list of events was as follows Individual events : 1) Trialthon : A three course race , with the first course being obstacle run , second course will be a death run through the forest , and the last course would be a labyrinth. The first to come out of the labyrinth wins. 2) Beat the clock : Inside the given timelimit , clear all the monsters in a given level , climb onto the next floor to continue the challenge. The one to clear the most floors would win. Incase of a tie where two competitors clear uptill the same floor.the one that kills more monsters on that floor wins. 3) Prison escape : You have twenty four hours to escape a high security prison ,the goal is to escape undetected. Being caught would mean certain death. The first to escape the prison wins. Incase nobody is able to escape the prison , no medals will be given . 3) Blacksmithing event : blacksmiths will be given a set of materials and a time limit to make the best item they can . The final products will be judged by the AI and the one with the highest rating would win. 4) Archery : A traditional Olympics event with some rules tweaked 5) Cliff fighting : Fight on a small 3 meter circumference , circular stage and duel with your opponent , the goal being to push the opponent off the stage into the cliff below. It would be a best of three wins to proceed style matchup , with the last two battling it out for gold and silver , while third and fourth would get bronze. 6) One V One duel : showcase your fighting skills with the one v one duel tournament, fight your opponents till they admit defeat or till their HP hits zero to win , the last two battling it out for gold and silver , while third and fourth will get bronze. 7) first blood match : first to draw blood from the opponent wins the match . The last two get gold and silver while third and fourth get bronze. . . . . . . 45) Equestrian : A traditional Olympics event , but with in game mounts of any species allowed. GROUP EVENTS: 1) Dodgeball : 5 V 5 team event , traditional event with a tweak of rules For more details click the link here 2) Capture the flag : two teams will be spawned in a random map with a flag in the middle , Capture the flag and bring it back to base to claim victory. (10v10 event ) 3) Rafting : using only a single layered wooden raft , cross a lake full of dangerous ocean monsters in the fastest time ( 3 person event ) 4) Baseball : traditional sport enjoyed in the world 5) National battleground : teams of four players will be dropped using a parachute in a uninhabited island , there would be a safe zone , that would shrink by 5% every hour. Hp would drain rapidly outside the safezone The last one/team left surviving would win ! The list of events was out ! And the world was left scratching their heads at the best ways to win the seemingly bizzare events. ----- ( Meanwhile, inside the upside in Tokyo Japan) The lantern festival was tonight , as the night drew closer , and the sunlight started to dim out , citizens could be seen coming out on the streets in the traditional kimono dresses and wooden sandals. The lantern festival in the upside was always a blast , a special street would be set up with all sorts of traditional Japanese stalls , to give the citizens a sense of rich culture and nostalgia. It was a event that was to be celebrated with friends and family and the first time that Naomi and Naman would actually celebrate it in such a vibrant environment. Naomi dressed up in a beautiful pink kimono , and to pair up with her naman wore a pastel green one. Today happened to be their lunar calendar birthday , and Naomi had prepared gifts for Neatwit that she wanted to give him. She had made a full care package of clothing , cologne and bath products for his brother , although it was not very expensive , it showed her care and effort put into it. She gave it to him and giggled saying " Happy Birthday brother ". Naman looked surprised when he recieved the gift .... He had totally forgotten that the lantern festival was their lunar birthday. Only when their mother was still alive did they celebrate this day with enthusiasm. It was one of his fondest memories , as his mother would make sure to gift both of them a little something on this special day. Naman hugged Naomi tightly , and sobbed , he missed his mother , but was also incredibly happy to have a sister like Naomi. He said " Thankyou for the gifts , I love them , sorry I have nothing in return for you ". Naomi wiped his tears and smiled , she said " I don''t need anything now brother , I''m rich you know ". She said pulling her tongue out. Naman laughed .... , Yes they had more money than they needed now. Naomi continued " you need to thank guild leader though , I bumped into him in the mens store , and he helped me pick stuff for you ". Naman was surprised but he nodded " It''s the lantern festival anyway , let us invite guild leader and enjoy the evening together! ". Naomi looked very happy at the suggestion , but sulked immediately as she said " He must be playing Omega , I doubt if he even knows that theres a festival today ". Naman thought for a while then said " well , he does have a cute little brother , we can go to his house and invite him over , if guild leader joins then it''s fine , otherwise we can atleast meet his family or take his brother out ". Naomi nodded her head , her pony hair swinging vehemently showing her approval for the idea. /// Chapter 4 , taking time before uploading chapter 5 as I''m waiting for you guys to comment about what skills do u want Rudra to choose. Also please do comment about what 2+1 events do u want to see Rudra take part in ! I''m pumping chapters out today guys Seeing those comments will really motivate me for my work and help give you all content you guys wanna see /// Chapter 234: The choice Rudra was really in a pickle here , all the skills mentioned above were very useful for him as a fighter. However after thinking for a long time , Rudra finally became confused between these three choices in the normal skills section. First was the utility skill Mega punch , Mega punch could be a key factor in a one v one battle , while the opponent would be expecting a weapon strike , one could surprise them with a Powerful punch to send them flying . Rudra had no doubt that it would cause high damage. Second skill was the three step combo , it was a offensive skill that could absolutely devastate someone''s HP if all three moves connect. It was the best offensive skill out of the five. The third option he was thinking about was Swift Retreat. It was a versatile skill , that could help someone regroup and put distance between themselves and a close range attacker. The skill was as powerful as the situation it was used in ,as parrying while retreating virtually meant one could retreat with zero damage taken. Rudra was really confused between the three , and he did not know how to break this deadlock and make a choice. Rudra finally decided to think about what he really needed. What was his next goal in life ... And his mind went to the coming VR Olympics. The grandest stage of them all , the show of shows , the showcase of immortals , the ultimate world games. That event will be more than just a display of skill and strength , there everything from one''s mental fortitude to battle iq , to strategy will be put to test . Keeping the VR Olympics as his focus , he re-evaluated the skills he could take. While Mega punch was a great skill to have , for a dual wielder like Rudra its use became more limited , if he was a long sword fighter , or a single sword fighter he could have great use for this skill , however being a dual wielder , he could only move on for a better choice. While three step combo was a great move to have , with the third hit gauranteed to be a critical hit if the first two hit , and the damage was devastatingly high , the move could be easily countered in the first two hit stage. Also , Rudra had offensive skills in his arsenal , he could do with one less at the moment. Hence Rudra finally chose Swift retreat as his normal choice selection , the skill was very versatile and could help Rudra a ton against close range assaulters , especially the Dark Barbarians. In the VR Olympics it could proove to be a valuable skill to have , it could help in both team and one vs one battles. Rudra made his mind and said " I choose Swift retreat ". The attendant replied " okay , choice has been made , here is the skill scroll ". Rudra opened the skill scroll , and learnt It , Swift retreat had been added to his arsenal! Next Rudra had to choose the Class specific skills. Last stand and Full counter. To be honest both of them were absolutely amazing skills to have , if Rudra could trade all his wealth for a chance to learn both skills. He would do it in a heartbeat. There was nothing like one being superior to other to other skill wise , however Full counter did have a huge advantage over Last stand and that was the cooldown time. The cooldown time for full counter was only two minutes, meaning it could potentially be used multiple times in a battle . Last stand had its advantages too , in a fight between equals where only one move decided victory or defeat , someone with the skill could probably take a hit that would surely kill him , but kill his opponent too within the five seconds of immortality that came with the skill , if the enemies hp hits 0 too , then it was a worthy tradeoff for a win. However , compared to full counter , it was inferior because of the cooldown time , while full counter could become a permanent member of one''s arsenal , the surprise brought by last stand could last for one or two battles at best before everyone knew that there was such a move in a players arsenal , and they started to be vigilant against it. Hence after thinking long and hard , Rudra chose the class specific skill Full Counter . He said " I choose the class specific skill Full counter ". The attendant confirmed his choice and handed him the skill scroll , which Rudra learnt instantly. Finally with this his power up as a tier 2 player was completed. He had gained 200 stat points for successfully completing the tier 2 quest and got 2 good skills added to his arsenal . Rudra called up the stat pannel ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer . Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 72 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 790 +395 VIT : 790 +395 INT : 790 +395 STA : 790 +395 PHY : 790 +395 HP : 100,000/100,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Pirate Armour set ( Lv40) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (148/200) ---- He was very satisfied with his current stats , with this he could finally proudly say that he was a top contender for getting medals for his country in the VR Olympics. If his memory served him correct , the selections for the National representatives would start soon , and he planned to take this opportunity and get as many members of the guild as possible into the national team. The training and resources would help improve the overall strength of the team! Whereas the VR Olympics would provide a platform that would help the players mature a lot in game sense and strategy. Thinking about what the future held for him , Rudra decided to log out of the game , and go back to reality , today was the lantern festival and he had promised to take little Max out. He had hardly spent anytime with his little brother because of Omega , he was always either in the game or busy with meetings in real world , he needed to take some time out and spend it with Max too , the kid missed him around the house a lot. However as Rudra left his room , dressed up traditionally to take little Max out , the scene he saw shocked him , Naman , Naomi and Yua were in the living room of his house .... ///Chapter number 5, continuing the flow. The choices with the most votes have been chosen , thankyou all for commenting and voting , the votes for the events where Rudra would take part in the VR Olympics are still open Soo keep polling your thoughts , the highest votes would be given priority selection ! /// Chapter 235: The lantern festival In his house''s living room , alongside his full family , were Naman , Naomi and Yua. Rudra was surprised to see them here , he was not expecting guests today . The moment Max saw Rudra , he ran upto him and hugged him saying " BROTHERRR ". Rudra smiled he patted little Max''s head , his heart melted at the hugs little Max gave him. Soo pure and without any alterior motives. Everyone''s eyes moved towards Rudra , who was looking handsome in a kimono. Rudra was not a native japanese hence his way of tying the kimono was a bit messy , but it was workable. Same went for Naman and Naomi , who had oddly tied kimonos , it was in stark contrast to Yua , who had dressed up perfectly. Being A native japanese born and brought up in the country , she was very experienced. Naomi and Yua''s eyes perked up when they saw Rudra , they were dissapointed that he was still playing Omega , but decided it was a good chance to get closer to his family , soo tried their best to flatter Mama Rajput. Mr Rajput was polite , but he was a uncaring man , he was not easy to impress , however Mama Rajput was different. She was soo happy that Rudra had friends now , and how she was worried that he would grow up to be some kind of a socially awkward person . Yua and Naomi chatted a lot with Mama Rajput , and while Yua would sometimes tweak her answers in a way that they pleased Mama Rajput , Naomi answered them in all honesty. She was polite , but she would not unnecessarily flatter Mama rajput. While mama rajput seemed simple on the outside , she was internally already evaluating the two girls from the moment they entered the house as Rudra''s potential brides. Her internal bridemeter was already compiling data of the two girls in her mind. Soo far her evaluation of Yua was as follows Looks : 3.5/5 Nature : 3/5 Tactical understanding : 4/5 Housework skills : ?/5 Other talents ?/5 Initial evaluation : A Rich kid brought up by a doting father , while she is polite and can be considered pretty , with her expensive taste , she is high mentainance. And her evaluation of Naomi was Looks : 4.2/5 Nature : 3.5/5 Tactical understanding : 3/5 Housework skills : ?/5 Other talents : ?/5 Initial evaluation : Good natured girl , who is honest , more data needed before a evaluation is made. She was just observing the two girls when Rudra entered the room , while others looked towards Rudra , mama Rajput looked at the two girls to see their reaction. And just as she expected , both of them had their eyes twinkling when they saw Rudra. While Naomi blushed and shyly looked down , Yua smiled and looked Rudra in the eye. Mama rajput added two new points to their personality traits ... One was shy , the other was bold , and both liked her son. Rudra coughed a little , he was embarassed to come out wearing such a odd kimono infront of everyone. He said " Sorry , I''m not sure how to properly tie a kimono ...". Naman just shrugged his shoulders as to show , I''m not much better man. While Naomi covered her face in shame. Meanwhile Yua saw an opportunity and said " Here let me help you ... ". She came up close to Rudra and started to redo his kimono , she pressed really close to Rudra , and breathed roughly ... The strawberry scent of her cologne entering Rudra''s nose , causing him to blush. As Yua moved her fingers all over Rudra''s robes to tie them correctly. Naomi felt uncomfortable looking at the duo , while Neatwit turned away to look somewhere else , accidentally he looked mr Rajput in the eye , who was also trying to avoid looking at the duo. However Mama rajput was the one , who was the most shocked by the situation , her evaluation of Yua changed in an instant. She had horrible thoughts flash through her mind as she saw Rudra blushing soo hard. The girl was too bold for her orthodox understanding , and she believed that her boy was too simple to resist her charms , that if this girl would marry into the Rajput house , she would definitely seduce his son away from her. Little by little she would become more important than herself in Rudra''s life. Her new evaluation of Yua was : absolute Bi*** , shameless and dangerous ..... Stay away from my son ". She could no longer let this shameless show go on , as she said " look at you Rudra , being a grown man , needing someone else to dress you up .... Do u feel no shame? ". Rudra felt embarrassed , as he moved away from Yua , he did the remaining fitting himself , as the kimono now looked much better than before. Yua smiled at mama Rajput as she said " It''s okay aunty , I''m happy to help ". Mama rajput smiled back , but she was thinking '' Ofcourse you are , you little Vixen ''. Meanwhile Naomi was totally rooting for Mama rajput now as she was showering her with praises in her mind. Between all this Max said " Brother brother , I want to eat cotton candy .... Can we please go now? ". Rudra looked at his brother , and then to the people in the room ... He wanted to excuse himself but before he could say anything naman said " Actually we were here to invite you to join us in touring the lantern festival .... Soo if you don''t mind lets all go together ". To be honest , Rudra did like that suggestion , he would enjoy much more with everyone''s company , but he did promise to take little Max out alone ... Soo he asked him for permission first , he said " what do u say Maxie , do you want to go with brothers friends? ". Max looked at naman , then Yua then Naomi , then he hugged Rudra''s thighs as he said " Brothers friends are pretty ". Rudra laughed , He took that as a yes as he lifted little Max up. " OOF , Heavy , heavy ... You have gotten heavy ". Max chuckled , he loved when his brother carried him around . It had been a long time since his brother took him out and he was very excited to go out with him today! Soo the gang set out from Rudra''s house , towards the street where the lantern festival was being held , Naman was all chill as he tried to entertain little Max. Naomi and Yua followed behind silently , although no words were exchanged , any girl seeing the situation could have sensed the tension between the two , sparks were flying everywhere ..... Today was going to be a contest... A contest for the guild leaders attention! /// Chapter 6 for today ! It''s 4 am , and hence I''ll keep things till here. I did try my best today guys , to give you all as many chapters as I could. Hope you guys enjoyed , and thankyou for all the support ! /// Chapter 236: The lantern festival (2) The five of them went onto the street in the upside where the festival was ongoing , Rudra was surprised to see soo many people there , it seemed like half the upside was present on the festival street today. Rudra could see many familiar faces from the guild. He spotted Bo and Skyla , apparently they were roaming with vice guild master Karna . Karna also spotted Rudra and gave him a big grin , and made a '' yo '' sign with his hand , Rudra first looked towards little Max , to check if he could see what he was about to do next , but little Max''s attention was apparently caught up in the nearby ice cream store. Assured that he would not learn bad habbits from him , Rudra looked at Karna and gave him the middle finger with a smile. Karna bursted out laughing , and soo did Rudra , they both needed no words to be exchanged to show how understanding they were of each other. Rudra then pointed towards little Max and ruffed his hair , Karna understood that he was out with his little brother , and made a Ok sign , to show that it was okay for him to carry on with his buisness. Rudra nodded , and moved on .... On his way however many guild and even non guild members stopped to greet him upon seeing him. Rudra was a well known figure in the upside now , everyone knew he was close with Ethan Grey and the guild master of the guild that was the overlord of Purplehaze city. This was both gratifying and troublesome for Rudra , he loved the attention , however not when he was out with Maxie , there he just wanted time with his brother. However Max loved the respect his brother was getting , as he would say " My brother " and hide behind Rudra''s legs , as someone would come and greet him . After a while Max said " Big brother you are famous! Like a king! ". Rudra chuckled he wanted to deny the claims his brother made , but Yua cut in , she said " Yes , your brother is a king , he rules over a city you know ". Max looked at Rudra with gleaming eyes when he heard this .... He said " Brother I want to go to your kingdom , I will eat lots of ice cream there. And noone will scold me as my brother will be king ". Naomi and Yua together said " Awww... ". The girls had already melted for the little guys cute charms , and he was getting more and more adorable by the minute. Yua could not handle the overload of cuteness, as she bent down and pulled little Max''s cheeks . Max was annoyed by this , nobody can touch his damn cheeks , hence he made his best looking mean look , and stared at Yua . However , he looked like a harmless puppy , he did not deter Yua at all. After a few seconds though he could not take it , as he complained to Rudra with a teary eye .... " Brother , the big bad aunty is bullying me ". Naman " .... " Naomi "....." Yua " A...A...Aunnty? ". Rudra picked Max back up , and gave a death glare to Yua , nobody made Little Max cry ... If someone did , they would face the wrath of his brother. Yua felt wronged , as she wanted to explain herself to Rudra , however seeing the cold look on Rudra''s face as he consoled Max , no words came out from her mouth. Naomi could barely control her laughter though , as she let out a little giggle .... Yua glared at Naomi , who gave her a smug look. This was why kids were soo dangerous , because they were soo innocent , they could end people''s careers in seconds .... And Max calling Yua aunty , was one such career ending moment . Naomi was on cloud nine , the look on Yua''s face when she was called Big Bad Aunty was priceless , she wished she had this moment recorded on camera , it would be funny even 20 years from now. Rudra wanted no more nuisance , he decided to part ways with everyone and weak a mask. He went and bought two traditional masks from a nearby stall and put one on himself and one on little Max. He then said " Guys I think I want to spend some alone time with Max , I have to get him to eat cotton candy , ill see you all later ". Naman was cool with it , soo he nodded , while Naomi and Yua were sad that he was going away , Naomi glared at Yua. Who ruined her time with Rudra , while Yua did not back off and glared right back. If there was ever a chance of the two becoming friends , it was destroyed now. They both knew that they hated each others guts and liked Rudra .... The enmity was set in stone. Rudra took Max to the cotton candy store , and bought him a giant , mix pink and blue candy. Max happily ate his candy as he was having a great time , he then looke at Rudra and said " Brother the blue candy is soo much better than the pink candy .... Betty is stupid , she likes pink candy more than blue candy ". Rudra was intrigued he asked " Ohh , I agree , blue candy is the best .... But who is Betty? ". Max eating his candy said " Betty is my girlfriend , I will marry her when I grow up ". Rudra was stunned for a moment , as dark thoughts entered his brain .... But then he remembered that max was a long way out from puberty and his tools were as good as useless for now. He sighed in relief and said " how did she become your girlfriend ?". Max looked at Rudra and said " In school , she gives me grapes for lunch ". Rudra bursted laughing at the reply ... His little brother was soo easy to please , just give him anything sweet and he will shower you with love. Sometimes he was worried , if a kidnapper offered max a box of chocolates , he would probably abandon everything and live with them. However when he realized that little Max was getting more action than he did ... His mood sunk . '' Even eight year olds have girlfriends now ..... Sigh, when will I have a girlfriend? '' , Rudra thought. Finally after eating cotton candy , it was time for the main event of the lantern festival .... Writing a wish on a paper lantern and letting it fly! Rudra took Max to the lantern stall ... And to his surprise , everyone was there .... Jhonny , Yume , Karna ,Bo , Skyla, Naomi , Naman , Yua , Fatty Kalash , and even Ethan Grey . Looking at the lineup , Rudra felt like he was back in a guild meeting. He grinned , all of them were family. Everyone started to write their wishes on a piece of paper and tying it to the lantern Jhonny wrote " Bless flat women with more bust ". Yume wrote " I want to break my virgin status this year ". Karna wrote " I wish that my guild keeps soaring to new heights ". Bo wrote " I wish to be like sir Jhonny ". Skyla wrote " I wish that the blockhead Leo Crispii , understands my crush on him". Naomi wrote " I wish ..... ". Naman wrote " I wish to level up faster ". Yua wrote " I wish the bit** Naomi has a miserable year ahead ". Fatty Kalash wrote " Legendary hammer for forging ". While Ethan Grey wrote " Stupid fate , I am the master of my own destiny , you can go f*** yourself ". Rudra wrote " 3 gold medals and Ruby ". While little Max made a drawing of a big lollipop .... Everyone tied their wishes to their lanterns and let it fly ..... Everyone except Naomi''s flew away , for some reason , her just landed back down , and the candle inside got extinguished. It fell right beside little Max who opened the letter inside ... Naomi panicked .... This was bad ... She wrote embarassing things in there. Max opened the letter and started to read in a mechanical manner " I. Wish. Guild.leader. Happiness. I. Hope. He. Lik...". Naomi rushed up to Max and put her hand on his mouth , as she refused to let him speak a single word more ..... Her face was as red as a tomato at this point .... This was too embarassing. Everyone gave knowing glances to her ... The smart ones , Skyla , Bo , Yua, Fatty Kalash and Ethan understood what was going on , whereas the blockheads Naman , Karna and Rudra were clueless. Rudra reprimanded Max " Max if you read someone''s wishes they won''t come true ... That''s bad ". Max looked at Naomi and said " I''m sorry big sister ". Rudra looked at Naomi with a smile , he said " Thankyou for the well wishes , I hope you get all the happiness you want too. ". Naomi sighed in relief , while the smart ones sighed at Rudra''s stupidity . Seems like the secret stayed a secret for now. /// Guys the golden ticket department has slowed down .... We are slipping through the ranks .... Let''s pick up the pace you all ! Shoutout to kingspy25i and Mitchell Harris for the 1000 coin gifts ..... Thankyou for appreciating my efforts I put yesterday/// Chapter 237: Japan selections A lot of deliberation had been put into what method is to be used for the Japan national team selections. The hype surrounding the VR Olympics was real. It was the most anticipated event in the history of eSports and every single player who played Omega with a bit of professionalism in mind , wanted to get a spot for a event. The government had already compiled a list of the most outstanding players in the country , people who had to be given special attention. And almost the entire True Elites guild made the list. It was natural considering the fact that the Elites were a best of the best unit. A heated discussion took place as to how to make the choice about which player plays what event. But after a lot of deliberation , it was decided that the government would let the players choose which games they would take part in. The government gave a 3+2 option , for players to try in for the tryouts , they gave a extra option to make sure that the players attempted every event that they thought they had the best shot of winning at. The government put the participation of the tournament as a open for all , and opened online registrations for all those that wanted to take part in the event. How it worked was that interested players were required to fill an online form about their in game name and events they wanted to take part in , and when the selections for that event would start , they would get a invite in game to join the event. However special players that were on the government list , like Rudra , Karna and almost all the Elites , did not have to go through this process , they were directly sent government mail forms to only select events of choice. It was mandatory for them to attend the selections. Rudra did not mind this one bit , He chose his three individual events as , One V One fighting , Beat the clock challenge , and Cliff fighting . For team events he chose capture the flag and National battleground. The selection was in two days time , and the final decision for selection remained in the hands of the government. The selection would feature players from both Light and Dark factions. And it would be the first time ever that the two factions would face off . Rudra was pumped for this , in his previous life he had never been good enough to participate in the VR Olympics , and his during his gaming experience the light and dark faction players never mixed up in the actual game. Hence he never had the chance to fight one. Although there were no inherently stronger factions , wether be light or dark , the skillsets both posessed were wayy different. For example , the exact opposite class of Rudra''s Knight was the Dark knight. While the Dark knight had the same normal skills , the class specific skills were totally different. And the evaluation criteria for tier promotion was totally different. If a dark knight was given the mission of eradicating a bandit camp , the best way to go with it would be to slaughter the entire camp. The difference between Dark Knights and Knights was that Dark knights only cared about the results , while Knights cared about the journey taken to get the results. One skill that Rudra was aware off for the Dark knight class was Absolute Defense. It would reduce the incoming damage of a attack by 99% , saving the user from a sure kill strike. It was not better than Full counter , but it was a different reward offered for a SSS rating. Apart from the Dark Knight class, there was also the necromancers , the blood mage, the Zombiemancer, the Dark paladin , the Dark barbarian and many more classes. ( NOTE : There is no Dark Mage/wizard class ,healer , priest class ) Rudra was pumped to maybe be in a team with a necromancer and a Zombiemancer as he took on the team events. If he remembered correctly in his previous life Japan''s top player was a necromancer , he single handedly won a silver medal putting up a stand against five teams , if only he had more capable team members , he could have won it. Rudra wondered if he would be there in the selections this time around too. ----- ( Meanwhile real world , The upside , Ethan Grey''s office ) The secretary read a report to Ethan Grey " Sir , Ambani has started to use force , yesterday seven of our factories were stormed by military forces and burnt to the ground , we lost about 700 million dollars per factory , 4.9 billion total , the sales stores of our endorsed products have been set on fire , there is a general panick that makes the consumers scared of purchasing our products, in fear of government retaliation. Many of our goods are siezed by the government for '' Quality check purposes ''. ". Ethan listened to the report calmly , Ambani had played a mastermove , before the results of the VR Olympics came out , there was no reprimand for his actions , he could strategically cut the limbs of Grey international ''s buisness in Pakistan. Winning the Veto rights had became even more important for Ethan Grey now , as once japan got a veto , he could start retaliating back without concern . He had faith in Rudra , however in the VR Olympics , assuming Rudra did indeed bring home 3 gold medals , it was still not enough for Japan to get veto rights ... The Olympics won''t be a one man show , and many people needed to rise to the occasion for the country to succeed. It was because of this reason , that he wanted to speed up the building process of the academy Rudra requested for .... He wanted Rudra to nurture more players that could bring glory to the nation. Because at the end of the day , if Japan prospered , soo would he , and if Japan fell down , soo would he. He was the principal driver of the economy and his company was tied to the roots with the Country. Ethan had a lot of meetings with Rudra lately , and he was concerned as although Japan had won 5 silvers in Rudra''s previous life , there was only a single gold medal for the country. It was not a top five nation. Although bringing Rudra and the true Elites in from various parts of the world , changed that dynamic , Japan''s spot in top five was far from set in stone. However Rudra was optimistic about the chances , and that gave Ethan some confidence as well. /// bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target. Good job everyone! Guys because of the low income the last few days I have decided to start a new bonus system For every magic castle the book gets I will release one bonus chapter And for every spacecraft I will gift two. If you want bonus chapters , do support the book with gifts and I will gift back with bonuses ! /// Chapter 238: The selection begins ( Inside the virtual world , Purplehaze city, The True Elites Guild hall ) Rudra had called for a full house attendance for today''s meeting , he wanted to address the guild before the coming selections for Japan . Rudra looked across the room , as he could feel the excitement in the air , today was supposed to be the Japanese selections , and every Elite wanted to get a spot in the national team. Many Elites were not native Japanese. And had migrated with Rudra''s invitation , hence they did not care about the national cause , but wanted to fight in the VR Olympics for personal glory. It was because of this mentality that Rudra wanted to address the crowd today. Rudra said " Well , the VR Olympics is coming In December , and I am happy to see enthusiasm in the guild members for the event. The world will be watching every event closely , and it is a chance for those with ambitions to shine. Unlike other guilds which have members from all around the world , we are all Japanese nationals now. I know that most of us hail from different parts of the world and Japan is not our home country. I myself am a immigrant here, hence I understand the sentiment. With nationalism out of the picture many of you may feel like competing for personal motives in the competition. Well , I won''t say that it''s right or wrong , but here is what I have to say. Yes since everyone of us Elites are from the same country , in the national selections we may end up competing against each other for the same spot. I want to make one thing clear , that any tension that arises because of lost position in the VR Olympics between guild members will not be tolerated. We are a family here , and the selections are fair , those who earn a spot are not superior to you , they just performed better , and earned their spots. We are all a family , and will cheer on the winners and motivate the loosers , everyone is equal in the guild , you win one bronze , or three gold''s , your treatment in the guild will remain the same .... Is that clear? ". " YES , GUILD MASTER ! ". A loud response came from the crowd . Rudra was relieved , he did not want the harmony of the guild to be broken because of petty things. He then continued " It''s no secret at this point , Ethan Grey has a 30% stake in the guild. He is a strategic partner and a native japanese. From making the Elite tower , to providing us all with great housing and living conditions in the upside . From funding the guild when it lacked funding , to helping us fend off the wolves in the real world , he has done a lot for us. Also Japan has been very hospitable to us , I think we can all agree on that. We are indebted to Ethan Grey and we are indebted to Japan , and we the Elites are not someone who do not know how to appreciate a favour. I say we do fight for ourselves and bring ourselves glory , but remember the nation you represent , and also fight for its glory! ". Everyone felt this , indeed the upside had been very kind to them , and soo had Ethan Grey , they needed to pay his favours back somehow , and winning some medals for the nation was the best way. Rudra continued " I say , how will that look , if every single participating elite walks out with a medal ....? How will the world see us then..? Do we have what it takes to make a global impression? Do we have talents that can compete on the global stage and still stand proud that yes , we are the best of the best? ..... I want to find that out ..... Soo show me everyone , show me that my guild members are the True Elites , not only in Purplehaze city , not only in Japan , not only in Asia , but the goddamn world! ..... Today''s selections , the Elites take all the spots! , ONE FOR ALL , ALL FOR ONE , GO ELITES GO!!!". " ONE FOR ALL , ALL FOR ONE , GO ELITES GO !!!". came a thunderous reply from the crowd. Everyone had goosebumps when they thought about the idea .... One guild monopolizes the world stage ..... Could they become that guild? Rudra then looked at the elders in the guild , and led them to a private conference room. He looked at them and said " Guys you are the one''s I count on the most. Bring glory to the guild , the more medals you all win the more benefits the guild will get. Fatty win the bloody blacksmithing competition Neatwit , Karna you both are exceptional fighters I don''t know what events you chose but you guys have to perform , if we chose the same team events , then we will work together and show the nation what the Elites are made off , Sir Jhonny , Yume , I don''t know what you guys wish to choose , but I also expect medals from both of you. From every single person in this room , I expect medals , show me that I have the best players in the world ! ". Rudra wanted to tell them that every individual medal winner would get prizes. But could not , as it was not yes revealed to the public. Bronze medal = choice of any dark gold material / forging design / skill book from a choice of 1000 item catalogue. Silver medal = choice of any epic material / forging design / skill book from a choice of 1000 item catalogue. Gold medal = semi legendary material / forging design / skill book from a choice of 100 item catalogue. Or You could trade 3 gold medals for 1 legendary item / forging design / skill book , from a choice of 10 listed items. For every medal the guild members won , their individual strength would soar , for every key forging design they brought back with them , they would contribute massively to the strength of the guild. The guild right now , would be completely different from the guild that would be 2 months from now. The VR Olympics was a stage where a player would truly mature and grow. The training behind each event , and the subsequent rewards would widen the gap between the truly strong and the strong. And Rudra wished to make the most of this chance. Only two hours were left untill the invite came , and Rudra planned to spend it with Ruby. As today was her last day in the guild. Legolas and the elves were set to move back to elven kingdom as their assignment was over and Ruby would go back with them. Rudra had been very busy with becoming the mayor , the tier promotion and the upcoming VR Olympics and hardly spent much time with Ruby. Even today he regretfully had only 2 hours to be with her , before the summon for the National selections came. The more that Rudra thought about it , the more he felt like ,he was at a stage in his career where his work was his worship , and he did not have time for a fruitful relationship. Even if he had chosen to get engaged to Ruby , he could not have truly cherished her company. Maybe his decision had been for the best , maybe later down the line , he would truly be able to win her heart and spend quality time with her. That would be the time when he was already the king and at tier 4. Maybe then , he would be worthy of her. Thinking about all this , he knocked on her quarters door. A maid opened the door and beamed upon seeing Rudra , she welcomed him to the room. Rudra stepped in , and saw Ruby smiling at him , however a tear was there in her eye .... Rudra could not understand ... Was she happy or was she sad ? Ruby said " I''m glad you came , there is something I wish to talk to you about .... ". Rudra was all ears as he looked at her With full attention. /// New week same old targets for getting bonuses. Last week was a 18 chapter week , you guys got 7 golden ticket bonuses , and 4 powerstone bonuses. Good job! The bonus system remains as 100 golden tickets = 1 bonus chapter 1200 PS = 1 bonus chapter 1 magic castle = 1 bonus chapter 1 spacecraft = 2 bonus chapters. Big shoutout to Jack Smith for the 1000 coin gift , thankyou soo much for the patronage brother ! /// Chapter 239: A confession Rudra attentively sat across from Ruby , while the maids that usually accompanied her silently left the room. Ruby said " I do not know how to express what I feel , I have never felt this way in my life , but the days I have spent here in Purplehaze , amongst the Elites have been a much needed breath of fresh air in my life ". Rudra was shocked to hear this , Ruby was the princess of the elven kingdom , she had 5 attendants waiting on her everyday , if anyone in the world was supposed to have a perfect life , it was her. Ruby continued " While it''s true that in the Elven kingdom , I am a beloved daughter and a spoiled princess , everything there comes at the cost of me being the perfect daughter and perfect princess too. Wether it is social gatherings or informal dinners with my father , I have to always be impeccably well mannered as to not disgrace the elven name. Never allowed to leave the elven kingdom , never allowed to explore , I was nothing different from a caged Bird , untill .... Untilll u came and changed everything ". Rudra was heartbroken to hear all this, and also confused , what did he change? " You saved me from my impending death , from my maniacal brother , and I could not even properly express my gratitude to you before you left elven kingdom. For the first time in my life , I demanded that I be allowed to go to Purplehaze City , to express my gratitude in person to you. I rebelled against my father and compelled him to agree. Only because of the trauma he thought I was facing with my fake brother dying , he agreed to me having a change of location for a while to get a breather. Sending me with his best Elven commander Legolas and 10,000 men as escorts , I was finally allowed to leave Elven kingdom for the first time in my life''". Ruby wiped the tear from her face and smiled , she continued " For the first time did I see the flora and fauna of the real world outside the Elven forest , although the plants here are not as green as in the Elven forest , and the vegetation and animals are different , I enjoyed the change of scenery. I enjoyed the human settlement and the hospitality of your guild members , as an elf I grew up prejudiced against humans , I saw them as a greedy race who could do anything for their own benefits. Yet , coming to this guild I felt more comfortable than I felt at home". Rudra was speechless by this point , he was just dumbly staring at Ruby who continued her monologue. She said " Then there was you .... You made me feel things I have never felt before , when I''m with you I feel safe and happy , when I''m not with you I feel like I want to be with you ..... The way you sometimes look at me ... The way you are looking at me right now , makes me feel like I''m the most precious gem in the world , and when you''re not looking at me and are with some other girl , I feel like my insides are on fire. The guild you created , the atmosphere you have here , showed me what kind of a man you are , your work is your wife , and I know nobody will ever be as important as your guild for you , hence I will never try take its place. However , your sillyness , your personality , the sense of calm that you bring , everything makes me feel a certain way towards you . I''m not dumb , I know that friendship doesn''t feel this way , it is something more ... And it is something special , I don''t know if you feel the same way or not , but I do know that leaving this city , and leaving you is going to be hard for me ... I .. I ... I ...I''ll miss you ". Ruby said everything she wanted to say , she was panting at this point , her breathing ragged , as she looked Rudra right in the eye , waiting for his response. Rudra was thickskulled and probably dumb witted when it came to women , but he was not dumb enough to let this chance go . He looked at the flushed face of Princess Ruby and her soft tender lips that parted with a slight gap as she breathed heavily. Rudra''s instincts screamed for him to kiss her ... He was nervous , he was afraid .... But he knew he wanted this. He said nothing and just looked Ruby in the eyes as he inched closer towards her , slowly he placed both his hands on her face and came extremely close . Ruby understood what Rudra''s intentions were , as she closed her eyes , surrendering control to Rudra . Rudra did not hesitate any longer , be placed his lips on Ruby''s and kissed her. It seemed like the world melted in the background as nothing mattered in that moment , that there was only him and her . He kissed her slowly and gently at first , but soon it developed into a passionate kiss that lasted longer and longer , leaving both gaping for air at the end of it. Rudra moved away , panting , and looked at Ruby''s face ..... She was as red as a tomato , but she met Rudra''s gaze and bit her lip. Rudra felt like his mind would explode at this point , it was very hard to control himself any longer , but he did . He had a million things to tell Ruby , about how he felt , about how much he wanted her too , however no words came out of his mouth. Men were not made to express emotions easily , instead they made commitments. With determination in his eyes he said " I will come for you , when I''m worthy of you ". Ruby looked delighted , she was happy that her feelings were not one sided , that Rudra felt for her as well , but at the same time was perplexed at Rudra''s choice of words , she said " you are the Oracle and the benefactor of Vanaheim , you are more than worthy ..... ". Rudra put a finger on her lips and said " Trust me I''m not .... Not yet .... But one day I will be , and that day I will come for you. Soo wait for me ". Ruby looked into Rudra''s eyes , and she could see his will and determination , she beleived him , and she beleived in his decision. She nodded and said " I''ll be waiting for you .... ". Rudra found a new purpose in life that day .... A goal he must achieve , not for the guild , not for anyone else , but for himself. And a goal he would achieve for sure! /// Team Ruby , this chapters for you all , hope you enjoy it /// Chapter 240: Villain ( Real world , the upside , just after the lantern festival, One night ago! ) Ethan Grey told walked alongside Rudra to drop Max home , later the two continued their walk , as Ethan needed to talk to Rudra about something important. Ethan looked at the moon and the floating lanterns in the sky and said " The national selections are tommorow , how prepared do u feel ? ". Rudra replied casually " I should be one of the strongest if not the strongest ". Ethan nodded he said " tell me , do u know the real story behind '' Shakuni '' ? ". Rudra was intrigued by the question , he said " Shakuni was the ultimate schemer , his tales were legendary in the day , not a fighter not a king , yet he was the most feared man in any battlefield. His opponent was God Krishna himself. Although he was no match for the god , amongst humans , he was the best ". Ethan shrugged his shoulders and said " You know the story , but you don''t understand the essence behind it , Shakuni was sharp and his schemes were deadly , yet the strength of Shakuni came from the fact that his enemies feared him , and his allies believed in him. Even the simplest tactics when used by Shakuni became deadly , because the opponent did not beleive that Shakuni could use a simple tactic and that there must be a hidden layer to it , also when the allies suffered losses , they beleived that it would be fine as long as Shakuni was on the battlefield , as he must have a plan ". Ethan stopped and looked at Rudra square in the eye and said " Shakuni was the spirit and backbone of the army , he was despicable , he used underhanded tactics , however he was also feared and revered". Rudra was not getting where Ethan was going with this example hence he decided to go with the flow and said " Well said ". Ethan continued to walk and said " the question is , are you willing to shed the skin of Rudra Rajput and truly become Shakuni ? ". Rudra stopped walking .... He looked perplexed , what did Ethan mean? Ethan said " don''t get me wrong , you are a great guy , and that''s what I love about you , and why I trust you as well , you are strong but humble , strategic , but not dirty , a winner , but not a desperate winner . It is true that you have surmounted insurmountable odds before , but that just makes you a hero ..... My question to you , Rudra Rajput is are you prepared to become the exact opposite of all these qualities , and become a villain? ". Rudra was shocked, Ethan wanted him to become a villain ..... Why ? He asked him " Why do u want me to become a villain ? ". Ethan smiled and said " Because in the real world , its the villains that win at the end of the day ! ". Spreading his arms and raising his volume Ethan said " I am a villain Rudra , Cold , merciless and always keep my appearance strong wherever I go .... The world knows that Ethan Grey is a hungry wolf , that''s why the world beleives in the stock of Ethan Grey ! If I was a goodie two shoes , the world would have long chewed me up and spit me out. It is because I am strong and hungry for more power , hungry for more money, that the world fears me. You are strong Rudra , but you don''t have the appearance of being strong , being the underdog is good , but the legends are never the underdogs Rudra , the legends are the topdogs". " BECOME A TOPDOG , BECOME A VILLAIN , show the appearance of being soo damn strong , that your opponents fear you and Japan beleives in your stock .... Why? , Not because you need it , it''s because we japanese do! You know how japan performed in the past life , and I know that failure is not an option for us, a lot more is riding on shoulders of you players than u can think. And we need a strong figure leading us at the top. Although the strong figure leading at the top is depicted as heroes in the fairy tales , in the real world it is the mega boss , the villain that is at the top. Undoubted strength, unquestionable power , unshakable position at the top .... That''s what I want from you. Show Japan that you , Rudra are the top dog of this Country , and that they can rely on you to bring them glory. Pave the way and I know that others will follow. But to pave the way ... To make the masses beleive , you have to become the top dog. Become the beacon of strength .... And become feared ! You Rudra need to become the villain , arrogance should drip from every fibre of your being , become narcissistic , put money in your stock , and prove it with results , then and only then can we win this event ending in top 5 . Become the undeniable number one in Japan , and do it in style and arrogance , like you did not even break sweat. As a brother , this is my one request from you ! ". Rudra was shocked by Ethan Grey''s words , it was not possible for him to just wake up one day and change his very demeanor , yet he understood that what Ethan said made a lot of sense. He himself had fought two guild wars , one against Orange Rock and one against the alliance , although he came out victorious both times , and it was no fluke or luck that he did , the public sentiment was never on his side. Nobody beleived that he would win. For him to bring a sense of calm and beleif to everyone he needed to become the topdog , the undeniable king of the mountain , Japan''s number one! Only then could his victory have meaning for the citizens. The underdog winning would always remain as a upset , while the topdog winning would always be considered a squash. -------- ( Back inside the virtual world , present time ) Rudra bid his farewell to Ruby , he had to explain that he had important things to do ahead , hence he would not be able to bid her farewell and that this was his farewell to her. He expected Ruby to be dissapointed in him , however she was very understanding and happily hugged him goodbye. Rudra looked at the time , only one minute remained before the Japanese selection invitation would arrive , hence not wanting to teleport out into thin air infront of Ruby , he decided to regretfully take his leave. His chest felt heavy , but his heart felt light as he left the room , he was over the moon that Ruby liked him ..... Even if it was just infatuation , she had feelings that were more than friendship for him , and for Rudra that meant the world. He had been mesmerized by Ruby from the moment his eyes landed on her , and over time her mannerism and personality became even more endearing to him. Now that he knew , she also had some affection for him , his resolve to someday be worthy enough of her hand became stronger by thousandfold. Rudra had blood pumping in his veins , he felt burning motivation inside , a spirit to proove himself. He needed the three gold medals , he needed the legendary artifact , he needed every help he could get to get to the summit that he wanted to reach , as hardwork alone was not enough to reach it. /// First of all a big shoutout to kingspy25i for the 1000 coin gift And to Cervantez91 for the 16,000 coin gift! Guys this has come to me as a great releif , now I can finally focus on writing quality content again without being pressed for money . Specially Cervantez91 for being the top supporter of the book , and always giving me timely assists to keep my motivation going! As promised this is the 1st bonus chapter out of 3 earned through the patronage of Cervantez91 . Thankyou for the support ! /// Chapter 241: The invitation Rudra was just outside Ruby''s room , in the dormitory corridor , when the invitation for the Japanese selection came. He looked around to check if anyone had eyes on him , and after confirming that he would not scare some NPC needlessly , he accepted the invite. Instantly Rudra was teleported into a massive open ground. Amongst a sea of people , everywhere he could see , there were only people , people and more people. Some wore guild robes , while some did not , some where chatting continuously , while some calmly stood without interacting to anyone. There was a massive screen in the centre of the open ground , on top of a small stage , where a number was being displayed , the last three digits we''re changing constantly , as it showed the number of players joined. Players joined: 20,000,125 Over 20 million players had joined , considering that Japan had a population of 140 million , this was about a seventh of the total population gathered in one location. Amongst these millions of players , barely a few hundred would be selected for the National team , and those few would carry the hopes of the entire nation. If anyone was not intimidated upto this point , standing here , between these millions of players , they would surely realize the competition they were going to face ahead. That this was just japan ... The world stage awaited them at the VR Olympics . He remembered Ethan Grey''s words , that were told to him after the lantern festival he had thought long and hard about it , and right now amidst his burning motivation , he felt like what Ethan said was indeed correct. He needed to pick up the persona of the real Shakuni. Rudra was not an idiot to reveal all the cards he posessed in advance in the national selections , however for the first time in his life he felt like absolutely destroying his opposition in the national rounds , there were two main reasons for this. 1) He wanted to declare to the world that this is the strength of the guild master of the True Elites , that they should think thrice before messing with someone like the Elites. 2)He wanted to become the anchor and the beacon of hope for Japan , that every event he was in , the country could feel safe , that if Shakuni was playing there , that meant they would win. Just like the Elites depended on him , he wanted Japan to feel secure with him out there too. It was a tremendous responsibility to take , however Rudra was willing to shoulder it , there was nobody who could shoulder it in his past life for japan , but Rudra knew the effect a charismatic leader had on a teams morale. If his achievements could shine , then his peers would be motivated and perform as well. And to create that impression , he needed to make a bold display of strength , he needed to be arrogant , and he needed to put money in his own stock. Was Rudra truly the best in the world? Was winning 3 golds even possible? Was he being just a moron to dream about the impossible? Maybe ! However , he knew first hand how hard the national selections would be , and the world stage would only be exponentially harder , yet he still beleived in himself. He knew he was not the best in the world , he knew he was not the most skilled , he was not the smartest , and he was not the strongest. However he was Shakuni , the ultimate schemer , and even if there was a 0.01% chance of victory , he would snatch it! Rudra decided to make this change in his personality , going forward , the soft and beloved guild master would only be seen in the guild. In the national selections , and the world stage , only the cold , arrogant and ruthless , yet a strong player Shakuni would be seen. Closing his eyes , Rudra thought about what this stage meant to him , and shifted his mentality , he thought about Ethan Grey , his demeanor his aura , he thought about Emperor Aman , about how when he saw the behemoth dragon and said '' Know your place Livestock ! '' , he thought about that arrogance , he thought about that aura and little by little he shed his own aura and adopted that arrogant aura. He opened his eyes again , now cold , he no longer felt intimidated by the massive crowd , but felt pissed at having to wait. He clicked his tongue and thought '' Get on with it , I have not got all day for this bull**** ''. Finally , after 21.4 million people had joined , the admin and chief selector of Japan finally took the stage . Murmurs could be heard all around the crowd , however given the sheer size of the crowd the murmurs became deafening noise. The selector could not be heard over the murmurs , but he had the power of system on his side. He asked Gaia to mute everyone in the crowd. In a instant , the massive crowd fell deathly silent , as not a single noise came out of anyone''s mouth . The selector then said " Sorry for muting you all , but the noise is just too much. Ladies and gentlemen I am Elyon , but all of you will address me as sir Elyon , I am a retired 7 star general from the army , and I am sure many of you will already know me. The responsibility that the representatives of Japan carry is no small responsibility , for those who don''t watch world news , let me re inform you. The seats in the security council of the UN are at stake at the VR Olympics. Quite literally , the safety of the nation is in your hands. Hence I expect seriousness and dedication in the coming selections. If you are an immature child , or a old retard , get the hell out of my selection ground right now. Only the best of the best may represent japan ... Do I make myself clear? The government will not leave it''s top talents without support , for everyone that does get selected here today , the government will provide the top of the top line equipment , and resources , , best training facilities and intelligence reports before your events. We will train you to become the best In the world , soo all you have to do is try your best to be selected." That being said , although we did allow anyone willing to participate a shot at being selected , those below tier one , we have no time to nurture you , sorry but your journey ends here . System boot the tier 0 players from the ground ". Following that command , over 10 million players were booted out . Elyon said " congratulations , you have all survived round one. Onto round two... ". /// Bonus chapter 2/3 for Cervantez91 , thankyou again for the gifts! /// Chapter 242: Make way Elyon said " In the next round , we will do a simple basic compilation test... A short 1 km sprint and a basic strength test , only top 100,000 will move on to the next stage. That or if one of your events of choice is equestrian , then it will be a simple test of your pets , the test will be taken independently by the AI , and rankings will be given , the moment you choose to accept the invitation you will be transported into the sprint track , followed by the power machine tester. Do your best !". Everyone panicked inside , out of over 10 million participants only 100,000 will move onto the next stage? Isn''t this elimination rate too terrifying? . However with everyone muted , nobody could utter a single word. Soon, the invitation arrived ... System notification : Japanese priliminary selections Round 2 , please choos your event 1) Equestrian 2) Any other event 3 Both Rudra chose any other event option and was instantly transmitted to the racetrack. A countdown was displayed infront of him , which was still at 20 . The AI the displayed the set of rules for the sprint. It read 1) There will be no second chaces soo Run at your best speed 2) Only run on the given path , and don''t go outisde the white line , if you cross the white line while running , you will be disqualified. 3) No movement techniques can be used , or you will be disqualified. The challenge starts in 20 seconds , good luck! The timer started to tick , and Rudra came into his running action. Rudra''s tummy felt funny , it felt like butterflies were flying inside them. The original Rudra would have admitted that he felt nervous , however Shakuni just snorted and said " Calm down body , I got this ". 19..18...17..16. .. . 3..2...1!! GO! Rudra bolted , he did not dare reserve his speed in this stage , as the cutoff was not clear , and went all out. His stats along with his inherent golden ratio skill and tier 2 boost. Was already top notch , even rivalling the best thieves and assasins. Rudra covered the distance of one km in 27.4 seconds. He had already crossed the realm of normal humans once he stepped into tier two , however even he was shocked that he was about three times faster than the fastest human . Man , did that sprint feel good. Going all out was sure fun. Rudra enjoyed the sprint , However he had no time to savour it at all , as the next challenge started immediately. The AI said " Detecting .... Player is from the Knight class , preparing appropriate test ". Although the second test was about testing strength it would be different for different classes. As it was normal for Barbarians to have more points invested in strength stat , and less in intelligence , however the necromancer had nothing to do with strength stat and would have heavily invested in intelligence. This did not mean that the necromancer was inferior to the barbarian player. Hence everyone was judged comprehensively according to their class and strength. Even the result of the race , a wizard could never beat a assasins time in a 1 km dash , however the system calcultes the result according to the class, and comprehensively selects the top 100,000 players. A punching and a kicking machine spawned in the room. And the rules were explained. Rudra could not use any skills , and had to punch and kick the two machines with full power . Rudra got into stance , he was no professional boxer , but he knew how to throw a punch , putting weight on his feet , he rotated his hips , and struck the machine at what he felt was the best angle to display his full strength. A count of 1300 pound force was displayed. It was a deadly punch! The strongest human could throw a punch of about 410 pound force , and that person was a internal force expert. Again Rudra''s strength surpassed a normal superhuman by 3 times. He was beyond strong at this point. Next was the kickforce. Rudra was unsure about kicking techniques , he rarely used kicks in his fights , he also knew nothing like kickboxing or taekwondo. Assuming a stance like he was kicking a football of a half volley , Rudra slammed his right leg right into the heart of the machine. BANG! , The machine shook a bit at impact! 5000 pound force ! His kick was four times stronger than his insanely strong punch ... That too with a wrong technique , with a proper one , who knows what he could have done. System notification : Initial assessment complete ...returning to base. Rudra was returned to the open ground , as one by one people started to teleport back and occupy the training field again. After 10 minutes , Elyon came to the stage again .... And said , "I thank everyone who came here today , to take time to represent your contry , however I''m sorry to inform that many of you won''t be able to make it. AI teleport those who did not make the cutoff out please. ". Out of the 10 million , only 100,000 remained on the field after that announcement , as a majority of the masses had been teleported out. The once crowded ground , now looked empty , as once packed people now looked scarce. Elyon clapped , and the ground shrunk to a much smaller size. Elyon looked at the crowd and said " Congratulations , you are top 1% of the country , however it''s still not enough , only the best amongst you , the top 1% of the top 1% , may represent this nation . Hence before round 3 let''s take a look at your comprehensive rankings .... ". Ai started displaying the list , and the top list went like .... 1) Player name : '' To be continued..... /// Bonus chapter 3 /3 for Cervantez91. Big shoutout to wulfie and arcanum_black , for the 500 coin gifts! Thankyou soo much for the patronage ! Guys the golden tickets department and powerstone department has slowed down , I implore you guys to pick up the pace! /// Chapter 243: Shakuni Unchained The position on leaderboards is like this 1) Player Name '' Shakuni '' , Rating: (99/100) 2) Player Name '' Nero '' Rating : ( 97/100 ) 3)Player Name '' Karna '' Rating ( 96/100) 4) Player Name '' Patch Mori '' Rating ( 93/100) 5) Player Name '' KingSpy '' Rating (92/100) 6) Player Name '' Susano ''. Rating (92/100) 7) Player Name '' Jin Mori '' Rating (92/100) 8) Player Name '' Neatwit '' Rating ( 92/100) 9) Player Name '' Pain '' Rating ( 91/100) 10) Player Name '' Raijin '' Rating (90/100). 11) Player Name '' SMG'' Rating (89/100) . . . 147) Player Name '' Reapers Dream '' Rating (88/100). 148) Player Name '' warsss '' Rating (88/100). 149) Player Name '' Nbknicky '' Rating (88/100). 150) Player Name '' Alicia Melciot '' Rating (88/100). 151) Player Name ''Mitchell_Harris '' Rating (88/100). 152) Player Name '' Josiah Templeton '' Rating (88/100). . . 1504)Player Name '' Konan'' Rating (86/100) 1505)Player Name '' Itachi '' Rating (86/100) 1506)Player Name '' Kisame '' Rating (86/100) 1507)Player Name '' Sasori '' Rating (86/100) 1508)Player Name '' Deidara '' Rating (86/100) 1509)Player Name '' Kakuzu '' Rating (86/100) 1510)Player Name '' Hidan '' Rating (86/100) 1511)Player Name '' Orochimaru '' Rating (86/100) 1512)Player Name '' Zetsu'' Rating (86/100) 1513) Player Name '' Medivh '' Rating (85/100) . . . . 99999) Player Name '' Yume '' Rating (81/100) 100,000) Player Name '' Jhonny English'' Rating (80/100) The ratings were out ..... And Rudra was number one! There were actually 3 True Elites amongst the top 10 , while 1800 Elites in the top 100,000. Rudra felt proud of his guild , this was the strength of the Elites! However what shocked him was that sir Jhonny was dead last ..... Any later and he would have been eliminated ! , What was he thinking conserving his strength soo much? What was more shocking to Rudra however was the appearance of Nero , Patch Mori and Jin Mori, Susano and Raijin. All dark faction players , with Patch and Jin being blood brothers. While KingSpy and Pain being light faction players that he had a bit knowledge about from his previous life. He was sure that they were not from Hazelgroove kingdom , meaning they must be on a different region or maybe even a different continent, but his memory was hazy about as to where. Pain was the leader of a 10 man independent adventurer group called the Akatsuki. While KingSpy was a solo player who was a levelling maniac like Neatwit. The second highest rated player , Nero was a necromancer , the one that single handely got a silver medal in a team event for Japan. His strength was formidable. If possible Rudra wanted him on his team for the team event. While Patch Mori was a Zombiemancer , a incredibly talented one at that. While his brother Jin Mori was a dark barbarian. Jin was a specialist in one v one fights while Patch was the crowd control guy , together the Mori brothers were unstoppable. The one''s Rudra had absolutely no clue about were Susano and Raijin , he had no memory about them ... But to be a top 10 player rated above SMG they must be formidable. While the crowd was still muted , everyone in the nation saw the 99 rated name at the top of the card .... ''Shakuni'' . Those who were even a little bit informed knew about the guild master of the True Elites , who made news time and time again. However , they did not know how strong he was uptill now , seeing his evaluation , everyone was shocked. The fact was just enhanced with 2 other guild members being inside top 10 along with him , just how strong was the guild True Elites? Elyon looked at the list and said " Just 10 players with a rating of 90 or above ..... I''m dissapointed. Well atleast we have a few players above 95 rating , AI unmute the top 10 in the list , as a reward for coming at the top , I will let you guys speak one sentence each ". The AI unmuted top 10 and Raijin was given the speaking chance first Raijin said " Glory to Japan ! ". Pain was next and he said " Proud to say that all 10 akatsuki members are selected to represent the nation". One by one everyone said something or the other , untill finally it was Rudra''s turn. Rudra stood with his arms folded , the true Elites guild robe draped over his shoulders as he clicked his tongue " Tch , the stupid AI is obviously broken , how did I get only 99, doesn''t make any sense ". Elyon "..." The crowd "...." Each and everyone of the 100,000 present just had one thought in mind '' HOW ARROGANT''! --------- ( Meanwhile the real world , in a secure bunker ) The president Shinzo Abe , was present alongside many other important officials and Ethan Grey , in a secure bunker , overlooking the selections. The moment Ethan saw Rudra''s name at the top of the list , he smiled involuntarily. That''s his little brother alright. It was no secret that the Elites were Ethan Grey''s project at this point , hence when 3 members including the top performer was from his guild , many eye''s looked towards him . Ethan said " I have a eye for talent ". President Shinzo smiled and said nothing , these were just preliminary selections , but he was happy anyway that Ethan managed to immigrate these talented people to his country. When the speaches were being made one after another , the entire bunker was silent , observing the personality of each of the top performers. While all were proud , none of them was overbearing , untill Rudra''s turn came that is. From his demeanor to his expression to his posture , everything screamed superiority and arrogance , even his statement " How did I get just 99...". Stunned the room into silence. A wide grin appeared on Ethan Grey''s face though , he knew that Rudra had decided to take him up on his advice. Every eye in the room turned towards Ethan Grey , who shrugged it off like what he said was natural . When everyone thought about Ethan''s personality , and then looked at Rudra''s , they thought '' Brothers indeed ''. After a moment president Abe bursted laughing though .... As he said " what a interesting guy ". The attention of the room turned towards Rudra Rajput , as the generals requested his personal file . Today would be the day , that Japan etched him into its memory! /// Special shoutout to Warssss , Nbknicky and reapers dream for the 1000 coin gifts! /// Chapter 244: The undisputed number one Elyon coughed , clearly embarrassed by Rudra''s comments , he then said " Well , it''s good to see the spirits of the top performers , now onto the next rounds , I hope you guys can perform well there". He continued " The next stage of selections will last a long time , taking about 1 day for 3-4 events. In the coming two weeks , we will regularly hold events and selections , for today , the events Archers , Prison escape and One v One fighting has been selected. Please choose the events you wish to take part in and press select. Please note that you can only participate in 3 individual events and two team events for national selections total. Soo choose carefully ". Rudra chose one v one fighting , he had no interest in prison escape and archery. It would just add to the burden . Because of the limited time , if one selected multiple events then they would be transported randomly from arena to arena , after rounds and rounds of selections to perform. One could be cliff fighting for one round , and be in a first blood match in another. One could have just died inside prison escape event , or maybe even have just won the event , and immediately be transported to the second selection. Rudra did not want such nonsense , he was initially planning on taking part in all 5 National events , however If any coincided , he would only choose the one he was going to go with finally. Choosing the one v one duel , he pressed select. He was immediately transported into a battle arena against a random opponent. The Beauty of the AI was that while inside the real world only a limited number of people could fight simultaneously , inside the virtual world any number of players could fight simultaneously without any issues. Even if the entire 100,000 players chose to take part in the selections , only about 4-5 hours were needed to complete all matches . This was because in 50,000 battlefields , 50,000 battles could take place simultaneously with the winner going up after every victory. Rudra saw his first opponent who was terrified after seeing that his opponent was guild leader Shakuni, the number one player. Rudra sighed , the opponent had no spine , this was going to be easy. Not saying a single word , Rudra charged in with Elven sword at hand , in the one second that the enemy blinked Rudra had covered about 20 meters of distance between them..... what incredible speed! The enemy was a tank hence he raised his shield in defense. However contrary to his expectations the sword never made contact. Instead a roundhouse kick landed squarely on his liver. SPLAT! The guy coughed as saliva came out of his mouth. He had lost his balance and battleposture. BAM! , A sword pierced right through his neck , as he was defeated before he could even understand what was going on. A System notification came : Round one cleared in 9 seconds .... Proceeding to round two. (12...11..10...) Rudra sighed and said " I hope round two atleast gives me a warm-up ". -------- ( Meanwhile inside the bunker in Japan ) The moment Rudra said those words , the entire room looked helplessly at the man .... While they were troubled by his attitude , a sense of calm began to spread in their heart. If he was truly that strong , he was a blessing for the country. Ethan looked on as he raised two thumbs up ....'' Great going ''! , He murmured The rooms focus was glued on Rudra , who went onto round two now -------- ( Meanwhile inside the UK) The selections in the UK were not like in Japan , the government actually decided whom to let participate and whom not to , there was a general tryout , where one only had to send their entire stat details and achievements as a resume , and they would maybe be called for interview. However the shocking development was that Edge Rothschild had been selected for one v one, first blood match and battle and as the captian of capture the flag team event. Seemed like he made his mark . The Rothschild family , initially scorning him for loosing the management rights of Purplehaze , were silent now as he managed to land crutial spots in the UK'' s team. Edge himself was immune to all this , his eyes only set on the bigger goal , the bigger advantage of what if he won 3 medals for the nation. ------- ( Meanwhile in the USA ) The USA had approached a different way of selections , they only had a set of basic tests and drills , and selected the top 200,000 for further training camp. The top performers of this camp were then selected for various events . Adam was selected for 3 events with his extraordinary talent , as he competed in Cliff battle , Equestrian and national battleground. He posted a tweet on the forums after being selected saying " Brooooooooo , here to represent the nation , check it.... The homeboy ready to train , and get that gold! Let''s goooooo! ". The post had 17 M likes . Adam was a semi star in the region ---------- ( Meanwhile in Pakistan ) Mithun Ambani sat with a team of analysts and they picked the best players from the country to directly form teams and start practicing. There was no selections at all ! -------- ( Meanwhile in China ) The Chinese had adopted a simmilar approach to the Japanese for the selections , however they had much higher player numbers , hence their selections would last 3 weeks as opposed to Japan''s ,2. --------- ( Meanwhile in India ) India also had fair selections , but there was no basic selections , everyone could compete in every event , and the AI would give the list of best capable players by analysis. Every nation was currently undergoing the selections , as everyone wanted to have maximum time to train their players with a stable team. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job everyone. This is a small notice to let you know that a massive upgrade to the current privilage tiers would come under effect from 1st November. The advance chapter count will go up from 5 chapters to 15-20chapters. /// Chapter 245: Prison escape event Rudra continued to dominate the one v one fights , he had one 63 matches in a row , with none going over 1 minute. And without loosing a single point in HP. He had an absolutely stellar performance soo far , and the officials in the bunker were speachless at the talent of the man. He went onto the top 8 without losing a single point in HP. They had goosebumps watching Rudra''s performance , although all 7 others were also great fighters , none was as stellar as Rudra , they could predict that even in the top 8 , he would not face much difficulty. If there was anyone who could rival Rudra in the top 8 , it was Jin Mori , the dark barbarian , his brute strength was terryfingly high. Amongst the top 10 overall performers from the basic test. Only Rudra and Jin Mori chose the one v one event. Karna , Neatwit , Nero , Patch Mori none of them chose to go for this event. Although they could have became a formidable force if they did choose to fight. For Karna the reason was as simple as , he did not want to fight Rudra , he was not afraid to fight Rudra , just simply that he did not wish to fight his friend , while a small part in him also believed it would be very tough to win. For Neatwit he had his eyes set on the tower clearing event and his second choice was first blood match. Hence he did not wish to compete in one v one. For Nero and Patch Mori , they were necromancer and Zombiemancer class , hence one v one was not their strength , hence they decided to take a pass on the event. ----- ( Quarterfinals of the one v one battle , national selections , japan ) Kakuzu stood waiting for his opponent , however he was shocked to see that it was Shakuni himself. Kakuzu said " Well , well , what an honour to fight the number one seed in the initial rounds. Sorry , but your journey ends here ". Rudra who had just spawned emotionlessly stood there and for the first time drew out Excalibur alongside Elven sword for dual wielding. He knew Kakuzu was strong , However had no wish to drag this at all. Rudra closed in the distance between him and Kakuzu , kakuzu too unlike most who would go on defensive , chose to fight back , and run towards Rudra for a Slash. Kakuzu'' s sword Slash was a tad bit faster than Rudra , and hence he smiled , at the trajectory it was going , it would be a critical hit on Rudra. However something unexpected happened , the moment where his sword was supposed to hit the neck of his opponent , he vanished. His swing missed completely as he cut air , throwing him off balance. At the last possible second Rudra had used blink , and was now vertically above Kakuzu. As his sword came down in a single movement and slashed Kakuzu''s neck instead. The Elven sword went clean through his neck , as it was a armour piercing critical strike. Kakuzu was killed in a single move , within 9 seconds! Rudra had won the quarterfinals in a overwhelming fashion. The onlookers were completely stunned , winning the earlier rounds was easy , however winning the quarters within 10s showed that he was a mile apart from the others . Jin Mori took 7 minutes to win his quarter final match , and after both he and Rudra won the semi finals as well the two of them were chosen to qualify as representatives of Japan. Each country had choice to send 2 representatives for each event , hence there was no point in them both fighting. Rudra had secured a spot for himself in overwhelming fashion for the first event! ------- ( Meanwhile in the prison escape event) The prison escape event in the national selections was a much easier and mock layout , that was not the final layout for the world games. However SMG , and sir Jhonny were both participating in the event. SMG was a trained assasin in the real world and prison escape was a part of his training. Although no equipment was allowed in prison escape event , he managed to stiffle a piece of wire in his mouth and surprisingly it teleported with him inside his prison cell. With this wire he carefully picked the prisons lock , and took out the first guard from behind his back using stealth. The prison escape event only had 24 hours , and if nobody escaped the prison , nobody got a medal. The rules were simple , the moment a guard seed you , and shoots at you , you are dead. SMG had no idea about the prison layout and had no time to figure it out. He decided that his best chances were to take out the guards stealthily and slowly try to get out while gathering more information. After he took out the patrolling guards in his dorm , he found a room named guard room , and he entered that room while making no sound. Inside the guard room there was a map of the prison. SMG carefully studied the map making his escape plan. Meanwhile , Jhonny was also inside a prison cell , however unlike SMG he was very much still inside the cell. Jhonny thought " Huh , soo this is the inside of a prison eh.... Thankgod I''m not in one right now , with the things iv done I''d probably be in solitary ". He looked at the bars and then tried to bend them with all his strength. " Aaghhhhhhh" He shouted as he tried to bend the bars , but it did not budge at all. Huffing and puffing he said " Soo sturdy ". Meanwhile a patrolling guard looked at his antics like '' Is this guy nuts? ''. When Jhonny looked at the patrolling guard his face turned red ..... He hurriedly said " I''m not trying to flee sir guard , beleive me , I''m innocent , iv been wrongfully put in prison. I deserve my freedom ". The guard had enough of his nonsense and said " Shut up ,or no bath for you today prisoner 655D". Jhonny looked offended , he said " Sir I have the freedom of speach , how dare you impede on my freedom ,I will sue you in court ". The guard walked away disregarding Jhonny ''s words. Jhonny looked frustrated , he said " JAWS OF STEEL ". and started biting the steel bars. Ofcourse to no effect. The 2 patrolling guards of the floor , now both came in to enjoy the show , as the other inmates on the floor slowly slipped by one by one. Meanwhile the onlookers from the bunker were absolutely dumbfounded seeing Jhonny , Ethan Grey had his head buried in his hands , he was ashamed , he had talked soo highly about sir Jhonny and here he was making a fool of himself. Most generals gave Ethan a sneaky glance like '' Is this buffoon really the world''s greatest mercenary Jhonny English? ''. After a while Jhonny gave up , and started reading a book inside his cell , while playing with a tennis ball. At this point SMG had already completed half the prison escape. He only needed 2 or 3 more hours to escape. /// Today will be a 3 chapter day as bonus for golden tickets is due. Good job everyone ! Come join the discord for detailed discussion on the coming VR Olympics event , drop your suggestions there and I might just pick them up in the actual event ! Link in synopsis/// Chapter 246: The prison escape (2) Jhonny was still in the prison cell , when a guard came and informed him that it was bath time. He had to put his hands on the wall and be allowed to get cuffed. Jhonny complied with this and got cuffed. He then thought , how he had never had a bath in Omega and how it could be a worthwhile experience. He got escorted to the bath and went to a cell like shower. He took off his prison clothes and hung it on the wall where the hook for clothes is placed. Jhonny started humming , peacefully taking a bath , as others were trying to escape the prison. The generals in the bunker were dumbfounded , Ethan could not bear to make contact with anyone at all .... WTH was Jhonny doing? Ethan thought that the moment the guard would come in the cell to cuff him , Jhonny would try take him out and run off. However he let himself be cuffed and was now peacefully bathing. This was too much . Ethan sighed , he could not comprehend what Jhonny was planning , Jhonny could not be a fraud as he was the world''s greatest mercenary , he was the one who completed his mission to strike the oil field of Ambani as well as assasination of France '' s president. However his actions currently were more pathetic than a normal player with no experience. Ethan decided to just peacefully watch for a while. Meanwhile SMG had 75% completed his escape , he had stealthily climbed a barbed fence laced with poison barbs at the top. He had took down over 17 guards unnoticed and was at the lead in escaping. The next closest player was Konan who was still trying to climb the barbed wall. Luckily or by coincidence , the bath area of the prison was the closest for escaping , only a single fence surrounded the area outside the bath and the outside. SMG could not take that route to escape through the bath as the travel to the bath inside the prison was the most dangerous laced with guards everywhere. The safest option was to go to the farthest side. Climbing many obstacles and escaping through many cooridoors. Contrary to his hardwork , Jhonny was applying shampoo to his hair , and soaking in the warm water. But some shampoo accidentally fell in his eyes. Jhonny winced as his eyes burnt in pain , he said " Okay I hate prison ". With his eyes closed he then tried to grab the towel to wipe the shampoo off , but he accidentally grabbed the grills of the window , Jhonny pulled at full force , and the grill just came out unhinged. Jhonny was shocked , this was not the towel. He washed his eyes directly under the shower , and when he saw the situation again , that the grill was out and he could climb out of the small window now , he said " Just like I planned ". The entire room of generals and President Shinzo were stunned to silence. WTH was that...? What just happened .... How? Even Ethan was dumbfounded , Rudra''s arrogance was one thing , but Jhonny''s actions were just incomprehensible. If he planned this from the start , then his genius was beyond beleif. Everyone watched with careful eyes as they saw Jhonny trying to climb outside the window. However Jhonny stopped halfway and came back inside. As he remembered that he was naked and needed to put his clothes back on. Luckily for him , luckily for him , a guard that was patrolling , just passed the area below the bath. The bath was at the first floor , and the fence was about 5 Meters away from it. Jhonny now dressed , stood on the ledge of the bath , as he aimed to go directly past the ledge onto the outside. In his best jump , he barely made it over the fence , with his prison jumpsuit getting scratched by the barbed fence. The barbed fence was laced with a paralytic potion , hence one scratch would have left him paralysed . However now free , he ran away from the prison , at about 30 meters out , he got a notification , congratulations on escaping the prison! Jhonny was the first one out! The experts and generals in the bunker were stunned to silence as they started to recall the actions of Jhonny. Then one man said " I think I understood the brilliant plan of Jhonny English , his seemingly erratic actions were actually a calculated genius ". Everyone looked at him , his hands were trembling as he spoke " He first played the jester , trying to make a fool of himself , soo that the guards dropped their vigilance around him. He also extracted the information about the fact that there would be a bath time later on , he then watched leisurely as the others ran like monkeys in the direction where the prison is the least guarded hence the easiest to escape , while he leisurely let himself get arrested and went to the bath the closest point to escaping the prison , lead by the guards themselves. He then took a bath , because he had enough confidence in escaping at that point , his plan was 90% complete , and when he thought enough was enough he pulled the old rails and made an opening. He wanted to escape immediately , but he noticed the paralytics on the barbed fence , he did not want to risk it , he had a idea about his exact jumping ability , hence he went back in and wore his prison jacket. Only then did he jump , with the jacket being scratched by the paralytic. And escaped . While others were trying soo hard , Jhonny put in 1% their effort to get 100% the result ... He is pure genius , a super spy .... I now know why he is called the greatest mercenary , he is just soo experienced , from the start he had no worries , he knew he had this in the bag .... It is us who did not understand his brilliance ". With things put this way everyone looked at the screen where Jhonny sat elegantly in the lobby , and swallowed back some saliva This guy was in a league of his own! They looked at Ethan Grey , who had a smug expression on his face like I told you so ! They were terrified at how many monsters he was hiding , first Rudra , now Jhonny , and even SMG the current 2nd place was a part of True Elites , the same guild. They looked at Ethan differently now , the trillionare had a eye for talent , him bringing all these guys in was a great help for japan. After 1.5 hours , SMG finally also escaped the prison. He was shocked at first to see that Jhonny was already there , as he waved at him. But then knowing sir Jhonny he thought it was natural. He asked " How long have u been here ? ". Jhonny replied calmly " About 1.5 hours ". SMG was shocked , he thought the time would be shorter ... He knew sir Jhonny was good , but this was more than he expected. He had struggled a lot to escape the prison in 7 hours , he thought he would be the fastest , but sir Jhonny did it in 5.5 , his horizons were broadened. The two were selected for representing Japan in the world games! Chapter 247: 2nd day of selections 2nd day of selections saw selections for blacksmithing , beat the clock and Cliff fighting events. Jhonny and Fatty Kalash were going for blacksmithing , Rudra and Neatwit were going for beat the clock , while Karna went for cliff fighting. Everyone was shocked when Jhonny decided to go for blacksmithing event , especially Rudra who had been raining praises on him and SMG for being selected in prison escape. He knew that Jhonny''s subclass was blacksmith , however he did not know if he had any real talent. But he did not pay the matter much mind though , as he believed that it was just a third event that Jhonny was casually trying. Little did he know that Jhonny was the most serious about this event. Rudra and Neatwit were going for beat the clock challenge , and both were pumped for the event , Rudra and Neatwit made a pact to buy lunch if the other cleared more floors than the former , however they both vowed to come number one and two and take the spots for Japan. This event was also a mock event , the floors and the monster levels will not be the same in the actual VR Olympics , and would be more difficult. However that did not stop Rudra and Neatwit from absolutely mauling their way through the first 20 floors. Both of them had absolutely no chill , although for a five minute clock timer , after clearing it in 3 minutes they could wait for a next minute , drink some potions and restore stamina before going up , the two just kept climbing floors like it was piece of cake. Neatwit was a absolute machine in farming mobs as it was his full-time job and only passion in the game. For the first 20 floors he was even faster than Rudra by a full minute in time taken to clear. Only when the monsters crossed level 40 did he start slowing down , and Rudra caught up. Rudra started to show his massive stat advantage after floor twenty , as when Neatwit slowed down and had to take his time to deal with the monsters , he with his stats was still a slaughter machine. At floor 25 he overtook Neatwit , and by floor 30 he had a one minute lead over the guy. The monsters got level 55 at floor 31 , and now even Rudra had to be careful , the clocktimer now showed 4 minutes time for each level , and it was more difficult than before. For the first time , after clearing the floor in 2 minutes 50 seconds. Did Rudra stop to drink a stamina potion. He was still at 90% hp , however he still drank a basic HP potion. Before going up. Rudra became more sensible in his fighting floor 32 onwards , as he started to clear the floors only 30 minutes before clear time. He could clear it faster if he wanted to , however he understood that this competition was about lasting the longest and not about going the fastest. Hence he went into energy saver mode. At floor number 40 , Neatwit had once again caught up with Rudra. However contrary to Rudra , who was conserving strength , he was still going at full pace. Farming mobs was a sort of addiction for him , and he was a machine deriving pleasure from slaughtering them , he was physically burning out , but mentally in a ecstasy. Monsters became Level 65 at floor 41 and the time limit was shortened to 3.5 minutes. Rudra really started to feel the pressure now , as he started to climb the floor with barely 10 seconds to spare. Neatwit was barely hanging on , clearing floor 42 and 43 with less than 3 seconds to spare. At floor 44 , Neatwit missed the timer and was teleported outside , his current rank was one. However it changed to two within 3 seconds as Rudra cleared floor 44. Neatwit who was panting , saw the leaderboards and saw that nobody else crossed level 40 , and that some were still struggling at level 32 while most between 32 and 44 had missed the clock. He looked proud , firstly for himself , and next for Rudra who was still climbing at floor 49. Rudra was out of breath at floor 49 , he summoned durahal and used ten thousand cuts , he started to use his big moves now as he barely cleared the floor. At floor 50 he was forced to use thunderblast and darkness blast as he climbed with 1 second to spare. At level 51 there were 5 level 75 orcs , weaponized and with a armour. Rudra looked at the timer which now said 3 minutes and cursed. Not holding anything back , Rudra used world Slash and everything else in his arsenal , but he still missed the clock as he was teleported out at level 50 . He got a system notification congratulating him on his first place , as Neatwit was smiling waiting for him in the lobby. Rudra looked at the leaderboards and saw that at level 44 he was second. Beating level 40 at 3rd place. Rudra grinned and said " Guess dinners on you ". Neatwit high fived Rudra as they chatted leisurely , catching their breaths. The people inside tactical bunker were now clapping at the performace of the two Elites , especially for Rudra who had obtained first place in back to back two events. He appeared as a strong medal contender. Again praises were showered on Ethan Grey , for finding talents like them. Ethan was very satisfied with Rudra and Neatwit''s performance , it got his blood pumping with motivation. He felt like he wanted to crush Mithun Ambani into dust today itself! He laughed the urge off , if everything went good and Japan did obtain the VETO rights , then that day would not be too far out. ------ ( Meanwhile in the forging event ) The materials for the forging event had been given out , and the candidates had 18 hours time to make the best creation out of the materials they were given . The criteria for judging would be based on 1st the quality of product ie , the tier bronze , silver, gold , dark gold , epic , semi legendary , legendary etc. Even the most basic silver item would outrank the most useful bronze item. Only within same ranks was the usefulness evaluated. Fatty Kalash was doing brilliantly as he tried to forge a hammer for forging. Meanwhile Jhonny was trying to forge a assasins knife. It had only been 2 hours since the event started , hence it was still a long way out to the finish line! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the Golden ticket target ! Enjoy! I hope you guys keep the flow of tickets going , with only 3 days till the month ends I hope we can end with as many tickets as we can manage ! /// Chapter 248: selections day (2) Not many knew that Jhonny had learnt a forging technique as a reward of a hidden quest , that technique gauranteed to produce epic rated assasins dagger item , for basic steel forging. Jhonny could literally forge any number of times with steel and always come out with a epic rated assasins dagger , Jhonny could not forge a single item except steel , and he had no skills in forging any other item either. Luck was a major part of forging for a blacksmith , as various factors determined the success of forging in a VR setting. Although the blacksmiths did adjust the hit and hit the hammer and anvil on the products , they were basically following a set pattern of hits. The system showed them the exact spot to hit , however the power put in the hit and the precision was upto the forger. What Jhonny did not know however was the fact that his trash luck , was a charm for deterring the opposition in a forging event. The system classified everyone competing against him in the forging event as opponents , and his heavy negetive stat affected their forging. The brittle parts would break , while sometimes impurities would show up inside medals causing various disturbances lowering quality. Jhonny was by no means the most talented blacksmith , however with his trash luck rubbing on everyone , this was the perfect event for him to showcase his real worth. Tragedies kept occuring on table after table , as 60% of the blacksmiths could not even muster a product to keep for final evaluation. While forging a dark gold item at this stage of them game was beyond impressive , everyone knew that the world stage needed epic rated items or above to compete. At the end , the generals were deeply dissapointed at the performance of the blacksmithing department. It was hard to watch as trash quality bronze and silver artifacts were put up for evaluation. The only saving grace of the event was sir Jhonny who forged a epic rated item , and Fatty Kalash who made a damaged epic item. The system luckily still evaluated his item as epic and hence gave him the number two spot in overall evaluation. Jhonny and Fatty Kalash had secured spots in the national team with this . All eyes again went towards Ethan Grey , who had a calm look on his face ..... The True Elites were proving to become more and more unfathomable , every event seemed to be dominated by them. It was just a guild of 3000 members or so , however it still had maximum representative spots in the national squad. Even those who did not get selected , showed great potential from the guild , Tanks like cola and rhino , and wizards like Medivh , also performed spectacularly in their events. Meanwhile inside the cliff fighting event , the vice Guild master of the Elites , Karna was fighting his semi finals Match against the dark barbarian Jin Mori. The dark barbarian had some pretty cool skills , one of them being a smokescreen fog. He would spew smokescreen from his mouth and completely blind the opponent , then attack with a powerful blow out of nowhere. It was an excellent skill , especially for the cliff fighting event , where the objective was to send ur opponent flying over the narrow platform. However it was his misfortune to fight against vice guild master Karna , who had minds eyes. Seeing clearly in the fog , Karna was absolutely ready for Jin''s attack. He carefully sidestepped , causing Jin to stumble a bit towards the cliff to regain balance , and finished him off with a powerful kick to the chest. Jin also could not see , inside the dense fog , but one of his skills was sonar detection , hence he could accurately just point out where his opponent was inside the fog. However he never expected that someone could maneuver in such a way while being inside the thick fog , as if they could see everything. Hence when the kick landed on him , and he was sent flying , he had his eyes wide open in shock. He lost in the semi finals to Karna , who went on to win the finals of the event as well. Along with him was another top 10 , pain , who had a wierd gravity manipulation move , that made him a perfect fit for the cliff fighting event , Karna narrowly scored a victory over pain , and was in resepct of his strength. Day two ended with yet another Elite securing a spot at the national level , and the generals were left scratching their heads at the unexpected development. It seemed as if Ethan Grey''s True Elites was just a conglomeration of talent. Day 3...4...5...6 passed next , and one after another selections for events were being held. Neatwit and Karna both secured a place in the first blood match. While SMG secured a spot in trialthon alongside Skyla. Nero and Patch Mori got a spot in the event called riot control , where one was supposed to control riots in cities using lethal and non lethal force . Their undead and zombies were the perfect fit for the job , as rioteers were absolutely terrified of them. Handling the riots as a one man army , the two of them showed exceptional performance and qualified for the VR Olympics as Japan''s representatives. Rudra closely watched that qualifier , as he got to see the glory of the Zombiemancer and Necromancer dark classes first time on display. Their skill sets were stellar , and the more advanced zombie''s and undeads had skills of their own. Seeing those two fight , Rudra suddenly felt as if his own Knight class maybe wasn''t the best class in the game. Maybe he should have chosen a PVE class as well. However he quickly dispelled those thoughts , as if he someday reached tier four with a SSS rating , he would become the legendary class player , that could easily level cities. Rudra did not compete in any more single''s events , and patiently waited for the last 2 days of the selections , where the team events would start. Chapter 249: Team events selection In a very shocking move that Rudra never expected , a group of 50 people were invited privately by the government in the training arena. One hour before the group event selections began. Rudra looked around to see familiar faces like , Jhonny , Karna , Neatwit , Medivh ,SMG, Cola from the guild. Naturally the guild members banded together in the room around Rudra , as the True Elites gave a cold vibe in the room. They were undoubtedly the strongest faction. However the others present were also not weak at all , there was Nero , Patch Mori, Jin Mori, Pain , Raijin , KingSpy , and others that were atleast within top 200 in initial evaluation. The only exceptions being Yume and Jhonny , Jhonny was added for his stellar performace in prison escape event , and Yume was added because of his unique stat nature. Elyon took the stage and said " Although the selections for team events will be fair and everyone would be given a chance. The goal for the nation is to make the best team and the best team needs to be made with the best players. We want you players to State your event of choice , and with your choices in mind , we wish that you accept any event assigned to you , we will give prefference to your choice however if we need to we will ask you to choose a event where we see that you can contribute maximum to the team and have the best chances to win medals. If we keep a open for all selection , the winner team will always be sub-par than the what could be team , hence we invited you prior to the events start as we wish to make the best teams for each event ". What the general said made sense , if Rudra was to participate in a team event , he would naturally only go with the Elites , however players like Nero and KingSpy could be valuable additions , for the country , indeed such teams would be better. A form was passed out next , where one had to fill their prefferences about what events they wanted to participate in , in the prefference order one two and three. Rudra only wished to take part in National battleground , hence he wrote , National battleground , in all three slots , and submitted the form . Elyon frowned upon seeing his entry , but when his eyes met Rudra''s , chills went down his spine , they were the eyes of a apex predator , not to be trifled with. Elyon gulped down some saliva , and thinking that Rudra was the best player they had , he decided to let this slide. The other Elites did ask Rudra for his opinion on what events to fill , Rudra''s answer to everyone was simply to do as they pleased , except for Karna , to whom he asked to go for capture the flag. Karna was surprised , he wanted to go with Rudra and Neatwit in national battleground , however Rudra convinced him otherwise. Rudra said " You have excellent command skills , become the leader in the event , even if you don''t win a medal , you will grow a lot as a leader. It is better for the guild ". Karna looked at Rudra speachless , it was definitely outside his comfort zone , he would have been much happier fighting alongside Rudra , however he also understood that the guild needed another leader except Rudra. If he could use the worldstage to learn more about commanding and battle strategies then it would be worth it. Deciding to face the challenge head on , he wrote in capture the flag as his first option. Followed by National battleground , followed by dodgeball. SMG chose to go for dodgeball , followed by baseball , as the speedy games suited him well. Jhonny went for capture the flag , national battleground , dodgeball. Yume went for national battleground , capture the flag , Rafting. Neatwit went for national battleground , capture the flag and rafting. And soo everyone filled the forms in the next five minutes. Then the AI calculated the best player combinations for each event , taking the prefference in mind, and the initial basic test results , and gave the final list of participants for each event . The list was like this. Event : Capture the flag. Participants 10 Suggested list : Karna , Jhonny English , Patch Mori , Pain, Jin Mori , KingSpy , Medivh , Cola , MadTitan , Itachi. Event : National battleground Participants : 4 Suggested players : Shakuni, Neatwit , Nero , Yume Event : Dodgeball Participants : 5 Suggested players : SMG , Raijin , Sasori , Deidara , Zetsu Event : Rafting Participants : 3 Suggested players : ... . . . The suggested list of players was out for each event , Rudra looked at the national battleground event , and his eyes locked with Nero the necromancer. Nero looked calm , as he matched Rudra''s gaze unfazed , after a while , he walked up and said " Nice to meet you " and offered his hand to shake. Rudra let his hand hang for a moment , before decisively grabbing it. As he said " Better not drag me down ". Nero smirked in response. The four of them accepted the arrangement , and chose to go with the team. A similar scene happened with Karna''s capture the flag event , and SMG''s dodgeball event. Everyone accepted the overall arrangements made by the government. With the team''s completed , the general now open invited all the remaining participants , as he gave a mock speach about making the team''s and registering them for the next team selections. Many approached the stronger players to make teams , however they were dissapointed to see that the stronger one''s had already banded together to make teams. Rudra was the coldest of them all , when someone approached him to ask to team up , he would outright close his eyes and pretend to not hear them at all , or open his eyes and give them a sharp glare. The players were agitated by his behaviour , and swore to kick him off his high horse in the event. To those threats Rudra would simply respond with a short " Come ". As he would give a vicious smile. The name '' Demon of death valley '' spread across the selection room , as people talked about the time he decimated the Orange rock guild as a newbie player. And how the demon was not to be provoked. With a tale attached to his name , his aura grew stronger , in the national games , everyone started to become wary of the name Shakuni , as a inferiority complex was rooted in their minds. They might not show it , they might not admit it , but everyone felt it in their bones. They could feel the aura around the king of the mountain. The number one player in pre selections , Shakuni of the Elites. Within the next hour , everyone made the team''s , and the selections for the team event officially started. It would be the last two days of the selections , with dodgeball , rafting and National battleground being today , and capture the flag and baseball being tommorow. Rudra , Yume , Neatwit and Nero were transported to the spawn island , where they were given 10 apples , as they waited to board the plane before the event started. Rudra had played this popular mobile game when he was young , he was supposed to throw apples in the spawn island at random players for fun . Little did he know he would actually become a part of the game in actuality one day, dropping off from a plane and surviving till the end. He had no gear at all , and after being dropped on the island , gear was supposed to be looted , and the location for the drop was also to be decided. Taking a bite of the apple , Rudra opened the map for the event , as he planned on selecting a drop location. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target , good job everyone /// Chapter 250: National battleground The rules for national battleground were simple. In a abandoned island , there would be small abandoned settlements all around the map. The players must drop using parachutes to any location on the map. The players would not have any equipment on them , and must loot equipment either from dead enemies or from within the abandoned settlements. There would be a safezone that would shrink every two and a half minutes by a fixed percentage. And overall the entire game would at max go on for 1 hour , where the safezone will shrink to 0. For every consequentive shrinkzone , the damage taken outside the zone would increase. And as no items were allowed in the game , healing items were also to be found and looted in the map. The event was not about just fighting and killing opponents , it was about strategy and survival. One could kill a opponent , or simply decide to conserve strength in the initial phase , and duke it out in the final phase. Rudra was a man with a target on his back , as in the airplane everyone was dissing him. He was the top dog , and the best player , hence many called him out. They were the typical mobs , that only knew how to bark , but when time came to back those words up , they were nowhere to be seen. Insults were shouted like " Yo , Shakuni , guess who visited your home yesterday .... ". " If you are not a son of a bi*** I dare you to jump to Village Z ". " It''s a open challenge guys , come to village F , and I will show you whose your daddy". To such players Rudra just calmly ignored them , However to the one insulting his mom , he glared viciously at him. The guy was a sheep , and under the gaze of a dragon , he almost wet his pants. He immediately shut up. One by one , players started to jump off the plane along with their squads. And when the gps showed that the drop location was 750 meters away , Rudra gave the squad to jump. Zap Zap Zap Zap Four players jumped in rapid succession , and some idiot squad jumped right after them , as if giving them a chase. Rudra was not impressed by the fools , his location was the central largest village P , however there were one squad of players exactly above them , and three other squads that were dropping at the exact same location. Nero told Rudra " The place is too congested , we can still change trajectory , we will find equipment from small settlements , its more important to survive ". The generals watching the stream completely agreed with Nero''s opinion , it was stupid to go to a village where 4 other squads were landing. However Rudra was not impressed by the suggestion , he only increased the speed of the teams descent as he said " Shakuni doesn''t retreat , Shakuni makes others retreat ". Nero was shocked by Rudra''s arrogance , he felt a headache was in store because he had a mindless group leader. The parachutes opened 200 meters above ground , and the players were rapidly dropping. Rudra however pulled the strings of the parachute with full strength , and arched it more than it was , creating upthrust , slowing descent. Rudra rose to the height of the team following them , the players were definitely here for Rudra ,as they threw dirty glances at the man. Rudra however gave them a very spooky smile as he said " Soo you guys want to drop to the exact same location as us , and try fight us early on .... Well let me grant you your wish , and send you to the ground faster ! ". DARKNESS BLAST DARKNESS BLAST A combo of two darkness blasts , made a hole through two parachutes per each shot , making a hole in all four parachutes. The players began to rapidly descent with their parachutes being torn , at the rate they were falling , they knew they would absolutely not survive. Rudra only heard a " YOuuuu baaaassssttttaaaaa....". From the falling men , before they got outside the range of earshot. The event was started the moment they exited the plane , and dropping alongside any team was a big no - no. Rudra only used such a method of dealing with them because he was sure they were novices. However in the real VR OLYMPICS , the top teams would never make such silly mistakes. 3 of the four instantly died upon impact , while the tank of the group , with the higest hp survived badly with 15 HP. His body hurt , he probably had multiple bones broken , however from his mouth the words coming out were " Curse you ... Damn shak...". Before he could even curse Rudra , Rudra landed on the ground , by stomping on his head. -250 ! A -250 damage appeared on the player and he died immediately. Rudra landed on the battlefield with one foot on the head of a dead player. Soon Yume , Nero and Neatwit also landed , and saw Rudra''s pose with a corpses head below his foot. Nero awkwardly raised his eyebrows in shock. While Neatwit said " cool entrance ". Yume just gave a double thumbs up to Rudra , just upon landing Rudra had killed 4 players and eliminated a squad! The team quickly started looting for supplies , and stocking things in their limited inventory slots. The fight for village P was far from being over , as 4 different squads survived In 4 corners of the settlement. Bound to clash within next 10 minutes. Inside the safezone , and with full numbers , Rudra''s crew got to looting within settlement P , Rudra found a useless silver rated blade , however without a lack of better option , he made it his main weapon. For armour he had common bronze armour , and shin guards , and a silver helmet , he had no shoulder pads and no boots. He looked odd while being a half dressed knight , but that was everything he could do at the moment , he would have definitely looted more , but he heard enemy footsteps. Someone was nearby! /// Bonus chapter for hitting Golden ticket target , good job everyone ! /// Chapter 251: Domination Rudra completely focused on his sense of hearing , it seemed as if there was movement in a neighbour house. The sound of wood creaking under someone''s feet could be heard. Rudra looked at the map to understand the location of his squad , the others were nearby , hardly 20 meters away. Hence he had cover if things went south. Rudra said over the comms " Enemy footsteps in the neighbouring house , going in for the kill ". Neatwit immediately stopped looting and made way towards Rudra''s location , to provide backup if needed . Yume just replied " Best of luck , Amitabha ". And continued looting. weapons were useless for him , hence he only looted armour and supplies. The enemy was on the second floor of the house , when Rudra entered the first. The damn floors were soo noisy that it creaked when he stepped on it. The enemy was instantly alerted , as Rudra could hear him saying " Enemy on me , enemy on me ". Rudra rushed in for the kill. He would very much like to decide this before backup arrives. He climbed up the stairs , to see that the enemy was camping just beside the stairs waiting to attack Rudra. Rudra ducked as a axe strike , narrowly missed his hair by a breath. Before the enemy could launch a second strike , Rudra used a strike of his own to force the enemy to retreat to avoid being hit. The enemy retreated , he then looked at Rudra and said " Oho. Shakuni himself , DIE ! ". inspite of the bold words , the guy clearly was not a axe wielder as his technique was incredibly sloppy. He was probably a swordsman who did not find a sword for loot. Rudra had the upper hand in every exchange , as within 5 moves Rudra killed the guy without a single of his hp deducted. Rudra then heard the sounds of metal clashing somewhere , when he looked outside the window , Neatwit was fighting 3 other guild mates of the dead guy. Rudra jumped from the first floor window , and joined the fight. Together the two , made short work of the enemy squad. It was a wipe! Rudra and Neatwit then looted the corpses , but were shocked to see that undead were roaming the streets of settlement P. Apparently Nero had started his magic , and while Rudra and Neatwit were wiping their squad , he was single handedly wiping two in the safety of his house. Undeads scoured house after house , and upon finding a target swarmed in masses to kill it. Within the second zone shrink , the squad had managed to kill 16 opponents soo far , and completely wiped settlement P. They were still inside the safezone , and relatively in the centre , hence they took time to leisurely loot the area and arm themselves to the teeth. Rudra got two gold grade swords and full body armour , Neatwit got one dark gold grade sword and full body armour , while Nero got a staff and full body armour. Yume was the medic carrying all the supplies for the team , weaponless , he was looking funny with his bald head and wierd orange sprayed armour. Nero had noticed that Yume , was a special case , his ability was unheard of , even though he did not have any combat skills , his presence was enough to turn any tide of any battle. The more he thought about it , the more he beleived that yume was a better fit for 10 man team in capture the flag than here. That the AI had made a mistake. However he did not voice these thoughts. Rudra would have a different opinion , as he knew the true potential behind Yume , although Yume '' s passive was amazing , and it would indeed help a 10 man team more with the buffs and enemy debuffs , however if one considered him to be a weak fighter , they would be in for a big surprise when fighting the peacefull monk. The generals watching the event were very pleased with the top teams performance , although it could not be considered to be a cohesive unit , it was a devastatingly strong unit. In the team Neatwit was the assaulter , and Nero was the crowd control and scout , While Yume was the medic and support. Rudra was the IGL and the chief damage dealer , together the team was a strong unit. They needed to work on teamwork , but the generals beleived that with the practice time between the selections and the event the team could be molded into a cohesive unit. What mattered right now was the potential and even a blind man could see the potential in the squad. While the analysis of the generals was along this line , Rudra''s analysis of himself was a lot different. Rudra felt as a swordsman he truly lacked true sword skills. His sword skills generated from his sword , and not himself , without the elven sword , and Excalibur , he was atleast 30% nerfed as a player. Darkness blast , thunder blast , earthquake , blink , were all good skills , undoubtedly , but they were not what a world-class player should have in his arsenal. He needed more attack based sword skills compatible with any sword , he would improve miles that way. A similar realization dawned on Neatwit as well , he had became too reliant on his sword , it was like driving a Ferrari all his life , then suddenly being forced to drive a Honda civic. Although Honda civic was not bad , but it dipped his overall performance by a lot. He realized his short coming there , and decided to work on it before the world games. He also felt that he needed more movement techniques , when he was facing the enemy one on three , he needed to retreat , facing too much heat , however he had no skills to do so. Thankfully Rudra arrived and things went smooth then on , however at the world stage all players would be incredibly more skilled than the nationals , and Rudra would not always be there to save the day. He needed to become more self sufficient. Both Rudra and Neatwit matured a lot through these events , and saw evolution as players. Chapter 252: Naomi After the third circle was over , the safezone was made about 3kms from Rudra''s location. The squad needed to move inside the zone. There were no transportation vehichles , hence one needed to move on foot to cover the distance. Rudra opened the map and thought about the geographically safest route into the zone. The team picked a light jogging speed as they moved towards the safe zone. The area was comparatively safe , however there was a stretch of 200 meters where there was tall grass that they had to cross. Rudra hated such tall grassy areas , anyone could be mounting an ambush in such areas , and he hated such cowardly tactics. Slowing down , the team moved at a 5 meter distance from each other. Rudra heard rustling of grass , and he immediately paused. And raised his hand to caution everyone behind him. It was a tense moment in the game , as no more rustling of grass could be heard. Rudra stayed vigilant nonetheless , as he slowed his movement , moving very carefully. Then suddenly he jumped as high as he could , to get a aerial view of the opponents. As he expected , two campers were lying there flat on their bellies in the talk grass , with swords in hand , just waiting to ambush the enemy players. Rudra immediately launched a thunderblast , it hit one of the player squarely , As the high damage move , one shotted him to be killed. Rudra immediately , unsheathed both his swords as he closed in on the second one''s location. He parried one of the enemy''s sword strikes with one sword of his own , while twisted his hand to stab the second one right down his neck . The enemy stared wide eyed into Rudra''s cold eyes , as Rudra said " I HATE SNAKES ". Using the other hand he slashed the opponents neck for a clean kill. The opponent died. Making shortwork of the opponents , Rudra calmly sheathed his swords , as the team kept moving forward. When Rudra glanced towards Neatwit , Neatwit simply said " Orochimaru ". Rudra smirked , and Neatwit bursted laughing. Yume and Nero did not understand the inside joke and felt like they were missing out. The kill count of the team went up to 18 , as Rudra they entered top 50 survivors . Reaching the zone in time , Rudra decided to camp at the zone''s edge for the time , and keep moving zone to zone with each subsequent shrink. The zone shrinks from the fourth onwards were relatively closer to reach with only 200 meters to cover , however slowly but surely the playzone was shortening. Only one settlement remained in the safezone , setllement A. Rudra made way to the outmost boundry house of settlement A , where upon entering , he heard footsteps from the floor above him. The team of four were on the ground floor , and Rudra suspected that a squad was camping right above them. Nero used his undead , to storm the stairs , as a bombardment of spells ensued on the undead. With this exchange Rudra understood one thing , there were powerfull mages camping above him. And rushing blindly would spell doom for him. ------- ( Meanwhile , Naomi''s POV , Purplehaze city ) The 10 man capture the flag event was scheduled for tommorow , hence Karna was at the guild , strategizing about the coming event , when Naomi walked up to him. Karna looked surprised as he had never really talked to the girl before , only a few pleasantries had been exchanged .... Karna said " Yes .... Do u need something ? ". Naomi was hesitant , she wanted to say a lot , however did not know from where to start , or how to approach the topic. She often tried to muster the words , but could not utter them finally , after 20 seconds , her face was red in embarassment. Weird thoughts came in Karna''s mind , he was worried that the girl may have a crush on him or something and that this would be a confession. However his guess was only half right as it was a sort of confession , but now to him. Naomi said " I .... I like guild master Rudra ". Karna was silent after that statement ... His mind processing the information .... His rational telling him , '' okay, soo why are you here , what do u want with me ? ''. However he said " Okay ...". Naomi continued " I like him , and want to earn his fancy .... I cannot ask about his likes and dislikes from my brother , because it will be awkward for me , also I don''t want him to know that I like guild leader at this point. You also seem very close to him , soo please give me some advice ". Karna''s eyes brightened up ... Everything made sense now ... She was here to know Rudra''s likes and dislikes , and learn about how to gain his fancy. Karna thought for a bit , then he answered with a smile " Rudra is a very simple guy , he does admire the natural beauty of women , in which department you do not lack at all. But for him his role as guild master is the top priority. What I have observed is , wether it is SMG , or sir Jhonny English , or even the newcomers , Rudra develops relationship with everyone that contributes greatly to the guild. For you to get close , become a indespensible part of the guild , become strong , become valuable. Although this place is for the Elites and you are not a shabby player , but we both know that you are here because your brother is Neatwit. If you took a recruitment test , you would most probably not be a Elite today. But that''s not a problem , I myself have been scouted by Rudra , no recruitment tests. But my performance and contribution to the guild is what really solidified my position in the guild , and hence with Rudra. For that man , you only need to be very open and honest while dilligently working towards the guilds development and he will spend half his time with you ..... Hence my greatest advice for you will be , become a elder in the guild through natural contribution and you will also win over Rudra in the process". Naomi stood there silently soaking in every word that Karna was telling her. Although it stung and hurt to be blatantly told that her place in the guild was earned through nepotism and not skill. She knew it was the truth and that Karna meant no offense. She was very thankful as what Karna told her was invaluable , she had never played the game very seriously uptill this point , however if the game was the way to Rudra''s heart. Then even if not for Rudra , she would become a better player for herself , become worthy of being called an elite , and maybe just maybe , get closer to Rudra in the process. Determination shined in her eyes , she said " Thankyou vice guild master ". She resolved to become the best healer in the Elites , that she would become soo indespensible , that Rudra would not go on a single mission without her in the party. Karna smiled at this , he liked the expression on Naomi''s face , he did not wish to tell her about Rudra and Ruby. At first his help was only superficial , however seeing the expression on her face , he felt like this was a really good girl , who was really into Rudra. Hence he said " Rudra has a weakness towards cuteness and good food ". Naomi said " Huh , I don''t get it ". Karna just waved it off however saying " Figure it out ". With that He had helped Naomi as much as he could , he himself was not a team Ruby guy or team Naomi guy , he was only a team Rudra guy. And wanted the best for his buddy. Then whoever Rudra chose , he would always be happy for him. Naomi looked at the fleeting figure of vice guild master , and started making a strategy in her mind , to get stronger her first goal was to level up. Not wasting a single second , she immediately went towards the woods , to start with the process of her evolution as a player. --------- ( Meanwhile in a secure bunker in Japan ) The generals watching Rudra''s teams performance soo far were very satisfied with the progress of the game. However everyone frowned when they saw the tricky house that the team entered. The house had two tanks and two wizards camping on the second floor , and it was the ultimate combo of attack and defense. It was not easy to take down However while others worried , Ethan Grey laid back in his chair enjoying the show , as unlike the generals in the room , his trust on Rudra was not superficial , being a reincarnator himself , he understood the terrifying might of one. With Rudra being soo experienced in the game , playing it for multiple years , there was no way he could not think for a counter for this setup. Ethan was confident that Rudra would wrap things up within 2 minutes. And indeed that''s what happened , Rudra thought of a ingenuis counter for the trap ... /// Sorry guys , only one chapter today , tommorow the new privilege settings would apply , and 5 new chapters will be released /// Chapter 253: The last circle The enemies camping on the floor above , were wizards , hence charging head on would only mean being bombarded with a ton of spells. Nero asked Rudra , if he should send up a swarm of undead to take the brunt of the damage , while he and Neatwit could charge in later , to take the enemy down. However Rudra did not want to use such means , the mana recovery potions in the national battleground were far and few. And the team only had access to one intermediate recovery potion. summoning the undead would surely drain Nero '' s mana by a significant margin. Instead Rudra wanted to try something else , something creative to handle this problem. He instructed Neatwit to rush in from the stairs , exactly 3 seconds after he heard the window breaking. While he himself went outside the house with Yume and looked at the first floor window. The glass window was about 4 meters from the ground. And with Yume giving him a upward boost , Rudra thought he would be able to crash in from the window , at an angle , that the enemies would not be expecting him. Taking a short run-up , Rudra made a short jump, Yume with both his hands tightly bound together , gave Rudra a full jump boost. Rudra launched in the air and crashed him through the window, both swords in hand. CRASH! The campers were surprised , they were all aiming towards the stairs hence when someone crashed through the window , they were caught off-guard. The wizards instantly cast their spells , but , unfortunately for them , the location from where Rudra entered meant that their spells would now also become friendly fire. Rudra dodged a mana bullet , which hit the tank right in the leg and right on time , Neatwit scaled the stairs , and engaged one wizard in close range , who was now not aiming at the stairs because of Rudra''s crash . The campers cursed as a close range fight , the wizards were pretty much nerfed once the close range fighting started , as Rudra and Neatwit targetted them first . Wizards had inherently low defense and hp , hence under relentless assault of players like Rudra and Neatwit , they fell quickly. The tanks tried to interfere , however their skill was clearly inferior as they were not able to fight back at all . Their high defense and vitality meant that they did indeed last a lot longer than wizards , but that was basically that , no real threat remained as eventually both fell dead as well. The last tank did try to escape from the window , to try run for his life , however Rudra''s darkness blast ensured his death. The squad was a wipe. Little by , little the sound of metal clashing could be heard everywhere , the 3rd last zone was ver intense in every game , however because the safezone was a small settlement with houses , the fighting only intensified. Rudra did not wish to overly engage anyone , his position at the top of the national battleground was almost a given certain right now , however he did not want to go out without a 25 point survivor bonus. Rudra had 26 points under his belt with 26 kills. With 12 players alive , the team would logically rank bwtween 3rd to 7 th place even if everyone was to die now. Considering the 10 points for being number 7 , his team would have 36 points at minimum. It was almost a assured win. However Rudra wanted to leave nothing to chances. When the second last zone shrink completed , there was only about 5 Meters circle that was left to fight in. Small portions of four houses were in the zone , what laid ahead was a bloody fight , without any space to retreat. Here the team that attacked first lost , because everyone else would try and take advantage of two groups fighting. However this is where nero''s conserved mana would help the team. Rudra signalled Nero to go all out , with controlling as many undead as he could into the neighbouring house. Luckily it was the house where a duo had been camping , and when the twenty or so undead rushed in the house , they were terrified. A shriek escaped the mouths of the players , as sound of metal clashing and fighting ensued. The other two parties took the bait , and rushed into that house to disrupt the fights , only to be dumbfounded by seeing the swarm of undead there. The other two teams ,now at the same location also broke out in a fight , as the small ground floor of the apartment had became a congested bloodbath. Rudra outside the house was cracking his knuckles and stretching his neck muscles , as he leisurely entered the room , followed by Neatwit. 20 seconds later , a notification ensued. #1 Victory Royale! Winner winner chicken dinner ! Booyah! The squad had won the National battleground , with a score of 55 points , to the second place having 21. It was a very convincing victory! The generals all clapped inside the bunker , this was exactly what they expected from the team. They were impressed by everyone''s performances , especially Nero ''s part in the end , seemed like necromancer if used right was a excellent addition to the squad in National battleground. What the generals were most happy about was that the victory was soo convincing that it seemed like a bunch of ace players had been taking on bronze level noobs. That meant that in the actual ace lobby , the world games , this team atleast had a shot at victory. Many voiced their concerns that Yume was useless in the squad even after knowing his buffing nature , it was petitioned that the issue be brought up to the team members and let them decide. Ethan remained silent on the matter , Yume was not one of his introduced players , he knew the secret behind his character , however even he felt that maybe a mage or a tank could be a better fit for the team overall ,but still he kept quiet about the issue , as he felt that Rudra was a better judge , if he would have felt that a change was needed , he would probably ask for it himself. Chapter 254: The Full dive pods arrive. Rudra logged out of the VR helmet , he took a shower and the moment he closed his eyes under the water , scenes from the game he played went through his mind. This was the problem with VR technology , the bloodlust of mankind that was laid to rest by modern society. The primal instincts that were gone by living in a cultural society , were slowly being brought back after killing beasts and men alike in the VR game day after day. Though the issue not very evident currently in the first year of the game , the crime rate for brutal physical assaults saw a spike in the world this year. Ancient sports like hunting began to gain popularity , and swords and daggers started to be produced in masses again. The rich preffered the actually forged weapons made by very skilled artists , while the poor purchased the factory mass produced weapons. People wanted to get the satisfying feel of using the blade in the real world as they felt inside the virtual world. Many self claimed all knowing youtubers made bullshit videos about how to train in real life with the sword to improve in the virtual world. Rudra knew that this was partially true , but more false. The truth was that training in the virtual world was 3 times more effective to learn anything , anything at all. As at that time only your brain would be functioning , it would fully soak every sensation , every movement and commit it to memory. Learning swordsmanship in the VR world , one could become an actual master. Rudra''s physique had improved after playing Omega , although he rarely exercised , the calory consumption on his body by his brain alone was terryfingly high. Little by little , his muscles now knew the sensation of kicking someone''s shield , while his arms knew how to pierce their hearts when they are thrown offbalance. Never used it in a real fight , but every sensation was 100% inside him. And that feeling would only increase after the purchase he would make today at midnight. Cuber corporation would on its online portal release the Full dive VR pods , with 99.9% neural sync rate , it was a massive upgrade from the 95% sync rate helmets , the pods would feel exactly the same as the original body , the difference between real and virtual was only going to blur going forward. Cuber was only going to release 10,000 units today , and Rudra had been prepared to buy them all , in his previous life they had been silently released without anyone knowing about it. However they still sold out by 12 :30 , as cubers online site to buy VR helmets saw over 100,000 people traffic everyday. When the news about the VR Pods was out , it was sold-out in 10 minutes. This time around , Rudra would just buy them all within 1 minute of release at 12 am , he would just hold the plus sign till it maxed out , and pay the total amount in one fell swoop. The VR pods were to cost about 100,000 dollars for the initial models , and would cut down to 30,000 dollars within one year. However Rudra was prepared to spend the ten billion dollar price and buy all the units at once. Ethan Grey was funding him , soo this much was to be expected. What was the point of Ethan owning a 30% stake in his guild if he could not even exploit a few expensive items from the man . He knew that Ethan loved his money , however for things like investing to improve his own buisness , he was never shy to fork out money. If the investment would improve the Elites''s gameplay , then it was worth it for Ethan . The cuber corporation would only put out 10,000 units once a week for the next 3 months , hence a very limited amount of total dive pods would be available till the Olympics. This was because they could not scale the production of parts properly without the price skyrocketing , the materials used inside were insanely expensive. Hence the limited stock caused the slow release. For normal players the sync rate difference of 5% did not matter at all , however for professional players it was a difference of heaven and earth. If their reflexes became just a little more sharper , if their movements became a little more refined. If their survivability increased only by a fraction , it could potentially turn the outcome of a fight for them , hence the investment was worth it. Rudra just smiled as the clock hit 11:59 , he thought back to his times in the past life where he could not even have a meal two times a day sometimes , and this life , where he was going to potentially make a 10 billion dollar purchase. How had the odds changed. He had dreamed about someday owning a VR pod , however he did not have 30K dollars even after the prices hit the lowest point. His dream would now be complete. When the clock struck 12:00 am , Rudra refreshed the page. Ecstatic when the VR pods were indeed listed. Not wasting a single second , with trembling hands Rudra continually pressed on the plus sign The number of units sign went up by a fast count untill it reached 9999 , Rudra cursed , someone bought one unit. Not wasting a single second , Rudra chose to pay for the remaining units. And at 12:01 he completed the transaction. Nearly 10 billion were spent on 9999 VR pods , and Rudra was beyond ecstatic. He could not wait to see the expression on the faces of the guild members after they all were gifted one each. What he longed for soo much in his last life , now not only he , but his entire guild would have , and before the entire world at that! /// The psychological effects of playing Omega for a longtime have been discussed in this chapter , personally I beleive that playing the game longtime would change how a man views the world , but I''d love to hear what you guys think about the issue /// Chapter 255: Capture the flag The second day of team event selections and the last day for Japan selections was today. Many guild members including Karna , SMG , Jhonny had their respective events today. SMG was taking part in 5v5 dodgeball , while Karna , Jhonny and the rest were taking part in capture the flag. Karna was very nervous before the event , he wondered if the others would accept his leadership , wether his leadership would actually allow the team to win. Or will the all stars team loose before even going to the world stage. Capture the flag had the team''s spawn at their respective bases equidistant from the central white flag. Each team spawned with their own team color flag , red team spawned with red flag , blue team with blue and soo on . The rules of the event were such that the central flag was worth 5 points , there were two flag holes at every base , one where the team flag was placed and one for the central flag. For everytime a team retrieved a central flag and it was successfully placed in the team''s flag area , the team would get 5 points. After which the flag would respawn at the central location. For every enemy team flag stolen and brought back to base and placed in the flag area , for 10 seconds , the team would get one point , while the team whose flag was stolen would get -2 points. Hence the battle though named capture the flag , was much more than just capturing the flag. One needed to do both offense and defense and display excellent strategy to win the event. Which team to pick on , which flag to go after , the forever mounting pressure to either get the top spot or hanging onto the top spot. It was a challenge of nerves. After every death a player would not respawn , hence dwindling numbers could potentially destroy a teams winning chances. A loss of 3 players would essentially cripple a teams offensive capabilities , while a loss of 6 members would force a team into dire defense. It was not far fetched to say that this was the hardest event of all the events in VR Olympics , probably only equal to winning the one v one battle. The pressure could render a pefectly capable general useless , and this is where the true mental fortitude was tested. Karna was feeling it in his nerves , the pressure to perform , his hands trembling as he waited for the event to be started , however his eyes were full of vigour , as he looked forward to the challenge. This was his strength of character , with his back against a wall , he was the person who would fight back the hardest and never resign till the last moment. The invite did come for the event and Karna accepted it. Inside the lobby the preformed team banded together. Karna stood with Jhonny English , Medivh and Cola , the Elites banded together , and the duo Patch and Jin Mori stood together , while the Akatsuki Pain and Itachi stood together , KingSpy and MadTitan stood solo in the group. With a short discussion it was decided that Karna would be the leader of the event , he was a top 10 player and overall the Elites had the maximum representation in the event , hence it was only natural that Karna was appointed. Noone seemed dissatisfied about this arrangement as of now , and hence Karna sighed in releif , his chance was here , now the pressure was on , and it was gametime! -------- ( Meanwhile SMG was participating in the dodgeball event) The description of dodgeball only mentioned that it would be the traditional ball throwing event , with a VR twist. Not much information was provided , however , nobody expected that the description was soo misleading. There was nothing traditional about the dodgeball event. As it was dodgeball only in concept and everything else was different. There were no two courts to fight in a verses format , instead there was only one large court , where both teams had been spawned. Infront of the counrt were 15 giant cannons , as the AI explained the rules of the event. In the white court , anyone who would step even marginally outside the painted lines , would be eliminated , no skills were allowed inside the white area , only physical attacks without any weapons involved were allowed. Blocking an incoming ball with both fists and feet was allowed , while contact to any other body part spelled elimination. The ten players would play in the same court and would be barraged randomly by dodgeballs from the machine , if you failed to dodge you were eliminated , while you could also sabotage ur enemy''s dodging by pushing them into harms way. The contest lasted till one team lost all members. This group event was also in a one v one team format , hence would have multiple rounds. SMG needed to win a lot of matches to qualify for nationals. With soo many variables introduced such as sabotaging enemies , and multiple cannons randomly shooting dodgeballs. The difficulty of the event was sky high. This would be a tough challenge for a skilled player with good reflexes like SMG , as the even the slightest slip up would spell death. This game was made for those who had the utmost concentration and overall environmental awareness , it was a game made for naturally talented players with extremely agile classes. Theives , Assassin''s and Rangers were the only one who could possibly compete in the event , as their inherent build was based on agility stat. In the very first game , SMG understood that the game was much more difficult than it appeared on the surface , the 15 cannons had no rhythm to how the dodgeballs were coming. He felt as if the cannonballs randomly targetted players instead of launching random shots. Sometimes a player would have 3 or more dodgeballs targetted at their location , while sometimes you went about 20 seconds without a single ball coming your way. Trying to sabotage your opponents was also harder than it seemed , as trying to do so unsuccessfully lead to being eliminated themselves. Overall it was a much more difficult event than it seemed in theory to play. Chapter 256: Conclusion Rounds after rounds of dodging ensued , SMG and his team won them all , sometimes it would be a breeze and sometimes it would be a pinch. However little by little the team''s performance improved in the event , as strategies were starting to be made , and enemy''s were sabotaged. SMG himself started to do better , he was nimble on his feet and started to get into the rhythm of dodging , although the use of palms and feet to defend was allowed , SMG did not want to use the privilage. Some games he would be eliminated because he did not dodge fast enough , while in some a ball would just barely nick a body part and he would be eliminated. However game after game , the improvement was visible , after proper training and technique that made use of hands and feet , SMG would perform much better . This was just the kind of growth Rudra wanted in his guild members from the VR Olympics , SMG would come out of the event as a complete dodging beast , no sword would be able to catch his movement. SMG and his seeded squad finally qualified as National representatives! -------- ( Meanwhile , in the capture the flag event ) Karna had gone for the big central flag first. His strategy was to secure the five big points first , and then just broaden the lead right from the get-go. The team was divided into assault and defense. Patch and Jin Mori and Cola were Defense , guarding the base and the flag. While , everyone except Jhonny English and Medivh was Assault squad. Jhonny and Medivh , were the special force unit , that was tasked to join either attack or defense as required , while their main job was that of a scout. The centre was a bloodbath , However , Karna and the group was able to secure the central flag for the first exchange. While the team retreated , the swarms of attackers were held back by the sepcial units , Jhonny and Medivh. Medivh casted a earth spell , and made a mud wall regularly in the path of retreat , while Jhonny sprinkled Spikes laced with poison on the ground The duo made the life of the pursuers a lot harder , ane gave enough time for the assault squad to safely retreat to base and draw battle formation. Now the ten man squad at its full glory were ready to defend the flag untill respawn. Although many parties were present , none of them recklessly engaged , as sooner or later the flag would respawn , however the death of members could never be compensated. Hence most leaders chose to retreat , and wait to fight it out again in the central area. However there were always some brainless idiots , who would choose to fight nonetheless. These idiots were slaughtered by Karna''s team. The white flag dissapeared , and +5 points was displayed at their base''s display board. They were top of the leaderboard , with these 5 points secured. Karna knew that fighting for the white flag again at this specific moment was stupidity , all ten members of his team were back near the base , whereas many squads were already at the central area where the flag had spawned. Hence he chose to instead raid the nearest flag base of yellow team. In a simmilar attack formation , the five assaulters followed in a short distance by Jhonny and Medivh , swarmed the 3 men guarding yellow base. The three were no match for Karna and other top 10 players , as they were cut through like knife in butter. Yellow teams flag was then taken , and given to Jhonny and Medivh , to take back to base. The assault squad was planning to go onto purple squads base and steal their flag too before retreating. Jhonny took the flag , and he and Medivh retreated , when Medivh noticed that they had pursuers on his tail. Using communication magic , the defenders at the base were informed of this development. This is where Patch Mori showed his class as a Zombiemancer. Summoning over 50 zombies , a entire unit stood guard in protecting the base. When the enemy closed in , they were terrified to see 50 zombies guarding the area. Clad in armour , and standing in formation ,one could tell that they were not mindless monsters at all. Patch Mori showed precise control as the zombies surrounded and killed the pursuers very methodically. Jhonny placed the flag in the base area and after a while a +1 mark showed in the base tally. Overall the capture the flag event was running smoothly , as Karna also came back with purple team flag. The team then stuck to raiding these two bases time and time again , till after their third attack all the members of the base died. Unexpectedly upon destroying a base , they found out that +2 points were awarded. They took back the white flag two more times and solidified their overall lead at 25 points above number two position with only 10 minutes remaining. With all 10 members alive , it was a decent performance overall. However it was far from perfect. A lot of mistakes were made and the overall battle plan was not 100% efficient. Karna had a lot of learning to do. Unsurprisingly at the end with a lead of 22 points the team took the number one spot and hence earned their right to become japanese representatives. With this the selections came to an end. All the events representatives for japan had been completed , and from the next day onwards only training would ensue. The final list of participants was published , and a training schedule where one would train atleast 3 hours a day inside the training camp was mandatorily imposed for the entire month of November. Rudra was looking forward to this period , the government''s support towards development of each player would be at the highest in this month. Good skills good sparring partners , good armour , anything and everything would be given , as long as he needed it. Rudra had to only place a demand and the country would do it''s best to procure it for him. Such was the importance of the gold medal for the nation . A total of 23 Elites were selected in a total of 29 events , it was a number that made Rudra proud , his guild had a high representatives number , with the world watching , it was sure to leave a impression in the minds of all players. As a result of the announcement of the VR Olympics , the prices of commodities such as potions and blacksmithing items like armour and swords had skyrocketed. Epic and above rated items were selling at the prices of real world islands , as countries were paying insane amounts of money to procure anything that could be helpful to the players. Some items were forced off from low level players , while some items were stolen from others , but as long as it helped the players , the country would sully their hands and make sure that they got it for the players. Mithun Ambani spent a fortune on acquiring good equipment for his people. He spend billions of dollars this time around , and only chose from the best of the best . However contrary to his situation , The Elites lifestyle guild was bathing in money. The potion selling buisness had seen them selling a single advanced mana potion for 500 coins and still the stock would sell out everyday. The guild was making more money than it ever imagined as profit margins for products stopped making sense after a while. 500% margin 600% margin , yet they would sell out the moment they were put for sale. Being a 30% owner of the guild , Ethan Grey was actually making money everyday , contrary to Mithun loosing everyday , even though Ethan was literally spending more money on the Elites. The ten billion dollar equipment the VR pods had just been delivered to the upside and as Rudra was still inside the game , one unit was carefully installed in his room and one in his office , as they awaited further instructions. It seemed like the gears were turning at a faster speed than ever , real world crime saw a spike as the knowledge that some friend possesed a rare item worth big money , motivated people to commit crime to extort money. The governments of various countries were aware of this development , however with the cuber corporation being in-charge of the future VR Olympics event , no country wanted to take a action just one month prior to the event. The hype within the general public was insane about the VR Olympics , the growing popularity of Omega saw many viewers following Omega news daily. With the Olympics drawing closer it was a world attraction now , as analysis about the various events and various participants was made daily. Although not every country made their list of participants public , as that would be a very dumb move. To let the world know your opposition ahead of time and let them prepare for it, some big names did personally reveal their participation in certain events. Some just wanted the attention , while some were bluffing about their involvement , either way the media tried to interview all potential participants . Only one month remained till the start of VR Olympics , all teams were made , and training had started for them all. After this single month , at the VR Olympics the fate of each country would be at the hands of a certain few players. /// First of all congratulations to us for getting 8th in golden tickets last month and hence getting the honor. I would like to announce a little change to the writing structure of my chapters , I have decided to change my 1000 words chapters into 1400-1600 word chapters this month forward. //// Chapter 257: The grind Rudra set a very tight schedule for himself for the next 1 month. Ethan Grey had built a mega University inside the upside , the Elite academy , within 3 weeks time. He had spent a fortune to speed up the project and the facility was 90% functional. The academy had state of the art training grounds that could possibly be used to train MI6 Agents. When Rudra was reported about the matter , he was overjoyed as he told Ethan that he was right on time with the project completion. Rudra had made a very tight training regime , that Everyone participating in the VR Olympics had to mandatorily follow. While , to other Elites it was optional , should they choose to join the training they could. The regime would be a harder version of what Rudra was planning to give to academy students that would enroll after the VR Olympics. The training time for VR Olympics for japan was between 4-7 pm daily. Hence Rudra first assigned the 4-9 slot for VR training. Even after the mandatory 3 hour training was over. Rudra wanted to personally oversee the training of the other members. Check their growth and guide them at what areas they could improve on. The members who were participating in the VR Olympics were all the core strength of the guild. It would not be an exaggeration to say that if the guild was a house, they were the pillars on whom the guild was built . The sturdier these pillars were , the taller the building would rise. Rudra''s regime started 7 am in the morning. The first session was physical training. Everyone was to gather at the Elite tower at 7 am sharp every morning and from there the 4 km jogging would start towards the university. The purpose of the jog was to warm the body up before the coming excercise as well as develop cardiovascular strength. During the jog , Rudra asked them to run behind him in files of three and follow his lead in stretching exercises while jogging. Rudra expected a 20 minute jog to reach the university , After a small water break the real hellish training would start. Everything ranging from weight training to conditioning to isometric excercises would be compulsary for all members , with personal coaches supervising every member. This would last for 1 hour untill 8 : 25 am , following which the members would alternatively do reflex training / weapons training. Sword weilders would be made to train with swords. Heavy sword wielders would be made to learn heavy sword fighting , archers would be made to do bow training , etc. A professional coach would train the members about the basics and foundation of each of the weapons they chose to weild , but would make sure not to change the overall style they fought with in game. The purpose of the training was just to broaden the horizons about the actual use of the weapon.This training session would last 1 and a half hour till 11 am. While the last session of the day would be martial arts training. Everyone irrespective of the class would be made to train in very basic hand to hand martial arts and internal energy flow techniques . Rudra did not expect Anyone to become martial arts prodigies , however he knew for a fact that the martial arts would help the players in more than one difficult situation. This session would last 1 hour till 12. Then a short lunch break session at the University would be made daily where diet by expert nutritionist would be served tailor made for each member. The food would be rich in protein and other essential vitamins and minerals , that would ensure that the trainings effects on the body would be maximum. This would last uptill 12 : 30 exact. Rudra was happy with this arrangement , at 12:30 the team would then enter the virtual world and go together on dungeon runs and levelling sprees. Rudra would only go for dungeons that he was sure to clear under 3 hours as the 4 pm training was of paramount importance. In the next month Rudra wanted each player to increase their strength as much as possible , he would personally oversee their training and help them with the stat distribution after each level up , depending on what event they were participating in and what skill they lacked , Rudra wanted to help them accordingly. Rudra''s goal was to level up once every 3 days hence gain a total of 10 levels before the Olympics start. While for those that would take the tier promotion test , Rudra reserved one free day in his month long calender , for the tier promotion exam. Rudra did not want a single Elite to go into the Olympics as a tier 1 player , and although he was the only tier 2 player in the guild as of now , he would change that in the coming month. Rudra sat down and wrote atleast 20 quests that he remembered that would give decent equipment as reward , and posted it on the task board. For the first time since the guilds establishment the guild task board was full of missions. While the government would do their best to support every player''s equipment needs , Rudra liked to depend on himself first. He knew that a very brutal month was ahead of the Elites the next four weeks would be hell for them , however he had a strong belief that only through this could the guild truly stand strong at the world stage. Rudra in a extremely sly move then decided to call a guild meeting the very day inside the guild hall of the Elites tower in the real world. The guild meetings were only held at important occasions hence it was always a full attendance event. Rudra took the stage , and looked across at the cheery room , then Rudra gave the audience a very kind smile , those who did not know Rudra too well thought that the guild leaders heart was warm seeing all the guild members and that he was happy. However Fatty Kalash and Karna had chills down their spine .... They knew that this was the smile Rudra gave to his enemies on the battlefield when something disastrous was about to happen to them. They had a bad premonition about today''s meeting , they gulped their saliva and prayed that their intuition was wrong. Rudra said " Guild members , today I have a gift for all of you ". Cheers broke out in the entire room. It was gifting season! Rudra continued " I know most of you are relegious followers of the news about Omega , hence it is not a secret to you guys. Cuber corporation released the VR pods , with a sync rate of 99.99% , a full 4.99% better than the helmets we use". PoisonToadGamakichi said " Yes , the pods can also help you play Omega for much longer , it is said that with the nutritional bottles filled to the brim , it can give you one week of full dive without the need to logout , unfortunately it got sold out the minute it was launched , and no news have been released about new stock ". Murmurs began to spread in the room , most had heard about the miraculous full dive pods , however sadly they had been sold out. Rudra said " Well , ofcourse they would be sould out , out of the 10,000 units , I bought 9999 of them sooo yeah ". Silence ..... Utter silence held the room , followed by a deafening cheer! Rudra laughed , he said " Yes my gift to you all is the VR pods , every single Elite gets one ! ". The cheering went on and on Things like '' You are the best guild leader ever !!! '' '' Thankyou guild master ! ''. '' We love you guild master ! '' '' Joining the Elites was the best decision of my life '' '' I will follow him to death ! ''. Could be heard spoken from the crowd. Karna raised an eyebrow .... This was indeed good news perhaps his intuition was wrong , maybe Rudra did only have joy to share today. He was very pumped about the VR pods , he knew he would improve a lot with it. SMG was over the moon , the 5% extra sync rate would change heaven and earth for the guy in the Dodgeball event , the dodging was already soo close , if his reflexes improved even a little more it would be a huge help. Fatty Kalash however remained unconvinced , he knew Rudra for the longest time , and till he knew his friend , this was his typical honey trap. He remained skeptical of Rudra''s true intentions. And his intuition was indeed correct , as Rudra was a devil waiting to bare his fangs . Chapter 258: The grind Rudra said " well , this is what I love about the guild , the energy , the passion , the drive to improove , the guild supports that ambitions for each member. And each members supports the ambition of the guild ". Nods and shouts of approval could be heard from throughout the crowd. They agreed with Rudra''s words. Fattys bad feeling intensified , this was turning out to be worse than he expected , Rudra was in Shakuni mode right now. He was manipulating the crowd. Rudra continued " The biggest stage of them all awaits us all guys .... It''s no secret at this point you all , many guild members have made it to the world stage ! The VR Olympics awaits ". Cheers were heard throughout the crowd. As glances were being slided towards all selected members who felt all warm in their stomachs from the attention. Some rubbed their noses ,as boys usually do when they are embarrassed while some tried to set their hair . Rudra continued " To those who have the opportunity to represent the guild and Japan at the world stage , I want to ask you , do you want to win? .... Silly me , ofcourse every Elite wants to win, that''s a stupid question to ask. However the next question is serious. Do you think your current strength is enough ...? " . Silence spread through the crowd , as everyone contemplated that question , then a slow " No " was heard. Rudra smiled and said " Good , step one is clear , nobody here is delusional. Soo the question is , do the Elites have the spirit to improove ? ". '' SIR YES SIR! '' A Shout could be heard from the crowd. Rudra said " Good good , that''s what I expect from my members , well to be honest , even me myself am not strong enough to win in all the events I''m taking part in. However I will be spending the next 1 month training like a madman , and be the best I can be before the event ". Low murmurs could be heard everywhere , the members were all low-key bragging outside that their guild master was the undisputed number one player in Japan , and here he was unsure about his own medal chances. Everyone had seen him fight , and nobody had doubts that the guild master was a freak amongst the freak guild True Elites. If he said he needed training , then they all needed it more than him. Rudra said " I have heard that training collectively will be more helpful than training solo. Hence I would like to ask the Olympics participants , will you train with me? ". The VR Olympics participants replied in a heartbeat " Yes ! ". All except Fatty Kalash , who was sweating buckets by now. He knew what training with Rudra meant. When they were in high school , Rudra was mostly a laid back person who was least interested in studies , however once a guy in eight grade provoked Rudra that his science project was dumb. That time Rudra and fatty Kalash were science partners and under Rudra''s madness they spent 20 hours daily for the next seven days on making a fireprotection drone. They won the gold medal in science fair that year. It was the event that brought the duo as best friends. However , Rudra''s madness was still embeded in fattys mind , those continuous hours of work still have him nightmares. He had never studied soo much even for his university exams, as much as Rudra had forced him to work in those days. And now Rudra was giving him that same maniacal vibe. The one where he would mostly make everyone present train like hell , and the innocent guild members would not even notice that they had been dragged into the hellish regime untill it was too late. Rudra continued " Good , good , training starts tommorow morning sharp at 7 am , we assemble below the guild tower , come in jogging shorts and running shoes and overall workout gear, the training is compulsory for all Olympics participants". The guild members were in high spirits , the VR members solemnly swore to be sharp on time tommorow. Rudra then continued " For those members who did not make it to the Olympics , I think you should realize by now that you need to develop more than those who did qualify. This Statement is not to cause a divide or to say that some of us are better than other. No ! , All of us are equals in the guild. But it is undeniable fact that some of us got selected but some of us did not. For you all I think the training is a good regime to shorten the gap .... Don''t you think so? ". Everyone had fire in their eyes now , compared to normal players , yes they were better. But when everyone in the guild was too talented , one needed to put extra effort to stand out. Someone said " I will join the training guild master ". Then a second one said it Then a third and soon everyone was roaring to join the training. Rudra smiled evily , he had made everyone here voluntarily accept the training , now was the time to strike the hammer while the iron was hot. Rudra said " The training will be very harsh , Its not for the weak of will ". This just insulted the Elites members , who burned with even more passion..... Who does guild leader think they were? They had wills as strong as mount Tai. Their resolves unshakable. Fatty Kalash''s eye twitched , only he understood what awaited the mass , the training would most likely be more brutal than a man could handle , and these innocent guild members were fooled into going into it with passion. He meekly asked Rudra " Can , I not do it? ". Rudra looked at fatty , and gave him a evil smile " You are taking part in the VR Olympics no? , It''s compulsory for you ". Rudra then gave him a cold glare. Goosebumps! Fatty was scared. His friend was too terrifying at times. Seems like his fate was sealed. Of everyone present , the most determined person was Naomi. She had the most drive to improove and she made a resolve that she would make most of the training camp , to improve , and to finally become someone capable of becoming a elder in the guild. Maybe then Rudra would finally notice her .... Her passion burned the brightest , as she vowed to not quit training midway no matter how tough the training would get. The overall atmosphere was such , Rudra had expertly manipulated the crowd , most won''t be feeling this way by tommorow night, however by then it would be too late , nobody could afford to be quitters , through sheer peer pressure they would be forced to endure the hell daily. The trap had been set up expertly and there was no escaping now. The real fun would begin 7 am tommorow. Amongst all the clamour , Karna finally asked Rudra after walking upto him that what exactly was the training regime going to be. And why is training in real life a part of it? Rudra looked at Karna and said " Patience buddy , you will find out tommorow morning no? I have a surprise for you guys , I''m sure you will all enjoy ". Karna raised an eyebrow ,but eventually nodded. The next morning was hardly a few hours away , he would find out soon enough anyway. Giving a light bump on Rudra''s shoulders Karna took his leave. He wanted to sleep early to make sure he had enough energy tommorow. Rudra commended this action of his , as yes , he would need every single ounce of that energy tommorow. Chapter 259: Training At 7 am sharp the next morning , about 1500 people had gathered under the Elite tower. It was a sight to behold , 1500 people in their jogging clothes shivering in the morning cold. Rudra was also sharp on time at 7 am , as he wore black sports jacket and matching tracks with neon orange strap. As he spoke , the air coming out of his mouth turned into vapour because of the moisture. He said " Good to see you all , we will now jog in files of 10 people , I wil lead. Follow my lead to the training grounds , make way if any car needs to pass , though I doubt it will be the case soo early in upside". The crowd quickly arranged themselves into files of 10 , 150 neat files were made. Rudra started a light jog and said " The jog is very light , I control the pace , I want noone to fall out of the file ,or quit midway .... Is that clear? ". A loud '' Yes sir! ''. Was heard from the crowd. Rudra slowly but surely increased the pace. 70% of the crowd was out of breath after the 5 minute jog , their breathing now ragged as they were pretty much completely drained of stamina. This was pathetic considering they were literally one of the strongest players in Hazelgroove kingdom , ever since the start of the digital age after about early 2000''s men stopped doing physical activity like before. Machines and robots made lives simpler and hence the overall fitness of humans saw a significant degrade. Soo much soo that as of 2080 , compulsory physical education was introduced in curriculum all across the world , were physical training had to be mandated on students. Even so , it was undeniable that this generation was very unfit compared to the ancestors who plowed the fields and used hand held tools to do manual labour. The ones who were unaffected were SMG and his 300 assasin colleagues , they were trained in physical activities since A very young age , and hence had excellent cardiovascular strength. For them this training was a walk in the park , Karna was also fearing relatively well , as he was someone who regularly hit the gym. However even he was more of a weight training guy than a cardio guy hence his breathing rhythm had became unsteady . Yume , Skyla , Bo and Jhonny were also fearing well , they were also trained mercenaries and physical conditioning of their bodies was excellent. What shocked Rudra however was Neatwit, Neatwit was half dead at this point , making grunting noises as he ran. Looking at his lean body Rudra assumed he would be fit , however that was not the case at all. However the one who fared the worst was Fatty Kalash , he could not walk steady in a file any longer as he bumped into everyone , he had no motor coordination , and no balance anymore , he was wayy past his limit , any moment now he would just curl up his fat body into a ball and start rolling instead of running. Rudra had no sympathy for his fat friend though , his psychology had changed ever since his mother died to disease in his past life. He now knew that body was man''s greatest asset and it should be worshipped. He hoped to get fatty kalash into shape in this next month , the fatty did not take care of his body , and later in life his overweight would cause him severe health problems , hence it was better that Rudra showed no mercy now , for him to have a better future later. Rudra dropped in the first file for a moment , leaving the lead , as he wrapped his arm around Fatty Kalash , he gave his friend a momentary balance and support. Through his ragged breathing , Fatty said " I.....c.caant ". Rudra patted him on the back and said " Drop out , and your training will be 5 times harder. I''d personally see you to hell , only 5 more minutes to jog , if you complete it , you get a 10 minute rest , If you drop out now , you suffer for the next one month ". Saying soo Rudra went back to his lead position. Fatty cursed in his mind all sorts of insults , even some Extremely creative ones came in his mind , as he thought about Rudra''s words. Finally snapping he said " F*** you , you demon , youre no friend of mine ". Rudra tilted his head back and gave fatty a very cold glance , his eyes full of fury. Fatty gulped a bit of saliva , his fatigue had suddenly dissapeared , Rudra''s gaze gave him chills. His body pumped out adrenaline like crazy as all sorts of enzymes were released to make fatty forget about his pain and keep running. His body had activated the fight or flight response to extreme situations , when Rudra gave fatty the cold gaze. Fatty knew , that he better complete the course or he will really wish he was dead compared to the training Rudra would put him through. Gritting his teeth and steeling his resolve , he continued to run regardless. He felt his heart beating out of his chest, like it would explode. He kept cursing Rudra that if he died then it would be on him. However within that cursing process , somehow he did reach the training ground . As soon as Rudra stopped , close to 800 people dropped dead on the ground. While many had their hands on their knees , vommiting and coughing. Gasping for air. Only 1200 people made it to the training ground as a part of the group , many were slowly walking towards the training ground , these were the ones that dropped out because they could not run anymore. Rudra expected that the training would be hard on the guild members , but he never expected that the majority could not even handle simple running. This was too terrifying. The guild desperately needed to improve on their fitness. Rudra had not even did the stretching exercises today in consideration that it was the first day. Looking at the situation he gave them all a 10 minute water beak. It seemed to Rudra that the training camp would proove to be much more difficult than expected for the guild members. After everyone had settled down Rudra spoke " Ethan Grey has built this university ... It is called the Elite academy , it is where after the VR Olympics , we will run 6 month courses for high school and college graduates to make a career in eSports. It is made with state of the art technology , and the graduates of each batch , would be guaranteed spots inside the main guild. With a good salary. This academy will be the majority of how we will recruit new members in the future , and the training regime we do today is a tougher version of what the students will be expected to do. Naturally I want that in this academy the teachers will be from you all , the existing elite members , and I know that you all will not want to shame yourself in training against juniors , hence please give your best in these coming time to become a worthy example and teacher for the juniors ". Rudra''s words lit a fire under the crowd , they were in awe of the Elite academy , they did not want the juniors to think lowly of them , they wanted to be a figure juniors would look upto. The spirits of the crowd returned to their body as it seemed as if they were ready for the next round of training. Rudra gave them a dose of motivation , and just hoped that it would proove to be enough to go through the day. He said " Alright , also again a big thanks to Ethan Grey , he has flown in world class gym trainers here and physiotherepists here , who will be individually monitoring each of your next training". About 2000 men stood waiting in the massive academy grounds who one by one walked upto individual members. This was the perk of having a trillionare as your backer , the backend of running operations like these became soo easy . Rudra only had to ask for things and they would happen. How will it happen? How much will it cost ? Whom to hire ? How to fly them in? All that Boring stuff was handled by the Grey international. Rudra wanted to take full advantage of this , as the next phase of training started. Chapter 260: Training like hell The second phase of training was weight and conditioning training. The personal trainers assessed each individual and their playing styles and chosen classes and made them work on the corresponding body part. If one was a thief and hence a agility based player , then they would be given lower body and flexibility conditioning excercises for agility and explosive power. The guild members would be given specific excercises based on their body type. If someone''s hamstring was tight , then they would be pushed to stretch the hamstring under the supervision of the physiotherepists and the trainer. Then given excercises like lunges and squats to do . The weak muscles would be given strength first to give overall balance to the untrained body. Just like gym , this training will leave the body in severe pain and cramp for the first few days , soo much soo that even walking would be difficult. One would generally do it slowly , and take their time to build strength , but that approach would take a lot of time , about 3-6 months , to complete it in one month , one needed to go hard , and bear with the strain on the body. Rudra did plan to supplement it with excellent nutritional fluids and food and give a complementary spa and massage service at night to all tired players to recuperate , but he would not announce it right now. Rudra would do everything that was needed to be done from his side , but he would ask 100% from the members side too. The strength training was not as hard as running for the members. As on the first day with high spirits they did tackle the excercises they were given. Each member had a personal trainer , hence there would be no mistakes done in technique execution and counting of sets. A member has to complete the sets as the trainer would be counting , they could not count skip even if they wanted to . The physical training was followed by professional training. The basics of every weapon were taught by professionals and the guild members were made to practice these basics. The Archer classes in the game who would shoot a rabbit from 200 meters away , could not even hit the whole circular practice target from 20 meters away. Everything was wrong , from the posture , to the aiming to the power behind the string. While the swordsmen without their flashy skills lacked substance in training. Their sharp swords could not even cut through a bamboo plant clean as the technique was soo poor. The members were taught from the very basics of how to hold a sword to how to swing it. The trainers trained the members in the very basics about how to draw a sword out correctly. However due to time constraints they had to keep it simple till the members got a basic feel for it atleast . The last training was the martial arts training , and the development of internal energy. The Chinese in the 15 th century developed a very terrifying technique to draw out the innate force of human body to its maximum. That technique used a force called internal force to more than quadruple the power behind one''s attacks. It was rumored that the most powerful and profound internal force masters could land a hit as powerful as 20 times the normal force. The concept behind internal force was that , during fight or flight situations , the human body showed extreme power far beyond what they could usually. If it was purely adrenaline , then it was not possible , but the reason must be a mixture of various enzymes and the actual untapped potential of the muscles. The internal force was a way to activate those enzymes without a fight or flight response , to strengthen the muscles and draw that hidden power. It was a very profound technique that daoist spent their lives trying to achieve. It was believed that there were 5 levels in this journey of internal masters. The first was layman , someone who just knew how to feel internal energy and manipulate it to increase strength by a factor of two. The second was a journeyman , someone who could manipulate it by a factor of four. The third was a expert , someone who could manipulate it times eight. Fourth was a master , someone who could manipulate it with a factor of eight. And the last was a grandmaster , someone who could manipulate it with a factor of sixteen or more. Uptill now the peak of this technique was achieved by a daoist in the 18th century , who had said to achieved a factor of 20 , which was a unprecedented level till date. The world currently had 3 known masters , and while some rumors about internal energy grandmasters existed , none were confirmed. One such internal energy master was Aron Rothschild , the late father of Edge. Who was a absolute prodigy. Edge himself has trained in internal force , and was a layman at age 16 , after which no public news about his advancements were released. Rudra assumed him to be a internal energy journeyman by now. Yume was a expert in internal energy manipulation , as a monk , he had trained in the force for over 2 decades and had great advancements in the field. Yume was actually even better than the instructors teaching here , and hence personally gave pointers to Rudra , Karna and Neatwit. Who were directly learning under the man. Rudra did not expect to become a layman by the end of the month , however he knew that he wanted to become one in the long run. If one was incredibly talented , he could ideally breakthrough to layman stage after a month of training , however Rudra never put himself in the slot of geniuses , he started the training with 0 expectations and full dilligence. The various Buddhist mudras and the ancient battle styles broadened his horizons. The modern man no longer used swords and shields and bows and javelins to fight , every worthwhile technique was made in the 15th to 18 th century. And every one of them was a priceless treasure to have. At the end of the training , the guild members were soo dead tired that they no longer had the energy to even move. They were glad that it was lunch time as without that they would have probably died of hunger. The food tasted heavenly as they were too hungry , they did not care that everyone had gotten different meals depending on what the nutritionists felt was right for them. They were just glad that they had food , period. Rudra chatted casually with the members who were stuffing food in their faces, as he offered consolation that yes all physical excercises were done for the day . He also told them about the spa and massage and sauna and jacuzzi services that would be available for all participants after training for the day ends . The gesutre was much welcomed with a thunderous applause , as everyone wanted to feel the heavely releif of the massage and hot water after this hell of a training. However training for the day was not completely over yet as They log into Omega soon, the levelling spree awaits them. Chapter 261: Time flies After the Lunch ,Rudra took the crew out for levelling , surprisingly everyone liked this event and were extremely enthusiastic about it. Rudra divided the levelling grounds between groups of 10 people and gave them the target to clear that area of all monsters by 4 pm. For those who were not participating in the VR Olympics training , they had untill 6 pm for levelling , after which their training day would officially end. Rudra and Karna banded together in a two man duo to go for leveling , while Neatwit went in solo. The rest banded in 10 man groups as Rudra instructed and went in their own assigned slots. Levelling together , Rudra barely increased his exp by 20% , however Karna had levelled up. He finally reached level 60 and the threshold for challenging the tier promotion quest. Rudra grinned at his friend , after him he was the backbone of the guild , and his strength increase was paramount. Rudra took Karna out for levelling because he wanted to understand the mindset that Karna had currently , wether he was healthy and okay mentally or not. He understood the will and determination behind Karna as they went on a monster kill spree , and felt Karna '' s passion to proove himself in the VR Olympics . Rudra was relieved , seems like his decision to let Karna lead a group match that did not include him paid off. The capture the flag event was one of the hardest events in the VR Olympics , and Karna was challenging it head on. After levelling for a while , those who were in the national team got a summon to the training ground sharp at 4 pm , and they accepted to get teleported . Inside the training arena , now only the best of the best players were left. The moment Rudra entered that place , he went from guild leader mode to arrogant number one player mode. Giving a cold and unapproachable vibe as he went on with his personal training. Rudra needed no guidance , his plan was simple , learn new skills and challenge the beat the clock challenge tower again and again , to asses his fighting style. Occasionally he would do PVP , where the goal was not to win but to make mistakes and learn , however never did he go all out. Never did he show half his cards. Even so , never did he loose a PvP matchup. Rudra requested for good sword skills , and was immediately offered a array of the best sword skills the government could procure. He chose the skills [ illusion sword ] : Gives the opponent the illusion of a sword strike laced with killing intent. It is a feint , that can help a fighter go right through a enemy''s guard with a real attack. [ Supression art ] : A five combo move , that is aimed to basically disarm a opponent of his base weapon. The first three strikes throws them offbalance , the fourth makes the defender loose the grip on their weapon and the fifth disarms the opponent. [ Three point stab ] : A deadly three point sword skill that gives three armour piercing stabs to opponent in a very short duration , it is a good technique to deal with tanks as the three strikes hit the lungs heart and neck , any one part if left exposed would cause damage. [ Twin blade hurricane ] : A dual wielder skill , can be used to attack or defend , a very fast and intricate movement of two swords that can destroy a opponents defense , or help create a 360 degree strong defense of the attacker. Restriction : dual wielding only [ Twin blade cross Slash ] : A dual wielder skill , can deal a devastating critical strike to the torso of the opponent. The strike deals two deep blows , it can be defended against with a shield , however without a proper defense this move can finish off a opponent. These were the skills that the government procured for Rudra. Each one of them was versatile that could be used in a variety of situations. And each gave Rudra a wide variety of moves at his disposal in a tricky battle. Apart from these skills , Ethan Grey paid top dollar to procure two skills that Rudra really wanted . Rudra knew these skills from his past life , one was a rare skill that he played with all his past life. The one that had gotten him through countless tough situations. His ace in the whole [ Claymore ] : A devastating sword skill made to reverse the flow of a loosing battle. Launch a flurry of sword moves with 200% normal power for a short while. Cooldown time : 3 minutes And the second one was a skill used by one of the top players in his past life. [ Overhead Slash ] : A three combo move that ends with a overheard Slash made to split one''s skull , gauranteed to cause critical damage if the hit connects. It is a skill made to finish a opponent. Effects : high chance to cause stun . Although there were a plathora of sword skills available in Omega , most were reserved for the swordsman class. Other classes could not get skills as good as the actual swordsman class . Rudra wanted one more sword skill badly , which was flaming sword skill , however both Ethan and the government could not procure that skill. He had issued a guild notice for it , however the chances of someone procuring it were slim. However compared to before Rudra had a lot of new skills at his disposal , and if he played his cards right then this was a very versatile skill set that was perfect for a player like him . Now all he had to do was to thoroughly ingrain these skills into his fighting style and learn how to bring out the best of them . Hence the beat the clock monster tower became his practice ground. He made a lot of mistakes , got killed often , however his goal was to understand every move and their weaknesses , his mind worked in a way that he first thought about how to beat his opponent , then thought from the mindset of the opponent and think about how to beat that very technique. Then he switched back to his own POV and think about how to outthink the enemy in his own game. He was two steps ahead of every enemy , in every fight. He was in control of every move , he was manipulating his opponents every action without them knowing it. He was the mastermind. He was Shakuni! Chapter 262: After a month The first day of training was hard , the second day was even harder. The muscle fatigue had finally reached the members and they felt soreness all over their body. Many groaned and complained about why did they have to do things like physical training for a game like Omega , that it made no sense. However when you see that others even though complaining are doing the same thing , you start doing it under sheer peer pressure. The Elites were competitive by nature , hence when they saw that 5 of their colleagues decided to fight through the pain and go for training day 2 , they did not have the mental capacity to drop the training and stay home. To them quitting was akin to admitting that they were inferior , if the others could do it , then soo could they! Hence 5 motivated 50 and 50 motivated 500 who brought everyone to attend training day 2. Day 3 was the hardest , where the limits of one''s mental and physical strength was tested. However 90% wethered day 3 , And it only got smoother from there. Day 4 turned to day 7 in a blink of an eye , and the once hellish training started to feel routine now. By day 8 , everyone started making it to through the first 20 minute jog properly , and Rudra started introducing the light stretches in the jog. By day 15 , they now ran in disciplined files , like military , a group of passerby would mistake them for a army group running with discipline , they were that much in sync. While their basic grasps over every weapon and fundamental of hand to hand combat saw massive improvement. The strength and conditioning training gave passive benefits to the members as they supplemented their strength to do every other training. The overall physical condition of everyone started to improove. Rudra had everyone drink high grade nutritional foods and drinks , and they showed their magic ,as the innate constitution of players started to improove. Fatty Kalash lost 5 killos in weight over the last 15 days , and was now able to handle the jogging with ease , even though he still continually cursed at Rudra. Inside the VR world , the levelling had gotten intense as everyone earned 2-3 levels in the last few days. Karna , Neatwit , Medivh , Jhonny , and every other Olympics participant had undertaken the tier promotion exam within the week and were now tier 2. The overall strength of the guild was rapidly improoving. Neatwit became a beast after reaching tier 2 , even outperforming Rudra''s initial selection record of reaching level 51. By reaching 52. It was a monstrous feat considering the stats disparity between the two. Rudra realized this fact too , Neatwit was a damn natural when it came to farming mobs. It was like he was made for this. Rudra spent one hour daily with his National battleground team , working on teamwork and tactics and it was not farfetched to say that they were a much more cohesive and stronger unit. The same went for Karna and his team in capture the flag. Many different battle styles were explored and the team started to finally gel up and get used to each other''s playing styles. At day 22 , training started becoming fun for the members , they finally started feeling more energetic and healthy , while looking at themselves in the mirror they could see the difference. They were hooked now , and Rudra need not motivate them any longer for this. The new set of armours and kits rolled in today , as the government got a level 60 dark gold warriors set for everyone. The government also gave a wide variety of weapons to choose from , all dark gold grade and a few epic ones. Rudra was not interested in weapons , and he was not satisfied with the level 60 sets. It was then that Ethan Grey started pulling strings , and got Rudra a level 75 dark gold knights full body armour set of 7 pieces. It rumored to cost him 25 billion dollars! But he spent it in a jiffy for Rudra. Rudra was moved by this , he vowed to show its full glory in the coming VR Olympics. At day 29 , the last day of training , the group was a beast unit now , Karna was always jacked , but now he looked completely shredded and ripped. His muscles that were once tight , now had flexibility and explosive strength. The lean members had gained muscle , while the fat ones had lost weight. Overall each member looked healthy now , and although they did not know about it yet , their reflexes had improved by miles. The results of this training would be shown in battle , training never goes to waste , and someday these beasts would show the effects of this training camp. The training camp was such a huge success , that Rudra thought about making it a yearly affair. Rudra was changed too , surprisingly he had became a layman in internal force , he could feel the force now ... His body had improved by leaps and bounds. It happened while he was training with yume , while he was absorbed in trying to block his attacks in a sparring match. Within that constant state of concentration he somehow managed to attain the first step in internal force manipulating and became a layman. Yume was very proud of his instructions , Rudra was a natural. He did in a month what took most a year . Even ingame Rudra''s techniques had seen a massive improvement , now familiar with his new skillset he was a much more deadly player to face. Everyone in the training camp knew this fact. In that one month. In one v one sparring matches , Rudra fought 263 battles with the score of 263-0 Wins to losses. Once luck , twice and your skilled , 263 times , it becomes undeniable reality. Unknowingly , everyone little by little started to accept him as the leader of the group , the representative of Japan and the number one player. Even if he was cold and arrogant , they beleived in him , and rooted for him. He motivated them all to be better .... It was as if they were reminded seeing him , that the ceiling is soo high , why are you happy being soo low? Only one day remained till the VR Olympics arrived , and Rudra planned to use it to get into the mindset of the competition. No more training , no more learning new things , time to consolidate and focus on making the best of where he was. He called for his stat pannel ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer . Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 75 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 800 +400 VIT : 800 +400 INT : 800 +400 STA : 800 +400 PHY : 800 +400 HP : 110,000/110,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (178/200) ---- He was satisfied with his stats and his skills , with these he truly felt prepared for the VR Olympics. He knew the top players from his past life , and he knew how strong they were. Japan was a small country compared to the world stage and he was by no means a world class talent. However he was for sure smart enough to be a world class player. And had the skill to actually pull off a gold medal. He was nervous about what the future held , however for the first time ever , the VR Olympics was not a event that threatened his guild. This was not a do or die event where if he failed then the Elites won''t have a future anymore. He had nothing to loose , hence he was the most dangerous version of himself. With nothing to loose , he only had the desire to gain everything left. Ethan Grey had literally did the best of what he could offer to him , unquestionable 100% support. The only thing Rudra wanted was to make that money loving guy feel that , yes he and his guild was worth every penny he invested. He knew the stakes for Ethan and Japan , and knew that if he could somehow contribute in bringing the nation to top 5 , it would be huge for Ethan Grey. Even though Ethan initially took him hostage and forced him into giving up stock of his guild. His deam. Now that Rudra looks at it , he felt it was worth every penny of stock he exchanged. The rapid expansion of the Elites was only possible because of Ethan Grey , if the guild was not based in the upside , if the security was not soo good , and the facilities offered not world-class. Rudra would have to face useless troubles daily just to run the guild normally. Scums like Nitin Advani and countless others would probably bully him real life to no end. His guild members probably turned into spies or snitches under blackmail . Day to day operations would be a nightmare. For all that Ethan had done , Rudra was truly grateful and wanted to sincerely help him back , And for that to happen , he was ready to pay him back in the VR Olympics. Chapter 263: Naomi Naomi was the one who improved the most over the last month. Dilligently training daily , she made sure to give her 100% effort in every activity she did. Her slender body was more toned now, adding to her alure even more. Her skin glowed and appeared much more healthy than before because of all the nutrition it got. Overall she looked much more beautiful, however her more noticibale transformation was about her in game skills. From level 46 , she went to level 58 in the one month , now being at the average guild level. She had learned many mass heal spells and was a valued member of the ten man party that she was a member of. Her presence helped the team battle against way stronger monsters. The Elites were always reliant on advanced healing potions and the like on the battlefield. Hence never truly experienced the joy of having a capable healer in the party. But Naomi quickly changed that . They understood the importance of a healer who could help the team take greater risks. The thing with healing potions was , u needed time to drink it , and more time for it to show effects . However a healers magic was instant , which allowed a assaulter to just forget about defense and just focus on attacking a monster at the cost of loosing hp without fear of dying. Naomi could insta - cast , spells like lesser heal , party heal , and a stats buff spell , god bless us all ! Her value was sure to increase five fold once she got to the tier two level. Rudra also noticed this change in Naomi. He could see her training dilligently every single day. And improving as a player in game. When reports of her brilliance made way to his ears he was very happy. A capable healer would make a invaluable addition to the squad. Hence one day he gave lots of praise to Naomi. It was around 20th day of training , and Naomi was flushed red with all the compliments , her heart did a backflip as she felt all giddy and happy. She wanted to find Karna and thank him for all the advice , it seemed like being a capable member of the guild was indeed the way to enter Rudra''s eyes. After that little incident her desire to improove flared up even further , she liked being praised and valued by the guild and Rudra , and wanted to keep being that person recieving that praise. Hence she started to work with even more passion than before. The training camp did wonders for her. -------- Rudra spent 30th November peacefully in his room , he asked his family not to disturb him anymore . Taking a pen , paper , pins and strings Rudra went old school as he started to make a mindmap on the wall . He put every information in his mind on the wall , every winner of his event , their every fight , their every opponent , and what all could he face. He was the most worried about the one v one fighting event. Beat the clock was based on his solo performance , and his success or failure would depend on how well he paced himself. National battleground was a team event where the success and failure of the event was dependant on the team and not a single player to a certain extent. However one v one , was where he would stand alone , and in limelight of the world. He put information about the potential enemies, their fights , their hidden cards , the techniques they used to win , and the subsequent fall of those techniques and counters. Not every fight was memorable enough that he had a clear memory about it , however he roughly had a sheet for the top 16 matches . With the clearest sheet with all tactics and moves being there for the top 4 contenders. For Rudra who was aiming for the top , they were going to prove to be the biggest challenge to overcome. Hence he started to mind fight his opponents , based on the information he had , he tried to think about what moves could they execute , and how to counter them. How he could control the pacing of the fights and how he could win hassle free. The entire day , the only thing Rudra did was to mentally prepare himself for each battle. This was his biggest asset , and his advantage over everyone else. He had a plan for every fight. Not just one plan , but a plan A , B , C and even D. He had a plan for most moves they could throw at him , and a general idea about their strengths and weaknesses. He was not the strongest , not the most talented , not the smartest either , however he was the hungriest for the win. He was a wolf , who wanted to stand tall amongst a battlefield of lions. The coming day was the opening ceremony of the VR Olympics , and Rudra was as ready as he could be ! ------- Karna tossed and turned in his bed , the VR Olympics opening ceremony was in 6 hours , and he was having a sleepless night. His mind was in a disarray of thoughts. Somehow his mind had formed a demon , once was killed by edge in the battle of Purplehaze city . He was disgusted by Edge '' s scheming nature , however , somewhere he respected it in a commander , maybe it was because Rudra was a scheming man too. When he heard the news that from UK , edge was the team captain In capture the flag event , his fears had resurfaced. He was on a collision course with the man on the grand stage of VR Olympics and although he was nervous , he was surely coming for redemption. Tommorow in the ceremonial lighting of the torch to signify the spirit of the games , as in the traditional Olympics would be held inside VR Olympics as well , as the team''s for each country would march in the opening ceremony. Rudra was the flag bearer for japan , and Karna was chosen to be right behind as the plack holder. Only 6 hours till the event started! Chapter 264: Opening Ceremony Karna was not the only one having a sleepless night. Across the globe , buisnessmen , politicians and countless players were undergoing the same emotions. Everyone had their own personal interest in mind , and although the common public did not know the complete picture behind the VR Olympics , they knew that it was a very important event. Moreover with the popularity of Omega and the overall masses playing the game on day to day basis , the hype for the first ever world games was incredible. The fact was only heightened because both dark and light faction players would be seen under the same banner for the first time ever since the game''s origin , and probably for sometime as well. Heated debates rose on the forums as speculations , predictions and betting was rampant. After many pleads by the world media , it was decided that a group of announcers would be allowed in the VR games , for the purpose of commentary and pre and post match interviews. For the benefit of the world , the selected personall were asked to share content globally and not for the specific channel they worked for. The chosen mode of communication was English , but the AI would translate it to any chosen language. Meanwhile the camera work was to be done by the AI itself , which would always ensure best angles and high quality stream. Which would be available for free across the globe. For all intents and purposes this was the biggest event in eSports history. A lot of pressure was put on the competitors who now had the national pride resting on their shoulders. ------------ ( Virtual world , Purplehaze city ) The next day Rudra logged into the game , one hour before the opening ceremony summons. As he sat alone in the conference room , he really missed Ruby , he wanted to see her face , he wanted to see her smile , as that was all the goodluck he needed . He reminisced about the chat they had in this very room , and smiled at the bitter - sweet memories. Gradually the sadness in his eyes was replaced with a flaming determination. He remembered his goals , he remembered his path. To complete those goals , the VR Olympics would take him a long way. Knowing that staying in the room alone for too long would only mess his mind up. He decided to join the guild members in the guild hall. The atmosphere in the guild hall was cheery as usual with the jokes and comments flying about the coming Olympics and the expected performance of the members. When Rudra came , he was instantly greeted warmly by his colleagues. Not soo fatty kalash anymore , gave his buddy a wink. While Karna gave him a big smile. Ever since fatty started loosing weight , he became a much more confident version of himself. Than he was in the past. And had recently even got a slightly healthy girlfriend. It was a huge change for the man , who was now brimming with self confidence. The hunger to proove himself in the VR Olympics was strong inside him. He confessed to Rudra that after winning he wanted to say in the interview about how he missed his girlfriend. Rudra supported his buddy 100%. He was happy with his change , but sometimes he missed the old clumsy fatty a little. Karna looked incredibly sharp today , Rudra gauged that the guy was at his 100% , Rudra was happy with this change , amongst everyone that needed growth , Karna was the most crutial one for the guild. Karna was the vice guild master , and even though he was respected and an invaluable member of the guild , he was not yet the complete one man army guild leader that Rudra remembered him to be. Hopefully , the VR Olympics would change that. Rudra chatted for yume and Neatwit for a while as well , the team events did not start untill 7 days later hence , they still had time before their team event. The national battleground was on the very last day of the VR Olympics , and if Rudra''s medal calculations were correct , it would come down to that event to decide the top 5. Rudra did not want to think about that event , soo early , especially when tommorow , day 1 was the beat the clock event , and day 3 was the start of one v one fight , which would be concluded on day 4. The team events could wait till after that. Right now his focus was on his individual events first. But before all that , he was firstly the flag bearer for japan in the vr Olympics , marching at the head of the enterouge , with the Japanese flag held high. The opening ceremony was in just a few hours. Rudra was more interested in confirming the rosters of the other countries. As no country revealed their full rosters as of yet. Information was king in this world , and without information on your opponent, you are already one step behind in the fight. For rudra accurate information was paramount and Japan had underwhelmed him in that area. It was not completely their fault. The security around the sensitive information was too tight to obtain. Even Japanese officials , only had a single stream ongoing of the selections in a isolated secret bunker. The location was such that it was not connected to any wifi or internet or anything hackable. It was a safe house with only a input relay . If they were soo cautious themselves it was no wonder that other countries were too. However , Rudra already knew roughly the participants of each event , now all he wanted was to confirm his speculations by actually seeing the squads. As he was thinking this , a notification suddenly popped in his game screen . It was a gold and black notification , that caught the eye instantly , which read. You have been invited to the VR OLYMPICS opening ceremony , you have 2 mins to accept the invitation , else you will be forcefully teleported when the timer runs 0. Rudra looked around the guild hall , and gave the players that met his eye a nod. Then pressed accept invite. He was teleported into the grand , the only , and what will be considered a legendary gathering spot in the future. The ceremonial hall of the VR Olympics , the Virtual collosseum arena. Chapter 265: [Bonus Chapter]The Flag Bearer Rudra accepted the invite , and was transported into the collosseum. The collosseum was the stage for the opening ceremony , as well as the battleground for the one v one battle. Built like the traditional roman collessuem where the Roman gladiators fought ,it was a beautiful marble structure in its peak architectural glory. It housed a total audience of 200,000 strong , as tickets were sold with in game gold currency. The tickets were sold at 100 gold a ticket , and only about 120,000 were released to general public. While the rest were reserved for various officials of countries. The Arab sheiks , the Korean dictators , the presidents of the republics and the prime ministers of the democracies , all stood along with their respective goverment officials in their designated country booths on this monumental occasion. The atmosphere in the crowd was electric , this was the VR Olympics , and the world leaders were present under one roof here. Alongside president Shinzo Abe , for the first time ever , Ethan Grey was present inside Omega , as he kept feeling his hands , and pinching his skin , feeling shocked at how real it felt. He was impressed at the technology and Marvelled at what Cuber corporation was able to achieve , however his admiration for the game ended there , he was a businessman , and he liked the playground called the stock market. He was not interested in the artificial world. After 2 minutes time , the large drums started to rhythmically beat. Trumpets were blown in between the beats , and a rhythmic sound of feet marching to the beat could be heard. The march had began , one by one countries started to enter the grand structure , and inside the arena. The order was alphabetical , hence countries whose names started with A , came first. About 20 minutes or so later , it was finally Japan''s turn. Rudra raised the flag , his arms bent at 90¡ã , as his posture was perfect and exuded his charm as a commander. Rudra shouted in Japanese " Nihonjin wa hidari kara k¨­shin o hajimemasu " Aka '' Japanese start marching from the left ''. Being a non native , he had worked very hard to deliver this one line with confidence and exuberance. Upon hearing his command , the troop started marching from the left leg , to a rhythmic movement of left right left. Karna being right behind Rudra holding the plack , while the rest marching in files of three , the Japanese national team entered the Grand collessuem under the gazes of the world leaders. The pressure was real , the moment they entered the arena , sharp glares and discerning gazes landed on the members , a invisible pressure weighted on everyone. Rudra felt it too , the pressure that those in leadership could exert , was not to be taken lightly , his palms started to get sweaty ,while some in the file started having beads of perspiration form on their foreheads. Rudra knew he had to do something in this situation as he said with calm" Yasash¨© otoko" aka Take it easy men. Hearing the group leader , the rapid heartbeat of the group calmed down , as they controlled their breathing to calm their racing hearts. When the marching group passed the booth where the Japanese president was seated. Rudra tilted the flag 45¡ã towards the president , while the others quickly gave salute , with one hand plastered to their forehead. The entire japanese booth too was on their feet returning the respect with a salute of their own. Well everyone except Ethan Grey Ofcourse , who was taking a selfie with the saluting group with his tongue out making a yolo sign. A thin smirk formed on Rudra''s lips when he saw Ethan Grey acting like a goof , as his words rang clear in his mind. He knew what he needed to do. He was ready to take on the responsibility of bearing the hopes and hate of the nation. Finally after about 2 minutes of March , the national team reached their designated spot , Rudra placed the National flag in the designated spot , where the hole was in the ground , and fell to second place in the file , with Karna now being the one at the front with the plack of Japan raised high. Once halted Rudra looked around in the arena , murderously glaring at everyone who dared meet eyes with him. The flag bearers of other countries had it worst , as Rudra looked at them as if they were worthless punks. Just like how the rich look down on the poor and the hunter looks down on their prey , Rudra mocked them like they were inferior creatures with his eyes and smug facial expressions. Not a single word was exchanged , but the surrounding teams already hated Rudra to the core. About 10 minutes later , the United Kingdom team marched in , and passed japanese national team. Karna looked calmly as edge passed him , at first glance it seemed like a normal passing by , however Rudra and Karna who were watching closely saw the audacity of edge in full display. The guy had his middle finger propped out when he passed the Japanese national team , quickly closing it once they passed them. It was a clear provocation. Rudra creased his forehead , he was furious at the punk , Karna on the other hand was calm and collected , he would not fall for cheap anger , he would show his frustration in the battlefield. Just a bit later team USA passed by , Rudra was giving his standard cold looks to everyone , even though USA was a ally , when he saw Adam. Adams eyes widened in joy , as his face looked like he was struggling to hide his smile. Rudra could immediately hear a '' Brooooooooo '' In his mind , just how Adam talked. Rudra facepalmed himself. The buffoon made him break his serious character. Rudra chuckled , what will he do about all the friendly idiots he might meet in the course of the competition? /// A fan has written a cool song on discord about the novel , the beat of the song is there in the discord , and although I won''t attatch the song in the chapter , as it will cost you all an extra coin. I will add it in author''s notes , soo those of you that want to read the lyrics can do so. If you like it please show appreciation in the comments /// Chapter 266: The day one When all the teams had assembled at their marching spots after Zimbabwe completed their March , the forntrunner started his run with the ceremonial torch in his hand. The flagbearer was the right given to the person having the highest level in the game , this year it was the Irish enigma ''Parallax'' . At level 82 he was 7 levels clear of Rudra who had a 16 level bump because of slaying a dragon. That spoke miles about his strength as a player. As a comparision , the average player levels globally was 40 , while the amongst the strong elites it was about 58 , even Japanese representatives and top players like Karna and SMG were only tier two level 63. Even the level freak Neatwit was not a freak compared to the behemoth Parallax , it was not a farfetched thing to say that he was currently one of the best players in the game. His stride arrogant , as he held the torch , his body exuded the dominance of a alpha male. Rudra paid close attention to the man , as in his past life parallax was the player who won the one v one battle and the beat the clock challenge. Both events where Rudra was participating . Rudra was on a inevitable collision course against the man. Most would be scared to face the superior levelled player because of the stat disadvantage , however Rudra was not. If the brat wanted to bring it , he would more than welcome the challenge. Undefeated and unperturbed , the man was high in confidence. Unofficially on the forums he was hailed as the number one player. Various super guilds had offered him lucrative contracts to join them , but he remained unmoved , Ethan Grey was also amongst them. Rudra in his potential list of players to recruit submitted his name to Ethan , who did try his best to recruit the guy , however he remained firm in his decision to not join any guild. The Irishman lit the torch , as applause rained down on the man for officially opening the first ever VR Olympics. A cuber official then gave a short speach about the spirit of the game and other typical boring stuff to which Rudra paid no attention. finally in the end , Gaia , manifested herself on the podium , and with a unearthly divine appearance , raised her arms as she said " I the overseer declare the first VR Olympics , open ! ". Fireworks started to burst with her declaration , the first ever VR Olympics had officially started. This scene was being watched by billions worldwide , in less than 12 hours , the first event would start , on day one , 3 events were scheduled which were Beat the clock. Archery Blacksmithing Rudra had a event on the very first day, hence there was no time for him to focus on other things. After the VR Olympics was declared open , there was a one hour informal meet between all participants. The teams mixed with each other as words were exchanged and players taunted. There were 4 main power groups visible in the arena The trans Pacific alliance of USA , India , Japan and Australia The European union The African union And the middle eastern union. Apart from these four , there was also the big powerhouses Russia and China. And many many solo teams. The VR games would see a lot of politics being played on the world stage each day. The medal winners would be invited in as alliance members , while loosers would be kicked out of the union. The whole balance of world power would be restructured after this 15 day long Olympics event. New powers would emerge and old powers would loose their seat at the top of the food chain. Rudra met with Adam who started his '' Broooo , that''s soo sickkk stories ''. He also met with the Indian flagbearer ''GrandVoid'' and plack card holder '' Aryabhatta''. And also with Australian group leader '' Morris '' , with whom he built a friendly connection. Rudra did mentain his arrogant attitude , but he did not want to overbear on his allies hence kept himself in check. The overall atmosphere in the trans Pacific alliance was not bad at all. Adam asked Rudra " Brooo , what do you think of that parallax guy ya? He ain''t seem nothing much to me ya , you bring punks like them to the hood and they go in on two legs but come out on four , if you know what I mean ". He said bumping his shoulder into Rudra''s multiple times as he winked at him. Rudra understood the pathetic joke , and tried to control his laugh , but could not as he bursted laughing. He then said " He is the one with the highest level in the game , the pioneer , the one at level 82 , he also has no guild backing him , a solo, he must be strong ". Adam made a shocked face " Broooooooo , that''s sooo sick brooooo , how you know this shit man? ". Rudra facepalmed as he said " It was declared two days ago , by cuber , the flagbearer will always be the top level player every year ". Adam nodded as he said " My Brooo is well informed , hahahahaha ". Everyone gave the duo weird looks , as the only ones talking soo loudly and laughing like buffons in the entire place were these two . Rudra was embarrassed , but to everyone who dared look at him with a frown , he gave a cold glare , as if telling them '' Know your place ant''. Feeling the killing intent in his eyes , noone dared look at him anymore. Edge was upto his usual mind games , intentionally he circled the silently standing Karna , jumping and trotting around him like a little girl. He wanted to maximize the anger Karna had for him , soo that when the eventual match up came , in his anger he would make a rash decision. However it was for naught , as Karna calmly closed his eyes , and became oblivious to Edge''s taunts. After a while edge felt bored , as Karna did not give him the satisfaction he was seeking. He clicked his tongue and went on his way to annoy other participants. After one hour , all participants were teleported out. Tommorow at day one. Rudra , Neatwit , Fatty Kalash and Jhonny were the participants for japan! Chapter 267: First event Rudra cut off all communication with the guild members once he teleported back to the guild hall. Before going for levelling , he gave Neatwit a small fist bump and told him all the best for the coming event. Then he went off on his mount towards the levelling grounds. Rudra although farming mobs , was actually just warming up , training his reflex and getting the exp at the same time. He was getting in the frame of mind to fight hordes and hordes of monsters. Rudra had matured over the one month of training , beat the clock challenge was not about climbing the tower with the most speed , it was about going the farthest. He would not recklessly climb floors anymore , he would take every bit of rest he could get , his plan being to climb one floor at a time. Overall , there were 5 main contenders including him according to his memory for the 3 medal spots , with parallax being a favourite , while Neatwit being a strong contender . Neatwit had dissapeared from the game stage early and in his past life he never made it to the VR Olympics , hence he was a wildcard. Apart from those 2 , there was a Bulgarian player called Hammerhead , and a South African player called rabada who could be potential medal winners. As they alongside parallax were gold silver and bronze . When only 20 minutes time was left for the event to start , Rudra finally changed into his level 75 armour and full gear. He drank potions and calmed his mind to get to his peak condition. Ever since he understood his drawback about his reliance on excellent swords for his success , he never once used Excalibur and Elven sword in training. Training with silver grade swords throughout. Now for the first time in a month , he took out Excalibur and Elven sword , as he felt the familiar weight in his hands. A sense of comfort soon spread all over his body , he was a Ferrari driving under 40 km/ h with the inferior weapons , but the speed limit applied no more . As only one minute was left before the event started , images of his mom , dad and little Max cheering him on came in his mind. Then it was his guild members , and Ethan Grey , the ones for whom he was willing to undertake this journey. Finally the image of Ruby came in his mind , and the memory of the short kiss flashed. Rudra''s heart ached for a second , as he could almost feel the softness of her lips on his. He missed her, he missed her a lot! Sighing , Rudra took a deep breath. His gaze changed to a determined one , he had remembered his reasons to win. For them he could not fail . Then came the invite, Rudra instantly pressed accept. Just as he was being teleported , he heard a soft voice in his head ... Which said " All the best" , Rudra was perplexed , he knew that sound very well... It was Naomi. He shook his head and smiled , not thinking much about this , as he focused on the challenge ahead. ------- ( Worldwide media POV) /// This is the media POV , how people would view this event worldwide , for the next segments wherever the commentators would be speaking , please imagine it as a third person pov/// Derek Ray : Good morning ladies and gentlemen , I am Derek Ray , and with me today is the English commentator and eSports specialist Lee Dixon , as we will preside over the commentary for the first event in VR Olympics , the beat the clock. Lee Dixon : Thanx Derek , it''s a monumental day , no doubt about it , it doesn''t get much bigger than this .... First day , first event , who do you think shall win this event ? Derek Ray : Well , the competitors are all gathering at the base of the tower Lee , let''s take a look at today''s competitors , the competition starts in 3 minutes time. Well , first and foremost , we have to mention the Bulgarian brute Hammerhead , A barbarian class player who charges in at the opponents with no care at all, some may say he is more of a monster than those In the tower. Lee Dixon : I agree Derek , look at those muscles on the man , he looks like he means buisness , last known level of the man is rumoured to be 62! Derek Ray : talking about levels Lee , although 62 is impressive it''s nothing compared to the 82 of the flagbearer and the current favourite to win this event Parallax. No guild , no backing , yet this guy is number one in the world , I think that says volumes about the man. What do you think about his chances Lee? Lee Dixon : well Derek we do know that beat the clock has increased monster levels the higher one goes , the advantage of stats would become increasingly clear once someone hits level 50. And monster levels hit level 70. Derek Ray : Well he is the currently most picked player to win this event , however we never know till it''s over Lee. There is also the leader of the infamous miracle guild ''True Elites '' , Shakuni playing in this event. Lee Dixon : Well Derek , the guy has the nickname of demon of death valley on the unofficial forums , he is the flag bearer of Japan , the guy has produced soo many against the odds victories with his small guild , you can never count the man out. Derek Ray : Absolutely Lee , there is also his guildmate Neatwit and the South African powerhouse Rabada. Both formidable players , this is going to be a interesting contest. Lee Dixon : Well the countdown for the first game has started Derek 10 seconds to go 9....8 ... 3....2.....1! Showtime! /// A big announcement to make today , I''m very happy and proud to announce the start of my new book '' Rise Of The Dragon Emperor '' on webnovel , it will be a fantasy based story , soo if you are interested please do check it out. Webnovel has not yet vetted my book , hence it won''t appear under my author profile , you will have to exactly search it word for word to find it/// Chapter 268: Ascending the tower. Rudra entered the first floor of the beat-the-clock challenge, where level 5 rabbits were spawned. It was as a easy as it came. Even then Rudra did not rush to kill them all , taking his time to kill one at a time , without using any skills or wasting any stamina. 5 minutes were awarded to clear this level , and even though Rudra strolled leisurely , he had completed the level in 30 seconds. Even then , he did not rush to climb , waiting for about 20 seconds before he ascended to the next floor. Rudra was slow in his climbing approach , which was a stark contrast to the majority of the contenders in the competition , who were already at floor five or higher. Rudra had absolutely no troubles killing the rudimentary monsters at floor 1-10 , as it was as easy as taking a walk , he had not even warmed up properly yet. However, on the ranking lists , he was dead last , most had completed level 15 or more while Parallax and Neatwit were on level 21. The feed alternated between all the participants one by one , but naturally the leaders got the most screentime. The rankings were also displayed in real time , as what players were on what floors was clearly displayed there. Currently over 4 Billion people were watching the VR Olympics live , and this being the first event ever, had unmatched hype and fan following. The stream was being recorded by all nations , as the events were a chance to analyze the players and their combat prowess , for later events and future refferance. The skills they had and the hidden cards they held , would all be displayed in the live stream. Currently on the livestream, Parallax was being shown with him easily wiping level 27 with his superior skills. --------- ( Commentators POV ) Derek Ray : Oh my god Lee , what a brutal Slash by Parallax , that was a level 35 bull with high defense that lost its head clean. What power and precision, no wonder he is the leader in rankings and the leader in climbing the tower , Absolutely unmatched. Lee Dixon: You are right Derek , the strong will always forge ahead from the masses , up untill now , I haven''t seen the guy break a sweat. Are we looking at a gold for Ireland? Derek Ray : Well, Lee the Irish would definitely be hoping that is the case. However the Japanese player Neatwit of the True Elites is not much behind either , at level 26 , he is hot on Parallax''s tail. Lee Dixon : Well , the Bulgarian brute Hammerhead and the South African player Rabada are at 25 , closely followed by Takuma and Kazuma at 24. Derek Ray : The one climbing the slowest is shockingly Shakuni , the leader of the True Elites , and the Japanese flagbearer, being at only level 14. The feed cut to Rudra '' s pov who was leisurely killing monsters at a steady pace , he did not seem to be rushing it at all , and did not seem to be facing any troubles either. Lee Dixon : Well Derek , the man is clearly powerfull enough to maul through the monsters should he wish , I think he is just adopting a different strategy. Trying to take his time before he can climb. Derek Ray : Is there really a need to do useless things like that though Lee? It''s level 15 not 55 ! Lee Dixon : Well Derek , there won''t be time to rest at level 55 now will there, the tower difficulty would get tougher , once one starts to climb higher. Derek Ray : You do have a point there , Lee , let''s wait and see if his strategy is holding any merit. Currently parallax is at level 30 , the twice of where Rudra is. Lee dixon : Time will tell Derek , but things are sure to get interesting once level 31 starts , monster levels would then be between level 40-50 , the average tier two players would need 2-3 hits to kill them. Derek Ray : Yes however , Parallax is no average tier two player Lee , he is manhandling this stage as easily as he manhandled floor one. The guy is a force of nature! ------ Meanwhile in Japan Ethan Grey sat in a conference room with the top officials of the country. Some analysts were jotting notes about the playstyle and pattern of other teams players , while some were intently watching the stream. The overall atmosphere was heavy , as noone expected Rudra to be dead last in the competition. Neatwit was doing well , however the hopes of everyone , Rudra was actually the one who was the furthest behind. A general clicked his tongue " What the hell is that kid doing , why is he soo slow?". Ethan chuckled as he could not control his laughter. The general felt annoyed as he asked him " Hey , is there something funny about what I said ? ". Ethan did not even spare the man a glance as he said " You are stupid ". The general immediately lost his temper as he said " Why... You? ". However president Shinzo Abe stopped him , as he said " The competition is not about going the fastest , it''s about goint the farthest. We know Rudra is our best player , let''s show some faith in his judgement and skills. The competition has only started and he has not been eliminated yet ". Ethan nodded , The president was indeed the leader of a nation for a reason. He was indeed smart. Ethan then looked At the general , a cold smile on his face " If you feel uneasy , let me play a game with you , I will give you one hundred billion dollars if Rudra does not get a gold in this event , however if he wins , you run a cross country marathon in only your underwear ..... Say do you have the balls to accept?". Audible gasps could be heard in the room , everyone was shocked , 100 billion dollars was not a small amount , how confident did Ethan have to be in Rudra to make such a ridiculous bet? They all looked at the general in anticipation. The general stuttered , he did not know what to say , but after a moment of silence he said " We are on the same side , this is unnecessary". Many people clicked their tongues including Ethan Grey , who muttered under his breath , inaudible to others " scaredy cat". As he returned his focus back to the livestream. Chapter 269: Unfazed Rudra was at floor 35 , when the first participant missed to beat the clock at floor 50. Rudra as a contestant was naturally unaware of how others were performing , however if he did know , he would have been very shocked at the level of performance everyone was giving. In the mock rounds , he himself only reached level 51. Hence without a month of training , it was basically what he could have managed too. It was to be noted that he had much higher stats and levels than the one eliminated , however it was still a matter to be taken to mind. The world stage was not easy. Rudra though , was unaware , even when he would fail to beat the clock , he would only be teleported outside and shown his score. Only when everyone''s challenge ended , would he know if he won or lost. There was no benchmark to overcome , there was no gaurantee , that if you clear this floor you will win gold medal. Every floor you needed to give your best and hope that it was enough to win the medal. But the masses started to drop out in the fifties , many many contenders failing the 51-57 range. Meanwhile , Neatwit and Parallax had successfully completed level 59 and we''re heading to level 60 , while Hammerhead and Rabada were going strong at 57. ------- Derek Ray : another one bites the dust Lee , the Scott could not beat the clock , level 55 seems like the doom of players , 15 have failed to cross it now. Lee Dixon: absolutely Derek , between level 51-57 74 contenders have been eliminated , the players find it very challenging to maneuver through. Derek Ray : Well , we now have medal favourites , In the first place is the Irish enigma ''Parallax'' , currently at level 61 , he is the leader of the tower climbing group. Lee Dixon : What a player Derek , this guy only now faces monsters comparable to his level , at level 61 , monsters between level 80-90 spawn on the floor. Will he make it to level 71? Derek Ray : We don''t know that yet Lee , however close behind him we have the Japanese player , Neatwit. What about him Lee , the guy is barely level 68 , however his skills can put the level 82 parallax to shame. Truly a excellent player. Lee Dixon : He is a favourite for bronze Derek , but I think the 60''s will be his deathbed , in such a short time , to clear the floors with monsters 15 levels above you , impossible. Derek Ray : What you said holds true for even Hammerhead and Rabada , the 60''s , who will go how far? How will clench the medals amongst these four? It all comes down to them ! Lee Dixon : Ughhh , I think ur mistaken there Derek , there are 5 contenders still climbing the tower , Shakuni is still at level 47! Derek Ray : ..... , My apologies , what in the world is that guy doing? , AI please cut the feed to player Shakuni. The feed changed from parallax to Shakuni. The clock was ticking down , apparently he had cleared all the monsters on the floor , and had about 30 seconds left till the clock reset. He was squatting on the floor , with his sword in hand , seemingly just watching the clock tick down. Derek Ray : He has cleared the floor , but is waiting for the last moment to climb ... Do you understand the reason behind this approach Lee? Lee Dixon : No Derek , seems useless waste of time to me! Derek Ray : We will cut back to him if he makes it into the 60''s , no point in looking at him as it sits right now. Let''s go back to parallax. The feed cut back to parallax ------- Rudra did have a reason to wait for the clock to reset everytime before climbing , while it was true that it was beat the clock challenge , and the goal was to climb the highest and not fastest and that it gave time to gulp potions and restore stamina. However that took about 10 seconds at max , he did not need to wait 30 seconds for it. Rudra''s reasoning was different , he understood the game like noone did , his analysis was on another level. In the practice games , he tried rushing up the tower many times , and what he analysed was , when you fight continually level after level , you get into a fighting rhythm. You enter a fight with a rhythm and you exit a fight feeling more rushed , and into a faster rhythm. Alongside the pressure of beating the clock , your natural fighting style becomes faster and faster and faster , untill it''s no longer your fighting style. You become frenzied and you become sloppy in fight. The tower is tricky , some floors need to be cleared at full speed , while some defense type beasts are to be handled with hitting their vitals. Rushing in blind against them , while chipping damage would only cause difficulty in clearing the level. Rudra waited everytime for the clock to reset , to make sure he did not get into a rushed rhythm of the tower , that he mentained his own fighting style. He took the challenge one floor at a time , literally , and made his mind reset after clearing every level. Every beast needed to be handled in a different way , and one could not be carried away in a rhythm. It was the doom of a player. Unfazed of what the world thought about him , Rudra was only focused on what he thinks was right. His goal was the gold medal , the useless gossip before that did not matter! ------- ( Meanwhile Neatwit''s POV) '' Damn it , Damn it , these monsters are too strong , 63 was the highest floor i have climbed in training ..... Is this my limit? ''. Neatwit thought He was really struggling to clear floor number 63 , only one minute remained on the clock , while 7 monsters were left alive. Neatwit''s motivation coming into the game was different than others , although he wanted to make his guildmates proud. His main goal was to look down on his father. His goal was to show Ambani that his bastard son was more talented than his real son could ever be , and make him despair in his choice to leave the twins. Fuelled by anger , Neatwit went berserk with his sword , he was a person who was a firm beleiver that a man could be destroyed but not defeated. He would surpass his limits here and now , if he would loose he would loose , however he would not loose in desperation , he would loose magnificently. Dropping all signs of defense , Neatwit went all out with his attacking. His hp took constant hits , however he dealt equivalent damage. With only 10 seconds left , he did successfully clear floor 64 , immediately downing a advanced health potion , he charged into floor 64 , deciding to go all out from the start. The world was watching , as Japan cheered him on. Rabada had failed to cross level 63 hence as it stood , Japan was gauranteed a bronze medal at the least. If Neatwit continued to climb , it was well and good , if Rudra surpassed him somehow , it was still well and good , at the very least , a bronze was gauranteed for the Japanese , as they had 2 contestants in the top 4 . And the best case scenario that excited the people was ..... Could they walk out with two ? /// Do check-out my new fantasy book , Rise of the dragon emperor, search for it word for word and you will find it in webnovel /// Chapter 270: The first win Neatwit , after going berserk, barely completed level 64 , and by a stroke of pure luck , he completed level 65 , after two of his hits were critical hits on the monster. But failed to continue after level 65. Luckily for him however, Hammerhead fell short of the clock by just a fraction on floor 64. With only one monster left at red hp bar , he failed to advance. That officially made Neatwit a silver medal contender , while a bronze was gauranteed for him personally. The headquarters watching the event went on a rollercoaster of emotions , they became sad when Neatwit failed level 65. Becoming extremely anxious about the advancing hammerhead, and regretting about him not beating parallax. However the moment hammerhead failed level 64, the entire HQ went into a uproar of cheers. Silver was gauranteed for Japan now. The very first event and they had secured a medal! The name Neatwit was ringing across all Japanese TV stations , he had became a national hero in a matter of moments. To rub salt on the wound , Ethan Grey made a post on the internet tagging Mithun Ambani which read " Glad to have such talents in my country ". To general public it seemed like a exchange of barbs between two trillionare''s , however only those who knew the true identity of Neatwit understood the meaning behind Ethan''s words. Ambani was livid , however his legitimate son was even more livid , as he broke stuff all over the office room. Uttering gibberish like " I''m the true blood , I''m his real son , but he has more fame , more talents and even more shares of the company than I do..... This is not fair , not fair! ". In his breaking spree , where he punched through a tv , he accidentally hurt his wrists which were profousely bleeding now , and he started to scream " Aghhh , my hand , my hand ". Ambani looked at his son in pity , and then for the first time in his life , he regretted the decision of mistreating Neatwit and Naomi , they were his blood , and talented one''s at that. If only they were by his side and not the enemies .... Now he was stuck with his trash of a son. -------- Derek Ray : Wow Lee what a performance by hammerhead and Neatwit , as things stand they both have won medals , only two contestants left now In the competition Lee , Shakuni and Parallax. Lee Dixon : I think it''s a done deal Derek , Parallax is at level 69! 69! And the guy is still going Derek , miles ahead of his peers, the guy is in a league of his own. Gold medal no doubt. Derek Ray: Well Lee , I have to agree with you , it does seem like insurmountable odds , but untill it''s over nothing is certain. Shakuni , is at level 52 now , still going up. Lee Dixon : With all respect Derek , I''m sure he is a great guild leader and a talented player and all , however 17 levels , he is 17 levels behind , damn it , if climbing 17 was soo easy , hell I''d be there right now. Derek Ray : Well , we will find out in time won''t we .... Ohh wait , Parallax just cleared level 69 , he is now on floor 70! The guy is a beast! Lee Dixon : What in the world Derek , unbelievable , this guys is unstoppable , if he clears level 70 , then from level 71 , level 90 monsters would attack him ! Level 90! I''m not sure that even a party of average players can take on a level 90 monster. And he will fight it solo. Derek Ray : Well things don''t look too good for Parallax though Lee , he has 3 monsters left and only 20 seconds to go , I think this is where he stops. Lee Dixon : let''s see Lee , I''m sure the world is in awe of this man , can he go onto level 71? The answer was no Parallax , could not clear level 70 and beat the clock. He was eliminated at level 70 . Derek Ray : What a guy , Lee , what a performance , Gold medal as it stands , and probably gold medal it will be. Ireland must be celebrating right now , their countrymen did them proud. Lee Dixon : well it all comes down to Shakuni now , how far will he go? , Can he clear the deathtrap called the fifties? Can he atleast put on a valiant effort and reach level 60? ,with the world watching , he is the last contender for the first event of the first ever VR Olympics , stay tuned to find out! Rudra was currently at level 55 , he was seemingly having no trouble , his breathing was steady and his movements crisp , his fighting style was the same as level 11 , no pressure at all. The monsters here were all level 70 and above , however Rudra still took only one to two slashes to deal with them. For those who were watching Parallax for a longtime objectively , although Rudra''s fighting style was slower , it was clear that he dealt superior damage . It was not evident in the earlier levels , as everyone could one shot monsters on lower levels , but monsters at level 70 or higher? And still mentaining that same standard? This was new. It took a minute for the commentators to realize this obvious fact , and a minute more to figure out the right words to say. As Rudra climbed onto level 57 , the words coming out of their mouth became widely different from before. Derek Ray: You seeing this Lee , Shakuni just used two clean slashed to kill that level 75 mountain troll. Two slashes! Lee Dixon : My mind doesn''t work Lee , Shakuni is clearly not above Parallax in terms of levels , even if we assume that he is at level 81 , which we don''t know if he is or not , the level of damage he is dishing out is just insane. Derek Ray : Well , I''ll be the first one to admit it here folks , things are not over yet. Shakuni is still going, let''s see how far can he really make it! Level 58! Chapter 271: Shocking the world Even at floor number 60 , Rudra remained focused and unfazed in face of a group of monsters that common players would need an entire unit to fight against. Showing the growth of his swordskills , he would now use the skills appropriate to the situation to turn the tide of battle to his own favour. Showing the full glory of a dual wielder , he would in a versatile display of skill change from defense to lethal attacks in a matter of seconds . His performance was thoroughly convincing. At floor 60 , with 35 seconds left on the clock , Rudra cleared the floor. Burying his sword in the ground below , Rudra squatted to drink a advanced stamina potion. He focused on making his mind blank again , for the next floor. When the clock showed 5 seconds , he ascended to the next floor. Floor 61 , monsters now became level 80 and higher. This was now fights that were above Rudra''s level range. --------- Derek Ray : Oof , what a performance on floor 60 by Shakuni Lee , absolutely convincing. His skills are top notch , but I think the key to his success is his high damage dishout rate. I think he has distributed a majority of his stats into his strength since the start and it''s paying off now. Lee Dixon : Absolutely sensational , what a high damage dishout Derek , that level 79 troll was taken down with three sword strikes Derek , Three , holy mother of god , what insane damage ratio . Derek Ray : Who would have thought that the slowest climber would have such explosive strength , can he surpass Hammerhead and reach floor 65? , Is Japan looking at a double medal? Lee Dixon : Definitely they are Derek , just look at Rudra clear floor 61 , bloody hell ,they are level 82 Snow lions , a pack of them at that , and he is dancing between them wielding his two swords dishing damage to everyone. Derek Ray : The VR Olympics has just took a unexpected turn , The leader of the miracle guild and the flagbearer of Japan '' Shakuni'' has reached floor 61 and shows no signs of stopping. -------- From floor 61 , Rudra started to feel the heat , this is the levels where he trained to level up in the month long training period. Everyday at the levelling time , he would go to level 80-90 levelling grounds , hence these were the monsters he was accustomed to fighting the most. He knew their strengths and had spent a month adjusting to such fights , hence even though he could no longer maul through the monsters easily , even though he could not kill them with one or two strikes , he could still kill them well within the given time. Rudra used illusionary sword , and the snow lion veered left trying to avoid the hit , however the sword was a feint , and the real one pierced it''s heart clean , causing a critical hit. With his one sword hand stuck in a lion , he was vulnerable to attacks , and a lion pounced on him to attack this opening. However Rudra anticipated this , he sidestepped and delivered a brutal overhead slash , crushing the skull of the lion. Within three short seconds , in a sequence of moves the tide of the battle had shifted completely , two of the five lions were dead. Rudra now not that outnumbered could hold his ground easy against the other three and chipping at their hp constantly , he cleared the floor with 33 seconds to spare. Squatting down , he impaled his sword into the ground , as he downed a advanced stamina potion. ------ Derek Ray : Hey .... Hey .... Hey .... Are you seeing this Lee? , This guy is sitting in floor 61 , as if he is sitting in a park , what a terrifying performance. Lee Dixon : 33 seconds to spare at floor 61 , how far will he go? Can he topple parallax? Well one thing is for sure , he is a treat to watch . Derek Ray : I think I understand him now , I think he is a player who has invested a majority of his stats in his strength and agility stat , the other stats like intelligence , vitality , stamina , is pitifully low. Hence the slow climbing Lee , he is regenerating lost health and stamina after each floor through supplements . Lee Dixon : well whatever he is doing its working for him till now , because even floor 62 is not posing a threat to him , look at him totally destroy those level 84 berserk Rhino. Derek Ray : Not only me , I think the world is in awe of this man , nobody expected such dominance from the Japanese player , he is brute forcing his way through. Can japan expect a second medal? We will find out soon . ------- Ethan Grey was smiling ear to ear upon seeing Rudra''s convincing performance , the command rooms atmosphere had changed to a positive atmosphere, people had started to believe now , maybe if it was Rudra he could pull it off. However what Ethan Grey was grinning at was different from what others were grinning at. Ethan was looking at the beautifully intricate trap that Rudra had laid , by squatting down after completing every level , and taking a stamina potion even if he did not need one at all , he had started to create a illusion of being weak in the stamina department. Rudra was not only playing for gold on his first event , but laying a intricate trap for his coming challengers who would analyse his fighting style and make a counter strategy. How would they despair , when they find out that Rudra'' s stamina was more than theirs by twofold. Rudra hid many cards , in his climb of the tower , intentionally leaving openings in his defense and only showing techniques that he had shown before in public. Many of his new moves hidden. Rudra had started laying his mastertrap. His success was not a fluke , every move was a part of a bigger picture, a bigger plan. And slowly but surely , the world while marvelling at his brilliance of fighting , was falling for that trap . Rudra was going to win the gold medal , there was no doubt in Ethan Grey''s mind. Hence when he cleared floor 65 and surpassed Neatwit and Hammerhead and the entire HQ was cheering in joy that they won two medals , Ethan did not make a single sound , for him this cheering was useless , he would cheer 15 minutes later , when Rudra cleared floor 70 ! Chapter 272: Closing in ! Rudra cleared level 65 , and showed absolutely no signs of slowing down , completing level 66,67,68 all with 20 seconds or more to spare. The world started to uproar now , the further he climbed unhinged the stronger became the anticipation of gold from him. Parallax''s level 70 achievement that seemed untouchable uptill now , was now seen as a fragile record that might be broken any minute. The world was watching with bated breaths , the allies of Japan watched it in happiness and anticipation , while the European union of whom Ireland was a part of , wanted nothing more than Rudra to fail at level 69 , because they did not wish to loose the gold medal position. Apart from them , Mithun Ambani was a absolutely livid about the situation , Japan winning double medals on the first day with one being a gold , spelled trouble for him. His country''s representative already failed at level 56 , and hence the hopes of getting a medal in that event were shattered there and then . When the connection that both Neatwit and Shakuni , were not only the representatives of the same nation , but from the same guild was made , a lot of limelight was brought on the True Elites guild. The tales of them defeating a seven first rate guild alliance and other legendary feats became a topic of widespread discussion. This effect was only to increase with time , as more and more elites won medals. This was also a part of Rudra'' s plan , he wanted to bring glory to his guild , soo that it would act as a detterance against those who plotted against his guild. ------- Derek Ray : Only two monsters left on floor 69 and fourty seconds to go , will he be able to make it Lee? Lee Dixon : Absolutely yes Derek , this level is as good as clear. This is astonishing , Japan maybe closing in on a gold with Shakuni. Derek Ray: It''s Japan''s lucky day , eh , Lee , two medals on the very first event , what''s more interesting is that both members are also from the same guild called the True Elites , of whom Rudra is the guild master. Lee Dixon : Well the rumor mill tells that True Elites is a guild of wonders , Shakuni built the guild as a gathering place of only the best of the best talents in the world. Only the true experts have the right to be called an elite. With the backing of the trillionare Ethan Grey , it''s quite notorious in Hazelgroove kingdom , that guild , it has a history of seemingly impossible victories. Derek Ray : Well adding to that list should be Shakuni''s gold medal today, if he wins one , because nobody thought anyone can even come close to Prallax , yet this guy might just do it. Lee Dixon : Well about that Derek , yes he can absolutely do it , as only one monster stands between him and the next level with over 25 seconds left. Rudra killed the last monster in the next 7 seconds , clearing floor 69 with 18 seconds to spare. Moving with his routine , he squatted down and downed a advanced stamina potion. Waiting for the clock to his 5 seconds. Refreshing his mind untill then. Rudra had no idea as to what level would be enough to get the gold medal , he had to try go as far as he could and hope for the best outcome. In his previous life level 69 was where Parallax was defeated. Hence if it was the same this time around then he should have safely won gold medal. But as nothing was sure , he would not take any chances. Rudra moved onto level 70 , and the world watched in anticipation , should he be able to clear this level , then he would become the first gold medal winner in the history of the event. -------- Derek Ray : This is it ladies and gentlemen , If Rudra clears this level he wins gold for Japan , if he falls here Parallax keeps his crown Lee Dixon : what a nail biting first event eh Derek , I''m not even Japanese and my heart''s beating out of my chest , I''m soo excited. Derek Ray : Absolutely Lee , VR Olympics is a very thrilling and entertaining event , I''m sure millions across the globe feel the same way as you do. Lee Dixon : Well what exemplary fighting style by Rudra , you have to commend his sword skills Derek , he is the best dual wielder of swords iv seen in my gaming career. What precise control , what accurate movements. Derek Ray : Well players like him and Parallax cannot be judged by common sense , even amongst all these world class players who competed here today , these two stand a class apart. They are especially phenomenal . Lee Dixon : ooh , what a close call , should Shakuni have been hit by that paw swipe he would have been in big trouble , excellent agility shown by the player. Derek Ray : But that retreat has got him in the middle of three fierce beasts Lee , he is In trouble now . Lee Dixon : well it sure seems like that Lee , however I don''t see a drop of fear in the face of Shakuni , who is smiling at the beats as if telling them to bring it. Derek Ray : Well he was called the demon of death valley once by players on the forum. That look on his face right now is definitely what a demon would have. Rudra unleashed a skill from elven sword for the first time ever , 10,000 swords was used. And countless swords manifested themselves in the air. 10,000 swords attacked the three beasts that were trying to circle on Rudra , it was a brutal attack as not a single part of their body was left unpenetrated by the small swords , they died on the spot! Only two more beasts left , with over 50 seconds left , Rudra was closing in on a sure victory! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target good job !. The powerstones have really slowed down guys , we need to pick the pace back up ! If you want more chapters please support me with castles ! There will be A bonus chapter for every castle gifted! //// Chapter 273: First Gold! Rudra looked at the two remaining beasts coldly , he was not short on time , hence he was not going to show any more of his trump cards in the fight. He was more than confident of dealing with these beasts as a tier 2 player. Rudra charged in , he became the hunter from the hunted. The two beasts growled in anger at the puny human charging at them. However remained vigilant. Rudra took it to the air , and landed Excalibur in the ground with a long BANG! He used Earthquake! The ground started to tremble , and one of the beasts lost its footing under the trembling ground. It would proove to be fatal , as Rudra closed in on it quickly and made short work of the beast! Rudra impaled it''s neck with Excalibur and then enlarged the sword a little to cause more internal damage , while using the Elven sword to stab at its heart. Before its friend could come to its rescue recovering from the trembling ground and regaining footing , the beast had already died under Rudra''s sword. Only one beast was left now! --------------- Lee Dixon : Boom! The earth is shaking Derek , the beasts can''t stand ! What a move by Shakuni, unbelievable Derek , the guy was hiding strength untill now , two new moves only seen in the last floor , what more does he have in his arsenal. Derek Ray : A beast buckles , it''s defenses are down! Rudra closes in for the kill! Lee Dixon : OOH , he impales the heart and the neck with his two swords , no chance of escaping anymore , bye bye beast! Derek Ray : The last beast is growling in anger , fourty seconds left , Shakuni is in full health , can he claim gold? Lee Dixon : I think it''s an insult now Derek , can is not a question , this guy will probably kill the last beast with 30 seconds to spare , the real question is just how strong is he? Derek Ray : Shakuni , charges behind the last beast , who is on full defensive mode , oh my god what terrifying speed. The beast can''t create distance. Lee Dixon : A deep cut on the abdomen , the beast suffers a sizable damage. Derek Ray : A cut on its legs , its limping now , no longer can it run away. Is this going to be it? Lee Dixon : A CRITICAL HIT ON THE HEAD! the HP bar turns red. Derek Ray : A LIFE ENDING DOUBLE SWORD THRUST ! HE DOES IT , HE DOES IT ! HE CLEARS LEVEL 70 , HE IS OUR CHAMPION! JAPANS BOY , JAPANESE PRIDE , JAPANESE GOLD ! Lee Dixon : Never doubted him for a minute , I always knew it from the moment I saw him , he was my pick to win this event , while everyone was picking pace and doing flashy moves he was taking his time to advance. Now he wins it ! This is called strategy this is called experience , what a player! Derek Ray : Slow and steady wins the race Lee , time and time again we have heard this proverb , now we see it again. The slowest climber clutches the gold. Lee dixon : Two medals for japan , gold and bronze, what a opening night , what a display of strength , Japan celebrates tonight! ------ Rudra''s brain stopped when he was teleported outside after clearing level 70. His heart beating out of his chest. He clearly had over 30 seconds left , he did not fail the challenge , then why was he teleported out? Did he not read the rules carefully enough , was there a overall time limit? Rudra''s speculation was not wrong , but where he missed the point was that , never before had the last contender ever won the gold medal. Gaia teleported him outside because him continuing had no reason. Had anyone else be still in the competition at level 30 or 40 , and there was a mathematical probability that they could overtake Rudra somehow. The competition would not have ended. However since he was the last contender and he had already clutched the gold , there was no point continuing. Had parallax cleared level 75 , Rudra would have been teleported out after clearing 76 , but since parallax failed to clear level 70 , Rudra only had to clear till level 70. Only when he saw his name at number one on the leaderboards , did a sense of calm spread over his body! He did it! He won gold! ------- Undying cheers erupted all over japan , and the command centre was in tears and the high officials were all congratulating and hugging each other. Ethan Grey had a big smile plastered on his face. He could not stop smiling , this was one of those rare occasions where his blood was pumping and he was moved! The only words that came out of his mouth were " Son of a gun , that ba*****". Although he was a firm beleiver in Rudra''s victory , experiencing it first hand was a surreal experience , a lot depended on the gold medals for Ethan , and hence this medal mattered a lot for him. President Shinzo had his fists balled up tight , Japan on the very first event had secured two medals , it showed the world the strength of the Japanese , he was very thankful to Ethan for bringing such talents to Japan. He said " Ethan , Rudra and Naman , they live in your upside right?". Ethan raised an eyebrow , if the government wanted to move them out , he would absolutely never agree. Hence cautiously he asked " Yes , why? ". President Shinzo said " they are national heroes now , I will personally visit their parents , and their houses to express my gratitude ". Ethan immediately understood and he said " Sure , Rudra has a family , Naman only has a sister and a step aunt , you are more than welcome to visit , but I''d like to ask for their permission first ". President replied " Ofcourse ". ------- While japan celebrated , many were depressed at Rudra''s win , but none as depressed as the silver medal winner Parallax. Who stared blankly at the number two spot on the screen .... His mind could not process his defeat ! /// Bonus chapter for the gift of 5000 coins by Passmemoney! Thankyou for the patronage brother . If you all want more chapters of the VR Olympics , I am ready to deliver , one chapter for every super gift! Let''s go guys , you all can make me write 10 chaps a day if you wish to. And I will write it! /// Chapter 274: The world reacts Parallax kept staring blankly at the screen for a while , he was stupefied , he wanted to beleive that maybe it was fluke , that maybe the guy had been lucky when he cleared floor 70 . However reality slapped him hard when he looked at the videos of Shakuni climbing , the guy cleared floor 70 with over 30 seconds to spare , he was in a league of his own. He was unwilling to admit it , he wanted to say that maybe that guy cheated , but it was not possible to cheat in Omega. Gaia did not let anyone cheat. It was overall a hard pill to swallow , but the truth was that if Rudra had been allowed to climb further , he would have easily crossed floor 75 at the least. Parallax was not a man with weak will , and such losses will not detrack him , however he did take extreme pride in being called the best in the world , now he never said it explicitly himself , but he sure beleived that way. Now , when he could not proove that he was best in the world with his performance , and that there was someone even better , it broadened his horizons. He understood that the worldstage was much bigger than he anticipated , and that he would have to work harder to get the gold. Bitterly accepting silver medal for his first event , he swore to make a strong comeback , in the second one! ----- ( The True Elites headquarters , Real world ) The Elites had gathered in the floor 60 guild hall. Where they had set up a massive screen , they were collectively watching the Olympics and cheering on their teammates. When Neatwit secured a medal , the crowd inside went ballistic and whistles and cheers rained supreme in the hall. However , the guild hall descended to mayhem when Rudra won the gold medal. The guild members always knew that their guild leader was a strong player , but his performance on the world stage just showed , exactly how strong of a player he was. Cool and claculating , he sure took his time to advance , however when he did , he made sure to do it with style. The respect they had in their hearts for the guild master just went up by tenflod. Karna grinned wide looking at the screen , his buddies Neatwit and Shakuni had stolen the show with their first day appearance , he felt pumped for his own event now. He wanted to win a medal too. This was not just for Karna , everyone in Japan currently felt this , Rudra''s victory gave a lot of confidence to te Japanese , who wanted to recreate more and more of his success. Ethan had long anticipated this , hence he wanted Rudra to change his demeanor , to make him cold and unreachable , soo that all those who wanted to be like him would continue to strive harder , thinking that the peak is too far. The Japanese and world media were all over Rudra now , from his birth , to every notable event that he was a part of In Omega , everything was being broadcasted , as the show got good ratings , because the world wanted to know more about the guild leader of the True Elites. Rudra was invited for a small medal ceremony by the cuber officials , who wanted to strap the gold medal on his neck , Rudra and Neatwit accepted their invites however Parallax did not. Hence , in the medal ceremony , the cuber official crowned the two Elites with their medals. Neatwit made a V sign on the podium , whole Rudra raised his hand , his fist balled up and only one finger pointing at the sky! He was telling the whole world he was number 1 ! With Parallax not present , this photo was definitely going on the guild wall. Neatwit was not unhappy about winning bronze , but he was unhappy that the gap between him and silver was soo large. He vowed to improove ! However , he was genuinely happy for Rudra , to whom he gave a bear hug for his win. The two had a good relationship. Rudra logged out of Omega after the medal Ceremony , as he wanted to lay low for his off day before the third day where he had to participate in the one v one fight competition. For now he wanted to look at Fatty Kalash and Sir Jhonny''s blacksmithing event live. As he walked down the stairs of his room , he saw his mom , dad and little brother standing there waiting for him. His mom had tears in her eyes , while Max''s eyes were gleaming in admiration. Father Rajput was happy too , but tried his best to mentain a indifferent expression. Mother Rajput weakly said " Congratulations...". Rudra went on and hugged his mom , he was happy that she was proud , but she did not need to stress over it , it was alright nothing too big. Max tried to get between the two people hugging as he kept saying " Big brother big brother you are soo cool.... I want to be like you when I grow up ". These words melted Rudra''s heart , little did max know how much his ears wanted to hear these words in his past life , looking back , he felt he changed a lot eh! ---- If you are reading this book on any site exept webnovel you are supporting pirated content .... Please do not support piracy ! You can read the same content on the original publishing platform webnovel. If you are looking for more latest chapters please read the book on webnovel. ---- He ruffled little Max''s hair , and nodded at father Rajput , who had a lot of words to say , but only muttered ''good '' before he sat back down on the couch. Rudra sat beside him , as they watched TV , apparently the media was still showing coverage about him. Mother Rajput was busy preparing Rudra''s favourite dishes , as she only gave a nutritional drink to Rudra pre dinner to revitalize after his game. Rudra was sipping it slowly , as father Rajput changed the channel to the one popular in country X . Shockingly when Rudra''s past about how he used to live in country X came out , the citizens there started to plead that he returned home. Some called him a traitor , while some accused the government of talent drain. It was a entertaining show overall , Rudra was enjoying it. However then on the TV with a banner of '' please marry me Rudra '' , he saw his old girlfriend from his past life. Rudra spat the drink he was drinking as he started to cough. Memories flashed in his mind , his old girlfriend that he made in the full time office job he worked , they never dated , they never acted like a real couple and did intimate stuff, they were more like a work couple , Rudra helped her with her workload and that was pretty much it , she never helped him back , and he did not mind because he thought that''s how relationships worked. When he moved to playing Omega full-time , she supported him in the start , when he rose to a party leader position in a second rate guild , she agreed to eventually go on a date with him. Things looked good , untill when he introduced his girlfriend to his guildmates and one of the superiors took a liking to her. A few days later she would not return his calls or messages and later he saw her in the guild with his superior , apparently she was also a party leader now and the superiors girlfriend. They had been together for 2 years , and he had never even held hands with her , but apparently she had no problem kissing the other guy in public at that. The incidence broke his heart , he was not heads over heels for the girl , but the betrayal left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. Now seeing her becoming a fangirl , Rudra found the whole situation ridiculous. Agreed he would probably never see her in this life , however somehow this small scenario made him feel validated inside. Indeed , success was the best revenge! Father Rajput misunderstood the situation however , he thought Rudra had spilled the drink because of the marriage sign , that the boy was shy of marriage. Father rajput said " Boy , listen to me here , see you are already mature enough and earning good money. You have good prestige as well , you might not understand but these are very endearing qualities that women like , instead of goofing around with two or three girls it''s better to pick one and settle down ". Rudra " .....". Mother Rajput''s voice came from the kitchen next " even if you want to goof around , make sure that the girl is good at heart and pretty in looks , don''t choose a dumb hag ". Rudra "....". Father rajput " The other parents often ask me , is your son dating anyone , I feel embarrassed telling them that my 22 year old is still single and has never dated a girl in his life ". Rudra "....". Mother Rajput " Aiyo , yes I feel that too , your father had already gotten me preganant when I was 21 , we were dating 2 years prior to that , yet our son is soo useless , when will I have a daughter in law? ". Rudra decided that staying in the house any longer was detrimental to him , hence he bolted out of the door . SLAM! Rudra slammed the door as he ran away. Father Rajput "....". Mother Rajput ".....". Max " I have a girlfriend! ". Father and mother Rajput " !!!!!!!" /// Guys I have shared a picture of Naomi in the discord channel , about how she looks in my mind , come join if you want to check it out. For every super gift I will give you all bonus chapters! /// Chapter 275: What a joke The last event for day one was the blacksmithing competition , the event had some serious hype with many contestants trash talking to each other on social media about how they thought that the other was trash. Not so Fatty anymore Kalash was sweating buckets again , he was getting the jitters before the event started. He was enjoying in the guild hall Rudra and Neatwit '' s performance , however, once their performance ended Kalash started feeling the heat. The entire guild would probably watch his and Jhonny''s performance too. Not just the guild , millions would be seeing across the world , maybe even billions . His girlfriend would be seeing too , however that did not matter anymore , he was starting to stress eat in his waiting time. All sorts of chocolates , puddings and cheese went into his mouth. When Rudra made his way to the guild he found his friend in a very pitiful situation. Fatty looked at Rudra and said " I can''t do it , I''m scared ". Rudra sighed and patted his friends back , apparently he had lost his confidence from back at the camp and became gullible , he confided his fears in Rudra , and Rudra soothed his nerves. He explained to fatty how he was very talented and how he would do well . Sometimes Rudra felt like he had two little brothers , apart from Max he also had his fatty best friend , who would go from reliable adult to a kid in a matter of minutes when crisis came. With only an hour left till the event started , Rudra felt the need to hurry up and prepare Fatty. He was not being himself and needed to be in pristine condition before the event started mentally. In a move he would regret forever , Rudra resorted to a method that works best in adults. But for whining three year olds , it was a disaster. He clearly did not think it through well enough , as he gave Fatty a small bottle of rum. Rudra said " here , here buddy , take this liquid courage , it''s what pirates used when they were terrified of the sea , this one is aged for 300 years , found from a shipwreck in Pacific Ocean , costed me a fortune. Come drink and become a mighty pirate ". Fatty downed the whole bottle in one gulp , Rudra stared blankly , dumbfounded , that was 55% concentration liquor , not vodka shots! The man just drank 350 ml of it in a single gulp! After a minute , Fatty said " Thanx I feel better now ". Rudra only wanted to give him a couple of sips , but the man drank the whole bottle , god knows how he will be after 1 hour when the effects of the bottle kick in. Rudra was worried , but there was literally nothing he could do right now to make this situation right , hence he let it be. Contrary to Fatty Kalash , the room where Jhonny and Yume were sitting had a very different atmosphere. Jhonny and Yume were flipping a p*** magazine , and looking at god''s beautiful creation. However from far away , Rudra had absolutely no idea what was going on , the only thing he could see was them flipping pages. Rudra walked in and asked " You both good ". This startled both Jhonny and Yume , however realizing that Rudra was too far away to see a thing Jhonny said " Yes I''m set , just flipping through some old school mechanical designs , you never know what materials they will give and what I can forge ". Rudra thanked the heavens , atleast someone here had the sincerity and focus. He always felt Jhonny was a reliable man , as a mercenary he was a man of strength , focus and sheer f****** will! Jhonny pointed to something and said " What body structure , what beautiful craftsmanship ". Yume agreed " Look at the curvature , the size ratio , amazing ". Rudra thought they were focusing on prepping here and did not need him , hence he did not bother them anymore , if he would actually even get a glance of the body structure they were admiring he would probably vomit blood. --------- Derek Ray : And that''s that folks , USA bags a gold with a single point in archery , unfortunate for South Korea , however what a performance by the Americans. Lee Dixon : Yes congratulations to the Americans , they get their first gold in the second event of day one. Puts them at the number two spot just behind the dual medal winners Japan. Derek Ray : Well Australia bagged a bronze too , day one has a lot of action. The overall pool has Japan at first , USA second , Korea and Ireland tied at third and Australia next. Lee Dixon : well everything can change after our third event , blacksmithing ! The competitors will now be teleported into the grand collessuem arena , the spiritual home of the VR Olympics , where they will perform infront of a live crowd ! Derek Ray : How exiting Lee, the world anticipates what they will make , what challenges will they face , will we see the birth of a legendary item? How high will the bar be set in the competition? Lee Dixon : I am very excited Derek , only three crafting events in the VR Olympics , however blacksmithing is without a doubt the most hyped. Let''s take a look at the contestants! There is from Scotland the viking blacksmith Helga , he is a fan favourite to win this event , practicing Blacksmithing in the real world as well , he is a true forger. There is the Greek blacksmithing genius Hephaestus Jr. , He is a man of the flames , he is someone who uses a forge to actually Smith swords in real life. Clanging and banging , old school style. From Japan we have ... Ehhhh , what is this man doing half naked with a eye patch? This is where Fatty Kalash shouted " Errr , Ahoy laddies , I''m gonna eat ya''ll C**** raw! Hahahahaa" . The commentators " .....". Rudra watching at the guild hall " ...". /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target good Job everyone , However we really need to pick up the pace , the stones have been slowing down lately /// Chapter 276: What is going on? Fatty kept acting like a drunk pirate and laughing loudly , the other contestants were visibly annoyed. However the live crowd in the collosseum were quite entertained , they liked that guy. Finally the contestants were sorted to their stations, and started looking through all the materials that were provided for the competition. Jhonny looked through the ingredients and was happy to see that iron and steel were indeed given , although small amounts. The amount was not enough to make a sword , but enough to make a dagger. Jhonny was happy. What Jhonny did not know , was that his presence alone would make this event a complete disaster. Jhonny had a disastrous luck of -95 , He also had a attribute that gave his enemies twice his badluck , ie -190 luck , and allies half his badluck ie -47.5 badluck. The moment he entered the forging competition , the AI classified everyone except Fatty Kalash as enemy , meaning they all got -190 luck. This was no longer badluck at this point , as anything beyond -100 had a 100% probability of happening. Forging was highly dependent on luck , even though skill played a major part , in the virtual world where swords were literally made in minutes by forgers , the damage and grade of the sword was often decided by luck attribute that came into play while forging. Fatty had a luck value of 78 , with Jhonny around it fell to 30.5 , which was not good , not too shabby either , however he was the only contestant with a positive luck value here. Everyone else , being applied with a -190 luck value , even if they had a +80 luck stat , they could not bring the negative effects below -100. Everyone else had a luck stat of above -100 meaning , at the very slightest mistake in their forging technique , they would 100% see a damaged product. This was going to become one of the most dreaded events in the history of the sport , headed towards certain doom. The prestigious forgers from across the world were going to have a nightmare of a day , and they were unaware of it. The spirits were high , when the 24 hour competition started , everyone had a plan in mind about what they wanted to make , and started to work on something or the other. Jhonny only knew one forging manual , it was a epic dagger forging design that had a 100% success rate , it was the only thing he could forge. Hence for him this competition had already concluded , all he could make was a epic dagger , should anyone forge semi legendary item , they would win. Should anyone forge a better epic item they would win. However , since it was out of his control he did not bother much with it , and focused on doing the one thing he could do . Putting iron in the furnace , he added just the right amount of carbon powder and started to form the alloy. Meanwhile , Fatty was banging his hammer on a red hot piece of iron , completely carefree , he was singing songs from pirates of the carribean and annoying the hell out of the participants around him , who could not focus on their work at all because of the guy''s annoying singing. -------- Derek Ray : Well well , He sure is a jolly one eh? Look at him sing as he forges . Lee Dixon : There is always a clown in the crowd Derek , I guess he is the clown of Japan. Derek Ray : Well , I don''t understand what he is forcing Derek , I think it will start to take shape in a while. Lee Dixon : We will have to wait to see what he is forging , ohhhhhh , the contestant from Zimbabwe just broke his forging design from using too much strength , I think he would have to start again. Derek Ray : Same happened with the contestant from Egypt , back to the drawing board young man , no mistakes in such a high stake competition. Lee Dixon : I think the nerves are getting to them Derek , 200,000 people watching you work live , billion others worldwide , it''s a lot of pressure , not everyone can shoulder it . Derek Ray : Absolutely Lee , they still have time maybe they can pull it off. Oh! The metal cracked for the contestant from Sri Lanka as well , he has to start again too. Lee Dixon : Forging is harder than it seems Derek , soo many contestants making mistakes soo early. Thankfully they have time , I would not know what to do if I made a mistake right at the end of the process. Derek Ray : they are their countries respective chosen Lee , I''m sure they have enough experience to not make such rookie mistakes. -------- ( Meanwhile , in the real world, the upside , elite tower ) Rudra felt like he would die from shame , everytime fatty acted like a half naked drunk pirate on tv , he felt like it was all his fault. When fatty made cringy pirate noises like " Rarrrr ". And said words like " Ahoy ". He thought the alcohol had really messed up his friends brain. Every time fatty was on TV , the entire guild hall made pirate noises and cheered him on , however Rudra watched his every hammer strike with bated breaths. He was scared of the alcoholic slipping his hand and breaking his design. However soo far he had hung on in the competition without any disasters. About 4-5 hours Into the competition , he was slowly starting to sober up and regain his calm as he worked with tenacity and precision now, Little by little Rudra''s fears faded away. However the most shocking part came a bit after the 6 hour point , where Jhonny boldly cleared his forging table , and started to take a nap! Apparently he was done with his forging and was now only waiting for the results to come out. Hence in a arena full of 200,000 people , Jhonny slept without care on his forging table, using the furnace nearby as a winter heater. When other forgers saw Jhonny''s cocky attitude they wanted to cough out blood , but they could not afford to be distracted as they unlike him had a long way to go. Chapter 277: Are they even skilled? Jhonny was snoring peacefully at his table , whenever the camera would cut to him , a slight snoring sound would be audible. While although Fatty Kalash did not speak like a pirate anymore , he was still half naked with a eye patch now over his head instead of his eye , his image as a jester had been pretty much set in stone. These were the representatives of Japan , currently the number one leader of the medal tally. The Japanese felt like hiding their faces in shame when the commentators linked them with their cultured and well disciplined country. However the attention was significantly shifted from Jhonny and Fatty Kalash to the rest of the participants. Sometimes during the forging process the metal would crack , sometimes the alloy made would be impure and brittle , moreover the creations kept getting misaligned or broken . This was not the case for one person or two , periodically every five minutes or so , someone would make a blunder. At first those who made a mistake were being sneered upon by the other participants , however only a few seconds later they made the same mistakes. It was very abnormal that everyone started to make mistakes in the arena. One after another , the parts made would not fit properly , or even the simplest designs like a short knife , or a kunai would turn to have the edges having bend marks or the alloy being overall of poor quality. Shockingly bronze and silver products became the standard , some produced damaged light gold items , however overall the quality was pitiful. Naturally the crowd went from being excited about the competition to just stupefied , however when more and more of them made mistakes the crowd started to become agitated and angry , they were now starting to slur insults at their countrymen. " Who let these idiots represent Hungary , even I can atleast forge a light gold chainmail , who is this unskilled brat , bronze item? Seriously? Might as well quit now and save us the same ! ". " What is that thing u made , it doesn''t look like a axe at all , the handle and the body don''t fit , the body is actually curved , what joke is this , talking soo big on the forums , calling out every other master forger , when my newbie son in his first month in the game makes better axes than you , I spit on you , you are a disgrace ". " BOOOOOOOO! ". " BOOOOOOOO!". " FAKE BLACKSMITHS ". " ALL OF YOU ARE A DISGRACE ". " SHAME OF THE COUNTRY ". " An amateur in my village will do better than you lot ". " If I ever see them calling themselves master blacksmiths again , I''d spit on their faces ". " BOOOOOOO". "BOOOOOO" The crowd were extremely dissapointed and hurled insults after insults on the forgers , under the increased pressure , even those who were doing relatively well made mistakes ruining their creations. Then even their countrymen began to boo , giving more pressure than already was. The Blacksmithing event If to be summarised in a few words , could be said to be '' Dissapointing to watch''. There was no splendid display of skill , no breathtaking creations , no legendary items , it was truly very dissapointing. At the end of 24 hours , the judging of the items started. The judgement was done in a style where a AI judge would walk over to a created piece and you explain the working to the AI in your own words , then depending on your reply of your work and the usefullness , the AI grades the creation out of 10. The first and foremost judging criteria was the system assigned grade. Any epic item without even the basic of uses would outclass a dark gold item with many uses. Only within same rank did this judging criteria work. Aka if two epic items were to be displayed , the one having the higher score out of 10 from the judge would win. ------- (Very loud Booing noises from the crowd ) Derek Ray : Well the blacksmithing event did not turn out the we would have hoped eh Lee . Lee Dixon : Yes Derek , you can hear the anger of the fans , it''s hard to speak over them , things have truly been not upto the mark for this competition. Derek Ray : Out of 250 nations that participated in this event 150 don''t even have a presentable final piece Lee, like isn''t that ridiculous , not even a damaged item to show , all they have is scraps. How bad does one have to be at blacksmithing to have such a result. And these are the best of what a nation has to offer. Lee Dixon : No offense to the countries that they are from , but I think the selection committee has made a huge mistake , such guys should not be participating in this stage , I think the pressure got to them Derek , they might have been excellent forgers , but only those with ice in their veins can perform unbothered when billions are watching. Derek Ray : Absolutely Lee , although the two japanese participants looked like the oddballs at the start , soo far they have presented the best products , they were roudy and they were unfazed in the face of such pressure , we were laughing at them earlier , but who is laughing now? The pair top the table. Lee Dixon : Absolutely Derek , the one called Jhonny English is currently at the lead with a epic rated dagger , he completed his forging task within the first few hours and then pretty much napped through the competition without care. Judging by his speed and quality of work , he is someone who truly belongs on this stage , this is what the standard I came in expecting . Derek Ray : Absolutely , what a performance , there is also the clown pirate , the other Japanese , a dark gold rated chainmail with weight reducing technology , it got a 8/10 evaluation by the proctor , currently in second place. Who would have thought that the loudmouth half naked pirate would be a title contender? Lee Dixon : Although nothing is final yet , only 7 more products are left to judge.if things stand the way they are it would be another double medal for japan. Derek Ray : The island country is doing wonders Derek , back to back potential double medals , they must be having a great day. However what''s more interesting is , both the Japanese contestants in this competition are also from the True Elites guild , the same guild that saw the double medal winners of the first event! What kind of a guild is the True Elites Lee , now I''m extremely curious , to have soo many high level talents . Lee Dixon : I would love to find out after the event ends Lee , I have recieved permission to interview the winners , let''s see if they win I would love to ask them . Derek Ray : OHHH , a big blow to Japan , Kalash slips from second place , the Scottish forger clutches silver with a 9/10 rating on his dark gold item . 3 more pieces to judge , can Japan hold onto bronze? ------ ( The Japanese headquarters , real world ) The generals were watching the event with grave expressions , just when the chances of another double medal looked strong suddenly a competitior clutched onto silver medal pushing Kalash down the rung. There were 3 more pieces left to judge and one of them was from the renowned forger Hephaestus Jr . Anticipation was building high ... ( To be continued ) Chapter 278: Fatty wins! Tensions were high as the judge evaluated the last contestant. Hephaestus Jr from Greece. The design he made looked intricate and complicated , it was a beautiful crossbow that he has made. The sides were engraved and overall it looked like a masterpiece. The rating of the item was Dark gold . Rudra''s heart skipped a beat when the rating turned out to be dark gold , he was sure it was a epic rated item or above. Just speaking objectively his piece looked much better than Fatty Kalash ''s , also a crossbow might get a higher evaluation than a chainmail. If he got the same evaluation as number two holder , then it would mean the event would end with one gold and two silver medals. No broze. If he went above that mark getting a 10/10 evaluation then he would clutch the silver. The only way fatty got a medal is if Hephaestus Jr got the same marks as Fatty or less. Something about the entire thing however felt fishy to Rudra , why did he present a crossbow to the judge without a arrow loaded? That is when Rudra noticed , Hephaestus Jr ''s doom. The guy had tried to sneakily get past it , but the AI could not be fooled. The hook to load the chain in the stretched position was missing. The crossbow did not work , it was nothing more than a showpiece how it stood. Making the hook was not a big issue , any average Joe could do it. Hephaestus Jr had perfectly crafted the entire design with precision. It was supposed to come out a semi legendary item , but his first mistake came at the alloy purity , which degraded the construction. Even soo it was a magnificent piece , however the in the last part of the construction , he applied a little too force and the hook cracked. With only 3 minutes to go , he had no option but to assemble the pieces as they stood. Hence what he could present was only a incomplete product , sneakily trying to avoid that mistake , he presented the crossbow without loading the string and the arrow. However the AI was all-knowing. The AI rated his piece as a 6/10 ! , Meaning he scored below Fatty. Fatty won bronze! Hephaestus Jr was devastated , he was Greek''s top seed in this competition who was one of the favourites for medal winners. However a single mistake costed him his title! --------- ( Real world ) When Hephaestus Jr got a lower evaluation than Fatty the entire True Elites guild hall bursted into cheers and celebration. Boys ripped their tshirts , and girls hugged each other in tears of joy. Mayhem descended in the guild hall , the first day of the VR Olympics and the small guild of True Elites had taken the world stage by storm. Two gold medals , two bronze medals. They were the sole contributors in Japan''s number one position. Rudra held a hand to his forehead , and laughed silly , sir Jhonny and Fatty actually pulled it off. What the hell was going on? What kind of guild did he create? Flashbacks of him and Fatty as regular high schoolers flashed back in his mind. How they would be the most unnoticeable kids in school , nothing too much about them and just a few years later here they were , shining brighter than all the first benchers in school , winning medals for their country. It all felt surreal , Everyone was over the moon inside the guild , nobody had logged in to play Omega today , only the few who had to train for Olympics were playing , everyone else had gathered here to cheer on their fellow colleagues and boy o boy did they not dissapoint. Rudra thought about how Ethan Grey brought in Jhonny English to his guild , he knew at that very moment that the guy was something else , he was the real deal. Rudra genuinely never expected a gold from him , even in the preliminaries he was a silver medalist a tad below Fatty , yet on the grandest stage he clutched a win. He remembered how he and sir Yume were going old school and learning from magazines when he visited them. Both of them were in their fifties and a pillar of maturity and support in the guild. Cool , collected and old school. Rudra felt satisfied with the results , this exceeded his expectations , he now wondered how Ethan felt about all this. ------ ( Japanese headquarters ) When Japan clutched another double medal , the office went into uproar , the results on first day had far exceeded everyone ''s expectations. It is one thing to expect medal from a top contender and another to actually win it. Just the first day and Japan already won two gold medals and two bronze medals , it was absolutely shocking to say the least. However what was more shocking was that they all were from True Elites guild , President Shinzo now became even more excited to visit the soo called upside. At first he was going to visit the parents and homes of Rudra and Naman , however now he changed his mind and decided to visit the Elite tower. He decided that making the Elites the face of Japanese Olympics would bolster the country''s image , hence made a plan accordingly. Ethan Grey was over the moon when Japan won another two medals , his wide grin would not dissapear from his face at all. When Jhonny and Kalash kept acting like complete buffons he felt embarrassed , but it doesn''t matter if they act like buffons or complete idiots till they won! And they won! The world worships the victors , if they had lost they would have been mocked. But they won and the world would only have praises for their attitude now , it was how society worked. They went from idiots to national heroes in a matter of moments. #iwanttobeapirate was trending on number 1 spot worldwide. Fatty had became a meme and a pirate icon The first day for Japan had been a absolutely blast , winning two gold medals in first three events. They were undeniable top of the table nation. The celebration in the room , came to a abrupt pause when the commentators came down to the arena to interview the winners. /// Alright guys , We have recieved a super gift of 10,000 coins from Nicholas_Savage ! Many many thanks for the patronage brother ! That means two bonus chapters to be written on my end. They will be coming up shortly! /// Chapter 279: What nonsense are they spouting ? Derek Ray : I''m down here at the most spectacular arena in the entire Virtual world , the Grand collessuem , only moments ago here we saw history in the making as Japan clutched another double medal from this event. Two gold''s and two bronze for them on day 1! I''m down here today to bring to you viewers worldwide the exclusive interview with the winners of this event who are just walking down after recieving their medals. Let us start first with the Bronze medal winner , the Japanese pirateboy , Kalash . Hello , I''m Derek Ray , congratulations on your win , how are you feeling ? Kalash : Ughhhh , it''s umm , it''s it''s great , yeah Derek Ray : Ohh , comeon pirateboy , we want to hear one of your Ahoy mate! Pirate speach , you have millions of fans around the world waiting for it , what''s with this nervous talk. Kalash was red with embarrassment , he had actually very little memory of what embarassing things he did , hence he did the most unimpressive pirate impression he could do. Kalash " Arrr , Hohoho ". The crowd bursted into cheers at this though , it was clear that they absolutely loved pirate Kalash. Derek looked left and right and smiled at the crowd reaction he said " Well the crowd loves your act , soo tell me, how did you become a pirate". Kalash scratched his nose and said " Actually I''m a very shy person by nature. The event with 200,000 live crowd would have crumpled my confidence , hence my guild master turned me into a pirate before sending me to the competition ". Derek Ray seemed to have picked on something very interesting , as he said " Your guild master Shakuni , he also won a medal today in the opening event , what kind of a person is he? ". Kalash " Well he is undoubtedly the best player in the guild , everyone respects him a lot , we never doubted him winning the gold medal , we were a bit annoyed when the parallax guy was hogging the spotlight , but such things are temporary , we knew guild leader would always beat him ". Derek Ray : " Your guild leader never considered parallax competition ? ". Kalash: " He is not worthy enough to enter guild leaders eyes ". A loud '' Ooooooooo '' erupted from the crowd, this was a juicy provocation. Rudra watching from home was dumbfounded ..... What nonsense is this guy spouting ? Why is this interview going in the direction of what guild leader is doing , Fatty won the medal , ask him about him, you dumb interviewer. However when he looked left and right in the room , everyone seemed to nod to Fatty''s words as if it were undeniable truth. Fatty''s interview then ended , and the interviewer then got onto the silver medal winner , before coming finally arriving to Jhonny. Derek Ray : Well sir Jhonny English , congratulations on your victory in this event , you slept halfway through it , were you confident in your victory ? Jhonny English : Ofcourse I was Derek , I am not a Blacksmith by profession , I''m a fighter , I''m in the prison escape event and the capture the flag event , blacksmithing is more like a hobby , even so I can do better than the jokes the other countries sent as competition. Not even one other could produce even a epic rated item , I''m dissapointed. Silence. Silence for a moment around the world. He actually dared to say that the competition was a joke on live tv? Derek Ray was dumbfounded at Jhonny''s confidence he struggled to utter a word for a minute , he then said " Your guild the True Elites , won 4 medals today for Japan , is the guild special ? Why does it have soo many talents? ". Jhonny English : " Well actions speak louder than words Derek , you tell me if the guild is extraordinary or what ? If you have to ask such a question after seeing the results then I'' ll question your intelligence. However to the retards who want to question our worth , I''d say most of our talents have not even competed yet". Derek Ray : " You mean , we can expect more medals from your guild ?". Jhonny English " Absolutely ". Derek Ray " One last question sir Jhonny , what kind of a person/ leader is Shakuni ? ". Jhonny English : " Shakuni is a special boy , I knew it when I first met him , to your question , the guild leader Shakuni , and the actual man behind Shakuni , Rudra Rajput , are two completely different people. If you take me , I''m Jhonny English wherever I''m , but Rudra is a kind , easy going boy in real world , only 22 or so , a youg cheery lad , however guild leader Shakuni is a damn monster. He is the reason behind the guilds success. Constant hellish training , complete obedience , he only accepts the best in the guild and trains them to become the best. Third place winner Kalash , lost 40 pounds in one month , that''s how much guild leader worked him to the bone , in actual forges , under high heat , then consistently in the virtual world as well. The win is not a lucky thing , we work like madmen to achieve it , and he is there to push us all the way". Derek Ray : " Kalash said that the guild master doesn''t even consider Parallax competition , they both are scheduled in the same event , one v one battle , right here in the Grand collessuem , what are your thoughts ? ". Jhonny : " Last question around you said one last question Derek , I''m sorry , I don''t do interview with unprofessional people ". Saying soo Jhonny walked off. However Jhonny did not know the ramifications that his and Kalash''s words would bring on the world stage. The interviews went viral , with the part where Kalash said Rudra did not even consider Parallax competition being the highlight , whereas Jhonny talking about the demonic training Rudra put the members through as the second highlight. The guild with outstanding achievements the True Elites became a focal point of a variety of rumors and conspiracy theories, most of them were ridiculous baloney , however some were actually a mixture of truth and lies which made it a believeable fabricated story. The actually family like guild was started to being potrayed as a guild of madmen who were forced to train to the bone to win medals. Rudra was started to being painted as a arrogant tyrant , whereas the #shakuni vs parallax became trending worlwide. Rudra was utterly stupefied watching the interview unflur , he felt like the earth was spinning under his feet. What nonsense was the media spouting about him. He was not a mad tyrant masochist ,who worked his guild members to the bone , everyone volunteered to train. When he looked around the room however , his hopes came crashing down , the guild members were nodding their heads at what the media was saying . Rudra''s mood hit rock bottom. However , unknown to Rudra , the person who was the most pissed off about the interview was Parallax. Gritting his teeth he kept mumbling '' I''m not even a competitor in his eyes eh .. I''ll show you , I will redeem myself , one v one fight , bring it Shakuni , I''ll show you who the boss is ''. While the person most satisfied with the interview was Ethan Grey , he was happy as how things turned out. Rudra would now walk into one v one fight with a chip on his shoulder! . A hero in Japan while a madman for the world , the legend of the demon of death valley began to grow! /// Bonus chapter earned by the contribution of the whale patron Nicholas_ Savage , thank him in the comments ! /// Chapter 280: Day two Day 2 was Rudra''s off day as Day 3 was going to be the day where the one v one competition would start. Today the only event where Elites were participating was the Prison escape event. SMG and Sir Jhonny were up. Rudra felt a little bad for sir Jhonny to have to get two events back to back , however knowing that it was sir Jhonny he felt it would turn out to be okay. Rudra wanted to sit and enjoy the event , but did not want to waste the full day watching Olympics , especially with him needing only some more exp to level up. About 8 hours of intense levelling should to the trick , get him sharp and ready for tomorrow. Hence after wishing the duo luck , Rudra logged into Omega and decided to go level up. Upon logging in Rudra noticed a huge change inside the game. About 90% of the city was filled with NPC today , there were hardly any players. Most had chosen to stay at home and enjoy the Olympics. Even the guild hall usually bustling was now devoid of many people , only a few servants and few players could be spotted here and there. The platinum guild Headquarters was basically empty. Shaking the eery feeling off , Rudra summoned his grey wolf mount , and set off for the level 80-90 levelling grounds. -------- Martin Tyler : Hello ladies and gentlemen my name is Martin Tyler and with me is Aaron Smith , we will be the commentators for today''s VR Olympics. Aaron Smith : Goodmorning Martin , what a exciting day we have ahead of us , Prison escape followed by aerial acrobatics and Equestrian. Three banger of an events. Martin Tyler : Well Aaron , personally prison escape is one of my favourite events. The thrill of breaking out of prisons without being caught. A test of strategy , skills , agility and stealth. Gives you chills eh. Aaron Smith : Absolutely Martin , let us have a look at today''s competitors for Prison escape event , firstly we have from Japan the mysterious player SMG. Much like Jhonny English and Kalash he is also a elder of the infamous True Elites guild , someone to lookout for. Martin Tyler : Speaking of Jhonny English , the blacksmithing medal winner is also a part of this event. Upon being interviewed yesterday he boldly claimed to be a combat player and that blacksmithing was only a hobby , giving a tight slap to all blacksmithing players , he is certainly not to be underestimated. Aaron Smith : A very interesting guy , Jhonny , will Japan clutch another two medals from this event? Only time will tell. Martin Tyler : Up next we have from Mexico , Jos¨¦ Antonio. What''s interesting about him is that he is actually a criminal Aaron an escapee from an actual prison in Mexico. Pardoned after he helped the police tighten the security of the jail. He is someone we can call a professional. Aaron Smith : He might be a professional Martin, but he absolutely pales in comparison to the notorious American prison breaking champion , nicknamed the Rat , he is infamous for breaking through 4 different prisons , one of them being a maximum security prison on a deserted island called ''Alcatraz''. He is a true champion in escaping from prisons , no doubt about it. Martin Tyler : There is also the Indian mastermind Brijay Malia taking part in the event. He is a tax evader who has not only escaped from a prison , but a whole Country unnoticed and managed to stay undetected for 13 years before finally being caught and brought back to India. His participation in the event was controversial , however he is gauranteed parole should he win. Aaron Smith : Well soo many medal contenders Martin , this will be a banger of a event. I''m sure the participants have practiced in many mock jails during the training month , however I can assure the viewers worldwide this prison will be on a completely different scale and a completely different layout than what they would have ever practiced in . Martin Tyler : Expect the unexpected , is what Cuber officials told us before the event . Aaron Smith : Expect the unexpected , what a phrase. The countdown begins ladies and gentlemen , who will win this event .... 10 ....9 ..... 5...4.....3.....2.....1 ! ------- ( In the waiting area , just before the competition started ) Jhonny English was minding his own buisness , standing with SMG in the waiting area. Jhonny and SMG had a same wavelength amongst them. Both were extremely calm and collected. SMG''s calm came from the fact that he was a trained assasin and a true professional , he had ice flowing in his viens , and things like anxiety did not affect him at all. Jhonny''s calm came from the fact that he did not really have a plan at all , he was walking in knowing what to do next and hence had nothing to fret over what if something went wrong. He was of a mentality of whatever happens will happen anyway. SMG did not utter a word , over countless experiments he had learnt that while you were teleported into the game with no equipment , whatever you had in your mouth would stay with you when you teleport in. Hence he had a lockpicking wire stuffed under his tongue. He wanted to tell this secret to English once , however knowing how Jhonny outperformed him in the selections , he was ashamed to tell him .As he felt It was rude to give advice to seniors. There were many who knew this secret , and many who did not , and the only one''s speaking in the lobby were the one''s who were the idiots who did not know. One such idiot was a contestant from Country G, he was a illegal immigrant who was arrested once in Japan for robbery and aggravated assault. He was imprisoned in a local jail in Japan from where he escaped after bending the electric fence using nothing but his bare hands. It was a miracle that he survived , however the current burnt the flesh in his hands , and gave him weird burn tattoos all over his body. He looked very terrifying. The man escaped from Japan to China crossing the sea of Japan on only a small wooden raft. From where he eventually made his way back to his hometown over the period of two years. He hated the Japanese to the bone , the country where he suffered soo much. Coming upto Jhonny and SMG the man said " You japanese are weak , your prisons are weak , I escaped japanese prison after breaking the electric fence with my bare hands , these scars are given after that incident , you represent japan hence I will eat you raw in this competition , and get redemption for all trauma I suffered. ". SMG ignored the man , he did not want to waste his breath on such a fool , however Jhonny took the bait , he said " Ohhhhh , how cute , think of yourself as a tough guy ? ". The man said " Ask your momma how tough I am , she will tell you ". SMG squinted his eyes at this comment , this man was crossing a line now , this was not normal disrespect , it was to be expected that a fugitive would not have basic decency , but even then this man was testing the patience of sir Jhonny , at this rate a fight might break out between the two. Jhonny laughed at this comment , it was a angry laugh , the entire lobby was now focused on the conversation now ,things were getting heated. Jhonny said " well well tough guy , think you can win this ? ". The man replied "I know I will win it , you rotten japanese sushi ". Jhonny replied " What happens if you don''t , what happens if I win the event? ". The man said " Tch , have you ever even been to prison? You law abiding citizen , you will never know the value of freedom because you never lost it , I will never loose to a japanese dog like you ". Jhonny replied " Okay , let''s put a bet then , if you loose infront of the world , you will call me daddy , if I loose to you , I will call myself a rotten japnese sushi .... Have the balls to accept or did you forget them at home with Grandma? ". The man said " Okay , I accept , get ready to loose old man ". Jhonny smirked and said " Never underestimate a old man ". The countdown for the event started with this ..... 3....2.....1 ! They were teleported into their respective cells. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job guys ! /// Chapter 281: Prison Escape The moment everyone was teleported into their respective cells , they were shocked to see the state in which they were teleported in. The event prison escape was in a bit of a modern setting , as opposed to mediaeval setting of the general Omega. The prison was high tech , and very hard to escape from. All competitors were teleported to floor one of the prison , and contrary to the practice breaks , here not all inmates were players. There were Npc inmates of various species here , and that made the escape that much more tricky. Should any of the NPC rat on someone trying to escape , or threaten to rat unless they bring them along , one would be in a bind. Everyone was spawned inside isolated cells with one window the size of one''s palm on the ceiling , and one window on the thick metal door that barred the prison cell. Additionally , the prisoners were bound by handcuffs both on their hand and their feet. Simple walking was difficult in the cell. The difficulty of the event was unlike what anyone expected . Even if one somehow removed the bounds around their hand and feet , the metal door barring the prison cell was solid. Unlike the practice run , where it was bars , here reaching the lock from the inside , was impossible. Most players including SMG , that had the lockpicking wire stuffed under their tongues had the same idea about how to escape , that was to first unbound themselves from the cuffs and then somehow get the guard to open the cell door , then when the guard is least expecting it , stealthily take the guard out to ensure freedom. This was not a bad idea , but this was not a full proof idea either. Should the guard get suspicious , or should the silent take down fail , it would spell doom for the participant. There were three guards patrolling floor one , and many NPC inmates mixed alongwith players. It would be extremely difficult to get out of here unnoticed. SMG grit his teeth , he had freed himself from the bounds , but was not finding any openings to call over an isolated guard. He would have to take a chance , and he hated the fact that he had to gamble at the very first step of the competition. Should he be busted , it would end before it even started for him. However , he was loosing valuable time here , he had no idea about what the prison layout was , or how much time he would need to escape the prison . -------- Martin Tyler : well the prison escape event has started Aaron , and well it looks like trouble came early for the participants in this competition eh. Just escaping from the cell and the first floor , is astronomical in difficulty ! Aaron Smith : Absolutely Martin , what is to be noted here is that , cuber corporation announced while announcing this event , that should nobody be able to successfully escape the prison , then nobody would get a medal from this event. There is no guarantee that there will even be a medal in this event. Martin Tyler : Well said Aaron , we may have a single medalist or maybe only two medal winners total. The matter of time taken to clear the event only comes into play if someone actually clears the event. Aaron Smith : Well 30 minutes had passed since the event started Martin , and yet nobody has escaped from their cell. 23 contestants have removed their constraints though , however everyone is waiting for some opening to capitalise on the advantage. Martin Tyler: It''s one of those situations where the first to act looses Aaron , if one or two guards divert their attention to a certain inmate then the others would surely capitalise on the opening . Aaron Smith : We see movement Martin , one of the contestants from Europe , Andrew , who is free of his bounds has called for the guards. Martin Tyler : He is coughing violently , and I assume has bit his tongue , soo that blood is pouring from his mouth , making it seem like a medical emergency he is trying the guards to open up. Aaron Smith : well , he better be carefull , because he has the attention of two guards on him. Not one. However the other guard has been attracted by the player from Mexico , Jos¨¨ , the notorious prison escapee. All the guards are distracted now Martin , let''s see if something interesting happens. SMG was carefully observing how the situation unfolded , and understanding how it worked. Jos¨¦ managed to take down the solo guard , and make a run from floor one , however , Andrew who drew the attention of two guards , was busted. While jos¨¨ made a run , all the other inmates started to scream that a prisoner was escaping , however since the other guards were busy with Andrew , he managed to flee detection. It was a brilliant move by Jos¨¨ , and it gave SMG a lot of inspiration. SMG picked up on a critical point that others missed , and that was that only two other guards were left. Which meant that atmost two more people could use the guards to open the door to escape. Thinking quick on his feet , He started to bang on the doors of his prison cell , calling the guard out. SMG called extremely vulgar insults to the guards , who was instantly taunted and started to walk towards SMG''s cell with a tazer In hand. The other contestant from Country G , the one that taunted Jhonny at the start of the event , drew the attention of the other one. Both were successful in taking down the guards , and were free to escape floor one. The other inmates kept screaming at the top of their lungs , however nobody who was free from their cell was stopping for anybody else and no matter how much they pleaded , they went onto try escape the prison. With all three guards down , there was currently no way to escape from the prison cell. One hour into the event , with one inmate dead and three escaping floor one , the others started to get desperate. Everyone except Jhonny English ofcourse , who was busy perfecting the penguin walk in his chains. Chapter 282: What is this man doing? ( 3 hours into the competition ) Martin Tyler : Well 3 hours into the competition and I can only tell it to be dissapointing soo far Aaron , only 3 people have made it out of their initial cells , and those who have are not Faring particularly too well , all being stuck on the floor one itself. Aaron Smith : Well Martin , this prison is special , to explain its layout to our viewers worldwide , the prison is sprawled over an area of 25 square killometers. Divided into 3 floors and one basement. There is no bifercation of prison building and outer prison wall or fence or anything.Only one large cement structure. There are no windows in the structure and there is only two points of entry into the structure. One at the basement , and one at the terrace. Hence to escape one needs to make their way to either the heavily guarded basement , or through floor two and three towards the terrace. The entire 25 km square building only has two working staircases , that are heavily barricaded. Between two floors there are 7 layers of restrictions to be crossed just on the staircase. Overall the difficulty is near impossible. ------- Jos¨¨ was carefully trying to make his way across the prison , but there were locked doors and guards at every floor , even the damn staircase was filled with unnecessary steel gated bars. Overall the sheer security of the place was too damn annoying , half a dozen guards patrolled each corridor , spending about 3 hours making no serious headway , Jos¨¨ understood that escaping from the cell was the easy part compared to this. Uptill now he did not even have a idea about the rough layout of the place , or even from where to escape? , how far was the boundry? , What was the prison boundry? , He had no clue. There was not a single window that he could access , from where he could look outside and atleast get a rough idea about the layout of the place. It was then , that he came up with a bold plan , probably the most insane plan in the history of prison breaking , but he was desperate , and needed to do something. In a room on the far right corner of floor one , was the control centre for all the prison cells on floor one. Jos¨¨ made his way to that room , looking inside , there were two guards inside. He clicked his tongue , this was harder than he thought. However on the plus side , only one guard was armed , while the other was not. Deciding to take the risk , he approached the armed guard as stealthily he could , and choked his neck from behind. The man instantly started to frail and struggle , but jos¨¨ twisted his neck , and killed him right there. The other guard was dumbfounded , he tried to punch jos¨¨, and a scuffle broke out. Jos¨¨ overpowered the second guard too , and put him in a choke. However before he could completely put the guy to sleep , the guard pressed the panick button on the command pannel , meant to be pressed in emergency. Sirens started to blare , and the lights turned red , Jos¨¨ panicked , he did not want things to turn this way. In a desperate move , he started to look for things like layout of the prison , or other useful stuff , as he had about 20 seconds max before security started to flood the room. While looking for something useful his eyes came across the control pannel , where pressing the specific button , opened the cell of the specific prisoner. In a moment of inspiration , he madly started to press all the buttons in the room , to release every single inmate on floor one. He did this in hopes that the released inmates would cause mayhem and divert the security from his location to the location of the cells. And his plan worked , when all the prisoners including all players and NPC''s were released , some were cuffed and some had broken loose , however a brawl and overall mayhem descended on floor one. --------- Aaron Smith : Well Martin that is cold , the man snapped the neck of the prison guard , ruthless! Just plain ruthless. Martin Tyler : He is in a fistfight with the second guard now , Aaron , but seems to have the upper hand , ooooh , the guard just hit the alarm , he is in trouble , big trouble. Aaron Smith : What is this man doing Martin , he is releasing every single inmate on floor one. Genius move , absolutely brilliant , it is A double edged sword , because the released inmates may overtake him in the long run. However it certainly saved him for now , as security is redirected. ( Image cut to the area where the inmates have just been freed ) Martin Tyler : Look at this Aaron , it''s mayhem here. The guards are open firing , those still with the cuffs on are wriggling on the floor trying to escape , but it''s clear none of them can. Aaron Smith : Yes , but they have to Martin , they have to , if they manage to get away under this chaos , there is a good chance they can escape. At the very least they will be further than they are now. Martin Tyler : Woohoo , finally some excitement in the competition, I have a feeling this will be a major turning point. Aaron Smith : The guards have finally started to move cell to cell Martin , but they are a bit too late , the inmates are either dead or already have ran away , on the entire floor one I doubt that there will be a single inmate left. Martin Tyler : I agree Aaron , nobody is foolish enough to not escape after the prison door literally opened for them , if someone is still in the cell even after this chance then I think they are not cut out for this event. Aaron Smith : Absolutely Martin , I don''t think they will find any... Ehhhhh , someone is in the cell . ( Jhonny was in the cell , silently reading a newspaper as he took a dump ) When the guards came storming in , Jhonny raised both his hands in innocence , and said " Ehhh ehhh ehhh , can you atleast let a man do his buisness in peace ? ". The guards " ...". The commentators " .... ". Worldwide audience " ... ". The generals in Japan " ... ". The Elites " ..... ". Yume " How rude! ". Chapter 283: Thy name is Jhonny English Martin Tyler " What is this man doing Aaron , why has he not escaped? ". Aaron Smith " That is Jhonny English from Japan , the winner of the blacksmithing competition , what is he still doing in the cell? ". Martin Tyler " I have absolutely no idea Aaron , I fail to comprehend the strategy of this man , it''s been 210 minutes since the competition started , however he is yet to remove a single bind from himself. It''s like he is not even trying ! ". Aaron Smith " Well I think he has folded the towel , Its plain stupid what he is doing I have no words to defend his actions , now there are seven guards on floor one , and he is the single prisoner left ". Martin Tyler " The chances of him escaping are simply 0 , I don''t understand what he is going to do ". ---------- When the gates opened suddenly , Jhonny was startled as well , he really wanted to escape the room , however he did not want to run around in his chains. His penguin walk looked ridiculous and he did not want to humiliate himself infront of the world watching , he would much rather not move . After the guards left his room , Jhonny clutched the flush on the toilet as a reflex , and to his surprise the flush handle came clean off , into his hand. The handle was actually fake , and had a key attached to it. Jhonny was dumbfounded , what turn of events .... Was this the key to his bounds? Naturally since there was a challenge placed to escape the prison , the AI would not make it absolutely impossible for all contestants. Every single room in the prison cell had the fake flush and key to open the bounds of all contestants. However everyone except Jhonny failed to find this hidden clue. Jhonny was happy , sitting back down on the toiled he tried to unlock his handcuffs first. However reaching the key hole with both hands bound was a very difficult task. And the key accidentally slipped from his hand , dropping right into the toilet. Jhonny stood up in anger , and looked inside the toilet , the key was right there at the bottom. Jhonny cursed his luck , what was he supposed to do now? Just the thought of putting his hand inside the dirty water made him have goosebumps and a urge to vomit. However he needed that key , hence making his mind he held his breath , as he tried to get the key , out of necessity he had to put both his hands inside the toilet , as they were bound. Jhonny''s fingers hit the key , but it slipped further inside , and trying to reach out to it , Jhonny realized that he was screwed. He had the key under his finger , but his hand was stuck in the toilet. The handcuffs just won''t pull back! Jhonny was in a very awkward position now , and as he tried to forcefully remove his hands , the entire toilet seat came unhinged , however remained stuck to his hand. And dirty water and waste started to pour out from the unhinged plumbing. Jhonny panicked and started to scream for help " Hellppp , helpp , there is sh** coming out , help ". One guard rushed and peeked to look at the situation , dumbfounded at what the hell was going inside. Calling for reinforcements he quickly opened the door. Jhonny ran straight out of his cell. Pungent smell now covering him. Jhonny looked at an officer and said " My hands are stuck inside the seat. You have to free me ". The officers all looked at each other , this was indeed a complex problem. The toilets in jail were not made from ceramic or plastic , they were made from hard steel , hence it was not like they could just crack it open and they could not leave Jhonny in such a state too. Having no options left , one officer took Jhonny to floor three of the building , into a mechanical workshop where he started to use a high quality metal cutter to cut the toilet open. The guard was working hard on freeing Jhonny , however while cutting the toilet seat , he had accidentally also cut Jhonny''s restraints. Hence when Jhonny was freed from the toilet seat , with the key in his palm , he punched the officer that freed him right in the face knocking him out. Freeing himself , he took the metal cutter in his hands and said " Huh , just as I planned ". ------- Martin Tyler " So the toilet flush had a hidden key , who would have thought eh Aaron". Aaron Smith " Well that is a one lucky guy , he can now atleast free himself , however there are seven guards on floor one now , it is suicide to think about escaping ". Martin Tyler " Whatttttttt , he dropped the key into the toilet , how clumsy does one have to be for this to happen ". Aaron Smith " He s stuck now , ohh god , he s stuck , hahahaha , you can''t make things like this up Martin , hahahaha ". Martin Tyler " The toilet came unhinged and now it''s literally raining poop , god , what is happening , hahahahaa ". Aaron Smith " Look at him screaming for help , Martin , hahaha , what will the guards do ". Martin Tyler " The guards took pity on him. Ehhh they are ascending the stairs". Aaron Smith " They took him to floor three mechanical workshop room , I think they are going to cut him free ". Martin Tyler " It''s funny how he is the one who is currently the closest to the exit , eh , Aaron , noone else has reached third floor or basement yet". Aaron Smith " Ohhh , he s free , and he punched the guard out ". ( The camera showing Jhonny English hold the metal cutter and coldly say '' Just like I planned ''. ) Martin Tyler ".....''". Aaron Smith " He couldn''t have thought things would turn this way from the start right .....? ". Martin Tyler " Oioioi , he s free and on top floor now .... What''s going on ? ". Aaron Smith " What a turnaround ladies and gentleman , if he pulls this off , then history would remember the deeds of the man , his name Jhonny English !". Chapter 284: He does it again Jhonny had absolutely no idea about what to do after he got the metal cutters , he had no idea about the layout of the place either. On one side SMG was progressively making his way to the basement , killing guards after guards , solving problems and on the other side Jhonny just kept fumbling his way to unexpected circumstances. If someone was to explain the enigma named Jhonny English , they would have only one phrase to describe the man " Expect the unexpected ". Nothing made sense with Jhonny , who could have ever thought in their wildest dreams that the man would get his hands stuck in a metal toilet which would force the guards to practically escort him to the third floor and give him potent metal cutters . Like while strategizing before the prison escape event , most would learn skills like lockpicking , or stealth , or how to take out guards while being unarmed and the sort , who would make a strategy like ... Get your hands stuck in a metal toilet and unhinge it from the plumbing system.... The entire thing could only be defined as absurd. Was Jhonny a mastermind? Was he just a lucky fool? Nobody knew the answer. -------- ( 14 hours into the event ) SMG had finally made his way to the basement , he was the current leader , closest to the exit. He was thoroughly surprised after learning about the layout of the prison. It was a one massive building with only one way in and one way out in the basement. Apart from that it also had a helipad on the terrace , those were the only two routes one could take to escape. However going to the upper floors was suicide , it required one to move Through floor two , which was basically the most heavily guarded floor of the prison where the solitary confinement blocks were in place for the most nefarious criminals with the highest strength. The third floor was the recreational floor of sorts , with the bath and a reading room , and rooms for other jobs like kitchen duty , mechanical engineering room , bathroom cleaning and the like. It had the least security. However it was still impossible to get to the terrace. As it was not blocked by seven inch thick steel gate with biometric lock , one cannot get through it without military grade bolt cutters .... Hence SMG chose the basement route. The problem with the basement route was that , the solo exit was heavily guarded , SMG had spent nearly an hour trying to figure out how to get out , when he suddenly heard gunshots. Surprisingly someone else had made their way to the basement as well , about 20 meters from his hiding spot , someone was shot dead. SMG did not let this affect his nerves , he patiently waited for his chance , which he got , when a supplies truck rolled into the basement , and the guards started to unload the shipment. SMG stealthily made his way to the nearest pillar to where the truck was , his plan was to somehow get in the truck as it started to leave. Calculating carefully , it was a bit risky , and he would need to take out two guards to get in unnoticed. What he did not know was , that the inmate from country G , the one that called out Jhonny and him before the game started was right across the other side pillar to where SMG was , thinking about the same thing. Just as the last box was unloaded , they both suddenly sprang into action , taking one guard out each . Both of them were shocked to see each other , but the transport van was going to leave soon , as they heard the engine start , if they fought here and the van left they would be stranded. If they fought and made too much noise they would be discovered. Pressed hard for options , SMG quickly said " Truce ". And put his hand out , the other man looked reluctant , but he shook it nonetheless as both of them boarded the van silently. Just as expected , the van drove outside the facility , they needed to go only a few more meters before they would have escaped. Sighing in releif , SMG finally smiled and let his guard down for a second. It turned out to be his fatal mistake , as the man from country G , suddenly pulled out a gun hidden inside his outfit and shot SMG square in the head. Saying " Sorry , never trust anyone ". Hence SMG , because of an unexpected betrayal , died just a few meters before the safe line , however the idiot who shot him did not fare much better either. Because of the shot , the driver stopped the van immediately , and the man was forced to come out of the backside of the van . He did not expect there to be much trouble , he thought he would just kill the driver and sprint to the safe line , however little did he expect that the driver was also a officer. The moment he stepped out of the van , 3 bullets penetrated him square in the chest. He died only 17 meters away from the safe line! ------------- Aaron Smith : " Whyyyyy , whyyyyy did the stupid man shoot? , They had a truce , they would have crossed the finish line together , why did he have to play dirty ? ". Martin Tyler : he needs to watchout Aaron , the driver is also s police officer , an armed one at that. Aaron Smith : he comes out of the back of the van , ohhh I don''t think he knows where the police officer is at all , he is showing him his back. The cop is closing in , less than 5 Meters between him and the suspect. ( The man turns , only to be shot three times in the chest ) Martin Tyler : There it is , a horrific end , Karma came really quick for him didnt it? Dead before crossing the line , trying to up the Japanese the idiot lost his life as well. I hope he is happy now! Aaron Smith : Stupid Martin , plain stupid , his twisted sense of self has costed his country a medal , I hear he is a criminal on parole , I don''t think things will end well for him after this slip up. Martin Tyler : Well only a few more hours to go , will anyone manage to win the silver medal ? Or will we only have a single winner for this event? Aaron Smith : It remains to be found out , stay tuned ! Chapter 285: There can be only one (10 hours into the event ) (4 hours before SMG dies ) Jhonny was facing the 12 inch thich steel door extending to the terrace. And he looked at the tiny metal cutter in his hand , and sighed. He felt life was too unfair and hard for him . There was a biometric lock on the door , and Jhonny put his eyeball right into the eyescanner, just to try his luck. However his luck was as rotten as ever as he was denied access. Jhonny clicked his tongue , where would he find an eyeball that could open this door now , the little metal cutter in his hand could for sure not cut the door open. He was left without any options , scratching his brain for ideas. ------- Martin Tyler : Well he had a good plan Aaron , between him and freedom lies only this one thick door , but I don''t think he will be able to open this. Aaron Smith : Yes Martin , I think he has no choice but to unfortunately make his way to the basement starting now , and considering he is on floor 3 , he could not be more away. Martin Tyler : Well he could try to get the person needed to open the lock.... However who amongst the thousands of guards in this prison is that person is anyone''s guess. Aaron Smith : He activated the metal cutter , Martin , what is he trying to achieve with this? Martin Tyler : I don''t know , the metal cutter is not even making a scratch on the thick steel , it''s bouncing off cleanly against the surface. I think it''s hopeless , I don''t think he can open this door. ( It was at this moment that Jhonny pressed the metal cutter with all his might , trying to make a cut into the metal , however instead it slipped and lost a bit control , cutting the biometric lock mounted on the door clean in half ) ( The red biometric lock got deactivated , as the locks on the door opened, Jhonny pushed the 12 inch door open ) Aaron Smith : Oh my god , what just happened , what just happened , he cut the biometric lock itself and the door got unlocked , there was no way that he could have unlocked the door soo he just cut the lock , it''s open Martin , he s close to escaping. Martin Tyler : ooo it''s nothing short of a miracle , incomprehensible this man and his actions , absolutely incomprehensible , he solves problems in a way that my brain can''t even think of as a slightest possibility. This is a rare genius Aaron , we are but foolish mortals infront of him. His IQ definitely crossed 200 or more , twice of a smart man. Aaron Smith : Ooh , he stops in his tracks , Victory is soo close , why is he delaying his escape soo close to victory? ----------- Celebration started early in the Japanese general''s office , seemed like another gold medal was in the bag for Japan . Praises were being heavily rained on the man Jhonny English. He was hailed as the epitome of genius , a true pioneer , a champion etc , etc. Although every single person in the room , was just scratching their heads thinking '' Bloody hell , how did he pull this off ...? ''. They would not embarass themselves saying it out loud. They would all nod and play ball like , ofcourse this is to be expected. Many generals now felt the dilema of the mercenaries across the world. When Jhonny was a mercenary , he did impossible missions in ways that common sense could not comprehend. Hailed as the greatest mercenary ever , he always left others scratching their brains about how did he pull it off? Now the generals and analysts around the world were left with the same situation ... Just how does one make sense of Jhonny English ? Ethan Grey was not faring much better .... If Jhonny did it once or twice , it might be luck , but him pulling off impossible everytime in a fashion that nobody could make sense of every single time could only mean that the man was a genius beyond what common man could understand. He knew for sure that he needed to increase his ties with Jhonny , this was a extremely valuable ally. -------- Jhonny did not escape immediately after reaching the terrace , he first looked around at the layout of the prison , only to find only one single large building. He was baffled , what the hell was this structure. The terrace was huge , with about 17 helipads , but only one single entrance. The one using which he came to the top. Jhonny looked down to see the three storey jump he would need to make to get out of this prison. But he absolutely changed his mind in an instant. He did not want to give his legs a jerk , should he not be able to run the distance afterwards. Jhonny instead decided to steal a helicopter from one of the helipads , he went in and being a mercenary with experience he knew all the controls and how to maneuver the device. Had it been anyone else except Jhonny , a normal criminal or average player would never have known how to fly a helicopter , and hence would be forced to make the jump. However , what the players did not know was that the jump was not safe at all. As except the road made for supplies that eventually opened to the prisons basement. The rest of the area covering the prison was a active minefield. There was no way to safely traverse it except being blown apart. Jhonny''s choice to hence steal a helicopter made him inadvertently safe. Jhonny stole the helicopter , and immediately got radio activity about how this was a unauthorised take off. But he paid it no mind , traversing the safe distance with a helicopter was a piece of cake as within 30 seconds he crossed the safe line to become the gold medal winner of the event! However what he did not know was that he would be the sole winner of the event. SMG and the man from country G would die just outside the border 4 hours later. And Jos¨¨ the Mexican would get blown up in the minefield. Hence day 2 ended , with Jhonny English being the sole medal winner for the prison escape event! Chapter 286: The time has come SMG was shook up after his loss at the prison escape event , he was extremely happy to know that sir Jhonny bagged a gold , but that night he could not sleep a wink , trying to figure out where he went wrong. Trying to think about it , he started from the start , when he escaped the cell , from that very moment till when he got in the car , it was near perfect execution. 14 hours of intense focus and constant maneuvering through danger , and after all that , why did he drop his guard against a stranger? It was a stupid mistake and it burnt him to the core , he continually tossed and turned in bed , his emotions surging , he was very very frustrated. It was then that he understood the answer upon as to why. It was because of the environment he was in. The organization where he was from , he was in constant danger , he never truly had slept calmly as there was always a chance of attacks during night , it was a ruthless environment that kept his every sense on its edge , a man was constantly in survival mode , and although it was hard and many broke down , those who whethered it , became untouchable. However all that changed as he joined the True Elites , he had reliable teammates , a safe environment in the upside , and a strong leader to rely on. He was no longer on the edge and had a more stable environment. Although he had no complains about this , he also realized that luxury had made him complacent. The SMG from the assasin organization would never have made a mistake like dropping guard against a stranger just before the finish line. His blood boiled in anger , and it was at this very moment that he decided to ditch the comfort and go back to the state that put him on the edge. '' Trust Noone and Train hard to survive another day ''. The world of the Elites was too shiny and bright for him to show his potential 100% , as he was an agent of darkness. Determination filled his eyes , he vowed to get the two other gold medals , only then would he redeem himself! ------- The country of Japan was in a celebration every day , as their country had already gotten 3 gold medals out of 6 events , and were on the number one spot worldwide , with many many more events to go it seemed like they could expect dominating performance from their players. The name True Elites and each and every member of the group , especially the elders became extremely popular throughout Japan , all media and news channels covering every single clip and general introduction about the members one by one in their prime time show. It was a celebration inside the upside as well , as Ethan Grey lit the entire township up like it was Christmas , every day was a huge celebration. He along with president Shinzo Abe personally visited the guild headquarters and had a photoshoot with Rudra , Jhonny , fatty and Neatwit. While also having a photoshoot with the entire guild as a whole. Rudra looked at that photo and smiled , he felt like this was definitely going on the guild halls wall! Along with the photo of elites batch one , batch two , and the photo of the Elites with the elves and the won knight army division. Though the guild had tasted some victories ,the overall atmosphere was one of hugry wolves. Those whose events were yet to start were now pumped to proove their worth , while those who did not get a chance to participate this year , started to train harder for next year. Rudra was lazer focused , day 3 and 4 was the most important day in the events day list , with day 3 being the qualifiers for the combat events One v one fighting Cliff fighting First blood match While day 4 holding the semi finals and finals. This was the most hyped up event in the entire event list , and although all three had their own charm , it was fairly certain that one v one fighting was the most acclaimed of the three. Just like there were many proffesions in the lifestyle aspect of the game , but only the blacksmithing contest was held in the grand collosseum. The only fighting contest held in the grand collessuem was one v one fighting. It was the ground where countless legends were born , countless underdogs squashed , a few dark horses rising , and a few Davids conquering goliaths. The crown of Olympics , the event the world was waiting to watch. If a difference between this event and the other two was to be made , it was like comparing football to handball. There is no disrespect at being a handball champion , a gold medal Is a gold medal. However there is just no comparison between the weight of the two victories and the Grandeur of the champions. Rudra competing in One v one fighting Karna competing in Cliff fighting Neatwit competing in first blood match All the Elites top 3 would be in action tommorow. With the world''s eyes on the group , will they live up to the hype? Or will the Elites be squashed? , It was a make or break day for the group , should the results be good in these events , then one could say without a shadow of a doubt , that the Elites had the best talent roster in the entire Omega . With countless strong opponents , some sneaky , some powerfull , some with grit and will , in a sport where a single mistake could topple the momentum of a hunter to becoming a prey , it was going to be a testimony of true skill. With the top management themselves representing the guild tommorow , the atmosphere in the guild hall was electric , everyone bar no exception was going to see the event live in the guild hall. --------- ( 2 hours before the event started) Rudra finally levelled up ! It took him much longer than he expected , as he had to log out once to meet the president as he came to the guild hall , it delayed his plans by a few hours. He called up his stats pannel . ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer . Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 76 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 802 +401 VIT : 802 +401 INT : 802 +401 STA : 802 +401 PHY : 802 +401 HP : 112,000/112,000 unassigned stat points : 0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (183/200) ---- Satisfied , he smiled. No matter which group he was placed in tommorow , he was confident in qualifying for the semi finals! Chapter 287: One V One Fighting (1) Day 3 of the VR Olympics with the preliminaries for the three most hyped events in the sport. The general layout of all the preliminaries was the same , there were four groups A , B , C , D Consisting of round of 128 knockout style tournament in Each match . Hence one contestant would need to win 7 matches to become the champions of their respective groups. There were a total of 250 countries participating in this event , hence there were a total of 500 participants in this event , 2 from each country. Because of this , not all participants would need to fight in the round of 128 , as some would get a ( by ) in the match , and as a rule of the thumb , no two contenders of the same country would be in the same block. Hence for example one player from Japan was in block A , then the other one would be in block B , this would ensure fair and healthy competition. Hence today was going to be a long day for Rudra , at the best case scenario if he got a ( by )in the first round , he would still need to fight and win 6 matches to advance. If not he would need to fight seven. Although the initial matches would not be in the grand collosseum , the matches from the semi - final of the group stage forward would all be in the grand collosseum. Rudra was placed in Group A , while Jin Mori was placed in Group C for Japan. Parallax was in group D , this caused many fans who wanted to see Rudra take on Parallax click their tongues in dissapointment. Considering how hard it was to advance from each group , the chances of the two facing seemed slim. The one v one fighting was the grandest event of them all , and the Rudra vs Parallax rivalry was only a drop in the bucket. There were many other heated rivalries and many other strong contenders in the event. A fantasy vote that took place about who was most likely to win the event , placed Rudra in fourth place actually behind 3 other contenders. At number three was the Russian prized fighter Khabib , he was nicknamed as the Bear fighter , because he once wrestled a level 55 mutant bear , with nothing but his bare hands while being a level 30 player with no armour. Logically it was impossible to beat the bear , but Khabib pulled it off. His last recorded level was 74 , and his class was the Dark Barbarian. At number two was Parallax , at level 82 , he was a fan favourite to win the event , his skills when displayed on the big screen were flashy and neat , hence his performance actually entranced more people than Rudra''s in the beat the clock challenge , which was plain and effective. The number one player most voted to win the event was the dark faction player with the class of blood warlock. Rumored to have learnt a legendary blood control spell called absolute blood manipulation , he was a one man slaughter crew much more terrifying than any necromancer or wizard in PVE. A video clip of him viping out a thousand man crew on a bloody battlefield in under 3 minutes had taken the internet by storm when it was released , however as terrifying as his PVE skills were , his PVP skills were not to be underestimated at All , always walking in a battle with vials of blood , he won his fights in the national championship without ever moving a single step from his spot. Hailing from Texas USA , his name was '' Nightmare ''. Coincidentally all four of them were in different blocks. Rudra was in block A. Khabib in block B Nightmare in block C. And parallax in block D -------- Derek Ray : Good morning ladies and gentlemen my name is Derek Ray and with me in the commentary today is the English legend Lee Dixon , welcome Lee Lee Dixon : Thankyou Derek , what a day for eSports fans around the world , the initial rounds for the three of the most awaited events start today Derek , we will be presiding over the stream of one v one fighting , while the other commentary teams will be handling the other two events , you can watch all three cannels live and for free on cuber networks. Derek Ray : Well , Lee cutting right to the chase , the group stage matches start in less than five minutes , rake in your predictions about the event. Lee Dixon : Well , Derek there was a fantasy poll about who the world things will win , out of the 500 contestants 96% of the vote went to the top 4 seeds. It naturally speaks volumes about who the common masses thinks will win , with 33% people voting for the top seed '' nightmare '' , the dark faction player with blood magic , I think he is going to be my pick as well Derek , the masses are not stupid , he is the strongest of them all , who is your pick? Derek Ray : My pick will be the second seed parallax Lee , he has the highest level of them all , and after loosing to Shakuni in the beat the clock event , he made a public statement about how he would write his wrongs in one v one event and bring home a gold medal. He is a driven man , and a driven man is dangerous. Lee Dixon : Talking about the winner of the tower event Shakuni , he is voted to be the fourth most likely contender to win this event , getting 17% votes. He took the world by storm with his power and speed in the beat the clock event , I think he will come out on top in his table to go through to the semi finals. Derek Ray : All four top seeds are in different groups Lee , let''s see if the assumptions of the masses will come true or not , if so we would have a very interesting semi finals tommorow eh. Lee Dixon : Absolutely Derek , alright , the wait is over , the challengers have been teleported to the virtual fight arena for the initial matches , let''s cut to some of the fight scenes. Remember you watched it live only on the cuber eSports network. /// If you are interested in reading fantasy stories about overpowered mc , be sure to checkout my new book '' Rise of the dragon emperor'' /// Chapter 288: One v One fight (2) Derek Ray : Well the first match from group A is surprisingly the match between the group Favourite '' Shakuni '' from Japan and Hong Duan Chi from China. Lee Dixon : Well the leader of the true Elites Shakuni is a gold medal winner , he is strong and everyone knows that , his arrogant attitude says it all Derek , he is here to win , nobody being his opponent. Derek Ray : I would not be too sure about it Lee , Hong Duan Chi is a level 65 warrior of tier two. I think this will be an interesting fight . Lee Dixon : The timer of the first fight just started , both competitors rush in to exchange a blow , huh ..... What just happened ... Why did the match just end? Derek Ray : I don''t understand , however the official conclusion is that player Shakuni has won the first match in 4 seconds! What is going on here ... I think we need to see a replay. -------- When Rudra and Hong Duan Chi were transported into the arena , Rudra activated his eyes of truth and gauged his enemies basic information. Tier two , level 65 , assasin class. Rudra smirked , assasin was an amazing class to play , however it had one inherent weakness , it''s defense was very low. Hong Duan Chi, was in a sour mood when he realized his opponent was ''shakuni'' , he clicked his tongue and cursed his luck. His strategy was to rely on his agility and somehow outmaneuver Rudra . However he did not expect to loose out to Rudra in the agility department. When Rudra charged at him right out of the gate , he felt threatened by the speed that seemed at par with his own , however Rudra then accelerated even faster. He could see the attack Rudra produced , but was unable to react in time to stop it. One strike through his neck , the second through his heart and a third through his chest , all delivered in under one second. It was Rudra''s three point strike move . Before Hong could even mount a proper defense , his HP hit zero. What seemed like a proper fight to him , had only lasted four short seconds. Infront of Rudra , this was all he could do. -------- ( After watching the slow motion attack of Rudra , multiple times ) Derek Ray : What insane speed , what deadly accuracy , what crazy damage , from the start to the finish , the opponent could not even muster a single move ..... Is this the strength of the guild master of True Elites , the reason behind his arrogance ..... Are world class representatives just a joke to him ? Lee Dixon : '' Dominating '' that''s the only way one can describe this match Derek , complete and absolute dominance , worthy of being a title contender. Derek Ray : I''m still shocked Lee , however the result is clear , Shakuni winds his first match in absolute style! Proceeds to round two. ----- ( At the generals gathering ) Ethan Grey looked at the match replay , and how it ended in four seconds . Even a layman like him was thoroughly impressed by Rudra''s skills , enough to make him think '' Hotdamn '' this guy is crazy. He smiled, this was exactly the display he wanted Rudra to make. Looking around he saw the generals of Japan , smiling and nodding , while nervously gulping saliva. Ethan wanted them to have this exact effect , the more the Elites shined , and the more convincingly they did so , the more authority he would have in this nation. Soo far the elites had exceeded all expectations raking in medals after medals for the country. He was the one who benefitted the most from this. Everyone from the president to the lowest part of the government became extremely respectfull to him , his arrogance all being washed out as thing of the past , as he had brought and raised national heroes. Ethan Grey understood that in the changing world called Omega , the greatest asset with the potential for most appreciation was the guild called '' True Elites ''. Just being tied to them , brought unspeakable benefits to him . Neatwit and Karna also won their first fights in their events , soo far everything was progressing well and good . Not even 20 minutes had passed and Rudra had to fight his second fight. The murmurs in the room ceased again , as everyone watched on in peak concentration . ------- Rudra scanned his opponent this time , it was a dark faction player. His class was night ranger , the dark version of the Ranger class. The biggest difference between ranger and dark ranger was that unlike rangers who were friends of the forest having high mobility and proficient long range fighting skills. Night rangers had lower speed , but higher one on one combat skills. If one were to accurately describe the class , they were a cross between assasins and rangers. Somehow overcoming the shortcomings of both classes , while nerfing their biggest strengths. Rudra smacked his lips , his luck was simply too good to have two easy prey land infront of him back to back. Just as the battle started , the opponent immediately used the smokescreen artifact to distort vision. Rudra frowned he did not expect this , but then instantly smiled , this was even better , once he found out where the opponent was , he did not even need to worry about his moves being leaked to the world. With this thick smoke it was sure to be concealed. Rudra''s years of experiencing battles had given him a great adaptibility to any situation , he was not worried one bit about what his opponent would pull off , instead he calmly waited for the enemy''s attack. Night rangers had better vision than normal players , and although the fog was thick , he could make out Rudra''s hazy outline. Thinking Rudra would be none the wiser he picked his spot to close in and attacked. Only to be shocked when it was blocked! Rudra anticipated that whoever would attack him would go for his neck , the only part where his armour did not offer protection , and his helmet did not reach , hence it was the only spot he was protecting. When the metal clashed , he smiled. Immediately using darkness bind. His old and reliable trick. The opponent was horrified when he could not even muster movement , he was completely immobilizer! Sadly he would never recover , his life ending while being immobilized. With the world being none the wiser , the second match ended in Rudra''s victory. Time taken to win being 23 seconds. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target good job everyone , also please keep in mind that For every super gift a bonus would be released /// Chapter 289: One v One fight (3) ( 3rd Match , round of 32) Rudra was in battle stance , his opponent this time was from Sri Lanka , his name was Ranga and he was a swordsman class player. Rudra had heard about Ranga , he is from Adam''s guild , a fellow associate from Grey international. Too bad they were enemies here , or else Rudra would have loved to exchange some pointers. Just as the match started , Ranga immediately unleashed his class special move , 100 swords descent. It was the most powerful move in his arsenal , and could be used from a 30 meter distance , he did not need to close in the distance. He knew Rudra was too strong for him to fight head on , hence he unleashed his best move right from the start , trying to gain the uppoerhand in the battle early . When the terrifying sword qi came his way , Rudra''s eyes widened in shock , he was thinking about closing in the distance , however he was forced to retreat. Retractable shield opened in his arms , and with a strong BANG , when the sword qi hit the shield , Rudra was forced back about 5 steps. A damage of -20 appeared on his HP bar , by the sheer force of impact. Although the epic rated shield absorbed much of the impact , it still sent Rudra staggering backwards. This was the first time ever that he took damage. Smiling , Rudra pushed in just after recovering from the impact. Even though Ranga had inflicted damage , he knew that he had failed miserably in his attempt , his strongest move could only inflict a -20 damage , he could not gain an advantage and his trump card was wasted. In the exchange of swords that followed , Ranga slowly but surely felt that even though he was the one with the swordsman class , his swordsmanship was wayy inferior to Rudra , each and every move of him parried , while he had no answers for Rudra ''s relentless attacks that chipped his HP. Slowly but surely his hp turned from green to yellow to red. Ranga was getting more and more deseprate by the second , hence in a wrong move , he tried to use his legs to kick Rudra off balance , his leg swipe missed , and Rudra jumped . Rudra used overhead slash to finish the match in a massive blow! Match number 3 ended with Rudra winning in one minute and 55 seconds. -------- Derek Ray : what a performance by player '' Shakuni '' , except for the first grand move by Ranga, that caught Shakuni off-guard, he could not get in any tangible offense later in the match. Lee Dixon : Yes absolutely Derek , a convincing performance by the leader of the True Elites , his limits are yet to be tested in this competition. Derek Ray : Every consequent matches are a treat to watch Lee , the strong are being filtered from the weak , and the competition is getting interesting. Lee Dixon : will challenger number 4 pose any threat to guild master Shakuni? Let''s find out in round of 16! -------- ( 30 minutes later , round of 16 ) Rudra''s next opponent was surprisingly a mage. Rudra actually knew this opponent very well , the mad mage Alem Sora , nicknames ( '' crazy b*** of Ghost kingdom '') she had a strong reputation. A mage being in a one v one fighting tournament was odd , this is because inherently a mage is a PVE class and not a PVP class , they have weak defenses and are helpless when someone closes in on them. A mage needs time to cast spells , hence once someone closes In on them , and starts to attack rapidly , they are at a disadvantage. However this was not the case for the mad mage Alem Sora. As a newbie she only practiced fireballs day after day , even when others left the beginner village , she stayed and kept practicing the only move. Raising it''s proficiency to expert level. For being the first mage in the game to have achieved the feat of mastering a spell till the expert level , she was awarded the ability to insta cast the perfect fireball. That meant that not only could she instacast the fireball spell , the damage was pretty high as well. This made closing in on her very tricky , as a point blank range barrage of fireballs could defeat any opponent. She could not be underestimated . Just as the match started , Sora mocked Rudra by saying " Ohhhh , it''s you , the Favourite to win the table , the leader of True Elites, the arrogant tyrant ..... Hohoho I''m soo scared .... Ahahaha". Rudra''s eyebrows twitched , she was called the mad mage or more appropriately ( the crazy B***) for this very reason , she had a unstable personality and a foul mouth. Sora continued " Comeon , do you dare to take one Spell from me? , Just one , let me cast my strongest spell , and lets see if you can withstand it ..... Hahhaahahhaa fun ... Soo fun. Yes , take one spell from me .... You must ..... If you do survive , I will take one from you as well ... What do you say huh ? Fair...fair? It''s fair eh? ". Rudra knew perfectly well how to deal with such crazies , he replied " Playing games eh?? ". " Hahaha , yes Omega is a game , it''s fun , let me hit you with my spell , stay still now". Saying soo , she started to chant her spell. Rudra could have technically waited for her to cast and used full counter to return that spell back to blast her to smithereens , however he did not wish to do that , full counter was his ace in the hole that he did not want to reveal untill the very last second. Rudra smirked , the crazy had dug a hole for herself , like hell Rudra would give her time to cast her spell. Closing in fast , Rudra used his strongest sword move ..... The World Slash , the elven sword shined brightly , as a devastating sword qi slah emerged , cutting the dumbfounded Sora in half. One hit KO! Before teleporting out Rudra calmly said " Sorry , I don''t have time for no games". When Sora teleported outside , she started to wail and scream , she screamed soo hard that her vocal cords started to feel the intense strain " Cheaterrrr!!! How dare you cheattt , rematch I want a rematchhh , aaghhhhhhh ". Could be heard. While the viewers watching worldwide wanted to criticize Rudra , noone could actually do it , an ideal hero from an anime would have maybe entertained the crazy Sora , taking one move before returning one of his own , however this was no anime , this was reality and here what Rudra did made complete sense. Sora was a fool , and she paid for her mistake. Hence round of 16 ended for Rudra with him defeating Sora in 22 seconds. --------- Derek Ray : Well Derek , Shakuni wins again , what a terrifying sword move he produced eh .... I''ve never seen it before , what is it? Lee Dixon : I don''t know Derek I don''t think he used it in the beat the clock challenge , just how many cards has this man kept hidden , how unfathomable is his real strength ? Derek Ray : well , we will find out later in the competition Lee , it was a convincing victory for Shakuni however some may call it cowardly of him to attack a helpless Sora Lee Dixon : I don''t agree Derek , Sora took it too easy , this ain''t kindergarten , this ain''t a fairyland , this ain''t no game , Shakuni plays to win , any smart man would not let such an obvious opening go. I think it''s Sora''s fault completely. Derek Ray : well irrespective of how he did it , he won , Shakuni moves on to round of 8! Chapter 290: One v One fight (3) ( Quater finals of group A ) This was the last fight , Rudra had to fight in the isolated arena , after which all fights would take place inside the grand collosseum. This was also the last fight where he would probably win without much hassle , as the competition would go up by a notch from the next round. His opponent for this fight was a knight from Austria named ''Rover'' very much like himself , who had taken a different route to Rudra''s golden ratio. He chose the skill the last stand after his tier one promotion , and had failed to gain SSS rating in tier two promotion hence he never saw the second class special skill. He was confident in beating Rudra because of this very trump card , he had a high damage move called '' Thrust strike '' , that would deal 300% of his maximum damage , if he could couple it with a critical damage bonus , it would be a mighty blow for any opponent , who would buckle before he did. Hence his only strategy in combatting Rudra early on , was defense. His only wish to chip Rudra''s health as much as possible before using his special move the last stand. He planned on using mind games to bait his opponent in this match , however he made a big mistake there , because you never play mindgames with the greatest schemer of all time '' Shakuni '' himself. Who instantly sniffed out the man''s true intentions. Rover said " Come on then , show me the horrendous distribution of your stats in the knight class , attributing it all to strength and agility , you don''t know the basics of the knight class do you , come let me show you the true way to play the knight class ". Saying soo he banged his shield with his sword , he was openly taunting Rudra to rush at him. Rudra found this funny , ever since his display of strength in the beat the clock challenge , challengers had formed a misconception about his stat distribution. Not being able to look into his stats because eyes of truth prevented anyone below tier 4 from prying into his stats , he enjoyed a funny misunderstanding. Rudra naturally did nothing to correct this misconception , he was quite happy to mislead his opponents. However , because of how odd his enemy acted , he was sure he wanted him to close in on him for some reason , Rudra was not one bit scared , but he never underestimated his opponents , since he wanted Rudra to close in soo badly , Rudra would absolutely not go close . Laughing , Rudra changed his Excalibur for his old and trusted Windcutter sword , and started to lash out windslash after windslash from distance. Out of every five strikes , Rover was able to block four , but one would end up hitting him , causing -100 damage. He did not like that Rudra was attacking from range , and tried to close in , only to have Rudra move away , mentaining distance. Rudra used darkness blast , and darkness bind , as he would from time to time cause massive damages of -5000 -7000 points. After 5 minutes of cat and mouse chasing , Rover''s HP bar finally turned red , he was getting desperate , why did the bast*** keep running away? He was frustrated beyond reason. He kept hurling insults like " You .... Fight like a proper man , a honorble knight , what cowardly way to fight is this? ". ( After a bit more damage ) " You pig .... You swine .... You uncouth barbarian born from the illegitimate affair of a long-range sniper , fight me aghhhhhhh close range damnit , I don''t have any long range offensive skills , and I my plan won''t work if you keep running away , aghhhh come here! ". Rudra continually heard his whining with a expressionless face , but when the opponent called him a uncouth barbarian born from the illegitimate affair of a long-range sniper , he could not help but break out in a chuckle. Although he had no intentions of closing in one bit , he gave the man props for his creativity. Rudra also carefully started to pant , and miss his beat while running to create an illusion that his stamina was running out ,while in reality it was not the case at all , to throw his future enemies off , and hence at one point he even gulped a stamina potion while running away. However after that he was back at full speed. Unsurprisingly , Rover''s HP soon bottomed out at 0 , and his last stand activated , but with Rudra being soo far away his move was useless. He died out of sheer frustration , the entire match he had only made a fool of himself by running and running in circles. Rudra won the round of 8 and proceeded to the semi finals of the group stage. The match lasting 8 minutes and 22 seconds , Rudra''s longest bout yet! --------- Derek Ray : Another victory for Shakuni and a very interesting one at that , what are your thoughts on this match Lee Lee Dixon : yes Derek a very entertaining match , a very different approach from Rudra compared to his general fighting style , as he avoided the close range fight completely , instead choosing to fight from range, what was his reason for doing this? Derek Ray : Well Rover did try to bait him to come at him , but Rudra never took a bite , he completely changed his fighting style and chose to fight from range instead. While we will never find out what Rover had planned , what''s commendable is Shakuni''s versatile fighting style. He can fight well at range , which is surprising for his class. Lee Dixon : Well Derek he is a Favourite to win in this group , however unlike his previous opponents the next round is the semi finals of this event , and everyone who made it this far are cream of the crop , who will compete in the grand collosseum , next match will surely be a treat to watch , scheduled 45 minutes from now , live from the grand collosseum , only on cuber eSports network! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target , good job everyone/// Chapter 291: One v One fight (5) ( Semi finals of the group stage , Grand collosseum arena ) Derek Ray : Finally we are done with all the groups having completed the quarterfinals , and we are finally for some action live from the grand collosseum , infront of a packed crowd of 200,000 fans ! The atmosphere is absolutely electric. Lee Dixon : You can feel the energy in the air here Derek , I''m sure this is how gladiators would have felt in ancient Rome ,but this is ten times better. Derek Ray : Hoho , good one Lee , our first match in the semi finals round is from group A , as Shakuni takes on Babar. What are your thoughts on this match? Lee Dixon : Well both are outstanding competitors who have shown Dominating performances in the early rounds , it''s hard to say who will win Derek , but I will put my chips on Shakuni , I think he has the edge. Derek Ray : Well then I will place my chips on Babar , I wish to see a upset here , can he topple the top seed of the group? ---------- ( Voice of the ring announcer as he introduces the champions ) ANNOUNCER : Ladies and Gentlemen , Welcome to the GRANDDDD COLLOSSEUM , today''s main event the ONE V ONE fight , shall now BEGIN! ( Loud roars and cheers from the audience) ANNOUNCER : First fight from GROUP A , introducing the contestants ....... First from the beautiful lands of country X , we have the Paladin , the unstoppable force Babar! ( Soft cheers were given to Babar , as he walked into the arena with his fists raised) " NEXT From the island country of JAPAN .. ( The moment the announcer said only this , the crowd erupted in mad cheers , tha atmosphere became absolutely electric) " We have the KNIGHT , The DRAGON SLAYER! , The one who defies all odds! , THE LIMITBTEAKER , informally known as the DEMON OF DEATH VALLEY , He is the winner of beat the clock challenge , and the guild master of the True Elites , he is SHAKUNIIIIIIIIII ". ( Thunderous cheers upon Rudra''s introduction came from the crowd , compared to Babar who had no titles in game , Rudra''s introduction was grand ) Rudra walked into the arena lightly adjusting his shoulder , as he jumped lightly while cracking his neck , he was as casual as one could be. Upon entering the arena , Rudra''s eyes darted across the area , and he noticed the huge crowd , 200,000 people was a intimidating number , when they are all looking at you , a weaker man would have been on the edge of his nerves , but not Rudra , he quite enjoyed the attention. This fight was more important to Ethan and Mithun Ambani than it was for Rudra. Rudra was Ethan''s partner and had a brotherly relation with the man , however Babar was Mithuns champion , and his employee , the pressure he had to win this match was astronomical. To Mithun beating Ethan''s best guy was more important than winning the championship , for everything that he had provided for the training and growth of the participants of country X , all he ever asked for was to thoroughly obliterate anyone from Japan and especially from the guild True Elites. Now that Babar was facing the guild master of the guild himself , he started to remember the words of his employer , his grip on his sword became tighter , as he glared at Rudra menacingly. Feeling the menace , Rudra frowned and checked the opponents stats , Rudra was shocked to see that his opponent was a level 74 Paladin ! , Rudra had to take this opponent quite seriously if he wanted to win this event. The fact that he was able to become a level 74 player , meant that he was much better than the other players he had fought untill now. Seeing how seriously his opponent was glaring at him , Rudra thought about messing with his mind. The countdown for the fight started ( 10...9... , The entire crowd counting each number out loud) Rudra at that moment pointed at Babar , and just as Roman emperors did to gladiators in the ancient world , he had his thumbs up with a smile , only to become a thumbs down with a death stare in a seconds time. ( The crowd lost their damn minds at this gesture , Rudra had proclaimed that he was going to put his enemy down! ) With the crowd cheering Rudra soo much , Babar had already started to feel inferior , however Rudra''s provocation infuriated him. He knew loosing his calm before such a fight was bad , and was not stupid enough to let it affect his battle plan , however , he was for sure pissed off! 3.....2...1.... FIGHT! The timer ended , and both contestants unleashed their long distance attacks from range. However , it was more like Babar dishing out a light blast , and Rudra countering it with a darkness blast of his own. BOOM! , A explosion happened when the light blast met the darkness blast , in the centre of the arena . Rudra taking this opportunity , where vision was masked with the explosion smoke , closed In on Babar through the smoke , Babar noticed Rudra just as he came out of the smoke , and raised his shield to parry Rudra''s attack , however it was a feint , Rudra rolled through and he had very little space to hit Babar , he could not have done it with just any sword , but Rudra had Excalibur , and hence stabbed Excalibur which had shrunk to the size of a dagger into the sides of Babars armour. -1700 Babar''s armour mitigated the damage , and Babar Swung his sword to counter with a hit of his own , but Rudra jumped , hence the sword missed its mark , and threw Babar off balance. Rudra wanted to pierce elven sword into Babar now that he was offbalance , but his enemy was good , as he quickly put his shield infront to block the sword strike. Hence Rudra was forced to change his mode of attack to a kick , having learnt martial arts with Yume for a month , Rudra produced a devastatingly strong kick with prefect technique , which landed squarely onto Babar''s shield , and sent him flying ,20 meters into the arena''s wall with a impact. -1200 The impact caused him to take damage , as he reeled from the pain. ( The crowd erupted in cheers , Shakuni ! Shakuni! Shakuni ! Shakuni! , Chants could be heard from the crowd ) Rudra smirked , and raised his hands in dominance , giving the audience a show ! As he had completely wiped the floor with Babar in the early exchange. However the fight was far from over , and he still had a long way to go! Chapter 292: One v One fight (6) Babar used recover a holy skill , as a means to recover some of his lost HP. After which he raised his guard against Rudra again. Now that he had experienced firsthand how strong Rudra was , all the distractions left his mind , as he became fully focused on the battle , as for him nothing else mattered. He did not close in the distance , nor did he retreat , he calmly observed every move Rudra made. Rudra was starting to get serious , up untill this fight no fight had actually needed him to show even 50% of his ability. However this fight had finally proven worthy of him warming up. Rudra dashed towards Babar , who took a defensive stance. After their swords clashed for a couple exchanges , Babar unleashed his skill Shield sword press. Where Rudra was rammed with the shield and stabbed with the point of the sword at the same time. It was a move that did not cause much damage , but was sure to hit at close range , as it was hard to avoid the central shield ramming into the body , unless you have a shield of your own. Rudra crossed his swords trying to block the shields press , however the tip of the Paladins sword still grazed him causing a -100 damage! Rudra squinted his eyes , and used twin blade hurricane . A series of cuts landed on Babar , a few on his shield , and a few on his armour. Unlucky for him , his sword got disarmed by the rapid barrage of twin blade hurricane , as he recieved a series of -300 damage notifications. In total the damage totalling 12,000 points of health. Now without his sword , his battle plan changed as he tried his best to regroup and create distance , however Rudra kept pressing hard , Babar was being forced to retreat. Rudra completely believed he had complete control of this exchange , untill suddenly , a sword penetrated his stomach . -10,000 damage notification appeared on Rudra , who stared dumbly at the sword and then to the grinning face of Babar , who knew he played Rudra well. Apparently Babar had intentionally dropped the sword , for Rudra to come at him like this , only to shock him with summoning another sword from his inventory at the right time and stunning Rudra. Rudra cursed as he created some seperation. This was the first time in a match that he had taken damage. Albeit it did not even make a dent in his massive health pool , much of which can be given credit to the Armour that Ethan procured him , which mitigated the damage by 60% . Rudra decided at that very point , that he was more than willing to play ball , and put the boy in his place , now that he had schemed against him. Placing Excalibur on the ground , Rudra pointed elven sword at Babar , while coolly pretending to drink a health recovery potion. Babar could naturally not let this happen as he charged into Rudra , not willing to give him time to drink the potion. But he did not know that this was exactly Rudra ''s plan , when he was close Rudra , instantly used darkness bind , he paralyzed Babar , and instantly used three point stab. -7000 -9000 -17000 CRITICAL HIT! A devastating damage appeared on Babar , who retreated horrified. His hp had became bright red in an instant. He was now on the run. However compared to Rudra he was much slower and could never create tangible seperation. Rudra never let the pressure go from then on , he slammed Excalibur into the ground , using the skill Earthquake. The entire arena rumbled from the move , as Babar lost his footing because of the shaky ground. Using this opportunity Rudra used a powerful overhead slash , that Babar barely blocked with his shield. BAM! A solid impact was created when metal clashed against metal. Rudra proceeded to kick the shield right off of Babars hand. Babar now , on the floor , desperately tried to fight back with one sword , but things looked dire for him , as soon enough even his sword went flying out of his hand. Without his sword and his shield , he was a helpless player for slaughter under Rudra , as being on the floor he could not even run away. As such , the moment he turned his back , trying to get on his feet , a sword impaled his heart , and another one his chest. The last seen he saw before his death was Rudra pointing at him with his thumbs down . Loud cheers erupted from the crowd. Rudra had won the semi finals of group A in 6 minutes and 23 seconds! ----------- Derek Ray : Another match , another win for Shakuni , what a man , what a match , what a performance! Lee Dixon : Brilliant strategy adopted by Shakuni, Derek , one has to admire his battle awareness , for the first time ever , he took damage in a battle but his recovery was absolutely fantastic . Derek Ray : Only one match awaits him today , the finals of group A , where he will face the winners of the next match from group A. That will be all for the preliminaries , will he keep the momentum going , or will he fail after coming soo far? Stay tuned to find out! Lee Dixon : That''s the result of match one from semi finals folks , Shakuni''s next match scheduled in 2 hours time .... Stay tuned on the Cuber eSports network to see many more thrilling matches that are coming next ! Derek Ray : Up next we have ... --------- Ethan Grey was sitting in the generals room , sipping on fine wine , he was absolutely exhilarated by the defeat of Babar , for him he had already won the event , by causing great ire to Mithun Ambani. Just thinking about how mad Mithun must be at the defeat of his best player , Ethan giggled. He lived for the simple things like these , making his enemies suffer brought him great joy . Especially the last moment , when Rudra had Babar disarmed and helpless at his feet , ending his life with a thumbs down... Was truly satisfying. And just as he predicted , Mithun was indeed livid , he had smashed the TV into bits and pieces , and was still hammering at it in anger. It was a bit of a tradition in country X , they would vent their anger on the TV they were watching the event on if they lose . ---------- Rudra was incredibly focused in his private room , he was looking at the other contenders matches , paying close attention . Especially the ongoing match , whose winner would face him in the finals of group A. Chapter 293: One v One fight (7) Rudra still had a lot of cards hidden , he was deliberately holding back his true strength to win matches , and only revealing bits and pieces that he wanted to . Some information about him was misleading , while some some gaps in his fighting style were left open deliberately , soo that when someone would target those gaps , they would fall right into Rudra''s trap. Up untill now , noone really had the luxury to study the opponents match tapes and create strategy , as everyone was busy fighting match after match , at most after winning a match in the waiting lobby , they could see a competitor fighting , however it all depended on luck and wether you had time to watch it before your own next match started. However tommorow would be different , the winners of each group , will carefully see the tapes of all their opponents , study their moves and form strategies. That is when Rudra''s plan would come to fruition , he wanted to show those holes in his fighting style , to gain a mental advantage over his opponents , whereas he wanted to keep a lot of his move set a surprise , hence the opponent would always be on the edge , guessing about what the hell was going on. Rudra''s final opponent in group A , was the one he wanted to face the least. The same guy from his previous life , who won this event , the Samoan BullDozer , '' UMAGA ''. Everything from his appearance to his fighting style was barbaric. It was not a far cry to say that he was the perfect embodiment of the class barbarian . He was a muscle-head through and through , but his fighting style was no joke , a natural when it came to brawling , his way of wielding his curved sword called '' Paneka '' was absurd and almost like MMA met swordwielding. Rudra hated these kinds of opponents the most , he was not scared of loosing to UMAGA , however he was scared to show more cards than needed in this match . What made UMAGA such a threatening player in barbarian class was his tier promotion , being a SSS tier promoted player twice , he had devastating class specific skills under his belt. His first skill was '' Eternal Rage '' , which buffed all his stats by 70% for 3 minutes in combat. This was essentially the Barbarian version of Rudra''s Golden ratio , however instead of a passive it was active , and instead of a permanent buff it was temporary. However it gave a 70% stat boost not the 50% of golden ratio , which meant that for a period of time , his stats would probably outclass Rudra''s , now this was very troubling. His second class specific skill was '' Dance Of Death ''. It was essentially a tool of mutual annihilation and exactly what made his playstyle dangerous. The skill could be activated when his HP fell below 10% , then on each and every attack of his , would cause 200% damage ! This skill was terrifying , if stacked with the first skill , even at 10% HP , the man was a walking dynamite. For each of his attacks would cause lethal damage to his opponents. Rudra had to be careful of the man for these. -------- Derek Ray : Alright ladies and gentlemen , this is the last four matches for today , the FINALS of the group stage. Each and every competitor who has made Is this far is the best of the best , however only those who progress even further will have a shot at winning a medal and cementing themselves as THE BEST! . Lee Dixon : I couldn''t agree more Derek , the semi finals were absolutely brilliant , however the competition hears up even more , as the last four matches of the day draw closer. First up from group A , we have the crowd favorite SHAKUNI taking on the Samoan BullDozer UMAGA! ,what are your thoughts on this Derek? Derek Ray : Well Lee , to be honest both competitors are evenly matched. This is going to be a great fight , Shakuni is a refined fighter who uses his head in the fight whereas UMAGA is a brute and a brawler , if Shakuni manages to keep this fight civil , then it will be in his favour , however if UMAGA converts it into a brawl then ooofff , he will have a hard time. Lee Dixon : I wonder what would be going on in their heads right now Derek. If you were Shakuni how would you make a game plan to tackle the Samoan BullDozer. How do you learn to tame a wild bull in a open field? Derek Ray : well we will find out soon enough , the ring announcer is down in the field , I think it''s time to call the champions. -------- ( Cheers from an excited crowd ) Announcer : Laddddiesss and Gentlemen , the next match , is the FINALLLL MATCH of the Group A . INTRODUCING FIRST , from the island country of Samoa , the brute , the barbarian , the terrifying UMAGAAA! ( Thunderous cheers from the crowd , as UMAGA walks in stomping with his tongue out) INTRODUCING NEXT , from the island country of JAPAN , he is the guild master of the miracle guild True Elites , The mayor of Purplehaze city , the charismatic , the arrogant , the ruthless , SHAKUNIIIIIIII! ( Deafening cheers from the crowd , as Shakuni walks out with his guild robe on his back , pointing at the guild insigna ) Rudra looked at UMAGA , who was staring at him with his tongue out , not an ounce of fear on his face. UMAGA started to laugh , comparing his muscular body covered in tattoo''s to Rudra''s lean frame. He said " PUNY ". A loud Oooooooooo rang from the crowd , however Rudra did not mind , flinging his guild robe aside , he equipped elven sword and Excalibur and took fighting stance. The countdown for the fight started after the ring announcer left the arena 10....9.....8....3....2....1... FIGHT! /// Guys the golden ticket and powerstones have slowed down a lot, we need to pick up the pace. I am also doing bonus chapters for any supergift. Many exhilarating fights ahead , please support for faster content. /// Chapter 294: One v One Battle ( Group A finals) Straight out of the gate UMAGA rushed in on Rudra his curved Paneka coming in from the top. Rudra sidestepped to avoid the strike and countered with a extended Excalibur . Rudra thought it was a guaranteed hit , however UMAGA in a display of a bizzare dodging technique managed to avoid the strike. Now with both men having avoided each other''s initial attacks there was only one move both had in mind , that was the basic kick. Rudra''s left kick met UMAGA''s right , and although Rudra felt the strength of UMAGA , ultimately without the eternal rage skill activated , his strength was not Rudra''s match. Hence he was sent flying for about 5 Meters. Shock spread across UMAGA''s face , as he never thought the frail looking human infront of him was actually stronger than him. And while he was down on the ground , he saw the bone chilling image of Rudra looking down on him , as Rudra said " Ohhhhh , PUNY strength ". This infuriated UMAGA beyond any measure , puny was exactly the word he told Rudra before the start of the match , however now it was clear that his strength was inferior...hence , He was more puny. Doing a Kip up , the man stood up , and let out a war cry that riled up the crowd , and beat his chest with his fist that was not wielding a sword. And for the first time in any matches he changed his fighting posture from straight to turning southpaw , his shoulder pointing towards Rudra , as his dominant hand wielded his sword , this highly bothered Rudra , he had never seen the brute use such a stance. The stance was actually the distinction between single and dual sword wielders , while dual sword wielders had a wider stance , that could deal greater damage utilising their two attacking arms. The disadvantage was clear that they left more surface area for opponents to attack on. Compared to dual wielding specialized for attack , the single arm sword wielding was a more balanced and complete way of fighting . ---------- Derek Ray : Hohoho , mind games being played by Shakuni ,as he comes on top of the exchange of power. How high must his strength stat be to even out power the barbarian UMAGA. Lee Dixon : well we don''t know the exact reason behind his absurdly high strength , is it an artifact? Is it a skill? Is it permanant ?. Meanwhile UMAGA has let out a war cry , and changed his stance to a proper sword fighter , how shocking. Derek Ray : I don''t think we have seen this stance from UMAGA prior to today Lee , he usually uses his brute strength to outperform his enemies , however he is standing upright like a refined fighter now .... I wonder what''s the reason . Lee Dixon : Seems like Shakuni is as perplexed as you are Derek , look at him approaching cautiously , the pace of this battle has slowed down . -------- Rudra approached UMAGA cautiously , he had his fair share of fighting one handed swordsmen , however except for the traditional posture , none of UMAGA''s moves made sense , the footwork he was weaving was erratic and had no rhythm , his stance though tight had many openings .... Was it a bait? Was it a trap? Rudra had no way to figure out , he could take out one of his big moves , but he did not want to reveal them soo soon. Rudra gritting his teeth bit the bait , and engaged in fighting. The curved sword pressed down on elven sword , as Rudra tried to go for thr exposed left arm of UMAGA with the longer range of Excalibur. However in a move that made no sense to Rudra , UMAGA suddenly stopped his footwork , and moved right in towards the swords trajectory .... Or so it seemed , as at the point of contact where it should have passed right through the man , it passed through thin air , a six foot five muscular man blurred out of Rudra''s vision , and he panicked as he quickly scanned for his opponent Straight ... Not there Left ..... Not there Right .... Not there Up ..... Huh missing .... That meant .... By the time Rudra looked down. A devastating uppercut connected to his jaw , and it was his turn to be sent flying. A damage of -1000 appeared on his status screen , as he got upto his feet , spitting a small amount of blood. UMAGA had a smug look on his face , he had returned the fire. Rudra recognized UMAGA''s skill , it was illusionary steps , a move that was usually preffered and bought on the market by the swordsman and assasin class that created the illusion of a man being there to the eye , when he was not. It was a relatively rare skill book , with a price of 1000 gold coins or more. Rudra had never seen the man bring out such a move in any of his previous matches , nor did he have memory of the move in his possession. Despite the damage , Rudra thanked his luck , he needed to realize that he was not the only one with hidden cards and hidden moves. That his opponents even the most brute ones had aces up their sleeves and he could never be too careful. The -1000 damage was acceptable for that lesson. Rudra at this point stopped worrying about exposing his strength too much and actually started to focus on the fight more and more , as there would be no next match if he could not win this one first. Hence Rudra brought out a OP Skill he had obtained long ago at the necromancers hideout , that he seldom used because of its dark nature. Rudra used darkness absorb. Dark energy started to swirl around UMAGA , who was perplexed by the move , he had not seen this before. The darkness energy stung him at various body parts , and drained his health bar by 3000 points. Rudra however regained the 1000 points lost in HP , as he recovered to full health ! Dark faction players across the world rose in uproar over this , they were all to familiar with the necromancer class move of darkness absorb .... But how did Rudra a light faction knight perform the move? Rudra often used darkness blast , but it was not a purely dark faction move , as mages and warlocks and many other professions could also cast the move. There were also news about there being a couple of skill books on the market. However darkness absorb was a Bonafide dark faction move ... And Rudra just used it ..... The consequences remained unknown! Chapter 295: One v One battle ( Group A finals ) Rudra gave no more room to UMAGA , everyone else maybe afraid of UMAGA''s power but Rudra was not. He knew he was stronger at this stage and that engaging in close range fight would benefit him. Countering UMAGA''s odd footwork , Rudra kept on pressing closer and closer to UMAGA , giving him no space to maneuver. With every sword strike that UMAGA countered with his paneka , he was forced to take a step back , while constantly having to dodge the second sword strike. Rudra''s incredible agility meant that it was very hard to create distance , and as such Rudra was absolutely dominating the sword exchange , as every once in a while , a jab would cut the Samoan here and there. -100 -300 -700 -400 A series of cuts and constant pressure forced UMAGA to the wall of the arena. He had no more space to run. UMAGA''s eyes widened in shock , he was starting to get scared of the opponent , this was the first time someone controlled the tempo of his fight and dominated him soo thoroughly. With no more space to dodge , Rudra''s next strike would have impaled him. The sense of danger and the psychological trauma of being overpowered caused the Samoan to snap , as he used his first trump card in the match , eternal rage! A burst of strength coursed through his body , as he pushed Rudra back. Rudra staggered and took a few steps back , he was not shocked at all , he was expecting this to happen , now that UMAGA had used one of his hole cards , Rudra just had to wether the next 3 minutes where his stats were inferior to UMAGA , and then he would have this match in the bag. A smirk formed on his face , as his enemy played right into his hands. Just as Rudra thought , UMAGA came charging at him , as every second counted for him. With a 70% stat boost , it was him dominating Rudra now. Every strike parried caused Rudra to take a step back , the Samoan came out swinging violently , and Rudra could feel the impact in his arms. Rudra was glad at this point to be weilding the Elven sword , a lesser sword would have been broken under the power UMAGA was wielding. With the roles almost reversed , Rudra was the one defending now , but he did not recieve additional damage like UMAGA , as UMAGA was not a dual sword wielder. He could only push Rudra back , but it was useless unless he could produce damage . The crowd went absolutely ballistic for the performance of these two champions , clamour and shouts filled the arena! ------------- Derek Ray : what a rollercoaster of a match , it is Shakuni on the backfoot now after pressing UMAGA all the way to the wall , just when we thought it would be difficult for UMAGA , he came out swinging. Lee Dixon : well there is nothing more dangerous than hunting a cornered animal Derek , UMAGA lashes out with vengance , Rudra is being pushed back , but it''s not quite the same as him pushing UMAGA , as there is no damage taken. Derek Ray : This is a clash worthy of Titans , if one pushes the other pushes back , uptill now I think they are quite equally matched Lee , with Shakuni having a slimmer of an advantage. Lee Dixon : it''s not a considerable one however Derek , and the tables may turn at any point . ( UMAGA uses a taikwondo style kick to Rudra whose defense is blown open ) Derek Ray : His guard is blown open Lee , can UMAGA make it count? Lee Dixon : That stance ... That move , are we going to see it? Yes sir ..... BARBARIAN''S SLAUGHTER! ------- UMAGA used one of the strongest moves in his arsenal Barbarians slaughter , it was a ten move combo with a chance of hitting 7 critical hits , it was the move he had used to finsih off all his opponents uptill this point. However the very first strike did not connect .... In a move he never anticipated , Rudra dropped Excalibur , and retractable shield opened on his left arm . BAM! , The epic rated shield took the blow of the first move , and Rudra stood his ground. Immediately pushing back with all his might. UMAGA had to take a step back due to the recoil and his combo was effectively ruined. UMAGA was visibly frustrated , only a minute was left on his skill , and he had yet to dish out any damage. Rudra stood before him with a near full HP bar! He became desperate and unleashed moves after moves , however Rudra had dropped his sword , changed his stance to northpaw and started his best defense. Inspite of UMAGA''s strength filled flashy attempts , all Rudra did was defend , defend and defend more , not a single blow landing damage. This continued untill UMAGA finally ran out of time and his strength waned. Feeling the decrease in strength of the blows , Rudra''s eyes glistened with rage. It was his turn now. Not only was the brute UMAGA out of strength , but he was also visibly a bit out of breath , the three minutes of continuous high intensity barrage had taken a toll on his stamina . Hence he had trouble fighting against the explosive Rudra who fought like there was no tommorow. -3000 -3000 -5900 A series of major damage appeared on UMAGA , who was not able to maneuver like he did as his defense became sloppy. At a rate visible to the naked eye , Rudra turned the momentum of the battle , as UMAGA''s HP kept dropping. From the once light green to yellow to finally dark orange color. Rudra knew he had this in the bag , the moment that UMAGA used his eternal rage trump card without his critical damage boost skill. He knew that he had no chance of winning. It may have looked like an evenly matched battle uptill now , however it was far from the reality. Rudra was the dominant force in this fight right of the gates , and he was only waiting to remove the fangs of the tiger before pouncing on him. Within 2 short minutes of UMAGA''s burst of strength ending , he was whittled down to 10% HP and he unleashed his last trump card , in a desperate last struggle. Chapter 296: The destined clash UMAGA''s was at 10% HP and hence instantly activated his class special skill , his every attack would now how a 200% damage and would produce 400% damage incase of critical hits. It was the greatest equaliser he possessed , however it was useless infront of Rudra , who instantly put distance between himself and UMAGA. He would not let UMAGA mount any counterattack and only attack from range at this critical juncture. This was the difference between knowing one''s hidden cards and not knowing about them , as with proper strategy any trump card could be countered , on the other hand one should always fear the unknown , because one doesn''t know what one doesn''t know! However unfortunately for UMAGA , without having the stat boost of 70% under his belt , his agility was no match for Rudra , and no matter how he tried he could never close in the distance. Rudra used darkness blast , darkness bind , and the like to slowly creep his already 10% HP down to 2%. A mad look appeared on UMAGA''s face , he needed to heal , and he needed to heal immediately , taking a step back , he took out a health potion vial. However , how could Rudra let him regain any health.... Without him on guard , Rudra unleashed the world Slash! A devastatingly strong sword qi ravaged the space as it travelled towards UMAGA. He knew at that very moment , that he was done for , there was no where to dodge , and no way for him to stop it. The slash connected , and his HP dropped to 0. UMAGA was teleported out of the arena in defeat. The crowd erupted into an uproar. The winner had been decided! Rudra had one fist raised in air , in celebration of his victory! The announcer soon came in the field , as his powerfull voice roared across the arena " LADIES AND GENTLEMEN , YOURRRR WINNER IN 6 MINUTES AND 28 SECONDS AND THE REPRESENTATIVE OF GROUP A TO PROCEED TO THE NEXT ROUND FROM THE ISLAND OF JAPANNNNN ... SHAKUNIIIIIIIIIIII". The crowd went absolutely ballistic , this was a worthy man to win. They were thoroughly entertained! Chants of '' Shakuni! , Shakuni! , Shakuni! '' erupted from the crowd . Rudra felt exhilarated for some reason , adrenaline was pumping in his body ..... This battle was somehow enjoyable for him , maybe this is the joy of battle. He was never a battle fanatic , not a mediaeval knight who found his calling on the battlefield. However at this moment , on this day , infront of 200,000 strong chanting his name , he was hooked. Hooked to the art of battle! -------- Derek Ray : He''s done it again , the guild master of the true Elites has came through for Japan!!! He wins group A in grand fashion , defeats the Samoan BullDozer UMAGA! Lee Dixon : what a turnaround Derek , what seemed like an evenly matched event , turned quickly into one sided dominantion by Shakuni. UMAGA had no answer for Shakuni''s relentless assault. Derek Ray : I dont know how he did it Lee , was he concealing his strength ? How high does his strength stat have to be to outpower a barbarian ? Considering there was no tangible level difference between the two , it''s completely incomprehensible. Lee Dixon : An average man should have about 3250 stat points at level 70 , however the way Rudra outpowers his opponents , I think he has atleast a thousand of those stat points invested in his strength stat and about 800 in his agility , that leaves very little room for other stats Lee , which should be considerably weaker at around 400-500. Derek Ray : well although it''s not a balanced distribution Lee , we cannot criticize Rudra for it , it works splendidly for him , afterall we don''t know the truth and this is pure speculation. Lee Dixon : Shakuni is done with all of his matches for today, his next opponent will be decided in about one and a half hour after the lots randomly draw the opponents of the winners from all four groups! Derek Ray : I''m excited for the finals tommorow Lee , that will be stage where the true Titans collide. While the commentators speculation of Rudra''s stat distribution being abnormal was not wrong , however it was completely off the mark. Regarding how abnormal it was. Rudra had gotten many lucky chances that permanently increased his stats , also he had a special title that gave him 25% stat bonus every time he levelled up adding to the 200 stat bonus of tier promotion , his overall stats were 4010 in total , with the golden ratio bonus of 2005. Making the grand total of 6015 points! This was almost double that of an average player , while about 50% more than excellent players in the competition. Just for comparision , Parallax had a total stat points of 4300. This was unknown from the common public, if it was leaked that he had about 1200 stat points , not in one stat but each and every one of his stats , it would cause a major uproar. Not even level 100 players should have such outrageous stats! But alas , Rudra''s secret would forever be a speculation. The poor commentators could not even guess his highest stat correctly , that''s how outrageous it was. ------- Karna and Neatwit had also won their respective group stages of their respective events of cliff fighting and first blood match , meaning that the big three of the guild all secured their spots for tommorow. Hence japan was potentially looking at day 5 with 3 medals . This caused a wave of excitement in the country , they were clearly dominating the international stage with the eSports scene. The performance of the Japanese team filled them with immense pride and joy. The more the True Elites shined , the more attention they garnered, this was extremely beneficial for the guild , if they created a big enough wave at the end of the VR Olympics , his recruitment for the Elite academy would go extremely smoothly. And that was indeed the case , there was international excitement about potentially entering the Elite academy! The hype of Which increased more and more by the day ! ------- Rudra watched on the other finals of other groups carefully. Unsurprisingly all the top four seeds won their respective groups . With the random lots drawing Rudra''s next match against Parallax! Chapter 297: The hype ( The generals office) It was a celebratory mode inside the conference room today , as Japan had another good day with three contestants making it to the fifth day finals. Every match was exhilarating in their own rights , however ,Karna really shined brightly in the cliff fighting event. His opponent in his group finals , was a user of a special Sonar type sound technique that helped him locate his enemies , hence he used a smokescreen to blind Karna on the fighting stage. It was a tense moment , and nobody knows what happened inside the smoke , however after a short while , it was shockingly the opponent that was sent flying down the cliff to his doom. Karna managed a win! The opponent did not know Karna had the minds eyes special move , him using the fog to blindside Karna was basically playing right into his hands. Neatwits finals were also interesting , his rise considered an anamoly as except for himself , everyone else was a thief / assassin / ranger class player. Swordsmen were not especially known for their blinding speed , however Neatwit managed his first blood match victories through incredibly nimble movements. It was a fun short exchange match to watch. Compared to those two , the longer fights featured Rudra, whose real strength was just shrouded in mystery, he was a pool that nobody seemed to figure out was actually a bottomless well. Well , parallax was going to find it firsthand soon enough. Just as the matches for all groups ended , Rudra logged out of the game. His opponent for tommorow was Parallax , he needed to prepare for the match. ------------ ( Rudra''s room , real world , the upside) Rudra logged out of the game , and came down to the dining room , where his family was watching news about him and his coming match on the big screen. When they saw Rudra , both his parents smiled , while father Rajput said " Good fight kid ". Rudra smiled and took a seat beside his father , as he munched on a light snack looking at the TV. The news channels were already branding tommorows match as a fight between bitter rivals , etc etc. Clips of Fatty Kalash saying that Parallax was not worthy of being a respectable opponent in Rudra''s POV was being played . Animations of him inside Omega on one side with a big VS sign in the middle and parallax on the other , like traditional boxing matches was being played. Rudra chuckled at the cringe , but he would not lie , the animations and the teasers did hype him up a little. However what he saw next , completely baffled him , it was unexpected. After Parallax won his group , apparently he did an interview with a reporter and the contents of it were something like this " Tommorow I will beat the pi** out of that arrogant Shakuni , for my country and for my pride. I don''t like that guy, I haven''t ever met him , have no vendetta , however I just hate his guts , him beating me in beat the clock will forever be an unwashable stain in my memory ". Then the reporter asked him about what were his thoughts on his strategy to fight Rudra " Well ofcourse I have a solid strategy , but I can''t quite reveal it on camera , however it''s out of disgust that I''m making strategy , his ridiculous strength is no joke , however against me , it''s only but a stupid mistake. He doesn''t put me in his eyes ..... Hence I will put him in his grave". The interview was overall filled with Parallax taking jabs at Rudra. Rudra was not affected by this at all , he even found it very funny at how rattled he had made parallax without even doing anything. Rudra analysed Parallax''s character and found a fatal flaw in his personality , which was vanity. He had a strong sense of self importance and glory , he was hungry for respect and dignity , he fought for the spotlight ..... In other words..... He was a fool! Rudra initially planned to study tapes before his fights tommorow , however seeing Parallax''s personality a wicked plan formed in his mind as he immediately called Ethan Grey . His request was very simple , he wanted to mess with Parallax''s head before the fight even started , hence he gave a script of questions to be asked to him in a press conference and told Ethan to arrange one within 30 minutes. With the news channels being more than willing , and about 50 private helicopters owned by Ethan flying people in , it was made possible within 30 short minutes. Rudra sat in the centre with Ethan being seated at his right , as the left seat was left vacant. The live interview then convened. Within the last 30 minutes , the live press conference was heavily promoted on every channel across the globe and hence more than 200 million people were watching this thing live , across the globe , including parallax. The Japanese reporter asked the first question prepared by Rudra , he said " Congratulations on the win guild master Shakuni, you fought splendidly and the country is proud , if I may soo boldly ask , what''s the strategy for tommorow? ". Rudra calmly replied " Well thankyou for the compliment there sir ... The finals shall indeed be a challenging match , but I will study the tapes of the winners of group B and C closely , hopefully I will be prepared ". Many viewers worldwide picked up on this hidden nonchalant sentence , and the reporter quickly countered , to ask a question that would make the slow witted also aware of what Rudra was trying to imply He innocently asked " Sir you have two matches tommorow , the first one being against the winner of group D Parallax ". Rudra frowned .... Pretending to think for a second , he asked " I''m sorry .... Who? ". The reporter said it again " Parallax the winner of group D ". Rudra cleared his throat , and said " Ummm.... Who?". Murmurs started to spread amongst the other reporters , this was a clear provocation. The reporter said it again " The winner of the silver medal behind you in beat the clock challenge .... The flagbearer of this year''s Olympics , the highest level player and the player with second most votes to win this contest ..... Parallax ". Rudra looked at Ethan , and said with his eyebrows raised " Does it ring a bell? ". Ethan chuckled as he said " nope ". The murmurs from the reporters turned into audible excited shouts .... This was some juicy content. Rudra cleared his throat , and spoke with arrogance " I''m sorry sir , I don''t put inferior men who iv already beat in my line of sight ". Silence .... Utter silence across the globe... everyone had the same thought .....How arrogant !!!!! Rudra gave Parallax absolutely no face in this press conference , as in every question he would act in a way that he did not even put Parallax as his opposition , to any concerns about him being beaten by parallax , he would laugh out loud , and soo would Ethan , like the reporter was spouting nonsensical question. Although it was completely over the top for the nefarious duo , it got its intended effect , Parallax who was watching the interview was absolutely fuming. He had never been soo belittled in his entire life! His reason for being always alone , his pride as a solo player thriving without any support , the attention of the media , the adoration of his fans ... That was his source of ego , and Rudra brutally stepped on it today. He vowed to pay him back in full tommorow in the battlefield , however he did not realize , that by becoming soo riled up , he was already one step behind Rudra in the fight , before it ever even properly started. The reactions on the forums and the anaylsis of the experts were varied across the world , some absolutely loved the arrogance of Rudra , this was the typical (18-44) alpha male demographic. While the children and the women preffered Parallax to crush the upstart. The thoughts on who would win the fight were pretty varied , out of five experts , three supported Parallax for the win , while two supported Rudra. The overall ratio was a bit tipped , at odds being 55-45 against Rudra in the fight. Ethan Grey looked at these numbers and scoffed , his only response to Rudra being " Hey , I''m betting billions on your A** as well as buying a seat to tommorows arena seats , give me some entertainment and good returns will you? I hardly have such vacations ". Rudra only winked at Ethan in response , it was not gonna be easy , however Rudra was confident in his chances to win. Wrapping things up , he went back home , and started ro review te footage of all fights seriously , making notes and trying to figure out his opponents weaknesses. This was the major difference between him and most other competitors , everyone was sure to analyse each other''s Fighting styles tonight , however Rudra did it citically and in a way , noone else could. Half his fight was fought in his mind , where he would lay layers and layers of seamless deciets. That would keep driving the opponent to the edge of despair. His purpose? To win thoroughly , crushing every possible move their opponents could pull off and after 6 hours of studying he was more than ready , a sick smile spread across his lips , as plan A,B,C,D,E,F,G, had been loaded in his mind. Every possible known sequence , every counter was planned , contingencies for emergency situations and unknown attacks was also thought about. He was ready. Rudra was 90% sure of defeating Parallax , however he wanted to do it soo brutally that his next opponent would get shivers down his spine thinking about what would happen to him at the finals , hence to build that psychological advantage , Rudra planned on absolutely annihilating Parallax , a brutal defeat that would go down in the books , achieving which was very hard. Would he accomplish it ... Or will it all go downhill ? Only time would tell... Chapter 298: Trash talk ! Derek Ray : Good morning ladies and gentlemen , we are live , live from the GRAND COLLOSSEUM ARENA where the winners of day 4 group stages will compete for the three medals. Lee Dixon : Yes well win or loose the first fight you will have to fight a second one , win the first fight the second will be for gold medal , loose the first fight and the second will be for bronze . Derek Ray : Yes well , today''s first fight is between the second seeded Paraklax vs the fourth seed Shakuni , what are your thoughts on this match Lee? Lee Dixon: The match is going to be entertaining to say the least , to say that Parallax has animosity towards Shakuni would be an understatement , whereas Shakuni is arrogant enough to call Parallax inferior opponent not worthy to be put in his eyes. Hahahaha , that guy is simply crazy. Derek Ray : Yes interesting remarks made by Shakuni in yesterday''s press conference , however now the time for talk is over and the fist will do the talking. Will he put money where his mouth is .... Or will he make a fool of himself , only time will tell ..... Alright it''s time for the ring announcer to introduce the two contestants. ( Scene cut to the grand collosseum ) ---------- ( Cheering from the crowd , too much clamour and noise , faint chants of Shakuni! Shakuni ! , Parallax , Parallax! , Can be heard. ) Announcer : LADIESSSSS AND GENTLEMEN , WELCOME TO THE GRANDDDD COLLOSSEUM ARENA! ( More clamour and noise from the crowd ) Announcer : ARE YOU READY FOR THE MEDAL MATCHES? ( Cheers and a faint '' Yes '' from the crowd ) Announcer : THE FIRST MATCH ..... The winner of group A vs the winner of group D. Introducing first , the winner of group A , the DOMINANT , the ARROGANT , the NOTORIOUS , the GUILD LEADER OF TRUE ELITES ..... SHAKUNIIIIIIII . ( Crowd chanting , one for all , all for one , go elites go ) Rudra walks out surprised at the crowd chants , as he joins in whole heartedly ..... About 200,000 people chanting the guild slogan , it was a thrilling moment. After the guilds recent popularity , one of the videos where the slogan was used went viral on the forums , and today everyone present was chanting it. It was a lot of cringe , but Rudra welcomed it with open arms . The atmosphere was absolutely electric , this was the craziest crowd Rudra had ever seen. He felt pumped. Announcer : Introducing next ..... The winner of group D , THE TORCHBEARER , the number one ranked player .... The Enigmatic solo player ..... PARALLAX ! ( Cheers erupted from the crowd , as Parallax strode into the arena with both his arms raised , an domineering look in his face ) The moment he looked onto Rudra he shouted " Your dead you Punka*** Bit** ". A loud OOOOOOOOOO came from the crowd. The a chant of '' Punk a** Bit**es , clap, clap clap , Punk a** Bit**es , clap clap clap ..... ''. Started in the crowd. The crowd was absolutely crazy today , they did not care one bit about who was gonna win and who was gonna loose , they were just here to enjoy a great show and have a good time. To Parallax''s insult , Rudra smugged and just said " I''m sorry , the crowd here is soo loud I could not hear your name when the announcer said it ..... Who are you again ?". Parallax looked soo mad , it felt like he would pop a blood vessel or two , it was exactly this attitude of Rudra he despised the most .... As he shouted " I''ll show you !!!!!! , I''m the flagbearer damnit the highest levelled player , Parallax !!! ,carrying the torch , it''s an honor punks like you will never have ". Rudra seemed to chuckle as he said " see the country where I come from , we reserve that honor for mascots , you are indeed a good mascott Paraloony , don''t worry , I don''t need such useless things ". " What mascott , what Paraloony ? ". Parallax asked frowning " I''m sorry , Paraloony , that''s your name right ..? , Oh shoot sorry , can you say it one more time? ". Parallax seemed to have snapped now , Rudra was deliberately insulting him , gritting his teeth he said " You don''t need to know my name , just remember me as the guy who whooped your p*** a** ". Rudra smiled , mission riling Parallax up , was a success. The countdown started 10...9....8....3....2...1.... Fight! The time for trash talking was over! -------- Ethan was in the crowd , unlike the stiff atmosphere of the conference room between the generals , he was thoroughly enjoying the crazy electricity of the people around him , he never would get time for such events , hence it became a worthwhile experience for him. He focused on the ground , to look at the tiny fighters and what they were doing , but unable to make out a thing , he then focused on the giant screen , where the match was showed in broadcast view. For him except the atmosphere of the stadium , he basically saw the match the same way he did in real life. --------- The match started and right out of the gate , Parallax wanted to assert some dominance , he wanted to show the world that he was the superior fighter , and to do that he decided to attack Shakuni '' s pride and outclass him there. He went in for a frontal assault of power! He had been saving up stat points for a while , and before this fight he assigned 40 points in strength , bringing the strength stat total to a strong 820! , It was technically more than Rudra''s 802. Plus He also used a berserk skill that gave him a 30% stat boost on attack. Bringing his effective grand total of stats to 1066!!! , He was sure that nomatter how high Shakuni''s damage was , it could not be more than this, hence with the intention of sending Shakuni flying he went in for a flashy move. However , by doing so he walked right into Rudra''s trap number one , his measely 1066 was still a farcry away from Rudra''s 1203! , And hence the result of their clash.... Parallax was the one sent flying. Shock .... Horror ... Disbelief spread on his face .... He was thoroughly repelled after all this? Just how high was Shakuni''s strength? Chapter 299: Shakuni vs Parallax Rudra did not let this chance slip by , the moment Parallax landed on his back , he rolled through to regain fighting posture , only to his horror , Rudra was already upon him. Along with his monstrous strength ... His speed was also terrifying..... Parallax gulped , he tried to dodge the incoming sword thrust however, he was one second too slow , the sword grazed the side of his neck , drawing blood. -7000! Simultaneously he got a notification that said '' You are bleeding heavily ... Will loose -50 HP every second , untill bleeding stops! ''. Rudra was pleased to have triggered the bleed passive , while Parallax was shocked , not even 15 seconds into the match and he was thoroughly outmatched and in a disadvantages posisiton. Retreating quickly he created some seperation between the two. He needed a moment to gather his thoughts , things were going downhill for him real fast. However, much to his dismay he never got that luxury , as Rudra was constantly pressing. Rudra activated claymore first , for 3 minutes his every move will cause 200% damage. Then he used illusion sword. Parallax saw Rudra''s swords laced with killing intent swinging at him at the same time , he saw both his shoulders being targetted by Rudra''s two swords, hence he shrunk his torso , to avoid both blows. However the swords never passed by his shoulders. Instead a deep gnash appeared on his chest. -24000 CRITICAL HIT! He lost about 1/3rd HP in one go ! Rudra had intricately combined three sword skills , Claymore , illusionary sword and twin blade cross Slash , this was his training at work. He had honed this move time and time again , only to use it once here, the end result ..... Devastating! Parallax stood infront of Rudra , stunned , from the start of the battle uptill now , he had absolutely no answer for Rudra ''s move. His HP bar actually fell into yellow without dealing a single damage to Rudra. The reality was sobering , however his strong sense of pride would not let him accept such an outcome , hence the strategy he made coming into this fight went down the drain , only strong retalitation to save his face was on his mind. Being a swordsman , he unleashed one of his class special skill , obtained upon promotion. The same one that he used to clear floor 69 of the beat the clock challenge , the special move elemental sword descent. Four sword qi , containing the power of four different elements , hovered above Parallax''s head , as he unleashed one of his strongest moves to attack Rudra. He roared " Now face the might of the number one player!". Rudra looked at the 4 elemental sword qi of fire , water , wind and earth , hovering above Parallax. It was indeed a strong move , however there was no way Rudra would ever admit that. Instead Rudra countered with his own special move , using 10,000 sword cuts ! The entire space above Rudra''s head was filled with sword qi , the scale completely outshining Parallax , who was dumbfounded at the scene. His four elemental qi when clashing with the countless ones from Rudra were easily neutralized and , the remainder kept raining in on him , giving him cuts and damage . -300 -300 -400 -600 CRITICAL HIT Your bleed status has worsened , loosing 200 HP every 10 seconds ! . The bright yellow HP bar on Parallax''s head turned to a darker yellow , as fear and self doubt started to creep in his heart. Rudra aggrevated this by saying " Ohhh , a swordsman with such inferior swordsmanship , what a waste of my time ". Parallax shouted angrily " SHUTUP , ILL SHOW YOU ". Rudra only chuckled , and said with a murderous glare , " There is nothing you can do that will harm me , boy , come kneel before your father ". A loud Oooooooooo erupted from the crowd , followed by chants of " Whose your Daddy? Clap clap clap , Whose your Daddy ? , clap clap clap ..... ". Parallax looked around the crowd , his sense of pride being completely crushed , and in desperation he used his strongest move against Rudra to shut the crowd up . He screamed " SHUT UR DAMN MOUTHS ". As he unleashed his grand move , indomitable sword strike. A focussed torrent of sword qi , looking like a horizontal tornado , came at high speed towards Rudra , the ground below rupturing at the intense air pressure. It was a SSS rated class special skill , and Parallax''s ace in the hole. Parallax shouted " DIE SHAKUNI!". However to his horror , Shakuni calmly held the Elven sword and unleashed WORLD SLASH! An equally terrifying sword qi that could rupture space itself , came at a blinding speed towards the tornado. Untill there was a impact. BOOOOMMMMMM! SHOCKWAVE AND RIPPLES. The battlefield was left In ruins , as the very level and flat battleground was changed into a deep trench ar the point of impact with sword abberations showing all over the battlefield. However the most shocking part was that World Slash , was equally matched with Parallax''s indomitable sword. Rudra spoke smugly " Is this it? I''m not even a swordsmen yet I can easily counter your best move ? Your not strong enough to even lick my shoes boy , no better than a dog ''". Parallax was completely broken mentally at this point , this was his ace in the hole , his strongest move , yet it was neutralized. He kept speaking " Impossible ... This is impossible ... I refuse to beleive I''m inferior to you .... I''m the number one player , you cheat , you cheat , this is impossible ! ". Rudra looked proudly at his work , a sadistic smile on his face , he had broken Parallax! -------- Derek Ray : OOOH , what an impact , what powerfull clash! The entire battlefield is completely ruined and the crowd is loving it! Lee Dixon : Look at Parallax''s face Derek , he is shook up , shock and horror is clear on his face , from the start of this match untill now , he has not mounted a single tangible offense , it is Shakuni all along. Derek Ray : nobody expected this sort of dominance from Shakuni right out the gate Lee , this is by no ways a fight between equals , this is Shakuni toying with his opponent. I feel terrifyed about becoming an opponent of the True Elites guild master Lee , he is a devil , through and through , look at him mocking and enjoying Parallax''s misery. Terrifying! , Simply terrifying! Lee Dixon: well it''s not over yet ... Can parallax pull his act together and mount a comeback..? Chapter 300: Shakuni Vs Parallax Rudra pretty much knew he had this match in the bag now , unless Parallax could find enough time to take a healing potion , but considering his rattled state of mind that clouded his judgment and how Rudra was eyeing him like a scavenger looking at a bleeding prey , he doubted he would ever get such an opportunity. Parallax was a scared cub now , his moves were unclean and laced with fear. The moves he would have parried easily were now hitting him constantly , chipping away at his health , alongside the passive bleed damage. Rudra had nothing but contempt and pity for Parallax , who was not at all a '' weak '' player by any standards , however he was a player with weak mentality. He was a skilled levelling maniac , and that was all there was to him. An overinflated sense of ego , and a lack of discipline and spine that would help him get through tough times , meant that the moment he was in a disadvantagous position , he would loose control of the match. Rudra was a master manipulator , from the start of the match till this point , he had constantly put pressure into manipulating Parallax into using his best moves , and when those moves yielded no results , he sunk into despair , his thought process becoming like , I can''t deal with him with my best move ... What else can I do? The moment the self doubt crept in , he stopped thinking about the fight , and started thinking about what he did wrong , loosing focus and getting slashed around by Rudra. Rudra kept up the intense pressing for about 5 minutes , and slowly Parallax started to show more and more signs of sluggishness. His breathing had became ragged , as his movements became slower and slower , his stamina had started to bottom out. This greatly shocked Parallax , Shakuni had such high stats distributed into strength and agility , how could he also have such high stamina? This made absolutely 0 sense to him , as he kept staring at Rudra , whose pace had not slowed down a single bit. After a while he cursed , shouting " What is wrong with you and your bottomless stamina , why am I the one who is out of gas before you , this makes no sense , with the points you have spent in agility and strength , you should not have much left for stamina ! ". Rudra only smugged and did not reply , instead opting to use twin blade hurricane for offense. Extremely fast movement of twoswords absolutely dismanteled Parallax''s armour , dealing cuts after cuts of what seemed like a blinding speed of delivering blows. -400 -400 -500 -1000 -400 Parallax''s dark yellow HP went into red , he had less than 15% HP remaining under his bar! And his mind was blank , he could not think of any possible ways of countering Rudra. His mind went onto useless things like , how will he face the media after such a humiliating defeat , what will his countrymen think of him? What about his promise to bring them gold medal? He talked big about making Shakuni his b***h before the match , however he had not even grazed Shakuni yet. Unlike popular Anime where when the MC thinks about his reason to fight and suddenly bursts with unforseen strength. Here in reality it only sunk him even lower. Fear gripped his heart , he was terrifyed of all the mockings and the trolling he would recieve after he died. Rudra noticed that his opponent was unfocused , and used the move '' Suppression art ''. It was a five step move meant to disarm the opponent and deliver a critical strike. The first move hit Parallax''s sword near the very hilt , sending a powerfull shock through his wrists. The second move forced him to block a wide arm blow , by meeting it with a wide swing of his own. However much to his dismay , due to his inferior strength his sword was pinned under Rudra''s. The third strike used Rudra''s second sword to hit the grip of the suppressed sword , with such force that Parallax had no choice but to let go of the sword , if he did not wish his arm to be sliced off , now disarmed he was vulnerable to attacks. Fourth strike was a elbow right to Parallax''s jaw , causing minor physical damage , however forcing the opponents eyes away from the fifth and crucial strike. The fifth strike , a double penetration right into both his lungs! -15,000 CRITICAL HIT! A deadly attack forced Parallax to come down to 1% HP barely hanging in the fight , and disarmed. Shock and horror made him stutter , he was barely hanging by a thread , and his demons had completely consumed his mind. He fell on his knees and began to beg Rudra " Please , spare me , I''ll give you everything , gold , weapons and rare treasures , forefit this match, please , please let me go ... I...I...iffff I loose noone will respect me .... I''ll be a nobody ....I can''t be a nobody .... Please ... I beg you ". This scene was etched into the memory of the billions across the world watching this match , the proud parallax over the course of 12 minutes of fighting was only left as a shell of his former self , begging on his knees , while facing Shakuni. The electric crowd became silent at this moment , then the loudest BOOOOOOO in the history of sports ensued. " WEAKLING.... WEAKLING....IM DISGUSTED! ". " GET UP AND FIGHT ! PATHETIC BAS****". " HEY , HEY , HEY I BET MONEY ON YOU , GET UP AND FIGHT ". " SPINELESS RANKER , WHO MADE THIS PUNK THE FLAGBEARER? ". the boo''s never ended as snarly comments were passed around . Ethan Grey was thoroughly enjoying himself , as he was chilling Popping popcorn into his mouth , this was more entertaining than he expected , unlike others he wanted to see Parallax squirm and squeel even more . All eyes were on Rudra , he could not be possibly considering Parallax''s offer right...? Nobody knew , as Rudra continued to look down on Parallax with a murderous look in his eyes , only the slightest damage and he would win this match ... What would his decision be? /// Guys this is a monumental chapter for me and the book , the 300th chapter !!! Thank-you to everyone who supported this book and me , I never thought I would come soo far when I started the book. However it is gratifying to say the least that I did. Giving a shoutout to my top 10 fans on this occasion! 1) Cervantez91 2) The Noone 3)Leo Crispii 4) Kingspy25i 5) Ivory pope 6)Purvi shah 7) Shree Danev 8) Nicholas Savage 9) Raging silver 10) Josiah Templeton! And many many more , thankyou guys without you this won''t be possible/// Chapter 301: Cruelty /// This is a dark chapter where a man is thoroughly humiliated and stripped of his dignity , if you find such content disturbing , please donot read the chapter , the takeaway of the chapter is that Rudra defeats Parallax , and you can continue the book next chapter onwards , knowing that very part. Unlock the chapter at your own risk/// Rudra never thought about Parallax''s offer seriously , the benefit that triple gold medal gave to a player was incomparable to anything that Parallax could offer him. Although Rudra wanted to rattle the man a bit , he never thought that the mighty Parallax would be reduced to a spineless beggar. This scene just revolted Rudra inside out , he hated nothing more than these spineless cowards. Even in his past life when he was a nobody , he would always fight his opponents no matter how much the power gap , till the very end, till the very last HP. Maybe it is the difference between the weak and the strong. A person can get flashy equipment and with hardwork one can level up. However what one cannot control... What one cannot change , is character. No amount of hardwork or talent or circumstance can forge temper. If one is a wimp deep down, no matter how much they try to paint themselves as the lion , then the moment the flashy things above are stripped away , he would show his real colors. Some people naturally bow to the strong and bully the weak , it''s ingrained in their nature. However these types of people are born to live in servitude. Those who treat the strong the same as the weak , and have the courage to challenge the strong , only they can surpass them to become stronger. Rudra knew he was imperfect in a lot of areas , he had a lot of flaws , however his character was solid. He neither bowed to the strong , nor oppressed the weak. Wether it is Ethan Grey or a random person on the street , the way he talks to them is the same. He wanted to teach Parallax a lesson today , just because of this disgust , he wanted to open his eyes to the real world that the guy was soo desperately trying to avoid. Rudra said " Ohhh , what can you offer me? ". Parallax''s eyes shined , he felt like he maybe able to negotiate with Rudra , as he said " I will give you about 2 million gold , all my equipment after the VR Olympics end , which included three pieces of epic equipment and 4 pieces of dark gold equipment. Plus you can ask three favours from me that I cannot deny .... Say ... Say good deal for you eh? , Now let me take my sword and kill you". The audience was dumbfounded... Rudra could not actually be thinking about taking the deal right....? The entire crowd again became pin drop silent. Parallax crawled to the part where he dropped his sword , however just as he tried to pick it up , Rudra stepped on it. Parallax looked up gulping... What did Rudra want? Rudra said " How can I trust you won''t renege on our deal after the competition ends... Where is the contract? ". Parallax frowned , he genuinely had no intention of not fulfilling Rudra''s demands , he would have actually followed through with it , however Rudra was doubting him now , ofcourse he did not have a contract lying around in his inventory at this very moment. He said " I''m a man of my word , such things are unnecessary ". Rudra kicked him in the face , causing a -50 damage to appear , which caused Parallax''s heart to leap out of his chest .... He said " I don''t have a contract right now , please don''t kill me , please don''t kill me , I promise to fulfill my end of the bargain , please trust me ". Rudra chuckled as he said " Well how can I trust you , you called me a punk a** Bi*** before the match , did you not?, Now if you get on your knees and say that it is you who is a punk a** bit** and bark twice like a dog , then I will beleive that you are saying the truth ". Parallax hesitated ... He had tears in his eyes , he did not know right from wrong anymore , when he looked at the 200,000 people around him , he felt his demons come to life ... The moment he was defeated , he would become nothing , he would become an afterthought .... The moment he would do such demoralizing thing , it would be the same , it would not matter if he won or lost , as long as he did as Rudra asked , he would be ruined. He started to think about where it all went wrong , and lashed out madly at Rudra " I CANT DO IT , HOW DARE YOU ASK SOMETHING SOO INSULTING FROM A WARRIOR LIKE ME TO DO? ". Rudra laughed , almost a maniacal laughter , he said " Boy you are no warrior , you have no dignity , you have no respect , it doesn''t matter if you say it or not , the moment you went on your knees instead of fighting me , you became my b**** , these people are my witness. You don''t need skills and levels boy , you need a spine , unfortunately the game can''t help you grow one ". Before Parallax could retort and utter a single word , overhead slash sent him to the resurrection point outside the arena. He died ! , It was all over. The once electric arena was silent , the buzz of the match had been thoroughly ruined , too much happened to fast for people to properly process it. Then the sound of clapping was heard. Clap ... Clap ....clap....clap. Ethan initiated the clapping , and soon the entire arena followed suit. Everyone started to clap for the winner of the event , Shakuni. Rudra stood there , his hands clapped together in a namaste sign , as he asked for forgiveness from the crowd , as people passed a critical statement .... Everyone in the arena witnessed Rudra''s cruelty first hand , however not a single one here criticized him for it. If anything they had respect for Rudra , this is reality , and not a fantasy land of fairies , the moment you give into your opponents , the moment you loose the will to fight , is the moment you die. Parallax was a wimp , and he needed to suffer the humiliation Rudra put him through , Rudra''s words though harsh , were the truth , with such temperament Parallax would never become a true top player. The result of the match was clear , as the ring announcer came in and announced " THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH , AND GOING ONTO THE FINAL ROUND .... FROM THE ISLAND OF JAPAN .... SHAKUNIIIIII ". cheers rained from the crowd , as Rudra walked out of the arena , without taking a single point of damage in the fight. From the start to finish it was unilateral annihilation of the opponent. The '' Fear '' behind the name Shakuni started to spread after this match , as Rudra not only gained the respect of the audience worldwide , but also sowed a seed of fear into everyone''s minds .... A fear of ... What if this man becomes my enemy in the future? In the timespan of 14 minutes and 53 seconds , Rudra won his semi finals Match , securing atleast a silver medal for Japan. Chapter 302: Final preparations Rudra got back to the players lounge , where he was practically alone at this point , and started focussing on the match between nightmare and Khabib , the commentary was on in the background. Derek Ray : It''s a fight between two fellow dark faction players , Khabib the dark barbarian taking on nightmare the blood warlock , it''s a interesting matchup . Lee Dixon : Well , will this match be more evenly matched than the last one? Last one was a slaughter staged by Shakuni. What are your thoughts on this one Derek Derek Ray : I think Khabib should have the advantage at close range Lee , and nightmare should have an advantage from the distance. The fight will come down to how one strategizes and plays to their strengths. Lee Dixon : Well , of all the matches I have seen soo far , it''s not a far cry to say that the most bizzare matches are the ones nightmare takes part in. His matchups never go past 3 minute mark , with first six matches ending under 1 minute. He has the fastest record coming up the rounds. Derek Ray : Yes , his longest time of three minutes was in the group stage finals against the tank , '' burned accord '' , well it was just basically him defending all the time against the attacks of his opponent. Lee Dixon : Well , the rules of the competition are clear , apart from the already equipped equipment on a player , a player may bring four vials of potions and three additional pieces of equipment in one''s inventory. Derek Ray : Well the choice of vials that nightmare carries is always clear , four vials of blood , which he bursts the first thing upon entering the arena. The blood then floating around him like water floats , which he manipulates with utmost precision , making sharp swords to attack , or flat shields to defend then. The penetration power , and defense are top notch. He is like a character straight out of a marvel film. Lee Dixon : there are other blood warlocks out there , but noone can control even one pint of blood properly , unlike nightmare who can control rivers. It''s just unreasonable his strength , some assume he recieved a legendary skill of blood manipulation , however all such things are just speculation , the real reason behind his strength remains unknown. Derek Ray : Well , noone can underestimate the dark barbarian brawler Khabib either , his ruthless strength and excellent control skills , along with his semi legendary Axe makes him a extreme threat . Lee Dixon : Well the opponents are just coldly staring at each other , unperturbed with each other''s strengths , just staring down each other. No words exchanged unlike the previous match , where contestants riled each other up. Derek Ray : The countdown starts ... Get ready ladies and gentlemen , if you blink , you will miss a critical move! ------ Rudra was intently watching the match , Khabib was a player whose playstyle was much like Rudra , a dual axe wielder with high strength and close range attacks , he would learn a lot from this battle , regardless of who wins. When the timer hit 0 , Khabib charged at Nightmare , who stood calmly , not moving a muscle. Four blood drops turned into four blood javelins , that went at blinding speed towards the charging attacker. Khabibs eyes widened , he was forced to stop his charge , forced to defend against the attack. When the first javelin hit his axe , it was rock solid , however when the second javellin hit his axe , it splashed into blood , splattering all over Khabib , hardening instantly , and stinging him like pins. -50 -60 -60 -60 . . . . -60 A small damage was inflicted on Khabib , however this made him loose confidence in blocking the path of the next blood lance , as he chose to dodge it instead. Which was a smart call , however the dodged lance immediately like a target seeking missile , changed trajectory and came hunting for Khabib again. This time he was forced to block. Rudra''s eyes widened seeing this exchange , such high and precise control over blood at tier 2 .... It was bound to have a huge mana consumption behind it , what nightmare was doing was almost like a double edged sword , going soo high in offense soo early , it may backfire on him when his mana pool bottoms out. What Rudra did not know however was that , much like Rudra and his golden ratio , nightmare had specialized his class specific skills into broadening his mana pool. He had three notable skills , first made his mana pool twice of a normal player. Second made his mana recovery , three times faster. Third was the only special attack skill under his pocket , which could potentially wipe out an enemy in one move. Rudra was unware of these facts , hence he could only base his decuctions based on nightmare''s performance in this match. From Rudra''s perspective , he wanted the two of them two push each other to their very limits , and unearth both of their trump cards. That way no matter who won or lost , there would be no surprises for Rudra. Uptill now , the pressure from the four Lance''s was high on Khabib , who was fighting it safely. Rudra was very impressed by Khabib , unless most barbarian class players who were only brutes and had no brain. Khabib was extremely intelligent. He knew his priorities and he used his brain in his fights , he was formidable. He had lost only about 5% of his health , and was waiting on the opponents mana reserves to bottom out before mounting his counter attack. The attacks seemed to slow down after 2 minutes , and nightmare indeed retreated his blood back around him. Khabibs and Rudra''s eyes shined , as they thought the same thing , opportunity to counter! Khabib charged in to deal damage.... However a grin broke out on nightmare''s face , as if this is exactly what he wanted , Khabib failed to see this , but Rudra as a spectator noticed it ... A bad premonition spread in his heart. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job guys , the powerstones have slowed down a lot , I hope we can hit the target for powerstones too soon , soo that we may have more bonus chapters /// Chapter 303: The outcome Just as Khabib was going to approach nightmare. Khabib missed the trap set up for this very purpose. The ground was littered with blood and just as he tried to get close to nightmare , it shot up out of nowhere piercing the barbarian from all directions. Imagine a car going down a cliff and a tree with multiple branches pierces the car. That''s exactly how Khabib looked as he suffered critical damage under the assault. -21,000 CRITICAL HIT ! This was a intricate trap set up by nightmare , he had carefully split one of the javelins into two , when it was attacking Khabib , then when he was blindsided fighting the other four Lance''s , he carefully pulled it back and made it spill on the ground. When Khabib charged in , unaware of this fact , seeing the four dots of blood hovering over nightmare , he did not suspect anything was wrong , and hence paying the cost dearly as he walked into a trap. Khabib was stunned , he had to retreat quickly , he had lost a third of his max HP and he was not happy about it. Nightmare however resumed his relentless assault on Khabib , much to the shock of both Rudra and Khabib , did his mana not run out? What was up with his relentless assault? It was back to the same stalemate as before , with Khabib , however things were a little different now , Khabib had lost a third of his HP and the pressure was significantly more. In a bold move , Khabib launched one of the special moves of the dark barbarian class ,'' darkness rage '' , and tried to power his way through to nightmare . With his increased strength and speed , nightmare''s attacks were not able to keep up , and Khabib was making his way quickly towards nightmare. When the distance closed into less than ten meters , nightmare was forced to retreat his blood for defense , and for the first time in the match , he had to engage in defense. Khabibs axe plowed into nightmares blood shield , which was flung away on impact. Unlike a normal shield the blood shield was not strong at all , many of his attacks cut right through the blood shield , and nightmare was forced to physically dodge them. However slowly getting in the rhythm Khabib used a brilliant axe skill to create an opening to attack , where he was able to throw his axe right into the chest of nightmare , as it stuck to his armour with a sickening thud. -2100 Blood trickled down nightmare''s chest , as shock was clearly visible in his eyes. This was the first time ever that somebody had damaged him. However it was replaced with a sick grin , as he used a move Rudra had never seen before, the four blood weapons disintigrated into four large pools of blood and started to spin at high velocity, the four dots disintigrated into eight then sixteen , then thirty two .... Uptill the entire arena was filled with small blood dots. This was Khabib ''s opening , the weapons had stopped attacking , and he wanted to take full advantage of this , however, never did he expect that before he could take a single step , nightmare uttered a single word '' Blood Bullet '' , as the countless dots of blood fired at Khabib , and plattered him like real bullets! -1000 -1000 -1000 -1000 Bang bang bang bang bang , attacked from all sides , he took a cumulative damage of 37,000 his bright yellow HP bar turning to deep red , he had less than 5% HP remaining. Rudra was stupefied , WTF was that move? How the hell can anyone fight that...? Isn''t this plane exaggeration? , However his thoughts were cut short , as the flare of this move was taken by the next. All the blood combined above nightmare into a single Chinese dragon , the one with a streamlined body and a dragon head , not like the one with the wings and legs. It looked majestic and terrifying , nightmare softly said '' Sepcial move : Blood Dragon strike ''. As the large dragon tore the space as it moved towards Khabib , Khabib launched his best move too in retalitation '' Thor''s hammer strike! ''. As he flung his axe with full power towards the dragon , which flew with an electric current. However , the dragon simply swallowed the attack , before continuing unperturbed towards Khabib , who was defenseless.... The match ended just like that. Nightmare won in four minutes and five seconds. Everyone across the world was shocked. The entire arena was silent .... WTF was that? , What sequence of moves? Is this actually a tier two player? Why does this seem like a tier 4 or 5 endboss? Every match every move they had seen uptill this point seemed like a kiddie pool parlour trick compared to the two moves launched by nightmare. The path where the blood dragon flew was destroyed into wasteland , a deep trench forming where it passed. It was more devastating than when both Rudra and Parallax launched their grand moves destroying the battlefield. This was simply unheard of power from a tier two player. And this is not where he was supposed to be the strongest.... He was supposed to be strongest in a battlefield where there was blood everywhere , he was a PVE class player , everything about his gameplay is exaggerated and simply unbelievable. Rudra was baffled seeing the match , his eyebrows turned into a deep furrow .... How the hell can he fight against nightmare? From the start to the end , there was not a single time where he was in real trouble. This guy was not present in his past timeline .... How did such a terrifying and exaggerated player rise up in this timeline? /// What''s the secret of nightmare guys , how will Rudra face this challenge , well drop a comment on what you think is the secret behind this character ... If you are right , or close to the truth , I''ll write a maybe on ur comments , let''s see if you guys can guess it , if your conspiracy theory is better than my original one , who knows I might just take ur idea instead. /// Chapter 304: The simulation Rudra watched the entire match , chills going down his spine. The last two moves used by nightmare , the blood bullet and the blood dragon , left a deep impression in Rudra''s mind. They were absolutely terrifying moves that no tier 2 player should be able to perform. Just thinking about facing these moves , Rudra had to think of the best way to counter them. Rudra''s ace in the whole , was definitely his SSS class tier 2 promotion ability full counter. Rudra knew for sure that blood magic was also considered as a magical attack and not a physical attack , hence he could technically use full counter on it. However, Rudra was unsure about nightmare''s ability to dissipate the blood , should it be returned back to him. Rudra''s game plan relied heavily on the full counter move ,and theoritically , no matter how good a mage was , suppose he/ she was a champion of fire magic like Medivh , and specialized in such spells , if Medivh was to use fireball on Rudra , and Rudra used full counter to send back the attack , the attack should hit Medivh nonetheless causing damage. However what Rudra was afraid off , was that , theoritically if he was fighting a fire giant instead of Medivh who has fire immunity. If a fire giant uses a fireball , which Rudra returns , he would not cause any damage. What is the class special trait of blood warlocks? Can blood damage a blood warlock? If it can then by how much can it damage? Will the full double damage work? Because it would be game over if it did. Rudra''s brain worked at super computer speed. Thinking of scenarios after scenarios , critically analysing the match between Khabib and Nightmare , he thought of three major takeaways. First takeaway was that when Khabib speeded up , he was able to get out of the relentless attack from the blood Lance''s and was able to counter it , hence technically Rudra with his supremely superior stats should be able to find himself not being bothered by those pesky blood Lance''s and would have a proper match-up with nightmare without it. Second takeaway for Rudra was that nightmare is extremely crafty and has unimaginable mana reserves. His battle style was unique and his assaults were crafty. However from the start to the end , Rudra never once saw his mana reserves bottom out which is very peculiar. Rudra knows that there is nothing like infinite mana , however he does not know for sure where nightmare''s bottom line is. Rudra had a crude assumption , that nightmare''s use of the two big moves back to back was because of the fact that he wanted to hide his mana deficit. However it was just a wild speculation with no actual proof to back it up. The third takeaway Rudra had from the match was that , nightmare had a low defense. The only move where nightmare took damage was a axe throw right to his chest , which is the most well protected area of one''s armour. Technically it should not cause more than -500 damage however it caused a -2100 damage. This meant that the allmighty nightmare , had a weak defense overall. This was the only deficit Rudra could find in his character. Rudra currently had no means to counter the blood bullet move , as it was not a single point attack but a wide ranged attack. Using full counter on it would be useless , also he lacked information on how often could nightmare use that move. Hence he needed to be careful. The more Rudra thought about the match , the more he realized he was out of his league here , the opponent was a character out of a superhero film , his fighting style and his moveset and damage ratio , far above what any other tier two player could do ... And now Rudra had to fight him! ------ ( True Elites HQ , real world , the upside ) The atmosphere in the guild hall upto 5 minutes ago was extremely electric and happy. Guild leader Rudra had won his match in grand fashion whereas , vice guild master Karna had won a gold in his event and elder Neatwit had won a silver in his . However after seeing the match between nightmare and Khabib , the hall was silenced , it was as if everyone collectively came to the consensus that , who the hell can win against that monster? When the Victorious Karna and Neatwit came inside the guild hall , expecting a grand welcome and rowdy atmosphere , saw the silent crowd , they assumed the worst that Rudra had lost. However when their eyes laid on the live TV , where the blood bullet and blood dragon move was shown on repeat. The only reaction Karna had was that " WHAT UNDER GODS GREEN EARTH IS THAT? ". Everyone else had the same reaction seeing it the first time around , soo they turned to see who had the late reaction , only to see that vice guild master Karna was back. A bit of the energy came back in the crowd , as people started to praise vice guild master for his victory. They also congratulated Neatwit on his silver. Neatwit was not overly ambitious , he would have liked to win the gold , however he was proud and happy with his silver too. His only desire was to level up and become the flag bearer next Olympic games , he was little worried about the medals. When the duo was shown the footage of the four minute match between Khabib and Nightmare , only then did they realize the situation. The crowd was silent because Rudra was to face this giant the next match around. Karna too felt a lump in his throat , however he could not let it show , Karna took the stage in the guild hall as he said " Okay guys , let me spell it out for you , THE GUILD LEADER HAS NOT LOST YET, soo those of you who have given up on him , give yourselves a slap , let me spell it out for the slower ones , THE GUILD LEADER HAS '' NEVER '' BEEN DEFEATED , NOT ONCE , AND TODAY WONT BE HIS FIRST! ". Energy returned to the crowd .... That''s right ... Rudra had never been defeated yet ... Why were they thinking soo negetively .... If anyone can defeat the monster called nightmare it would be guild master Shakuni! ------- Rudra''s hands were trembling , thinking about the coming fight , as he asked himself ..... Is this fear? The answer he got was mixed .... It was indeed fear , however fear was just 1% of the equation. It was 1% fear and 99% excitement.... Rudra felt anticipation and excitement to fight the next match. Finally after all this time , Rudra was not the top dog in a match , but much like his entire career in his past life , a very unlikely underdog. The odds of him winning this match were against him at 98:2 , he knew it himself. However , that''s exactly how it had been all his past life. This match was just more than a gold medal match for him , it was a chance to proove to himself , that this life .... This second chance ... He was different! He had no prior knowledge about nightmare , who was not a prominent figure in his last life , he was going in purely based on his own speculations and no cheats or knowledge ..... Without his cheats and without his knowledge , just as a player , how strong was guild leader Shakuni? He would get the answer in this match. If he wins he would know that he had actually risen from the ashes after his rebirth , if he lost he d know he was more of the same. Either way , he looked forward to fighting the next match! Chapter 305: Finals ( The forums ) '' how can anyone fight against nightmare , what the hell was that last move! How cool was that dragon ? Question : Are tier 2 dark faction players stronger than tier 2 light faction players? ''. '' We need to get answers from Cuber corporation , why do I feel I made a mistake choosing my class as an archer. I should have been a blood warlock , everything else is rubbish ''. '' I have a friend who is a darkness class player , he said that , blood warlocks are inherently very weak , only nightmare is as strong as he is '' '' Hey , does anyone on the forums believe that , Shakuni can win in the finals ? , If you do start a chain of me1 ''. '' Me1 ''. '' Me2 '' '' Me3 '' . . . ''Me 694'' '' To all the retards beleiving in the victory or Shakuni , you are moronic idiots who need to watch the clip of the fight between nightmare and Khabib , NOONE BEATS NIGHTMARE , COME KNEEL BEFORE THE KING! ''. '' Shakuni is the strongest light faction player , he will show nightmare the strength of us light faction players!!!!! GO SHAKUNI GO ! ''. '' HE CANT WIN! IF HE WINS I WILL EAT MY DOGS FECES ! ''. '' Then be ready to eat dog s***''. Heated arguments ensued on the forums. The light faction players had made Shakuni their messiah , they refused to believe that they were inferior to dark faction players. Unknowingly the stakes for Rudra''s final match became even more exaggerated! ------------ Ethan Grey''s mood became serious , he was loosing a lot of money here , he was not an expert analyst in the analysis of a player''s strengths or weaknesses , however witnessing nightmare''s move live , even he felt that maybe this guy was stronger than Rudra. However when he checked the online betting forums which had the ridiculous odds of 98:2 payout. He felt a itch in his skin to place a heavy bet on Shakuni. His only regret right now was that he could not contact Shakuni , to ask him if it was a good idea ¡­. He was loosing a lot of money here , on one side his logic told him that he should sit this one out and not place any bets , on the other side his heart told him , ain''t no bastard gonna beat his boy Rudra. Frustrated he just placed a bet of 20 billion dollars on Rudra''s win , even if he lost the money then soo be it , he did not care , he ain''t ever gonna bet against his brother ! If he could not trust him in ridiculous situations like these , where the world and logic was against his win , how would he make money? ( Ahem , be called a true brother ) . Gambling , he now felt properly pumped for the finals , will he win his money back 100 times or not? ( ahem , will Rudra beat all odds to win or not ¡­ ) -------- Derek Ray : The final event ¡­. The gold medal match , this is it Lee , the ultimate battle ¡­. Shakuni of Japan vs Nightmare of the United States ¡­. Who will win this one Lee? Lee Dixon : Well if you would have asked me this question 40 minutes ago , I would have said it would be a fair match, however after that performance against I say nightmare will steamroll this match Derek , no question about it. Derek Ray : It will be a uphill battle for Shakuni that''s for sure , I won''t use bold words like a gauranteed defeat. But a difficult battle for sure. What was expected to be a clash of the Titans in the finals of one v one fight , turned into a David vs Goliath matchup. Can Shakuni pull off an upset? Lee Dixon : Well the leader of True Elites is known to create miracles for his guild , and it will take a miracle for him to defeat nightmare that''s for sure. Derek Ray : Well that''s it from our side for now folks , the ring announcer is down in the arena , let''s go onto the introduction. -------- Announcer : LADIESSSS AND GENTLEMEN , TODAYS MAIN EVENT , THE FINALS OF ONE VS ONE FIGHT , IT IS JAPANS SHAKUNIII TAKING ON NIGHTMARE OF THE UNITED STATES! Announcer : Introducing first , from Japan , the GUILD MASTER OF TRUE ELITES , The One who absolutely destroyed the flagbearer parallax in the semi finals , The KNIGHT of the light faction ... SHAKUNIIIIIIIIIIII Rudra walked out to the arena , both his swords shining in his hands , as he had a dead serious expression plastered on his face. His entire aura eminanted the '' no nonsense '' Vibe , he was here to win! ( Crowd cheers lightly for Rudra ) Announcer : Introducing next ¡­. The blood warlock , the destroyer , the blood dragon summoner ¡­. The dark faction player from United States ¡­.. NIGHTMARE! Nightmare walked out , crushing his blood vials in the process , creating a majestic blood arc at his back. ( Crowd cheers heavily for nightmare , screams of nightmare! Nightmare ! And blood dragon! Blood dragon ! Can be heard ) He calmly takes his place , and gazes right into Rudra''s eyes unfazed. There are no words exchanged between the duo , however both understand the tense atmosphere between each other. Nightmare''s eyes convey the message '' I''m gonna chew you alive and spit you out ''. Whereas Rudra''s eyes say '' Ohh SHUTUP and just bring it! , Ain''t noone scared of your parlour tricks ''. The ring announcer went out of the arena .... And the countdown for the fight started. 10...9....8... ( Nightmare''s blood dots change into long javellins ) 7...6...5...( Rudra takes a stance as if he was going to dash at nightmare ) 4....3....2...1...FIGHT! Rudra dashes towards nightmare , who snickers and sends his four Lance''s towards Rudra. Rudra in a display of godly agility weaves his movement through all four as he launches in the air! A distance of 25 meters between the two , nightmare is confused as to why is Rudra , doing something soo foolish? He can''t reach him from soo far...then why? He maneuvers his Lance''s to turn and go back on Rudra''s tail. However Rudra plunges a massively extended Excalibur into the ground. As he uses his first skill ... EARTHQUAKE! Chapter 306: Intense match-up! Rudra came crashing down with Excalibur , as he used Earthquake! BOOM ! , The earth rumbled , and nightmare was shaken , his control over the blood Lance''s was shaken for a moment as they deformed a little. In that very small opening , Rudra used DARKNESS BIND! Pitch black vines shot out of the ground as they bound nightmare into an immobile position , as he watched in horror as to how Rudra was charging in his direction. His four blood Lance''s trailing , as somehow they could not match upto Rudra''s speed. Defenseless , he saw the attack in slow motion , as Rudra landed a vicious OVERHEAD SLASH! With the Elven sword onto his head! -50,000 CRITICAL HIT! BAM! , It connected and nightmare instantly lost about 60% of his total HP. The blood Lance''s had caught up and Rudra was forced to create a five yard distance. However, the damage was already done. The crowd which was silent just a second ago , was now roaring.... Absolutely going ballistic at the sequence of moves displayed by Rudra! Rudra was cautious , he did not want to recklessly charge in on nightmare , however he did not wish to give nightmare a chance to recover either. Hence he chose to use Darkness blast from range. However just as he was about to use that attack .... Suddenly ( SPLAT! ) -4500! Rudra felt a searing pain in his back , where he noticed , a blood arrow had penetrated. He did not understand how he had missed this attack .... The four Lance''s were clearly infront of him... Then how? Unfortunately he was not afforded the time to think about how it happened... As three blood Lance''s came flying towards him in full speed. While Rudra was shaking off the three Lance''s , nightmare held the fourth in his hand , as he used his skill " Blood absorption ! ". Regaining 40,000 HP , bringing his health bar back upto the green shade. Rudra gritted his teeth at this sight. His previous efforts were nullified , however he too was not going to back down , he was not Khabib , and these three blood Lance''s were not fast enough to stop him. Breaking free of their constant attack pattern, Rudra found his chance to cast the dark spell .... DARKNESS ABSORB! Darkness enveloped nightmare''s feet , as he feared for another darkness bind attack , jumping to avoid its grasp. Unfortunately this time it was darkness absorb , as the darkness shot up and pierced his body , and drain him of his life. -6000 , a damage appeared on his head As Rudra regained his lost HP , now standing back at full HP bar! At this point the contest had already evolved into , whatever you can do , I can do it too , even better than you do it too! The crowd had went absolutely ballistic , roaring like a group of drunk Vikings. They were thoroughly enjoying this bout , which was seemingly evenly matched upto this point .... Or one might say , slightly in favour of the Japanese player Shakuni! ---------- ( TV replay of how nightmare slipped an arrow at Rudra''s back ) Derek Ray : Look at this moment ladies and gentlemen , when nightmare was walking down to the arena , he smashes his blood vials and makes an impressive blood arc at his back , looking majestic. However look at this exact moment , where he faces Shakuni , and a small part of his blood branches out of the arc and forms a small arrow hidden behind his back , obscured from Shakuni''s view. Lee Dixon : He craftily mentains eye contact , and no challenger would back down from a staredown from his opponent. Taking advantage of this situation , he craftily sends his arrow high above the arena , where Shakuni does not suspect it to be. Derek Ray : when the countdown starts he shifts the arc into his trademark four blood Lance''s , however , it is to be noted that his blood arrow is still hovering above the arena , while noticing carefully one will notice , that one of the four Lance''s is a little bit shorter in length. Lee Dixon : Shakuni has a banger of a start that throws Nightmare off-guard , as the speed of his blood magic cannot keep up with Shakuni''s agility , as Shakuni delivers a devastating strike to nightmare. However look how at the very first opportunity , nightmare stungs the arrow right into Shakuni''s back , as he is caught completely off-guard. Look at his expression , he doesn''t have a clue , how his opponent did it. Derek Ray : yes but points for Shakuni to recover from that attack and recover lost HP by using dark magic of his own. I don''t know how he did it, but after this initial one and a half minute , Shakuni has a slight upper hand in this fight. Lee Dixon : what a high level fight Derek , the mental level of these two contestants , the skills shown the traps and the counters , completely exhilarating , what a matchup , worthy of being the finals of this one v one event! Derek Ray : You can''t take your eyes off for a second there , or you will miss a trap laid by this duo , oooohhhhh , we have seen this move before , the blood dots are spinning .... And they are multiplying .... Does this mean nightmare will bring out his first big move? Will we see the BLOOD BULLET? --------- Ethan who was looking at the match could not understand why his blood was pumping soo much .... He was feeling like a teenager all over again. In his two lifetimes there could be a handful of moments where the usually calm and collected Ethan Grey had his heart beating and his mind cheering in a mad adrenaline rush . However right here , in this arena watching this fight....he felt it. A roar escaped his mouth , much like the 200,000 others in the arena , as he cheered on for more action! This was interesting. Rudra was performing much better than he had anticipated , seems like he needed to put more faith in his boy ... However , he was happy overall .... Seems like 20 billion was coming home 98 times over! Another wave of adrenaline pumped in his veins , thinking about the potential money gains .... He was at an all time high , feeling the joys of life , as he gambled and enjoyed a fight. He chuckled at the thought , thinking he had regressed back to the medeival times. -------- Rudra''s alertness was on an all-time high , he had only studied the blood bullet move once and at that time he had seen that it took nightmare about 7 seconds to cast it. Which was enough for Rudra to charge in and deal damage. Rudra knew there might be a trap set up by nightmare if he charged in , however , by not doing anything he became a useless sitting duck , which could not be allowed either. Hence he decided to move. However , at that moment he was horrified to see that two sand hands had just emerged out of the ground beneath , as they grabbed onto Rudra''s legs , restricting his movement! Even after exerting his full strength , Rudra could not break free. At that moment he looked into nightmare''s eyes , which clearly said '' what you think you are the only one with restraining moves?''. Rudra surrounded by 3000 small balls off blood was now a sitting duck , for nightmare''s attack ...... ( Or was he? ) /// Bonus chapter thanx to the donation of Fatal notion , thankyou for the patronage! /// Chapter 307: The difference between 4.9% sync rate 3000 spheres of blood rotated at high speeds , as the anticipation in the crowd reached at a all-time high , everyone wanted to see that glorious move. Rudra was bound to the earth by shockingly a move that was not blood magic , it was a normal spell. It was a blunder on Rudra''s part to think that nightmare only had blood magic in his arsenal. However , nightmare also made a mistake , in thinking that Rudra was defenseless against him , when the rain of blood bullets shot out towards Rudra , unlike what most expected , he was not pelted with the bullets .... Instead Rudra busted out TWIN BLADE HURRICANE! / [ Twin blade hurricane ] : A dual wielder skill , can be used to attack or defend , a very fast and intricate movement of two swords that can destroy a opponents armour and deal a lot of surface cuts , or help create a 360 degree strong defense. / It was the same move Rudra used in his match against Parallax .... That time it was to attack , and this time it was for Defense. An extremely fast sword defense , as blood bullets pelted against Elven sword and Excalibur , naturally Rudra''s sword movements were not faster than a sea of bullets and did not provide 100% immunity , however it definitely mitigated 70% of the incoming damage. Rudra''s top of the line Knight''s armour , a level 75 , dark gold grade , full armour set , further reuced the damage dealt to him. As finally a damage of -7000 registered on Rudra! Rudra was shocked that he still recieved 7000 damage , while nightmare and the rest of the crowd was shocked Rudra recieved ONLY 7000 damage ..... What the hell was that defense technique? ( A loud uproar erupted from the crowd , they lost their minds at this exchange! ) Rudra started to close up on nightmare again , who recalled his blood dots back around him to create his signature blood Lance''s , Three Lance''s shot out again towards Rudra , which he evaded successfully . This was by no means an easy feat , unless Rudra had such incredibly high stats , and unless he had such precise control over his character he would have never been able to dodge this attack . Some Lance''s literally missed his body by a centimetre.... Which was exactly the margin of error he was afforded. Had Rudra been using his VR helmet instead of the new Pods , without that extra 4.9% sync rate , he was toast! When Rudra evaded all the attacks , the crowd anticipated him landing another blow onto Nightmare , just like the first time around when , however when Rudra went in for the TWIN BLADE CROSS SLASH , to hit Nightmare , his swords actually clashed against hard metal! BAM! the impact sent nightmare flying , as he flipped mid air to land back on his feet , even then the momentum forcing him to slide another meter . A shining black and red spear in his hand , a solid physical weapon. The three blood Lance''s also regrouped alongside Nightmare , and transformed back into balls of blood floating around his body. A look of utter shock and confusion spread on Rudra''s face , his eyes looking as if it had seen a ghost. It was not the fact that nightmare had used a physical weapon to repell his attack that shocked Rudra , however it was the weapon itself. Rudra knew that weapon all too well .... It was not something that a player should possess.... That blood red and black spear with the shining silver tip , inlaid with a golden dragon coiling along its body ... This was a legendary grade weapon called '' Overlord spear '' used by '' That '' existance in that catastrophic event , about 2 years from today''s timeline in his past life. Why did nightmare possess it ? Why had the timeline altered soo majorly? Had nightmare foundout the route to the lost land of the dragons? A million questions arose in Rudra''s mind .... As a lot of things started to make sense now ..... The terrifying blood dragon move that nightmare used ... The Overlord spear in his hands.... It had to be! Rudra gritted his teeth , as he prepared for a brutal battle .... His chances of victory had been slimmed down to an even lower probability than before... With the Overlord spear in his opponents hands , a very difficult uphill climb awaited Rudra. The detail that Rudra currently missed out however was the fact that nightmare was actually a very proficient physical fighter of the spear , but the reason behind him bringing out this weapon was not as simple as it seemed. He was out of mana , he needed time to recoup from his major mana expenditure in the battle upto now. Rudra had pushed him to the limits where he needed to bring out the Overlord spear. Nightmare was at his strongest when he brought out this weapon however, he was much more than just a blood controller who fought at distance , and the world would watch it first hand ! The only reason no-one knew this fact , was because never before did his mana run out before defeating his opponent. This was a first , and for the first time, would he face a player with his full might! ----------- Derek Ray : look at that shining weapon In nightmare''s hands Lee , seems like he is shifting his battle style to physical fighting , how about that! Lee Dixon : well personally I don''t think it''s a good idea to fight the leader of the Elites in a close range hand to hand combat , I think he should stick to using his blood manipulation from distance. This is a double edged sword that could see him buried deep into trouble. Derek Ray: well we never know Lee , however let''s take a moment and appreciate Shakuni , coming into this match nobody had any expectations for his victory , but he is doing pretty well I''d say , this is more of a fight between equals , with twists and turns every minute. This is an excellent brawl between two champions! Who will win it.... I''m not soo sure anymore ! /// Well a big hint about the past of nightmare is dropped , let me hear your revised conspiracy theories about his secret to power /// Chapter 308: David Vs Goliath Nightmare " Let me give you credit , Shakuni of True Elites , noone has ever forced me to bring out the Overlord spear in a fight. You are a first ". Rudra " Well , I hope your fighting skills don''t disappoint the fancy weapon you have there ". Nightmare" Ohhh , you speak as if you know of its value .... Interesting , very interesting ". Rudra dashed in on Nightmare , who slammed the Overlord spear on the ground , a shockwave of air came rushing towards Rudra , which he had to jump to avoid. Rudra came crashing down on nightmare from above , as both his swords clanged against Overlord spear , creating ripples and shockwaves. This time nightmare only had to move back three steps before he stabilized , however Rudra was fast , landing a kick right to his gut . Now sent flying , nightmare crashed on the walls of the arena , taking a minor damage of -700 , Rudra understood one point , that his skills were superior to nightmare in close range fighting at this point. The opponents moves were decent , but they were a far cry from the expert level that one would expect . Not wanting to give nightmare any breathing room , Rudra charged in again , however , the outcome this time was tragic for him. Nightmare gritted his teeth and shouted " ENOUGH ! ". As the Golden Dragon coiled on the Overlord spear now started to wriggle , opening it''s eyes! Two blood red Ruby like gemstone eyes stared at Rudra . Rudra was petrified on the spot , unable to move. He got the following system notification System notification : You have looked into the eyes of an ancestral dragon , you have been affected by dragon''s fear. Unable to move for 5 seconds '' WHAT!!! '' Rudra cursed in his mind , he was immobile and a open target for his opponents attacks . Naturally nightmare showed Rudra no mercy , stabbing him at his vitals thrice , before giving him a kick of his own to send Rudra flying. -36000! CRITICAL HIT Rudra lost a third of his HP in this one move , adding to the little damage he had taken earlier he had lost about 40% of his total HP. His HP bar turning yellow as a result. Rudra cursed in his mind , as he got back up facing nightmare again , however he was not pelted with attacks when he stood up , instead what he got was a psychological attack. Nightmare , leisurely swinging his overlord spear said " Monstrous speed , Monstrous strength , that''s all I can in here expecting , however fighting with you for soo long iv understood that they are all lies. Anyone else would have taken about 80% HP bar damage from my previous move , however you are still standing with about 60% Hp left ... Monstrous net HP bar , terrific defense. And seeing how you are not even tired after going at such high intensity for soo long , I assume a terrifyingly high stamina stat as well. And if my assumption is not wrong .... All of them are equally distributed eh? Am I right or am I right? ". Rudra squinted his eyes , trying to mentain an aloof face , not to give anything away. He chose silence as his answer , however alarm bells were ringing in his mind , his opponent was too terrifying ! " Silence .... I see , how amusing , no wonder you chose the knight class. HAHAHAHA, i think I have you figured out , except for the part where I can''t inspect you at all ... It''s odd , how do you hide it? ". Nightmare said. Rudra gulped nervously , this guy was breathing down his neck , from his nonchalant attitude to him enjoying his time in this fight , everything about his demeanor shouted , you are no threat to me and that I have this match in the bag. Rudra increasingly felt doubt over his chances at victory , and nightmare''s moves did not make it easy for him to think otherwise. Nightmare " Alright , it''s too bad if you don''t wanna talk , if silence is what you choose , better teleport you out of my arena ". Saying soo he charged at Rudra , his blood dots revitalizing as blood Lance''s, his psychological games were on point , but in reality he was stalling for time to recover enough mana to fight Rudra head on. Now with his three blood Lance''s and the Overlord spear he could finally supress Rudra in a physical fight. This was his strongest form of offense , and Rudra sure felt the heat. Three spears of blood precisely coordinated attacked Rudra''s vitals , whereas the only part where he could retreat without getting hurt , was stabbed by nightmare and the Overlord spear. With only two hands , and four weapons to defend against , Rudra was hard pressed as he was forced to go on the backfoot , taking a constant stream of damage in the process. -1000 -1000 -1000 His HP bar slowly but surely started to turn from bright yellow to dark yellow to orange to bright red. He was thoroughly suppressed , without a way to counter. Finally after a stab of Overlord spear on the ground , a air shockwave sent Rudra flying into the walls of the arena. -500 a damage appeared on his head. Things seemed to be going exceedingly in nightmare''s favour , as Rudra stood fifteen meters away with 13% HP. A evil grin spread on Nightmare''s face as he shouted " It''s over... ". --------- ( True Elites HQ , real world , upside ) Shock horror and disbelief spread in the guild hall where the entire guild had gathered to watch the guild leaders finals . They went into the match having low expectations , however Rudra exceeded their expectations , matching his own against nightmare and even having the upper hand at some moments. Lifting the atmosphere in the room to an all- time high. The match gave the guild members a rollercoaster of emotions , as they panicked , they rejoiced and they cursed , as the match progressed. It was a topsy Turvy match with many many reversals and counters. However the last 2 minutes had been a disaster for the guild members , as for the first time ever they saw their invincible guild leader be absolutely mauled by another player. Their hearts wrenched when they saw the continuous -1000 stream of damage. However , they hoped and hoped that the guild leader would reverse his way out of this situation. Yet it did not happen. Now against a wall , he looked like a weak prey , hence when nightmare declared its over , the guild members feared the worst..... Now they waited for the impending doom . /// Okay guys BIG announcement today : I am extremely gratified for all the love and support you have shown to this book , and December would mark the 6 month anniversary of the book . Hence on this occasion I as an author wanted to do something special for you guys , hence I have decided to do a coins give away event every week for the next entire month! And that''s not all there will be a special surprise every week on top of the event! Guys if you have not joined the discord server this is your chance to join and get in on some really fun stuff. Link : https://discord.gg/KJtRdwcW94 Please read the authors notes for the detailed explanation of the event. /// Chapter 309: Nightmares secret ( consider this chapter in third person narration , the author''s POV) What was nightmare''s secret ? Was he a reincarnator like Rudra? Was he a transmigrator? Was he a wandering supreme magician whose soul was floating in the river of time , before making home in nightmare''s body? What happened that altered the timeline Rudra knew soo much that such a player was present as his opponent? Well let me tell you the secrets of this very question , it will be interesting if you are a long- time reader , as refferances from the previous chapters of the book will be made . Let''s take a moment and go back to chapter 138 , where SMG and Karna raid the royal treasury and obtain this item . [ Seal of Draconia ] ( Epic ) : a seal of the dragon kingdom of draconia , grants a party of 20 to enter the forbidden Kingdom. Before going into details about how this item is linked to nightmare''s abnormality , let us talk about the distribution of light and dark faction in the game.The game whole world is divided into four continents , nothern continent , southern continent , eastern continent and western continent. On each continent , there are dark faction countries , there are light faction countries and there are also NPC ( dark or light faction allied ) countries , and finally neutral countries and ancient lands. Only after the second system update , did the travel between different countries of same faction become possible. Whereas travel between countries of different factions is still not possible. Light faction players can visit countries like the Elven kingdom , which is a NPC kingdom aligned with the light faction. However they cannot set foot in the NPC kingdoms of other factions. The same is true for dark faction players who cannot come to light faction allied nations. One such dark faction NPC nation , is the kingdom of the Dark Elves , whose spy Rudra killed in the lead up to saving princess Ruby in the royal court of the Elves. This was an event that was not supposed to initially happen , as it prompted a change in the storyline of the Dark Elves! ( If you are following the storyline soo far , please hold this connection in mind , and focus on another isolated event , I''m about to explain ) ----- The main storyline of the game , the one involving the archangels and the gods , whose progression was supposed to happen continuously overtime , with difficult quests at every stage of players levelling up. It was a series of intricately linked quests , where the dark and light faction both worked for their respective aligned archangels in a progressive manner. However Rudra disrupted the main storyline , by saving the son of archangel sariel and stopping the blood ritual meant to strengthen Lucifer. This caused a complete disruption of the events that were supposed to happen after that particular event. -------- ( Cut scene to , dark faction , VR world , kingdom of the undead , Lucifer''s church ) Nightmare was just another blood warlock who had came to Lucifer''s church to offer a blood sacrifice in exchange for a little buff spell from the priest. However on that day , there was chaos in the church , as the church issued a emergency quest to get the blood of dragons , thereby sending every possible adventurer to the neutral kingdom of the dragons. The church provided a map , with the location of the lost kingdom of draconia , and a one person entry tailsman, that expired in 24 hours , to every dark faction player present. Hence unexpectedly nightmare gained an opportunity at a big gain. Fast forward to the quest , and although the church gave about 700 people the access tailsman , only 3 were able to make their way into the dragon kingdom. This was because the terrain leading to the dragon kingdom of draconia , was a level 200 monster zone , which was impossible to traverse by majority of the players , it was only by sheer luck , that nightmare and two others were able to get into draconia. Even inside the majestic dragon kingdom , they were treated as beggars and peasants , no dragon would even talk with them , they were lowly humans who would die at even a slightest breath , and that is what happened to the two players except nightmare that went into the city. Nightmare kept a low profile , and gained information about a ruin , the ruin of the fallen blood dragon '' Razia '' , a tier 5 dragon , who was imprisoned inside the now ancient ruins , 3000 years ago. Nightmare was always a very smart guy , and sensing an opportunity he decided his luck at the ancient ruins , and boy did he strike gold , not only gaining the Overlord spear from the tomb , but also the remnant soul of the blood dragon '' Razia ''. Which can now communicate with him in his mind. Razia is cooperating with nightmare for now , but actually it is just biding it''s time for the chance to eventually be reborn , however for now , nightmare has a ancient knowledge house in his brain , which helps him control the blood manipulation at a level which is impossible for other blood warlocks at tier 2 and also the reason behind his monstrous move blood dragon strike! It is not a tier 2 move , but a tier 4 one. It is also the reason why nightmare was able to guess about Rudra''s stats .... It was Razia with his immense knowledge speaking in his mind. Giving him analysis. Nightmare was just an cunning player who got lucky , his own skills at fighting were decent at best , without the Overlord spear in his hands , and without Razia , he was a nobody. ----------- ( Cut to the part where , the dark elf spy dies ) Razia told nightmare of the method to gain access to the ancient dragon blood , that was the mission of his quest. Although he had Razia''s soul , his body had long decayed , and trying to gain ancient dragons blood in draconia with nightmare''s current strength was suicide. Razia adviced him to go to the Kingdom of dark elves , where in the treasury he knows that there is ancient dragon blood. From Razia''s tomb nightmare takes a skill tome called , eternal surveillance , which is a skill that when used with a semi legendary or higher grade viewing crystal can help spy on any corner of the world. When nightmare reaches the kingdom of dark elves , they are in a pickle about what to do about the elven kindom , as their spy there has been killed, hence when nightmare shows up with the trade option , they are more than happy to comply. Hence nightmare gains the vial of ancient dragon blood , helping him complete his mission with the Church of Lucifer. Conferred the title of bishop of the Church of Lucifer , he gains status and power in the dark faction , the effects of the title provide him with a 2X faster mana recovery , while as his reward from the quest he chooses a fruit that permanently expands his mana pool. Nightmare is a nemesis that Rudra has created himself , by altering the timeline , he created a imbalance , that results in the balancer called nightmare to be born. Should Rudra not have altered the timeline soo much , nightmare would not risen. Razia would not have escaped his confinements early , and he would not be in such a miserable fighting position. However Rudra is unaware of this truth , and is unaware of Nightmare''s secret. He fears nightmare to be a reincarnator such as himself , or maybe something else like a transmigrator or any of the other fictious things. His logic stems from the fact that , if he and Ethan Grey can reincarnate , there is no reason others cannot. He is not completely wrong , however there is a mystery behind as to why he was reincarnated at the exact same day when Ethan Grey''s previous life knowledge ended. Soo as to sum up to the question of what exactly is nightmare''s secret , his secret is that he is an opponent that the game created because of all the imbalances Rudra caused. By himself he is nothing special , his strength stems from the fact that he has a ancient dragons soul residing in his body , he has no special blood manipulation skill , or a legendary skill tome , all the fighting done with the blood skills, is done by Razia . /// This is overall , different kind of chapter than what I write usually , if you are a longtime reader familiar with all the arcs I''m sure you would appreciate this chapter. If you do appreciate it show some love in the comments section below , also if you don''t like it , let me know soo that I can learn from my mistake. I can''t believe how close some of you guys were to figuring it out , when reading the comments I just gulped sometimes , everyone had a very interesting theory. Well I hope to everyone who racked their brains to think of his secret this chapter ticks your itch. Yes Rudra Is also in possession of the seal of draconia ....I did not name drop it without reason , I just wanted to remind you guys that he has it , because it will be an important link in the coming chapters. //// Chapter 310: Rise from ashes " It''s over " said nightmare , as he prepared his strongest spell ..... The enormous blood dragon started to form over his head , as anticipation build up in the crowd. Nightmare looked down on Rudra in pity ... He thought that he had surely won the fight at this point , seeing the dull and defeated face of Rudra, he felt a sense of satisfaction. The blood dragon came tearing through the space towards Rudra , as nightmare looked on fondly at his destructive move! , The entire crowd held their breaths at the magnificent move .... Not a single soul beleived that this would not be the finish of the match. Not a single person ..... Except Rudra himself. Whose lips turned into a slight grin , as he looked towards the massive dragon approaching. Nightmare who saw this defiant face , had a chill sent down his spine , a bad feeling growing in his chest. Rudra took the elven sword in his hands , and just when the dragon was about to eat him whole and shred him to bits. Rudra unleashed his long saved trump card . With extreme zeal and focus , he said " FULLLLL COUNTERRR! ". To the shock of everyone present in the audience , and the billions watching worldwide. The massive blood dragon''s momentum halted clashing with the elven sword. As a intense vibration started to come from the sword .... In the next 3 seconds which seemed like an eternity , there was a stalemate , as nightmare and the audience watched with bated breaths , the outcome of this clash. Then , in the biggest twist in eSports history , the blood dragon changed its direction , from towards Rudra to towards nightmare , and almost doubled in size! With even more speed and power , the attack was returned towards nightmare , who became bewildered at the sudden change of events. The remnant dragon soul inside nightmare recovered more quickly than nightmare himself , and tried it''s best to slow the momentum of the blood magic returned towards them. However Alas all it could do , was slow it down a bit and not stop completely. The blood dragon devoured nightmare , as he was buried in the momentum of the dragon as it destroyed the floor of the arena. . -56000! CRITICAL HIT! Nightmare undertook unprecedented critical damage that made his HP go into critical position down to just a mere 5%. He was left absolutely in shock at the sudden reversal , from the start to finish he was in the blind about this move. He had never known Rudra possessed such a thing in his arsenal. He looked in horror as he saw Rudra chug a advanced health potion in luxury , half an arena across from him , as he saw how Rudra''s red HP bar regained a bright green vitality. While his own was now a very bright shade of red. Their roles reversed in a matter of 20 short seconds! ---------- Derek Ray : I don''t know how to speak anymore Lee , ARE YOU KIDDING ME , WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? .... What was that reversal? ... What was that move , that Shakuni used to reverse tha attack? ... How.. what .... Please someone explain . Lee Dixon : well there is only one logical reasoning to all this Derek , and it sends shivers down my bones, Shakuni had planned for this exact moment since the start of the match Derek , or maybe even the start of the tournament. Never showing his hidden card , he absolutely played nightmare on walking into his trap. What an incredible comeback , indeed , it is a full counter. Derek Ray : A 56,000 DAMAGE ! , Insane , absolutely insane , the roles are reversed Lee , Shakuni but has to deal a little bit of damage to seal the deal. A mere 30 seconds ago , I was convinced that this match was done for , yet 30 seconds later , the world has flipped upside down.... This is a once in a lifetime fight between two titans Lee , the two absolute best players in the world. This match .... This level .... Incredible. Simply incredible. Lee Dixon : Will Shakuni win this match ? Or will we see another reversal ... You can''t blink for a second in this Match , ladies and gentlemen , never before seen drama .... Remember you watched it live on cuber eSports network. --------- The crowd went absolutely ballistic after Rudra''s counter , as the entire arena was on its feet applauding and chanting Shakuni , Shakuni Shakuni , Shakuni. Everyone including Ethan Grey. Everyone loved the underdog , especially when the underdog surpassed unsurmountable odds. He came in the match , being seen as the definite looser , the one who was lightly cheered , however over the course of the match , he became the crowd Favorite , and he became the one everyone in the crowd supported , now they only wanted to see him win. Ethan Grey had been convinced that Rudra had met someone stronger than him , when he was being brutally beaten back into a corner ... Especially when the large dragon came , he sighed thinking that here went his money down the drain.... That he would never stupidly bet on other people again , however the tables turned. Rudra pulled an incredible comeback , that left him stunned and awestruck. When he saw Rudra calmly chugging down a health potion , as he could visibly see his HP bar going back up , he felt goosebumps all over his body .... What crafty planning , what incredible daring did Rudra have to pull this stunt off? For the first time ever in his life .... Ethan Grey felt a slight fear and a lot of respect for someone in his life. --------- Rudra looked into nightmare''s eyes , as he calmly walked towards him , mimicking the same leisurely walk that nightmare pulled on him just a few minutes ago , giving him psychological pressure. Rudra had delivered the physical blow , hence he decided to return the psychological blow too.... , Approaching nightmare he said " Soo .... How was draconia? ". Hearing these words , a million questions arose in nightmare''s mind , as he could feel his heart beating tightly in his chest. His expression revealing it all to Rudra .... Who knew his guess was on point. For the first time since splitting his soul into nightmare''s body , the ancient dragon Razia , felt a very wierd sensation ..... A sensation that he felt while facing the archangels themselves .... A sensation called.... FEAR! /// Okay guys BIG announcement today : I am extremely gratified for all the love and support you have shown to this book , and December would mark the 6 month anniversary of the book . Hence on this occasion I as an author wanted to do something special for you guys , hence I have decided to do a coins give away event every week for the next entire month! And that''s not all there will be a special surprise every week on top of the event! Guys if you have not joined the discord server this is your chance to join and get in on some really fun stuff. Link : https://discord.gg/KJtRdwcW94 Please read the authors notes for the detailed explanation of the event. /// Chapter 311: NUMBER ONE ! Both nightmare and Razia were having a heated argument , as nightmare kept pestering Razia to do something and save them , alas Razia too, was not currently in his full tier 5 glory , he was stuck inside this tier 2 body where he could only show a fraction of his true power. Also the man leisurely strolling infront of him , gave him chills , he was intimidated by a weakling , and as a proud dragon , he would never admit to it. Only when nightmare finally calmed himself , regaining his poker face , that someone may know about the lost kingdom of draconia , as it is mentioned in lore here and there that Shakuni must be grasping at straws here , only by seeing his massive blood dragon move is he bluffing, about knowing his secrets , he was trying to reason with himself when Shakuni dropped another psychological attack , that completely destroyed his psych¨¨ . Rudra said " That''s a nice spear you''ve got there , the Overlord spear ..... It''s a spear with a great legacy , once belonging to the mighty blood dragon Razia ". Nightmare was absolutely bewildered.... He shouted at Razia in his mind '' HE KNOWS .... HE KNOWS OUR SECRET ''. Rudra enjoyed the look of shock on his opponents face , this was actually all that he knew about the Overlord spear , he could never have actually guessed that the ancient dragon was actually residing inside nightmare. However he had successfully planted the seed of doubt in his opponents mind. Rudra slowly started to pick up pace , as nightmare started to retreat. Rudra wanted to finish this fight for once and for all , however just because he was at an advantage did not mean he could be careless. If he could turn the situation around , soo could his enemy. He did not underestimate the cunning of Nightmare. The only reason he chose to play mindgames for a while was that he wanted to see if nightmare used any hidden trump cards in his arsenal , because right now is a situation where one needed to use everything they have got to reverse the fragile situation they are in. When nightmare did nothing , Rudra assumed he had no more cards to play , and decided to carefully go in for the kill. ------- Derek Ray : Shakuni is picking up pace , however nightmare is clearly running away , he wants nothing to do with Shakuni , does this mean the end is near ... What are your thoughts Lee? Lee Dixon : I have no idea anymore Derek , this match had to be over multiple times by now , it''s just pointless speculation on our part , I''ll believe that we have a winner when, I see one. Logically Shakuni has the advantage right now , let''s see if he can seal the deal . Derek Ray : Well said Lee , Shakuni should win this match, however we never know what nightmare might have in store for Shakuni , my god is this nerve wrecking , imagine being a contestant fighting this match Lee. ---------- ( Nightmare''s POV) Ever since Rudra name dropped Razia , the dragon had went silent inside a panicking nightmare , who was desperately fleeing his enemy , screaming for help . Finally after a few seconds , Razia said " I''ll give you one chance kid , but using that move with your tier two body would mean that I will probably be put to sleep for few months time , and you will suffer from mana circulation problems , may even get a permanent problem". Nightmare was silent for a second after hearing this , he was a reasonable man , however he was not over the concept of vanity. He wanted the fame and fortune that came with winning Olympic gold , however at what cost? Rudra was closing in on nightmare , even though nightmare was running at full speed. Nightmare cursed Rudra for his insanely high stats , before frustratingly agreeing to Razia. He said " Do it... Now ! ". Razia sighed , thinking how he had to use forbidden magic to fight tier two ants..... Nightmare stopped running as he faced Rudra. The Overlord spear began to hum in nightmare''s hand , as two of the three blood drops that surrounded nightmare started to merge with his overlord spear. The black and red spear began to turn into a completely blood red color , as the golden dragon coiled on the spear which initially only had its eyes open , now started to move ..... In a never before seen phenomenon , the dragon , about the size of a leg of an adult male , detatched itself with the Overlord spear , and hopped onto the solid ground , as in a deep voice that was unlike nightmare''s ... Nightmare spoke " Forbidden move : Dragon manifestation ! ". The crowd went ballistic in approval ! --------- ( Rudra''s POV) As soon as Rudra saw the golden dragon detatch itself from the Overlord spear , Rudra frowned and did not charge at his opponent carelessly. He had never seen this move before .... Not even when the great cataclysm occured and he saw Razia in action , this was completely new to him. Also the deep voice in which nightmare spoke , was unlike his own ..... A lot of mysteries surrounded this move. With the single blood sphere that surrounded nightmare , he started to absorb the blood to regain his lost HP. However surprisingly it was extremely slow , unlike the first time when he absorbed it within seconds. Right now he was barely regaining a 100 HP a second ... About the speed of a trash quality basic health potion. The little dragon roared , and unlike it''s short stature , its roar was mighty and strong , enough to shake up the entire arena! System notification : All stats reduced by 20% , you are affected by dragon''s roar ! Rudra frowned even more , the little dragon was not to be underestimated .... It was Dangerous. The crowd roared along with the little dragon , as if they were sure that with this new addition there would yet be another interesting development in the matchup. Nobody understood the origin of the plathora of trump cards used one after the other by these two contestants. Clearly they were in a league of their own .. the ambitious players who wanted to be on this stage themselves were left with bruised and shattered ego ... Compared to the two fighting right now .. they were nothing. Noone had any idea that what Razia currently do was a tier 5 forbidden magic called dragon manifestation , whereby he using his dragon soul took control of an inanimate object. Razia was casting another powerfull tier 4 spell in his mind and only needed 3 more seconds to successfully deploy it. Just 3 more seconds and he would secure victory for nightmare. Unfortunately for him however , Rudra did not give him 3 seconds. Nobody expected , that after all this twists and turns and all this intense fighting , Rudra had never used two of his strongest moves. That he was still hiding strength. Hence when he used these last 2 moves , he would inadvertently cause a huge controversy , that would plaque the internet for ages to come. Rudra used STORMBRINGER ! A terrifying bolt of lightning was blasted ontop of of the golden dragon , it was very strong , however not detrimental to the metal dragon at all , who conducted the electricity to the ground without a hitch , however in that one short fleeting moment , where the thunder hit him ... He was blinded by the flash of the lightning. As when he focused his eyes on his opponent again ..... He was gone! Using BLINK Rudra had teleported right behind nightmare , past the guard of the golden dragon , as he used WORLDSLASH on the neck of the defenseless player , who was absorbing blood to regain HP. -30,000 CRITICAL HIT! , Nightmare''s HP hit 0 as he along with his spear and the golden dragon , were teleported out of the arena. In a short timespan of 2.5 seconds , Rudra had sealed the match! , Leaving an tier 5 ancient dragon , and billions watching worldwide baffled. A moment later thunderous applause rained down from the crowd , after this topsy Turvy event they finally had a winner! And it was Shakuni of the Elites! As he stood there tall , with his fist raised towards the sky , his HP bar full at 100% , a question arose in the mind of the billions watching worldwide... What is his true level of strength? From the start of the match till the end , Rudra brought out moves after moves that he never used in his matches prior to this. The logical thing to do when you are in trouble , is to dish out your strongest moves on the opponent as a show of strength. Yet Shakuni did the opposite , conserving strength and controlling the flow of battle . If he had moves like thunderblast , blink and full counter , which he only used once in the entire tournament .... How many more hidden moves does he have? How much more strength has he hidden? From the surprise appearance of the bombs to the introduction of the archballistae , to his own fighting style , it seemed as if the leader of the Elites was a hidden dragon , only showing his hand when needed. The most dangerous kind of opponent , whose strength could not be gauged. Ethan Grey almost had a tear to his eye , when the ring announcers words fell on his ears. Ring announcer : AND THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH , AND THE GOLD MEDALIST OF THE ONE V ONE FIGHT. FROM THE ISLAND COUNTRY OF JAPAN .... SHAKUNIIIIIIII ! A Thunderous applause rained from the crowd , along with a chant of '' You deserve it! ... Clap , clap , clap .... You deserve it ! ''. Yet Rudra himself was deaf to all this , his only thoughts being that '' He did it .... He is not the same guy he was once , He is now Shakuni of the Elites ! ''. Chapter 312: Victory celebrations Rudra had won his match , that meant another gold medal for Japan , his second one for the nation , yet another one for the Elites. The crowd went absolutely ballistic for his win , as he was scheduled to be interviewed next , on live tv first time ever. Ethan Grey who was watching in attendance was left breathless by Rudra''s performance , as his mind quickly started to calculate his Immeasureable gains. His only regret now was that why did he not bet more? , Rudra absolutely smashed his expectations out of the box with today''s performace , his respect for the man grew day by day , at the rate the Elites were performing , it seemed as if they would definitely deliver the Veto seat for Japan! A simmilar situation developed inside the generals conference room, as they celebrated yet another win for Japan in the VR Olympics , president Abe Shinzo , was visibly elated as he could not hide his grin. Things looked smooth sailing for the country at the top of the medals tally. ---------- ( Rudra''s interview ,live from the grand collosseum ) Martin Tyler : Congratulations on the big win guild leader Shakuni , let the viewers at home know your thoughts on the match .... Rudra : Well Martin , it was a good fight , I think it''s a finals that the fans would remember more fondly as time goes on , as it was good action , overall I was dominant , ofcourse nightmare is a terrific opponent and he fought well , but the results came out in my favour. Martin Tyler : well everytime you were in a bit of a pickle there , you always bring out a new move ... A new counter , it catches your opponents by surprise and makes us viewers wonder , just how many moves have you hidden? Rudra : Haha , Martin , to be honest I was never in a pickle , I have never been in one , I''m a guy who comes down in a fight with a plan A , B , C , D , E .... Even plan freaking Z. I''m never out of options , never fight from a corner , ofcourse I''m different from the young lads who are showy , I''m a guy who preffers to keep his cards hidden. It''s use is the most effective that way . Martin Tyler : But do you have more secrets ... Or did you try your best in this fight ? Rudra : Never gave my 100% , next question Martin , no follow-ups. ( It was true , Rudra never used moves like Swift retreat , using which during the onslaught that forced him to take nearly 80,000 HP in damage would have reduced it to 0. He was fighting at 85% potential , however he never tried his best.) Martin Tyler : Alright , then let me ask you , how do you feel about the performance of your guild soo far in the Olympics , ofcourse they have all gotten stellar results ... Today along with your gold medal , it''s another one from Karna and a silver from Neatwit. Which makes it 2 gold''s and one silver for japan , and for the Elites , what are your thoughts on this? Rudra : Naturally it gives me immense joy and pleasure , its an honor to command a guild and a group of talent like the Elites , the amount of potential those guys have is incredible , however in organization''s such as first rate guilds and super guilds , these talents do not get the proper attention and nurturing they need to properly grow .... However inside the Elites , we only accept a few and we focus on making the bunch of us strong enough to take on the world. Naturally the results speak for itself. Martin Tyler : Well one of your guilds members , Kalash , has remarked that you make the guild members train like hell .... To what extent is this true ... And is it the reason behind your success? Rudra : Haha , it''s not that hard.... Kalash likes to exaggerate , the training has been hard on him because I ask them to do physical excercises and he is a little weak in the department. But no I can''t take credit for their hardwork , it''s them who put in the effort , and them who bring home glory. Martin Tyler : Alright , last question , how many medals do you think the Elites will bag before the Olympics end ? Rudra : I''m glad you asked this Martin ( Rudra''s smiling expression changes to a dead serious one) Rudra : As many as it takes to become number one... You lads watching this at home , don''t let me down eh . The Elites members watching at home , had goosebumps on their skin after this warning , as they gulped nervously . Martin Tyler : Haha , well said , cheers man , thankyou for your time. Congratulations on the win . Rudra : Thankyou Martin , cheers to you as well. ------------ ( Commentators box ) Derek Ray : Soo that''s it from the grand collosseum arena for today , day 5 ends with 2 gold medals and one silver medal for the Elites , it''s funny how a group of not even 10,000 dominate the world scene , and it''s all thanx to that man .... Their guild leader Shakuni. Lee Dixon : what a thrilling match, what an amazing victory , I''ll have trouble sleeping at night after this ...I''m soo pumped. Anyways , that''s it from our side today , this is Lee Dixon along with Derek Ray , who are signing off for today. ----- ( Elites guild HQ , real world , upside ) ( Note Rudra was logged in from his VR pod from his office inside the Elite tower and not from his house ) Rudra''s fight had inspired the entire guild ... They were more motivated than ever. With Rudra leading by example and turning a seemingly impossible to win match on its heels , inspired the guild members to also aim for the impossible . Everyone had a fire to win a medal inside them , and those who did not get a chance to participate in the Olympics this time , had a fire to improove and make sure to get there next time. Especially when Rudra asked them to not let him down , they felt as if the leader had commanded and that they needed to deliver. When the man of the hour , Rudra walked inside the guild hall , the entire crowd broke into applause. They looked on in great respect and admiration as the man who defied all odds Walked into the room calmly , without an inch of ego at becoming the one v one medal winner. Just the same casual demeanor that said '' Just another day at work ''. By him . He talked a bit with other members , encouraging them whose matches were left , while congratulating Karna and Neatwit on their wins. He naturally talked longer with the duo as he watched clips and talked in detail about their events. After which he quietly left to go home. The entire road home while he was driving his car , he could not help but smile , he was too damn happy , and although he tried to play it cool in the guild hall , the moment he was alone , the smile krept up on him. He wanted nothing more than a good night''s rest now , but what he saw when he reached home was surprising to him. Surprisingly Naomi was there at his home , helping his mother do the dishes. When he walked in , his mother rushed in to hug the boy , as she cried tears of joy on his boys win. Naomi also congratulated him with zeal and an awkward hug, Apparently father rajput was out in a bar , watching the match with the boys , and as Max was not allowed to watch such gory content , he was put to sleep. Hence mother Rajput was left to see the match alone at home , however unexpectedly Naomi showed up , and became an emotional support for mother Rajput while watching the match. Not letting his mom get to anxious and also hugging her in joy after the win. Apparently Naomi had won mother Rajput''s heart as the two talked amicably. Rudra watched the duo in silence. After a while , mother Rajput nudged Rudra , and pretended to be tired and retired to her room , leaving Rudra alone with Naomi. Mother Rajput winked twice at Naomi before leaving, however Rudra completely missed it ... apparently she had gotten the approval from Mrs Rajput to date his son , who was now helping her as her wingman now. Rudra coughed as he thought '' Damn ... What am I supposed to do now ? ''. However he felt emotions he never felt before , as his heart felt all mush. Hearing about how Naomi was thoughtfull and came to help his mother and stayed by her side during the stressful match , made Rudra''s impression of Naomi go up by a notch. An awkward silence set in between the two for a moment , after which Rudra said " It''s boring here ... Wanna go to my room? ". Naomi''s ears perked up at the question , as her face flushed red , she nodded weakly , and followed Rudra into his room. Rudra''s room was messy , as the only thing neat was one VR pod on the side wall , and one VR headset on his desk. Clothes were laying all around , with most not having been washed for months. There were even some undergarments laying around , as Rudra in a rocket like speed gathered it all and threw it into his bathroom. Naomi chuckled at this ... It was just like his brother , who was messy as well. Naomi took a seat on the edge of Rudra''s bed , as Rudra sat awkwardly beside her. After a moment he said " Thanx for helping my mom today , it means a lot to me ". Naomi nodded , as she said " You do soo much for us , Im glad I could do something for you ". Rudra scratched his nose as he said " ive never had any female friends you know. Acquaintances yes .. but not real good friends , I''m kind of clumsy at talking with girls ... However I think I just found my first real good female friend in you". Naomi was both touched , and alarmed .... This was bad ..... Was this dummy friendzoning her? Chapter 313: Conclusion (1) Naomi absolutely did not want to get friendzoned by Rudra , however it was hard to say anything when he was being soo sweet about it. Maybe it meant a lot to him, and it would be rude of her to say that she wanted to be more than friends in this particular moment. Hence tactically turning the topic she asked " No female friends huh ... Only girlfriends I suppose ". Rudra facepalmed himself and started to chuckle , he said " I wish .... Actually I''ve never properly dated a girl , the only date I''ve ever gone to was with Yua , and as for a girlfriend I''ve never had one, actually you are the first girl I''ve brought to my room ". Naomi was extremely jealous that Rudra went on a date with Yua , however hearing how it was only once and that he had never had a girlfriend and how she was the first one to come to his room , she smiled. Seems like the road was seemingly clear. Building up the courage , she asked " Soo ... Is there someone you like ...? ". Rudra looked at Naomi for a moment , then blinked twice before smiling and saying " Yes ". It was an ambiguous answer , that unleashed a torrent of emotions inside Naomi. She did not know who Rudra was reffering to, his manner of speach was hinting Naomi that it was her , yet she could never be sure. This would remain a mystery in her mind for now .... The question of , does he like her? --------- The individual events continued for the next few days , as the Elites continued to shine on the world stage. SMG bagged a gold in the trialthon event , having a total time of half the silver medal winner. It was a convincing performance as he looked like a man on a mission. Karna got a silver in his second event , while Medivh , Cola , Rhino and PoisonToadGamakichi won bronze medals. Skyla and Bo lost their bronze medal matches to come at fourth place. Overall at the end of individual events , the medal tally was 1) USA : 9 Gold , 4 silver , 13 Bronze 2) Japan: 7 Gold , 2 Silver , 9 Bronze 3) China : 6 Gold , 11 Silver , 5 Bronze 4) India : 6 Gold , 5 silver , 11 Bronze 5) UK : 4 Gold , 0 silver , 1 bronze 6) Indonesia : 2 Gold , 1 Silver , 1 bronze . . . . . 250) Antarctica : 0 gold , 0 silver , 0 bronze. Japan was in an overall secure position with only 5 more events to play, with them expecting medals in the capture the flag , dodgeball and national battleground event. Dodgeball was the first group event , where SMG was participating.... Him working on his reflexes day in and day out had made them laser sharp , as he was a force to reckon with on the dodgeball field. SMG was a driven man after his loss in the prison escape event .... He had this mad drive to proove himself , and to become even better than he was yesterday. However Alas Dodgeball was a team event , and even though , he was undoubtedly the best individual player with insane agility. Team japan was weak , and as it was a team event , SMG could only bring home a bronze for the country. A completely different scenario awaited on the second day of the event , where Rudra participated in the national battleground. Him , Yume , Nero and Neatwit , absolutely steamrolled through the opposition in the event. Having 43 eliminations and winning the event by a huge margin. The opponents had a psychological fear of facing Shakuni, which lead them to making unnecessary mistakes in fighting him. However it was to be expected as Rudra was a changed man ever since winning the one v one fight. Gaining more confidence in his skills , he had an threatening aura around him. Bolder in his attack strategies and ruthless in achieving his results , only destruction awaited his opponents. Japan bagged a gold in the national battleground event , hence securing their position in the top five , irrespective of whoever won or lost the next matches. This came as a huge releif to the Japanese officials , and Ethan Grey , who started to plot Mithun Ambani ''s demise. Rudra on the other hand was the first player in the game to achieve a triple gold medal , as his legend went down in the history books. It was not announced yet however Rudra knew the rewards that would come with the closing ceremony. With his triple gold medals , he could finally get his hands on a LEGENDARY grade equipment. Just the very thought made him as excited as a six year old before a school trip. The next two days were uneventful , as Japan could not get past the first few rounds in the other individual events , untill finally it was the last day and time for capture the flag event. The last event for the VR Olympics. It was a high stakes game for UK who only had a one medal lead at its fifth place , they needed this win more than anyone else , and Edge was leading the team for this very task. Straight from the get go in the lobby , sparks flew between Karna and Edge , who were the team captains of their respective teams , as Edge completely mocked Karna. Even going as far as to make unruly barbaric gestures. However Karna was never going to give him the satisfaction of an ugly reaction , as he stood there silently glaring his opponent. ----------- ( Jhonny English POV) Inside the lobby , everyone was giving team Japan and especially Jhonny English dirty looks. Jhonny was just too damn popular and too damn arrogant. His mesmerizing wins in blacksmithing and Prison escape event had made him in the to watch list. Every team who was doing their homework about their opponents talked atleast an hour about one Jhonny English , and how to restrain this unpredictable man , and most decided to go after him early , to eliminate him out of the contest. About 20% of the teams had decided to go after Team Japan''s strongest link instead of the first white flag at the start of the event. Jhonny who was in the dark about the conspiracy behind his back , just kept silently sighing. Thinking about the dissapointing level of beauties participating in the event. Like not a single appealing woman in a crowd of hundereds , made Jhonny loose interest. Only god knows what would happen when about 50 players would try go after Jhonny at the start of the event , from multiple countries at that. The start of the event is sure to be chaotic. ------- ( True Elites HQ , real world ) Its the last event and Rudra joins the team in watching team Japan perform in the capture the flag event. Technically UK should win this event just like his past life. However with Karna , SMG and Medivh playing for team japan ,a lot had changed from the last time around. Rudra wanted to know how much had making the Elites impacted the world stage .... Is it enough to steal them a win without him being personally involved? Rudra sat with Neatwit on his right and Naomi on his left , the twins having almost similar reactions to everything that was going on in the big screen , while the crowd behind him cheered like Barbarians whenever an Elite was shown on the big screen. Rudra was new to this atmosphere , as he was usually on the other side of the screen , sitting here alongside the enthusiastic bunch , he realized he needed to do this more often .... It was a lot of fun ! After about 5 minutes Rudra too broke into mad cheers whenever a guild mate was shown , much to the surprise of Naomi , who chuckled seeing the excited guild master. Untill silence descended in the room , when the countdown hit 0 and the event officially started. -------- ( Capture the flag event, virtual world ) Karna lead 6 members of the team including Patch Mori and Medivh to the central white flag ,to contest for the early flag spawn , while Two members were left to defend their base , and sir Jhonny and KingSpy were left between the two parties to provide assistance as needed. At the centre a massive brawl had erupted , and Karna lead the group right into the heart of the Frey , activating his minds eyes and entering beast battle mode! Meanwhile many groups made way to the Japanese base , where on their way they encountered their target Jhonny English. Very early into the game 12 different squads , 50 players in total had decided to take this bighsot out early as they teamed up and surrounded him and KingSpy. They were uneasy themselves , but had a tacit understanding of taking out Jhonny first. Jhonny was voted as the key player to watch for by the forums going into the event , and Japan was voted the most likely to win the contest. Hence coming in as the Favourites they were naturally targetted first. The camera angle cut to Jhonny who was dumbfounded seeing himself surrounded by soo many members , however the words that came out of his mouth next completely stunned the entire world , as it would become an immortal meme for all times to come. Jhonny scanning his surroundings only calmly spoke " 50 of you came .... Yet not a single pretty girl amongst you ..... ". As he silently drew his cane sword! /// Okay guys BIG announcement today : I am extremely gratified for all the love and support you have shown to this book , and December would mark the 6 month anniversary of the book . Hence on this occasion I as an author wanted to do something special for you guys , hence I have decided to do a coins give away event every week for the next entire month! And that''s not all there will be a special surprise every week on top of the event! Guys if you have not joined the discord server this is your chance to join and get in on some really fun stuff. Link : https://discord.gg/KJtRdwcW94 Please read the authors notes for the detailed explanation of the event. /// Chapter 314: Conclusion (2) Jhonny took out his cane sword , as the enemies rushed in on him. KingSpy was bewildered at the scene as he was standing back to back with Jhonny. He had lost all hopes of getting out of this scuffle alive. This was one of the drawbacks of capture the flag event , if you died .... You stayed dead. To be honest Jhonny himself had absolutely 0 hopes of getting out of here alive , yet if he was going to die anyway , he would make sure to go out in style. Jhonny charged at an opponent , and the arrows and long range spells of other team members started to rain down on Jhonny. Now under normal circumstances when Jhonny is surrounded by teammates , he is the most unlucky man in the game. However , surrounded by enemies , there was noone luckier. This is because of how Jhonny''s hidden stat worked .... His enemies got affected by a -190 luck stat , while his allies got affected by a -47.5 luck stat. Hence while raiding a dungeon surrounded by a bunch of Elite guild members , Jhonny was a walking disaster for the team. His own -95 luck stat being a force of doom , adversely affecting the team. However surrounded by enemies , Jhonny''s -95 luck stat was insignificant to theirs which were almost always higher than -150 ( assuming avg player has a +45 luck stat) . Which meant that everything that could go wrong for his opponents did go wrong. Arrows aimed at his head would miss by a hair''s breath and hit another team member attacking Jhonny in the eye. Spells directed at him would end up blasting the opponent he was fighting at close range. A random tree branch would fall on a players head when someone else''s spell hits the base of the tree. Within 30 short seconds the 12 teams were embroiled in an unseen chaos , as nobody beleived that the other party was not scheming against them , hence breaking out a free for all. KingSpy who was fighting normally was stunned at how many attacks of him landed as critical hits. He felt like a god on the battlefield. Completely unstoppable. The opposite emotion was faced by the teams that wanted to ambush Jhonny. Their swords would get cracked , an arrow would penetrate them right at the small spot their armour did not cover. Overall it was bad. Everyone cursed everyone else , saying words like " I knew I could never trust you mongolians ". " Die! Traitors Die! ". Jhonny was no longer even fighting , he casually leaned against a tree , his cane sword in hand placed on the ground , as he chilled while watching others fight. On a few occasions he would throw out a assasins dagger , piercing necks of unsuspecting enemies , as within 3 minutes , all the ambushers laid dead , as KingSpy and Jhonny walked back casually towards the base. The end scene was Jhonny saying " You see those daggers that I pierced the necks of those kids with ..... They were handcrafted by me , the same design that won me gold medal in blacksmithing .... What do you think , pretty good eh? ". KingSpy " No way .... You threw like 15 of them ... They can''t all be epic rated ... Can they ? ". Jhonny " Ofcourse they are epic rated.... I crafted them ". KingSpy''s mouth twitched at the remark , as he looked back at the battlefield .... 15 epic rated daggers just laid there ..... What an astronomic waste .... Just how rich was the Elites to afford something like this? And how talented was Jhonny to pull this off? The commentators and the billions watching the whole fight play out were left with their eyes twitching .... They could not make sense of the whole event that transpired. 50 men tried to ambush Jhonny English , yet ended up fighting and killing each other. Letting Jhonny walk away from the entire event unharmed? This made no sense at all. Meanwhile, Karna had successfully brought back the white flag , and given the team a headstart on the points table. However in the central scuffle , they had lost one member of team Japan ..... Bringing their total numbers to 9. This made things a little more tricky , as the five points had come at a big cost. The next 4 hours were uneventful as Karna led the assault squad of five members and captured the flag of as many teams as he could find. Hunting like a fanatic , widening his gap with everyone else. In these four hours he captured the white flag twice , and 17 team flags to earn lots of points. Solidifying his lead at the top of the table. Karna fought like a complete war Machine , slaughtering any and every enemy in his path. This was the most formidable performance anyone had ever seen by the vice guild master of the Elites. Rudra watching it from back at the HQ was extremely happy to see Karna finally showing skills of his true potential. This battle machine mode of him was exactly the reason why Rudra went to such great lengths to specially hire him. Team Japan was 20 points clear of the second place team UK with 2 hours left in the event. It is then that the captain of team UK ... Edge decided that he needed to intervene to stop Karna''s momentum. He knew that in the department of sheer skills , and individual powerhouses , team Japan outclassed his own. However , he was a great strategist , hence he brewed a sinister plan of taking out Karna himself , surrounded 10 to one , to cut off the head of team Japan. He was sure that without Karna keeping the others in check , the other were only a bunch of misfits. The only problem was , how to isolate Karna? , For that he needed to play dirty ..... And to win the gold medal , he was willing to go as dirty as needed to ensure his win. /// Dropping nitro randomly today on the discord channel , will do it for the entire month. Come join if you guys want a chance to randomly get discord nitro /// Chapter 315: A ploy Edge had decided to bait Karna , by infuriating him and leading him right into a trap where an ambush party would be waiting for him in advance. Much like what happened in the conquest for Purplehaze city. Edge planned on taking down Karna using sheer numbers. However , what Edge did not know was that he was a little guy when it came to scheming , nowhere near the sophistry of what Rudra had achieved in the field. Karna had a talk in great length with Rudra , about how if he would be a team captain playing against team japan , what would his gameplan be to win , and naturally Rudra thought long and hard about this question and finally arrived at the conclusion that the best way to win was to dwindle the teams numbers. Capture the flag was a volatile event , the moment a teams overall member count fell below 7 , it greatly limited what one could achieve. Hence Rudra had explicitly told Karna about how he would single out opponents and plan ambushes. In addition he also warned Karna that he himself would be the first target of this scheme , as he was the most critical member holding the team together. Karna naturally took Rudra''s advice to heart. He had faith in his guild leader''s words. Hence he came up with a counter strategy to come out of any ambushes , and turn the tide on his enemies. Hence when team UK accidentally intercepted team Japan , near the central white flag , and after a short scuffle the other members retreated towards their base but Edge pretended to be singeled out and ran in a different direction , taunting Karna about how he was never going to win this event and about the time where he slaughtered him to his death. Karna naturally knew the ploy at work. Even so , Karna pretended to bite the bait and started to get agitated. Responding with insults of his own , he decided to chase after Edge , breaking away from the rest of the group to whom he instructed to return to the base with the white flag. The other members were hesitant to leave the leader alone , yet , orders were orders. They obeyed. Rudra who was watching this event unflur live , had a frown on his face as he thought '' Comeon Karna this is obviously a trap , how can you fall for such petty insults man , I expect more from you ''. Rudra was worried , worried that another defeat at the hands of edge would ruin Karna''s self confidence. Hence he watched anxiously as Karna chased Edge through the forest . What Rudra did not know was that Karna , had already made a plan to outsmart Edge''s plan. He had already requested backup , from the greatest mercenary of all time , as he was preparing to put the ambushers 6 feet under. Arriving at the scene of the ambush , Edge abruptly stopped , as he started to laugh. He said" Comeon man Karna , even I did not think you would be this dumb to chase me alone. Almost makes me suspect that you have a bigger scheme than the one I have. However our ranger scout says that 7 of your team members are back at your base. What is your endgame here? ". Karna smiled , as he took out his second sword , he said " ofcourse I know about your little ambush here , honestly that barbarian doesn''t even know how to hide , both his shoulders are visibly outside the tree he is hiding behind , while your assassin lays behind a bush .... Sigh , I expected more from your group Edge , these bunch of amateurs , I ll take them on myself. " Saying soo karna took out a third sword and put it between his teeth taking the Zorro''s swordsmanship path. Closing his eyes , he decided to put all his training to use. The last time he fought against Edge he was severly injured and ambushed by hundereds. Agreed that the ten players present here in the Olympics could never be compared to those average Joe''s , however how could Karna call himself a true Elite if he could not take on nine such punks. Edge laughed .... He said " honestly I was kind of deseperate , trying to bait you in , you have one hell of a team under your command , to put up a 25 point lead above us , however I''m sorry to say that you are not my opponent. You are a brawler , but a brainless idiot. This is not a taunt , this is my honest opinion of you , you are no leader Karna of the Elites , you will die here and I will win this event. " Karna said nothing , Zorro''s sword In mouth , he charged at Edge , while the ambush party sprung into action. Karna''s skill was put to the test as 9 of England''s best attacked him all at once. Edge himself was an excellent swordsman who would punish Karna at the slightest mistake he made. However to the surprise of billions watching worldwide. The brawl of one vs nine was a shocking stalemate. Karna moved like a madman , finding flaws in enemy attacks and maneuvering his way through every attack delivering counters like a true fighting machine. The sight of him taking on two Barbarians with one sword , two swordsmen with another , while cutting a mage''s neck with a third , would forever remain imprinted in the minds of everyone watching worldwide. However the question for Karna was ..... For how long could he keep this intensity up for? The way he was maneuvering , his stamina would not last him for more than 2 minutes .... What would he do after that? /// Today is December first , and hence starts the month of gratitude. For week one , the target is to release 25 chapters total. We started at 313, let''s see if we can end it at 338! Along with that lets get the first event started , here is the first riddle for you guys , I will only post it on the discord channel after 12 hours giving you privilage readers a headstart. The code is this: 10815141425 5147129198 Decode this code and drop a comment down in the comments section or dm me on discord and if you are one of the first 10 people who solved it , I will gift u a coin code worth 100 coins! , All the best guys /// Chapter 316: Never stab a dry tree Edge never panicked , even after Karna was able to hold his own against his entire team. His scout and the only member not involved in this fight confirmed the fact that the others from his team had not shown any movement and that no reinforcements were coming. The rate at which Karna was fighting he was sure to tire himself sooner or later changing the tides of the fight. Hence he was patient in his approach towards Karna. He commended his fighting skills, however snickered at his stupidity to come alone. However the situation drastically changed when suddenly 7 zombies appeared out of nowhere , and started to attack Edge''s team members !!!! , It was the work of the dark faction Zombiemancer from Karna''s team Patch Mori! Karna grinned behind the sword in his mouth , the zombie''s were here , it only meant that it was only a matter of seconds before he came here too , and indeed he did arrive within the next 5 seconds holding a crystal orb in one hand and an Assassin''s dagger in another , as he threw the dagger right through the neck of one of the English team healers , sending her packing back to the lobby. Edge looked at the reinforcement that had arrived and gritted his teeth seeing who it was. The scout mentioned that 7 members were at the base and one was unaccounted for. That unaccounted member was Jhonny English , who had came with a crystal orb in hand , which was a special item of the Zombiemancer Patch Mori , that allowed him to control zombies over large distances. Jhonny walked in and insta killed the team healer, as he said " What an ugly looking B*** " then looking at Karna he said " Hey there lad , don''t worry , lm here now, go do your thing ." The entire game changed once Jhonny arrived , the healer died , and Karna''s moves suddenly started to become more and more threatening. With the zombie''s interfering and Jhonny randomly throwing arrows , the English team members were forced to divert some of their attention from Karna. Which was the worst move they could make , as without all of them working together to pin Karna , he was a killing machine with no restraints. Going on a killing spree Karna killed two Barbarians and the swordsman partner of Edge within the next 40 seconds and engaged in a fight against Edge. Edge was dumbfounded , the way Karna had responded to his strategy was as if he knew about it since the start and had planned for it since the beginning of the game. Going as far as to make him feel safe that no reinforcements were coming , yet when Jhonny showed up he came up with a long range mana control orb that helped Patch Mori control his zombies from the base. Clearly meaning they had planned this beforehand. But he himself only decided to use this strategy on the fly , because he was hard pressed to win .... Then how did Karna plan for it beforehand? It was almost like fighting an opponent who knew your every next move. It was unfathomable. Also to his horror , his years of honed swordsmanship was actually being pressed back by Karna''s erratic way of fighting. Over his many years of fighting countless experts , Edge had never fought a triple sword wielder. Who just fought as he liked. There was no sophistry behind Karna''s moves , it was plain power and clean swings. Yet it gave Edge immense pressure. The foreign fighting style left him incapable of mounting counters. As more and more hits kept landing on him. After a three step combo , that connected to three vital points On Edge , he received a horrendous critical damage , dropping his HP to a pitch dark red. Karna at this moment let go of the sword in his mouth , as he looked at Edge and said " You are right , I am no leader , however I don''t have to be one , I have a great leader leading me , even when he is not here , he can see through your petty schemes from a mile away " Saying soo he unleashed a sword skill , sending Edge to the afterlife! Seeing this scene at the HQ , Rudra had a tiny tear escape from his eye .... He wiped it off quickly and pretended to be normal. However Naomi had already seen it , she remained silent as a soft smile appeared on her face. Rudra initially only wanted to hire Karna for his skills , however overtime he genuinely gelled up well with the guy and had immense love and respect for him. Boys usually don''t express emotions too well, karna would have never told this same statement to Rudra''s face , hence why it was soo touching to the man. Neatwit also had a half simmilar reaction as he barely contained his tears , seeing which Naomi chuckled thinking '' Its okay to cry boys..''. however kept her thoughts to herself. Karna had slayed one of his previous shortcomings ... It was sure to give him a stronger belief in himself. As he looked around to notice the carnage left on the battlefield , he finally noticed Jhonny wrestling an English team player on the ground , both men having a red HP bar. Karna cursed " Oh shizz" , he completely forgot to check on Jhonny in his fight. He had killed four members , while Jhonny had to fight the other four , after killing the healer with one strike. Karna quickly came to Jhonny''s aid , as they double teamed to end the English players life. However in a event Karna never saw coming. After the party wipe , Jhonny got soo excited that he decided to stab a dagger into the nearby tree in elation. However the impact caused a dead branch to fall down , crushing Jhonny beneath it. As Jhonny had not yet healed .... His dark red HP bar hit 0 .... As he was teleported out of the arena. Karna " ... " Rudra " ...." The commentators "...." Billions of viewers watching worldwide "..... " Yume " lesson of the day : never stab a dagger into a dry tree with dead branches, Amen". Chapter 317: Victory Celebrations Karna went onto steal the flag of the near wiped team UK , on his way back to the base. After loosing Jhonny , he decided to take it slow and just maintain his lead. With team UK gone the next team was 40 points behind team Japan , meaning that Japan had effectively sealed the deal. And that was indeed the case .... 2 hours later , japan bagged in another gold medal bringing the total gold medal tally to 9 ! Jhonny and Karna also became triple gold medal holders alongside Rudra. The two of them were hence in for a big surprise at the closing ceremony of the event . A big celebration party broke out at the True Elites HQ , The moment the winning group had came back ..... The entire world was now talking about the guild called True Elites , after their absolutely dominating performance in the VR Olympics. It was the go to guild for every solo player who thought they had what it took to be an Elite. It almost became an taboo to say that you are an Elite gamer if you were not a member of the True Elites guild , as the bar had been set really high by that one single guild. Totalling at 9 gold medals 1 silver medals and 6 bronze medals , it was the highest individual organization medal tally in the world. Without the contributions made by the Elites japan would only have 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. That was the difference they had made in the country. Everyone knew this , especially the ministers of Japan , who had continually tried to make ties with the organization as it''s success became more and more evident. However Rudra was absolutely cold when it came to such talks , he was not interested in politics and he let it be so , that Ethan Grey had to become a person of contact should anyone want to approach his guild. It became clear to everyone soon enough , that the Elites were inseparable from the Grey corporation. Hence a new wave of benefits fell on Ethan Grey''s feet. Ethan was definitely not stingy while throwing the Elites a victory party , as the grandest luxury party ever seen in the world was thrown by Ethan Grey for the grand results achieved by the group. For the Elites it was just their sponsor showing them appreciation. As chefs from all around the world along with exotic ingredients were flown into upside. A grand feast was thrown for all members with things like 25,000 dollar gold flake covered steak , and 70,000 dollar gold crust pizza being on the menu. It was luxury at its peak , with each item on the menu being worth more than what an average person earned in a year. And this was just the food, the booze was on another level , with 150 years aged scotch and 70 years aged double malt served on the rocks . Waiters were literally carrying a 100 grand worth of drinks on their serving trays giving them out to anyone asking for one. The Elites were a bunch who knew how to appreciate good booze as they drunk the fine alcohol like a bunch of rowdy Vikings. As a result pirate Kalash was back , showing his girlfriend his hidden side. Yua , Naomi and Skyla drunk like a civilised bunch , however the incredible beauty table naturally attracted a lot of stares from fanboys. Especially Skyla , who hogged most of the spotlight with her ample cleavage at display. Skyla sighed as she did a bottoms up and said " Soo many idiots are giving me the stare , yet look at Karna , he doesn''t even care .... I dressed up soo nicely for him. He is such a dummy". Yua also chimed in " Yes he is a bozzo not to give attention to such a pretty girl like you , look at him chatting with Rudra all laughing and chuckling ..... I like both the boys , but they need to be separated , the two of them forget the world when the start chatting about Omega. Especially Rudra, he doesn''t give me time at all. " Naomi wanted to scorn at Yua , who was openly laying her claim on Rudra , yet she could not help but secretly agree with Yua , Karna and Rudra and Neatwit were a bad fit. When these three started to talk , they would absolutely forget about everything else. The boys did need to be separated. Naomi hence said " let''s separate the boys , I''ll help " Skyla perked up at the idea , although she was a bit drunk , she wanted to spend more time with Karna today , especially after his big win. She wanted to celebrate the night with him , preferably naked. The alcohol fuelling her courage ,she nodded to the girls as the three made their way towards the boys. Skyla leaned on Karna''s shoulder and wrapped a hand around his muscular chest , who was surprised to see her for a second , but immediately took a firm stance to let her head rest. It increased the feelings Skyla had for Karna .... Who was just such a gentleman. Yua and Naomi looked on enviously as they knew that they could never do something like that with Rudra. They just smiled awkwardly as Naomi pulled her brother to a corner while Yua chatted with Rudra , giving Skyla her chance to be alone with Karna. And it clearly worked , as after sometime they were seen leaving the party together .... With Skyla in Karna''s arms. Yua and Naomi both wished her luck ... They wanted her to at least succeed in her love affairs , when they themselves could not. Such was the mentality of girls .... They were just soft when it came to matters of the heart. They could be having a really messy fight a day ago , yet they would always help a comrade when it came to getting her man and today was one such day as half drunk rivals Yua and Naomi teamed upto help a fellow friend Skyla get the man of her fancy. Chapter 318: Closing ceremony After a day of very hard partying , Rudra was seen with dark circles beneath his eyes as he walked through the corridors of the Elite tower. However Karna was worse off than him , having bite marks all over his neck and arms. Rudra was perplexed by this phenomenon ..... What could have happened to give the man such bite marks he wondered? However except for him , whoever else saw Karna , gave him a big fist bump as if they knew his secret. Especially Yua , who yelped in Extreme excitement and joy. Rudra was confused as he asked her " Why are you cheering? " Yua looked at him like she was looking at a two year old as she sighed and said " Guild master I think you should buy a premium subscription of cartoon network , you are too naive for reality. " Rudra was even more confused .... He said " ofcourse I have a premium subscription of cartoon network , Max loves the shows " Yua just facepalmed herself .... Sarcasm clearly did not work on Rudra .... However soon she started chuckling , perhaps it was one of his more endearing qualities. -------- ( Inside the VR world , the closing ceremony for the VR Olympics) Derek Ray : After all these days and all these competitions , it''s time to say goodbye ladies and gentlemen. Time to reward the brave for their wins , and commend the others for their effort. Lee Dixon : The top five nations stemming from the VR Olympics are , USA , Japan , India , China and UK . These are the new VETO power countries of the world , responsible for world peace. Derek Ray : Well the countries have got their rewards , now for the performers there is a surprise by the Cuber corporation. For all those bringing home glory for their nations , the Cuber corporation wants to gift with a special bonus. Lee Dixon : For the exchange of one bronze medal , a contestant can get a dark gold item from a list of 300 special items . Derek Ray : For the exchange of one silver medal , they can choose an epic item from a list of 500 epic items . Lee Dixon : For one gold medal , the contestants can exchange them for any semi legendary artifact, from a list of 100 artifacts. Also they can choose to not exchange their medals , and save them to be used next year , or even a decade later. The offer stands till the same date 10 years from now. Derek Ray : Also one can finally exchange 3 gold medals for ONE legendary item. A choice of one from a array of 25 choices. That''s it from our side ladies and gentlemen. Thankyou all for the successful event this year , I hope to see you next year , this is Derek Ray , along with Lee Dixon , signing off . ---- The announcement was met with cheers from all medal winners who immediately recieved a system prompt about if they were willing to exchange their medals, and even if they were not willing , everyone decided to check the list out for the possible list of artifacts to select. There were a very select few triple medal winners namely , Rudra , Karna , Jhonny English and Angel . Angel was an American player , who was also a light faction player , a mage at that. The guild master of the super guild ran by Elon Musk. However even then Rudra doubted that anyone would choose to trade their three gold medals for only one legendary item , when they could get three semi legendary items. And that was indeed what the other three did. However Rudra knew exactly what he wanted from the list. He wanted a specific legendary item , one that was only available on this list , an overpowered item that had to be nerfed by the cuber corporation because it was too strong. Opening the list of items , Rudra scrolled past the other legendary treasures. There was the eternal flame in there , the same one that was seen by SMG and Karna inside the royal treasury. There was also the original sword Excalibur , of whose replica Rudra currently used in his fights. Obviously the real thing was far superior to the imitation he used and using it would improve Rudra''s combat strength by leaps and bounds , yet Rudra even did not want that. Of all the priceless treasures before him , 25 legendary grade items , each with its own unique use , Rudra only wanted a small bracelet. [ Sun God''s bracelet] ( Legendary )( Bound ) : A bracelet that once belonged to the sun god Amun-Ra , nourished by the essence of the divine entity it has the power to harness the sun''s energy. Effect one ( Solar restore ) Uses 1/3 power of the bracelet to restore 200,000 HP Effect two ( Solar flare) : Uses 1/8 power of the bracelet to create a blinding flash of light. Effect three ( Solar blast ) : uses 1/6 th power of the bracelet to create a destructive mini sun , with an unstable core that blasts. Effect four ( Solar descent ) : Uses 1/2 of the power of the bracelet to create a 20 meter cube , mini sun , which burns at a 3000¡ãC temperature. It can be used to absolutely scorch a part of the battlefield , or melt entire forts. Effect five ( Solar beam ): uses 2/3 the power of the bracelet , to unleash the power of suns nuclear fusion. Anything that comes into contact with this beam of light will turn to ash. It is as powerful as a tier four spell. Recharge time : 12 hours under the sun. Current power : 45% Wasting no time Rudra unhesitatingly decided to trade for this weapon. Putting it on his right hand , and dripping a drop of blood to bind it. The bracelet embeded itself into Rudra''s arms giving him searing pain as Runic tattoos started to emerge all over his hand, Rudra looked like an walking Egyptian tomb with all the hieroglyphics on his arm, however to the opposite gender it would look extremely appealing as it increased Rudra''s overall charm. Rudra now had a new overpowered tool in his possession , one that could change the tide of any battle he wanted. Compared to himself in the VR Olympics , he was already stronger!! Chapter 319: City affairs With the VR Olympics over , Rudra finally returned to Hazelgroove kingdom and Purplehaze city , buried under a pile of work in his long absence as the mayor of the city. The first thing Rudra did after coming back to Purplehaze City was to check his stat pannel , to check on the progress of the mysterious egg. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer . Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 76 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 802 +401 VIT : 802 +401 INT : 802 +401 STA : 802 +401 PHY : 802 +401 HP : 112,000/112,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Sun God''s bracelet ( Legendary) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Solar restore , Solar flare , Solar blast , Solar descent , Solar beam. Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : mysterious egg (incubating) (199/200) ---- The mysterious egg had only a few hours left before it hatched , and honestly Rudra was feeling extremely excited to see it. According to his past timeline it would be a ferocious fire dragon that would be born from the egg. The little dragon would grow up into a full sized adult in just under one year , by which point it would become instrumental in conquering other cities. Rudra dreamed of how he would ride on the dragon''s back once it grew to full size and scorch the battlefields , he with his solar powers and the dragon with his dragon''s breath! Rudra chuckled at the exciting times that were sure to come ahead. He only needed to wait a little before that , and he wished to deplete a little bit of his accumulated workpile before that happened. Rudra brought up the city stat pannel. ---- City name : Purplehaze city City Area : 464 km^2 Total population : 12.1 million Security index :45---> 65/100 ( Good ) Culture : 30-----> 31/100 ( Poor ) Public order :35----> 45/100 ( Neutral ) Military : 100,000 enlisted Education : 72---- >73% literacy ( Good) Unemployment rate : 33-------> 4% ( Good ) Public sentiment :25-------> 35% ( Poor) Tax income : 112,000 gold Overall evaluation : The city has started to recover from the beast tide , the new mega projects undertaken by the City Mayor has greatly help alleviate unemployment. The increase in jobs has also brought an increase in public safety and order. It is only a slight beginning but it may lead to emergence of a new middle class. The citizens are starting to get optimistic about the new regime as a few tangible changes can be noticed.However they are still unsatisfied about the mayor not doing anything to improve the quality of life. NOTE : A lower cultural index will have people migrating away from the city in search for better places to live! There maybe a mass migration if the city sentiment falls below 20%! ---- Rudra was satisfied after seeing this screen , the massive reinforced wall project had costed him a shit load of money , yet it''s effects were evident. The unemployment rate went down and with it went down the crime rate . The streets were safer , people were sleeping with their bellies fed.Overall the city was developing smoothly. The wall was actually coming out ahead of the planned schedule as a outline could clearly be seen around the city. Tax income for the first month was finally in , and it was not as much as Rudra expected , yet it was a little bit of money. The current taxation laws are too lax , and needed to be changed , However such changes could only be done gradually and in phases. Rudra would soon set up the teleportation array inside the city , connecting it to the rest of the world , hence charging a fee for its services. The teleportation array was an absolute goldmine. It would constitute for over 60% of the city income in the future. Rudra''s next immediate plans included the making of the teleportation array and training his pet , while going on dungeon runs with the guild members to level up. Outside the game , Rudra would start the enrollment of the Elite academy welcoming the first batch of recruits. Strengthening the guild , and strengthening the city , were the top priority for him in this peace times before the cities became open to attacks when the one year cooldown ended. By that time Rudra planned to have atleast one batch of recruits (30,000) strong within his ranks , and other 30,000 atleast halfway into graduation. With 2300 archballistae mounted on top of 13 foot wide walls of reinforced concrete , Rudra wanted to turn Purplehaze city into an impregnable fort. Wether the Elites managed to win or loose other territories in the future would be left to be seen , however Rudra wanted to make sure that Purplehaze city would forever remain theirs for all time to come. But to afford this massive expenditure , Rudra needed to find ways to make more money , only because Karna and SMG raided an entire royal treasury , could they sustain such grand expenditures. If Rudra wanted to make the city culturally richer , and introduce luxury buildings like public baths or giant libraries , he would need to increase his source of income first. The training of the military had started , with there being a force of 120,000 strong. The average level of the military soo far was tier 1 , level 55. Which was good enough for Rudra , as by the time they were done training they would most likely be all tier 2 soldiers. That would make it a formidable force , for the current level of playerbase . Chapter 320: Secret of the mystery egg Rudra was busy working about the administrative duties of his Mayor role , when finally he got a notification. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : The egg you were incubating is hatching , please remove it from the inventory space to hatch. Rudra got excited , the baby dragon was about to hatch! , He excitedly took the egg out and placed it on his office table. Rudra looked on in delight as little cracks started to appear on the egg , as it started to shake a little , then the cracks got a little bigger. Rudra encouraged the egg saying " Comeon little eggie , you can do it , come to papa ". The egg started to shake more violently , untill finally a small head popped out of the egg. It was a cute looking little head , however it looked soft and furry .... Not scaly ..... Rudra wondered if dragon''s were born with fur? The backside of the egg broke next , as two tails popped out of the egg ..... Rudra was shocked again... Is this little fellow the legendary twin tailed dragon? But the twin tail dragon had a spiky ball at the end of its two tails , while the little one''s tails were soft brown with white tips. Then a third tail emerged from the egg .... Rudra was even more perplexed .... A tri- tail dragon? Rudra had completely no idea now .... He waited patiently for the little one to come out of the egg. After 15 minutes of intense struggling , the beast finally came out of the egg and a system notification came SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : Congratulations player , your pet is the nine tailed fox , pelase name her to bind . Race : Divine Nine Tailed Fox Gender : Female Owner : none Disposition : Curious Level : 1 Tier : 0 Skills : Nibble HP : 15/15 Rudra was stunned ..... Why was his pet a nine tailed fox? Where was the firebreathing dragon? Why did the beast inside the egg change? He had even thought about what he wanted to name the dragon , he wanted to name it Drogon , after the game of thrones dragon. However as the little nine tailed fox that had only three tails as of now , flailed around his desk trying to stand up , and rubbed its soft fur against Rudra''s hands , something inside Rudra just melted. He felt immense love for the cute little furry pet , and at that moment he just decided '' Aghh fck it , I''m just gonna spoil her , no need to raise a fighting machine ''. Rudra had lost all combat thoughts he had previously about his pet , however the fool missed a crutial information about the little fox ..... It was not a normal nine tailed fox , but a divine nine tailed fox ... Who would grow to have a combat potential soo terrifying that even dragons would cower at its presence. Divine is only added to a race , when one if it''s ancestors is capable of reaching the tier 6 realm. Only then would it''s descendants have the racial name divine attached to it. Not interested in making it a battle pet , the names that came into Rudra''s mind to give his pet were '' Poochie , Poodle , noodle , doodle ... '' Then he thought about Kurama , but looking at the little fox nibbling on his little finger , he sighed and thought it was too fierce for this furball. Hence he decided to name the little one '' Furball''. Rudra said '' Furball ''. And the nine tailed fox looked at it with its small round eyes , she liked the name it seems. Hence Rudra finalized the name to be ''Furball''. A golden light enveloped both Rudra and Furball , as their bond was made. Rudra spent a lot of time in the following day with Furball , just stroking it''s fur and patting it''s soft head. Rudra found it to be very anti - stressful. He could just pat on furballs head as he worked , and he would have a good day. Rudra smiled in satisfaction , although he did not have the terrifying dragon , he had his cute little Furball , and he was satisfied. Not everything needed to be about combat , he was a man who knew how to enjoy the finer things of life too. Pet''s were an integral part of Omega , although currently they were not very widely used , in the future they would become an inseparable part of gaming. Rudra knew it first-hand , as there were a variety of pets available , tracker pets , hunter pets , combat pets , or just anti stress pets like Furball. As the pets levelled up , they would learn new skills and mature. However in pets the nature of the pet was a very important factor. Not all pets would follow every command of their owners , especially if the owner was weaker than the pet. This was a very common issue , and the stronger the pride of the pet species the stronger the opposition to being submitted by a human. Hence why Rudra during his first tier promotion chose the skill of knight''s companion , that let him control his pets and mounts better. It was an investment for the future , and he did not know how worthwhile it would become , as the cute little Furball he was patting currently , was a species soo superior to humans , that It would never let a human touch it , much less pat it like Rudra did. The difference between a normal egg and the mysterious egg was exactly this. Karna''s egg had the label already with it saying kraken''s egg. Hence when two days ago his egg finally hatched , it was indeed a mini kraken . However the mystery egg did not say dragons egg , Rudra was not completely informed about this matter however the truth of the mysterious egg was that it inherited the qualities of the person that incubated it. Should the person have a fiery hot demeanor , destructive in nature , like the guild leader of Demolitionboys , it would indeed have been a fire dragon. However Rudra was a cunning strategist , who was also a noble and regal guild leader and mayor , hence his pet turned out to be the nine tailed fox , that was as intelligent as a human , yet Furball was not a normal nine tailed fox ... It was the race of the divine nine tailed fox!!!! Chapter 321: Gathering the band After a long time it was time to go questing again , the objective of the quest being to procure key materials needed to make the teleportation array. Namely 1) Bohemian Crystal : 20 pcs ( large) 2) Arcanian Crystal : 100 pcs ( medium ) 3) Ceramic Glaze Crystal : 20 pcs ( small ) 4) High quality mana stone : 20,000 pcs 5) 10 tonnes of silver : roughly 10 million silver coins 6) One piece of Rhodium crystal ( Humongous ) If one tried to buy these items off the market directly , just one high quality mana stone costed around 1500 gold coins , hence the 20,000 mana stones itself would bankrupt a treasury. Not calculating the price of other rarer crystals , especially the humongous rhodium. The teleportation array was a complex formation , where different crystals with different nature was needed to be placed at different conjectures of the array. The heart of the array being the massive Rhodium crystal , where a group of 100 could stand at a time to be teleported. It was the standard size and the load that could be carried out by the teleportation array Rudra planned on building , a larger array that teleported 1000 people was possible to be made , however Rudra did not want to entertain such designs due to two main reasons. 1) the cost : which would be a hundered times more than the one he was building 2) security reason : Rudra needed to make a thorough checkpost around the teleportation array , he could not let unsettling characters into his city. Hence Rudra wanted to only let 100 people immigrate at a time , to inspect them all , and deny them access to his city if they were coming with malicious intentions. Rudra was not worried about the mana stones , he had the cheat called the chalice of purity , he would just refine cheap basic mana stones into purest advanced mana stones. However the rest of the crystals needed to be procured and it would be a massive expedition to say the least. While the other crystals could be stored inside the system inventory , Rhodium was a crystal with special spacial properties. Hence why it''s use in teleportation arrays, however it could not be stored inside system space as it did not obey the spacial laws . The size that Rudra needed to make his teleportation array was about that of a house. The first challenge being finding such a large crystal , and the second challenge being the bringing of the massive crystal back to Purplehaze city. All the crystals mentioned in the list were only available in a level 80 map called the valley of crystals , and it was a two day journey on foot to reach , with the wolves it was about 18 hours. However the problem was in the return trip back home , as the safe transport of such a large crystal was a very dangerous ordeal . The excavation of Rhodium was also a very difficult process , because there was a special kind of explosive worm , that usually nested around Rhodium deposits. They were nocturnal in nature and would explode upon coming in contact with sunlight. Ontop of all this , Rudra was not really 100% sure about taking his team into the heart of a level 80 map , because the average guild levels were only around 65. However the making of the teleportation array was an urgent necessity for the future plans Rudra had in mind. Many new kingdoms would open up , and trade would flourish. Hence he needed to carefully plan this next expedition. Rudra needed people with the miner subclass , also people with knowledge about crystals , within his current guild member base there was only a single miner called '' PickthatAxe '' , however Rudra needed atleast 10 more miners , hence he had to outsource that labour , from the miners union , where he borrowed 10 NPC miners and one crystals expert at 5 gold an hour rate. Rudra finally decided to bring along Karna , Neatwit , Yume , SMG , Naomi , PinkLotus , Skyla , Medivh , PoisonToadGamakichi, Tank ,Rhino and Fattykalash for the expedition. Rudra wanted to bring along Sir Jhonny English , however he was currently on a secret mission for Ethan Grey , hence unavailable in the game. Along with all these guild members , Rudra took a small contingent of 500 soldiers from the Purplehaze city forces with him. The reason being that he needed reliable workforce to ensure the safety of the crystals in their journey back home. Finally Rudra purchased 500 NPC slaves which would slog the weight of the crystals back to Purplehaze city. Kalash had prepared a wooden log platform which could be loaded with the large Rhodium for transportation. Hence the initial preparations had been completed for the expedition. The large envoy of mixed people started their journey , Rudra , the Elites and the miners rode on their mounts ahead , whereas the soldiers on horses were tasked on bringing the slaves on foot to the location within 1 and a half day time. On the entire journey , Rudra kept playing with little Furball , as be had placed it infront of him on his mounts back. Rudra had grown extremely fond of Furball , as he spent increasingly more and more time with the little beast. Rudra even fed it with the most exotic treats and foods , expenses that he would never make for himself and Furball also responded in kind , showering Rudra with cuddles. Naomi and Yua were instantly in love with the cute pet , but Furball just won''t let anyone except Rudra touch it. Biting whoever else tried to , within half a day of the journey it became clear to Yua and Naomi that the little one had outranked them both in getting Rudra''s attention , as Furball clearly marked Rudra as her property. The little fox was very clever , it''s innocent side was only shown to Rudra , otherwise it was overly possesive of its human , stealing his attention back to herself when he talked with any other female. However not caring at all when he talked to Karna or Neatwit. The two girls knew at that moment , that they had a new furry competitor ! Chapter 322: Valley of Crystals The valley of Crystals took the team nearly 20 hours to reach instead of the expected 16 , as there were stops that needed to be made to fight against level 81 insect monsters. There was a large centipede with crystal scales that refused to take damge from Medivh''s fire spells , untill Rudra had to use WORLDSLASH to lay it to bed. However even after reaching the valley of Crystals things did not look soo good for Rudra and company. Three other groups seemed to already be mining inside the valley of Crystals , including two guilds that they were all too familiar with. Frozern Thorns and Eternal Rebels were here in the mine , Edge being present. The moment Karna saw Edge , his mood soured , he plain hated this guy , now that he was here getting the resources would surely be more difficult. Karna started to think about calling for more backup from the guild , seeing that both Frozern thorns and Eternal Rebels were here with atleast 200 members. The more he thought about the problem , the more he frowned. However contrary to him , the more Rudra thought about the current situation , the more brightly he smiled , as after piecing the plan in his mind correctly he gathered everyone around and declared " Alright guys , as you must have noticed by now , we have company , and from fighting these guys during the conquest for Purplehaze city , we know that they are lying backstabbing bunch of hoodlums and robbers and that we need to be wary of them ... ". Karna nodded , he first hand knew how scheming edge could be , and everyone else who participated in the conquest for Purplehaze city also knew the difficulty they needed to face to win the contest because of these two first rate guilds , hence there was definitely no love lost here. Rudra continued " If this was an anime , here is what would happen guys , we the good guys would take our time , put in the effort , get the crystals , find the large Rhodium and then when we would be leaving back for our city they would try and rob us and to be honest that''s what would happen here too if we choose to go about it that way ". Rudra paused and looked around then smiled devilishly. Yua and Naomi were both enchancted by this sight , ever since Rudra had gotten the tattoos on his right arm , he looked even more intimidating and appealing , coupled with his devilish smile , he looked extremely handsome. Enough to make them a little wet between the legs. Rudra continued " But Guys , this is neither an anime , nor are we the good guys , we have enough morals as to not rob them , however there is nothing wrong with us outright extorting them is there? Let''s do this , let''s tell them plain and simple to give up 80% of their collected crystals soo far and peacefully leave the valley of Crystals..... Or we annihilate them , it''s a fair offer guys what do you all think ? ". Everyone else gulped nervously , the leader just casually spouting threats of annihilating first rate guild parties was scary. When after the finals of the one v one fighting event the world guessed the true strength of guild leader Shakuni , soo did his own guild members. Nobody knew Rudra''s true limits as no matter the situation , he always had some unseen cards to play , hence him saying that they would annihilate the other party meant that he was actually sure of making it happen. Everyone got chills down their spine , however their blood pumped at the same time , it was a weird feeling however looking at Rudra''s confidence they felt confident as well .... It sounded crazy , a small bunch extorting 2 first rate guilds to give up resources that they rightfully mined ..... But Omega is a world where the strong have the final say and it there was one thing that the Elites were .... It was undoubtedly very strong! Now the question came about whom to send to deliver the threat .... Rudra and Karna were the guild master and vice guild master of the guild , them going personally to deliver petty threats was kind of insulting for the guild. Naomi and Yua conveniently declined to do this work. Hence the lucky draw fell between the other male members , and after a roll of dice , it was Fatty Kalash who was the unfortunate guy chosen to become the messenger. Fatty kalash gulped in fear .... He was absolutely terrified of walking into an enemy camp and delivering a threat of extortion or annihilation. However it was him who lost the dice roll fair and square ,hence he had to go. Well if he had to go , he was sure as hell not walking in there sober , hence he decided to chug down a bottle of rum , and walk inside the Frozen Thorns enemy camp first , as drunk as a sailor ! With the guild robes draped on , the shining silver wold insigna bright on display , Fatty wobbled his way to the enemy camp as he was stopped by guarding patrollmen. Frozen Thorns member 1 : Excuse me sir , this is a base from where the first rate guild Frozen Thorns is currently working on a mining expedition , I implore you to not approach any further or prepare to face the consequences. Fatty Kalash puts up a finger , indicating one moment please , and burps loudly. Beating his chest , and taking another sip of the rum. He says " listen to me laddie , call me thy captain , I come from the great pirate ship of True Elites , bearing a message from the king of all pirates , Shakuni himself. Bring me to your leader , or prepare to fight me! , Hahahahaha hahahaha, *Burp*". The Frozern thorns member scanned Kalash from top to bottom, as a frown appeared on his face ... He seemed to know this man however he could just not remember where he had seen him ... Then it clicked to him He said " You.... You are the drunk pirate Kalash of the Elites , the bronze medal winning blacksmith! , I saw you live from my home TV , I''m a big fan !!!!! ". Fatty Kalash : " *burps * Chapter 323: Not just empty threats Kalash was given audience with the Frozen Thorns leader Yeti next. Along with dignity at that , seemingly Olympic medailts were given a lot of respect around the playerbase , and since Kalash was one such medal winner , he was almost a mini celebrity. What would seem as a rude personality now came across as a unique trait that noone seemed to mind. Yeti said " Soo I hear that Shakuni sends a message for me .... Are you guys also here to mine the crystals to make a teleportation array? ". Fatty Kalash " Ayyyy , we are here for the crystals , but laddie we ain''t here to mine , we pirates are here to loot , more precisely loot you ! The leader sends a message that you land dwellers give up 80% of the loot and vacate thy pirate ships , it is our ship now ! Muahahahahahaha ". Yeti "....." The others "....." Yeti " what pirate ship? What land dwellers? , What give 80% of the loot? ". Fatty kicks his chair where he was seated and puts a foot on Yeti''s table as he leans in. The Frozen Thorn members draw their swords , as Fatty says to Yeti eye to eye " *burp*". Frozen Thorn members "....." Yeti " Ohh it stinks ". Fatty Kalash " Muahahahahahaha , serves you soft pony land dweller right , come to the sea and a goldfish will scare your soft bum , hahahahaha ". Yeti sighed , it seemed as if he needed to personally make the trip to meet Shakuni , talking to this drunk pirate made no sense. Soo playing ball he said " Alright , tell thy captain, that myself come to his presence to talk! Eh? ". Fatty Kalash went ballistic " are you trying to impersonate me ? Eh you twat ? Is this funny? Is this how you land dwellers make fun of us seaboys ? , Making fun of our accent? Did I make fun of your British accent? Did I ask you to give me a bowwle of water? You idiotic twat ". Yeti facepalmed , he was from Nepal not at all British. As he said " I apologise good sir , let me off the hook for my mistake ". Fatty Kalash " A smart lad , a good lad , come drink with me , Muahahahahahaha ". Hence over the next 5 minutes Yeti entertained Kalash before Kalash took his leave to visit the next camp. A member from Frozen Thorns asked Yeti after Kalash left " Why did you entertain his rude behaviour till such an extent guild master? With your temper he should have been skewered on the spot ". Yeti said " im not scared of this fool , I''m scared of the man behind him , Shakuni of the Elites , him and his bottomless strength , his feats are legendary , and I won''t make an enemy of him as far as possible ". The guild member agreed , the Elites were a small guild but by no means were they weak. All of Japan''s gold medals came from a single organization with the leader and vice leader being triple medal winners. The world stage wasn''t something that someone could take by storm due to fluke , the Elites were very strong , and they deserved the respect. This was a very smart move by Frozen thorns , however , their rivals and current mining neighbours , the Eternal Rebels were unfortunately not soo smart. When Kalash approached their camp. He was taken hostage and presented before Edge in bounds. Their approach was clear , they would not bend to the elites. Edge " Soo tell me , is Karna here? Your vice guild master costed me a lot of money you know ... It is good that UK made top 5 inspite of my slip up orelse I would have been disowned by my family. I have been put under a lot of trouble due to your stupid vice guild master you know .... Tell me drunk Elite , why do you come here? ". Fatty Kalash " * Burp * , Aghhh , sorry that one was stuck for a long time .... Were you saying something ? ". A vein popped on Edge''s forehead , he was clearly extremely pissed at the situation , barely restraining his anger he said " WHY...HaVVVVeee yyyouuuuu comeee? , Why have you come here?". Fatty Kalash " Why? ". Edge " that''s what I''m asking you WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE ". Fatty Kalash " How would I know? Why did I come here? , I don''t even know why I was born , or what is my purpose in life ". Edge " Restrain this , brain-dead drunk to a tree , send a guy to his camp , informing them we have him hostage here , the ransom price being 50,000 gold ". Fatty Kalash " Muahahahahaha , the bounty on the head of a great pirate, muahahaha , you are a fool to extort the captain , who plans on extorting you .... You are a fool to resist ". Edge " What plan to extort me? ". Fatty Kalash " The plan where you either give up 80% of all collected crystals and leave this place or he annihilates the entire party , plan ". Edge " ..... WHAT? ". ------- ( Meanwhile real world , Grey international tower , Ethan Grey''s office ) Jhonny English was seated across from Ethan Grey , as Ethan talked about an upcoming mission for Jhonny. Ethan said " Sir Jhonny , these are 65 assassination targets that I need to be removed within the next month , I know you are retired , but they are high level officials from country X , nobody else will take this mission for any amount of money , only you have the skill to pull it off , I know you retired , but will you do this one last favour for me? ". Jhonny English " What is the time limit , what is the highest profile target ". Ethan Grey " One months time , the highest profile target is the prime minister , total budget is 3 trillion dollars , I will get you everything you need , and I know that 30 days time is too less to make 60 assasinations , but I will be satisfied with even five , please help me sir Jhonny ". Jhonny English " It''s too much Ethan ..... ". Ethan Grey "You can take 60 days , but please complete the mission ". Jhonny English " You misunderstand , it''s too much time , a week is all I need , I''m Jhonny English , give me some face Ethan Grey , I''m not the amateur mercenary , prepare a jet for me , I leave tommorow morning ". Ethan Grey was left speachless ..... As his fists balled up in joy .... If sir Jhonny was doing it ... It was sure to succeed !!! Chapter 324: The threat Unlike Yeti who decided to visit personally , Edge decided to hold Fatty Hostage and send a messenger of his own to respond to Rudra''s threat. It was night - time in Omega , as all mining activities had been stopped because of the nocturnal earth worms that came to the surface , it was unsafe as these worms were level 85 creatures that gave a tough fight. When Yeti came to negotiate terms with Rudra , he was offered a seat at the dinner table where food was being served right beside Rudra and Karna. Rudra actually chatted with him for a while after confirming his reason for visit. However when instead of Fatty Kalash returning from the Eternal Rebels guild , came a messenger , Rudra lost his temper. Absolutely furious that his guild member and a messenger was taken hostage , and that edge was soo bold to openly mock his threat , Rudra decided to make true on his promise. Actually , it was not possible for Rudra to just annihilate an entire party of first rate guild members and forcing them to vacate mining premises with just 12 of his guild members. But this was the valley of crystals , and the earth worms were roaming out in the open. These worms would explode at the slightest contact of sunlight , and although the real sun could not be shined at night , Rudra''s bracelet could still be used. The situation being in favour of him , he was ready to make the entire valley of crystals into a blast zone. Hence he called over Yeti and the messenger sent from Eternal Rebels guild , as he decided to make a show. Rudra said to the messenger " Relay what your guild leader said to me , word for word again please ..... ". Rudra put a hand around his shoulder as he said this , the Messenger sweating buckets from the intimidation. He hesitated a bit before saying " We are not afraid of the Elites , how dare you try extort us , and how dare you send a drunk brainless idiot to negotiate with us .... If you want his safe release you will pay us with 100,000 gold and a letter stamped with the guild insigna that says that you apologise for your transgression. The rebels are not some weak force that you can just bully ....if you are looking for a fight , come , we are ready! ". The messenger read the letter written by edge word for word. As Yeti stayed silent , this letter was pretty much exactly what he wanted to say to Rudra also , however fearing the unknown had decided to stay silent. Rudra maniacally laughed " Your guild leader misunderstood something , we were never looking for a fight , since you are soo bold as to imprison one of us , I think it''s only fair that I send you on an expedited journey to the Church of light". Pointing towards East direction , Rudra said " That is your camp right Yeti? ". Yeti nodded and said " Indeed ". Rudra now pointed west and said " That is your camp eh Rebel ? ". The messenger weakly said " Yes ". Rudra started to laugh maniacally as he said " Alright then ..... Time to die ". Using the power of his bracelet Rudra used the special move '' SOLAR DESCENT '' , as a miniature sun appeared in the skies above the Rebel camp. Exactly like a real sun , it had the same lusture and scorching heat , that could be felt even at the Elite camp 1 km away! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! the sounds of explosion rang throughout the western Rebel camp , as the nocturnal earth worms self destructed under sunlight. The solar descent also striking at the heart of the camp , creating a massive explosion! A series of notifications rang under Rudra''s screen as he levelled up twice due to all the Exp. Yeti watched on in horror , as the messenger had became as cold as a block of ice , he frantically ran back to his camp , only to find it in shambles and ruins , where there was once the rebel camp , now only scorched ground and large craters remained , not one of the 200 party members survived. Yeti looked at Rudra in fear .... As if he was looking at a demon , there was no bloodshed , there was no warning , there was not even a struggle , most likely his own guild member who was being held hostage was also dead. Yet the enemy was completely annihilated. Scary .... Too scary .... This was not someone he could even remotely choose to offend. When Rudra looked at him he felt chills go down his spine , he was looking at him as if asking Yeti , are you going to submit or shall I send you back to the church as well...? Yeti gulped , as he said " The crystals will be delivered within the next hour , sorry for the intrusion ". Yeti literally ran for his life next , afraid of the madman slaughtering his base too. Within one hour 80% of their mined loot was given and their camp vacated. The Frozen thorns , a first rate guild decided to run for their dear life , while facing Rudra! The miner team under Rudra just camly went to the destroyed Rebel camp and picked the crystal one after the other , the explosion and the large craters made made excavating them extremely easy. Within one day of the Elites arriving , they had successfully collected all the crystals they needed except for the large piece of Rhodium , making them 3 days ahead of schedule and saving them a lot of unnecessary trouble. They even had an excess of a few crystals that they could choose to sell at a later date. -------- ( Meanwhile in real world ) Jhonny and Bo have arrived in country X , disguised as caucasian tourists. Tensions seem high in country X , as the elections draw near , with tensions with Japan at an all time high ,and the only supported they have being china , the country was barely dodging international sanctions due to China vetoing. The regime needed to change , and the change in regime would be the fatal blow to the coffin for Mithun Ambani. With Ethan Grey funding one party and Mithun Ambani sponsoring the other , it was a stage for buisness politics. Chapter 325: Finding Rhodium Rhodium was abundant inside the valley of crystals , however usually they were small Crystal''s, the size of a palm. What Rudra needed was a rarer type of Rhodium deposit , that was as big as a house. It typically needed 40 years to build up , and would only be found at places with abundant mana. Hence why the nocturnal worms were also found near it. Even after 2 days of looking for it , no clues were found and the party members started to get anxious , the valley of crystals was big , but that big that it could not be completely scouted in 2 days time. However what even proffesional miners could not find , was found by heaven''s son Karna , accidentally at that. While bored Karna decided to spar with Neatwit for a while , and in the intense battle he needed to rely on mind''s eyes. When he activated it though , he could percieve the terrain around him differently , as he located the rhodium deposit!!! It was 35 meters below ground , as nearly 16 earthworms surrounded it , mining it would be a very difficult task. While the miners saw no sign of Rhodium being 35 meters below where Karna had indicated , Rudra had full faith in the son of Providence. Hence under Karna''s direction , the team started mining under Karna''s direction. Whenever an earthworm would pop up , the 12 Elites would use teamwork to swiftly deal with them , as they gained bountiful experience points from it. Finally after ,2 more days of hardwork , they killed all 16 Earthworms and excavated the Rhodium. Much to the surprise of the miners it was legit a 50 meter cube piece of Rhodium. They questioned Karna about his methods , but naturally Karna would not let his secrets out soo easliy. However the important part was that all the necessary parts had been obtained ! Now started the labourous process of bringing it back home safely. Firstly a ramp had to be dug out with a 15¡ã inclination that connected the surface to the Rhodium deposit , as 300 horses and 500 slaves pulled it hard just to load it on the wooden wheel platform that Fatty Kalash built. Hence started the slow March back home , where the glowing Rhodium was slogged by 500 slaves , guarded by 500 soldiers and overseen by 12 Elites! However the slow journey back home was anything but pleasant , the rhodium that had been nourished by mana for decades attracted too many monsters , as Rudra lost soldiers to scuffles every hour. Even if Rudra himself took action ,there was a limit as to what he could do alone , he could not protect the safety of the entire contingent , there were bound to be some delay at his arrival , however the soldiers of his city at tier one were genuinely no match for these 80-85 level insects , they were easliy skewered. The initial party of 500 slaves and 500 soldiers was reduced to a party of 350 slaves and 450 soldiers at the end of one day of travel. This led to a further reduction of speed, as the 350 slaves had an increasingly difficult time in pulling the weight . Having no choice left , the horses from the dead soldiers had to be used to supplement the shortage of labor force , which helped alleviate some of the immediate speed problems . However what the group was not aware of was the fact that they were marching towards a extremely large ambush contingent of angry Rebels . Edge was furious at the way his party was annihilated in the crystal valley , and decided to take revenge at any and all costs , as he marched 20,000 guild members towards the path back to purplehaze city , waiting to ambush the coming Elite party. This was a fact that Rudra did not know as of yet , as a day''s journey seperated the ambushing party and the Elites. The Elites were walking into a trap of a size they could not handle . --------- ( Real world , Country X ) Bo was extremely excited to do mercenary work again , especially alongside sir Jhonny. To build a good impression , he worked extra hard , in getting the details of all the members that needed to be assasinated , and the best chance to kill them all was inside the senate. Where they would all gather together. Bo , thought of everything from poisoning their food and water , to assasinating them through bathroom , and enthusiastically discussed it with Jhonny English , however Jhonny remained unimpressed. As each plan that Bo said had some evident flaw or the other. Bo kept looking at Jhonny for answers to such problems , however all he could see Jhonny doing all day was behave like an actual tourist , going to tourist locations and eating local delicacies. Bo could not understand what his plan was at all! However things seemed to progress in a positive direction , when Jhonny rented a hotel near the senate , from where he set up surveillance on the street! Bo was getting more and more anxious as two days passed without them taking any actions. Jhonny had told Ethan he would wrap this up within 7 days , yet at day 3 they had absolutely no plan to move forward at all! Finally breaking silence Bo asked " Sir .... Soo I have proposed all these plans to you , which one do you think we should go forward with? If none of them satisfy you , please guide me and teach me what I am doing wrong ". Jhonny said " Your plan to gather them all at one place is not bad Bo , but the senate is a place that is very heavily protected , also there are friendly ministers inside there too , unless you can ensure killing them all without causing chaos , which is impossible , it''s not advisable to carry out assasination in the only political house of a nation". Bo said " But sir , the time limit , if we kill one or two , the others will be placed under police protection or underground safehouses , it would get very difficult to kill them all ". Jhonny was irked by the kid , he was too smart for his own good , Jhonny could not tell him that he had absolutely no plan , that he just rolled with whatever happened. Hence Jhonny raised his tone and said " Boy assasination takes patience ..... ". Taking a gun from his bag , Jhonny cocks the gun and loads it pointing it at the window. He said " do you think it''s as easy as cocking a gun and shooting your enemy? ". Jhonny shot the bullet out of the window just to make a point. However , that stray bullet , hit the neck of Mithun Ambani''s son , who was visiting the bar across the street and had just excited his Rolls Royce, before his private security could even react , before he could even take a second step to stand up and get out of the car properly , he died ! There was mass panick down the street , as Jhonny glanced over , and told Bo in a deep voice " For me it is ". Chapter 326: Two traps The fallout of the assasination of Mithun Ambani''s son was massive , the stock of Ambani corporation actually saw a slight rise , which showed the releif the market had about him not going to inherit the company. Mithun was furious and the entire police force was scouring the city to find two Caucasian males , thought to be the culprits. Jhonny English and Bo naturally had to go into hiding , the entire trip spent by Bo in silence. His only thoughts being on that one moment at which Jhonny shot the bullet killed Mithun Ambani''s son and saif " For me it is ". How far was Jhonny thinking? Was he just being a pesky kid to him? What methods was Jhonny English taking to eliminate his opponents , Bo just could not fathom his plan. Apparently Mithun Ambani was inconsolable at the loss of his son , and swore revenge on whoever was behind it , Mithun had a huge suspicion naturally on Ethan Grey , to whom he personally called several times to lash out on like a rabid dog. However Ethan genuinely denied about the knowledge of his son being killed , because that was actually not what he ordered Jhonny to do. Even going as far as to offer his condolonces to Mithun Ambani , who found the act extremely revolting. The government officials who were supported by Mithun started to get anxious , as Mithun was blaming the government for the fact that the killers were still roaming free. On the second day of his son''s death , there was a burial ceremony , and he had explicitly stated that before he buried his son , he wanted the killers buried first. However as the government and police force failed to deliver the culprits , almost the entire faction supported by Mithun Ambani , went to the funeral to console his anger. Watching the ongoing funeral and the weeping Mithun Ambani, all 60 targets were present, as Bo counted speachless . Jhonny said " see now you have all the culprits gathered at one location. Outside the senate house , soo tell me Bo how would you assasinate them ? ". Bo dared not speak , he was ashamed of himself. He was just an amateur lucky enough to be on a mission with the greatest mercenary of all time , yet just like the proverb the empty pot makes the most noise , he kept yapping all trip long , giving suggestions to Jhonny. Learning his lesson he chose to keep quiet. However Jhonny''s words gave him courage " I''m old now boy , I brought you along to teach you how to walk the ropes , I''m not here to belittle you , I''m here to guide you , soo speak , I''ll correct you where you go wrong ". Bo'' s heart moved , he thought for a while before saying , " Chemical weapons , poison gas would be the best , however it would also come into contact with the other non targets , the friends and family of Mithun Ambani , if their lives are compromisable , we can proceed to seal the deal". Jhonny nodded " indeed , but remember boy , never kill more than you need to , human life is precious , don''t turn into a mindless killer , the day you kill one person more than you need to , is the day you will loose your human part of your soul , this is a job , but always try to do it with morals , soo if you want to assasinate them without killing the others , how would you do it? ". Bo fell into thought once more , after a while saying " Long range sniping , however even with both of us shooting rapidly , we can only kill only soo many before the rest take cover. I can''t solve this problem sir Jhonny ". Jhonny was really looking forward to Bo''s answer , as he himself had absolutely no fcking idea about what to do next. However he had faith in himself , he was Jhonny English. Hence he said " Okay , you go to the roof and snipe , I will take care of the rest. The final ceremonies will last 30 minutes , set your watch to 15 minutes from now , and start shooting , take as many down as you can. Then escape , don''t stand to watch what I do , I ll tell you how I dealt with the rest on the plane back to Japan ". Bo nodded , setting his watch timer , he scaled to the buildings roof! As he calibrated his sniper. He was at a 420 meter distance , and the windspeed was 3km/h He took aim , and waited for his time..... ------ ( Inside the virtual world , enroute to Purplehaze city ) A scout was reporting to Edge " Sir we have spotted the Elite party , they seem to have about 800 numeric strength , however only 12 of them seem to be from the guild , the rest are soldiers and slaves. They will come at the ambush location in 3 hours time". Edge nodded at the report , as he looked anxiously towards the ambush plan. He was a careful strategist , he knew firsthand the might of the Elites hence he was even more careful in his planning. To him this revenge meant everything, ever since loosing to Karna in the Olympics , he dreamt of taking revenge on him and the Elites, as he absolutely hated them to the core . The elites had costed him his Purplehaze City and an Olympic gold , putting him under a lot of pressure from his Rothschild family. This ambush was a very small payback compared to all the pain he had to suffer. However he planned to loot their rhodium and kill them all , to satisfy his anger of being driven out of his mining spot! He had lost face with his guild members when the party was annihilated without even a trace of struggle. When they collectively spawned back at the temple of light , they looked disdainfully at their leader edge. Under whose command they had tasted defeat again. Some who were unhappy with the way he ran the guild muttered under their breaths about how he was a pretentious bast*** and a Shakuni Wannabe . This insulted Edge to the core , a deep cut to his psyche , he needed this small win over the Elites ,even if it was just a symbolic gesture , because without it , he would fall into a shadow of a Wannabe leader , in the eyes of his guild members. Chapter 327: walking into an ambush Rudra did not expect an ambush from Eternal Rebels , it was a tactical error on his part to think that Edge would tuck his tail and run. Hence when the arrows and magic spells suddenly rained down on the group , for a second he was clueless. Many of the slaves died , even some of the soldiers got injured. Immediately Karna shouted " Ambushhh!!! ". As everyone became on guard. Rudra was calm now , the initial surprise had waned , he was not the same man he was once when edge snatched the merit toke his hand and he just froze. After winning against nightmare he had found confidence in himself and his skills , as he was calm and critically started to analyse his position. They were surrounded by a hill on one side and forest on the other , the road was overall narrow , and places to retreat were non-existent. Truly a great place to lay an ambush. When Rudra looked back , he saw some people wearing eternal Rebel guild colors , as they dropped boulders at the road where Rudra and group came from , cutting their means to retreat. Rudra spotted about five thousand enemies on the hill , and two thousand more inside the forest line. He made an assumption that a total of maybe 10,000 members laid ambush , and thought that maybe 3000 or so would march on the narrow road towards them , engaging in close range conflict. Rudra gave the call " Alright guys , it''s the rebels camping us , Karna and Neatwit will take the front. PinkLotus you have to guard Medivh at the centre. Tank you are with PoisonToadGamakichi , you take the forest line. Naomi keep the soldiers healed as much as possible. Only use mass heal spells and not individual ones. Conserve mana. I take the hillside. Go!". Saying so Rudra used blink , suddenly teleporting at the top of the hill , elven sword and Excalibur at hand , starting to massacre the hillside troops. Rudra wasted no time as he started with using the world Slash and 10,000 cuts , it was one special move after other , as he used twin blade hurricane, overhead slash , cross Slash , claymore and swift retret in quick succession. He was a walking slaughter machine , as he alone had a damage output greater than Neatwit and Karna combined , who were also on a terrific slaughter run. The forest side was performing weak , however with Medivh''s support and Naomi keeping the soldiers alive , the situation seemed balance as of yet. However , it was all about to change very soon. As edge lead a party of 10,000 troops from the front! All clad in level 55 or more fullset Armour , the slaves were quickly slain , and Karna and Neatwit started to be progressively pushed back as they started to loose a chunk of their health. ------ ( Real world , Bo''s POV , from a rooftop ) Only 30 seconds remained untill the timelimit that Jhonny gave him was up. In the previous minutes that Bo had to himself , he made a priority list of whom to kill first if given the chance. Hence when the time came , Bo steadied his breath and pulled the trigger on the first enemy on the list. Then reloading at super human speed , he made the second and third shots too. When the first shot hit the first target , it hit him square in the skull , passing straight through and even hitting a second target , while the crowd tried to process this , a second bullet also killed two people and a third killed one and injured another. Screams quickly followed as , panick gripped the crowd. They were terrified seeing their fellow comrades die at their feet. The local police quickly closed In with bulletproof shields in hand , as they tried to make a protective barrier around the ministers. However they were too slow , as Bo was able to kill 15 more of them bringing his kill tally to 20 , before the rest were secured. Seeing how he had no more shots that could be made , Bo unhesitatingly left the station and bolted to go to safety. This was the best sniping he had ever done in his career , better than his top score at mercenary academy , as he had taken out 20 opponents in 17 shots! Meanwhile , Jhonny was calmly eating a subway sandwich at a nearby parlour , as mayonese dripped from his fingers as he licked them dry. Sound of loud police sirens started , as they zoomed past his location towards the funeral place. Loud sirens saying that this area was now under lockdown , and that noone was allowed to leave. Jhonny who was done enjoying his sandwich calmly wiped his hands and threw his waste in the dustbin nearby , as civilians in the background panicked , and started to run in a frenzy to back inside the shops and clear of the streets. Jhonny too wanted to go inside a shop , but when he tried to walk , he realized that his feet felt extra sticky for some reason. As he looked under the soul of his feet he saw that there was a chewing gum attached to it. Jhonny instantly became disgusted , and first walked over to a nearby red fire hose , as he rubbed the soul of his feet against it to try remove the chewing gum. Coincidentally the firehose was an old construction , there since 2020 , having rusted to the core , not being ever used. Hence it cracked under Jhonny''s boot , spraying water out at high intensity! Coincidentally the first police car which was a security car clearing the way for the escaping ministers was hit right in the windshield with the water , which cracked under the immense pressure hence , the water hitting the driver. The first police car hence abruptly pressed brake , causing the car right behind him , escaping in panick to crash into it , the first car flipping by the impact. Soon a third car and then a fourth all got blocked by the traffic jam. The escape route of the ministers was abruptly cut off ... All because Jhonny wanted to wipe off a chewing gum! Chapter 328: Breaking the ambush Things went downhill real fast for the Elites, as both the forest line and the northern road line started to fall back under pressure. Rudra had slaughtered nearly 1000 men on the hill , however it was not enough. They were all archers and rangers weak at close range combat , who did not even pay attention to Rudra killing them , they were only interested in raining arrows on those down below. They were up there with a suicide mission , whoever planned this ambush had prepared to loose a few troops to stick it to the Elites , a sacrificial move , to minimise risks! Rudra quickly thought about his options , and all roads lead back to his new and ultimate trump card! The solar beam! Currently the bracelet was at 100% power , and the solar beam would take 66% of it. Leaving him with only 33% power to use. With 33% power his second offensive option was using solar flare and solar blast back to back . Hence using solar flare first , he created a blinding white light , that stunned the sensitve eyed longe range rangers And archers. Blinding them for 5 seconds. In that five seconds Rudra used solar blast , at the heart of a ranger party , the blast killing nearly 200 of them at once while injuring 800 more. For a moment a vaccuum had been created that needed atleast 10 seconds to refill. In that 10 seconds Rudra used blink and teleported infront of Karna and Neatwit , only saying " COVER ME ". No more instructions were needed for Neatwit and Karna , who instantly used their best moves to drive back the mothern attack line. Edge saw Rudra and Karna standing at the nothern fight line and shouted " ITS FUTILE SHAKUNI , KARNA , I WIN THIS ONE! ". Nearly 12,000 troops were marching on them from the roadside , about a three killometer long line. No matter how many of them were killed by them , they could not possibly wipe them all out. Not without leaving the hillside flank open , and being open to backstabs and arrows. They were bound to fall sooner or later , Edge had made the perfect plan. Except he could never have imagined the move that Rudra was about to unleash! A tier four spell that noone should be able to use ! A terrifying spell that would destroy his entire nothern line , front to back. All 12,000 at once. Prepping his attack , Rudra only looked into Edge''s eyes and said " Bye bye ". BOOOM! An unprecedented supernova just exploded out of Rudra''s right hand the recoil dislocating his shoulder and sending him in searing pain. Yet Rudra was one tough SOB , he used his left hand to forcefully hold his right in place , as the tier four spell turned the Entire Rebel army to ashes! For 5 killometer , from Rudra''s location to far beyond what the Rebel lines were , not a single soldier was left alive. All being teleported back to you the Church of light. The soldiers from the northern line and the hillside , when watching this horrendous move unleash , subconsciously peed themselves in terror. It was the most terrifying thing they had seen in all their lives. And it was not just them , even Karna and Neatwit gulped and looked at Rudra in horror! The collective consensus was made to abandon the fight and just run for their lives .... They could not fight a demon like Shakuni. They could not fight someone who could eliminate 12,000 troops at once! This was the day where the infamy of Shakuni of the Elites reached an unprecedented scale ,as the man who slaughtered 10,000! ------- ( Real world , somewhere in country X) A police officer was struggling to get out of his car , as blood dripped from his head , Jhonny helped him out of his car , when the man desperately tried to tell him something. However with blood flowing from his mouth , the only thing he could say was " Frag! ". Apparently when he was trying to get out of his car , the frag on his waist got stuck with a protruding piece of metal and got unhooked. Jhonny panicked , and threw the frag on the ground away from himself. The frag landed in the centre of a group of five cars and exploded. The explosion killed five ministers as more cars of other ministers were damaged due to the shrapnell. Jhonny had created a deadlock now as all thirty five remaining ministers were forced to vacate their cars by the security police , who tried to rush them all into one single house to safety. The police secured the windows of a nearby house , as they created a bullet proof passage , and lead all the alive ministers inside it to safety , completely setting up a parameter around the house. However to Jhonny English this was the dumbest thing they could have ever done , as for the first time , he had a genuine bright idea. The gas line infront of the house! The house was a civilain house with a legitimate gas line for cooking , hence when Jhonny aimed his gun at the gas line and at the house and shot! The gas line in the house exploded , setting it on fire! In the aftermath of the fire , due to the entire road being blocker by cars the fire trucks were unable to reach the location. One thing lead to the other , untill the entire house was burnt down , killing all 35 ministers trapped inside! Jhonny casually then walked into the subway shop and ordered another sandwich , placing his gun on the table , absolutely intimidating the shop owner. This job of Jhonny was about to go into the history books as one man bringing down a government , as the tale of the greatest mercenaries feat of making the impossible possible grew even larger! /// Guys I''m sorry for the glitch in the chapter uploads , It was not my fault I had already scheduled them to be released but there was server fault , donot worry the issue is resolved now and we will go back to being normal! Thankyou for the patience. /// Chapter 329: Fallout Edge was left depressed following his defeat to Rudra yet again. That single move that wiped his entire army seemed incomprehensible to him , like Rudra had cheated. Time and time and time again , it seemed he could never get a one up on the Elites. He was Edge Rothschild , yet he could not get one over a nobody like Rudra Rajput , this entire concept was foreign to him. He was not a Shakuni Wannabe , if anything he beleived Shakuni should be an Edge wannane , yet after this defeat he questioned that again. Just how strong were the Elites? Was it worth fighting with them at all? Could the Elites even be defeated? Such dark thoughts entered his mind. Yet a bigger decision haunted his mind currently , at first he never wanted to consider this option , yet the news about his yet another failure were bound to reach his family. Where this time he would be heavily rebuked. Hence that offer seemed even more lucrative to him now .... Edge was having a moment of weakness , a moment where he could not find the courage to ward off the lure of the devil , and invited him into his house. Making a deal with the Chinese traids , Edge decided to betray the Rothschild , and go into buisness for his own. Selling family business secrets and important money holding account details. Edge was about to renege , his only two demands in return for this service from the triads being ... 1) Money and Power 2) Making the life of the Elites a hell The Chinese accepted these terms , and helped Edge escape the confines of his family. Edge Rothschild hence signed a deal with the devil , where he traded his integrity with his desires. Nothing good was ever going to come from the deal , yet for the moment while Edge was still useful , the Elites had made a new enemy. And a very powerful one at that. Their enemy being from the underworld .... The most notorious criminal gang in the world ... The Chinese traids! ------ ( Purplehaze City , Hazelgroove kingdom ) It took Rudra and group three more days to bring Rhodium back into city walls , it was a hard and long journey , with a brutal battle involved , yet nobody wanted to speak about it. Their minds even three days later were focused on that single move that Rudra used during his battle , the destructive Solar beam! Everyone had varying reactions to this event. Neatwit was only impressed but overall indifferent , he was an easy going guy overall , and did not pry into other''s personal matters. Karna was both shocked and impressed by Rudra ,his respect for the leader going up a notch. However he was also a little bit worried about Rudra , he felt that this was some sort of forbidden power used by Rudra at a great cost. That Rudra was forced to do a move he was not ready for , as evident by his broken shoulder , which was only healed by three days of continuous treatment by Naomi. Naomi much like Karna was worried about Rudra a lot , as she did her best to keep healing him. However through her healing process ,the little Furball kept glaring daggers at her , however knew that she was helping her owner hence did not provoke her any further. Little Furball had been very frustrated that she had been immediately called back into Rudra''s soul space as soon as there was sign of danger. She was a very smart beast who knew that she was currently useless in battle , hence had nowhere to vent her frustrations. When she came out to see Rudra soo heavily injured she felt very sad , as she continually stuck by his side , licking his neck and shoulder. As if her licks could heal his pain. Rudra kept patting the little fox , her company gave him warmth and joy , only those around Rudra were sad , he himself was feeling very good about using that move and was in high spirits. Now that he saw its power for himself , he was soo happy that he chose this as his reward , it was indeed worth all his hardwork to win the three gold medals! His shoulder did ache , however no matter how much advanced health potions he drunk , the popped shoulder would not heal. Even at full HP , his shoulder pained a lot , which seemed unusual to Rudra. What he did not know was that it was the pain stemming from the tattoos on his arms , which were used in full power by this frail body which could not withstand the pressure. The tattoos were like a circuit on cooldown , and it took constant cool healing of Naomi to cool it down to normal , and hence healing Rudra. The only person having a positive reaction to Rudra using that move was Yua , who kept chatting with Rudra happily about how it was soo damn cool! She did not mention Rudra''s injury once , not because she did not care about Rudra , but because she thought it was the best way to deal with boys. Boys did not like to be mentioned by girls how they felt pity for them at their injuries , boys liked to pretend to be tough and strong and liked women who believed soo too. Hence Yua never mentioned it to Rudra. Rudra was actually thankful for it , as for once he found his conversations with Yua pelasant. Which irked Naomi a lot. However irked little Furball even more. Who kept making growling noises which sounded like soft purrs of joy whenever Yua talked with Rudra. /// Bonus chapter system for the month of December : Normal chapter rate : 14 chapters a week! We have doubled the normal chapter rate for december , hence irrespective of the tickets and bonuses it will be 2 chapters a day. But there will also be bonuses!!!!! Bonus chapters : 1 for 2000 PS Bonus chapter 2 : 1 for 200 GT Bonus chapter 3 : Supergifts! Chapter 330: A video surfaces Apparently one of the rangers from Eternal Rebels on the hill was recording the entire event. When Rudra used solar flare , and blinded his vision , the screen turned white for a second , and then there was the solar burst that sent him flying a few meters deducting a bit of his HP. However when he crawls back into position , after a few seconds , he is horrified to see the entire nothern attack force annihilated! The actual attack and reason behind the vanishing of the troops are not present in the video however , a manual description tag is added at the bottom , which describes it''s ferocity. This video goes viral on the forums , as it involved the very famous True Elites , however much debate is being made at the legitimacy of the claims put forward by the video owner , the forums went into a heated discussion. " This is BS guys , if Shakuni had such a powerful move in his arsenal wouldn''t the final match of one v one have ended before it even started? The Eternal Rebels are sore loosers who are cooking stories to hide their teams shortcomings ". " Holy hell , just how strong is Shakuni? What move did he use to annihilate soo many people? Is it a skill scroll we can buy?I am Willing to pay 1 million dollars for it ". " Are you an idiot? If such a strong skill exists , not even 100 million can buy it? ". " Says an ugly poor twat, who can''t even afford to spend 20 dollars , much less a million ". " The only person who can buy that skill from Shakuni is probably Ethan Grey ". " Guys this video is a fake , don''t fall for such ponzy schemes ". " This is breaking the game balance! BAN SHAKUNI! ". Moderator : User #2233451127 this is your first warning . " **** The mod warned me , I think Shakuni is illegally the son of the Cuber corporation , they always protect him! ". Moderator : User #2233451127 has been banned from the forums ! Nobody said a word a word after that , However many questions were raised in people''s minds , this video was extremely controversial. But the bigger debate currently was the sudden dissapearance of Edge , who according to guild logs had left the first rate guild 4 hours ago. Making the vice guild master the defacto leader. The eternal Rebels were in a state of chaos , as there was a sudden power shift. Granted they were dissatisfied with Edge in the recent days however , it was not to a point where they would have revolted. They still respected their leader , hence his abrupt quitting the guild raised some questions. Some thought he just kicked the bucket , and some thought he went on in search of other avenues. -------- ( Real world , Grey international tower , the upside ) Ethan Grey was desperately waiting for sir Jhonny and Bo to land safely. His mind was blown at how Jhonny outperformed his own ridiculous time limit and completed the mission in six days. Seeing the events on TV he was dumbfounded at the methods used by Jhonny English. Assasinating Ambani''s son , making the ministers come in the open for the funeral , and then snipe them dead. Then block the only escape route without making anyone feel any wiser and force the ministers to leave the safety of their cars to retreat into a house. Then blow the houses gasline to set it on fire , with the cars blocking the way of the fireman. What needed months of planning and extreme precision to execute with a million things going wrong , Jhonny did in six days. From making the plan to executing it flawlessly. The name of Jhonny English spread far and wide as the underworld knew that the old man stepped out of retirement for this one last request. When Jhonny finally landed , Ethan Grey personally went to greet him , which was huge considering Ethan did not do such a gesture for even the president. However just as he shook Jhonny English''s hand , he looked at Jhonny who looked sad. Ethan thought it was a money issue , as he said " thankyou soo much for your hardwork sir Jhonny I will wire you the money the full one trillion dollars in one hour, if you have any other requests please tell me , I''ll personally look to them ". Jhonny sighed as he pointed at Bo " I''m sorry Ethan , I failed your mission , I will not take the money for a failed job ". Bo looked down on the ground clearly ashamed. Ethan was perplexed as he asked " You did it splendidly sir Jhonny why is it that you call it a failure ? ". Jhonny pulled out a ipad as he showed the photo of a target. It was a minister who was critically injured by Bo''s sniper bullet but only in Coma and not dead. Jhonny said " I''m getting old Ethan , I could only kill 59/60 targets you gave me , by the time I realised one was alive I was on the flight back home. I never thought I''d end my career this way ... With a failed job". Bo looked like he wanted to bury himself right now , very very ashamed of himself. While Ethan had no words to speak .... He wanted to say that it was more than fine if he missed one , but he did not even miss just put him in Coma , which was as good as dead for Ethan , but for a man like Jhonny it was a failed job. Ethan could not find words to console him. Jhonny said " I like the place , the upside , and I like the guild and the company of the young guys , Rudra , Karna , Bo and the like , I''m happy here Ethan , since you gave me security and a place to stay , I returned the favour with this job, soo no need for the money. From today onwards , Bo is the new number one mercenary in the world, I''m too old for this ". Saying soo Jhonny patted on Bo''s shoulder as he told him " you are a good mercenary Bo. But too orthodox in your approach. Think about option 3 , there is always a option 3 ". Saying soo Jhonny walked off .... As long as he was concerned he had passed the torch. While the news that Jhonny considered this a failed job spread like a wildfire in the mercenary world . Chapter 331: Shining too bright The Elites had collected all the necessary equipment needed to build the teleportation array. Hiring skilled NPC labour force , paid by the day , Rudra made an expedited construction plan for the teleportation array. The project was set to complete in 25 days , extending to a maximum of 30. Currently 2500 people were building the array in the outer district in sector 7 of the city , the reason for this was simple. Sector 7 was a market and goods sector. It had some inns and it had the most flourishing shops and black markets. It was the best area for tourist visits. However it was also the easiest to contain , should something unfortunate happen. Away from the inner district , and away from the truly mega structures of the city , like the grand library , the church of light and the city administration office , it ensured that the inner city would not be easily compromised. Moreover being a semi industrial sector it was still inside the city wall. Hence well protected. But also away from the residential districts of 1,2,3 sectors. Hence even in a conflict although there would be material loss , the loss of life would be minimal. There was another advantage to setting it up in sector 7. As now under the pretext of city security , Rudra could place checkpoints at all roads entering and leaving sector 7 and increase patroll in the area. This would decrease crime , and Rudra would have eyes on what goods the merchants were trading. He would virtually now have eyes over the economic lifeline of the city , from where he could slowly enact laws that would show customs certificates to bring in goods. Smuggling and illegal trading would suffer a massive blow due to this. Hence having various benefits. The massive construction began in sector 7 , while slowly the patroll in the area was quadrupled. With a small military contingent permanently stationed. These changes did not go unnoticed by the world , as players would start talking about every action that the Elites took. From undertaking one massive project to another , it was clear to every onlooker the Elites had really deep pockets. Most assumed that it was Ethan Grey funding them , however that was not the case , and only those who studied corporate and had a track over finances like major banks. Knew the secret that the guild was actually giving Ethan returns and not borrowing money. Naturally such news were secretly sold to other influential people , who alongside the rise of the Elites in the Olympics , slowly became very interested in the organization. Usually noone would be able to get past Amelia to meet Rudra , she took care of everything in-game and even outside , she was the ultimate secretary for Rudra. The fact that the upside was such a protected community was probably one of the reasons behind her job being a little easy , but even so , just like Ethan Grey had his own team working for him. Amelia made sure to schedule important meetings and declined everyone she did not deem fit to meet Rudra all together. She was started to gain a reputation inside the Elites , as the head of logistics she was only a level 5 player , however her authority within the guild was absolute. Except for Rudra and Karna who were both goofs and except for wars and things related to fighting were absolutely useless she was the real boss of the Elites. Deciding the pay of the members , the benefits , approving equipment requests , mentaining the warehouse. Looking over all the ambitious projects Rudra started , while also keeping an eye on world and in guild events , and reporting to Rudra , she was a one woman show. Known to have a fierce temper , and extreme proffesional attitude , that was court and formal. She came off as a cold businesswoman. A workhorse who worked about 14 hours a day in game and worked 2 hours in real life before calling it a day. She was the literal lifeline of the guild and Rudra knew it very well. Paying her extremely well , Rudra would shower her with bonuses and gifts soo expensive it would make even billionaire''s wives blush. But Rudra knew it was worth it , it was a symbolic gesture to show Amelia how much he valued her as a member , and Amelia knew it very well. She liked working in the Elites exactly because Rudra appreciated her soo much and gave her a total autonomy. The work became worship for her, as the potential of the guild just kept skyrocketing. Hence with Rudra being out of reach , soon outside investors started targetting Amelia. They knew that the boss woman was the only way to meet the boss. However no matter the income or the offer or the threat Amelia never buckled. Hence when Rudra came to the guild hall and saw Amelia anxiously waiting at the corridor for him , he was shocked. Amelia instantly said " There is a very dangerous woman waiting in your cabin , guild master , think of your next actions very seriously ... ". Seeing Amelia soo serious Rudra knew that something serious must have happened. Someone who could force a meeting from Amelia and cause her to be soo worried must be a real bigshot. Rudra walked in to his own conference room , yet he was not intimidated at all , throwing a glance at the woman seated , Rudra calmly walked up to the head of the table where his seat was and sat down. Glancing at her he said " How may I help you miss..... ". " Hao Mi ". The woman said Rudra''s eyes widened , he knew the name , of one of the bosses of the Chinese traids .... The infamous sadist who liked to torture her victims to death , the rumors said that none of her lover''s have survived more than one night with her , as they end up in either Coma or dead the next morning. And now she was here , in his cabin . " Ohhh , so you know my name , I''m famous I guess , especially among men ". Hao Mi said seeing his reaction. /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job guys /// Chapter 332: THIS IS MY CITY! Hearing how Hao Mi gloated about Rudra knowing about her reputation , Rudra decided to end the woman''s career right then and there. Who the hell did she think she was , this is Purplehaze city , she was inside his guild hall surrounded by Elites. Rudra was not going to be intimidated in his own territory. Rudra said " I''m sorry , if you are who I think you are , then I saw you in an adult entertainment clip. It was thoroughly underwhelming at that , perhaps why it gave me a lasting impression". The smile vanished off Hao Mi''s face , only for a second though , as soon it was replaced by a calm composure. She said " I''m Hao Mi , the leader of the Shang Lin Mafia , a triad leader , you are mistaken if you think you saw me in inappropriate content sites. However if you do wish to see me inappropriately you have to but ask guild master Shakuni , I am quite willing to bed you .... ". Rudra coughed , dammit he was weak when faced with such shameless woman , he was a virgin hence got flushed easily. Hao Mi chuckled at his behaviour , she found the guild leader Shakuni to be amusing. Rudra said " To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting a crime syndicate leader? ". Hao Mi " Ohhh , I thought you were close to Ethan Grey , my my , have you not met him? There is not much difference between us both , he uses his money to buy political support and grow his buisness , his core product being stocks , the triads deal in arms and drugs , except for our core competency , there is nothing different in our methods , killing our enemies , buying politicians, having our own territory. To be honest I''m quite impressed with Ethan Grey .... The man truly has some excellent foresight ". Rudra knew that what Hao Mi said was not technically wrong , the traids were like a conglomerate , just because the dealt in selling stuff that government labels as illegal , they are potrayed as a villanous organization. Rudra knew firsthand that Ethan Grey was not a clean man himself. None of those who stood at the top were , everyone had their hands soaked in blood. However Rudra would not get swayed by her words. The triads were different from Ethan in the way that they were lawless and did things on their own whim. Each triad gang member had a license to kill , and the organisation was very loosely regulated. Rudra said " Soo are you going to tell me why you are here or are you going to beat around the bush?". Hao Mi raised an eyebrow then said " I am willing to invest in your guild , I am especially interested in this city you are building , I want to make it a base for my organization. Sell me 30% of your guilds shares and sign a contract with me that allows me to operate from here, I am willing to pay any price for this , even my body ". Rudra knew he would reject Hao Mi ''s offer , however his objective now was to gain as much information as needed , soo he played ball. Rudra''s first question " Why Purplehaze city , why the elites ? ". Hao Mi smiled as she said " The way you are developing this city is unlike any other , the massive wall and the teleportation array coupled with the fact that this is an already excellently developed capital city even before you took over , makes this location very prefferable. The teleportation array is like an airport in real life. Any major city has to have it , however the construction cost is not minimal. However we know the secret that even with the massive wall and the teleportation array being made , the Elites have not borrowed money from the Grey corporation at all , and rely on its own finances. Such capabilities are extremely admirable. As well as the Elites have a very strong positive impression on the world , providing a perfect cover". Rudra started to read between the lines , he was obviously looking right past all the flattery , and at the essence of her words. He asked " Who did you approach before us?". Hao Mi laughed out loud " What makes you think anyone has the guts to reject us? If I approached anyone before this , I wouldn''t be here". Rudra shook his head " You would have approached us sooner if that was the case , my guess is Eternal Rebels or Frozen thorns , someone who could not mine the crystals". Hao Mi''s eyes widened , however she mentained her poker face as she said " I''m here to negotiate terms guild leader , tell me your price ". Rudra looked at her with all earnesty and replied " I''m sorry miss , this is my city , and my guild , and it''s not for sale! ". Hao Mi did not buy this explanation , for her everyone had a price , and Rudra selling 30% to Ethan was a testament to that , she thought Rudra was playing hard to get hence said . " Ohhh , so you sell to Ethan Grey but not to us? , What does Ethan Grey have that us triads don''t? Is it money? Hahahaha , let me tell you guild master , we can buy 10 Ethan Grey ''s if we want to , Is it the safe haven and the Elite tower in the upside? , Come to China , come to Shanghai .... Come to our safe Haven , '' Shang Chi '' , you will live like kings there , soo let me rephrase my pricing. 30 Trillion dollars for 30% of your guild , and you live like kings for the rest of your life. You still own 40% of your own guild , being the one having management rights, it''s a good deal , take it! ". Hao Mi extended her hand It was good that Rudra had nerves of steel ... A weaker man would fall to temptation. Even Mithun Ambani , his entire Ambani corporation was not worth 30 Trillion dollars at the moment. Rudra could literally become one of the wealthiest persons on earth with this transaction. In the eyes of the Triads the Elites had a 100 trillion dollar valuation , making it as successful as the largest tech companies in the world ! It was a very high evaluation , as high as a few super guilds with 1% members. It was true that he sold his shares to Ethan Grey under pressure once. However , the Elites were not for sale. His dream had no price point to it. Hence politely Rudra said " Not interested ". This time Hao Mi was genuinely shocked .... She could not comprehend , what exactly gave Rudra the confidence to reject her? What did he think the traids were? Some farmer conglomerate? She gave him such a sweet deal and he still had the audacity to reject? Fine , she thought , if the carrot won''t work , then she needed to pull out the stick ! Chapter 333: Price of Arrogance Hao Mi thought , that Rudra was perhaps not aware about the terrifying reputation of the triads , he did not sufficiently know their threat. It could be the only reason in her mind why he decided to reject her. Hao Mi hence turned serious. She was not someone a kid like Rudra could bully , she had personally came here to recruit him , and he had the gall to reject her , it was very disrespectful to her. Hao Mi said , her voice laced with killing intent , as she said " Are you sure you can bear the weight of rejecting me? , Honey , this little guild of yours , one snap of mine , and it can be erased from existence. How dare you be arrogant infront of a Triad? , We deal with hundereds like you on a daily basis , some of them even end up on our dinner table. It would be a pity to have your handsome face in my dinner plate , however I sure as hell won''t loose any sleep over it. One way or the other , if Purplehaze city is what we want , the. Purplehaze City is what we will get. All this development you are doing , it will fall under our hands , it will be for naught. All because of your arrogance! ". A lesser man would be intimidated , however Rudra was not , he just chuckled a little and said " Tell me , ugly pony tailed b*** , you being in my city , in my guild headquarters , in my conference room ..... What exactly will you do? ". Hao Mi''s eyes widened in disbelief, she had never seen a man with such a spine , usually men would prostrate before her at such threats , but not Rudra , there was not a hint of fear in his eyes. Hao Mi " Just because you live in the upside do you think you are safe? , Do you think the triads cannot penetrate that little fortress of Ethan Grey? , This may be your city , but is your family in this city? Is your little brother here at school? You have that cute little mercenary of yours in your team , that oldie Jhonny , a triple medal winner , man of focus. One of your best eh? In the triads he will not even make captain , just because you win some inconsequential wars against citizens , do you think you are some sort of a gangster? Let me tell you here , Honey , you are not. My men will decimate your guild. Not with numbers , but being outnumbered 10 to 1 , soo yes , I may not be able to do anything to you right now , however I can decimate you , I promise that ". Rudra felt a bead of sweat go down his spine at the mention of his real life family , for the first time he started considering Hao Mi''s proposition seriously ..... However his heart was just torn , for how long will he keep bending the knee under someone stronger? Is this his fate? , How will he achieve his dreams with the triads running rampant in his city ? No he could not accept her terms . He had to find his own footing. He had to reject her here , and deal with the consequences that came his way later. Hao Mi was almost 99% sure that Rudra would buckle now , that his tone would change , however Rudra''s next words shocked her to her core. Never in her life had she been as humiliated as she felt next. Rudra said " See , all those threats and all , I''m really intimidated .... But let me tell you something , it''s hard to be intimidated by a middle aged woman who dresses like a Loli succubus , It just makes me laugh. I cant go out there and tell my guild mates that this ridiculous looking ugly wrinkly loli intimidated me into selling guild shares, haha I mean id loose too much..... ". Rudra was continuing to insult her when a tight slap landed across his cheek. Rudra smiled , as this was exactly his plan. System notification : You the mayor have been attacked in your city , inside the safezone. The perpatrator of this event is player '' Hao Mi ''. Choose how you wish to punish her. 1) Permanent ban from entering Purplehaze City 2) Jail for 7-30 days 3) Both. ( Jail for 30 days followed by a permanent ban ) Rudra unhesitatingly pressed 3 , as a devilish smile appeared on his face. Within seconds local police authorities swarmed in his building , as Hao Mi was shocked at being arrested. Rudra calmly looked at her and then gave the order " Drag her through the streets, and shout to the streets that this is Hao Mi a triad boss. Being imprisoned for performing crime in Purplehaze city , go ! ". Hao Mi glared daggers at Rudra , she could not believe the gall! , She was a goddamn triad boss , for her to suffer such humiliation , it was unheard off. The moment Rudra came out , he looked for SMG as he said " Take your entire squadron , guard the moving enterouge. And kill everyone who tries to interfere". Amelia looked extremely worried , however she understood what choice the guild leader had made , it was sure to bring some turbulent tides their way. When Karna saw Rudra in the corridor along with a 25 city guard contingent , he naturally asked Rudra whats going on , to only get one order " Take the entire guild , tell the NPC citizens to throw rotten eggs and tomatoes at the passing criminal. Kill anyone who tries to rescue her , GO! ". Karna had never seen Rudra soo serious , he immediately complied , and rallied everyone present for the cause. Only when they were escorting the enterouge on the street and the guards started to declare the name of the triad boss and her crimes , did Karna realize the opponent Rudra had just made. He wanted to commend Rudra for his courage , however slap him for his stupidity. His thought '' being , soo we fight the triads next ''. The entire guild had the same thoughts , as a bloody skirmish broke out throughout the path to jail. The chinese triad naturally did not travel alone to Purplehaze , but as it was only a political visit , she only brought 500 men with her , who tried their very best to save their bosses dignity , but to no avail. This was Purplehaze city. Not a place where they could act rampant. The NPC citizens , looked down on criminals , they liked the new mayor''s regime and naturally did not care about any Chinese triad or anything else , they pelted Hao Mi with rotten eggs and tomatoes. Hao Mi was fuming inside , as the players of the world recorded this incident. It was sure to loose her a lot of face. She wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it , however there was nothing she could do about it. Her logout button had turned unavailable , untill she was dragged to jail , she had to endure this , however swore to annihilate this city once she got out . The forums were flooded with the video of the traid boss being marched inside the streets of Purplehaze city. They labelled it as the '' Walk of shame ''. And it was the largest blow ever given to a member of Chinese triads. The ramifications of this event were sure to be huge , Rudra was in for a storm !! /// Guys there is a new function added by webnovel for the month of December , in the spirit of giving , they decided to add the feature that every super gift that readers gift to a book , will give fellow '' Other readers '' either coins , FP , EXP or points , through a random treasure chest. Limited to fans of the book. Hence if you guys want to give your fellow fans such gifts and also get a bonus chapter from me as well. Please send the book supergifts /// Chapter 334: Ethan Grey is the real big boss The moment Hao Mi was imprisoned and had the option to logout of the game , she did. Rudra knew at that very moment , that he had a very limited time before hell broke loose. Wasting no time , Rudra told every elder to logout of the game and meet inside the Elite tower conference room within 10 minutes. Naturally everyone complied , within 5 minutes everyone was inside the real world , conference room in the upside. Amelia had also panick called Ethan Grey , who was present in the room as well. Rudra looked across the room , and said " The Chinese triads wanted to buy ownership of our guild and turn Purplehaze City , into a centre for their illegal activities inside the VR world. From setting black markets to slave trading to every other illegal activity punishable by the Hazelgroove national law. And wanted to use our guild as a cover for these activities. For me personally , this guild is not for sale and Purplehaze city is my HOME! , I decided to retaliate , and the next fall out of my actions is known by all of you , Hao Mi is imprisoned in our jail. I know I made this decision on my own accord , but I''m here to listen to all of your opinions now. What''s our next step ". Karna sighed , Rudra was just impossible , he had clearly declared war and was now asking for opinion , he did not mind this at all , as finally he agreed with Rudra and his choice , the Elites were not for sale. Ethan Grey however had a different opinion , as he calmly asked " How much money did they offer .... ? ". Rudra replied " 30 Trillion dollars for 30% , 100 trillion valuation ". Fatty Kalash spat water from the glass he was drinking , as he looked dumbfoundedly at Rudra ..... Why did he reject such an offer? ITS 30 FREAKING TRILLION ... He was going to faint ... This conversation was too much for him to handle. Ethan Grey however sighed " Damn , that''s a really good offer , if it were me giving a generous evaluation of the guild , i would put it more at the 80 trillion dollar evaluation. She was really paying premium ". Rudra remained calm , seeing how Ethan Grey was not panicking hearing the information , and instead asking about unnecessary things , told him he was not really worried. Rudra asked " Hao Mi threatened that she would infiltrate the upside and kill my family , that she would ravage the guild upside down ..... What are your thoughts on this Ethan ". Ethan Grey started to laugh after hearing this , as a tear escaped his eye .... He said " Let me tell you a story .... There was once a gala , where antiques were on display , bloody overpriced Chinese vases with dragons painted on them , I went there for let''s say socializing reasons , that time a woman took fancy to my grey eyes and handsome face , wanted to bed me , but she dressed like a ugly Loli , hence naturally I had no interest in bedding her , but not being able to handle the rejection , the Loli insisted on taking me by force , hence a tight boot lander on her nose fair and square ,breaking it in two pieces. The gala was a social event , where I went at invitation , naturally I was kicked but she was not allowed to assasinate me. That day the girl was humiliated , however she swore to kill me that day. That ugly Loli is Hao Mi , and as you can see I''m very much alive and kicking to this day , hahahahaha ". Rudra raised an eyebrow .... He had to admit it , Ethan Grey was too damn cool. Ethan continued " I''m glad to know the bi*** got fcked by my brother as well , hahahaha , dont worry man , Ethan Grey did not build the safe haven called upside for no reason. It is for the very purpose to fight against the world while being assured of your and your family''s safety. Don''t worry not a hair will be harmed on those people under my watch , that is my promise ". Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Ethan Grey had to say , especially Rudra , now that the biggest thing weighing his mind was no longer a concern the rest could be managed , let them March an army of a million at Purplehaze city. He was not afraid that the city would fall! Rudra was strong armed into selling 30% of his guild to Ethan Grey , that was true , however it was worth the price to get Ethan''s support. Without Ethan and his backend help , the Elites would not be able to soar like they did. And naturally the Elites delivered too , making Ethan both money and political power in a world where Omega was the biggest market. Even though his decision was made under duress , Rudra was truly glad to have Ethan as his partner. And the feeling was mutual for Ethan Grey , he absolutely was in love with the True Elites and Rudra , he was not letting his golden goose be threatened under his watch. Ethan Grey continued " There are three major mafia groups in the world , that are richer than four of the six trillionare''s , and then there are seven noble families , making the worlds power structure of the richest and most influential non government organisations at 16 The three major mafia groups are the chinese triads , the Russian mafia , and the Mexican cartel. With the Russian mafia being the overlords of the underworld , followed by the chinese triads and the Mexican cartel being the weakest. However ,make no mistake even the Mexican cartel has more assets than me the fourth richest trillionare if we count money alone. However as they are illegal in nature , there is no exact amount as to how much do they have , it is only an assumption based on the economy floating. However this does not mean that the Mexican cartel is more influential than me , or the chinese triads have more power than me. In Japan I am supreme , japan is my territory , and japan Is a nuclear country , hence my political power places me above the Mexican cartel , but under the Russian mafia and Chinese triads. I won''t bore you guys with the world power structure and its specifics , but currently you need to understand that the Sheikh of Dubai , the Rothschild in England , and the other noble families are also a very dominant force in world politics. Japan is not my puppet state. But I have near immunity in Japan , as I drive nealry 40% of the country''s GDP , have me gone and the population will starve. The same goes for others. Hence with me warning the state , the immigration of the Chinese traids into the country itself will be a huge challenge. Plus the areas and entry points to the upside will be heavily guarded. So you do not need to worry". Ethan Grey''s explanation really opened Rudra''s eyes , the world of the trillionare''s was really different , they were playing at a stage where money and power were all deeply convoluted. Ethan then dropped a huge bombshell that Rudra never knew or expected , he said " The main reason as to why I doubt the chinese triads will even send a single man to upside is because of my secret. Not bragging but quite literally , they are scared of harming a single hair on me. Like if they do , they know that the triads will go six feet under". Now this shocked everyone in the room .... who the hell was Ethan Grey ... And if that was the case why was Hao Mi soo oblivious too all this? Ethan saw everyone''s perplexed expression and said " See although on paper it seems like the triads are three branches of one organization it is not really the case. Hao Mi is the weakest of the three traids and has the least say in the general direction of the organisation. The real boss is Lu Shu. And Lu Shu knows he can''t offend me , because of my lover/ mother of my child ". Rudra''s eyes widened at this information .... Ethan Grey had a child? .... And a lover.... Such information had never reached Rudra''s ears ... Ethan did not appear to be a family man at all... Ethan sighed and said " The boss of the Russian mafia is my lover , in the same gala we bedded each other , I have a five year old son ". Amelia covered her lips to hide her smile .... Ethan was annoyed because of this relationship , it was a secret very few people knew. Ethan said " the woman is too clingy , soo is the kid , but never mind , she has her use , her temper is such that if anyone dares come to the upside the Russian mafia will literally slaughter the chinese traids alive. Soo there it is , one more reason why they can''t declare open war on you ... Chill out man Rudra with me here the sky won''t fall ! ". Rudra was thoroughly impressed .... Ethan Grey was truly the one big boss! Ethan continued " That being said , I can''t do anything about whatever she will do to you guys in-game , I''ll leave the meeting at this point , I think you gamers are more capable of talking about such matters , but let me warn you , at her inability to send men to the upside , and the degree of humiliation she has suffered , her threat is not to be taken lightly. The men that serve her are as good as the Assassin''s that are under SMG , these are not the average Joe , hence I assume that their threat during war is not to be taken lightly either. That''s it for me , peace out". Saying soo Ethan Grey casually walked out of the building ... Only when he left did people even sigh loudly .... Such was his presence and pressure . Now that Rudra was truly feeling easy at mind about his family''s safety , he turned his attention back to the issues inside the game. He now knew that the moment that the cooldown of the safety period ended , there would be war at Purplehaze city''s footsteps. The guild was on a timelimit. They needed to gather as much strength as they could at this period. As conflict was now inevitable. Karna cracked his knuckles and asked Rudra " Okay now that that''s out of the way , what''s the plan guild leader? ". Rudra looked around the room , and he was glad to see that noone threw him any accusing glances , that asked him , why did you drag us into this mess? Only determination , to help and move on. Rudra took a deep breath and started to say " Okay guys listen up , we are on the clock , Here is the plan ..... ". /// Bonus chapter for hitting the Power Stone target , an extremely long one at that ... Enjoy! /// Chapter 335: The plan " First and foremost we need to talk about bolstering our ranks , we need to have speed on the Elite academy project. Speed up the enrollment process and tighten the screening. We need fresh blood as soon as possible within our ranks. We can no longer use the traditional recruiting method for immediate relief , because we never know who is a spy for the triads ". Rudra declared. Everyone in the room nodded , the Elite academy was a ambitious project by Rudra , and even though Ethan Grey had literally build the academy from the ground up to fully functional in a month , it still needed time for recruitment. People would fill up forms , they would come for screening , the Elites would evaluate their gameplay , etc etc. The course needed to be finalized the teachers , the routine .... It was a lot of work , now that Rudra wanted to expedite the process it meant a lot of work would fall on the shoulders of everyone. At this point SMG suggested something " I think since we are already making an Elite academy , we should also have a branch for training new and upcoming special agents. That can work both in real life and in game , I can personally train these young people into the most skilled and disciplined assasins , then we also have Sir Jhonny who could take classes ". Everyone looked at sir Jhonny , who nodded " Alright ". Now the decision was left to Rudra , would he induct such a division within his academy? The more Rudra thought about it , the more he felt like it was a brilliant idea , However the compensation for such people needed to be higher , also because they would be field agents doing dangerous work , their families had to be taken care of. As if on a cue , SMG said " We will hire orphans only. Don''t worry guild master , it would be voluntary and worth it for them , I will make sure of it ". Rudra nodded in ease , he did not wish to be a tryannic guild leader , just because the situation became desperate. Rudra said " Okay , set up a division for 3000 strong SMG , let''s call it Black Ops , you will be the Head of the department , I will leave the finalizing of training and decision of syllabus to you. Reserve a lecture for sir Jhonny , who will come up with his own course to teach the children. Talk with Bo and Skyla if they want in on the department as teachers". SMG nodded , him and his 300 bretheren would recreate the sect like environment they came from , and train the kids to the bones , he was confident in making an Elite squadron within 6 months time. Rudra continued " Rapid expansion needs strong logistics , we set up school of buisness and analytics , the head of department being Amelia , we have a few buisness geniuses and retired Harvard proffessors in the upside. Fork out a big cheque , get them in on the project , have 1500 loyal and efficient players ready within 6 months ". Rudra then looked at Fatty " School of lifestyle , 3000 slots , spend more time on Elite lifestyle economics and nurturing them into fine workforce. High pay , high skill demand , bring me some goddamn master forgets Fatty , make it a practical course , I want to see them man our shops within 2 months of course starting with their products being sold manually by them within the Purplehaze blackmarket , the passing criteria to be to make 20,000 gold within 4 months time ". Taking a deep breath Rudra said " Lastly we need the main workforce the combat division , with 30,000 slots , Karna will be head of department , combat is a very comprehensive course. I will personally come up with it , what I want in the recruits is a way of analytical thinking and a bunch of party leaders , everyone should come out with knowledge of formations and seige warfare , they should know all the skills and moveset of the opponent class and know the best way to counter them. I need a bunch of statistical nerds with skills enough to back the knowledge up. Neatwit , Medivh , Cola , Gamakichi , Gamabunta , every single Elite member good at combat will spend hours sparring with these contestants , by the time they come out even a barbarian should beat a wizard and a wizard should beat a barbarian , that''s the kind of recruits we need to raise ". That brings the first batch total at 37,500 , a bit more than we initially planned , I want the recruitment finished within 7 days and classes started by next MONDAY! Everyone felt Rudra''s passion and energy and understood the urgency of the project , perhaps most won''t be able to sleep for 7 days to actually see this thing through. But noone complained , the Elites always worked in full gear , they were more used to hustling like this than the slump that followed the Olympics. Rudra continued " Next objective is to make the teleportation array as soon as possible and find a way into the lost land of Draconia ". Karna and SMG''s ears perked up at this , they had been the ones to rob the royal treasury , from where they obtained this token. Hence at the mention of draconia they got excited. Rudra said " I have no idea where draconia is , we will need to scourge for information , Amelia put out a guild mission , we need information on the lost dragon kingdom , however what I do know is that only big opportunities await once we reach there , that''s my gut feeling ". Everyone became excited , adventures with the guild leader were always extremely rich in experience points and loot. Nobody wanted to be leftout. Rudra continued " Lastly , fatty we need a increased revenue stream , increase the output of our goldmines to maximum , and try amass as much wealth as you can from our shops. Increase product prices, or introduce a new line, I don''t care how you do it , but when I come back with new projects , I don''t want to hear that we can''t implement them because of money constraints! , Alright that''s it guys 7 days time , let''s buckle up. Onto your tasks ". Rudra distributed tasks to everyone. The general direction of work was set. Now was the time to improve and expand! Chapter 336: Unexpected The world reacted strongly to Rudra making Hao Mi walk down Purplehaze city while being pelted with rotten eggs anc tomatoes. Some commended Rudra for his bravery and his spine to stand-up against the chinese triads soo vocally. While some claimed his actions to be downright stupid. There would always be people like that , who would find faults with everything. For them making a woman parade on the city streets while being pelted by rotten eggs and Tomatoes was a traumatic experience to watch , they felt that it was excessive of Rudra , and that in this exchange he was the real bad guy. A heated debate ensued the world forums , as the Elites were in the spotlight again for all the wrong reasons. However , one thing was absolute and that was the fact that Hao Mi lost a lot of face because of Rudra. With the world news covering this event , it was a well known stain on the reputation of the emphatic triad leader. Hence the fact that the other two triads rejected her appeal to send men to capture and murder Rudra and his family inside the upside , made her flip out. Not only was she rejected entry into the upside , but also told that if they even got a whiff of foulplay from her , and that any of her men even laid their eyes on the upside. She would be excommunicated and hunted by the other two triad factions . Hao Mi found this entire situation to be unacceptable , unaware of the prowess Ethan Grey had. She kept asking them for answers. Ethan Grey was a character she hated to the core , which was partly the reason why she wanted to buy the Elites , and rub it in his face and gloat. However , things did not go as she had planned. Frustrated she could only turn to inside Omega , as she gave orders to raise the most terrifying batallion within Omega to take down Purplehaze city. She explicitly commanded to find ways to get past the city walls , and their massive archballistae. They had roughly 8 and a half months time , before the protection period ended , and an attack could be launched on the city. And Hao Mi swore to get her revenge the exact day that the protection period was over! What she did not know however , was the rising dissatisfaction under her leadership by her troops. When a leader looses face , soo does their subordinates and many were dissatisfied with the image of their boss. A newcomer within her ranks was aware of this fact , and with a skill to play both sides to gain maximum favour. Edge Rothschild was quickly rising through the ranks of her organization. Tasked with coming up with countermeasures for the Elites , he was indeed working his butt off earnestly trying to think of ways to destroy Purplehaze city. All the while trying to fan the flames of the faction , dissatisfied with Hao Mi. Edge''s plan was simple , he wanted to rise to the position of commander , lead the troops to a glorious victory at Purplehaze city , and then create a mutiny , to become the new leader! . And for this to come true , the True Elites , his old nemesis stood in his way , and this time he wanted to make sure to bury them 6 feet under properly! , That one single move that Rudra dished out , was a source of his nightmare. He could not get over it , he knew he could not get over it untill he chopped off Rudra''s head. --------- ( Royal Library , Purplehaze city) Rudra was within the Royal Library , trying to gain information about the lost land of dragon''s. Rudra found a few books that pertained to this issue , where he found out invaluable information about the actual dragon kingdom , it''s customs and its magnificent structures , but he could not find the geographical location of the kingdom of dragons. Only vague descriptions were present. However one positive sign that he recieved from his deduction capabilities was that it was atleast present in the nothern hemisphere. Because the seasons as described inside the books coincided with those in the nothern hemisphere. Soo atleast the Southern continent could be ruled out , as not a feasible location. While Rudra continued to wrack his brains over the issue , an unexpected problem arrived for him. Patricia won knight was looking for him , and it seemed urgent. The moment Rudra crossed eyes with Patricia , she only said " Come with me , urgent". No conversation , no time for Rudra to reject , he was forced to follow his sister , back to the won knight mansion. Rudra did not know reason behind this visit , but he was pretty sure that Patricia could have sent a servant to fetch him rather than comming personally. However when a second Patricia walked down the steps of the mansion , Rudra was a little bit surprised. The first one dissapeared into thin smoke , when the second one came ..... It was the tier three skill Doppelganger , Rudra had heard about it ... But it was his first time seeing it in action. He had to admit , it was very impressive! Patricia said " Hello little brother , you maybe wondering why I called you soo urgently , however what I will tell you now must not leave the walls of this room , it will decide the fate of our family and this kingdom. Soo listen carefully ... Prince Aman , that b***** , is not the rightful king. Emperor Cervantez is still alive and locked up within a strange illusion barrier , the prince has lied to me and to our people , he is no king. Just a rebel sitting on the throne. We the Won knight only serve the one true king and now that our leige is in trouble we must save him! ". SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : Forced Quest ( Save the fallen emperor ) ( SS ) : Emperor Cervantez is trapped in a never ending illusion , infiltrate the royal palace and free the Emperor , however beware that doing so would result in you becoming a traitor to the current king , and the one who sits at the throne of Hazelgroove. Failure penalty : 6 month imprisonment , followed by banishment from Hazelgroove kingdom. Revokes the title of Won knight from the player! Rudra gulped in hard .... He never expected this quest to suddenly appear .... This was not what happened in his past life ! Should he fail this quest , everything would be gone. His position within Purplehaze city. His guild , his lifestyle shops , everything! Just when he was preparing for an existential battle for the future. He had to fight another one in the present! Chapter 337: Down the rabbit hole we go Thankfully the quest did not have any time limit , but only after persuading Patricia for a long time that they need a gameplan and more intel on the situation , did Rudra get her to agree to execute the mission in 3 days time. Patricia had apparently lost her mind , after finding out that Emperor Cervantez was alive. Things were moving in a different direction this time around , than Rudra''s last life. In Rudra''s last life Emperor Cervantez was murdered and not kept alive , when eventually Prince Aman usurped the throne. Apparently Rudra''s intervention and the fact that Aman got his hands on the illusion Ruby , changed things in ways he did not know about. Currently Rudra knew that Aman was a tier 4 necromancer. He was not someone Rudra could take on one on one. Or even someone that the entire True Elites could hope to match. It would be a party wipe no matter how many times they tried to fight against this boss. Then there was the tier 4 servant wizard of the prince , Rahim. Who was a terrifying power in his own right. Rudra only had one shot at this , with him not even being a match for Aman , adding Rahim into the difficulty mix was bringing it to astronomical heights. Yet the mission was rated SS and not SSS because Rudra had Patricia in his corner! A tier 4 powerhouse herself , she was the only one who could contend with the attackers. While Rudra was thinking about ways to possibly counter the duo , his mind went back to the beast tide attack on Purplehaze city , Rahim''s power and the frightening display of Aman bringing down a dragon. Rudra had chills all over his spine thinking of that matter. However thinking about it , his mind went back to the 100,000 merit token that he refused to surrender at the end of the event. Rudra was patting little Furball , as she nuzzled asleep under his palms on his work desk , when Rudra brought out the merit token in his hands. Instantly , the little Furball woke up , as it started to intently smell the token in Rudra''s hands. After a while it started to lick and purr at Rudra , as if to tell him to feed the token to it. The token contained the scattered soul fragment of the immortal phoenix. Rudra was unaware of the true worth of the token , yet he had decided not to turn it in to the King , on a hunch that it might be valuable. Rudra adored Furball a lot , by now amongst his top favourite things , Furball was only below little Max , who Rudra loved even more. However the treatment Furball got was the same , a constant patting on the head and stroking of fur , while Rudra worked. Rudra did not have the heart to reject Furball , even if he knew that the token might be a priceless treasure , infront of those cute eyes , Rudra was helpless. He thought '' Since I don''t know what it is anyway , might as well feed it to little Furball ''. Hence not thinking much about it , he decided to give it to Furball. Little did Rudra know , that this single decision of his , would alter the entire landscape of Omega gaming by a huge margin! The changes that happened to Furball , after eating that token were astronomical! , Furball was at level 5 , at the moment , as Rudra rarely allowed it to go into the wild or to hunt , however it''s levels started to skyrocket after eating the token ... 10...20...30( broke through tier one) ...40...50...60( broke through tier two) ...65....66...67...It gained 62 levels at once ! The once light brown fur , changed into a gleaming golden , although there was no evident size change in furballs overall look , the moment Rudra lifted her up , his eyes widened ..... Furball was incomparably more heavy , almost as if his very bones had gained weight! Rudra was baffled at this development , and called up Furball''s status screen . Race : Divine Nine Tailed Fox Bloodline trait : ( Awakened ) Name : Furball Gender : Female Owner : Shakuni Disposition : Overprotective Level : 67 Tier : 2 Skills : Bite , Mass revive , Mass teleport , Fireball , Three copies. Bloodline special skill :- Queen''s Aura , Appearance alteration , Replace HP : 65000/65000 Rudra just simply blinked 5 times , he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him? How the hell did Furball just change soo much by eating one token? Did Rudra just unknowingly feed her a divine grade item? Should he have eaten the token himself? What the hell was going on? Rudra could not comprehend the changed in Furball , while the nine tailed fox was apparently extremely satisfied with its power up , it''s disposition had changed from curious to overprotective. Rudra rarely let her go out in the wild to level up , but she was strong now. Strong enough to help Rudra steer out of harms way! The immortal Phoenix''s soul , awakened the divine bloodline inside Furball while also imprinting a ton of battle experience memories to the beast , providing with the level up. What Furball ate was only a fragmented and degraded divine item , however the effects were still incomparably amazing. Rudra looked at the heavy new Furball awkwardly in his arms , as it wiggled it''s three tails and tried to lick Rudra''s nose. After a moment Rudra came to the conclusion that it was still as cute as before , and it''s fur was even softer now , the token was worth being used on Furball. Rudra at this point finally had a thought about using Furball in combat , because of the skills he had in his arsenal were all super rare and super useful , however somewhere in his heart he was reluctant to use it ...... Yet! /// Alright guys a big shoutout to Cervantez91 for a 15,000 COIN GIFT! For the book , click on his message and redeem the treasure chest to get exp , fast pass or coins. Make sure to leave a like on his profile for being soo awesome ! As for every super gift , bonus chapter will be out soon ! /// Chapter 338: A schemers scheme Rudra started to test out Furball''s support skills , mass revive, mass teleport and replace. Mass revive was just like its name suggested , a spell that could revive the fallen comrades in battle , albeit at 10% HP once their health bottoms out. It was a skill that a tier 4 priest should have , hence it was shocking to see the tier two nine tailed fox have it. But it worked exactly as Rudra hoped , with a 5 second time constraint , any dead member could be revived. The maximum number being 20. Hence if due to some strong spell , the entire party or if half the party is wiped out , then Furball can use this spell to bring them back to life. Overall it had its limits , due to Furball only being able to cast it once , and the revival time limit window being only 5 seconds. However undoubtedly it was a very useful move to have in one''s arsenal. Mass teleport was actually a tier four spacial magic spell , that mage''s specialize in. Another skill that Rudra was shocked to see in a tier 2 beast like Furball. It could teleport a party of 20 people to any location that Furball had previously visited. Rudra could insta teleport to the valley of crystals should he choose to. Naturally larger the distance , larger the consumption of mana for Furball. Whose current limits remained untested. The third was a peculiar move , that was considered to be a special racial move. It was called replace. The move was basically a combo move between Rudra and Furball , as they could actively interchange their positions when Furball used this move. ( Kind of like Sasuke''s rinnegan ) It was a versatile move that could have potentially endless applications , overall Rudra was extremely happy with this. The biggest thing that Rudra was happy was that Furball was 100% obedient , she was intelligent and understood the meaning behind Rudra''s orders , that even he was not able to clearly convey. Rudra''s love for his pet increased as a reason. Furball was a game changer for Rudra , as finally a plan started to be formed inside Rudra''s brain. Rudra put himself in the shoes of Emperor Aman , and started to think along the lines of what would the prince do? Rudra knew for a fact , Emperor Cervantez was a dilligent Emperor who was having a lot of political troubles to take care of ,the emperor leaving the royal castle was a event of great joy for the citizens as Cervantez was a extremely beloved figure amongst the masses. Yet Rudra was sure no such event occured , near the time where he went missing. Hence Rudra made an educated guess that he was imprisoned within the Royal palace. The royal palace was not a place where even as the mayor of Purplehaze city Rudra could casually walk into. Rudra was like a state government official under a union government. Although he did manage the capital city , he excercised no powers over the king . Rudra thought about it from Aman''s perspective..... He thought like , what if he was a piece of trash son , and a cowardly necromancer hungry to usurp the throne? Emperor Cervantez was a veteran tier 4 existance close to entering tier 5. He was not someone Aman and Rahim could take on , if he was at his full glory. Hence it must have been a sneak attack. And the only place such a sneak attack could occur within the Royal palace , should be in his own chambers , in his own room. Rudra came to this conclusion knowing that , Aman would have wanted to avoid conflict as far as possible and take the most dastardly way out! But he needed proof , and he needed plan. Rudra knew his step 1) , which was to visit the royal palace , in guise to meet the king , and have Furball memorize a suitable location for teleportation. Step 2). Him , Patricia , Karna , SMG , Jhonny , this was the party he chose to carry out this mission. Although , Furball could teleport 20. This was a mission where quality trumped quantity , what he needed was experts and not cannon fodders. Step 3) Rudra wished to free up Emperor Cervantez , before engaging in a fight with Aman and Rahim. He knew that at the end a conflict was eminent , and only with two tier 4''s on his team did he stad a slightest chance of coming back out alive. The finer details needed to be ironed out and the party needed to be prepared. But for now , he had a palace to visit. --------- ( Real World , Elite academy ) The Elites were currently more popular than the most famous boybands in Japan. They were a part of the dream Grey international conglomerate , and also the national heroes. With Omega , growing and growing in popularity , this became a dream job for many young teenagers straight out of school. Naturally the turnout for the applicants was massive , nearly 2 million application forms came in to the notice of the Elite recruiting. The Elite academy was currently the talking point for the country. Amelia was currently stumped with work , however she did her best trying to conduct press conferences and spread as much positive image as she could about the academy. As more and more people tried to enroll , it made her job tougher , however it was good for the Elites as they were sure to get the best talent , that was still young and could be molded into the exact guild members Rudra wanted them to be. Only 3 days remained , untill the round one for recruitments started , and whom to invite for the round one interviews was becoming a talking point for the respective heads of departments. The Elite guild members who were drafted as teachers were also buzzing with excitement and energy. However , SMG and Karna were suddenly pulled out of their work by Rudra for some urgent buisness. /// Bonus chapter given for the gracious gift given by number one fan Cervantez91, thank him in the comments ? /// Chapter 339: I am only a human The look that Karna gave Rudra , on being called back for yet another emergency mission , was priceless. He just stood there with his arms folded , looking at Rudra like , '' What did you mess up today? ''. Due to Rudra moving up the recruitment plan , he was already working over - over - time and yet Rudra just pulled him out of important work, for apparently even more important work. But he could not even get mad at Rudra , because he knew that the situation must have been out of his hands. But one thing that Karna understood with being around Rudra for soo long , was that the guy was a walking disaster magnet , no doubt he was a great leader that could be counted on to get the party out of any tough situation and a man worth following , but there was no peace in quiet for being an Elite. There was non - stop action and drama. He had not slept for 48 hours and was in a little irritable mood hence. Throwing Rudra extremely dirty glances. However Rudra just Chuckled and patted him on the back , while breaking the imminent news of their doom. Rudra had to unwillingly let the gang in on his secret as being a Won knight , only then could he explain his connection this Patricia and how he landed into this mess. But Jhonny , SMG and Karna were people who were good with secrets hence they decided to keep it buried between the four of them. A lot of things that did not make sense initially clicked into place , however the consequences of failing this mission gave the crew jitters. Jhonny was cool about all this , for him it was just another day at work , or so it seemed on the surface , on the inside he was thinking '' I''m screwed , soo screwed my presence alone is going to send this mission down the pothole ''. Rudra who had already completed multiple SSS rated missions. He was not freaking out much on the surface. However on the inside he too was like '' No biggie guys , if you screw it up , everything I''ve worked for will be gone ''. However was all smiles on the surface. SMG who was a proffesional Assassin trained for such situations probably had the best mindset , which was like , since they could not control the consequences , might as fell focus on getting it done. Finally there was Karna , who was just looking around the room ,with a weird face ... Thinking '' Guys freakout more ... It''s a big deal !!!!!! Am I the only normal person In this room ? ". Rudra explained to them the gameplan , and asked them to take the day to prepare as much as they could for the mission which started in 14 hours exactly. Rudra planned on carrying the mission out in the cover of night , as quickly as possible. He had a meeting scheduled with Emperor Aman for today in two hours. He was going to meet the soon to be arch enemy of the guild. But had to pretend to be civil and subservient , it was a perfect role for him. Rudra was great at faking feelings , he had a lifetime of experience in it. He worked corporate in his last life , and although he hated his superior and boss to the core , to the point he would think of gruesome beatdowns and insults to hurl at the boss and scenarios in the mind , while happily chatting and laughing with him in real life. Just like any other corporate employee. Hence he knew , that he was going to be fine , sweet talking his way with the king. Something Patricia being the simple bloke she was could never do. Disgust would started to drip all over her face , once she catches even a glimpse of the usurper. Rudra had tried to ask Patricia many times , about how she got the information , that the king was alive ...? But she never spilled the beans , calling it a secret he did not need to worry about. Rudra was hence worried about a bigger ploy being at work here , However there was nothing he could do about it even if there was one. Hence without a better course of action , Rudra had no choice but to let it be for now. Rudra brought up his status pannel ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer . Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 79 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 822 +411 VIT : 822 +411 INT : 822 +411 STA : 822 +411 PHY : 822 +411 HP : 122,000/122,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Sun God''s bracelet ( Legendary) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Solar restore , Solar flare , Solar blast , Solar descent , Solar beam. Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : Furball ( Divine nine tails ) ---- He looked at all the titles he had won in his one year gameplay at Omega , honestly ,he had won more titles than he could have ever imagined , and one of the titles he was most proud off , was that dragon Slayer title ... Rudra could not help but wonder if a kingslayer title will be added beside his dragon Slayer one... /// Alright guys new week and a new mini- game , it''s a new variation of the riddle game we played last week. You guys know the drill by now , first 10 people to DM me the answer in discord , gets the 100 coin redeem code. Here is this week''s challenge riddle. ewgrsofn wsexclvbitdthhejjs ewgrsofn Hint : the answer is a phrase that has something to do with the number of gold medals angel won in the VR Olympics . Good luck ! /// Chapter 340: Meeting Aman Rudra walked into the palace gates escorted by two tier 2 guards , clad in full red armour , at level 105 , Rudra had no doubt , that he would be evenly matched at best against these two , without his trump cards , should a fight break out. And this was only because of his monstrous stats. Any average tier two player at level 79 would get skewered by them , in a fight. Rudra gulped as he looked around , hundereds of such tier 2 guards manned the royal palace. Forget about the two tier four monsters sitting in the court room waiting for him , even with the entire Elite force he could probably not force his way into the palace. This made Rudra realize , just how weak his current strength was , compared to the NPC''s of the game. Forget about the gods And the pope and the emperor''s. Just the normal royal guard , that is how strong he actually was. Rudra walked into the royal court room , King Aman was seated on his throne , with Rahim standing beneath him , and a few courtiers in the room. Rudra went as close as etiquette allowed him to , before taking a knee , as he looked towards the ground and said " Shakuni Won Knight , the mayor of Purplehaze city , greets the majesty , the light of the kingdom , the mighty , the just , the brave , Emperor Aman ". Aman was amused by Rudra''s flattery , he was not a vain man , he could easily look through crap when people spouted buttery words to coax him , he knew very well , it was a simmilar case here , that Rudra did not mean a single word he said currently , yet the way he said it was impeccable. Aman was thoroughly amused , as he said " Arise ". Rudra got up , as he looked Aman in the eye , absolutely unfazed , he knew he was an ant compared to Aman who sat on the throne , yet Rudra was not afraid of Aman. His challenging eyes made it abundantly clear. Rudra was a player , someone who was blessed by the goddess , hence could not die. An immortal who would just wake up at the church of light upon death. Aman was well aware of this fact as well , he knew he could kill Rudra time and time again , but not forever. Someday he was bound to get stronger and become either his great ally , or a great enemy. Which was the reason why he treated him with respect. Rudra was a Won knight , and won knights were loyal to the throne , the chances of him becoming a great ally in the future were more likely than him becoming an enemy. Hence , Aman even allowed his transgression of not repremanding him for not handing over the beast token. As for him , Rudra was worth the prize. Aman said " Soo , Mayor , what brings you to my court today ? ". Rudra said " My lord , you must be well aware that , I the mayor have undertaken a few projects to increase the stability of Purplehaze city. The city wide wall and the teleportation array are being constructed , the unemployment and crime rates are down and the people seem to be happy ". Aman raised an eyebrow , Rudra was beating around the bush , he said " Yes , it''s an admirable job you are doing , naturally I''m informed , I was pleasantly surprised that you obtained the Rhodium necessary for the teleportation array , it''s a good achievement. What surprises me more however is your money source. These projects are surely not cheap , yet you manage it pretty well. Makes me wonder how deep your pockets are ". Rudra laughed " I was lucky enough to have a few gold mines to my name , nothing worth the notice of your majesty. The reason why I am here , is for permission your grace. As you must know , I have raised a Purplehaze city millitary force. Though not as vast and glorious as the royal army. I hope on equipping my troops with explosives , to help in combat. Like my ancestor Augustus , I too am an explosion artist , I request your majesty to grant me permission to build a testing arena for my project ". Aman was pleasantly surprised , he had long speculated that Rudra might be an explosion artist like Augustus , ever since they met at the library. Aman said " Granted ..... However , you as the mayor and Duke of the kingdom do not need such permission from me , why make the trip to the court ". Rahim looked skeptically at Rudra , soo did Aman , they were cautious , not buying the reason for his visit. Rudra politely replied " My sister Patricia said that it is impolite for us citizens who serve his emminence to take the freedom vested in us for granted. Testing bombs is a dangerous endeavour , and might be perceived as national threat. I was here to make sure that does not happen ". Rahim was convinced , soo was Aman. After a moment of silence Aman said " Well then I will await the results of your research. If you make a technology worth using on the battlefield , I will reward you handsomely". Rudra bowed and gave his many thanks to the emperor before taking his leave. Rudra thought he had performed his plan flawlessly. However the moment he went out of the Royal court. The fake smile from Aman''s face vanished. The courtiers that had skin and a healthy complexion. Melted into bones and hollow skulls. As Aman himself turned from his healthy skintone to a very pale shade. As he said " Tail him ". Two skeletons turned into dust , seemingly vanishing from the court room. Rahim looked at Aman and said " something doesn''t seem right here , my Emperor , we need to be on guard ". The remaining skeletons inside the room , had a green fire flicker in their hollow eye sockets as Aman said " Indeed ". Rudra had underestimated the opponent named Aman. Who was barely human anymore , hanging on the edge of being alive and undead , his mind one with the forbidden art of necromancy. He had long seen through Rudra''s useless ploy. He was not yet sure what Rudra was planning , however he was on guard against any conspiracies. Rudra''s SS mission just got a grade harder to pass! /// Special hint for the previous riddle for privilage readers : '' the answer is something that made may readers cringe , while reading the novel ''. /// Chapter 341: A game of chess Rudra was walking down the palace halls , on his way out , with the divine nine Tailed Fox in his arms , when suddenly Furball leaped out of Rudra''s hands and started to growl at the ground. At first Rudra did not understand the reason behind furballs actions , but upon furballs repeated growling , Rudra paid close attention to observe faint traces of dark mana around him. Rudra immediately activated eyes of truth . [ Tracker undead ] : High level undead ideal to spy on any opponent , nearly undetectable , although they have no combat prowess , they are the perfect audio and visual relay back to the caster. Rudra''s eyes widened in disbelief , Aman was tailing him , meaning he suspected Rudra of some foulplay. Rudra picked Furball up , as the guards gave Rudra a stern look for the misbehaviour of his pet. Rudra patted Furball and told her to be quiet. Furball immediately obliged , not growling at the tailing undead anymore. Meanwhile Rudra''s brain started to work like a super computer , making a ploy within a ploy. His enemy had played a hidden card , and now that he knew about it , his mind started to make a plan about how to convert it to his advantage. He wanted to play Aman using his own spy. Within seconds , the ultimate schemer , thought of a sinister and intricate scheme to play Aman..... And probably profit a little bit from the endeavour as well. Rudra used guild chat to inform the gang that he was coming back to the guild , and that the next entire conversation was going to be a ruse , which Rudra had no time to explain and that it was imperative that everyone played along. Rudra also told Karna to go invite Patricia over back to the guild. While he purposefully stalled his time in the palace , acting like a man who accidentally kept taking wrong turns and going into restricted areas he was not supposed to. The royal guards gave multiple warnings to Rudra , who used his weight as a duke of the kingdom to press heavily on the guards , who had no choice but respect his nobility. Rudra found a suitable spot for the gang to mass teleport , as he whispered into Furball''s ears to memorize the location. By the he was back at the guild , his teammates had all assembled , even Patricia was there , who was giving Rudra worried looks. Prince Aman was intently looking at the development through his magic crystal , he was annoyed when the pet started to bark at his servants, but Aman did not believe Rudra could see through tier 4 concealment magic , hence thought nothing much of it. However Rudra intentionally getting lost within the palace aroused his suspicions that he was upto something. The moment Rudra entered the room , he started his great acting mode as he said " Emperor Aman is too wise , he instantly figured out that we are short on money to sustain our massive projects , such expenditure can only be sustained if someone robbed the entire royal treasury. Else it is impossible. Our gold mines are almost running dry and I have already borrowed everything I could from my sister. We have to do this guys we have no other option ". Everyone looked at each other seriously as they gave Rudra a nod. Karna said " are you sure you want to rob the Hazelgroove national treasury? ". The moment this question escaped Karna''s mouth , Aman raised an eyebrow. It all started to make sense to him now ..... Rudra was short on funds and acting sneakily to try rob golf from his treasury. Aman scoffed , " How naive ". Patricia pretended to look aghast " How dare you , it''s blasphemy , us Won knights have been loyal to the throne. We cannot commit such crimes ". Rudra looked at Patricia and said " Once my teleportation array is completed , I promise to pay back double the amount I stole. But right now I need the money and don''t you forget sister , that you owe me a favour. You cannot go back on your word now. You need to help me on this one occasion ". Patricia pretended to be conflicted and depressed as Rudra said " I swear by my honor I will pay every grace Prince Aman bestowed upon us back with interest. I am only borrowing from him , to improve the lives of his citizens. I am sure he would not mind sister , it''s a loan and I will pay it back ". Finally Patricia nodded , and Rahim who saw this via the crystal was instantly disgusted , as he said " This is disgusting your majesty , trying to steal from you .... It''s treason .... Allow me to bring them to your feet in chains for this crime ". Aman rubbed his chin , as he said " No Rahim , let them come , it''s better to catch them in the Act. It''s circumstance that forced them into becoming thieves , I am sure they have loyalty for the kingdom at their core. But I can use this incident as leverage as finally bringing Patricia into my fold as a enlisted member of my army. I will use her to wage many great battles, and strip the von knight''s of their dukedom , stripping their land and their standing army adding them to the state forces. Even then , people will praise me for my magnamity and generosity. These simpletons wont even know that I played them. I stand to gain a lot from this encounter Rahim , lower the guards on patrol tonight. Let''s lure them deep into their acts ! ". Rahim immediately bowed and started to flatter Aman for his genius plan. Little did they know , that they were actually playing right into Rudra''s hands. As Rudra had a terrific plan in place. Either way , when the clock struck midnight , the group started their movement. Wether they would succeed in their mission or wether they would loose , now all depended on how far Rudra''s strategy took them. However one thing was for sure , wether they won or lost , a storm was going to come in Hazelgroove come tommorow! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the powerstone target, good job everyone!!! /// Chapter 342: The quest Patricia was extremely anxious , she was trusting Rudra''s plan to save the emperor , however Rudra''s entire plan hung on a delicate assumption of the fact that the Emperor was supposed to be imprisoned in his very room inside the royal palace. While Rudra was trying to loiter around , he was mostly allowed to do as he pleased , but as he approached the eastern wing , where Emperor Cervantez was known to have his lodging , he was thoroughly dissuaded and kept out of bounds at all costs. Patricia bit her lip , this was supposed to be her mission , yet she dragged Rudra and his guild into this. She was ashamed of her actions , but unlike Rudra who was a born leader , she was only a general. Come war and she could fight like the best soldier and lead forward a contingent exactly like the command centre wanted. But she was no leader. Had it been her alone , she would not even know how to infiltrate the palace , much less the intricate planning that Rudra did. The blood merchant she did buisness with was an extremely shady man , the man claimed to have proof that the king was alive and presented irrefutable evidence. However , when Patricia asked for guidance on how to rescue him. The man only said , '' The solution is within your family ..... Your brother ''. Patricia would never forget the red gleam in the man''s eyes , it was almost like he was the devil himself... Patricia had paid a steep price for the information , and also dragged Rudra into all this. Should the operation fail and Rudra be ousted from Purplehaze and Hazelgroove , she would be guilty of it. Determined , she was resolved to follow Rudra''s instructions to the utmost perfection. The moment Furball mass teleported them into the Royal palace , the group instantly split up into the tasks they were assigned. Rudra , Patricia went towards the Royal treasury , while SMG went on sentry duty. The rest of the gang went towards the Eastern wing , or soo it seemed as they quietly tried to take down one guard at a time. Jhonny''s dagger throwing came really handy at this point. Apparently after winning triple gold at the Olympics , Jhonny had selected a semi legendary skill , ( Bullseye ) that gauranteed him to land critical dagger hit on his opponent every single time. If the guard did not die by the single dagger pierced in its throat , soon a second and a third would land exactly beside the first. Untill he was down and dead. Hence the guards before even understanding what cut through them , had their necks pierced by Jhonny''s merciless throws. Karna who was walking beside Jhonny gulped in fear.... He did not know what trickery Jhonny used to have such frightening accuracy , and assumed that this is how he usually walked when he was on missions in the real world. A badass just throwing daggers and piercing throats as he nonchalantly walked past all dead corpses. Everything done without making a single sound , or missing a single rhythm . As Karna glanced over his shoulder , he could see a corridor full of guards , as to what was supposed to lead to the emperor''s room. Karna clicked his tongue. There were nearly 70 guards in this one corridor alone. It was almost impossible to get to the emperor''s room , without causing a huge commotion. Should a commotion break out now , then all their hardwork would come to naught , they could not let such a thing happen. Karna looked over towards Jhonny for advice. Jhonny glanced intowards the dark corridor and started to crack his fingers , while stretching his neck from side to side , as he said " Just another day at work! ". --------- SMG was the scout today , as he guided Rudra and Patricia towards the royal vault as quickly as he could , but with maximum safety. He would suddenly appear behind guards and use cutthroat to suddenly cut their necks , while keeping a hand on their mouth to prevent them from shouting. Followed by a quick stab of the dagger from the back piercing the heart to seal the deal. Even then , unlike Jhonny who let bodies fall to the ground with a thud , SMG was a complete proffesional , who lowered the bodies to the ground after killing them , without making a single sound. Hence from the start to the end of the passage leading to the basement of the western wing of the palace , where the royal treasury was palced. SMG killed 26 guards and lead Rudra and Patricia safely to the massive gates of the treasury. Before taking his leave , and acting as a lookout for incoming dangers. Patricia looked at the two guards , guarding the large metal entrance to the vault as she whispered " Something is wrong , the security of the Royal vault is too lax today , I smell foulplay". However they had came too far to fear foulplay , Rudra and Patricia charged in head on towards the last two guards , who were momentarily surprised to see their attackers . Patricia made swift work of his guard , before killing Rudra''s one as well. Her tier 4 speed and strength was not something these tier 2 guards could content against . What ensued was a nerve wracking 15 minutes of trying to break into the vault , but finally using a lockpick that Fatty kalash had made , Patricia was able to open the doors of the vault. But just as the duo were able to take a single step inside the vault , a terrifying fireball zoomed past them forcing the pair to dodge. " What do we have hear ... A bunch of won knight traitors trying to loot the treasury ... My my , what a sight to behold. How loyal are the won knights , hahahaha ". Rahim mocked the duo. Patricia frowned as she said " Well that means we will have to kill you before his majesty finds out about it now ". She drew her sword , as heavy killing intent surrounded her. She was a knight , she was at an advantage when fighting against a wizard at close range. Rahim was hence intimidated , however his fear was instantly replaced by a sinister smile , as a voice boomed in the hall. " Ohhh , but I already found out ..... ". It was Aman , walking down the hall in his regal robes , the soft fur of the slain Armenian lion sliding on the floor as it covered Aman''s back. However his complexion was not human at all , instead of a glowing healthy skin and a muscular body. Aman was a bag of bones with a pale skin. His eyes did not have any white areas left in them , it was pitch black. " The won knights have committed treason , KNEEL before I take your lives! ". Aman commanded. Things looked bad for the duo .... Things looked really bad! /// If you enjoy this novel , come please join the discord server https://discord.gg/KJtRdwcW94 We are currently having special events every week , also we have a mega surprise for every patron of the book who donates 500 or more coins to the book in December. We give those people the '' Santa Claus'' role , as I have a surprise for the Santa Claus''s on the 25 th of December . Hope to see you all in the server soon ! /// Chapter 343: You are not in my league ( Eastern wing of the royal palace , outisde the corridor guarding the kings room ) Jhonny clicked his knuckles , seemingly ready to take the corridor full of guards down , but Karna seemed unsure . Karna said " even if you take down ten of the guards , with ten knives throw at once , there are will still be sixty of them aware about our location. I don''t think its a good plan .... What do you think guild master? ". Jhonny tilted his head , as he gave a slight smile to Rudra, yes Rudra was actually with Karna and Jhonny and not with Patricia , since the start. Currently Furball is using her shape shifting skill to look exactly like Rudra , fooling emperor Aman. ( Note : how Rudra did not speak once or use any of his signature moves in previous chapter ) It was all part of Rudra''s elaborate scheme. Rudra showed a grin as he said " SMG reported to see Aman on the move , he should reach to where Patricia and Furball are within 2 minutes. That''s how long we have to break in. But don''t worry , naturally I have a plan ". Jhonny loaded 10 knives within his two hands , and said " 2 seconds for 10 kills". Rudra nodded , Rudra had a plan in mind , he wanted to use solar flash , he was sure that the sudden flash of light would dissarray the soldiers for a bit. The flash itself lasted for 5 seconds. But the confusion lasted for 3 seconds more. Rudra told Jhonny to take aim , and kill 10. While memorizing the location of the others. Jhonny was cool with the plan , he had no need to memorize , just a general throw would do , and he could always do that. Jhonny threw his first 10 daggers , which accurately pierced the necks of 10 soldiers. Before anyone could realise what was going on , Rudra used Solar flash! Blindling light covered the room , as the guards were left blinded momentarily because of the strong light. In the next 6 seconds , three more sets of arrows were thrown , while Rudra and Karna lept in with their best moves. During this time , while the guards were still stunned. Rudra used 10,000 swords , to deal mass damage , while Karna released a barrage of sword qi attacks . By second 8, when the soldiers started to break from their confusion , only three were left alive. The first saw his head chopped clean by Karna. The second found his heart pierced by Rudra. The last guard was terrified , seeing all his fellow comrades laying dead on the floor. But before he could even let out a single scream , he found his neck pierced by three daggers , his stomach had a great sword inside it , while Excalibur hung from his head. It was an overkill! Within 10 seconds , the Elite party of three , wiped out 70 tier 2 royal guards! All three of them triple gold medal winners , they were the best of the best. The peak above the mountian , the ultimate trio! Once the hall was cleared , Jhonny was assigned to become the lookout at the edge of the corridor while Rudra and Karna tried to free Emperor Cervantez. When Karna tried to open the emperor''s room , a red forcefield repelled his attempts from entering. Karna tried to cut through the forcefield using his great sword , but it was to no avail , the forcefield just won''t budge. Rudra used worldslash to try open his way through the forcefield , but it bounced right off , through the cieling and towards the sky. The array was not affected one bit. This was a major issue , Rudra had no idea about how to destroy this protective formation , and time was running out for him... He needed to figure it out! -------- ( 2 minutes later , Patricia''s POV) Aman commanded Patricia and Rudra to kneel! , However both of them seemed reluctant ... A sinister grin spread on Aman''s face .. as he started chanting a dark spell ... Winds started to turbulently blow as a small vortex spinned on Aman''s hand .... Then the vortex in his hand combusted into dark flames , making it a dark purple colored tornado . Patricia could feel the heat from the distance ... It was a peak tier 3 spell , dark flame vortex. It would not kill her , but it was powerful enough to cause severe damage to her. Following his kings lead , Rahim casted his own version of flaming vortex , as his was red in colour . Rahim said " Did you not hear what the king said ? You dogs ..... ON YOUR KNEES! ". Patricia bit her lips .... She had no idea how much longer Rudra needed... She needed to buy as much time as she needed for Rudra. However , she was reluctant to kneel before this upstart emperor. Her pride would not allow it. However the plan took , greater priority , reluctantly she dropped one knee to the ground , and Furball followed suit . Aman , laughed maniacally as he said " Both your knees ... Prostrate before me ! ". Patricia gnashed her teeth , Aman was crossing a line here ..... Her honor as a knight would absolutely never allow her to prostrate before anyone! , She never felt such confliced emotions in her life. However , Aman''s spell in his hand suddenly dissapeared , as he looked like he suddenly saw a ghost. Aman''s voice staggered , as he said " You .... You .... What have you done? ". Suddenly Furball used replace , and she was replaced with the real Rudra! Who came onto the scene with a sudden bang! Fully powered up , Rudra unhesitatingly let out a devastating SOLAR BEAM! Aman and Rahim who were shocked , were blasted out of the narrow corridor , taking the full force of the surprise attack! Rudra shaved 60% of both their HP Bars in one move! , Although it was greatly due to the fact that they were completely caught off-guard and hence took the entire brunt of the attack , it was still a huge advantage that he landed his team with , for the coming fight! /// Bang! , How do you guys like this chapter , mention down in the comments below! /// Chapter 344: Know your place .... BOY! ( Rudra''s POV , 2 minutes ago ) Rudra was racking his brains about how to break through the red barrier , when a simple line of thought entered his mind. What was the information he had about this barrier? 1) it was red in color 2) it had something to do with the red jewel that was sold in the auction. Hence Rudra came to the conclusion that the red jewel was somehow central to this entire formation , that he needed to find the red jewel and destroy it. Rudra split the group , and told them to circle the room , and look for a small red jewel , while he looked for it on the terrace. Karna and Jhonny instantly started to look for the small red jewel , they had absolutely no idea why they were looking for it , however because Rudra asked for something , they only had to follow. Karna absolutely loved this thing about Rudra, the man was an ocean of knowledge , with Rudra he felt as if he was playing with someone who had been playing Omega for years and not just the one year in which the game had been launched. Always having a future vision , Rudra was never out of options. Right at the top of the dome covering , Emperor Cervantez''s room , there was a small red gem embeded onto the ceiling , when Rudra tried to touch the gem , glowing red patterns appeared , which did not permit Rudra to touch the gem. This was a different visual than the red barrier which he faced when he tried to open the door to emperor''s room , hence he knew that atleast he found something to move forward with. However before he could , take some time to think about how to progress from here , SMG'' s urgent message came in , that informed him that Aman had reached the Patricia and Furball''s location and that Rahim was there too , Rudra needed to hurry the hell up! Rudra had 0 idea about how to destroy the gem infront of him. However short pressed against time , he took a gamble and used a powerful move that he assumed would be able to melt the gem to pieces. Rudra used Solar Descent! , A miniature sun heated at 3500¡ã C appeared infront of him. Even as the caster who had immunity to the spell , he felt the heat tingling his skin , however although the miniature sun was unable to penetrate the red barrier. The sheer heat of the sun , started to melt the roof and the gem itself. Within 15 seconds , the roof under the gem buckled , as the gem fell down towards the floor , sizzling with heat , getting deformed , as the formation was finally broken! The formation was deactivated , and Rudra jumped inside the hole he created into the emperor''s room , while Karna and Jhonny came in through the front door , as soon as the formation was deactivated. On the bed sat a jacked man with a grey braided beard , with no clothes covering his torso. Battle scars gleamed all over his upper body , showing proof of all the fierce battles he had been through all his life. The trio unconsciously gulped seeing the man''s visage. He exuded soo much pressure just sitting calmly ..... He was absolutely not an opponent one would want to make. Rudra wanted to stay and talk to the emperor , but SMG''s warning message came , he was making Patricia kneel! , Rudra lost his damn mind ... How dare he! Rudra started to charge up the solar beam in his bracelet. He barely had enough charge left for the move .... When ready , he immediately used the soul link between himself and Furball to tell her to use replace. Replacing himself with her position , Rudra instantly used the move blasting Aman and Rahim outside the hall! However just like the first time Rudra used the move , the second time was no different. Rudra''s body was not strong enough to handle the move''s recoil , as neither his physical strength , nor his mana circuits could bear the weight. This time Rudra did not disloacate his arm , this time his arm bone was broken into a hundered pieces , as excruciating pain swept through his body. Surprisingly , he was reduced to 40% HP , the move he dished out caused soo much recoil and internal damage to his body! . Rudra''s mind went blank for a moment , as saliva escaped his mouth while he was forced to lay on the ground. Rudra was truly lucky to have withstanded the move somewhat when he first dished it out. However , the first use had already put a lot of strain on his bones , which dislocated before breaking that time. However the small cracks that had formed from earlier use , now crumpled against the new pressure. Breaking down completely. The price for damaging the enemy came at a heavy price for Rudra , this was an injury that would not be healed with advanced mana potions. He may recover his lost health back to 100% , however he won''t regain function in his sword arm untill the broken bones heal. Patricia was extremely happy when Rudra , finally switched places with Furball and came back .... It meant that the mission was a success. Then he surprised her by dishing out a move soo powerfull , she was in disbelief that it was something her brother could manage at tier 2. It was clearly a peak tier 4 move! Her joy only lasted a short moment though , before it turned into worry , as she saw Rudra sprawled on the ground , his arm looking burnt and him having spazams. It was clear to Patricia , that Rudra had probably used some forbidden move with great consequences on himself. A bubbling rage boiled inside her heart .... She barely contained herself before asking .... " The emperor ... Is he free? ". Rudra gave a very weak nod , to this question , he wanted to speak , but his vocal cords would not respond to his Brain''s command. Patricia sighed in releif , before her eyes turned stone cold , while facing Rahim and Aman. Rudra''s large explosion had alerted palace security , who were swarming the place to protect their ruler. However , Patricia was unperturbed , the humiliation of kneeling , coupled by the miserable position her brother was currently in , made her combust in rage. She looked at Aman with disgust and killing intent ..... As she resolved to teach the man a lesson! ---------- ( Karna''s POV) Karna was looking at Rudra for what to do next , when suddenly Rudra vanished and his golden fox pet appeared. Karna sighed , it seemed like he needed to handle this one himself. However what followed was a loud noise of explosion. BOOM! Karna could hear it from this distance away , and he knew exactly what this noise was from , it was the forbidden move Rudra forked out when they were ambushed by Edge! Karna gritted his teeth , this meant that things were desperate on the battlefield that side. Karna wanted to say something to the Emperor , try to wake him from his slumber , when Cervantez , with his eyes still close smiled and said " Your friend is quite competent , I assume he must be a good leader to follow ". Karna was speechless for a moment , before replying with all earnesty " The best ". Cervantez opened his eyes , those deep grey irisis had a wise visage to them , aloof from the world , yet extremely sharp. Karna could not breathe when those eyes landed on him. His heart thumping out of his chest, only when the emperor''s gaze swept from him , towards Jhonny did the pressure dissapear. Cervantez said " Is my son Aman , who sits on Hazelgroove ''s throne? ". Jhonny nodded , affirming him. Cervantez sighed , as he stood up from the bed and walked towards his cabinet , where his battle gear was stored. He chuckled for a bit , as he spoke with sadness in his voice " My son is a usurper and a necromancer. I truly failed as a parent ". Jhonny and Karna looked at each other , before Karna spoke " Everyone has the freedom to make choices on their own , your majesty , you neither forced him to be a necromancer , nor recede his right to ascend to the throne after you abdicate the throne. His choices are his to make , and soo are the consequences that follow ". Cervantez took a deep breath , as the sadness dissapeared from his voice. Now with the steely resolve of a warrior Emperor it said " Wise words , I may have failed as a parent , but I won''t fail Hazelgroove as their Emperor, The boy is not fit for the throne , He used trickery to imprison me here ..... A wise move. He could have never taken me down in combat. However the isolation , and the illusion I was trapped in tempered my mind , I am stronger than when I was before my imprisonment..... ". A terrifying smile spread on his face , as he finished suiting up. He glanced back at Karna and said " That boy has been playing Emperor for too long ..... He needs to be reminded of his place! ". Jhonny and Karna had chills going down their spine ..... The emperor without his battle gear on , with his bare muscles on display was already an existance Karna would consciously try avoid battle with. But him clad in full armour , with his sword around his waist , and his regal aura restored , was a existance that Karna would abandon battle and run away from. The pressure he exuded was unreal , Karna could not help but wonder .... If this aura is what drove millions of soldiers to march at his every command. The aura of a monarch! The trio set out towards the western wing ..... Where Patricia was fighting a ferocious battle. Chapter 345: I was tier 4 before you began to crawl Rudra was sprawling on the ground, he was aware of his surroundings , however he could not get up somehow. Which was odd considering this was a game and he was actually fine physically in the real world. The pain ratio of real world to the game was at 5:1 , which meant players felt 20% the pain they would feel if they had actually underwent the injury. Which was not as brutal as actually experiencing it , but nonetheless it pained a lot. However even with horrendous wounds like your neck flying clean off , one would only feel a zing , before being respawned at the church. However Rudra currently had a system notification that said SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : The pain rating the body will feel is above permissible levels of psychological trauma permitted by the game. It is recommended to die and respawn again. Trying to forcefully endure will result in the character being immobilized due to pain. Rudra cursed , he was in seering pain , however Patricia was currently embroiled in a very dangerous fight , he needed to get on his feet and help her. He could not just lie down and be useless. '' MOVE STUPID BODY MOVE! ''. Rudra tried to move , however the protocols of the game were absolute , it would not let Rudra move a muscle. It was a safety protocol that would prevent players from having lasting psychological trauma. Currently Rudra had burnt the mana circuit throughout his body. He was in burning pain like acid running through all his veins. And had a completely shattered arm. A kind of injury that happens when a heavy one tonne weight Lands squarely on one''s arm. Completely crushing the bone into fine pieces. This was a kind of seering pain that which even diluted at 20% , was horrifyingly painfull , triggering the game''s safety mechanisms. Being , pierced by four swords at once also did not trigger such Fierce pain as Rudra experienced currently. Patricia was taking a lot of damage , however she was dishing out far more. She was like a uncaged beast who was fighting with no regards to her own life , her only objective was annihilation. The tier 2 royal guards were completely not her match , who she slew left and right like a maniac. Nearly 120 dead bodies sprawled the ground as she made her way through the sea of bodies towards Aman. Rahim had recovered a bit after using some healing spells , and finally joined the battle in restraining Patricia. Things got very complicated once he joined the battle as Patricia''s rampage was brought to a halt. Aman finally stood up , as he wiped some blood flowing from his chin , as he said " HOW DARE YOU BETRAY YOUR EMPEROR , I WILL MAKE SURE YOU PAY A VISIT TO SATAN IN HELL TODAY ". Rage was visible in Aman''s eyes , as he had sensed the formation holding Emperor Cervantez being broken. Internally he was terrified of his father , but currently he was more enraged on those who dragged him to this situation. Aman released a terrifying dark spell , that raised 100 undead Durahal knights , and 3 lesser Lich''s. The Durahal were much stronger than the one which Rudra could summon. Rudra''s Durahal was initially a level 35 undead , when Rudra was a newbie player , but with Rudra'' s level increasing to 75 , Durahal also improved to level 60. However still his practical use in battle was much limited. However Aman summoned 100 Durahals all level 100 , tier 2. While the three lesser Lich''s were level 150 , tier 3. Rudra gulped in fear .... Looks like he gravely miscalculated the strength of his enemy. His dissatisfaction over his own body not being able to move amplified even further. Patricia was undoubtedly strong , but with Rahim and soo many high level undead and the Royal soldiers all together , was too much even for her. Aman shouted " I''m not weak like before old man , I am tier 4 now! , I can sense your aura , come battle with me like a man ! ". Aman''s hands were trembling , it was clear that he was scared , however he knew that he could not avoid this fight in any case. He was not spineless , he would not go down without giving his best! However to Aman''s horror , his mass display of strength was reduced to rubble in under 3 seconds. Terrifying sword qi swept through the battlefield accurately. Rudra''s eyes widened in disbelief ..... It was the most beautiful move he had ever seen in his life. It was like one hundered world slashes done at once , but with twice the force and speed and minimum action taken. Only the three liches were left with a half disfigured body , as a voice boomed from the distance ..... It was a regal voice full of authority and power , it said " I was tier four before you were even born , BOY! ". Rudra knew this voice ..... It was emperor Cervantez! He was here! Patricia looked immensely releived , as the soldiers of the royal palace looked stunned to see the dead emperor return. The funniest reaction was of Rahim , who currently looked paler than the necromancer Aman! , He was someone who had accompanied the emperor on the battlefields and knew first hand about his terrifying might. Soon a figure emerged from the corridor , as Patricia immediately fell to her knee , in contrast to her hesitation to kneel before Aman , she had no such qualms about kneeling before Cervantez. Who gave her a bright smile as he said " Thankyou , the kingdom will remember your debt ". Patricia immediately said " I''m honored your majesty , however I''m your humble servant , and it was my duty to do so , I apologise for taking soo long , I was unaware you were being held captive , it was incompetence on my part. Rather than a reward I request punishment for my wrongs ". Before Cervantez could utter a word however Aman''s maniacal laughter spread in the room as he said " You will have your punishment , girl , you will have your punishment from the one true emperor , ME , AND I SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH ! ". Chapter 346: Why did you do it? Aman was resilient even at the face of danger. It was an admirable quality as a king , however he just put it to bad use. To be honest Aman was a great king , if one could look at necromancy as just another form of art , and ignore the fact that he usurped the throne , the guy was good ruler. Aman was undoubtedly strong and charismatic, he was also courageous to lead by example and had a spine to fight stronger opponents head on. Only if his natural disposition was not leaning towards evil , he would have made a terrifying monarch. Rudra personally had nothing against Aman , but the man was bad for buisness , many regions had severed trade ties with Hazelgroove once he took over the throne. There were mass riots and the church of light felt uncomfortable under a rumored necromancer as the ruler , hence abstaining from public support of the monarchy. This led to an overall tense atmosphere in the kingdom , the tension kept people on their toes at all time , as they saved money and tried to hoarse essentials , not knowing when riots would break out and public order disrupted. Hence it was bad for the economic stimulus Rudra was looking for. A spending economy was a wealthy economy , a saving economy was a slow economy. Even so , he would not have taken action against Aman if he was not forced to do it. Things looked okay now that Karna and Jhonny were by his side and Emperor Cervantez had joined the battle with Patricia. However, he was still out of action. Completely useless. Cervantez was gauging his son , his eyes staring holes into his son''s guilt. This was a typical dad move , he treated Aman like a complete boy , who was being punished for his wrongdoings and just like he expected , Aman could not look directly into his eye , no matter how much he grew up , the psychology he had since being a child would not go away soo easily. He was guilty and afraid of retribution. Aman grit his teeth as he said " Men attack that old man now! ". The royal soldiers hesitated ... They did not know wether or not to follow the orders of Aman anymore .... Emperor Cervantez was still alive ... Does that not make Aman''s claim to the throne invalid? On the other hand , they did not have the balls to fight Cervantez head on , but could they disobey a direct order from their current Emperor? Caught in a dilemma , everyone just glanced around at one another , like , what are we supposed to do? These are the situations where the mass mentality comes into play , what one does , the others follow , and on this occasion , one soldier bent the knee. As he said " soldier greets the emperor ". Immediately everyone else went on their knees and said " We greet the emperor ". Cervantez spread his arms as he said " It''s still my house , boy , they are still my people ". That was actually the case , although Aman had some guards under his faction , most were loyal to the Kingdom and hence by extention to him. They believed he was the rightful owner of the throne and hence served him. But now that Cervantez was here , they naturally would not anymore. Aman''s gaze turned a shade colder .... As he muttered under his breath , that he knew humans were useless, but he wasted not a single breath on those who defected , as he only looked towards Rahim and said " Are you with me ? ". Rahim was scared ... However he had long been on the Aman boat , if he left it now , he was someone who would not be let to board the Cervantez boat. He would be left to drown in the ocean. Hence not from loyalty , but from fear , Rahim said " Ofcourse my emperor ". Aman nodded , Rahim was worth more than all the soldiers combined anyway. It was then that Cervantez said " Good , good , good , you imprisoned me and took over the throne ... I am impressed son , you have became quite the cunning man. You have the guts to stand up and fight with me .... Good , I want my son to be brave and not a coward. You have made allies , though poor in quality , but still a tier 4 mage. Admirable again. It seems my education was not wasted on you ". Aman snapped back " Stop treating me like a kid .... I''m not a kid anymore , I''m the ruler of this kingdom , and that throne belongs to me old man ". Cervantez stared angrily at Aman and said " SILENCE BOY , YOUR FATHER IS SPEAKING ". Aman was immediately stunned to silence. Cervantez said " The throne was always yours , I was definitely not going to reign forever , but you chose to seize the power from me? Why did you do it? What was ur objective after becoming the king? , I had long known the fact that you practiced necromancy .... But I never thought about interfering with your life even though I knew it was a art that would be frowned upon. Maybe that is where I went wrong , I went wrong to give you too much freedom boy. You wanted to enslave Mazikeen am I correct ? And you messed it up and now after 700 years of being imprisoned by the royal family of Hazelgroove .... Mazikeen is free into the world! HOW CAN YOU BE SOO FOOLISH BOY! MAZIKEEN IS THE DEVIL''S SERVANT , SHE SERVES LUCIFER HIMSELF! IS A FALLEN ANGEL''S POWER SOMETHING YOU CAN RIVAL AT TIER 4? STUPID ! STUPID ! STUPID! ". Cervantez was furious , while the others were left to wonder , what the hell he was talking about ... Everyone except Patricia who looked pale. Aman would not meet Cervantez''s eyes. He was guilty. Cervantez unsheathed his sword and started to walk towards Aman , Rahim was alerted but just as he raised his hand to stop the advancing king , in a flash of a move that was invisible to the naked eye , a sword Slash severed his arm from his shoulder as Rahim let out a screeching scream. Cervantez only looked coldly towards him as he said " YOU LED MY BOY ASTRAY ". Next moment Rahim''s head rolled on the ground .... There was no fight ... There was no struggle , it was an instant death! Karna was stunned seeing this scene .... Just what level was Emperor Cervantez at? To be soo strong? Coming face to face with Aman he said " NOONE , no matter how genius , NOONE , breaks from tier 3 to tier 4 as fast as you did. Tell me , boy , did you sell your soul to Lucifer? ". Aman suddenly harrowed and looked Cervantez straight in the eye as he said " Am I someone who would kneel to anyone? I did not kneel before you old man , god is no different , I STOLE Lucifer''s power to ascend. Not borrow it old man. You don''t understand me , and you don''t understand my thirst for power , at first I felt that becoming a king was enough power for me , just like you , however the more I interacted with people .... People like those Won knights , the more I understood that I would never be respected like you .... I could only be feared , and for me to be feared tier 4 was not enough! I need to be tier 5 , and someday tier 6 ..... BECAUSE THAT old man , is true power ! , Soo yes , I took the throne from you , because that was the only way I could ever have the time and preparation I needed to devour Mazikeens powers. But something went wrong and she escaped , but not before loosing half her powers to me ! If only It worked perfectly I would be tier 5 today , and you would kneel before me ! ". It was at that moment that Cervantez raised his right hand , with his palm bent backwords facing the sky , as mana visible to the naked eye started to gather over his hands. Circling at high speed ..... Faster and faster. Untill it became a circular disc golden in color , resonating with the mana of the world humming gold in color. Aman knew this move very well ..... It was the legendary move of the first emperor who ruled over the entire nothern continent .... The tier 5 special move '' Disc of destruction ''. His eyes widened in shock as he stuttered to ask " You ....you are tier 5 ?". /// We have recieved a super gift of 5000 coins by Cervantez91 , soo today we will have a bonus chapter for that .... Thank you for the patronage. /// Chapter 347: History Of The Royal Family The Hazelgroove Royal family was started with the rise of the first emperor , who was a tier 5 swordsman , able to bend the continent to his will. Submitting kingdom after kingdom to finally unify the nothern continent under his banner to be crowned as the one true emperor. Following his death , one after the other , the heirs who succeeded him , were not upto the task of holding onto such a massive empire that he left behind. As such over the next 300 years , the size of the empire kept shrinking as more and more kings rose to rebellion. Finally before 250 years , the current Hazelgroove kingdom was formed , however the one who sat on the throne of Hazelgroove kingdom still kept the ancestral title of the Emperor! Instead of a king , even if they did not have a empire under their control anymore. It was the burning desire of each and every descendant , who took up the throne , to restore the glory of the past and expand the kingdom back to becoming an empire. But the times had changed and soo had methods of warfare. However one thing which remained throughout the years , was the opposition of the Hazelgroove Royal family to the Fallen Angel Lucifer. During the reign of the first emperor , Mazikeen Lucifer''s fierce general wanted to establish the nothern continent as a place that worshipped Lucifer. Wanting to spread the church of darkness and propagate the one who ruled hell''s ideology. But the problem was , that the first Emperor was a man who was of the light faction , and took pride in his practice of the white arts. For him to bow to Lucifer was unacceptable. Soo naturally he rejected the offer and made the church of light as the relegion of his continent. This is the reason why majority of the nothern continent still is under light faction kings and also the reason behind Hazelgroove Empire''s fall! Mazikeen launched a great war against the then emperor , called the First Crusade , as the light faction forces of the Church and the state forces , took a combined stance against the invading forces led by Mazikeen. Mazikeen manifested Lucifer''s power in that battle and for a moment used a terrifying tier 6 spell in the valley of blood. The place which is now called the Ghost kingdom. That decimated the light faction army. However divine power was not something that her mortal body could hope to support , hence the ramifications of using the spell were heavy for Mazikeen who lost majority of her powers following that incident. Eventually the light faction forces did win , capturing a weakened Mazikeen , as she was imprisoned in the now outskirts of Purplehaze city! In a massive underground bunker , kept hidden from the world , a location only those who took the throne in Hazelgroove kingdom knew about , she kept enslaved for 700 years! Generation after generation , she was guarded against , purple mist being released from her body , as she suffered from the recoil for using divine power. However healing for centuries , she finally attempted to break free when Cervantez was a young man who took the throne. An exceptional warrior , and a true Emperor , Cervantez fought a bloody battle against Mazikeen to keep her imprisoned for a few more decades. A fight that gave him all the scars on his body , a near death fight , that Cervantez won through sheer will , even when being the weaker party. The reason behind this was a forbidden technique that stole the opponent''s power for oneself. It came at a viscous cost of excruciating pain, however it was the secret technique of the royal family passed down from ancient times. Yet over all the centuries , Cervantez was the only one who had the guts to use it and be left alive and sane even after it , because the predecessor who tried to use it before , went senile . Yet Cervantez stole a very important power from Mazikeen , Mazikeens special move ... ( Immense time reduction! ) This move slowed down the flow of time around the user for 5 seconds! It was the move that made Mazikeen unstoppable on the battlefield, and the move that was the key to Cervantez''s arsenal as well. Cervantez was an excellent ruler , someone who could have easily annexed the two neighbouring kingdoms leading his troops to war , should he have wanted it ... But Cervantez did not! and the reason behind it was Lucifer. From the first time that he used Mazikeen''s power , he felt an indescribable pressure on his body ..... As if someone was watching him. Filling his mind with temptation and desire , Cervantez spent countless nights recovering from his injuries while trying not to loose his sense of self to Lucifer. Mazikeen''s powers were indirectly linked with Lucifer and using them had consequences for the caster , which is why Cervantez never used it unless absolutely necessary. Yet this tale remained unsaid , a incident kept tightly under wraps as not even the queen knew the origin of the king''s injuries , thought to be from fighting a bloody war. He never fought . The only person who came to know what transpired was crown Prince Aman , when Cervantez corronated him as a successor to his throne , and at that exact moment his greed for the power of Mazikeen grew. For Aman his father was everything he ever aspired to be , but no matter how high he climbed in life ... He could never reach his heights. With Rahim , an ambitious man from the blood merchant organization brainwashing him , feeding his poison against the king , he was lead astray to beleive that he could steal Mazikeen''s power and become even stronger than his father. However he knew that untill Cervantez was king , he would ever let this happen , hence why he tried to usurp the power. When the time came , it was also Rahim who caused the problem in the ceremony , as he manipulated the magic runes to cause an explosion , the result being that Mazikeen escaped her bounds! But not before loosing half of her strength to Aman! The boy catapulted from level 180 to 255 and became tier 4! And learnt the necromancy spell of raising an army of undead skeletons. Aman at his full power could summon 500,000 skeletons of level 30! , He could create an entire fodder army. With him increasing in power , he could increase the quality and quantity of troops. Given time he would have became a one man army. Alas , he went the wrong way! /// Bonus chapter for the supergift from Cervantez91 , thank him in the comments below! /// Chapter 348: Banished! Cervantez looked at Aman , and sighed in regret , it pained his heart to do so , but Aman was not fit to be the emperor , not after what he had done. Mazikeen was on the loose , and Cervantez was sure that a huge war was definitely coming the way of Hazelgroove kingdom . Hence he said " Lucifer tried to usurp the throne of heaven from God himself and was banished to hell". Steeling his resolve he continued " You too did the same .... And will face the same punishment .... You are stripped of your royal title and , duties as the crown prince. You are s traitor to the Hazelgroove kingdom and a wanted criminal within these lands , you will no longer use our family name , and no longer call me father. I emperor Cervantez , the first of my name , banish you from Hazelgroove kingdom ! ". Aman stood in silence as the judgement was passed , his heart being a turmoil of emotions. But he did not hate Cervantez at all .... If anything , he felt releived , however he could not come to terms with living in exile .... Hence tried to foolishly fight ! " FOOLISH BOY!". Cervantez exclaimed , as the flow of time slowed down around him. A kick square on Aman''s jaw sent him flying before others could even react to see what happened. Sent flying from the royal palace onto the streets of Hazelgroove. It was the last time Rudra would see Aman for a long long time. Sprawled on the floor , only Rudra saw a spec of water drop on the floor where Cervantez stood looking towards the sky where he kicked Aman offto. Only he understood what it was ... While the others saw the back of an absolute monarch , Rudra saw the pain of a father who just banished his son. Yet it was gone in an instant , such was the life of men. Such was the life of a monarch , there was no time to show affection , no time to grieve, no time to show weakness. Only the brave and only the strong may call themselves the Emperor. Only the brave , only the strong! The aftermath of this incident was massive, as Rudra got a system notification saying that this mission was cleared and that rewards awaited him. The grand takeaways of the incident was 1) Emperor Cervantez was back on the throne of Hazelgroove ! 2) Prince Aman was exiled 3) Emperor Cervantez came out of his isolation as a TIER 5 existance. 4) Mazikeen had escaped her confines and was mostly going to look for retribution The whole dynamic of Hazelgroove was about to change .... No the whole dynamic of the continent was about to change .... If a tier 5 existance ruled Hazelgroove , the kingdom was headed to prosperity ... And to war! However Rudra was too tired for that , seeing how he could still not move , he asked SMG to kill him and send him back to the church. Seemingly it was the only way. However the moment he was killed , he was forced to logout for 24 hours from the game , to ensure he did not have psychological damage from the event! The moment Rudra logged out however he blessed the heavens that the gaming system did what it did. As for a minute in real life , he could not feel his right arm at all! He could see his right arm , he could see it was fine , but no matter how he willed it to move , it would not move! Untill Rudra finally was able to move his fingers , then his palm and slowly his hand. The motor nerves of players was directly being tapped into by the gaming pod. Hence although players might not realize it themselves , but they were developing motor skills that they learnt in game. Rudra was actually proficient now with the sword. It was because he played Omega as a swordsman. Hence the time he spent in game with his hand being broken , his brain actually blocked his nerves to his hand , to stop the pain. The two minutes of scare that Rudra had were not describable in words .... He never knew Omega could be soo terrifying. When he was outside logged out of the game , there were landscape changing developments occuring in the game , the resurgence of the assumed dead Emperor caused a storm to brew nationwide. Most rejoiced , especially the Church of light whose archbishop immediately rushed to the capital. While the normal citizens too were overjoyed. However , there were certain organizations who were not pleased by the regime change. The neighbour countries immediately sent their envoys to check on the situation of the kingdom. Hundereds of thousands had gathered outisde the royal palace in a matter of hours , trying to get a glimpse of the king. The city management had underwent crisis mode , as Amelia had to fill in for Rudra who was missing on such a crutial day. Meanwhile Jhonny Karna and SMG were retained as Royal guests inside the royal court , they were enjoying premium hospitality that the kingdom had to offer. Lastly , in a courtroom full of officials , Cervantez finally climbed up the stairs to the Royal throne , as he waited and faced the crowd. Patricia at that moment " ALL HAIL EMPEROR CERVANTEZ , THE FIRST OF HIS NAME , A REVERED TIER 5 WARRIOR AND BENEVOLENT RULER , UNPARALLELED , GLORIOUS , THE SUN OF THE EMPEROR , THE ONE TO WHOM THE THRONE RIGHTFULLY BELONGS. BASK IN HIS GLORY AND KNEEL! ". At this introduction , Cervantez flicked his robe as he took the throne in magnificent glory. The entire hall , kneeling before his majesty! The rightful owner of the throne was back in power! /// Guys save the date for 14 th December , it will be a mass release day with me updating 8 chapters .... For those of you that don''t know , WN has a Christmas mass release event planned , you can all access it in the app. And I have joined that event with a promise of 8 chapters. I hope you guys enjoy ! /// Chapter 349: Rewards Rudra did absolutely nothing one day but try to recoup from his injury. He spent the whole day relaxing and de-stress his body. He had Yume do accupuncture on his right hand , soo that it stimulates his nerves . Only when he felt his arm movement was back to 100% did he login back into the game , 25 hours later. ------- ( Back in Purplehaze City ) Rudra respawned in the church of light , and Cardinal Lee was supposedly waiting for his arrival. Cardinal Lee bowed in respect towards Rudra as he said " Honorary bishop , you have done yet another great service for the church. Your merit keeps building and building , I could see it from the day I met you , you will become a great man someday ! ". Rudra blushed at thr sudden compliment he did not know what was going on , soo he just sat there awkwardly smiling. His arm was now in a cast , and much of his special moves that required mana were sealed for 30 days time! System Notification : Due to heavy injuries suffered to the user''s right arm and a heavily burnt mana circuit , user is restricted from mobilization of mana and usage of the injured arm for 30 days time! Darkness blast , Stormbringer , darkness bind , blink .... And many more of his combat moves were now shown in red , meaning Rudra could currently not use them. His bracelet was supposedly within the cast , and Rudra was pretty sure he could not use it either. Currently Rudra''s strength was reduced to 1/4 th of his overall combat potential. He was at his weakest. Sighing Rudra finally understood the gravity of the situation. Solar beam was not an attack his body could handle at this point in game , he was someone who was always living on the edge , him being soo thoroughly weakened made his life a lot more difficult. Rudra always did missions that were near impossible to achieve , however none of them were a breeze to clear , everything required him to be at 100% of his game all the time. In such condition if Rudra gets a SSS rated mission , he was sure to fail miserably. Just as Rudra got up , Cardinal Lee gestured the servants to bring some robes. Following which Rudra was dressed in an attire that screamed '' Church of light personnel ''. Cardinal Lee said " There is a massive court today Honorary bishop , there are many dignatories from other countries present at the ceremony , the emperor has requested your presence. We must go at once ". Rudra understood the game , he had became a tool for the church to show their involvement in the emperor retaking their throne. They wanted to advertise that the Church of light was very much competent and very much active. Rudra thought for it a bit and decided that his connection to the church was not a bad thing , and that he could wear the churh colors proudly. It was a privilage at the end , even if it was a marketting ploy. Hence Rudra dorned in expensive intricate jewelry and a regal white robe with red embroidery that had the symbol of the church at the back. Went alongside a simmilar robe wearing Cardinal Lee to the royal palace. While walking Rudra had to resist the urge to jump and stretch his body , he was not going to fight , he was going to the royal court for civil reasons , and hence needed to reign in his battle spirit. From the moment he entered the royal palace , the guards everywhere started to bow to him , till he reached the royal court , every single guard he passed by had sent him a salute. This perplexed Rudra , why was he being treated soo specially today? A member of the Church then went in ahead of Rudra and Cardinal Lee into the court and announced " Cardinal Lee of the church of light is entering alongside the Honorary bishop of the Church and the benefactor of the sun of the empire Emperor Cervantez , Lieutenant Shakuni! ". Rudra raised an eyebrow , Lieutenant? He checked his status pannel , as it had a new title added. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer , Lieutenant General Of The Hazelgroove Army Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 79 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 822 +411 VIT : 822 +411 INT : 822 +411 STA : 822 +411 PHY : 822 +411 HP : 122,000/122,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Healthy Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Sun God''s bracelet ( Legendary) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Solar restore , Solar flare , Solar blast , Solar descent , Solar beam. Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : Furball ( Divine nine tails ) ---- Rudra had a new title , Lieutenant General of the Hazelgroove army ..... [ Lieutenant general of the Hazelgroove army] ( Title ) : For your merits and service to the Kingdom , emperor Cervantez has crowned you lieutenant , you are in command of the First Division , of 100,000 royal soldiers and the special Won knight division , of 100,000 soldiers , for a total of 2 divisions and 200,000 soldiers under your command. The third highest military rank , under the Highest rank Emperor and second highest rank , War general , you are one of the six lieutenants of Hazelgroove kingdom! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target! , Guys the powerstones have really slowed down over the last 15 days or so , I still give out bonuses even if I don''t explicitly mention it. My chapter rate is the proof. Please don''t stop voting , and let''s crank it back up! /// Chapter 350: Lieutenant general Rudra was surprised to see the lieutenant general title for two main reasons 1) It belonged to Karna in his past life. The guy became the lieutenant general after playing the game for 3 years at peak of tier 3! 2)The road to accumulating enough merits to be promoted in the military was massive. You needed to have a life of a soldier , go on missions to slowly make ur way up from soldier to party leader to squadron leader to captain to commodore to major to lieutenant to finally a general. Yet here Rudra was , not a day spent at the military , being promoted to the post of lieutenant! Being a lieutenant meant that he had a lot of special privilages now , one being the absolute control of the first division of the Royal army ! He could potentially station troops within Purplehaze city now. Instead of the Greenwater military base. He would gain the highest level of access for the military special shops and restricted areas inside Hazelgroove kingdom! State secret technology , blueprints and testing facilities would now all fall in his lap. This was massive for Rudra who was preparing for an eventual war with the Triads , the Defense of Purplehaze city would have a definite one- up! However the most important point for him to currently consider was the fact that what was the attatched string to this problem .... What was the responsibility that came along with the power? Rudra instantly became cautious , as he looked across the room. Bannermen holding flags of their own countries were lined up in the hall. Rudra saw the flag of Nineclouds Kingdom , Ghost kingdom , Aquahose Kingdom. NPC kingdom of Dwarves , NPC kingdom of lizardmen , and finally NPC kingdom of Elves. Ruby was in the courtroom , with a slight tear in her eye , as she looked towards Rudra , probably because of the cast and the injury. For a moment Rudra''s heart wrenched inside his chest, as he saw that drop of tear form in her eye , he never felt soo powerless or soo frustrated in one single moment as he did right now , but there was also some joy , the joy of seeing her ..... She was here! But knowing how he could not linger her gaze over her too much longer , Rudra forced himself to focus on his shoe , as he started to analyze it in great detail '' what a wonderful shoe , what artistic design , what great tear like gems ... Tears .... Nonono what Ruby like gems ... Ruby... Have a grip , have a grip , calm! ''. Rudra thought . Then Rudra thought of the most sobering thing he could think of , the ugly Loli Hao Mi , and instantly he was able to regain control over his self. His expression returned to being blank and expressionless as he walked towards the Emperor. Approaching the throne , Rudra took a knee as he greeted his majesty " Your humble subject greets your emminence. I am blessed to see you healthy and on your throne ". Cervantez smiled and gestured him to rise. Only then did Rudra notice Patricia standing right below the throne , as she gave him a wink. Emperor Cervantez said " How are your injuries , Mayor Shakuni ". Rudra immediately understood the underlying meaning behind the question..... There was a clear line he drew with addressing him as the mayor of Purplehaze city and not as the Honorary bishop of the church. Rudra sighed internally but did not let it show on the surface , as he said " Better your majesty , the church took good care of me ". Cardinal Lee and Archbishop Peter beamed at this reply , Rudra had decided to side with the Church. Emperor Cervantez raised an eyebrow and chuckled as he said " Well I need to thank Cardinal Lee for this then ". Cardinal Lee bowed and replied " honorary bishop is a truly gifted and treasured personnel favoured by the goddess , it was our duty to help him ". Emperor Cervantez said " Honorary Bishop Shakuni , I spent a great amount of time with General Patricia Won Knight , who speaks In length about your valor and a tactical mind unlike any other. I naturally value talent , and for the merit of helping me out of my prison , I decided to award you with the Post of Lieutenant of First Division of Royal Forces. Ofcourse you may choose to accept or decline this post , however if you choose to accept , know that you will need to answer the call of war , when required , and the call will come , because I need good leaders who can drive our forces through the heart of enemy lines" . Rudra had nothing to think about here as he said " It Is my honor to serve your emminence ". At the decisive reply of Rudra , Emperor Cervantez smiled , this was an ideal quality of a soldier in command , deciciveness , if he would have said he needed time to think over the choice , it would have resulted in a lower evaluation from emperor Cervantez ! Cervantez said " Good , take your place in the court , lieutenant , today is an important session ". And an important session it was ! With emperor Cervantez reaching tier 5 , the balance of power had started to shift.... Hazelgroove kingdom was stronger than before and may take this chance to expand its boundries! Those kingdoms which were present in the courtroom today were here only to figure out one thing , what was Hazelgroove''s stance going to be towards foreign aggression? Yesterday they had arrived to the capital , and recieved the news that the Emperor had successfully promoted himself to tier 5 in the period of absence there was when everyone assumed him to be dead. Many questions were raised as to what happened to Prince Aman , but the official stance that Hazelgroove officials were asked to take was that he was currently undergoing secluded training. That Aman did not usurp the throne and that Emperor Cervantez was thought dead. Everyone suspected the legitimacy of the story , however noone could call the Hazelgroove officials outright liars , could they? However the shock that everyone got regarding the king being promoted to tier 5 was massive enough for everyone to forget about everything else. The impending question now was ... What would Hazelgroove kingdom do? Even Rudra was anxious to know .... Just how would the game change now that Cervantez was tier 5 and on the throne of Hazelgroove? Chapter 351: Tier 5 Rudra stood beside Patricia who started to explain the situation to him in a hushed voice. The gist of the explanation was that Hazelgroove kingdom had been shrinking in size for far too long because of a lack of strong figures within its forces. Only with Emperor Cervantez''s grandfather did the situation start to stabilize , with him being a tier 4 powerhouse. The current power structure of the continent was such .... Tier 4 was the generally the top of the power chain that ruled the country. With only 3 tier 5 existances in the entire nothern continent. One was the Lizardman king Atlas. The other was the Archmage Gandalf The third was the great mercenary Heracles. And now the fourth one to join the club was Emperor Cervantez of Hazelgroove. A tier one existance was considered to be superhuman , he could take on ten normal tier 0 men alone. And could be considered a monster among men. A tier two existance could wipe out villages overnight if he wanted to. Tier one and zero enemies would fall to his superior strength like flies , and would not be able to mount proper resistance. A tier 2 soldier could easily wipe out about 100 tier one soldiers and about 10,000 tier 0 soldiers. A tier 3 existance was a step even beyond. Being able to wipe entire towns alone. Strong enough to punch holes in concrete with bare fists and with destructive skills far beyond other tier one and tier 2 players. They were usually the uppermost class of any society. Nobles , Lieutenants , commanders , leaders of mercenary groups etc. A tier three existance could take on 100 tier 2 existances alone and take on 10,000 tier one existances alone , while tier 0 were mere ants not worth mentioning. The change between tier 3 and tier 4 then was massive , from tier 4 onwards you are a player on the world stage. The world takes note of you and your combat prowess , fame and fortune are no longer things of value. A single tier four existance can wipe out proper cities and wreak havoc on any battlefield they step foot on. However there are two ways to be promoted to tier 4 and the outcome of both are very different from one another. The power mentioned before is true only for those who naturally climbed the ranks to reach tier 4. Due to natural talent constraints , many don''t make it to becoming tier 4 ever in their life. However at the peak of tier 3 ( level 210 and above) , there is a shortcut to reach tier 4! Although one would only be half as good as a naturally ascended , they would still be much better than a tier 3 player , it was called forced ascension , through a special ceremony , that had a 10% chance of success. Much of those who ascended to tier 4 , like Rahim and Patricia are such people. However taking the shortcut to tier 4 would , mean that one could never progress further , it was akin to stagnating your strength forever. Trading your lifetime of potential for a short boost of strength. Such people could never ascend to tier 5. However because of the difficulty of tier promotion , it had become a common trend for these tier 4 halflings to become the norm in the world and Cervantez was assumed to be one such half ascended as well. However him progressing to tier 5 meant that he was a naturally ascended. It gave everyone present here goosebumps regarding his true strength. Naturally a tier 5 existance is stronger than tier 4 existance , by how much exactly , noone knows. But it is the peak of mortal ranks. The highest realm of power , below the gods. The mystery of tier 5 was that , the method of promotion was a huge secret. Nobody who reached the ranks would speak about it , what was the test ? Who governed the promotion? Nobody knew. Some say that tier 5 existances can wipe out kingdoms .... But noone knows for sure as those who ascend to this realm keep their powers a secret. Naturally , the biggest kingdom in the nothern continent currently is the Lizardman kingdom ruled by Atlas. Because of his status as a tier 5 king. However the dynamic of power was about to shift now that another ruler reached this realm. The difficulty of reaching tier 5 was unreal. At level 30 one could attempt tier promotion Double the level requirement and difficulty and you could attempt tier 2 at level 60 . Double it again and you have tier 3 at 120 And yet again and you have tier 4 at 240 Now sit and imagine what it is like to be tier 5 at level 480 ... Or the final ascension of tier 6 at level 1000! Just the stats of a unprompted peak tier 4 entity at level 400 or more should be absolutely Monstrous. Yet noone knows the boost that one recieves with promoting to tier 5. Is the stats doubled? Tripled , five times? Just HOW STRONG WAS CERVANTEZ RIGHT NOW? Nervous sweat dripped down the necks of the courtiers as Cervantez casually increased the pressure of his aura. Will their kingdoms be safe? They started to remind themselves of all the transgressions , happening over the years , past grudges with the kingdom , and personal relationship with the Emperor. Those with a good relationship rejoiced at the occasion , while those who challenged his authority in the past now trembled in fear. After explaining all this to Rudra Patricia silently said to him " Our time as a small kingdom has came to an end .... It''s time to show the weak one''s who the boss is ". A sinister smile spread on Rudra''s lips as he looked towards the nervous emmisaries. It seemed like buisness was about to boom! There was only one way to get super rich and super powerful in a short time ... And that was war! And Rudra welcomed it with open arms. Chapter 352: The Emperor Has Spoken Emperor Cervantez looked across the room as he had a wide smirk on his face. Each and ever nation here had a complicated history with Hazelgroove kingdom. For generations his family had suffered defeats after defeats. Humiliation after humiliation , now was the time to pay it back. He said " Envoys of the Lizardman kingdom , tell King Atlas , Emperor Cervantez sends his regards, we wish to continue the trade of fish and rice with other minerals with utmost sincerity. Wishing to increase output on both ends". It was a positive response for the Kingdom of lizardmen.... They were happy with this stance of the Emperor. The envoy immediately bowed and said " Itzzzzzz ourrr pllleaassurreezzzz lblblb ". As he performed a polite bow. Cervantez continued " With the kingdom of Elves , we wish to continue our amicable relations , as neithbours. We of the Hazelgroove fully support the cause of the Elves as the ruler of the ancient forest and will continue to help them incase of any acts of external aggression ". This was a stance of a ally! Cervantez wanted no conflict with the Elves , Hazelgroove kingdom had three kingdoms neighbouring it''s border and Cervantez was sure to start a fight with one( or maybe two ) , hence he did not want a three way war with three powers at a time. Wisely choosing to ally with the kingdom of Elves as a reason. To this Ruby immediately replied " The Kingdom of Elves will also come to the aid of the Hazelgroove kingdom , in-case on an act of aggression on its territories. We support your claim over the lands of Hazelgroove empire ". It was a bold statement .... She mentioned Hazelgroove empire and not kingdom. Her words caused many low murmurings throughout the entire room. However a firm thump of Patricia''s leg on the ground , that caused the ground to shake a little later , it was eerily quiet. Patricia said " THE EMPEROR IS SPEAKING !". Cervantez continued his greetings of each and every kingdom , where he mentained neutrailty and agreed to trade , untill the last two kingdoms were left. Hazelgroove''s immediate Neighbours, Nineclouds Kingdom and Aquahose Kingdom. The most recent one to rebell against Hazelgroove kingdom was the Aquahose Kingdom. During the time of his great grandfather , this was the last territory that they had lost , that rose to its own independence. However , the most recent kingdom to come in conflict with Hazelgroove kingdom was Nineclouds kingdom. Trying to eradicate it once and forever , during the reign of Cervantez''s grandfather , they were unsuccessful in their attack , and were repelled thoroughly. Cervantez''s grandfather though victorious succumbed to the injuries in five short years , it was a wound that he would not forget easily. As he was but five at the time. His grandfather was his hero and loosing him was a trajedy . Cervantez knew he wanted to crush both the countries .... However how would he go about it? , Should he go for Nineclouds kingdom first? Should he go for Aquahose Kingdom first? Or should he take on both at the same time? Conquering countries was not a matter of one or two days. It would be a campaign , a war lasting for years to come. As territories would be conquered slowly , while counterattacks would be mounted. One town at a time ... That is how kingdoms fell , one battle at a time. Cervantez was not an irrational king driven by sentiments , he was a veteran of war , and an excellent strategist and politician. It was in his blood , he was raised to be an Emperor. Each choice had its own merits and demerits , however one thing was for sure , that Aquahose and Nineclouds kingdom had really close ties. Hence Cervantez invading any one of them would spark a military response from the other. Hence if it was going to be a three party war anyway , then he would surely not shy down from such a fight! Might as well tell the whole world , that Hazelgroove kingdoms time had come! His gaze turned bone chilling as he eyed down the two emmisary groups standing side by side. As he said " To the two of you , whom I did not address , tell your rebel leaders , that the Emperor will be back for his lands. You rebels have had the citizens of Hazelgroove kingdom under your clutches for wayy to long.... It''s time they are freed back! ". A loud clamour started in the hall .... The two emmisaries were completely devastated at this decision from the king. What was this judgement , what could they refute? A brave emmisary from Nineclouds kingdom said " Proposterous .... They are not your people , and we are no rebels , we are the own.... ". Before he could even complete his sentence , two daggers pierced his neck .... It was Jhonny English ! Jhonny clicked his tongue as he said " Noisy ". Everyone was stunned to silence in the room , even Emperor Cervantez ... Who looked at Jhonny ,with a funny expression on his face. But said nothing to rebuke him. Meanwhile Karna cursed under his breath saying " Madmen .... Absolute Madmen ... I work with a bunch of madmen". The leader of the emmisary group of Nineclouds snapped , as he said " YOU..... HOW DARE YOU KILL A EMMISARY , No matter the place. No matter a kingdom , nobody kills a messenger ". The moment Rudra saw this , his voice was raised as he said " Would you like to join him? ". Elven sword in hand , a lethal gaze dropped onto the man. The man sized Rudra up and snorted as he said " I am a peak tier 3 warrior boy , I''ve killed more people than the times you have breathed in your life". Patricia naturally would not listen to such nonsense as the noice of her cracking her knuckles was clearly heard throughout the room , as she too gave the man a chilling gaze that said ... I dare you to say another word. The man gulp , the combined pressure of the won knight duo was even more terrifying than facing hundered men alone. He instinctively stepped back in fear. But soon a hand came over his shoulder , it was the Aquahose Kingdom emmisaries , who said " we are not afraid of fake tier 5 ascendants , we don''t beleive you ascended soo suddenly out of nowhere , if it''s war you want , it will be war you get! ". Saying soo , three Aquahose Kingdom emmisaries and the Ninecloud kingdom emmisary all rushed to attack emperor Cervantez. ---- ( The next scene is in extreme slow motion ) Second (0.1-0.4) Patricia''s pupils can be seen slowly widening , probably from the shock that they dare to act against the ruler. She realizes that all four of them are peak tier 3 classmen ... Extremely strong , a threat even to someone like her. Her hand slowly moved towards her sword .... Second (0.4-0.6) : Emperor Cervantez scoffs , and flicks his single little finger, while casually sitting on his throne . Second ( 0.6-0.8) : The attackers have taken two and a half steps yet from their initial location. Patricia''s hand has finally reached her sword , as she slowly grips the handle. However Emperor Cervantez''s move has already landed on the men and they have already lost their lives. It is now that Rudra notices the enemy moving, as his he shifts his weight from his right leg to his left to try and leap into their projected path. ( Second 0.8-1). Their severed heads rolled on the floor and everyone was stunned to silence. What just happened ... Nobody even saw a move happen. It was only Patricia who could even follow the minute movements , for most people in the room it happened in a flash. That''s when a voice boomed in the room .... It was of the Emperor Cervantez as he said " IMPUDENT ! ". Fear spread across everyone''s eyes as their bodies started to tremble .... 4 tier three peak warriors killed with a flick of a tiny finger within one second ... There was no doubt about it. A new tier 5 powerhouse had been born! Chapter 353: Reunion News travelled fast , the news of the Emperor ascending to tier 5 and calling war on two kingdoms at once spread to every corner of the continent. Bells of war were ringing and a arms race quickly started in the region , as prices of weapons , Armour and ration started to skyrocket. Armies were raised and border patroll was increased. Merchants were asked to return to homeland as soon as possible. Villages in the border regions started to feel uneasy , as they became ready to be mobile and abandon village at a moment''s notice. Back at Hazelgroove kingdom , Rudra was introduced to the other five lieutenants by Patricia , all being at the tier 3 stage except him. Naturally some looked down on him , but did not voice this opinion out. As atleast on the surface , they were cordial. Rudra did not mind this one bit , as he knew his own worth. His mind was sharper than the five of theirs combined. Also , he would soon earn battle honor worthy of his position. A lot of formalities followed as he was given the military attire and the Lieutenant cap and bage and the like. Rudra was flattered and all but his heart just was not in the ceremony. His mind kept going back to Ruby , she was in Hazelgroove ..... And he wanted to meet her. Hence the first thing he did when he was discharged was look for Ruby. This caused Amelia to be angry as hell on Rudra , as he directly ignored all the work calls , leaving her buried in work to cover for her. But Rudra did not care one bit. His only wish , right now was to meet Ruby and luckily , he crossed paths with her just before she was preparing to move out of Purplehaze city. The maids who saw a running Rudra chuckled , they were naturally aware of their mistress''s little lover , and were very supportive of the choice of their mistress. Hence Rudra was led to Ruby''s room , as the maids shut the door from the outside. Ruby was dazed to see Rudra for a second , just like how Rudra was dazed to see Ruby. No words were exchanged for a moment , as they looked at each other in the eye. After a moment , Rudra slowly approached her and closed in the distance between ther faces. Ruby bit her lip , as complicated emotions started to flicker in her eyes. Rudra touched his nose to hers , as he let it slide on hers for a moment while he breathed in her breath..... It was sweet and made him feel things down his stomach. Not able to resist , Rudra finally kissed Ruby , who was hesitant for a moment but returned it with twice the passion. For a moment , their tongues intertwined and it became a wrestling match for who wanted the other more. But then Rudra tasted something a little salty , on Ruby''s lips , there was a slight wound .... Perhaps from her biting her lips too hard.... Rudra started to lick her wounds now , as he watched tears drop from Ruby''s eyes. No words are spoken , but he wraps his left arm around her , which causes the tears to flow even faster , but she does not reject his embrace. After what seemed like a moment in eternity. Their lips parted . It was only now that Ruby vented her frustrations " You ....( Sob ) ( Sob) dummmy ( sob ) , why why why ( sob ) ( sob ) soo hurt? ". Her little nose was all red , as tears like crystals dropped from her eyes. She looked incredibly cute , yet it somehow broke Rudra''s heart. Rudra had no way to console her. Hence he just cuddled her and said he was sorry. For the next 20 minutes , Ruby cried on his chest .. before finally somehow nuzzling herself to sleep on Rudra''s chest. Rudra looked at the peacefully sleeping Ruby on her chest , as indescribable emotions clouded his mind ..... He was too damn passionate about this woman , and her tears were not something he was ready to face yet. For the first time , Rudra truly regretted being soo reckless and actually made a resolve to not actively seek for problems in the future. There was someone who cared for him now. He needed to be well. If not for himself then for her. But he needed to take care of himself better. Is someday , Ruby even got a bruise on her arms ..... Rudra had no idea how he would react. But he was sure , that it would not be pleasant. A firm beleiver in treating others how you want to be treated yourself , Rudra made personal wellbeing a priority going forward. Except for that , he was really happy. Seeing Ruby sleep on his chest while her small hands clutched onto his robes was incredibly pleasing to him. He was content with seeing her head rise and fall with his breathing , as he observed her features in great detail. Her pointy ears caught his attention first , as a Elven race member , she too had the long pointy ears , signature to the elven race , lewd ideas of what it would feel like if he nibbled on them entered Rudra''s brain , and he immediately shooed them off . Such thoughts were blasphemous to think about. However it did look incredibly tender , and sensitive .... Nonono , he can''t think of such things. He focused on her nose hence. Her nose was a delicate feature of her face. Not as sharp as her pointy ears , it was what gave her the cute look. Probably Rudra''s favourite feature on her face ... And the reason she looked soo unbearably cute to Rudra. Rudra absolutely did not want anything in the world to disrupt this sleep , but then a loud knock was heard on the room''s door , which woke the princess up. Soon a maid entered the room , only to see the princess grogily leaning on Rudra''s chest. The maid instantly blushed , as she said '' Oh ''. And quickly closed the room of the door. Rudra wanted to move to explain the situation to the maid .... He was sure that from a third person perspective it may look like a different scenario of what was transpiring in the room. But how could he move ? ( He did not mind the confusion at all ) However Rudra''s face flushed red. However it was still a shade lighter than Ruby , who was blushing soo hard that steam was coming out of her ears. However Rudra misunderstood the reason behind her blushing. It was not because of the maid .... It was because of Rudra''s manly chest , on whom she was leaning soo comfortably. As her soft hands touched his firm muscles , she was absolutely lost in dreamland. No words were exchanged for the next hour , as the two just enjoyed each other''s embrace. Before it was finally time for Ruby to leave the city for going back to her kingdom. Before she left though Rudra said with conviction " I will come to get you soon ! ". A warm smile spread on her face as she heard this .... She absolutely had no doubts that he would. Hence she said " Next time , be safe ". Saying soo in a cute , angry and threatening voice , it was a warning + a goodbye message that gave Rudra goosebumps. Perhaps the gentle princess did have a ferocious side to her. Only a small reunion of mere hours .... Yet it recharged Rudra completely. His vigour in his cause had returned , as his reason to move forward was reminded. /// This chapter is for all the Ruby fans out there .... I hope you enjoyed it /// Chapter 354: Girls , stop overreacting please ! The next month Rudra was swamped with work. However the atmosphere at work , was not exactly workable to be frank. Four women were extremely pissed at Rudra for very different reasons... The atmosphere could be considered boiling at the very least , as shots and jabs were taken at him left and right. Amelia was pissed at Rudra ditching work , he had to listen a long lecture about how she too had a life and that work hours do not equal 24 hours a day and emergency work should not last for 5 days a week. While Rudra and the boys were off to questing , saving the emperor , Amelia literally had to work overtime both in game and in real life. Her throat was sore , there were dark circles under her eyes. And it seemed like she had a mild fever. Rudra was extremely apologetic over the situation , and soo was Karna. The two were seen lurking around her work desk in the game , coming to check on her every 15 minutes or so. Trying to help her as much as they could. At first Amelia was genuinely pissed off , but her anger soon evaporated seeing the two boys run left and right around her , and seeing their dumb attempts at logistic work. After a while she just could not stay angry at them , they were just too cute for that. However , she wanted to enjoy the VIP treatment for a bit longer , soo she continued to act like she was pissed , now thoroughly enjoying the show. This had a huge impact on the guild members too , when they saw Rudra and Karna running around her all the time , they understood the real power dynamic in the guild. The position of Amelia was solidified as the third boss of the guild . The second one to be pissed off with Rudra was Furball. It could smell the faint traces of Ruby''s smell on Rudra and it was actually a pleasant and calming smell of nature. She naturally did not know that the smell stemmed from a human and not another pet. Furball had never been in contact with Elves , all she ever smelt was Humans , and humans did not smell soo good. Hence she assumed that Rudra had been fondling some other pet and was hence throwing a temper tantrum. She would not let Rudra pet her , and pretended to be super sad. Rudra naturally could not understand why Furball was throwing a temper tantrum and hence asssumed that it was because he did not acknowledge her for a job well done .... Or perhaps because the fight had been traumatic for Furball.... Or she was mad at him for being injured. In any case Rudra gave her more VIP treatment , he would say sorry to her and pet her for hours while working on beuracratic work of the city. Eventually Furball forgave Rudra and started to nuzzle back at him and give him licks and cuddles. The third person to be pissed at Rudra was Naomi , she was angry at Rudra that he was reckless and got injured to a severe extent in battle. She would come everyday and angrily sit beside him as he worked and tried to heal him. Although Furball absolutely hated her presence , she tolerated it for the time she casted her healing spells. After that she would outright start to growl at Naomi. This routine continued for a week before , seemingly Furball accepted that , the human was a wellwisher of her master , and accepted her presence . Anytime Rudra would even mention about upcoming quests or battles , Naomi would give Rudra a menacing glare. That struck fear in Rudra''s heart. That look was the same one Rudra''s mom gave Max when he would not do his homework. It was the look of " OH ... SO YOU DARE? ". Rudra hence had to instinctively tone it down and lay low for the time being , as he did not want to suffer the wrath of Naomi. Rudra did not understand why ... But Naomi''s opinion mattered on stuff to him. During their healing sessions he would often ask her about administrative problems , and although she would give curt angry replies. Rudra found them to be sensible and one that provided him with a fresh perspective. He hence started to value Naomi as his advisor and doctor a lot. He was truly starting to feel as if he made his first she friend. However there was one more person who was pissed off with Rudra , and she was Yua nakatomi , she was mad at Rudra who gave too much attention to Amelia these days. To her the behaviour between the trio of Amelia , Rudra and Karna seemed nothing ordinary. Growing up in the corporate world , she knew very well what it meant when bosses doted on secrataries wayy too much. She feared that Karna and Rudra would end up in an eventual fight over Amelia , causing friction in the guild and also hated the attention Amelia was able to hog off Rudra. It was a situation where she was not right and she was not wrong either. But she was very wrong. Hence Rudra had to deal with a daily dose of baloney , Yua was supposed to be a helping hand to Amelia , but everyday she would try to one up the lady , and take decisions she saw fit without consulting her , only to be naturally rebuked hard by the lady in charge. This led to unnecessary friction and headache for Rudra , as Yua would come rant to him angrily about Amelia every single day , and he would have none of it. Eventually he was forced to relocate Yua to SMG ''s department and appoint her as a teacher of practical knowledge like taxes and buisness application in real life. A compulsory course for all who would enroll in the Elite academy. Hence two weeks passed with Rudra embroiled in work and balancing four angry women. Untill finally it was the opening day of the Elite academy. It was a big day for all the guild members , as the entire guild was deeply invested in this project..... And it was sure to be grand!! ---- ( Meanwhile , somewhere in mainland China) Hao Mi was pacing around her room .... The news that the old emperor was back at the helm of Hazelgroove kingdom was bad for buisness for her. Aman was someone least bothered with administrative work , he was the perfect king for illegal buisness to bloom , however Cervantez taking the throne changed the whole game. Hao Mi was pissed and angry at the same time , the new war announced by Hazelgroove kingdom was extremely detrimental to her plans. The triads were currently in strong positions within the Nineclouds and Aquahose Kingdom , the political instability would make organized crime more difficult. She hated the fact that someway or the other it was again linked with Shakuni of the elites , that man had became a thorn in her path. She absolutely hated his guts. Nobody could humiliate her and live to tell the tale. And that man paraded her in chains in Purplehaze city. She wanted nothing more than burning him down along with that entire city , as retribution. However she saw a shining opportunity in this war ..... As she hatched a plot. Hao Mi wanted to use the war as a way to gain enough military merits and go up the ranks in the political system in Nineclouds kingdom. Once she was high enough , she could use her military power to provide cover for her shady activities , while using that might to burn Purplehaze city to the ground. Hence , the order was issued to the triad members, who were going to join the defense cause of Nineclouds kingdom as an independent mercenary contractor under Hao Mi. Aiding the government in war efforts against the advance of Purplehaze kingdom. Voluntarily offering to hold 3 villages and one fort near the nothern border of Hazelgroove kingdom. Naturally the entire defesce was not left to them and there was a military NPC division stationed , but the numbers of the triads to the NPC''s could be said at a 2:1 ratio. There were far more triads than NPC''s , hence it was clear to whom the credits of the victory would go. With this started the preparation of Hao Mi''s revenge on Rudra. The next 6 months were going to be a mad rush to strengthen , from both sides. As the showdown was only a matter of time now. It was inevitable! . ------- ( Meanwhile .... Yume''s POV ) Yume was doing charity in the orphanage of Purplehaze city. When the caretaker of the orphanage , a sickly old man came upto him and asked.... " Thankyou for bringing food for the children ... They are happy ". Yume said " Amitabha , it is my pleasure ". The frail old man then said with a smile " I am old now ... I don''t know how much longer I can run this orphanage , but I hope that the children here can grow up and land on their feet even without me around ". Yume''s heart moved as he donated 500 gold to the orphanage. The old man''s eyes widened in shock ... For him it was 5 years worth of money .... It was simply too much. He said " It''s too much , I can''t accept this ". Yume just waved it off , as he said " I am a monk ... I have no use of money ... What I seek is wisdom". The old man''s eyes brightened as he said " I am old , but I am wise ... Since you are such a fine man , I will give you one of my most valued treasure .... It is something that money cannot buy". System notification : Reward received ( unknown map ) Yume bowed in gratitude. He was happy with whatever he was given. But out of curiosity he asked " Where does this map lead to ..? ". The old man smiled , his broken teeth showing his hollow smile as he said " Draconia! ". Chapter 355: The opening day After 17 days of thorough and lengthy admissions procedures , the 35,000 entrants were finally selected for the Elite academy! Rudra had clearly set the basic guidelines for the institute , which was built in accordance to the atmosphere in the guild. Which was quite contrary to what the real world taught. 1) There was no competition within the batchmates to come first. There was no distinction in the division of classes made on who was the best student and who was the worst student. Or what department they studied in , as upon graduation , wether it was a logistics passout or a Black Ops member , all would have the same pay , and same distinction in the guild. This would ensure that everyone tried to pull each other up and not step on each other to get up and also the fact that they would learn not to look down on any branch of the guild. 2) The absence of a rat race and assurance of a sustained pay would urge the guild members to be creative. Everyone can take the path they think is the best and have the freedom to explore it. Not like traditional schools with textbooks that has only one right answer. Rudra wanted to make thinkers , not followers. The initiation ceremony was divided into two phases , phase one was already conducted by the guild elders Neatwit and the respective teachers yesterday , as the students were thrown a welcoming party ( no alcohol) and settled down inside the dorms of the Elite academy. The parents were assured , and also given a residency within the upside. Where a small society had been added for the influx of population. However the students were made to stay inside the dorms nonetheless , for the time till their graduation. Rudra wanted them to think on their own , and not under parental pressure to perform. Hence living in the dorms was compulsory. With only one day a week given for family visits. The entire course only lasted 6 months soo , it was not a long time thing. 6 months was acceptable time to focus completely on your career , especially when ur family is taken care of in the upside. Today was the day , the recruits were given their own VR headset , and given the green signal to join the game. However , there were a few restrictions in choice of characters .... The lifestyle guild members , though free to choose any lifestyle profession , still had to choose a lifestyle profession as their main class. Same went for the other departments as well. With SMG ''s department being the most strict , with only two class options to choose. Thief and assasin . Needless to say , light faction was a must. Omega was an 18+ game , hence minors were not allowed to play it. Most of those who graduated school however , immediately bought the game when they turned 18. Because of its popularity. Hence most teenagers in the academy already had a character chosen , and some even had a few months of gaming behind them. Only 20% of them were choosing their character for the first time . Today , was the newbies lucky day , as the 10,000 or so players who had just joined the game or recently joined the game and were stuck in the beginner villages , today had the help of veteran Elite guild members , who were helping them power level through to level 10. As today was a meeting at the guild hall in Purplehaze city. Which could not be reached without getting to level 10 and out of the beginners village. Hence within two hours of joining the game , everyone was made to level upto level 10 and given rented horse mounts to ride to Purplehaze city. The other newbies at the beginner villages felt extremely envious hence of the Elite recruits , as they saw the insane levelling speed and help from experts , as well as being able to ride mounts on the very first day of the game. However the Elite recruits felt envious of the guild members , and their silver wolf mounts ..... It was soo damn cool! They wondered when they would get one of their own. To which the members replied " It''s not given boy , it''s earned! And you have not earned it yet ". One by one , from north , south , east , west , recruits came flooding in towards the Elite guild hall. Everyone had grand expectations of seeing the guild hall of the only platinum guild in the entire game and boy did it not dissapoint! Grand! Is the only word one could say for the Elite guild HQ. Massive buildings , lush gardens , massive open space , and exuberant interiors. Everything resounded .... Class! Add to the fact the extremely high player levels and the unique silverwolf mounts , and it did look like the best guild in town! Not to mention they were literally the managing guild of Purplehaze city. Hence technically it was their city! The newbies got completely awestruck as a result ... As they were dazzled by the Elite life. They were respectfull of those who wore the Elite guild robes , as they tried interact with their seniors. Although the seniors were very friendly and good. The original Elite members did do their best to mentain the aura of senior members around the freshmen. A distinctive boundry was drawn that demanded respect. They were not equals .... Not yet! The newbies were given a green robe with the guild insigna , not the black guild robes , that differentiated the recruits from the guild members. The Olympic games participants were like celebrities within the recruits as they would rush over like fanboys to meet those who brought Japan glory. However the little fan meet was cut short , when everyone was summoned to the guild hall. By the vice guild master Karna. It was time to meet the real bosses of the guild! /// Alright mass release time guys , start the count with me 1/8 I''ve written these chapters staying up overnight even with uni exams ongoing soo , sorry if there are errors with my writing /// Chapter 356: A bold one! Rudra looked at the crowd and sighed ..... He hated the fact that he had this stupid cast on his right hand ... It ruined his cool first impression. However , little did he know that it just added to his domineering aura .... Everyone gulped in fear upon seeing the lineup standing on the stage... From the left it was Fatty Kalash , Neatwit and Karna in the relative middle . From the right it was SMG , Amelia and finally Jhonny in the relative centre. At the end , it was Rudra standing at the absolute centre , as he gazed on the crowd below. Fifteen medals! Fifteen medals on the stage , with three triple gold winners! This was the best of the best. The peak of the foodchain lineup , looking down on newbies like them. The resepctive heads of departments and finally the guild leader and principal of Elite academy .... Rudra Rajput aka Shakuni himself. Just his gaze alone silenced the entire crowd , as he looked absolutely domineering in his stance. The man , the myth , the legend himself , who has pulled countless seemingly impossible wins , the winner of the one v one fight , the fight where he toppled the behemoth called nightmare! THAT player Shakuni! His nickname the demon of death valley , and he was now eyeing each one of them. Rudra glanced at Karna , who was barely stifling his laughter , and instantly Rudra felt like laughing himself , he thought '' F*** you man I''m trying to intimidate the newbies here , do u have to make me laugh ''. While Karna thought '' Bahaha , your serious look , looks funny af ''. Rudra coughed , trying to mentain his demeanor , but for a second while coughing his lips did curve upwards , but it was too fast for anyone to properly notice. Rudra gestured towards Karna to speak first , as he continued to look cool and intimidating. Karna chuckled as he said '' alright ''. Taking a deep breath he looked at the crowd and said " WELCOME ". Loud clapping spread across the crowd , as Karna instantly raised his hand to stop it. There was silence again .... Karna said " in-case you are decieved by my good looks ... I''m not the guild master of this guild , it''s the man with the broken arm. I''m vice guild Master Karna , the head of department for the combat division , happy to welcome the first batch of recruits to the best guild in Hazelgroove kingdom ..... The premier guild in Hazelgroove kingdom ..... The PLACE WHERE ONLY THE BEST MAY JOIN .... A GATHERING OF ELITES ONLY ..... Like the name says .... WELCOME TO THE TRUE ELITES! ". The silver wolves howl , as the old members cheer .... The hall is filled with rowdy howls of wolves and men alike. The energy hits the newbies too as they all start smiling ... Feeling the vibe. As if on a roll Karna continues " There is no power structure in this guild per se , you can talk to me like you talk to any of your other colleagues , I''m open and approachable. But like every organisation , there are a few members who have contributed a lot to the guild and continue to be pillars of the guilds support , and they are the gentlemen that stand behind you in black robes and the people on stage beside me. Now what I said applies to me , however if I ever find any one of you , disrespecting any member here , or god help me any elder , then you shall know why I''m the most strict member in the True Elites Know that there is only one member here that I will allow you to criticize , and that is our lazy guild leader Shakuni. Feel free to troll him , make memes , especially take embarassing videos and send it to me in personal. I promise great rewards for those people". Loud roar of laughter erupted in the room , they found Karna to be funny Karna started to laugh himself , when he saw Rudra''s dejected face ... He completely ruined his cool impression , he was a true friend. Karna felt bad for him , soo he did cover up a little then " No but on a serious note , I don''t need to tell you much about the guild because , this man here ( pointing towards Rudra ) is the guild! Each and every one of us here know , that with him at the helm. WE ARE INVINCIBLE! . The reason why I ask you newbies to troll him , is because us old members can never even dream to. That''s how much we respect the guy and I am sure , soon you all will too ". Polite clapping followed as Rudra awkwardly scratched his nose. How the hell was he going to make his speech now .... His aura had been ruined , but then the goof Karna also said such sweet words he could not even get mad at the guy. '' Ahh , shit , here we go again '' thought Rudra , as he said " Your vice guild master sure is a work of art , women are easier to understand than his fickle mind ". Another round of laughter followed from the crowd , as Karna''s fist landed square on Rudra''s biceps . Rudra chuckled and continued " 6 months time ... It''s not your 4 year University. Yet I am sure , coming out the other side , you will have better understanding of your jobs, than those guys will ever have ! But that will only happen if you fully enjoy and absorb everything we want you to learn in the next 6 months..... Not only in-game , but in 6 months you will learn everything that is actually important in life. Things that schools and colleges won''t teach you .... What stocks to invest in ... What insurance to take ... How to pay just as much taxes as you need to. The important things in life , how much you learn will be on you ... As such there will be no exams , but only one graduation test .... You either graduate and become an Elite or take the test again in two weeks time ... or again after another 2 weeks ... Untill you pass! ". /// Mass release chapter number 2/8 , enjoy ! /// Chapter 357: A handicapped fight Rudra continued his speech for another 10 minutes or so , where he felt like a real leader , talking about motivation and future goals and all the other boring stuff , that was necessary to get everyone on the same page. Everyone should know the immediate goals and the next course of action for the guild. Only by collectively working towards goals could they be achieved. Rudra ended his speech by saying " If anyone of you wants to ask anything to any of the HOD members or me .... Feel free to ask now ". A moment of silence fell on the crowd as the teenager''s looked at each other , trying to see if anyone had the guts to speak infront of such a loud crowd. When one guy , raised his hand high. His other hand in his pocket and his hair all messy .... From top to bottom , one look at the kid and you would get the vibe of '' Delinquent''. However , Rudra just smiled , and said " Yes , introduce yourself first , then ask your question? ". The boy said " In game name , MasterOfChaos , real name Mikey , there is no question .... I only wanted to issue a challenge.... Fight me ! ". Loud clamour erupted from the crowd .... This boy was too arrogant .... How could he straight up challenge the headmaster? The winner of the one v one fighting event ... The leader of the guild? Rudra''s smile widened , while Karna coldly squinted his eyes . Before Rudra said anything , Karna said " Looks like , someone needs to be taught manners. You have no qualifications to fight the guild master.... You want to fight the number 1 ? , you got to beat me first ". This was meant to threaten Mikey , but he only said " Ho , why don''t I take on all three of you ... You( Karna) , Him( Rudra) and the old man( Jhonny) ". Karna''s gaze became sharper ... This punk was different ... He had guts to say the least , did he have the skills to back it up ? Noone knew , only time would tell if he was a fool or a daimond in the rough. Rudra became even more interested in the boy , while Jhonny just waved it off , he had 0 F''s to give. Rudra said " Your level , profession and tier ". Mikey said " Level 55 , Tier 1 , Paladin ". Rudra became even more perplexed , his personality and his class did not match at all.... Rudra would be more inclined to beleive the kid was barbarian or warrior or even swordsman. But paladin? The murmurs in the crowd became intense , while the old Elite members were both in awe of the newbies guts and annoyed by his temper. Rudra However said " Sorry kid , too weak ". Mikey , however did not back down " Triple gold winners , huh , well that is what I will be too come next Olympics. Show me the gap I need to fill! ". This one statement instantly made Rudra reevaluate that kid .... There seemed to be a backstory to him that he was unaware of , but then SMG came up and whispered something in Rudra''s ears , that made Rudra accept the challenge. Rudra said " alright , three matches against us 3 , one on one , but if you loose kid. You will follow the words and instructions of the teachers to the dot in the next six months. Agree on your honor as a man , and we have a deal ". Mikey agreed , and the challenge was official. The crowd moved from the arena out to the open ground , where a huge circle was created ... Everyone was buzzing with excitement over how badly Mikey was going to be beaten , however everyone was more excited to see the Big 3 live in action. First match , was Mikey Vs Jhonny Before the match started , Jhonny sighed as he said " Lesson number one kids ..... Never underestimate an old man ! ". The match started Mikey , tried to dash to the right and circle around Jhonny , however before he even took his second step, 3 daggers pierced his neck clean , bringing his HP down to 0 . 1.2 seconds , that is how long it took Jhonny to beat Mikey, who was forced to take a trip back-to the Church of light. Many of those who had just reached level 10 , could not even understand what had transpired here , and how Mikey got defeated. While those with only a general understanding of the game , felt like they were dreaming ... What deadly accuracy and speed to throw those three daggers in such a short time , all piercing the unarmoured throat area. Mikey himself was in shock.... He could not even begin to understand where he went wrong in the fight , he was thoroughly overwhelmed , there was no takeaway for him. Just a simple fact , that he was not even worth batting an eye for Jhonny. Making his way back to the guild , he had lost much of his arrogant stance ... Now much more humbled and focused he looked forward to his match with Karna. Karna had to make a show here , he needed to come out strong. Hence he appeared to handicap himself while actually going into his strongest mode. Karna said " Kid , you are soo weak that I can win this match with my eyes closed ". Saying soo , Karna put a blindfold around his eyes , as Mikey was bewildered and enraged. Just how weak did Karna think he was? Gritting his teeth he promised to beat the arrogant vice guild master and the HOD of his department. While the crowd chatted excitedly , speculating the results of the match , Karna said " Come ". Rudra had a grin on his face , he had seen Karna fight with his eyes closed before , although he did not know the secret to the technique , he knew Karna was not handicapped at all with his eyes closed. Mikey cautiously closed in on Karna , his sceptre making a slash for Karna''s body from distance. However just when it looked like the attack would connect , as if seeing it from miles away , Karna casually sidestepped the move , and brought down his great sword onto the sceptre''s body. Breaking it in half. Mikey was flabbergasted , but he was still sharp , and saw Karna ''s follow up kick , managing to avoid it in time . Rudra''s eyes sparkled ... The kid did have some moves. Karna too smiled a bit , as he threw down his great sword ,becoming unarmed as Mikey .... As if taunting him into a fist- fight. It might look simple , but it was a psychological game played by Karna , Karna was saying without superior weapons , without even vision , I''m still miles above your league. It would become a lesson in time for Mikey who would remember this day for a long long time. /// Bonus chapter 3/8 , enjoy! /// Chapter 358: Even with a broken arm Mikey was an orphan who survived on the streets of Tokyo alone. Only educated till 8 th grade from a government school , he was not like most present in the list of recruits. The one with the highest player level of the entire bunch. Mikey was a Bonafide street fighter. Surviving three knife stabbing events and growing up on the rough. He was seemingly the perfect candidate for SMG''s troop , but there was but a simple problem Mikey''s class was not assassin or theif. Playing the paladin class he was not suitable to join SMG''s group , but too talented to pass on. Hence SMG specially scouted him into the Karna''s department. With noone ever to discipline him , and him growing on the rough , he was naturally not polite and refined in his mannerisms. However he was not a bad guy. He respected the strong and especially the Elites who he saw as his heroes and was genuinely happy to become a part of the guild. Yet he had a strong desire to be number one .... He wanted recognition , the scene of the country acknowledging the gold medal winners like national heroes was embedded in his mind. Hence his only goal was to become that person , and be acknowledged by the entire nation. To do that he was willing to fight against the best , and understand the gap between them , but it seemed like the gap was much more than he could have ever imagined. He lost within one second to Jhonny English , and he was out of stamina currently , while not landing a single hit on Karna. Mikey was panting hard ... The last 5 minutes he had been on a high intensity offense , to not land a single hit on Karna... Who seemed to be toying with him . Mikey grit his teeth , as he bent low .... It appeared as if he was going to do a leg sweep to throw Karna off balance. Karna jumped early to avoid this attack , however in the last moment , Mikey changed his attack pattern to a overhead roundhouse kick! It was coming towards Karna clean , and fast .... Rudra exclaimed in his mind ... This was a brilliant maneuver , however the speed was not enough ... If he was tier 2 , it was sure to land , however with such low stats ... Rudra sighed , he would only become vulnerable to Karna''s attack. Karna bent back midair avoiding the kick , as he did a backflip to regain balance , for the first time since the start of their fight , now Karna went on the offensive as a flurry of offense crumpled the staminaless Mikey. Within 20 seconds of Karna switching to manual offense, Mikey was sent to the Church of light. Everyone in the crowd lost their damn minds ... The image of the overwhelmingly strong vice guild master was imprinted in their mind forever! Rudra clapped at Karna for his performance , and seeing as how the guild leader was clapping , soon the entire crowd started to clap. It was a fitting applause for his win. When Mikey came back , the arrogance was completely wiped from his face , as he was on the defensive now ... His ego was not bruised at all , but he had an internal turmoil. From the start to the end , he could never even glance at the summit he was supposed to climb .... What was the summit he wondered? His fights with Jhonny and Karna only told him that he was soo low , that the summit was not even visible from his height and now he was going to fight the best of the best , guild leader Rudra himself... Would he able to even gauge the base of the mountain , much less the summit? He wondered.... The entire crowd roared in anticipation as the king of one v one fights , Rudra himself took the ground. There was not a single person who did not have a distinct memory of him fighting nightmare ! Everyone was excited! Rudra threw Mikey a Lance which was dark gold grade .... Much better than the one he was using at bronze grade. As Rudra took out nothing , opting to fight one handed , without a weapon. What was more , he put his one good hand behind his back ... As a mocking smile spread on his lips. This time Mikey was not enraged , if anything he became more cautious... In his past two fights , he understood that the bigshots even when handicapping themselves were only giving him a very slight chance at maybe landing a hit.... At their full power , he may not even last a second. Accepting the weapon , Mikey calmly stood his ground , and waited for Rudra to approach him. Rudra rushed in for the attack , only to stop just out of Mikey''s range of attack , and blowing a strong fire out of his mouth. Fireball! Mikey was stunned ... As the flames hit him squarely on his body .. he had never seen fireball being casted this way. However what was more was he lost vision of his opponent , who was right under him , landing a kick square in his face to send him flying. Mikey had less than 100 HP points left at this point , when he found out a utterly humbling fact ..... His opponent , guild leader Shakuni transformed into a little golden fox. Who ran into guild leader Shakuni''s arms. Rudra was never in the fight ... It was his pet fox! Rudra sighed as he said " Furball is around your level ... It was a completely fair fight , but you can''t even stand your ground a minute against my pet .... How do you expect to even survive a single kick of mine Mikey ... You have good skills and sharp reflexes , and someday you will be worthy enough to give me a run for my money. But that day is not today. Go learn in the academy ,become better , understand the mechanics of this game ... Then AFTER you graduate... Come find me for a fight ... That day I will personally show you my strength ". Mikey looked down , as he clutched his weapon tightly , he was not despirited , instead a burning fire was born in his stomach .... The fire to improove ! He took Rudra''s words to heart. He would improove , he would learn everything he was taught .. and one day , he would beat Rudra himself! Today was not his day , but his time will come , as long as he was diligent it would come ... He was sure of it! Hence with this the welcoming ceremony was concluded ... The Elite academy was formally in session! /// Bonus chapter 4/8 , enjoy /// Chapter 359: Yume you lovely monk! It was the day after the welcoming ceremony , and the guild was empty again , as physical classes were in session for the recruits in real world. Things were back to normal , as guild members were teaming to level up and raid dungeons , while Rudra was racking his brain on how-to travel to Draconia. It was for this issue that he called a guild meeting , where anyone with information on draconia was asked to be present. While Rudra issued the mission about 21 days ago , and the guild members were dilligently looking for the information , only ten members returned with some information. Some talked about some history of draconia , while some talked about some myths regarding the location. Only wild speculation and nothing tangible was found soo far. One by one , Rudra heard gibbering followed by gibberish , untill finally it was Yume''s chance to speak. Yume said " Amitabha ... I have the map to Draconia ". Everyone in the room started to check their ears ... And looked at each other for confirmation on , did you hear what I heard? Rudra asked " You have what ? ". Yume said patiently " The map , the thing that has terrain drawn on it to guide travellers to destinations , I have one such piece of paper which leads to Draconia ". Rudra was incredibly happy , obviously he knew what a map was , but this news was terrific! Karna said " Ohh , we have been in this meeting for 1 and a half hour , you should have said soo sooner , if you had the map ! ". Yume replied " Amitabha , it is impolite to interrupt others , you have to be patient for your turn to speak , else others would not value your words". Karna " .... " Rudra "..... " The others in the room " ..... " Jhonny " Yume , you lovely lovely monk! , Well said ". Karna facepalmed himself ... This duo was above his realm of human understanding. However he was happy that the map was found. Rudra studied the map , and found out that Draconia was very close to the Kingdom of lizardmen , it''s entrance was supposedly from a flooded narrow valley , that lied in a neutral buffer zone between the Light faction Kingdom of the lizardmen and the dark faction Kingdom of the Dark Elves. It was a level 200 map ... Extremely dangerous to traverse. Rudra instantly went into deep thinking mode , the token he had granted entry to only 10 people into the dragon kingdom. He needed to carefully choose the expedition members , as reaching the dragon kingdom through the flooded valley would be a challenge in its own. Rudra naturally wanted to Karna , SMG , Neatwit and Jhonny , they were his top picks , but he could not just take them all from Purplehaze city. Especially when he had no idea about how long the expedition would take ... He needed atleast one of them here. Rudra deliberated long and hard , and finally decided to leave the guild to Sir Jhonny , Rudra was assured that if it was him , no matter the problem , the guild would be safe. Hence he decided to replace Jhonny with the monk Yume , whose party buff would be very helpful . 5 members were decided and 5 more were to be decided ... Rudra wondered whom to take , and whom not to . There was Bo , Skyla , Medivh , Gamabunta , Gamakichi , PinkLotus , Naomi, Tank , Rhino and Cola , to choose from. To make the party balanced , Rudra gave the nod to tank and rhino who were great to mentain tight defenses. Rudra decided to take Naomi too , because she was currrently the most adept healer in the guild above the 3 K sisters. Rudra also gave Medivh the nod , he was good at PVE and crowd control , now only one more member needed to be chosen. While Rudra was conflicted between all of them , he knew that Karna and Skyla were a newly made couple , and Skyla was adept in her own right , hence not wanting to seperate the duo , he gave her the nod to join the party hence finalizing the members. Little did he know that his one small decision to leave Jhonny in-charge of the guild , would be the only reason he would ever reach the gates of Draconia alive. If Jhonny with his terrible luck walked alongside the party through the high level region , it would have been a gauranteed party wipe! Hence , Rudra unknowingly dodged a bullet there. With the party members decided , the expedition was finalized. Rudra decided to carry high value items , such as lots of gold , rare equipment and high quality potions and mana stones with every member , as he had no idea if there would be items he could trade it for inside Draconia. The time to set out was decided to be 7 am tommorow morning , and it was expected to be a 9 day long journey on mounts , as they would need to cross to the Elven kingdom , take their working teleportation formation to the Lizardman kingdom , and then go on foot again towards the swamp valley. Atleast 3 days of the journey could have been cut down if the teleportation array inside Purplehaze city was up and running. But it would need 10 more days to be completed and Rudra did not want to waste soo much time. Hence finalizing everything , Rudra logged out of the game to get some much needed rest , as come tommorow , he would play the game for long amounts of time. Rudra restocked the nutritional fluids in his gaming pod , and unplugged it to let it cooldown completely. Then checked in with Ethan Grey and informed him that he might not be available in the coming days due to an important quest being the priority. The duo chatted for a while , where Rudra was filled in on world events ... Seemingly Ambani was on the verge of a hostile takeover , as he had nearly lost the control of his company , with his son''s death , the shares his son had would now go public , with the proceedings going to Ambani corporation. Ethan Grey was vying for those shares , as even if it grossly went over market value , buying all 15% would make him majority share holder of Ambani corporation. It was checkmate for Ambani , who would either loose a lot of money , and would have to liquidate a lot of company assets for hard money to outbid Ethan. Or loose control of his company. Knowing Ambani the former was more likely , which meant a firm footing for Ethan Grey inside County X. He was one step closer to exerting pressure on Ambani , as using Japan''s newfound power , he and the Japanese government put newfound pressure and sanctions on country X , that forced them to tweak some of their policies in favour of Grey international! Overall , Ethan Grey was being Ethan Grey ! /// Bonus chapter 5/8 , enjoy ! /// Chapter 360: The expedition starts The expedition started with the members setting out towards the elven kingdom. Unlike before , now the level 100 map was ideal for the Elite party to level up together. As Griffin''s after Griffin''s were laid waste to along the way. Rudra was especially in no hurry to reach draconia, the reaon being his arm. It still needed 8 more days for the cast to go come off and his mana circuit to be functional again. Hence he wanted to take the time to level up and lay back while relying on the party. Even though the Elite members were hard pressed one v one against the Griffin''s , as a party it was a breeze. Especially with Neatwit who went maniacal , finding and slaying everybeast his eyes laid on. Straying even off-road for a bit ,the party made sure to find Griffin''s even if they won''t show themselves to level up. It was a very productive level up session , as everyone levelled up atleast twice or thrice. Rudra gained two levels , finally breaking in the 80''s. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer , Lieutenant General Of The Hazelgroove Army Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 81 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 842 +421 VIT : 842 +421 INT : 842 +421 STA : 842 +421 PHY : 842 +421 HP : 129,000/129,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Broken arm , Non functional mana circuit( 24/30 days ) Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Sun God''s bracelet ( Legendary) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Solar restore , Solar flare , Solar blast , Solar descent , Solar beam. Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : Furball ( Divine nine tails ) ---- Rudra , realized how fortunate he was to be where he was , winning the one v one fighting event , almost a month has passed since the Olympics and he was still behind Parallax. Rudra wondered what parallax was currently doing ... And what level he was at. Little did he know that parallax had joined the triads after he learnt of the humiliation of Hao Mi , as he smelled an opportunity to join the traids and have his vengance. Not much ahead of Rudra he was actually only level 83 ... The blow to his confidence was massive , no longer a one man army , he slowed down significantly while levelling up. In comparison Neatwit had burst to the scene , with being at level 80. Just one behind Rudra now ... Which was an alarm for Rudra to stop slacking on levelling up too much. He spent too much time doing administrative stuff , not focussing on important things like gaining levells enough. He did not need to be a maniac like Neatwit , however he definitely needed to be more dilligent. Thinking all this Rudra felt even more happy , that he took this time to slowly level up , as the party took their sweet time of four days to reach vanaheim ! The capital of the Elves! Instantly Karna started to stick to Rudra , he alone knew his friends peril , while Yume continued to wink at Rudra whenever their eyes met , as if to say '' ... Ehh .. ehh go meet the girl , I know you want to ! ''. Rudra had to roll his eyes , ofcourse he wanted to go meet Ruby , but he was at work ... Now was not the time. He was feeling weak at will , especially after the four days of seeing Karna all lovey dovey with Skyla , he missed Ruby even more. Little did he know that Naomi had an even stronger longing for Rudra than Rudra''s for Ruby. On one hand she was happy that , she was selected while Yua was not , it felt incredibly rewarding as she knew that it was only because she spent months trying to improove! However the entire trip was also a hell , as she could only look enviously at the happy Skyla , while being glared down by Furball whenever she tried to approach Rudra. Rudra decided to quickly go through to the teleportation area as soon as he could , and after paying the necessary outisder toll to use the array , the party was teleported to the outskirts of the Lizardman kingdom , in the city of green scaled lizardmen! The Lizardman kingdom was divided into four main regions , the eastern region , where they currently were was the region where the green scaled lizardmen lived. It was the only region where outsiders were allowed , as the other regions were hostile to non lizardmen and barred from outsiders. The north was the region of the red lizardmen , of whom was the one king Atlas , a tier 5 existance! , While the west was the yellow scaled lizardmen region. Finally the south was where the variants lived , black , purple , brown and the other scale colors. Even within the green scaled lizardmen region , there were seldom humans seen ... Orcs , dwarves and elves were more common to be spotted. While many shops had clear signs saying " Lizardmen only ". Clearly showing that the culture was not very welcoming of outsiders. Rudra did not mind this , as he was not there to socialize at all, as the party was instantly on the road , on their way outside the Lizardman kingdom , which they needed to circle around , to reach the Western front and onwards towards the swamp. This longer route was needed to be taken as the yellow scaled lizardmen were the most extreme when it came to hostility towards outsiders. Rumors of them tearing humans who wandered into their territory even after the many signs that told them not to do so , were torn limb from limb. Wanting to avoid such outcome , the group could only circle around the country , riding for 3 days , before finally arriving at their destination! The level 200+ map , the lost mangrove swamp! /// Chapter 6/8 of the mass release series , guys I have ongoing uni exams , and I am writing these chapters literally sacrificing the little sleep I could have gotten. Please forgive me if there are mistakes , because I was unable to edit them /// Chapter 361: Keep calm and trust the boss The mangroove swamp , a level 200+ map that divulged into a level 220 danger zone the deeper and deeper one goes inside it. You need to be extremely agile if you want to traverse this region on the mangroove trees that surface out of the water level. However , there are various long tailed baboon settlements too inside this mangrove , level 200 ferocious beasts that you cannot outrun on the trees. The second option is to make a small boat and traverse the waters , that are infested with equally terrifying level 200 alligators. If you for some reason fall inside the waters , it is again game over , because you cannot outswim the alligator. The waters being waist high , it was not impossible to walk through the swamp , but it was akin to commiting suicide. One needed to carefully consider what path to take. Rudra asked the crew on their opinion , but nobody offered one ... It was clear to him that the group had entrusted him with the duty of making decisions . Rudra thought about it carefully and decided he wanted to make a raft to traverse the mangroove. The reason for this was that the baboon''s absolutely hated the water and the alligators. They would not attack the raft in fear that they might fall into the water. Hence the group started making a raft , it was times like these that Rudra regretted not bringing Fatty Kalash along , because clearly him and Karna were useless in such situations. Basically it was SMG and Yume making a solid raft , as the others helped them as instructed. When the raft was finally ready the system assigned it a bronze grade , which was not bad according to Rudra. He was quite prowd of his team''s work. Hence with three make shift oars , and one spare oar , Yume and Karna started to row the raft , while SMG guided the party through the forest , by using the third oar to steer the boat. Thank the lord''s that SMG knew how to steer boats , as it was a real complicated task to go through mangroove forests. One needed to often cut some obstacles ahead , and have their hearing sense on high alert for any baboon noises. The last thing the group wanted was to pass directly under a baboon settlement and be pelted with stones , untill they died. After about 3 hours of uninterrupted travel , it seemed as if Yume and Karna were a little out of stamina from the constat rowing and needed to be replaced. Hence tank and rhino replaced the duo , Rudra wanted to volunteer , but he could not do much with only one hand. Rudra still had 9 hours on his cast cooldown.... And he could not wait to get done with it. However their string of good luck did not last forever , as suddenly something rocked the raft from under it , as SMG''s steering oar was chewed up . Rudra gave the call! Oars in ! , As Tank and Rhino took the oars back inside the raft. Rudra cursed , if was an enemy an intelligent one at that , someone who did not want us to steer our way out of this trouble. Rudra had two guesses , one was that they were floating towards a gator settlement , and second was that they were heading towards a place where a mother alligator had laid her eggs. Rudra had to make a choice , but fighting the alligator was not one of them .... If the alligator had two or three more hits on the raft from under it , It would become a bloody afair inside the open waters. Rudra looked around to see everyone was calm , especially Karna who was smiling as he said " It''s upto you Boss ! ". Rudra said ..... " It''s time to bring out the big guns! ". Karna smirked , as he and Rudra summoned their respective pets. A kraken , the size of an elephant was then spawned inside the mirky waters , while Furball was on the raft. Rudra said , " Kraken , speed , steer the raft out of here quick ! , Furball , Medivh , burn the mangrooves around us down! Fast ! ". Furball and Medivh did as told , as the kraken rotated it''s tentacles with such intensity , as he latched onto the boat , that the once raft now became a motorboat! The weight of the Kraken on one end made the raft inclined at a 15¡ã angle on his side. But the group onboard was professional enough to wether such problems. Medivh and Furball used fireball after fireball , as the path around them was set ablaze! Rudra''s logic behind this was simple , if it was an ambush they were going towards , there is nothing they could do about it anyway , but if they were going towards an egg nest , then the surrounding fire would freak out the alligators. As the priority would shift from hunting them to saving the eggs. Although Rudra did not know much about their living styles , he knew for sure that alligators did not lay their eggs inside water , and seeing as there was no land here , it had to be on the mangroove wood! He was taking a big gamble here , the kraken of Karna was not yet fully mature , much like Furball , hence bringing him out in such a dangerous environment was him being desperate. But that''s what he was ..... Desperate , desperate to reach draconia , desperate to gain new strength for the guild and for himself at Draconia. The lost land of the dragons ..... Will he be able to reach it? Or will he fall prey here , at the mangroove swamp to alligators , going back to the church of light ? Only time will tell. /// Mass release chapter 7/8 , almost there! , A big shoutout to Kheoms for the 5000 coin gift! , Thankyou soo much brother , It is appreciation like this that keeps me motivated to write even while being severely sleep deprived. Appreciate the patronage, bonus chapter will come soon! Forgive me for it not being today itself , as I need time , but as soon as possible for sure ./// Chapter 362: A narrow escape Rudra''s gamble paid off , about 4 Alligators who were lying in wait near the boat , now rushed to swim towards a typically large Mangroove tree , as they started spraying water with their full might to stop the fire from spreading . Rudra and company watched on as Bursts and bursts of water were desperately thrown on the tree to stop the fire from spreading. Rudra cursed under his breath , as he said " ROW , ROW , ROW , the fire will be extinguished soon , and we will have a horde of angry Alligators on our tail ". Rhino and tank , started to row at full speed , as SMG took the steering role again with the third spare oar. Combined with the Kraken motorboating at full power , the group were faster than the Olympic boating team , as they zoomed their way around the mangroove. The destination they were supposed to reach at was close ... Only 15 minutes or soo to reach at their current speed , but they were desperate now , as Rudra was sure that those mamma alligators would not forgive them soo easily for endangering their eggs. Rudra knew they had a 5 minute window at best to put as much distance between them and the gators as possible , and pray that they don''t catchup before they find land. However , it was just wishful thinking on his part , as indeed just as he predicted ...3 Alligators were hot on his tail , mere 3 minutes after they zoomed past them. A chase had started now , with the alligators being the master of the marshes , being faster than the foreigners , slowly but surely closing in the distance! Rudra had no idea , about the approaching alligators , but thankfully they had Karna. The man closed his eyes and started to sense their surroundings to understand about any surprise attacks they needed to prepare for! Rudra looked at his cooldown time .... 12 minutes till the cast was off .... If only he was at full power , he would have confidence to do something about the situation! Rudra cursed under his breath , as his heart beat fast in his chest , they were too close to go back home now! , Rudra saw a small island about 1.2 Kms from his current location , it was the location marked on the map. However before he could even rejoice , Karna said " 3 Alligators 300 meters out from our location and closing in fast ! ". Rudra was frustrated , but it was exactly times like these , that his mind worked like a supercomputer , soon a plan formed in his mind. Rudra told Karna , " Tell me when they close in to 100 meters , then retract ur pet and get ready to jump ! ". Rudra then looked at everyone and said " We use the trees soon , get ready to abandon boat ! ". One minute soon passed , what seemed like an eternity. They were about 600 meters away from the island , and Karna said " They are very close ". Rudra was a little hesitant to leave the boat , if he truly gambled he could''ve made it , but he knew it was foolish in his gut , as he said " Go! go! Go ! , Abandon ship boys! ". Everyone started to jump on the mangroove trees , one by one , as they made their way towards land , when a terrifying blast of water cut a tree that Yume was on in half. Rudra looked back and sighed , Yume had barely managed to jump onto another tree , but it was only because he was lucky there was a second tree just beside the first one. Rudra stopped at his location , as the others continued to go on. In a flash he was the last one left , as three massive waterblasts decimated his tree in pieces , as he was forced to do a backflip onto the small cut trunk of the tree. Circled by 3 Alligators Rudra was now dancing with his death! Karna who looked at Rudra who was sacrificing himself to buy the group some time cursed. He realized that the fact that Rudra had given him the entry token , was probably because he did not expect to make it . '' FOOL! '' Karna cursed under his breath , anyone could have sacrificed themselves it , anyone but him , he was the only one this expedition could not carry on without! When three more waterblasts headed towards Rudra from three more different directions , it seemed like game over for the leader of the Elites. With 7 minutes still till his cast came off , and all his mana abilities sealed , what could be Rudra do in the face of such danger? Is this going to be the end of the Draconia expedition for him ? Or does he have a hidden card? ----------- ( Meanwhile in Nineclouds kingdom ) Hao Mi was negotiating a exploding potion deal with a black market practitioner of the bombmaking class , an alchemist by profession and a bombmaker In subclass , he was the go-to guy inside Omega for getting premium firearms. Although his inventions did not hold a candle to Rudra''s , they were still effective nonetheless , made from alchemic materials stored under high pressure , all it needed was a little shake to start the chemical process of explosion. Making its use very dangerous on the battlefield, as a little mistake could blow up the same camp soldiers. A completely inferior and unstable alchemic product , that Hao Mi wanted to mass purchase anyway .... It was something she would come to regret a lot in the future! Spending a whopping 1 million gold to buy the merchants complete stockpile and priority rights over his future inventions , at the current market rate of gold ( 1 gold = 500 dollars ) it was a whopping 500 million dollar transaction! One more of this and the man could retire as a billionaire. But the crazy man only wanted to make more weapons and make more money , spending most on buying different kinds of unstable alchemic potions. /// Mass release chapter 8/8 , I''m done with my promise to you all! I hope you enjoyed the mass release day. A bigshoutout to Cervantez91! For a 5000 coin magic castle. I am humbled to see you gift progressively on every mass release chapter. I promise a bonus for this super gift as soon as possible! /// Chapter 363: Smart! Rudra was seemingly in a dire position , his arm broken , his mana circuit sealed away , he had no way to deal with the three sided attack that was coming his way ..... Or was there? Technically no he did not have a way to deal with it , but he had a Furball! Furball used instant teleportation to teleport the duo towards the island , which it could clearly see from 300 meters out! And so the Alligators attacks just cut through thin air and nothing more , as Rudra was the first one to reach land. Karna who was watching with panic a moment ago was dumbfounded to see Rudra suddenly dissapear , only to see him waiting on the island for him. Karna sighed , then chuckled .... Was there a need to be surprised? It was Rudra he was talking about .... Nothing was impossible for the guild leader of the elites or soo it seemed. The group quickly reached the island , and out of the Alligators reach , as gators were incredibly slow outside water. If they actually did chase after Rudra and his group on land , the hunter would become the hunter as Rudra would personally take the time to absolutely skin them alive. And that was indeed the case for 2 alligators , however one stupid alligator decided to give the chase anyway , as with its small legs , it went onto dry land , before opening it''s wide jaws towards the Elites. Furball instantly used fireball , as the attack completely burnt the Alligators opened mouth , and probably its throat. The alligator writhed in pain as a result. Before it could even recover , it found itself being circled by Rudra and Karna , who were literally running around it in extremely fast speed. The moment the alligator tried to use an attack ,it found its eyes unable to follow the opponents movement , much less attack them. Their high grade swords respectively clashed against the hard scales of the alligator , leaving pitiful amounts of damage , however Rudra and Karna were not worried one bit , at this point it was only matter of time. The process continued for a while, with timely outside assistance from Medivh and a blocking of retreat path by Rhino and Tank , that meant that Rudra and Karna took 7 minutes of their time to deal damage to the alligator. Finally when it was nearly at 30% HP , and desperately dishing out water slices into thin air , Rudra''s cast faded away , as a burst of energy that was mana re-entering his mana circuit was felt by Rudra. If feelings could be expressed , it was the same feeling one gets instant crazy power up. It was an intoxicating feeling. It was as if he was sick and weak and was suddenly cured. Long story short , he was back to being the boss! Excalibur out in hand , Rudra was now free to display his dual wielding skills , as his damage output suddenly tripled. Ten thousand sword cuts , world Slash , claymore , overhead slash , were dished out in quick succession as the 30% HP of the alligator reduced at a rate visible to the naked eye. Everyone was lazer focused on Rudra''s fighting, as they were in awe of their guild leader , nobody realized that Karna had long stopped attackig as he too was enjoying seeing Rudra fight. Rudra was basically taking on a level 220 beast by himself! If anyone heard it back in Hazelgroove , they would never believe it to be true. Not even their own guild members. Yet it was happening right there before their eyes. Only when a notification that caused the entire party to level up at once hit their status screen , did they get out of their stupor ..... Rudra had slain the level 220 alligator! ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer , Lieutenant General Of The Hazelgroove Army Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 82 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 846 +423 VIT : 846 +423 INT : 846 +423 STA : 846 +423 PHY : 846 +423 HP : 139,000/139,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Fully healed from injury , healthy again Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Sun God''s bracelet ( Legendary) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Solar restore , Solar flare , Solar blast , Solar descent , Solar beam. Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : Furball ( Divine nine tails ) ---- Rudra too was satisfied with his gains from this fight , for a moment in his euphoria he forgot that he had actually reached his destination. This small island was supposed to be a gateway , a gateway where a self sustaining teleportation array had been built , which lead to Draconia. The only way to activate this was by a issued tailsman by the church of light or darkness , or by the draconic seal itself. Luckily Rudra and group were able to get their hands on a draconic seal , thanx to Karna and SMG doing a heist on the Royal treasury of Nineclouds kingdom. But even then unless given a map , this small island in the middle of a swampy marshland was very difficult to find. Hence nothing can be taken away from Yume , who was the MVP for the group to finally reach here. When Rudra reached the cave where the teleportation formation was rumored to be built , he was shocked to see the sophistication inside the place. There were gold inlaid paintings on the war , depicting great wars between humans and dragons , while showing famous dragons in their full glory. There was also a sophisticated mana gathering channel running , which was currently at full power. From the walls one could easily make out that it was built 100''s of years ago , yet still worked perfectly till this day. Rudra marvelled at the architectural proficiency of the dragons to make something soo intricate to be able to stand the test of time. When everyone came within the teleportation array , Rudra finally took the token back from Karna and placed it in the centre of the formation , which instantly activated the teleportation array. The previously invisible blue lines of crystal were now starting to glow as a soft hum could be heard in the background, getting louder by the second .... And after 15 seconds or so it suddenly stopped , as Rudra and nine others were instantly teleported! On the other side , the Elites found themselves on a cliff. A massive city sprawling under them , as dragons visibly took to the sky. The city was big ! Sprawling for as far as the eye could see , as mansions as big as the entire island they came from was visible throughout the city scape. When a shrill dragon roar entered everyone''s ears , it was only then that they broke out of their stupor. As Rudra excitedly said " Welcome to Draconia! ". They did it ! , They were in the lost kingdom of the dragons! ---- ( Meanwhile in the real world ) Today was an important day for Mithun Ambani , as a big piece of his company share was on collateral against a loan for a big part of his buisness .... The Ambani oil refinery . After the oil plant explosion , the company was in a dissarray as they struggled to complete petrol orders to power stations with whom they had 10 year contracts. Heavily in debt , the company was now about to default on a oil order , that would cause it to sell the parent corporation stock of Mithun Ambani. Ambani had no way of keeping his company afloat , as this 10% piece of his company if fell to Ethan Grey''s hands would make him the majority share holder. Things became soo desperate , that he needed to rely an enemy of enemy for help. Mithun decided to turn to , Hao Mi of the triads. Hao Mi said " Soo , you need my help of nearly 1 trillion dollars to pay for you to keep your company afloat ..... Are you crazy or do you have something in this for me? ". Ambani sighed , as he said " .. /// Shoutout to Cervantez91 for the 10,000 coin gift! , Thankyou soo soo much , I don''t have enough words to express my gratitude. I will try my best to deliver the two bonus chapters I owe , as soon as possible. Sorry for the late chapter guys , and the late riddle for this week. The riddle this time is Bravo Alpha Romeo Charlie Oscar Delta Echo Dm me on discord , for the 100 coin code. You all know the drill , first 10 winners get the price. The privilege readers get a headstart soo , goodluck!/// Chapter 364: Ants You never realise how small humans are , living in a human city. But the moment you step foot into Draconia , a land where even the smallest houses are bigger than the entire True Elite guild headquarters , you realise how tiny humans really are. Roads as wide as 3km in width , and going as far as the eye can see , you realize that even going from place to place in this city was going to take hours for the small Elites and their wolf mounts. That is if the mounts could move at all ... Because the city was literally filled with dragons , causing inferior creatures to fall under dragon fear. Everyone except Rudra was affected by dragon fear , but Rudra was surprisingly not. Maybe it was the effect of the dragon Slayer title , he thought. But what he did not know was it was because of his soul connection to Furball. Furball was a species even superior to the dragons , hence Furball snickered seeing them act all high and mighty , these overgrown lizards. Hence heavily debuffed , in an unknown City , with massive size complex. The Elites felt like ants living in a human house. Who could be squished with one foot of a giant dragon! They were about to set off , when a deep voice could be heard ... The voice was male , or soo Rudra assumed from the bass of it , as the voice said " Wait. " Soon a massive Green dragon with yellow iris landed near the Elite party. The sheer windforce causing Naomi to struggle to mentain her footing. Soo Rudra had to hold her tight in his arms. This was by no means a romantic gesture but the closeness made Naomi blush instantly. Which deepened when she saw into Skyla ''s eyes , who saw silently mouthed the words '' well played ''. How would Naomi explain that it was not a ploy to get close but she was genuinely blown away. Naomi would have preffered to stay there for a long long time , but she could feel something pulling her robe , as she turned she saw a glaring Furball. Who jumped into Rudra''s arms the moment Naomi and he seperated a little. Rudra started to stroke Furball , as he looked the dragon in the eye. The green dragon said " I''m the gatekeeper of the kingdom of draconia , the overseer of the outside teleportation formation , Heron , may I know which Church sent you here? ". Rudra replied casually " We are all beleivers of the light , but we did not come here from the church. But for our own personal buisness ". Heron was surprised to hear this response , he asked " How did you activate the array...?". It was a trick question , if the array was activated by the tailsman of the church , Rudra would not know the other method. While he would understand that they were defectors of the church and kill the mortals on the spot. Rudra calmly said " The seal of draconia , that takes 10 people across. You can count Heron the green dragon , there are ten of us here ". Heron looked at the humans , and then said " Surprising , it''s been 300 years before a human came to Draconia using tailsman , State your reason for visit ". Rudra said " Merchants , here for trade ". Heron audibly laughed , then took a closer look at the party of ten , then laughed again. After five minutes of amusing himself he said. " Alright , what makes you think that you tier two WEAKLINGs will be able to trade in Draconia? , Our children are stronger than you bunch. Be careful they are naughty at the young age , and humans are interesting playthings ". Saying soo , Heron was about to berate Rudra and group some more , when a bunch of dragons suddenly came into view , approaching this location. There were three red dragons , two black dragons and one golden dragon flying in a arrowhead formation , with the golden dragon at the head of the group. The moment Heron saw the incoming group , he instantly corrected his stance as the group landed , near the humans. This time Neatwit had taken to care for his sister , as Rudra ''s hands were full with Furball , which made Naomi instantly regretful. The , green dragon was practically bowing at this point , his bearing very different than before. Saluting the golden dragon. Rudra understood that the golden dragon was royalty. Because in the history books about dragons , it was mentioned that the royal family of Draconia were a bunch of golden scaled dragons. The golden dragon has regal blue eyes , as it communicated with Heron in a language incomprehensible to Rudra and the others. "#@#$_##_&'' ¡ê¡é€£¤£¤?¡é¡é£¤¡é". " @#-$$%?¡é^€=€¦Ð¡Ì¦Ð¡é£¤??". Rudra assumed it was dragon tongue , but had no means to confirm his conjecture. After a while , the golden dragon said " Welcome to Draconia , I am the first prince of Draconic Royal Family , Drax , may I know your name , human with the divine beast in your hands ". Rudra squinted his eyes , as he replied " Shakuni of the Elites , this is my group , this is my pet , Furball ". There was some furious talks between the dragons in dracon tongue , who seemed to have lost it when Rudra introduced himself . After a good ten minutes of intense talking and a few red dragons , spitting fire here and there , Drax finally said " Why did a divine beast like the nine tailed fox having a fragment of the soul of the beast king phoenix submit to a weakling human like you ? ". This question was insulting to hear when heard from a human perspective , but this was perfectly polite for Drax , whose brain could not comprehend why Furball would submit to Rudra. Rudra said " I hatched it from an egg I obtained from a public auction. It decided to bond with me after birth. Hence I became its master ". The fire dragons seemed to have lost it now , as two of them gazed sharply at Rudra , their eyes menacing , however Rudra was not someone to backdown either, putting Furball on the ground , he drew his sword and glared back at the red dragon! When the red dragon saw a puny human like Rudra staring down its visage , it seemed to have lost it , as a humongous dragons breath was blasted towards Rudra. Drax seemed to be shocked by this behaviour of his underling , as he swished his tail to throw the attacker off-balance. However he was a little too late , the attack had already left the red dragon''s mouth , going straight towards Rudra and group. Heron , thought '' that''s it this human is done for ''. When out of everyone''s expectations , Rudra faced the attack head on! Rudra shouted " FULL COUNTER! ". As the Elven sword clashed against the incoming fireball , sending it blasting back towards the red dragon , who was offbalance and shocked to see the human retaliate. The attack hit the red dragon in full power , as a heavy damage stat of -1,000,000 HP appeared on its head. Although only 10% of its total HP , the dragon was stunned to see beaten back by a ant like human. This incidence instantly elevated Rudra''s position in the Drax''s eyes , as there was only one law in Draconia which was respect the strong. Drax glared down the red dragon , as he bared his teeth at the rebellious red dragon. The red dragon had to lay flat on his belly and cover his head with his front legs to show that he submitted to the prince. Heron , was whistling in his mind , Rudra dished out a pretty sweet move. He was impressed. After a moment , Drax said " Let me host your group to dinner , Shakuni of the Elites , give you a welcome to Draconia. Come fly with us to the Royal palace ! ". The Elites were very happy with this proposal , everyone got excited , except for Karna who pointed out a very important point " We are flattered sir dragon. But we are humans , you see , and cannot fly! ". If dragon facial expression could be understood by humans , Drax made an expression of " Oh , I forgot that humans are pathetic excuse for intelligent species". He chatted a bit in Dragon tongue with his subordinates , before saying " Ride on the black ones , five on each". Rudra bowed at Drax''s generosity and soo did the guild members. Today was a day when they got to ride a dragon! Everyone made sure to on their in-game recording cameras , as this was a moment they would brag on for eternity. Although they would not post it as of yet on the forums , because this expedition was best kept a secret. There would be someday when they would brag on about this day a lot! . /// Sorry for the low chapter rate guys , I can only finish one a day. Tommorow will also be a one chapter day sadly , but it will get normal from day after. Thankyou for your patience. I have 5 bonus chapters from GT+ PS + Super gifts pending to be given , and they will be delivered as 3 chapter days for the entire week , starting from day after. Cheers! /// Chapter 365: Hao Mi and Mithun //// The chapter has been reedited , you are free to unlock and enjoy it now. Sorry for the one hour delay , I had to post the unfinished one due to time constraints of updating daily according to Shanghai cycle , but i corrected it now. //// ( Country X , Real world, Ambani''s office) Ambani said " I will sell you 12 % of my company to you at discount , if you buy the 10% of the company from public auction and promise to give me funding , to get me out of my debt ". Hao Mi'' ears perked up at the proposal , she said " how much discount , unless its more than 70% , i am not interested". Ambani wanted to vomit in anger , 12 % of his company shares at a 70% discount was hundereds of billions. If he wanted to do that he could just raise the capital himself. Ambani said " Are you ..... ". Hao Mi cut him before he could utter a single word , as she said " You came to me , remember that before you say anything , if you irk me even a little , bar Ethan Grey you will make an enemy of me , right here and right now and forget about your drowning company. i would send you to heaven , with your beloved son ". Mithun glared at Hao Mi , he instantly regretted his decision to invite her .... this was bad. swallowing his pride he said " 40% ". Hao Mi smiled evily and countered " 80% ". Mithun bit his tongue and said " 50% ". Hao mi countered " 70% ". Mithun said " 60% ". Hao Mi did not budge at all from 70% and said " 70% or no deal at all Mithun ". Mithun Ambani was a seasoned negotiator , as he said " 60% and i will give you something , you need desperately ! ". Hao Mi was interested as she said , " go on .... ". Mithun said " A file on all the elites , their levels , skills etc , it will be useful to you ". Hao Mi was happy to hear this .... the elites were too tight to infiltrate , and she visibly had no information of the guild from inside. she desperately needed inside information. Hao Mi said " Which members .... i don''t care for the useless ones ". Mithun Said " The big 3 and Neatwit ". Hao Mi was happy now , she said " Show me one , if i am satisfied it will be a deal ". Mithun signalled a servant to come in close , and the whispered in his ear , to bring a file for Neatwit. Hao Mi said " How did you obtain this .... im very interested". Mithun said " Very painstakingly , its 100% reliable , as to how , you don''t need to know ". Mithun then gave Hao Mi a file .... it was neatwits data. --- Player Name : Neatwit Title : Pioneer Class : Warlock Subclass : ---- LVL:78 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 870 VIT : 750 INT : 790 STA : 760 PHY : 620 HP : 107,000/107,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ???? Charm :??? Infamy : 0 Status : Healthy Equipment : Full plate armour( level 55 ). Good quality sword. atleast epic grade , maybe semi legendary. Weapons :, Common Bow , quiver of arrows , assasins daggers , Kunai knife , unknown sword ( great quality) Skills : Slash , Jab , Windslash , Dark devour , Black Rune attack . Class specific skills : Supreme assaulter , supreme mage Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : none ---- Hao Mi looked at it and studied it seriously , there were many speculations made here and there , but it was useful data. Hao Mi after a long time of intense studying said " I need to see the file on the bastard leader Shakuni, that ********* Rudra Rajput , needless to say i drop my demand to 65% , regardless of if i am happy or not ". Mithun had no choice but to obey , he sent the servant to fetch the Rudra file , as he presented it to Hao Mi ----- Player Name : Shakuni Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , , Dragon Slayer , Lieutenant General Of The Hazelgroove Army Class : Knight Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 72 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 846 VIT : 846 +423 INT : 846 STA : 846 +423 PHY : 846 HP : 109,000/109,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : ???? Status : Healthy Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , (sword) ( Good quality ) Skills : Darkness bind , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Earthquake , Blink , Stormbringer , Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Class specific skills :----- Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : Unknown puppy ---- Hao Mi studied Rudra''s stats and said " What mostorously high stat points for his level , no wonder he is soo strong. is this news 100% reliable? ". Mithun Ambani could not just say that he had no spy in the Elites , and this was all hours of watching tapes , and speculation by the analysis experts he hired at high wages. hence he lied " 100%. taken 3 days ago ". Hao Mi squinted her eyes , she had trouble beleiving in the news , but at the end she said , Alright deal! shaking her hands with Mithun Ambani , she decided to help him , just this once. And accepted the deal. -------- ( Meanwhile in the True Elites guild ) Jhonny was now left incharge of the guild , and the thing was , he had absolutely zero experience in running a guild. He never even paid attention to what Rudra did , hence he was very chill about everything. If some guild member had a conflict with any other guilds within Purplehaze city , he would simply threaten them with expulsion from the city. Afterall , the elites were the rulers of Purplehaze. It was a man mans rule under him , as things like diplomacy and talking to other guilds cordially had long been thrown out of the window . There were the most nonsencial missions on the guild board , like click a photo of the prettiest girl in Purplehaze city , the winner getting 1000 gold. Then a contest to confess love within guild members was created. Where the guild would pay anyone who would propose any other guild member. But the way Jhonny structured it was a department wise contest , with the department having the most matches , getting a funding bonus of 100,000 gold. Apparently there were 74 new couples in the guild. All of whom only confessed because of Jhonny''s scheme. Apparently this boosted Jhonny''s confidence a lot , as he felt like Cupid himself. For a moment he started to imagine himself in a daiper , with a string and a bow , but instantly it cracked , and the image of a man in a suit with a dagger replaced it. Jhonny sighed as he said " Jhonny English doesn''t wear diapers ! ". This was heard by Amelia , who was working on her admin duties , but since it came out of nowhere , she had a confused stare at Jhonny. When Jhonny noticed Amelia ''s gaze he misunderstood it as a gaze of someone who had a crush on him. Hence he checked Amelia out , good body , slim waist , but the problem was that her bust was small to medium , B cups at best. This was unacceptable to Jhonny. He was a E cup man , and would never settle for less than D. Hence he said " Sorry love , u can''t date me ". Amelia "..... ". She was stunned silent , as she decided to focus back on work. Jhonny English was not in her realm of understanding. Although she had her reservations about Jhonny''s way of managing the guild , since he was such a senior member ,and Rudra left him incharge , she remained silent. -------- ( Meanwhile in , Draconia ) Rudra and gang were on the floor , where tonns of plates of roasted meat were infront of them. Apparently the dragons ate on the floor , they had no furniture like tables. And since they ate from their mouths , they had no cutlery either. Hence the elites found themselves in a room full of faint food , with no cutlery to eat. Rudra took the lead and took out Elven sword as he sliced a big lettuce and started to eat. Soon the others also took out their weapons , and started to slice the meat and eat. The only one struggling was Yume , being someone unable to wield weapons , and a monk , he was a pure vegetarian who had to eat the faint fruits by directly biting into them. Even the most common grapes were the size of a pizza , hence Yume was full after eating just a single one. Satiety in Omega was a luxury , one could feel the tastes without actually eating anything. It was one of the Marvel''s of the game , that one overlooked manier times , but was incredibly hard to incorporate and should get more credit. During the entire meal , Furball did not take a single bite of food from the Dragons platter , as she chose to eat the food Rudra had brought for her. Being an extremely fussy eater , she would not eat anything except the extremely rare and expensive fish dressed and cooked by expert chefs that Rudra fed her. Rudra truly treated her like a princess , and Furball enjoyed every moment of it. She absolutely loved Rudra , in the days she was with him growing up , she only grew fonder and fonder of her owner. Who was very kind to her. The entire time , Drax only intently observed Furball and , wanted to say something during the meal , but thinking it to be impolite to the guests , he waited till the dinner ended. Internally he was laughing at himself ... A high and mighty tier 4 peak dragon like him. Someone enroute to become the crown prince of draconia soon. Had to get help from puny humans. His pride would absolutely not allow him to accept such an outcome. But this was the case. His second brother was the current favourite to succeed his father when the little one achieved great feats in the war against the previous beast king Phoenix. Yes , the beast king was killed by the current dragon King '' Raja the mighty '' , a war that costed the lives of a thousand tier 4 dragons , and forced a thousand more to go berserk and mutate. It was a victory but it came at a high price , as the king lost vision in both his eyes. His life only spared because his second brother took the brunt of the attack to save his father. Just one moment , one single moment , made him the favourite of his father , one moment changed his birthright as the crown prince , into an ambiguous position , which he may or may not recieve. And now a divine nine tailed beast cub sat before him , with the essence of the slain beast king phoenix inside of it... And Drax needed the help of this very beast , to succeed in his plan. But such a divine beast , was actually subservient to a weakling human ..... As a proud Dragon , he would never understand such a thing. Why would a superior beast that would be tier 5 within the next 50 years , choose to submit to a human? Yet , he understood in only a short time of observing Rudra , that this human was not ordinary at all.... He was like that man from long ago .... The man named Augustus Won Knight , the human who slayed a thousand dragons. That move that Rudra did to return the red dragons fire .... He would never forget it ... It was the same he saw all those years ago. The one performed by that knight. Shrouded by mystery , a dragon prince was forced to host a human ! Rudra too was silently observing the dragon , he knew that the dragon though kind for now , had some hidden motive behind Inviting them here , there was nothing like a free lunch in this world , and since Rudra ate at his table , or more like his floor , soon would come the request. What made him curious though , was the fact that , why would a dragon like Drax need help from a mere human like Rudra. He knew deep down it had something to do with Furball , but he would absolutely not let anything happen to Furball at all. She was his baby , noone was allowed to even look at her with Malicious eyes. She maybe divine , but she had a soft fur pelt , no scaled to protect her , no fangs to rip anyone , just three soft tails that could maybe tickle the enemy to death . She was absolutely not a combat pet even with all her amazing skills , hence if the request consisted of Furball , or making her do anything dangerous , Rudra would refuse it on the spot. No words were exchanged at the dinner table , hence , as everyone ate in silence. But everyone could feel the tension ..... Something big was about to happen . ---- /// Incase you all unlocked this chapter before it was correctly edited , I am sorry , please dm me for the displeasure I caused you. I will take full responsibility. The answer to the riddle , since many of you all are asking was : BARCODE. For the first question, which was a millitary code language and that would have given you a QR code as a second riddle which would open as a image of a Ruby on scanning. Hence the final answer to the riddle was RUBY. Congratulations to all the winners who solved it. Also thankyou for the patience , the chapter shedule will go back to normal from now on. 3 chapters a day./// Chapter 366: On equal terms with a Dragon. After dinner , Drax requested Rudra to meet him in private , and Rudra accepted the proposal , as the two decided to meet in the open Royal garden. Inside the royal garden , for the first time , Drax shapeshifted from a dragon to a human form. He was a muscular human with a lean face and golden blonde hair just like his scale color. When he stood face to face with Rudra , Rudra felt gratified. He was standing on equal terms with a dragon currently , it was not something , he could have ever imagined. Rudra said " So you can shapeshift? ". Drax replied " All dragons can shapeshift , but we are most proud of our dragon form , why would we live as other creatures if we are dragons?". Rudra chuckled , in a way what Drax said made perfect sense. Drax said " Before I tell you anything , I need to ask you again of your identity. Are you related to a man called Augustus Won Knight? ". Rudra raised his eyebrow, this was a very unexpected question , but after cautiously weighing the options , he said " Why do you think so?". Drax replied , " That move ... The way you returned the dragon breath back to the red guard with double the power. It was a move I personally saw with my own eyes , performed by that man Augustus ". Rudra nodded as he said " My name is Shakuni won knight " Rudra offered no further explanations , as a single sentence was enough. Drax made his own assumptions , as the two started to take a walk. Drax said " As you must know , the Beast Emperor is dead , the immortal phoenix fell under my father , the dragon Kings assault , and to prevent him from rebirth , his soul was dissipated using a forbidden technique , a fragment of which now lives under your pet ". Rudra was shocked by this news , it was naturally not something he knew , or had ever heard about in his two lifetimes. Rudra''s interested was piqued , as Drax continued " The fight was brutal and the dragons took heavy losses , including my father losing vision in both his eyes ... ". Rudra nodded as he said " My condolonces ". Drax waved it off as he said " It was a foolish decision to take on the Phoenix Emperor , but my father wanted to be the beast Emperor. With no strong warriors within the phoenix clans middle ranks. The dragons had an edge in the war, but the death of the beast Emperor has irked the other divine beast races , including the very powerful Nine tailed beast clan ". Rudra took some time to process the news , but he currently knew too less about the beast power structure and big players and clans to understand the severity of the situation. But it was just as he thought it would be, it was somehow related to Furball . Drax continued " Your pet , it can be a bridge between the dragon clan being on good terms with the Divine Nine tailed beasts again , hence why I want this favour from you , name your price human , I want your pet ". Rudra immediately shook his head as he said " Not possible. Furball is not for sale , not now not ever ". Anger flared in Drax''s eyes for a moment , but quickly vanished. But that one moment of unrestrained killing intent , gave Rudra the understanding of the power disparity between the duo. Rudra was the ant here , and he needed to keep that in mind. Drax said " Why? , You can have enough gold to buy entire human empires. Enough knowledge that will take your backward race 100 years into the future in an instant , you can have name and fame , you can ask the dragon''s for any favour to raze any enemy you want to the ground. Even so? Will you not sell me your pet? ". Rudra said " Call me a fool , but once i take someone as a part of the Elites , then there Is no price in the world that will make me sell them out , Furball is a member of the guild , she will not be sold ". Drax both respected Rudra''s conviction and was frustrated at the answer Rudra gave him , as he said " You do know , I can kill all of you before you even lift a finger right? , I may look like a human , and you maybe a won knight , but don''t forget kid , I''m stronger than a million of you combined ". Rudra was not intimidated one bit , instead he calmly walked on and said " Why is the dragon prince soo desperate ? , What is in it for you , I know it''s not the national interest. Otherwise we would not be meeting in private , but in the royal court with the king present ". It was Drax''s turn to be surprised , Rudra was indeed a smart one. He was not the average Joe, hence Drax said " Well observed human , as you said , I am the prince of Draconia , not the crown prince , the credit for making peace with a tribe like the Divine Nine Tailed beasts would be enough to safeguard my spot ". Rudra nodded , understanding more of the picture now , as he said " Explain me the current power structure of the beasts ". It was funny how slowly Rudra was turning from the weaker one to the stronger one in the conversation , as slowly but surely he started to take charge. Ofcourse it was only because he knew that Drax needed him , and not the other way around , that is why he could test his bottom line. Drax said " Any beast who reaches tier 6 , is called a divine beast , and direct descendants of divine beasts are those who usually excell in all aspects of the race , and usually end up becoming a tier 6 beast themselves , currently there are 3 divine beast clans , the Divine dragon''s , of whom I am a part of. The divine Phoenix , with whom we fought a war with , and the Divine nine tailed fox , with whom our neutrality is at a risk. Every divine beast race faces the same problem , that is fertility. In the last 640 years , my father even after trying every single day , could not concieve a child with over 7600 noble dragonesses. Only the queen , my mother , and the second queen , the mother of my younger brother , were able to give birth to children , in my father''s 800 years as Dragon king. Unfortunately for him ,unlike my grandfather , he could not reach the divine ranks , and truly become a contender for becoming beast Emperor . Even so , his ambition made him go for that throne anyway. But the point is , in the last 1000 years the phoenix clan had no new divine blood descendants added to their ranks , and the nine tailed fox beasts were even worse with no new blood within their ranks for the last 2300 years , or soo it was untill that little one you have showed up. That is why the little one is soo valuable. Its existance alone will be waves In the beast world. What annoys me is , such a beast chose a human as a master. But now that I know you are a won knight , it makes sense. Your blood is special too ". This was a lot of information to process at once for Rudra , Rudra was completely speechless about furballs importance , the pet he was cuddling with a few hours ago , was actually some lost extinct breed of divine beast. Also , Drax thought him to be a blood relative or Augustus , which was not the case , but Rudra was not at all eager to clear that confusion. Rudra hence said " I''m willing to negotiate terms with the the nine tailed fox clan for you , if I can bring you peace , and you can take the credit, What will you give me? Drax instantly chuckled at Rudra''s ridiculous proposal , but when he saw the dead serious look in Rudra''s eyes , he paused to consider it for a moment. Drax said " 9 days , the Centurial dragon summit is in 9 days. If you can bring me a signed peace treaty from the divine nine tailed fox clan by then , then all the resources , all the knowledge , all the treasures under my personal possession will be open to you and your group members. Technologies far beyond your brain can comprehend , and skill scrolls that no other humans possess .... Name your price and you shall have it , do you dare? ". SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : Quest Recieved ( Negotiate a peace treaty ) Difficulty : A The dragon prince has assigned you the task of negotiating peace with the divine nine tailed fox clan . Time limit : 9 days Rewards : 50 days, unlimited access to all resources within Draconia. DO YOU WISH TO ACCEPT YES NO. Rudra unhesitatingly pressed yes , as he grinned and said " give me a flying dragon , and host my team for my absence , I''ll be back within 3 days , dragon prince ! , That''s the Elite way of doing things ". Drax did not know if Rudra was a fool or a genius , he could only state at the man blankly , before clapping his hands twice soo that a guard dragon flew in quickly to him. Drax said " Take this man to the land of illusions .... ". It seems like Rudra had a quest to complete! Chapter 367: If its manipulation , leave it to Shakuni Once Rudra had time to properly think about what he did , Rudra buried his face in his palms in embarrassment. Why.... Why did he try to act soo cool infront of Drax? Deep down Rudra knew the answer to that ..... It was ''Respect''. Rudra had never felt soo small , since coming to Draconia. He wanted to make a point , that the Elites are not your average Joe , that they are not like most humans. But in his thirst for that recognition , he said stupid things like , '' give me 3 days ''. And '' that''s the Elite way ''. To be honest , he was carried away with seeing the difficulty of the quest. It was the first time , in a long time , that Rudra saw an A rated quest. It was always S , SS or SSS missions for him. Hence to see a normal one , it was funny to him and made him say those stupid words to look cool. However , one thing was for sure , that Rudra had every intention of living upto his stupid promise now that he made it . Enroute on the Back of the black dragon , Rudra had nothing much to do , hence he started to talk to the dragon messenger , trying to understand more information about the divine nine tailed fox clan. The messenger was prideful and hard to talk to , but it was a long journey , hence over bits and pieces , Rudra was able to get all the answers he wanted , However he liked none of them. Apparently , the Nine tailed fox''s lived in the land of illusions. It was a place covered in mysterious fog , as noone who entered it , can truly say that they had found the city of the nine tailed fox clan. It was always an illusion of talking to the nine tailed fox beasts , an illusion of a prosperous cityscape , an illusion to sleep in a warm bed in a inn , only to wake up buck naked in a forest , being crawled on by snakes. A place even the bravest of dragons would not go , unless absolutely necessary. It was a land Rudra had to traverse without anyone''s help. Rudra now truly regretted his big mouth , maybe this won''t be as easy as he thought it would be. Rudra really wanted to complete this quest , the one month of time , he and the group would get , if he completed this task successfully , was going to be a month of astronomical improvement for everyone. From unheard of technologies for warfare , to potions of high potency and rare ingredients and effects they did not knew of , some skill scrolls , some combat training and some weapons. The elites needed a complete massive upgrade , and Draconia was a chance to get this upgrade. Rudra was currently desperate for an edge , he needed ace holes after ace holes , and not only for himself , but for the entire guild. He needed to keep getting stronger and stronger. Only then could he become the strongest guild master someday. --------- ( Meanwhile in Purplehaze city ) Member''s of the Chinese traids were now secretly trying to buy property inside Purplehaze city. The order''s from the headquarters were clear , try and buy housing within Purplehaze city to make sleepercell strongholds throughout the city. With the newly acquired unstable alchemical weapons. Hao Mi was planning to cause mayhem in Purplehaze City , for this the instructions were to buy housing inside Purplehaze city , gain information about the operation , and prepare sleeper cells with enough stock to turn all the sectors of the city into pits of burning flame. The plan sounded solid on paper , however , upon execution , there was a major problem in the plan.... One that noone ever expected to pop up. There was not a single plot of land listed in the entire city , up for sale.... Apparently listed under one Augustus Won Knight , a masked player only seen once publicly , apparently a part of the true Elites . Hao Mi was baffled by this news .... Just how much capital did the elites have? With building a massive wall , and a teleportation array , and the lavish equipment costs of the guild .... They still had enough money to buy an entire city worth of land? Not a single plot left for sale? How ridiculous was this? But this raised a big question ..... Who was Augustus Won Knight .... Where had he been since his last appearance? What is his role in the elites guild? Hao Mi wanted information .... And currently there was apparently only one person in the world that could get her the information she wanted. One Mithun Ambani. -------- ( Meanwhile , in the real world ) Ethan Grey was preparing for the coming bank auction of the shares for Ambani Corporation , it was a all hands on deck situation right now within the Grey international tower , as this was the time where Everyone knew the importance of not making a slightest mistake. Stats were being printed , money liquidated , many stocks sold in bulk , basically capital was being raised for the auction , Ethan got news from his wife/mother of his child in Russia , that Hao Mi of the triads was recently seen with Ambani. This was a headache for Ethan , if hao Mi was willing to step in to help Ambani , he would have to bleed a lot .... Even so , would he be able to really outbid one of the biggest drugs and arms dealer of the world? Ethan was pacing in his office as he cursed Hao Mi ... " F*** , F*** , why did I choose to do legal buisness and pay taxes ..... Now I have to call that clingy Russian for help , ughh , F*** you Ambani , your company will cost me one hour of a wasted phone call ". Ethan Grey regretted every moment of what he was about to do next , but it was necessary.... Hence gathering the courage , Ethan Grey called his wife ..... The phone was picked up and from the other side a angry voice said " na khuy tupoy otets i pridurok muzh" Which meant ( f*ck you stupid father and moron husband ) To which Ethan said " Suka Blyat ". Chapter 368: A very dangerous situation Hao Mi had made a deal with Ambani , for the contact of the mole within the Elites , she was ready to forgo the 2% extra shares she would get as a bonus for helping Mithun. Soo technically , she was offering billions of dollars for one single contact. However , Mithun Ambani was hesitant about it. He had spent a really long time , and invested a really huge fortune to get this one single contact within the elites. Although an unreliable one .... But the contact was there for his personal vendetta against the Elites and giving her to Hao Mi was going to be a huge waste. The contact Mithun had within the elites , was the step aunt of Naman and Naomi , the friend that took the pair in and safeguarded their growth all these years , considered a second mother by the brother sister duo , she was Jenny. Coming into society after all these , Jenny was suddenly releived of her duties to look after the kids and found herself with immense free time and after a little nudge by the young Naomi , she tried her hands on online dating. It was around this time , that Mithun Ambani had placed highest vigilance on the trio that had seeked shelter within the True Elites, as naman and Naomi were about to turn 21 and become a major shareholder in his company. Hence , when he was notified of Jenny coming on dating platforms , Mithun made a call to the dating site owner , and made it such that Jenny accidentally matched with Mithun. Over the next few months , it was a slow and arduous timeframe of chatting and building trust , as Mithun used a fake name and a fake face to get as close to Jenny as possible , without actually meeting her even once. Everyday Mithun would talk to Jenny for 2-3 hours , till now , when he knew he had completely won over the woman. Jenny would go to the parents club of the Elites , as the parents would talk about their kids progress in game. Then she would talk about all off it to Mithun over chat at night , who was very appreciative of this particular topic. Little by little , she was manipulated into leaking secrets of the elites. As , sometimes she would ask Neatwit for inside information , and something''s from Naomi. Completely trusting her partner , it was a blunder on Jenny''s part. Mithuns initial plan with this project was , to someday send an assasin as the fake boyfriend of Jenny to meet her one day. As he would lie in wait and kill the brother sister duo within the upside . Jenny would get the man in from the security clearances , telling that he was her boyfriend ..... It was the same trick Mithun had used to kill Naman and Naomi''s mom all those years ago! However that plan changed , the day his son died. After spending a lot of resources on finding out who killed his son .... A name surfaced .. the same name who was behind the oil field blast.... The one named Bo. Since that day the first target of his revenge became that one Bo , and he was very close to fulfilling that plan. The assassin was set to meet Jenny within two days .... Being soo close , he could not just blow his cover , could he? But that made the part of rejecting Hao Mi even harder ... Knowing her , if he revealed the fact that there was a way in which he could send someone to infiltrate the upside , she would push her own vendetta before his. Probably asking for the life of Rudra Rajput , or even Ethan Grey. Although Mithun would loose no sleep if anyone of them was killed , but they were not the priority. He swore on his dead sons cold body to get justice for him! And that''s what he would do , no matter the monetary cost , he would bring that bastard Bo to justice. Hence Mithun Ambani said " No , I refuse ! ". This came as a major shock to Hao Mi , who had not expected it at all. She was sure that Ambani would leap at the opportunity. This soured her mood considerably .... She squinted her eyes , as she thought of what to do next. --------- ( Meanwhile just outside the land of illusions ) The black dragon dropped Rudra at an open plain , 50 meters away was what appeared as a forestline ... That was covered mysteriously in dense fog. The dragon said " Alright , get your @$$ off by back boy. Go , I will wait here for nine days , after which I fly back , with or without you ". Rudra climbed down and told the dragon " Why. Is the mighty dragon too chicken to come with me into the forest? ". This caused the black dragon to snarl in anger , it was extremely loud and terrifying to hear , as he bared his teeth at Rudra. Rudra pinched his nose as he said " Goddamn it , blacky , brush your damn teeth once a century , you stink, ugh! Well i don''t need slowpokes like you anyway , soo I hope you stay and doze your lizard a$$ off ". Saying soo Rudra casually strode towards the forest line , dissapearing into the fog , moments later. The moment he crossed the tree line , only then did he realize , just how dense the fog was. He could not even see the palm of his hand unless it was directly within 10 centimetres of his eyes. Otherwise it was all invisible. Rudra was flabbergasted .... This is not low visibility ... This is as good as 0 visibility! What the hell is wrong with the nine tailed beasts! Rudra activated the eyes of truth , he had no idea if it had any practical use here , but he did it as he had no other options. But shockingly , the fog cleared a lot once he activated the eyes of truth.... He could see upto 5 meters now! This was much better than before , as Rudra was pleasantly surprised ... " Alrighty!". He said , as he started to stride inside the forest. Chapter 369: The true glory of a nine tailed beast Rudra started to make his way inside the dense fog. It is good his vision expanded ever since he activated the eyes of truth , else he would have been hanging his head in trees or tripping over vines , every other step. After about half an hour of not finding a single clue about any nine tailed beast , Rudra summoned Furball , as he took a short break and started to stroke her. It was at that very moment though , that a powerful illusion caught Rudra , his surroundings changed , and he was in the White Radiance guild again .... In a dungeon run , carrying supplies as the supply boy , treated inhumanely , getting no share of the loot . It was one of the lowest points in his previous life ... And he was shocked to see such a memory right now. Rudra was an extremely rational minded person , he did not let the scenes affect him one bit , as he knew this was all fake. Rudra became alert immediately , as he focused on the things wrong. When a fireball came flying towards him , Rudra was quick to react and dodge. The illusion was broken , Rudra was back inside the forest. Rudra said " I come in peace , do not attack " . The fog around Rudra started to become more dense , as Furball started to growl towards a particular direction. Soon , over the tree line , Rudra could see nine massive tails hanging , soon two clear and sharp Ruby colored eyes were visible from inside the fog. A massive Furball like head then lowered itself to look at Rudra in the eye. The beast had the same furcoat like Furball , soft shiny and golden yellow , however the size of the beast was massive ... Even bigger than most dragons Rudra had seen. Rudra tried to see the stats of the beast ... ( Divine Nine tailed beast ) ( Protector of the Nothern continent ) ( Tier ????? ) ( Level ???? ) : The most revered beast on the nothern continent , even the beast Emperor has to give face. Rudra never noticed how , Furball had been put to sleep in under a second by the giant nine tailed beast , who was only intently looking at Rudra. Then after a moment , the giant nine tailed beast shape shifted .... It shapeshifted into Ruby , but with golden hair. Alarm bells were ringing inside Rudra''s mind ... The level of this beast was beyond his comprehension. From making him look at his nightmares to transforming into the person he likes the most. The beast could read his memories it seemed , or the illusion was soo strong that it was catered to the user. The nine tailed beast said " Welcome , Shakuni Won Knight , the dragon Slayer , the revered medicine master, the honorary bishop of the church of light. You have bountiful names , worthy of being called a won knight ! ". Rudra was stunned , he thought '' okay maybe it can see through me ''. The nine tailed beast said " It is a little offensive , I am a girl aren''t I? Call me Luna , and yes i can see through you darling ". Rudra squinted his eyes. He needed to fortify his mental defences , but how could he even play against an enemy who could read his mind? Luna said " I''m not your enemy , and yes you cannot play against me .... I mean don''t I look pretty? You could play naughty with me ..... ". Rudra had to shake his head , no point in thinking now , he said " I am here for ... ". Luna said " Yes , yes I know , Drax that fool and his power struggles , I know more about you right now than you probably know about yourself , soo yes I will give you the treaty , it''s not a big deal. Soo entertain me for a while will you? ". Rudra became even more cautious , he felt frustration boil up in his mind and his heart. As Luna started to laugh , she said " You are an interesting one ..... Never have I seen a human quite like you ... Such strong desires , but even stronger control , you are one of a kind ". Luna continued to size Rudra up as she said " Your guild is your biggest desire , followed by your personal strength , then comes this girl and then comes the other things in life. But no desire for vanity , no desire for fame , no desire for wealth , it''s quite conflicting to an ambitious leader , you are ambitious , but for all the wrong reasons. And then there is the little one you have by your side , no idea how to raise her , you think she is a cute pet meant for indoors? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Let me tell you , within a year , she would be stronger than you , and her battle potential much bigger than you ..... Do you even know her traits? ". Rudra was baffled , but then looked into Luna''s eyes and said " Furball is my baby , she is not for combat ". Luna could not speak for a moment after which she sighed and said " A rare human who speaks what''s actually in his mind. I envy the little one to find a master like you who spoils her soo much. Tell me this one thing , you are not foolish , you know that the beast was strong enough to become a continental threat someday. Being your pet , she will do your bidding , your dream of becoming an emperor and marrying the elf will come true .... Soo why? Why do you choose to not do so? ". Rudra looked at the ground , he was perplexed by the question , but the answer was as clear as day in his heart , he said " am I soo weak that I need to use my pet to conquer my dreams? Am I soo weak that I would push a little pup with three tails into constant hunting and levelling soo that she can turn into a weapon to do my bidding? Neither morally nor with my physical strength , am i soo weak. Yes , Killing is a part of life , but Furball is still a kid , and I will spoil her to enjoy the finer things in life , till she is a six tailed beast atleast , then she can choose her own lifespath I am Shakuni of the elites , and even though my dreams are big and seen impossible , I rely on my own strength and carve my own fate. Let me see who can stop me on my way to the top! ". Rudra made his stance clear ... He would rely on improving himself , rather than tapping into the potential of his pet , because that is the only way he would be satisfied in his achievements. HIS ACHIEVEMENTS , not things handed down to him , not things that others achieved for him , things he took for himself through blood, sweat and tears! Chapter 370: A snake enters Luna had never met a human like Rudra , his mind was an ocean of fog. Even after seeing his memories and reading his mind , she could not understand what was it that he actually wanted , what was his bottom line , and what was his dreams. To be honest , when a human entered her forest , she was genuinely pissed off , but instead of most humans that would keep on bumping into trees or tripping on vines because of the low visibility , Rudra was able to actually function like a normal person , this piqued Luna''s interest. Then Rudra brought out the nine tailed fox child. For a moment Luna was stunned , she had never heard of any divine nine tailed beast giving birth in the last year , soo it was clearly not from the clan , yet still exuded a divine aura , it was from the race , that was for sure. Now the human was a mystery to Luna , hence she decided to enter his mind. While Rudra was seeing the illusion of his past , Luna was reading through his memories , trying to see what to do with him. If he had any Ill will for the seedling , or did not love it the way he did , Luna would have done everything in her power to seperate the young one from Rudra. But inside his mind , there was only love for Furball , not a single thought of using her as a tool. Now at this point Luna''s heart melted , this was a true bond , this human was different. Hence she decided to entertain the human. Luna was actually the protector beast of the Nothern continent , even the Dragon King had not been able to meet her in the last 1000 years. The land of illusions spanned for about 400 km2 area and was home to nearly 7000 nine tailed beasts. The tailed beasts were a secluded clan who did not like fighting wars , but were undoubtedly the strongest beasts on the continent. From mind manipulation to large scale destruction , they could do everything. Luna had no problems in signing a non aggressive pact with the kingdom of dragons , it was because she did not intend to attack them anyway. Luna said " You should stay here for two more days , we can''t make it look that it was too easy , can we? Besides , I have some tricks that I can teach you too ". Rudra nodded , this was perfect , only now did Rudra notice that Furball was sound asleep on the ground. He carefully picked her up and put her in his embrace within his guild robes , as he thought " I need to educate her better , the floor is not a place to sleep ". Luna almost stopped in her tracks when she heard Rudra''s mind voice .... It was then that she realized why Rudra''s mind was covered in fog ... It was because the leader of the Elites , although a brilliant strategist and a cunning opponent , did not use his brain when it came to matters that he was comfortable with .... A Bonafide '' Baka'' ( idiot). Rudra was happy to have completed the quest soo easily. Little did he know that if it was anyone except him. Even someone like Karna who could traverse the forest with his minds eyes , noone would have piqued the interest of Luna. The mission was easy , because it was Rudra doing it. ---------- ( Real world , the upside ) A lethal assassin , taking the identity of the fake online lover of Neatwits step-aunt Jenny , was now inside the upside. It was auction day for the shares of Mithun Ambani''s corporation , and Ethan Grey was brutally busy with work , and soo was most of the staff in the upside. A snake had made his way into a pen of sheep , and the Shephard was currently busy in his house. Making his way to Neatwits house , escorted by the local transport facility of the upside. He mentained the perfect facade of a weak English man. For now , he was going to do nothing , he met Jenny , said the rehearsed lines he was filled in with , and pretended to have a great conversation with her. While silently scanning the house , and available weapons he could use for his mission. He asked " Soo , where are the kids.....". --------- ( Meanwhile at the public auction ) Ethan Grey had opened the bidding at 700 billion dollars ,the base price . The Ambani corporation although had lost 40% of its intrinsic value , was still worth nearly 36 trillion dollars. Of whom today 10% shares were on sale , meaning nearly 3.6 trillion dollar worth. Getting them for anything less than 3.6 trillion was basically shortchanging Ambani and if things did go the way Ethan wanted them to go , he would definitely want to keep it right at the 700 billion dollar mark. Not a single penny more. However naturally there were other players , and everyone wanted to bid till almost 3 trillion dollars. After which it was dependant on how much money one wanted to earn. A final bid of 3.5 trillion dollars came from himsal group , before backing out when Ethan Grey decided to go in with 3.6 trillion. All of the major companies were out at this point , as Ethan seemed to be the only player left , it was only now , that Hao Mi started her bidding. 3.8 trillion , the game had now started. Ethan had mentally prepared himself for this , he was going to become the majority shareholder of Ambani corporation and get his losses back by selling the company brick for brick. 4 trillion dollars. It was Ethan''s bid! Hao Mi instantly bid to 4.2 trillion , she had made a deal with Mithun , who would sell her 2% shares as an extra , which meant she would bid till 12% of the total value of the company. Ethan did not know the oppositions end line. Hence he had to place 4.4 trillion and just watch what would happen next. Little did he know that , a landscape changing event was going to go down while he was busy bidding in the auction. An event that would shake Rudra''s immense trust in Ethan Grey , an event that would change Ethan''s own attitude by a lot. But most importantly , It would affect one Jhonny English the most! Chapter 371: Fallout Luna was keen on teaching Furball about the nine tailed beasts and about her own potential , but reading Rudra''s mind she knew she would never convince him for the same. After a lot of thinking , Luna said " So , you have 30 days of training time inside Draconia , what do you plan to do? ". Rudra did not even feel surprised anymore , his mind was an open book for this divine beast of unknown power. He said " well my plan is to get some skill scrolls , some weapons , some technologies for my guild and the like ....". Luna sighed and said " Soo you have no plan , and are planning to roll it as it happens ..". Rudra said " yep , absolutely ! " Luna said " I have a proposition for you , in the two days you are here with me , I will impart you with 3 very valuable skills , and also give you a roadmap as to how to maximize your gains within the 30 days in Draconia. However , in return I want you to let Furball stay here with me for 30 days. She is a nine tailed beast , even if she is your pet , and it is imperative that she learns the way of the clan ". Rudra was very hesitant Now .. his mind was in a turmoil , he absolutely wanted the skills and the roadmap , but did not want to leave Furball like this . Sensing his anxiety , Luna said " It will be beneficial to Furball herself , she needs to grow stronger too , consider this as her training session and the condition for me to give you the peace saction ". Rudra now started at Luna , this was not the original terms , she had changed it. Rudra thought about it for a while and then decided to let Furball decide , as he told the little beast " This is your grandma , do you want to stay at your grandma''s place for sometime? ". Furball sighed inwardly , her human did not understand her intelligence , she was as smart as an adult male. But since he was being soo cute , she decided to play ball and went towards Luna''s human form and started to sniff her legs. Rudra sighed , as he said " they sure grow up fast , alright it''s a deal ". Luna gave Furball a look of '' This is your master ... Seriously? '' To which Furball looked back like '' Completely embarassed''. Holding her part of the bargain , Luna signed a 25 year peace treaty with the Draconia and then proceeded to take Rudra towards a special lake inside the land of illusions. Luna said " Your eyes ... They are the eyes of truth are they not? ". Rudra nodded " Yes ". Luna said " No wonder you were able to maneuver through the forest ... What an interesting human. However your eyes of truth are too weak..... Go inside the lake , and try focussing your sight on the scripture at the bottom of the lake. The gains you have , will completely depend on your pain tolerance . Here drink this aquatic breathing potion too , else you will be out before even five minutes. Go ". Rudra slowly walked into the lake , as he chugged down the potion when he was waist deep into the waters , then Rudra immersed himself inside the water. There was a rhythmic music inside the water, as the air bubbles rising in the lake had a rhythm to it. On the bottom of the lake , there was something shining , it was the same thing producing the vibrations. Rudra started to swim towards it. ---------- ( Meanwhile in the real world ) The assassin had learnt from Jenny a lot of things about the upside , like the special police drones and the international security. He had also located the residence of Bo the assassin responsible for killing Mithun Ambani''s son. And under special instructions of Mithun Ambani , he was to shoot Bo , the same way his son was shot . This was a situation that was both right and wrong. Bo was indeed part of the mission, however it was Jhonny English who killed Ambani'' s son. However with Jhonny retiring , he decided to give the entire missions credit to Bo. Which counter circulated the rumors of a new top assassin Bo emerging. On the excuse of wanting to explore the upside a little , the assasin seemingly took Jenny out for a date . Within his coat pocket was a mini compressed high intensity pistol. It could fire 5 accurate shots , before eventually the acid melted the gun into bits and pieces. Making it soo that it never existed. While pretending to eat ice cream , and act like a teenager with Jenny , the assassin was only on the lookout for Bo and as luck would have it. Bo was on an evening run on the streets of upside. The assassin asked Jenny , he said " Darling , who is that man? ". To which Jenny said " Oh , he is Mr Bo , very handsome young man , isn''t he ". The assassin laughed , " Indeed , I am jealous of him". Jenny laughed too , but did not notice , him pulling out a small gun from his pocket , towards the approaching Bo. Bo was running casually , the upside was apparently the safest place of earth , he was not on a guard as this was a usual routine for him. Yet when the man siding his coat appeared infront of him , Bo''s years of training instinctively kicked in , he was alarmed by the situation. He looked towards the man''s face , which had an evil smile plastered all over it. Before BANG! , The first shot was fired , piercing a hole through his stomach. Bo instantly started to side roll , this was a life or death situation. His body had started to pump crazy amounts of adrenaline. However , mind numbing pain spread all across him , because of the shot. Jenny was flabbergasted at the situation , but before the man could take a second shot on the bleeding Bo , she grabbed his hand. The assassin was pissed at this woman and said " Let it go bitxh ". And smacked her hard in the face. Before shooting one bullet through her skull. Jenny was DEAD there and then. But this was a blunder on his part , as an angry Bo , came crashing onto him. A scuffle broke out, as Bo pummled his fists into the assasins face. Bam bam bam ! While making barbaric sounds. While the assasin kept hitting his abdomen , where he was profousely bleeding from and was hurt. The drone cops had now arrived at the scene , and the security was 10 seconds away. The medical drones were instantly checking on Jenny , trying to save her. However, there was no saving Jenny. When the guards came in , they rushed in to restrain the assassin. However seeing his impending doom , the assassin tried to take the poison in his teeth. TRIED. Because , Bo did not let that happen. Holding his jaw open , with his bare hands , as his teeth dug down on his fingers , Bo kept it wide open , as an security officer extracted the positioned tooth. The fear of God appeared in the Assassin''s face now that he could not take the easy way out. He looked into the maniacal eyes of BO , and understood , his worst times were yet to come. There was a murder inside the upside , a family member of an Elite was killed ! , This event was sure to have a very far reaching consequences. Chapter 372: The guild is shook up ( land of illusions ) Rudra tried to focus on the golden light , however all he could see at the moment was a mass of golden light , nothing more .... Hence he decided to activate the eyes of truth! The moment he activated the eyes of truth , there were small texts appearing on the golden light. It was like he could focus into the mass of golden light and see the hidden patterns within it. It was not like the text was golden , it was like , between that blinding light , there was a small area of unshining texts . However Rudra could not read it. He could not make out if what he was seeing was an A or a K , as the stone was vibrating fast , it was impossible to see it clearly. Within minutes Rudra started to have a headache trying to focus on such a text. He would have quit , if a system notification did not change his perception. System notification : Your mind and body are being tempered , the quality of your mana circuit is improoving. Rudra did not understand what this meant , however he was sure it was something good. Now that the greed set in , Rudra suddenly felt the pain to be much more bearable. As he refocussed on trying to decipher the text. Unaware of what was transpiring in the real world , Rudra was currently enjoying his improvement session within the lake. If he had known what was going on in the real world , he would have logged out immediately , and not even cared if this opportunity to improove was wasted , as the real world was currently a mess. ------- ( Real world , the upside medical facility ) Bo was currently admitted inside the hospital , as the Assassin was under police custody. Being restrained and prepped for information extraction. Bo''s short spur of fighting the assassin and trying to prevent him from dying , had cost a lot of blood loss for the man. His life was hanging by a delicate thread currently as his pulse was at a threatening low. Noone had been informed of the incidence as of yet , as everyone was awaiting Ethan Grey''s orders. However Ethan Grey was inside a very important auction currently and could not be disturbed. Hence upon Bo''s last request, before he lost consciousness , Jhonny English was informed about the incident. Currently he was sitting in the waiting area of the hospital , as dark thoughts clouded his mind. Jhonny was not always this happy go lucky person. In the mercenary academy he was the number one genius to have ever stepped a foot inside the academy. Just like Bo. He was sharp and someone who did things by the book , however that made him always live on the edge. He was never at peace and his mind kept recalling his missions. He abandoned that style of life when he took to the mountains alongside Yume and the monks. Finding peace in letting god decide the path of life. Yet , meeting Bo , he saw a spitting image of himself in his twenties , and for the first time in a decade had the feeling of actually taking a mission seriously , to try and teach the youngster. He wanted to call it a day after he passed the torch to Bo , putting aside his days as an assassin. Yet now Bo was inside the emergency room , battling for his life and the sharpness of Jhonny English ''s gaze was slowly returning to his eyes. He was pissed off , he was angry , and he wanted revenge. At that moment Jhonny swore , that whoever was behind this incident , he would make them pay. Jhonny English was back in buisness! Not the happy go lucky Jhonny , the true number one assassin of the world Jhonny English . -------- ( Meanwhile at the auction ) Hao Mi placed her final bid at 7 trillion dollars , it was the limit as to where she was willing to pay for the shares. Any more than this and she would let it go. However 7 trillion was the magic number , spending more than this made no economic sense at all for even Ethan Grey. Spending such a large amount of funds on getting shares of Ambani corporation , meant that he would be cash strapped for the rest of the year. He had much more important avenues to invest in to get much better returns , the price for revenge was too steep here. Ethan was hesitant in bidding any further. It was at this moment , that the head of security for Grey international stormed into the council room , with 5 other guards , a the blinds of the room were quickly fallen , as a protective formation was set around Ethan Grey. Ethan was flabbergasted , as he shouted in anger " What is this nonsense Marcus , I''m in an important buisness right now! ". At this moment Marcus the head of security said something that Ethan Grey would be shocked to hear ... Marcus said " There has been a murder in the upside sir , The mercenary Bo is in the emergency room , while mrs Jenny , the aunt of Elite player duo of Neatwit and Naomi is dead! ". Lost for words for a moment , the ramifications of this event scared Ethan. He was angry at the assassination attempt , but scared of facing Rudra and Naman after this. Ethan said " what about the assassin.... " Marcus said " In our custody , alive thanx to mr Bo ". Ethan sighed , as he banged his hands on the glass table shattering it into a million pieces. He said " MAKE THE BASTARD SQUEAL , SOMEONE HAS TO PAY FOR THIS". Marcus had never seen Ethan Grey soo angry , it sent chills down his spine as he softly said " yes sir ". Ethans own hand was bleeding now because of smashing glass , however he did not care one bit about it. He even left the auction , as he said " Who all know about this? ". Marcus said " not many yet , Jhonny English is waiting outside the ER for Bo , and some residents heard the gunshots , except for that there are no civillain witnesses to the event". Ethan said " Alright , change the time of the incident to 2 hours later than it actually happened , within the next one and a half hour I want the name of the culprits and what we will do next Marcus , I cannot face Rudra and Naman without some information in my hand ". This was a slap in the face for Ethan Grey , he was confident in his ability and the safety of upside. Called it the safest place on earth. Gathered the world''s best geniuses here. And yet , there was a murder here in broad daylight by an outside assassin. This was unacceptable to his reputation . If the news of the event came out , will everyone still live in peace within the upsdie? He was sure it could not be completely contained , and that he had to take responsibility. However it was not going to be smooth. Today was a black spot in the glorious history of the rise of Ethan Grey. //// Bonus chapter for the Super gift given by Kheoms , I am sorry it took such a delay , however I have exams till 1st January , soo I was very busy. Thankyou for your patronage and support! Hope you enjoy the chapter. /// Chapter 373: An iconic day Rudra was immersed trying to figure out what the hidden text said , his entire body was being tempered under the intense water pressure and the radiation from the golden text. It was as if his skin was absorbing whatever the golden light was emitting , while his mind was operating at full speed trying to decipher the black text within it. Rudra was going a qualitative transformation currently , although he did not know it , it was something related to internal force , the game was stimulating his mind to unlock the hidden potential of the internal force. The mana circuits that were being upgraded in the game were the same as the circuit where internal energy flew. His body was being thoroughly enriched right now. Excruciating pain , both in mind and body was being felt by every single cell in Rudra''s body. However it was a sweet kind of pain , the one that the mind wanted more of. As the notifications of his mana circuit improving kept ringing through his ears , Rudra grit his teeth and kept enduring. Ten minutes became thirty minutes , and thirty minutes became an hour , which became two hours. At this point , Rudra''s entire body , was covered in black goo , his skin was blistering red , and his heartbeat had increased beyond 180 beats per minute. Since the last 10 minutes , his ears were ringing , he could finally read the first four words on the tablet.... " Energy Flows Through The ... " It was all he could read before he started to hallucinate now , not being able to take it anymore , Rudra came out of the lake. Luna was there standing over the lake , looking shocked , she had not expected the human to stay inside there for more than ten minutes , yet he endured for two entire hours. Seeing the filth that covered Rudra , even though he just came out of a purewater lake , she understood that this man had made the most of this opportunity she gave him. Rudra''s skin was sizzling currently , as water was evaporating from over it at a rate visible to the naked eye. Luna used an ice type magic to conceal Rudra , within an igloo type ice House , as she said " Come out when you are ready ". The cold of the igloo felt extremely soothing to Rudra. As his disoriented mind , finally regained some focus. Rudra looked at his skin ,which was red at some parts and covered In a thick black liquid in some others. Rudra smelled his arm , and instantly regretted his decision , he smelled like he had taken a swim in a gutter. Only now could he focus on the notifications that had came from a long time. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : Congratulations player ''shakuni'' , you are the first player to successfully break through to the Meridian Forging Realm , and setting foot in the forgotten path of cultivation. Aquiring a title : '' The First Cultivator ''. [ The First Cultivator ] ( Unique ) : The title given to the player '' Shakuni '' to have successfully entered the meridian forging realm of cultivation through the game '' Omega '' . Effects of the title : All stats ¡Á 2 Creating the stat : Mana Mana : +1000 Rudra was baffled , at what just happened. What first cultivator ... What meridian forging ? What mana? While his confusion only increased , a panic meeting was being called up by the management of Cuber corporation . ------- ( Cuber corporation , unknown location ) There was a red alert going throughout the office building , as officials were rushing left and right to get to the Emergency meeting room The room was full of top cuber officials within five minutes as the meeting convened with a projection of Gaia in the centre. Gaia said " Phase one is now in suggested , the first player to have broken the boundaries of normal humans has appeared. Player '' Shakuni '' of Hazelgroove kingdom , has stepped foot inside the meridian forging realm. The test is successful , the theory of cultivation now has a proof. Phase one can now be initiated , awaiting orders ". The cuber officials were in an uproar over this news , as one official said " It''s too soon , how did a player break through to meridian forging realm without reaching tier 4. It''s impossible , it''s too early for phase one to start ". Cuber official 2 : " Was he an expert , practicing cultivation in real life? Was he an internal force expert? ". Gaia : " Our data suggests otherwise , his body went through a qualitative change following procedure #3345 of the reality tablet lake in the land of illusions ". Cuber official 3 " How is a tier two player inside the lake of reality? THIS MAKES NO SENSE , THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE ". Cuber official 4 " Why are you all reacting soo violently to this news , we should all celebrate. The machine works! The human body can tap in on mana! ". Cuber official 3 " I am happy , its just too soon , this anamoly , we need to take care of it , news of what the VR Pods really are cannot be leaked to the world soo soon. The purpose of this game cannot be revealed! ". Cuber official 4 : " Shakuni , this player has caused a lot of waves in Omega , we need to pay him a visit , and quick. Gaia , dig out his address and send a delegation party to his house. The news of this event Must be properly contained ". Gaia " Should I pull him aside in the game space and warn him? ". Cuber official 3 : " Yes at once! ". Gaia "should we start phase one sir? ". Everyone looked at each other , as furious discussion ensued , finally after a show of vote , in 3 for to 7 against. Phase one was put on hold for now. --------- ( Meanwhile , inside Draconia ) Neatwit and the gang were enjoying the hospitality of the dragon''s , as they were currently involved in trading and bartering activities , as inside Draconia both gold and mana stones were an accepted currency. With Rudra absent , they were doing their best to obtain stuff that would help the guilds growth. It was then that Amelia emergency contacted the guild. A trajic event had transpired in reality ... Neatwit and Naomi''s step- aunt Jenny was dead! Chapter 374: Meeting Gaia again Rudra was contemplating about what cultivator and things meant ,when the familiar action of him being pulled out of game space into the blue lobby happened. Rudra knew at that moment that he did something that was not meant to be done. Gaia was there waiting for Rudra , giving him a discerning look as if he was a troublemaker. Gaia finally said " I am sure you have questions .... ". Rudra nodded , he said " what is a cultivator? ". If AI could sigh , Gaia would''ve sighed at that point. Hence she said " Soo you know nothing and I will have to start from the start. Okay listen. You must know about the law of conservation of energy right? Energy can neither be created nor destroyed , it can only be converted from one form to another? ". Rudra nodded , he had learnt this is middle school. Gaia was releived , if Rudra did not know that , she would have to explain it to him like a toddler. Gaia continued " Soo , you know that after the big Bang , there was a lot of unaccounted for energy , that we assumed was responsible for expansion of the universe correct? Scientists called it Dark energy.. ". Rudra nodded , he had heard about the mysterious dark energy , the force responsible for the acceleration of expansion of universe. Without which the expansion of the universe should have been slowing down due to gravitational pull. Gaia continued " Untill 2090 , a decade ago , noone knew about the mysterious dark energy , or how to tap into it. When a very interesting man appeared from india , someone who claimed to live only on sunlight , not needing food or water". Rudra nodded , when he was younger this was international news , as the man was kept inside a isolated cell , being monitored by scientists continuously as he survived 30 days without food and water. Gaia continued " That is when the scientists stumbled upon something. The man was not surviving on sunlight , rather he was able to tap into the mysterious dark energy for sustainance. The monk after years of fasting and meditating had fine tuned his body to harness the power of the universe ". Rudra understood upto here , he was in awe of the monk to be able to achieve that. Gaia continued " That brought up the question of , are the old ways of meditating and fine tuning one''s body to the call of the universe actually true? History is littered with texts about such people called cultivators who would spend years meditating and gaining powers beyond human". Rudra had read Chinese fiction , yet he was not too sure about all this. It seemed far fetched to him. Gaia continued " Scientists then researched about all these texts and ancient scriptures , using supercomputers to make analytical models about how it would affect human mind and body , found out that yes it was indeed useful in unlocking hidden potential of the human brain! ". Rudra was lost now , as he asked " What hidden potential? ". Gaia said very patiently " Listen , you may have heard , that a average human can at max use 7% of his brain potential. Which is too low to be honest , but that is because we were using the wrong kind of energy to stimulate the brain. Think about a petrol running car for example. Some parts of the car , such as the headlights and the horn work on electricity correct? That is the energy we get from food. Our brain uses that energy to run at about 11% potential. However the engine of the car , the core , runs on petrol correct? , For the human brain , that petrol is dark energy , or the key to unlocking the remaining 89% of our brain capacity". Rudra was mind blown at this explanation , he had never thought about it this way. He looked blankly at Gaia who continued " This dark energy , is actually mana. It is spread across the universe and ancient humans like the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians actually did know how to harness it. However the knowledge was lost over time as the human mind continued to become more and more fickle ". Rudra now understood everything , humans were once working on understanding this mysterious energy , but then modernization side tracked that progress. The knowledge lost over time. Gaia finally concluded " Soo this '' mana '' , is what you are also able to harness now. Thanx to the virtual pod that you use. One of the main purposes of Omega , is to make the human civilization capable of harnessing mana again. But most of them are far away from reaching this point. You are by far the first. Once you step out of the VR pod , you will see actual filth of black dead skin cells in your VR pod , do not panick and worry about it , the company will send a replacement soon. Also do not divulge this information to the world yet. I will need you to sign a non disclosure agreement , and you will need to talk with the cuber officials enroute to your home soon, in the real world ". Rudra understood the whole scenario , he was not keen on sharing information he did not understand himself , but one question plaqued his mind. Rudra asked " What changes will I see in my body , now that I have attuned to mana ? ". Gaia said " it''s hard to say , all of this was an hypothesis untill you actually did ascend , you will have to study your own body and report back to me every 2 weeks. Naturally I will not leak the information and reward you handsomely for the information you provide for this research. However , you should lead a much healthier lifestyle than most humans now. You should have a sharper mind and faster reflexes and an increased muscle strength. Should have increased your lifespan too , but that is not yet concretely proven , we will see over time. I suggest you log- out of the game at once and take a bath , but first sign this non disclosure". A cunning smile spread on Rudra''s face. He would definitely do what Gaia said and sign the non disclosure , but not for free. Rudra said " what do I get for signing the non disclosure? ". Gaia immediately sensed his foul play and said " You get to play the game and not get banned is what you get ". Rudra replied " Oh, ban me. Even then i will leak the information in real world , that the cuber corporation has a hidden agenda , that the game is more than what it seems. I am a top player , my words do have weight , especially with the black goo inside my VR pod to back my story ". Gaia glared at Rudra , her AI brain computing his shamelessness , after understanding the consequences of each action , she said " One random legendary item ". Rudra immediately said deal ! He did not want to push his luck with Gaia. He signed the non disclosure and logged out of the game happy. Just as he walked out of his VR pod , he indeed saw the filth inside the VR pod and all over his skin and instinctively vomitted. This was too stinky. Rudra was in such a rush to bathe , that he did not check his mobile at once. If he did he would have realized the storm that had transpired. But it would not be too much later , that he did realize it. /// Guys show your appreciation for this chapter , tell me how you feel about the mana theory. It took a lot of thinking to make this. I hope you enjoyed it. Bonus chapter for the super gift by Cervantez91 , thankyou for the repeated patronage! /// Chapter 375: Shock! Rudra Bathed and noticed that underneath the filth that covered his skin , his skin was much smoother and cleaner , his muscles were much more toned as his vascularity seemed to have increased. Rudra was only above average in looks in his life , although fit and charming , he could be said to be 7/10 in overall looks. However now he could be said to be a solid 9.5 , he was much more handsome than before , it was like his face had became more symmetrical , his muscles more visible and his body leaner. Rudra admired his new looks , as he spent a long - Time in his bath trying to clean his body off. Although he did not understand much about the cultivation stuff , he had never felt this fit in his entire life , nor had he felt soo sharp In mind. It was like he had suddenly shifted from viewing the world from 1080 to 4 K. However , unfortunately the first thing he noticed after picking his phone , after his vision turned to 4K was a series of urgent messages , informing him of the death of Naman and Naomi''s step- aunt. Rudra was baffled , he quickly dressed himself up as he rushed out towards , Neatwits home in the upside. His hair still wet from the bath , he was running at full speed. Technically Neatwits home was about 700 meters away , and should take Rudra about 2 minutes to reach , however he reached it in under a minute , as he entered the living room , where the dead body was wrapped , and the twins and other guild members were present. When Rudra entered everyone turned towards him , as they noticed his arrival , especially Neatwit , who looked at him with red eyes. Rudra met his gaze , and felt the pain in his eyes permeating right through each cell of his body. Rudra could not meet his eyes , as he looked down. Neatwit stood up as he said " We are supposed to be safe here , are we not , GUILDMASTER? , Why did this happen then? Why did I come out from hiding in a desolate village to here? Because YOU assured me that me and my family are safe here. I know this is not your fault , and I am stupid to blame you for this , but i have lost the closest thing I have had to a mother , so forgive my manners , because this is the second time THIS HAS HAPPENED IN MY LIFE ". Neatwit banged his fists on Rudra''s chest , as he kept crying and crying. At first Rudra was hesitant , but slowly he embraced Neatwit into a hug , who hugged him back tight and wailed. After he calmed down a little , Rudra softly said , what he truly meant .... " I''m sorry ". Neatwit blew his nose , his snot falling on the floor , as he looked at Rudra again and said " Not sorry guild master , promise me whoever did this will pay guildmaster , WHOEVER DID THIS MUST PAY ". At this moment , Ethan Grey walked into the room , as he said " Mithun Ambani and Hao Mi ". Rudra glared at Ethan Grey , who recieved a simmilar glare from Neatwit. However for the first time in his proud life , Ethan Grey could not meet their furious gazes as he looked down. He said " The assassin is in our custody , and has divulged information that this attack was planned by Mithun Ambani , however I suspect Hao Mi''s involvement in this as well , as the two are in bed together now. Ambani was Jenny''s boyfriend she had met and chatted for online , it was his ploy to get to the two of you , but the target changed to Bo once he killed his son. However during his attempt to murder Bo , Jenny interfered saving Bo''s life but sacrificing her own". Neatwit cursed out loud , screaming at the top of his lungs. It was Mithun Ambani again , that damn bast*** of a father took his second mother from him too , just like his first mother . Neatwit looked at Ethan and screamed " NOONE CAN ENTER THE UPSIDE WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION , THEN HOW DID THIS HAPPEN HUH? OOOOO I AM ETHAN GREY , I AM INVINCIBLE , I AM THE KING OF UPSIDE , WHATEVER I SAY GOES ... Now what? IS ETHAN GREY GOD? Can he bring my step aunt back to life? ". Neatwit spewed venom on Ethan , who had a million words to retort but chose to not say them. He swallowed it back. This was a first for him . When Ethan looked at Rudra again , he could clearly see the fury in his eyes too , as Ethan felt bad about all this , finally he said " No matter the cost , wether it is profitable or not , I will ruin Mithun Ambani , that is a promise ". Finally the dirty glances being sent at Ethan were averted , although the other Elites did not explicitly say so , one thing had became clear today and that was Mithun Ambani and Hao Mi had became public enemy number one of the guild. The brotherhood the guild members shared was unlike any normal guild , the guild was a family. Hence Neatwits pain was felt by every single one of them. Today was the day that Mithun Ambani had put a nail on his own coffin , as Rudra Rajput , Ethan Grey , Jhonny English, SMG , Karna , and Neatwit had all declared him as their sworn enemy. He was about to understand the true meaning of hell. Jhonny English especially was devastated about the whole scenario , Bo getting injured while someone being killed was technically because he had killed Mithun Ambani''s son. He was not aiming for it to happen ,but one thing led to another and finally the event came back to haunt the entire guild. Hence Jhonny decided to take responsibility for it. Even though he would not tell anyone about it , Jhonny English had started to plot the downfall of Ambani corporation and the chinese triads. The one who Hao Mi had refused to even acknowledge as someone special , would one day turn the triads to ash. /// Alright guys riddle for this week is : 43 68 61 72 61 63 74 65 72 20 69 6E 74 72 6F 64 75 63 65 64 20 69 6E 20 63 68 61 70 74 65 72 20 4E 6F. (???) You guys know the drill by now , text me on discord if you know the answer the first ten people to do so get a 100 coin code. Happy riddle solving! /// Chapter 376: Meeting Cuber Officials Rudra met Ethan in private after leaving Naman''s house. The two shared silence for a while before Ethan apologised. Rudra shrugged his shoulder as he looked at him and said " I have my own family here , and my guilds , I trusted you enough to come here Ethan , that the upside will be my safe haven. Is my family and my guild safe here Ethan ? ". This question formed a lump in Ethan Grey''s throat , upside was his proud development and he the security here was supposed to be top notch. Ethan said " I will quadruple the security , while specially installing chips on all residents of the upside. When a visitor comes in , he will be restricted to specific areas , while all lifeforms not having the chip will be closely monitored by two patrol drones at all times. This incident will not repeat itself ". Rudra nodded , atleast there was a lesson from this incident and things were going to change. But he said " I will destroy the Ambani corporation main guild, and the chinese triads within Omega as well , however YOU must do the same in reality ". Ethan nodded , it was decided then . Rudra said Lastly " I am expecting some Cuber Officials to visit me soon. Prepare to recieve them with full security ". Ethan was surprised at Rudra''s revelation , cuber was a very mysterious organization , nobody really knew much about them. However their were the equivalent of international embassies , no country dared to make a fuss. And indeed as expected , two cuber officials did visit the upside , along-with a special package that had to be scanned for security reasons. Which was revealed to be a higher model of a gaming pod. The meeting was done inside the Elite tower conference room , as Rudra was alone with the two cuber officials. Cuber official one said " Congratulations to you Rudra Rajput for breaking through the confines of a mere human , I am sure you will be curious as to the effects of the changes in your body , let me explain. Firstly , when you will focus intently on battle , you will feel the world slowing down around you , your battle performance should be much better than before and your reflexes should be as fast as F1 drivers now. Secondly your muscle memory has became extremely sharp , the normal VR pod is no longer functional for you , you will need this fully integrated VR pod custom made to suit your body and muscles. I caution you right here right today. NEVER game in the normal gaming pod again , lest you have an accident wish. Finally , your new VR pod is made as such from an ancient design of the Egyptian coffins that gathers dark energy from the universe and funnels it into the user. This phase is not completely tested yet , hence consider yourself as a beta tester who will need to explore the bugs and problems himself. Should you gain paranormal powers? Inform us at once. Except that , keep a check on your strength at all times , mostly you will still function as a normal human , however should you use an attack or throw a punch with dark energy as the base , it would be enough to punch through 12 inch thick steel plates , soo take care of that. Keep this special communication device that we give you today , as a means to directly contact the cuber office. We want monthly reports on your progress , naturally we will reward you handsomely. If you donot contact us , don''t worry , we will periodically fly in and check on you anyway , but there will not be any rewards for us having to take the flight down here. Soo make your choice wisely". Rudra was baffled for a minute as a massive dump of information was poured in on him. He was staring at the two officials blankly , for a second he thought he would have forgotten half the things the officials said , however to his surprise he remembered the conversation word for word. It was like he had perfect recall over his memory as his brain replayed the whole conversation in HD quality inside his mind. Every word , every expression , all imprinted into his mind. Rudra was feeling like the damn Spiderman when he first explored his powers , all this felt new to him , it was like he was an infant again , not knowing the prowess of his own body. The cuber official 2 then said " We will be taking back the VR pod you initially used , naturally it is a given that you will not divulge this information even to your dear guild members. Should you do it , the consequences will be severe as we will ban the entire guild alongside you from Omega". With this threat the cuber officials stood up , shook Rudra''s hand , and walked away from his office. Taking the VR pod that smelled like the gutter back , they installed the new VR pod that was looked like a coffin and had 18 slots for nutritional fluids was now in its place. They left a manual for Rudra , that instructed him as to what nutritional fluids of what brands to install on which slots . The price of the fluids mentioned was nearly 100,000 dollars , and they would be depleted within a week. This was a steep cost that Rudra would have to take on from now on. However Rudra was in no position to complain. The danger in the officials voice was clear , If he did not use this VR pod. Only accidents were waiting to happen to him. Despite all this , Rudra was actually looking forward to testing this custom built VR pod for him , as he had a burning anger inside his chest currently. Rudra swore by the heavens , that the next one month , he would improove like a madman , he would become the strongest version of himself yet , and then he would start decimating the Ambani main guild and Hao Mi''s triads . What he did not know was that the entire guild shared his sentiment , none more so than the duo of Neatwit and Naomi. The next month , the dragons would see the group of madmen improve before their naked eyes. Chapter 377: Massive upgrade Rudra logged back into the game , where the first thing he did was bring up his stat pannel ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer , Lieutenant General Of The Hazelgroove Army , First Cultivator Class : Mana Knight ( Ascended ) Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 83 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 1692 VIT : 1692 INT : 1692 STA : 1692 PHY : 1682 MANA : 1000 HP : 269,000/269,000 unassigned stat points :0 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Fully healed from injury , healthy again Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Sun God''s bracelet ( Legendary), Doom armour ( Legendary ) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusion sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Solar restore , Solar flare , Solar blast , Solar descent , Solar beam. Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : Furball ( Divine nine tails ) ---- There were three key take- aways , one was Rudra''s class changing from knight to mana knight , which came in as a huge surprise to the Elites leader as he had never heard of the mana knight class. The second was bad news , just as Rudra had feared , his golden ratio buff had been removed. Him getting the new mana stat , at 1000 made his 1:1 stat ratio out of balance , debuffing him . If it wasn''t for all stats being doubled for Rudra as a bonus for ascending he may have became weaker coming out than going in. The third was the random Legendary item Gaia had promised him. Rudra was excited to check that out . [ Doom armour ] ( Legendary ) : An armour made for the half orc emperor Vader Doom , drenched in the blood of ten thousand races in ten thousand battles , it has never seen a crack on its surface. An armour that Vader was soo attached too , he used it throughout his life , as no other orc was small enough to fit inside the armour especially with only two holes for two arms , it was neglected for centuries. Effect one : No level restrictions. Effect two : Doom recover. Use the enemy''s blood to constantly regain lost HP. The armour converts blood splattered over it to health. Effect three : Reduces armour penetration by 90% , reduces chance to get critical hit on abdomen by 100%. Effect four : Doom repell , use a shockwave to repell enemies ganging up on you , to send them flying in all directions upto 20 meters. Rudra was more than satisfied with this armour , it was almost tailor made for him. Although not exuberant like the sun god''s bracelet, it had equal functionality for Rudra. Wearing it , Rudra could be sure that there would be no critical hits on his torso. That was a massive releif for a dual sword wielder like Rudra , who could now go out and trade blows with an enemy , knowing that he could deal more damage while sacrificing his defense. The effect of constantly healing HP , was also very good for waging wars , where Rudra was supposed to fight in a sea of enemies. It would be invaluable in wars , which Rudra planned on fighting a lot going forward. Overall , doom repell was usefull should he ever find himself hard to breathe for space , while the armour provided 90% damage mitigation for penetration attacks , which was the highest Rudra had ever seen in the game. But the best part was that it had no level requirements , which meant it would become Rudra''s partner for his entire gaming career. Rudra would not have to worry about constantly changing his equipment now. Rudra swapped his old armour with the doom armour , as he felt the true glory of the armour. It was much heavier than his previous one, and Rudra had to learn to adjust to its weight. Rudra also noticed how distinctly he felt the virtual world now , it was wayy more vivid than before. He could now feel the position of the armour on his shoulders as he walked. The minute shuffling on the armour along with his body movements was a thing he never felt before . Every step he took , every color he observed it all seemed different than before. It was a very new experience for him. What he did not know was that he was currently having a 100% neural sync rate in his new capsule , custom made for him , as his brain rapidly devoured the high nutritional fluids he had previously installed. His mind was now a supercomputer , much faster than before. Although Rudra''s overall IQ may only have improved by 50 or so points , compared to before , his brains computation power had changed significantly. Memory , movement , muscle coordination , data gathering and analysis , all were remarkably improved. Rudra was a force of nature now. As he met with Luna again , Luna was shocked to see that she could no longer peer inside Rudra''s mind. Rudra''s eyes of truth had improved a lot , now not even tier 5 existances could peer inside his mind. They could still see his stats , but nothing more. While tier 4 existances could not even see Rudra'' s stats. Rudra too noticed a remarkable change in his use of the eyes of truth. Previously it only helped to discover the stat pannel of players who were same or lower level than him. However now the eyes actually had a combat use. The eyes of truth now seemed to reveal chinks in one''s defense and information on trajectory of attacking. Rudra felt like deadshot , as a laser accurately pointed to him the weak spot of his enemy and exactly how to hit it. Not just enemies , but even inanimate objects like rocks by the road side , Rudra knew exactly where to strike them , to crumple it to pieces. Such flaws in structural integrity and architectural mistakes were now vividly clear to him. Chills went down Luna''s spine , when she met eyes with Rudra , it made her question .... Just who was this guy again? Chapter 378: Massive upgrade (2) In the next day , Luna imparted two techniques to Rudra Firstly she improved the illusionary sword , to make it Illusionary multiple sword attack , and taught him the skill Shadow Doppelganger . [ Shadow Doppelganger ] : Creates seven exact Doppelganger duplicates. However these Doppelgangers have no actual combat use , and will explode to dust upon slightest contact . The move although had no actual combat purpose , it was a versatile move that was a good addition to Rudra''s arsenal. With this Rudra temporarily parted ways with Luna , as he would make a stop in the land of illusions before going back home to take Furball again. Rudra patted Furball for a while , before bidding goodbye to his loving pet , who was wagging her tail to send him off. Rudra smiled at this , he felt like a parent who was dropping his kid at nursery school . It was a bittersweet moment for him. However , right now was not the time to get stuck on Furball ,as there was tons of work to be done. Luna had given Rudra a key strategy to follow to maximize his one month of gains inside Draconia. Special events and hidden facilities that he never knew existed were revealed to him. With this Rudra was confident of making most of his time. Rudra went back to Draconia on the same flying dragon he came on , who was shocked to see the human return soo quickly and safe and sound. Never in his wildest dreams could he have expected Rudra''s farfetched talks to come true . As a result , he had a little more respect for the adventurer on his back. What he did not know was that his once unavailable information , was now clear as light under Rudra''s changed eyes of truth , while Rudra could calmly observe all the chinks in his scaled black armour. The eyes of truth was the greatest addition to his arsenal yet. The Rudra of the one v one fighting tournament could not even hold a candle to the current Rudra , even with the golden ratio deactivated. Rudra was far stronger , and in the coming month , he was to get even stronger. When he reached back to Draconia , Even the prince Drax was shocked to see Rudra return soo quickly . He was rendered speechless when Rudra produced the required documents , as he alternated glances between Rudra and the document , at the end he said " For one month , all of my resources and my subordinates will be there for you and your groups needs in Draconia ". Rudra gave a sly smile to Drax , which sent chills down Drax''s spine. Rudra had made a plan for everyone to improve. Where the first 10 days were purely dedicated to levelling. Each individual was to hunt tier 3 monsters , partying up with 3 dragons each. Rudra''s plan was simple , it was to send the levels of the entire group sky high , with noone trailing below level 100. That was the bar Rudra set for everyone to reach within the next 10 days. As Drax dispatched his personal forces to aid Rudra''s request. Level 200 monsters were slain left and right by the dragon party outside Draconia , as the Elite members were only sitting calmly collecting exp. Everyone levelled up atleast 4-5 times a day , it was a crazy high rate of levelling , while doing absolutely nothing. The entire guild was fired up , after the incident in reality , and everyone worked like maniacs , playing the game for nearly 22 hours a day , trying to maximize these 30 days of growth they had. Especially Neatwit and Naomi , the twins had practically buried themselves In Omega to escape reality. Neatwit crossed level 115 at the end of 10 days While Rudra touched 110. Karna , SMG at 108 While the rest reached 104. If Naomi , was not soo behind everyone in the start , she may have been right beside Neatwit in levelling. However , her still managing to catch upto the group was already beyond commendable. Everyone looked at the twins with menace , both the brother and sister pair were a bunch of levelling maniacs. This rate of levelling was absolutely unheard of , they achieved in 10 days what even the best rankers would take 4-6 months of constant levelling to achieve. The 10 members here underwent a qualitative change now , that they genuinely created a seperating margin beyond the normal Elite players. However this was not the end , in the next 10 days Rudra had special training for the group planned. Everyone except Karna and SMG went inside a building called , the structure of excellent dragon spars . It was a historic building where clones of legendary dragon''s were kept for sparring. One round of spar , with those dragons costed 100,000 gold. Yet the Elites would now do it day in day out for hours a day , for 10 days straight. Choice from a wide array of opponents , it would provide rich combat experience to everyone who needed it . The sharp players that would come out of this training would be much different from the players that went in. Whereas Karna was set to be trained by someone called the Metal Dragon. Famed for his heavy sword fighting techniques , Drax issued an imperial order to teach the karna for 10 days in the dragons institute. It was a massive chance for Karna to learn techniques not common to the human realm. SMG , was sent to a place called the Valley of Shadow dragon''s , again with a letter of introduction from Drax. He was to learn ancient arts involved in assassination and blending into shadows. The dragon''s were species that lived for thousands of years , and their knowledge and expertise could not be compared to humans. The duo of karna and SMG had the chance of their life to literally absorb as much technique and knowledge as they could in these 10 days. And Rudra was sure that observing the current mood to improove , they would come out as extraordinary players. Finally Rudra himself , wanted access to the Royal Library of Draconia. He wanted the most important resource of the dragons .... Their ancient knowledge! Chapter 379: Mass Upgrade (3) Rudra spent the next 10 days in the royal library of Draconia. Immersing himself in literature of all sorts. But the only thing he was curious about was bombs and weapons of mass destruction. The Royal Library of Draconia , had a much better collection of books than back at Hazelgroove , as Rudra actually found 3 bomb making recipes. One of which was strong enough to seriously injure a group of tier 3 warriors. Next Rudra learnt about the efficient way of incorporating some of the war weapons he had procured from Draconia. He had primarily gained 5 working models of two major weapons from Prince Drax for his services. The first one was a dragonhead flamthrower. That had a body like a cannon , but could throw devastating flames upto 30 meters range. The second one was the Dragon screech device. It was capable of sending deafening screeches that could daze the enemy. And Rudra read the historical records of these weapons being deployed to understand how to use them , in the best way. The materials to make these weapons were extremely rare and not readily available in the human realms , however , Karna had already traded the key components with mana stones and gold they had brought. Arming the entire Purplehaze wall with these weapons was very much possible now. Little by little , Purplehaze city was becoming an impregnable fortress. Massive walls , mounted with archballistae , dragonhead flamthrower and dragon screech device. Good luck to anyone who tried to conquer this city! However all this was still well and good , what really interested Rudra , was the small text on demons diary. The text said " The demon''s diary was written in the ancient times when the gods roamed the mortal lands , before Lucifer became a fallen angel , during his time serving God , he used to write his ideals and experiences using his own blood in a book now called the demon''s diary. When Lucifer was banished from heaven , the demon''s diary fell onto the mortal land''s and was the source of conflict for many centuries. As the one who controlled the demon''s diary , controlled the creatures of the dark , who could not disobey the power of Lucifer. One of the now tier 6 hero Hercules''s 12 labours. He ripped the demon''s diary piece for piece before scattering it , loosing it to time. In the year 1999 however , a human in the southern regions of maraway , tried to collect all the pages of the lost demons diary , only to be able to collect 3. Unable to collect the rest of the pages , he started a nefarious organization of crime , whose soul purpose was to get their hands on the demon''s diary , called '' Blood Merchant organization ". It was a piece of very juicy text , that filled a lot of knowledge gaps in Rudra''s mind. As his mind wandered back to the pages of the demons diary he had back inside the guild warehouse in Purplehaze city. It seemed like every action he took , was getting him one step closer to a collision path with the blood merchant organization. Like they were destined enemies. Rudra also read about a lot of quests he was planning to take with time , as he completed his knowledge about a lot of typical species , their behavioural patterns , their strengths and their weaknesses. While others were increasing their combat strengths , Rudra was absolutely not interested in doing such a thing. His stats were already through the roof , and he was satisfied with his skillset. He had deliberately currently not activated his golden ratio buff , even though he could have after all the levelling he did. As he kept exactly one point short of the golden ratio in the mana stat. The reason for this was simple. It was now a trump card under Rudra''s belt. He could explode out of a fight , where he was pinned down with this increased power as his trump card. ----- Player Name : Shakuni / Augustus Won Knight Title : Viscount of Hazelgroove kingdom, Reputable knight , Saviour of Thol village , Revered Medicine Master , Honorary Bishop of the Church of Life , World renowned , Heir of Augustus Won Knight , Limit breaker , The one who defies all odds, Dragon Slayer , Lieutenant General Of The Hazelgroove Army , First Cultivator. Class :Mana Knight ( Ascended ) Subclass : Explosion Artist LVL: 110 Tier : 2 STATS AGI : 1692 VIT : 1692 INT : 1692 STA : 1692 PHY : 1692 MANA : 1691 HP : 239,000/239,000 unassigned stat points : 14 Hidden stats Luck : ??? Charm :??? Infamy : invalid Status : Fully healed from injury , healthy again Equipment : Knight armour set ( Lv75) , Lich''s Ring , concealer mask( not equipped) , retractable shield ( Epic) , Sun God''s bracelet ( Legendary), Doom armour ( Legendary ) , Doom armour( legendary) Weapons : Windcutter ( sword) , Common Bow , quiver of arrows , Excalibur (Sword) ( Replica) , Elven (sword) ( Semi legendary) Skills : Darkness bind , Summon Knight Durahal , Windslash , Critical absorb , Berserk, Darkness blast, Death Slash, Eyes of Truth , Earthquake , Critical block , Blink , Stormbringer , Swift Retreat, Illusionaey multi- sword , suppresion art, three point stab , twin blade hurricane , twin blade cross Slash , Claymore , Overheard slash , Solar restore , Solar flare , Solar blast , Solar descent , Solar beam, Shadow Dopplegangers. Class specific skills : Knights companion , Knights valour , Golden Ratio, Full counter Mount : Grey Wolf Pet : Furball ( Divine nine tails ) ---- One of the major things Rudra observed while levelling with the dragons was that while his mana depleted over time while using mana infused moves. His stamina was no longer affected now. This meant Rudra was at a much better position than before in terms of longtime fighting , as the mana moves had a huge burden on his stamina before now , which was no longer the case anymore. The second Rudra went back to Purplehaze city , he knew for sure that he would be deployed as to conquer the neighbouring villages by Emperor Cervantez . Rudra had already recieved news about Hao Mi , joining the defensive cause as a mercenary group for the coalition of Aquahose and Nineclouds kingdom. Never had Rudra relished the idea of a fight more than this . The wounds still fresh from the death of Neatwits aunt. Rudra could not wait to completely decimate her forces! /// Merry Christmas To everyone !!! I hope you all have a great vacation season. I will try my best to give as many chapters as I can today , soo that you all can enjoy while vacationing. /// Chapter 380: Back with a bang! The last ten days , the entire Elite faction was embroiled in a top secret project. Everyone with their newfound strength had to collectively contribute to get this one job done. The benefits from it were immense. Rudra had absolutely barred anyone from even remotely mentioning the contents of the last 10 days of the mission. Even to the most trusted guild members back at Purplehaze city , as the entire future of the guild depended on that secret. It was not like the others needed a reminder of this fact , as they too understood how crutial this secret was. It could only be described with one word '' Game Breaking ''. This was the greatest help that Luna had given to Rudra , as all the efforts in the previous days to improove were all for the last mission , that Rudra needed the group to co-operate on and complete. Even Drax was shocked beyond his senses when he realized that what the dragon''s with their all vast knowledge could not achieve in thousands of years , was actually completed by a bunch of tier 2 humans. He had to do absolutely everything in his power to gain a part of that fortune , for which he fervently negotiated ( begged ) with Rudra to get. Finally , in exchange for a summoning token , that when infused mana with , could summon 10 of his most Elite black dragons , once. Rudra shared the benefits of the mission with Drax. This token was basically a get out of tough situation free card for Rudra , as 10 tier 4 dragons could absolutely raze any battlefield they step their foot on. The return journey took only 2 days to complete , as from the land of illusions , Rudra directly took a teleportation array back to Purplehaze city , where the teleportation array was now complete! When nearly after 2 months of adventuring the guild was finally home everyone felt nostalgic and energetic. Only Rudra and Karna , stayed back to carefully observe the teleportation array. It had still not been opened to the general public , as the Elites were the only one able to use it as of yet. Rudra inspected the construction and was very satisfied with it. It was going to be the guilds cashcow in the future. During the time inside the lost land of Draconia , Rudra and all the other members had their communication cut off from the mainland. Hence they did not notice about a few key events taking place. The first was the abrupt rise in the levels of Neatwit , as he stood 30 levels clear of the 2nd highest member of Hazelgroove kingdom on the ranking boards with a difference of 115 to 85. Rudra slammed his hand on his head , he had clearly told Neatwit to turn off his level visibility settings. But the guy must have forgotten. This caused a serious debate on the forums , as the entire kingdom was ablaze with the secret behind his mad levelling spree. Many people approached the Elites to sell the secret , but were rejected by Amelia. The second thing was that Emperor Cervantez had sent a summon for Rudra to report on the military grounds in 3 days time. The summon came yesterday soo Rudra had about 2 days time to report . Rudra sighed in relief , he dodged a bullet there , not being late for the emperor''s summons. However the most markee event that had happened , was that there were some people who had observed the absence of the True Elites leader from Purplehaze and decided to stir up trouble. It was a second rate guild controlling a small trader down 20 miles south of Purplehaze city. Which was essentially a town where people rested before going to the capital , if they were too late in their journey. They had dared to find trouble with sir Jhonny , when they caused trouble for a passing merchant shipment , carrying the materials for the wall building of Purplehaze city. Siezing the materials , for themselves , they were in open disregard of the elites authority. Naturally they did not dare fight in the open against the Elites , relying on the protection period , for their safety. They knew the elites could not launch a frontal assault , because of the cooldown restrictions for another 6 months. Where they would use the seized resources to fortify themselves. Rudra simply laughed at this ridiculousness. Well , he was back , it was time to put these people in their place. Rudra would have never even bothered about this small incident , if it was not for the name of the audacious guild who did this. It was none other than his dear old White Radiance guild , whom he had not spared a glance again after destroying , their young heir about a year ago. However , this provocation hit a spot for Rudra , he was not going to let this slide. Not at all. What Rudra did not know was that , the scion of the Advani clan , was actually under psychiatrists care for the last one year , trying to redeem his confidence after the sheer humiliation he had faced. It took one year of therapy for him to gain some of his confidence back , and after his psychiatrist suggested for him to face his inner demons and conquer them. He decided to stand up to his bully who was prospering. He wanted to face slap Rudra the same way he was faceslapped. Hence after meticulously thinking and knowing that Rudra''s guild could not launch an assault on his territory because of system protection , He decided to pick a fight with him. Too bad , it was a fight with Rudra Rajput within Hazelgroove kingdom. He was literally the one person that could not be offended. Being supported by the state , the millitary and the church. Generally if a player finds trouble in a ruling guilds territory , they could just blacklist the player , and ban them from entering their territory. This hold true for most players , however, not for Rudra. Rudra was a high commanding officer in the millitary , a Duke in Hazelgroove kingdom being a Von Knight , and a honorary bishop in the church of light. He could not be kicked by a mere mayor of a town , because he did not have sufficient authority. Just like Rudra could not just kick Emperor Cervantez from Purplehaze city even though he was the mayor. Hence , Rudra decided to pay a personal visit to the White Radiance guild , in Lieu of putting them in their place. The total player count of the White Radiance guild was 70,000 players. Who were about to be taken on by one single player ..... And utterly humiliated. /// Bonus chapter for Christmas , it''s my present to you all , Merry Christmas guys /// Chapter 381: Augustus Won Knight is back ( This chapter is R18 , reader discretion adviced) Rudra decided that since he was back , and since he had yet to test most of his newfound power , he should take a stroll inside the neighbouring town controlled by White Radiance that caused trouble for the Elites. Rudra informed Karna that he would be gone for about 6 hours. He expected to wrap things up withing these 6 hours. Also , Luna ''s last words before parting were resonating in Rudra''s mind. She explicitly told him that Furball needs to observe some battles. In the one month that Rudra left Furball with Luna , Furball had grown to tier 2 level 110 , exactly where Rudra was. This baffled Rudra , as this was an astronomical growth rate. Naturally tier 2 beasts were still much weaker than tier 2 humans , however this was still extremely fast. Hence Rudra decided to take Furball as a observer , but he would not let it participate in any event where he thought it was dangerous. Hence Rudra set out for the small town of Reverie , controlled by White Radiance guild 20 miles south of Purplehaze city. However , Rudra did not travel as himself this time. It was about time he brought out the Augustus Won Knight mask back up. Equipping the mask , Rudra changed to a big robe that completely covered the equipment that he was wearing , even while fighting , one would not be able to see the armour within the robe. When Rudra approached the town borders , there were two guards who stopped Rudra , both were from white Radiance guild. Rudra activated his eyes of truth , as he saw [ Josh ] ( Level 65 ) ( tier 2 ) ( Guild : White Radiance ) [ Jake ] ( Level 62 ) ( tier 2 ) ( Guild : White Radiance ) Jake said " Halt! , You are entering Reverie village under White Radiance guild , the toll of passing through here is 5 gold , pay or return ". Rudra inwardly sneered at the ridiculous price quoted by the guard , 5 gold ? , Even 5 copper was too much for a shoddy town like reverie. Rudra said " Respected sir guard , I am a poor solo player , 5 gold is too much for me , how about I pay 1 gold instead ". Jake laughed , he had successfully scammed an adventurer , the toll was actually only 5 silver , the rest could be used to fill his coffers. He said " Hmmm , kowtow to me twice and I will let you pass for 1 gold , it is your lucky day! ". Josh however was lost in his own thoughts for a while , as he said " Jake , something is not right , I feel like I have seen him somewhere ". Jake looked at Josh and asked " Where ? ". Josh hummed as he tried to remember , racking his brain hard , finally saying " That wolf , isn''t that the wolf the Elites use as a mount? " Jake inspected the wolf Rudra was on and said " Ohh yes , it looks like a Elite wolf ..". He then looked at Rudra again , and squinted his eyes , and said " YOU ! You are a theif aren''t you? , Having stolen one of the Elites mounts , you are trying to escape , hence why the mask and the rush to leave , hahahahahaha, nothing can escape the eyes of the great guard of Reverie town ! ". Rudra was dumbfounded , the White Radiance guild was a bunch of idiots. Rudra dismounted from his wolf mount , and said " Yes , yes , sir got me. Hahaha , HOHOHOHO , HEHEHE ". Saying soo , Rudra turned hysterical as he walked towards the guards , who were also laughing alongwith Rudra , untill they felt a terrible chill crawl up their spines. Rudra walked upto a guard face to face and said " Boo! ". Within one second , the two guards were dead! " Hahahahahaha , Hehehe , HOHOHOHO , COME CHILDREN SANTA CLAUSS IS HERE! ". Rudra shouted as he waltzed into Reverie town after killing their guards. Rudra had sepcially picked , two dark gold swords that were not Excalibur and the Elven sword for this event. He was here to fight upon his own skills , and not rely on his superior equipment . Rudra was completely in Augustus Won Knight mode now , who was a psychopathic seriel killer. The moment Rudra had that mask on , Rudra turned into a mad slaughter machine. Riding his direwolf straight into Reviere town , Rudra sang " Randy the black nose Direwolf , Had a very shiny nose!!!! But if you ever cross his master , he would bite your head clean off!!!! Ho.....". Many heads turned when a maniac singing songs passed through the Reviere village , however the fight had not broken yet. Only when Rudra was very close to the mayor''s residence , did some of the white Radiance guild members try to stop him. " STOP , Who are you and what is your intention in approaching the mayor ". Rudra read that players name , as he dismounted from his direwolf and said " Andy , Andy Andy , if you really want to know why I am approaching the mayor''s house ... Why don''t you ask your mother? We talked about it yesterday in bed , my dear step son ". Andy was furious at this remark , as he said " WHY ... YOUU !!! ". Andy tried to attack Rudra , he was an archer , hence he docked three arrows at once pointing them at Rudra . Rudra raised up both his hands in the air , and went on his knees " Sorry , Sorry Sorry , please don''t shoot ..... " Andy smirked , he was about to say something when Rudra said " In my mouth , that''s what your mom begged yesterday on her knees Andy , please don''t shoot in my mouth , hahahahahaha , HOHOHOHO , hehehe ". Rudra taunted Andy seemingly lost it , as he shot the three arrows at Rudra. Screaming " DIE ". He was sure that the three shots would pierce Rudra clean , however , the arrows planted themselves into the group , without even touching Rudra. Rudra had used blink as he teleported right behind Andy. As he tapped on his shoulder from behind. Andy turned bewildered , as Rudra said " As your dad I am very dissapointed in you Andy ... ". As Rudra sent the poor boy on a trip to the church of light. Now the commotion had been made , as the white Radiance players had been alerted , many swarmed towards Rudra , as the fight finally begun. Rudra laughed " Hahahahaha , HOHOHOHO , COME! ". Chapter 382: 1 v 7000 Rudra was surrounded by nearly 200 White Radiance guild members , he had his eyes of truth activated as he could see each player as if he was iron man. Their levels , their name , their weak spots all visible to him , as Rudra completely decimated everyone around him , as if he was playing with children. Rudra nearly killed one player every second. 50 players died a minute , and within 4 minutes , everyone around him was dead! Yet Rudra lightly danced on his feet , as if he was just warming up. The onlookers who had arrived late on the scene were terrified of the demon dancing in their wake , he had unreal speed , and battle instincts. No-one even came close to touching the man , and the 200 people he killed could be understood to be upper echleon of the guild. The others understandably had a chill going down their spine , as Rudra glanced at them. One of them said " Quick , someone inspect his character ID , we should contact administration to ban him from the town". The others enthusiastically agreed to this. They said " Yes , yes , We will ban him! , WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO CAUSE A RUCKUS IN REVIERE TOWN ... " Rudra pretended to tremble on his spot , as he said " No , please no , don''t ban me , I can''t be banned , my plans are still incomplete , NOOOO ". Seeing Rudra''s desperation everyone tried to repeatedly inspect him , however everyone got the same message time and time again. System notification : Inspection failed. Cannot look at the other players information . Nearly 1000 players , desperately trying to find a single name. Which they could not find , as they said " Why can''t we see this ba****** information ... F*** , can someone else see his stats? ". " I can''t " " I can''t " " I can''t either , F*** ". Rudra " HAHAHAHA , HEHEHEHE , HOHOHOHO ". Then one of the White Radiance members said " Don''t be too conceited masked demon , We will expell all non White Radiance members from the town. There are hardly 30 or so here , even if we offend a few it''s fine. BUT YOU WILL BE BANNED FOREVER! ". Rudra pretended to look serious because of this threat. He stopped laughing and stood still like a statue , staring at the man who made this remark. Everyone cheered the idea of booting all the non guild members , from the town. In any case the town was only a passerby town towards Purplehaze city and only had 30 outsiders currently residing in it. Hence the White Radiance members tried to boot everyone from the city. However , when everyone was booted , but Rudra still stood standing , the white Radiance members started to loose their mind. One guy said " Hey , hey , hey hurry up and boot everyone will you , why is this guy still standing here". The other guy said " It''s already done , I don''t understand why he is still not booted ". " is he one of us? , Tf who is this guy , a traitor ? " Fear started to creep into the eyes of the White Radiance members as they stared at Rudra. Rudra said " Augustus Won Knight , that''s my name ". The others immediately picked up on this and started to search the city list for a Augustus Won Knight , and found that name. The senior guild elder who had access to booting people from the guild repeatedly tried to boot Rudra from the town , however the system denied him as it said " Insufficient Authority ". The guild elder panicked , as he saw Rudra walking towards him , as he gulped in nervousness , desperately trying to boot Rudra ..... When Rudra said " What happened cannot boot me?? ..... " At that point his voice changed and turned into a husky deep like a demon as he said " KIDDING , ITS JUST LIKE I EXPECTED ". SPLAT! The elder was killed. " HAHAHA , HEHEHE , HOHOHO ". Rudra continued to laugh hysterically as he restarted his slaughter run , as more and more of the White Radiance guild members fell by the hundereds they came in. 20 minutes later , the death count being over 1000 ! With Rudra yet to loose a single point in HP. It was at this moment , that a large contingent arrived at the location of the chaos , headed by the guild master Advani himself. The remaining guild members rejoiced at seeing their guild leader arrive , along with the Elites of the guild. Advani said " YOU , WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO CAUSE A RUCKUS IN MY TOWN? ". Rudra looked at Advani , slowly scanning him from top to bottom and then back up. As he said " Advani , Darling ... How can you not recognize daddy? ". Advani nearly spat blood at this remark , as he was baffled by Rudra''s reply. He said " You... You .... You ". " Yes , me , me , me , im your daddy , come kowtow kiddo ". Rudra replied In a very caring tone. " HOW DARE YOU ". Said Advani, he was absolutely livid. However when he heard Rudra''s reply , a crack formed in the months of self confidence , that he developed . " Nonono dear , HOW DARE YOU! , HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM THE ELITES , Was the first time when you cried like a snotty nosed brat not enough for you? Was the imprisonment insufficient to teach you that you have to be a good boy or the Boogeyman will punish you. Well as a father it is my lacking education , hence I am here to rectify my mistake and TEACH you my boy , that the Elites are not someone who you can mess with. Because you stole our resources , I will repay in kind , BY BURNING THIS TOWN TO THE GROUND .... Muah , nothing personal my son , it''s just revenge you see". Saying soo Rudra did not wait for a reply , as he charged towards Advani. The entire white Radiance Elite force infront of him. The same force of whom he was once a part of. The same people , whom he saved countless times and adventured with. Now dying like ants under his feet , as the doom armour was splattered with blood after blood. With Advani trembling while holding his sword. Waiting as he saw Rudra slaughter through his army of best players. A growing fear in his heart , and only one thought in his mind , which said '' Please forgive me Daddy ''. Chapter 383: Not Funny Anymore Rudra made his way towards Advani as he easily dodged the poor attempt of a sword swing from the man. Rudra kicked the sword from his hand as it was sent flying away. Rudra raised his sword to attack , however Advani out his hands up against it as he crawled into a small ball. He looked like a small kid Afraid to be hit. Rudra found this ridiculous , if he was a decent man he would have hesitated to hit the defenseless advani. But unfortunately he was not. Hence Rudra started to stomp on the poor guy , as he said " Atleast grow a pair and fight me like a man ". The other white Radiance members , did not interfere with the beating of their leader at all. Because of two key reasons. One they were terrified of the masked man , and two was that they genuinely had no respect for Advani. He was a snotty nosed cry baby , unfit to lead them. It was at this moment that someone from the crowd said " I''ve had enough of this , I''m not going to follow a good for nothing brat like him anymore , I quit White Radiance ". Saying so he removed the guild robe and spat on it , before quitting the guild. His actions had far reaching consequences though , as it resonated with the inner feelings of thousands inside the guild. Soon the guild chat was flooded with ferverent messages , as one after another , thousands and thousands left the guild. Advani kept shouting " HELPP..... HELPPP.. " however noone turned up to help him. If he would have just fought Rudra head on , even if he had no chance to beat him. The others would have tried to save him and tried to fight off Rudra. However , with Advani himself being soo spineless as to not even look at his opponent. The guild morale plummeted. With the carnage that Rudra alone left in his Wake the guild members started to question if , it was worth staying in a guild where even one man Alone can bully them all. Although they were mad at Rudra , they were more ashamed at their own incapability , hence when they saw their spineless leader , they blamed it all on him and decided to leave the guild. Within minutes only a handful of people were left around the scene , even they clicked their tongues and moaned about the contract they had signed that made them a core member of the guild , making them incapable of abandoning it. As Rudra stomped advani to death. Looking around he could see that noone wanted a piece of him anymore , as everyone mentained their distance from him. However Rudra was not done yet. He asked a guild member for directions to the church of light , where he swiftly went because he wanted to greet the dead Advani. Advani who was crying as he came out of the church of light , was terrified when he saw Rudra waiting for him. Screaming he tried to run away , only to turn and ram straight into Rudra. Rudra had used blink to teleport behind him , and when Advani saw him he said " BOOO! " A little girl like scream escaped Advani''s mouth , as he was dragged by the neck , on the streets of Reviere town. The local authority who had seen Rudra run rampant , also decided to keep a distance from the Duke of Hazelgroove. As they sold their own mayor out and turned a blind eye to his suffering. Clobbering away on Advani , Rudra sent him to the afterlife for a second time , only to be waiting for him outside for a third. Terrified , Advani simply logged out of the game , which caused even more dissatisfaction within the guild members , as even more decided to leave the guild at that point. After that it was a simple job for Rudra , who burnt down the mayor''s office , the White Radiance guild hall. And raided the white Radiance guild treasury alone. Facing some resistance , Rudra did make their way through them as if he was cutting through butter , as soon the resistance thinned out to nothing. The news of this fight breakout had long reached the forums as many white Radiance members had been live streaming it. It brought in enthusiasts like Dewdiepie to the small town , as he did not want to miss on the action. Although he could only livestream Rudra burning the mayor''s office down , and killing a few stragglers of the white Radiance guild. His viewership was still well into the millions. Gathering courage , Dewdiepie decided to interview Rudra , after the carnage he had left inside the Reviere town. He ran beside Rudra as he said " Sir , sir , one interview please sir , can I ask you a question , for the millions watching this program ". Rudra stopped and looked at the interviewee running behind him , as he waited for him to ask away. Rudra said " Alright , one question ". Dewdiepie enthusiastically asked " What''s the reason for this attack on White Radiance guild , what beef does the True Elites guild have with White Radiance?". Rudra nodded , it was just the question he wanted " well , these kids stole from us , a shipment passing through this small town was seized , and it caused a construction delay for our guild. Hence being the guilds enforcer , it was my job to make the ba***** pay , to all the viewers watching this worldwide , let me tell you one thing here , DONT MAKE AN ENEMY OF THE ELITES, alright interview over ". Dewdiepie was dumbfounded , what was this reply , what was this attitude , he quickly asked " You alone took down an entire second rate guild? " Rudra laughed as he said " HAHAHAHA, I did , and I did it unharmed , and guess what , I am not even the strongest in the elites , the guild master , he is someone who defeats me within 5 moves ". Saying soo Rudra went on his silver wolfs back and rode off , leaving millions watching worldwide comprehend the meaning behind his words. The meaning behind , how ONE man was equal to entire GUILD of people. How ONE man could venture into enemy territory , burn it down and leave unharmed. Just how freakishly strong were the Elites? , Is the game still balanced with such monsters roaming? One man taking on 10 is still acceptable , but one man taking on an ENTIRE GUILD is too much. Naturally this made the headlines in media all over the world next day , as the bit where , don''t mess with the Elites was played on replay. First the incredible war victories , then the VR Olympics, now this incident. Slowly but surely the world was not finding the Elites a joke anymore. Noone doubted the strength of the guild anymore , as it was not funny how a guild of a few dominated the entire world scene! /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job everyone , It has been 6 months since I started writing this novel , and it has been a great journey with all of you. I cannot name everyone of the 8.7 thousand fans supporting this book , as much as I''d love to. However let me tell you this , every single comment , every single powerstone , every single Golden ticket you have given me , has given me the motivation to write this work , and that I thankyou all from the bottom of my heart for that. Thankyou for the support you have shown for my work. If this book made it this far , you people are one of the biggest reason behind it. /// Chapter 384: Marching Orders The incident caused waves on the forums as people fervently discussed about it. " Have you guys heard that nearly 50,000 White Radiance members quit the guild in one day? , The incident was massive ! ". " I heard that the White Radiance guild leader is spineless and whinned like a kid infront of the enemy. I would also leave if my guild leader was such a wimp ". " That''s not the point , what my brain cannot comprehend is how did one guy manage to take down an entire guild? , Like did the White Radiance guild not boot him from the town or what? Are they retarded? ". " They must be , how can thousands fall to a single player if that was not the case. I think , this was a staged act , from the Elites to threaten anyone eyeing Purplehaze city ". " I agree , this can''t be true " " You all are retards , the Elites are kings , #glorytojapan , I love the Elites! ". " Guys , the clip of the masked man fighting is insane , isn''t he the same guy that defeated the seige of Orange Rock all that time ago? , He says he is inferior by a large margin to Guild leader Shakuni , do you think is it true? ". " Oye oye oye , who is this masked man , he is soo cool ". " The threat of the masked man is real #dont mess with the elites ". There were varying opinions on the forums regarding the incident , however none of them were favouring the White Radiance guild , Advani had suffered a major setback following the incident as the media was filled with comments calling him a spineless leader. He kept whinning to his pyschiatrist telling her how he could have never fought that monster, that the opponent was just too strong. However all the confidence he had built in himself over the months was now back to 0. He was again a broken man , as the therapist knew that it was going to be even harder for the man to recover now. She truly regretted suggesting him to stand up to the elites , little did she know the patient would end up soo miserably. ------------- ( Meanwhile , back in Purplehaze city ) Rudra was back inside the mayor''s office as he took charge of the city. The construction of the teleportation array was now complete and he could now fully integrate multi species culture into his city. Rudra wanted to create a liberal state where , the elves , orcs , dwarves and even the Lizardmen could reside within the city. He wanted the city to be appealing to all races. And with the teleportation array now functional , the dimension of trade and tourism had been significantly broadened. That aside , Rudra redirected the excess manpower to speed up the completion of the wall project , as he also gave the new weapon designs obtained from Draconia to the lifestyle guild , as well as the design of '' THAT '' crutial piece he obtained from Draconia to Fatty kalash , who was dumbfounded by the intricacies and secrecy needed to complete the project. That settled , Rudra finally left Karna incharge of the guild , as he had to answer the kings summon tommorow , following which he would be off to war. One major event that happened was that after Rudra was back , Jhonny requested audience with him and told Rudra that he would be taking some solo adventures for a while , outside the guild , and that he would be back before the protection period ended for the city. Rudra was hesitant at first , because loosing sir Jhonny for over 3 months , was not something he was keen on. But he knew that space needed to be given to all members , and since it was sir Jhonny''s decision he could only support it. Hence Jhonny English departed from Purplehaze city , to destinations unknown, not to be seen for a while. ----------- Finally the next day , Rudra reported to the military ground of the Royal Millitary , where the entire first legion had assembled. Emperor Cervantez and Patricia were present too. Rudra bowed to the king , as Patricia glared at Rudra , for him to give a millitary salute. Which Rudra instantly did. The Emperor chuckled at Rudra''s fumble of greetings , as he let it slide. Etiquette was not something Cervantez was bothered about much as long as appropriate respect was shown to him. The entire 100,000 soldiers all had their eyes on Rudra , their new lieutenant . Emperor Cervantez said " My Brave warriors , for far too long we have been humiliated by our neighbouring states. For far too long , we have been fighting and loosing wars. We once dominated the entire continent , but slowly after rebells continued to gain power , we shrunk back to this small kingdom , over the reign of my ancestors. My ancestors were not strong enough , to claim back the glory of the HAZELGROOVE EMPIRE , but i am not my ancestor. I CERVANTEZ will reclaim the lost glory of OUR kingdom , those who have wronged us will now know the fear of Hazelgroove soldiers , they dared to hit us when we were weaker , but now we are not the weak one''s anymore. My brave soldiers , THEY ARE THE WEAK ONES NOW , they tremble before the very thought of facing the Hazelgroove Army. This Army , AND YOU ! , The time of our suffering is now over , the time for vengance is here! FOR THE GLORY OF THE KINGDOM! ". The entire one hundered thousand soldiers shouted back " FOR THE GLORY OF THE KINGDOM". It was a chilling scene , and Rudra had to admit that Cervantez was a great talker, even he had goosebumps listening to the emperor , as he felt like going to war right now! Cervantez has a regal aura about him , one that brings weight to every word he says. If he blamed the enemy , they must be wrong , it he says we are stronger , then we must be stronger. Such was the mentality amongst every soldier down in the field. Cervantez continued " Remember this day brave soldiers , this is the day where our counterattack starts , you are a trained and disciplined unit , much stronger than those rebels, who would fall under the stabs of your swords and thrusts of your spears. The only thing you needed was a capable leader. And that I have found in the greatest knight household of Hazelgroove kingdom , a name all of you must be familiar with. Shakuni Won Knight ! His achievements innumerable , his strength unfathomable , however the most outstanding feature of the man being his wits and cunning. With him at the helm , glory will be yours. ALL SALUTE THE LIEUTENANT OF FIRST LEGION , SHAKUNI WON KNIGHT ! ". One thousand men saluted Rudra at once , as Rudra had goosebumps all over his body. This was by far the greatest honor he had recieved in his life. His eyes shining with determination. He was ready to proove the emperors faith in him right. Saluting back at his soldiers , Rudra felt a bubble of energy rising in his chest. He was ready to conquer a few kingdoms! /// Like the novel ? Why not join the discord channel ? Come hangout with your favourite author and have a discussion with others who enjoy the novel. https://discord.gg/KJtRdwcW94. Also please check the comments section for the yearly recap that I will post. /// Chapter 385: Taking charge After Emperor Cervantez gave his speech , he privately called for Rudra . The room where Rudra was called had all the other lieutenants of Hazelgroove kingdom and Patricia present. It was a millitary meeting of the highest order. Emperor Cervantez said " Meet your new colleague , Shakuni Won Knight , he is a able general , he will take on the first division ". The Emperor wanted to move on from the topic but the leader of the third division Hakimi interrupted the emperor saying " My leige , I do not doubt your wisdom , however , I think the kid is too green to be leading battles , just being a Won Knight does not make one a great leader, millitary merits are there for a reason , a person climbs from the ranks of soldier to captain to commodore to eventually a lieutenant. For this boy to be given that honor directly. I think it is a mistake ". Rudra squinted his eyes at the man , who did not back down from Rudra''s gaze. However when Rudra glanced his eyes around the room , he could see that although the others had not voiced this opinion , they felt that what Hakimi said did make sense , as they too did not approve of Rudra''s appointment as a lieutenant. However one sentence from Cervantez was enough to shut up the crowd , as he said " If i say he is good enough , he is good enough ". The killing intent that Cervantez had ever soo controlled was made to flare up a little , and each and every person in the room felt the terrifying might of a tier 5 existance , as noone had the courage to say a single word more. Cervantez restrained himself and continued the meeting as if nothing happened , key strategies such as what forts were to be taken down , and how much resources would be needed to take down these strongholds was roughly estimated. All in all , each division had a task of capturing one town and one fort , to poze a major threat to both the neighbouring nations , as then the next stop would be the major cities. The border territory was roughly made up of conglomerate of small desolate villages and one major millitary fortress . Rudra''s assigned target was Village mercury and fort Magma. The stationed force within Village mercury was about 20,000 soldiers + hired mercanaries , while the Fort was roughly manned by 80,000 men + mercanaries. Rudra had one of the trickiest forts to take down as , the problem with Fort Magma was that , from the Ninecloud kingdoms perspective It was exactly at the edge of their border between Hazelgroove and Aquahose Kingdom. A stronghold that surpassed all other strongholds , it is a tough fort to conquer. There would loom a constant threat of reinforcements coming from Aquahose Kingdom and Rudra''s troops being sandwiched between the two parties. However if successfully captured , the same fort would become a crutial base of operations to launch campaigns into both Nineclouds and Aquahose Kingdom. Naturally there was dissatisfaction among the senior lieutenants that such a important fort was left to be conquered by Rudra. Again Hakimi said " My lord , not the fort Magma , it''s too much even for a veteran like me , assigning it to a newbie like him is just sending our soldiers to doom ! ". The others nodded their heads , even they found fort Magma to be challenging. However Cervantez''s next statement shut everyone up. He said " Hakimi tell me , could you see through prince Aman''s ploys and save me? ". Hakimi shook his head down , it was one of his biggest regrets he carried in his heart even to this day , he lowly said " No sir ". Cervantez said " He did , now tell me , can you say a tier 4 mutated dragon while barely ascending to tier 2?". Hakimi replied with another low " No ". Cervantez said " He can , you don''t know him , i do , this man can make the impossible possible , that''s why this mission is given to him ". Rudra was both flattered by the compliment and disturbed by the pressure to perform he suddenly had now. Hakimi looked at Rudra , as he said " I will acknowledge you , when you have real achievements brat , don''t let the emperor down ". Rudra did not even give him a glance. He had met many such people in his previous life , who looked down on him too much. However , he knew he would be the one to get the last laugh eventually. Soo he was fine with the humiliation for now. Rudra was tempted to show his personal strength and absolutely pound the hell out of Hakimi , right here right now. Even at tier 2 , Rudra beleiver he held enough cards to beat the opponent at tier 3 peak. Rudra was very much looking forward to taking down Village mercury and Fort Magma , as the Hazelgroove generals and emperor Cervantez may not know the truth of the bad beef between the Elites and the triads. However, Rudra had not forgotten about Hao Mi and her actions yet. The attempt on Bo''s life and the death of Neatwits step aunt were events that Rudra would never forgive Hao Mi for , hence Rudra was looking forward to the eventual clash with her even more. As he knew for a fact that the mercenaries hired by Nineclouds kingdom to protect their border towns were the damn Triads! ------------- ( Meanwhile , somewhere in the cold mountains of Himalayas ) A shirtless man was walking in a snow Blizzard , with only a thin robe to cover his skin. His eyes had a sparkle to them , a sparkle that had died down all those years ago. His mind reminded of the times in the mercenary academy , where he was once young , as he aced every single test , every single training , and was deemed as a once in a millenium prodigy. Never missing a shot , never missing a beat , with the most innovative solutions to situations , he was the sparkling gem of every teacher in the academy. However , his greatest quality was his perseverance and determination. There was a method to his madness , as he would train for hours after the normal training was over , his opponent to beat being himself from yesterday. Achieving an excellence in his craft , he was ready to take on the world , untill that one fateful day changed his life forever. The day of graduation , the day where he would finally be a certified mercenary , ready to take on the world and it''s missions. The day where it all went south for him. The final day , just before recieving his degree , he was called in a small room by the headmaster , along with his only companion in his life , a three year old dog that he named bagel. An orphan , he had never learnt the language of love , yet when he joined the academy , he got a small dog from the academy as a pet , whom he cherished more than his own life. And that was the day where the headmaster pointed a gun at the dog , as he shot a sedation dart , rendering the poor dog unconscious. He told him , to kill his dog in his slumber , that it was the final test for his graduation. However he could not do it. He loved the dog too much to kill him. Dissapointed , the headmaster told him that his dog was as good as dead , because the sedative had a poison mixed into it and that it would never wake up again anyway. This event devastated the man , who lost his way in the mercenary world. Fumbling through missions , making a name for himself. A terrifying legend at the academy , his name is revered as the gospel itself.'' Jhonny English '' the world''s greatest ever mercenary! Spending his time in the Himalayas alongside Yume and the monks to regain his inner peace that he lost all those years ago , he never succeeded. However the incident with BO , changed his mind. Back was the Monstrous gleam of the ultimate prodigy , and gone was the sluggishness of Jhonny English. After nearly 4 decades , the world''s greatest mercenary decided to finally come back in buisness. The cold of the Himalayas could not deter him , as he made his way to the monastery , the place where he buried his mercenary suit and his original equipment all those years ago , to reclaim it , and with it reclaim himself. He might be older now , he might not be in the prime physical condition that he once was in , however he was sharper , wiser and more ruthless. Reaching the monastry , Jhonny bowed to his Guru , as he started to dig his old equipment. When the spade Hit a metal trunk , he stopped , as he pulled the havy metal trunk out of the hole himself. Carefully placing the monk robes inside the trunk , Jhonny rewore his black leather robes and 2074 Raybans . On this day .... Jhonny English had been reborn! /// Sorry guys , I could only upload a single chapter today due to exams , Will try make it up tommorow. //// Chapter 386: The first March Rudra met up with the first division for the first time after the meeting with the emperor was over. The first division had 100,000 soldiers , divided into 20,000 infantry , 20,000 archers , and 50,000 cavalry and 10,000 specialists. The choice of steed was the Royal Black stallion , as it was a fast and reliable battlemount that could bear the weight of millitary supplies. The average level of soldiers was around level 90 tier 2. Which was extremely high compared to the neighbouring nine-cloud soldiers at around level 70. Only now did Rudra start to realize that Cervantez ''s plan to take back Hazelgroove''s territories was not a impulse of him reaching tier 5. Rather a planned decision over years. To nurture such a terrifying army , it would take a lot of time and resources. There were 4 commodore in his army , under whom there were 25,000 soldiers each. All of them showed appropriate respect to Rudra , however all 4 of them were early tier 3 NPC. This greatly surprised Rudra , with his increased eye of truth , he was comfortable knowing his power level would not be easily divulged and the soldiers would not be impudent enough to ask it themselves. It would be shameful for Rudra to admit that yes , he was indeed lower in level and tier than them. Because , Rudra''s level and tier did not accurately represent his combat prowess at all. He was easily a tier 3 mid levelled power. Rudra , had a short planning session with the commodores as they surveyed their first target , the Mercury village , which was roughly a 15 day March alongside the massive army from Purplehaze city. Rudra planned the best and safest route of transit that took 3 more days than the shorter path , however after being ambushed once on a road where the forest was on one side and a hill on the other , Rudra did not want to walk into such terrain again. Choosing a flat land for travel , Rudra wanted to always be on alert for ambushes , as there was nothing as being too careful in a war. The Elites never had such numerical strength , Rudra always had to make schemes after schemes to fight wars. However this time it was different , he had the numbers to deploy proper war tactics and fights , he could actually choose from the wide range of millitary tactics from geniuses like Napoleon and Alexander the Great and the Roman legions of the mediaeval times to crush his enemy. His first target was the village of Mercury , a small village with only 20,000 soldiers left to defend it. However Rudra had news from the Elite player he sent as a scout there , that there were additional 30,000 mercenaries securing the village. These mercenaries were all under the triads and their ruled sub contractors. In one sense Hao Mi''s forces. Hence why Rudra ''s hands were even more itchier for action. The village had a rudimentary wooden wall built around it , and the huts and houses inside the village were also a mixture of stone , wood and dry hay stacks as roof. That instantly translated to Fire , Fire , Fire in Rudra''s mind. Unlike guild wars , this fight did not have to be a one day ordeal. He could launch fire arrows on the village daily , for weeks to terrorize the residents and cause civil unrest for the residing army. Untill one day he storms their gates and captures the village. Rudra was going into the fight with a 2:1 numerical advantage in his favour. This was a very different feeling for him. However that did not mean that he could afford to recklessly loose even a tenth of his force. Because, the prize was not Mercury village , but fort Magma which would need every man he had to capture. The March began , and Rudra''s mind started to spin at full speed , trying to come up with strategies and counters and all possible scenarios. Rudra engineered a plan , then changed his perspective to a defender inside the village mercury and think about how he would defend the village should he be in the defenders position. Then reverse engineer his own plan , and find the flaws in it. He would do this continually , untill one plan satisfied his taste , to take down the village. It was the most unconventional method of doing things , however that was Rudra''s style of doing things . Little did he know , years later , the history books would remember this method of capturing a village as a work of pure genius and it would be taught to children as a part of their academic curriculum. The master manipulator was about to use his schemes to manipulate hundereds of thousands , for his own advantage. The biggest witch hunt was about to begin! ------ ( Meanwhile , in China ) Sitting in a bar , was a English man , eating peanuts as he drank whiskey , trying to look like a traveller and reduce the vigilance from the others around him. Asking the bartender in broken Mandarin about where to buy drugs , Jhonny looked like a man undergoing his mid life crisis. However it was all a hoax , all a sham to try find out the supply chain of druggies , from then on out it was only a matter of climbing the supply chain from the seller to the distributor to the manufacturer to the factory owner the triads. Pretending to be completely sloshed , Jhonny gave the man 1000 yuan instead of 100 , as he walked shakily out of the bar. And just like he expected 2 youngsters followed him out . Either they would try mob Jhonny , or sell him drugs , either way , the youngsters were in for a rough night of beating. As Jhonny walked into a narrow dark alley , clenching his stomach as if he would puke , the duo found the time appropriate to ambush Jhonny English. When morning rolled by , the two woke up in the same alley , smelling like urine , as they shivered remembering the terrifying details of the previous night. Chapter 387: Causing Mayhem Rudra''s scheme was too intricate and detailed , nobody would think of manipulating hundereds of thousands , just to conquer a simple village. Rudra wanted to take down Mercury village in a single day. Mercury village was one of the beginner villages , ran by a NPC. Hence it was not a player controlled region. Using this fact as his advantage , Rudra decided to spread a rumor about mercury village. Contacting his Elite academy students , Rudra gave them one order , which was to anonymously spread a rumor on the forums , that gold coins randomly spawned on the streets of the beginner village of Mercury. Along with it , post some videos of some people indeed finding a coin and crying in joy. Rudra wanted to create a complete social media scandal. Appointing all the combat division recruits to randomly keep dropping coins inside the village mercury , and keep filming and posting the reactions of other genuine parties who found it on the forums. Rudra''s army was a two day March away from Mercury village , and Rudra wanted to jam pack the village with players , before leading his army inside with common man''s clothing , as groups of three or four would kill all soldiers they find on the streets blending in with the crowd. Rudra would infiltrate the entire army as foot soldiers inside , using the crowded streets as his perfect cover. Rudra''s plan was put into motion , as the latest Topic of discussion on the forums , especially amongst the newbies was Mercury village. Gold was an extremely valuable currency , and newbies before level 10 had almost about 10 silver worth of saving. To them 1 gold coin was a huge amount with which they could buy a lot of stuff. Naturally , the appeal of free money brought in a lot of people the first day. As slowly but surely , the village was getting influx of a lot of solo players and newbies preffered spawning in Mercury village as their choice of location. The triads guarding the city were quickly alarmed by the situation , as they understood the security threat behind the situation , however they were not the village chief and had no power to stop people from entering the village. Their concerns fell on deaf ears , as the village chief was extremely happy to see the village blossom , the sales of armour and other goods had been astronomical in the last one day. Hence the witch hunt to find random gold coins on the street started. The second day even more people joined in on the action , as freshly level 11 players who obtained the license to venture into the wild , also wanted some of the gold. The popularity of Mercury village had skyrocketed , as everyone was posting photos of finding gold coins on the street. In one day on Rudra''s orders nearly 50,000 coins had been dropped on the streets , as even those who could not find a coin themselves , were motivated as someone on The crowded street would shriek in joy when they found one. This matter got blown out of hand when Rudra decided to fan the flames even more as he contacted Amelia , and let her post a photo of a guild recruit holding a gold coin in his hand and smiling and making an ok sign , with the caption " Getting lucky in Mercury village ". This immediately recieved main stream attention , as the Elites were a very famous guild , closely followed by millions. By the time , Rudra camped with his troops 2km outside of the Mercury village , the city had been jam packed with people , was now turning into security threat , as Rudra marginally reduced the drop rate of gold coins. Only one people would find a gold coin in nearly 15-20 minutes , which started to agitate the crowd. Soon fights broke out , as people got more and more frustrated , as Rudra found the perfect time to enter. When Rudra explained his plan to the commodore''s they looked at him funny , however after realising that their lieutenant was serious , their faces had paled . But what could they do? They could not revolt against the lieutenant , as his authority was absolute. They tried reason with Rudra , but he simply assured them it would be fine. However seeing the chaos in the city , they were now looking at Rudra in a different light , this might just work , they dared to beleive. As disguised as common men , in small groups of 20-30 , men started to enter the city every 10 minutes. Rudra had told the men to wait for 3 hours and pretend to look for gold coins , before enough men entered the city to start the plan. Rudra did not enter the village himself , as he had a second scheme planned that was the phase two of the plan. Phase two needed him to lead the troops personally to make it work , if it went good , he would conquer the village within a single day! With the enemy completely routed. Standing over a hill , alongside two commodore''s , Rudra looked at the time , it was time for the show to start , as he looked at the small village under him and said " Let the Mayhem Begin! ". ------- ( Meanwhile inside the True Elites guild ) Fatty kalash alongside 7 other blacksmiths were clamouring at steel , a 40 foot long steel structure , the room littered with 50 such things. Fatty Kalash shouted " HEY HEY HEY , PUT YOUR BACK INTO THIS , I DONT WANT DENTS IN THIS THING ". " Sir , Yes Sir! ". Fatty was trying his best to mentain the quality of the structure , as he constantly cursed Rudra in his mind , the sturcture he wanted fatty to make , covertly at that , had nearly 40,000 moving parts and was nearly 400 feet high structure fully assembled . The complexity of building it , was not something thousands of workers could handle , yet he had to make do with only 100. As those who were not Elite contracted players , living in the upside , could not be trusted with this work. Even then only Fatty Kalash was privy to the complete design , as the others were only given one single piece to work with. Extreme caution was undertaken as not even the workers knew what they were making. The thing Rudra brought back was too valuable , and completed in its full glory , it would make the elites a superpower in Omega. Fatty had no doubt about it. Yet , he was the one who had to make it a reality and the pressure on him was unreal Chapter 388: Taking down a village In between the crowd of people trying to find the coins on the street , were sparsely distributed mercenaries and nine cloud kingdom soldiers. The sheer density of the crowd and the frequent infighting , as well as the continuous clamour and noises , made the entire town feel like an extremely crowded fish market. It was soo bad that if someone shouted for help , it may not even traverse 5 full meters before being drowned by the sounds of the crowd. It was the perfect cover for commiting crime. As one by one , groups of four soldiers under Rudra , dressed as common men , would bump into a soldier or mercenary as a part of the crowd and stab them with four swords at once. The men could not even shout for help , as they died on the spot. The soldiers committed murder in plain sight , yet the crowd busy in finding gold coins did not even bother. Simmilar instances occured all over the city , as enemy numbers dwindled without a fight. When the numbers dropped below a certain level though , the mercenaries started to notice , something was off. Their teammates were respawning back in the church of light of their hometowns by the hundereds. As the situation was reported , the other mercenaries started to get more vigilant. However , all this was already factored in by Rudra , who gave the order to rain Flame arrows onto the Village! Thousands of flaming arrows covered the sky in an instant , as the low levelled players were baffled at the sight . The arrows rained down on the village and it''s houses , as the fire started to spread. Hundereds of innocent adventurers died , and many mercenaries were injured by the sudden attack. When a System Notification , broke everyone from their stupor. System notification : THE VILLAGE OF MERCURY IS UNDER ATTACK BY HAZELGROOVE KINGDOM FORCES. BY AGGRESSING ON ENEMY TERRITORY , THE HAZELGROOVE KINGDOM HAS DECLARED WAR ON NINECLOUDS KINGDOM . KILLING ENEMY''S FROM OTHER KINGDOM WILL NOW NOT INCREASE INFAMY , AND RESPAWN TIME IS INCREASED TO 24 HOURS. War had been declared , as thousands of cavalry of the first division , bravely charged towards the village walls. Panic ensued inside the village , as low levelled players lost their minds , the village was burning and there was enemy attacking and respawn time had been increased to 24 hours. Which meant that if they were killed , it would take 24 hours for them to log in back into the game. Hence ensued a period of madness and chaos , as stampede went rampant in the village. Seeing the charge of the cavalry , the soldiers shouted " ENEMY ATTACK .... CLOSE THE WALLS , DEFEND THE VILLAGE , ALL MEN TO THE WALLS! ". " ENEMY ATTACK ". " WAR! ". The people Manning the walls of Mercury village , quickly started to throw spears and release arrows at the charging cavalry. However , the ones who ended up dying were them and not a single cavalryman from Rudra''s faction was hurt. As they were utterly backstabbed by the soldiers who had already entered the village. Rudra Gave them a minute by minute breakdown of tasks , where two minutes before the start of the rain of fire , the soldiers were to take cover , and gather near the entrance of the village , and take aim at the people Manning the walls. The moment that the fire arrow rain ended , and the village was enveloped in chaos , Rudra lead the charge of the cavalry personally , towards the village gates. Where the soldiers defending the walls redirected their efforts , only to leave their backs completely exposed to those who were already inside. From then on , the soldiers on the inside , slaughtered their way to the village walls , and opened it wide for the cavalry to enter. Thousands of Hazelgroove soldiers stormed the Mercury village gates , as the infantrymen regrouped with the main army , to now lead an all out charge against the enemies. The village turned into a bloodbath lead by Rudra , as the weaker Nineclouds kingdom soldiers were no match for the superior Hazelgroove kingdom soldiers . Even the hired security , the mercenaries from the triads had a hard time to overcome the sheer numerical advantage and greater strength of the soldiers from Hazelgroove , as they were continually forced to retreat . The tide of the war was completely in favour of the Hazelgroove army , as the retreat path of the Ninecloud soldiers was completely blocked by the thousands of low levelled players who had retreated to the southernmost part of the village to avoid conflict. With the Hazelgroove army pressing , they were forced to the southside , alongwith the players , who were hostile to the soldiers . In desperation to retreat , the soldiers started to cut down on the weak players , as the level 10 players were not even worth a strike to kill . However , this outrageous act caused the weak players to retaliate in anger , as although they still fell in one strike , they did significantly reduce the speed of retreat for the Ninecloud soldiers , who were clobbered from behind by Hazelgroove army. The next 30 minutes was the last decent fight that the defenders of Mercury village put up , as soon their numbers dwindled to individual stragglers. Half the village burnt down , the village chief and thousands of soldiers dead. In under 14 hours , Rudra had captured the Mercury village with less than 100 casualties on his end. It was a massive victory , completely unconventional , however devastatingly effective. --------- ( Meanwhile somewhere in China ) Jhonny was currently hunting down a small gang of local hoodlums involved in operating a small cartel. Somehow his choice of weapons had shifted from using guns to using the Assassin''s dagger like he used in game. He found out that , just like In Omega , he could actually use it precisely in real life as well. It was confusing for him , as he did not understand how it happened , but it was as if throwing daggers was imprinted in his muscle memory . No matter the angle , no matter the trajectory , he would always pierce his opponents neck clean. He walked at the pace of a normal man walking on a ramp in a fashion show , however left and right local hoodlums holding guns dropped dead after being pierced by daggers . As the leader of the group looked at Jhonny terrified with his hands trembling as he asked " N¨« sh¨¬ m¨®gu¨« ma" ( Are you the devil? ) To which Jhonny replied " W¨¯ sh¨¬ yu¨¥h¨¤n n¨ª y¨©ngy¨³" ( I am Jhonny English ) Chapter 389: shocked ! Hao Mi recieved a report on her desk stating that heavy casualties were observed inside the mercury village stronghold in Nineclouds kingdom. It was reported that the Hazelgroove kingdom army took down the fort in under one day , and that the territory was completely lost. However the most disturbing fact was that , the leader of the Elites , Rudra was seen leading the charge of the army , and is rumored to be the mastermind behind the operation. Coupled with the fact that the Elites posted a post increasing the crowd traffic inside the village , it was assumed that they were the masterminds behind the operation. This absolutely changed the meaning of the defeat for Hao Mi , who hated Rudra to the bone. She was already humiliated by the leader of the Elites in Purplehaze city. Yet now even before she could avenge that humiliation , Rudra was back out meddling in her buisness again. Further intelligence report suggested that the most likely target of the conquest army next was the Fort Magma and that Rudra would most likely lead charge against it as well. Hao Mi hence decided to quadruple the mercenary count at fort Magma for no extra cost , and even deployed her first in command Jackson Ryker and the best of her Elite players as added security. Hao Mi wanted a video of a humiliating defeat of the Hazelgroove army on her desk. However , expectations betray reality , as ontop of the devastating defeat of Mercury village , there was also another report on her desk that was worrisome. Nearly 220 gang members of a cartel under her command were found dead , with their neck pierced by daggers , yesterday by the local police. It was one of a string of incidents that had been continually happening over the last 2 weeks. Hao Mi was already loosing nearly 100 million dollar weekly because the supply chain had been, disrupted. However with the complete wipe of yet another cartel , it was going to increase even more . She banged her desk in frustration , she could not understand why these string of problems were happening. The culprit did not match the general pattern of any known major player. A high class mercenary using daggers was still unknown in the underworld and she could not pinpoint the culprit , as his face remained unseen , the only thing the footage review revealed was that he wore a pure black single coat that was stocked with assasin daggers to the brim. She gave out an order to tighten the security in other cartels and put them on high alert , any more of such events and she would suffer a serious operation loss. She swore , that the day she got her hands on the man causing her these problems , she would make him pay. Ethan Grey , Rudra Rajput and this one Unknown man , they were currently the 3 people Hao Mi hated the most. ------ ( Meanwhile in Hazelgroove kingdom ) The news of Rudra''s overwhelming victory spread amongst the NPC''s of the kingdom , as the prestige of the first division lieutenant took a rise. Especially those lieutenants who looked down on Rudra , were now silent , as none of them could understand how he could take down a village in 14 hours with only 100 casualties and a complete enemy wipe. Emperor Cervantez was reading the report with a smiling face , as he told Patricia that his brother was something else. Patricia too had a big smile plastered on her face being the proud elder sister , however she only said " It''s too early to be happy , fort Magma is the real challenge. Mercury is just meh ". Cervantez chuckled before saying " Indeed , I wonder what trick he will pull out of his head now .... Even a seasoned veteran like me cannot understand what goes in the erratic mind of that young man". It seemed like Cervantez had developed an interest in Rudra , he was keen to know what strategies the young man employed , as his methods were always ten step ahead of the enemy thought process. It was a talent , Cervantez greatly valued. And that was exactly what Rudra was doing , the overwhelming victory had already receded to the back of his mind , as he sat down with the commodores who now respected the lieutenant greatly , as the five discussed the next battle palns. Fort Magma was roughly half a days March from Mercury village. If Rudra was unable to take down the Mercury village soo quickly , it was likely that reinforcements from the fort would have arrived and it would have turned into a messy battle. But taking the fort down at the electric speed that he did , left no chance for the enemy to send reinforcements. However this also meant that , the forces at fort Magma had became even more vigilant of the invading forces. Fort Magma was built on a 40¡ã elevated hill. It was a good place to defend , as the fort was an extremely sturdy structure with many small openings that allowed for attacking the approaching forces. The climb towards the fort was hurdled with barricades and barbed fence. Making a frontal assault on the fort extremely difficult as the defences from the fort would pummel the invading forces with arrows and spears. The other problem was that , the fort was on the border of Nineclouds and Aquahose Kingdom , meaning that seige was a bad option. If Rudra was somehow caught between two armies during a siege , he would be minced meat. This exponentially increased the challenge of the attack , as the nearmost Aquahose Kingdom fort was also only half a days March from fort Magma. A delayed attack would mean that reinforcements could arrive at any time. Although Rudra did not know the exact relationship between Aquahose and Nineclouds kingdoms , but since Hazelgroove was a common enemy , he expected the other two forces to co-operate and resist the invader together. Because if fort Magma fell to Hazelgroove kingdom , it would also spell doom for Aquahose Kingdom , as the enemy would gain a base for operating against their kingdom as well. Hence a big challenge presented itself before Rudra , who was thinking this problem Shakuni style. The greatest mastermind was not only a master manipulator but a master strategist as well and fort Magma was his chance to shine. Chapter 390: A true strategist Rudra did not like the prospects of launching a frontal attack on Fort Magma. The fort was too heavily fortified and at a geographically superior position to be rushed in at blindly. The way Rudra approached this was that , on the west side of the fort , was a small path , which merchants used to bring supplies to the fort. The western part faced away from the Aquahose territory on the east and Hazelgroove on the south. That was the critical point for this fort. And for any average commander , if he/she could somehow disrupt the supply chain , then they would have effectively taken a step to further the seige. However Rudra was no average strategist. His mind worked different , what Rudra was interested in was exactly using these merchants to poison half the army with poisoned rations. Rudra wanted to confront the merchant , outside Fort Magma , and along with poisoned food , get him to sneak in two of his soldiers , who would then poison the only water well inside the fort. If successful , it would create a major crisis inside enemy camp , as antidotes will be required at the earliest. Now this was where Rudra''s mind concocted the real plan. As the bigger ploy he was going to cook up was that of a alchemist. Selling bulk of antidote potions in such a testing time , Rudra wanted to get personally invited into enemy camp , to set up a brewing station inside fort Magma. This was to be achieved the same way that Karna and SMG were able to sneak into the Ninecloud kingdom treasury , using the good old appearance alteration potion. Once Rudra was inside , he would stay there as the Alchemist , only to brew even more deadly poison as antidote , and kill as many as he could without even a fight. With his final ploy being to blow up the south side of the wall for his army to charge into. The final fight would only happen in mere hours , however it would take days for Rudra to set up the rest of the stage. It sounded smooth on paper however rudra knew that actually executing it according to the plan he had thought about would be very difficult. Hence , when he talked about it with his commodore they looked at him like they were looking at a mad prophet. Rudra was basically tapping into the future events , by manipulating the present events. This is not how most military operations functioned , nor how most people thought about problems. Naturally the commodores had their reservations , but only three men were required to enter the enemy territory , hence the overall risk was low. And Rudra being one of those three , a person blessed by the goddess of light , the risk was even lower. Although , having reservations , the commodore''s now had a little more faith in Rudra''s plans , as they found few of their most capable men , and started to explain the impossible plan of their young lieutenant. ------- ( Meanwhile in China) Jhonny had finally crossed paths with a triad chief , someone who was not Hao Mi. Jhonny felt conflicted about what to do with this triad chief, as he was not his intended target But the triads were a complete piece of trash cancer to society type people. Hence , Jhonny felt that he may go out of his way to teach them a lesson. The triad boss was entering a adult service shop alongside 20 men gaurding him. It was unclear to Jhonny if this was a buisness visit or a pleasure one , because he did not know about the personality of the triad boss or all of his buisness connections. Jhonny hoped it was a private visit , because there was nothing more fun than catching a target in the act and humiliating him before eventually killing him . Jhonny already thought about the lines he would say when he barged into his private room. Which was " Ohhh , how small , as expected of someone with no balls ". Jhonny laughed at these thoughts , as he made his way to a nearby building and started to climb the stairs. Jhonny had decided to go airborne and enter from the roof . Little did Jhonny know that his little roofside escapade today would change the landscape of China and make one more major enemy for the Elites. ------ ( Meanwhile , Fatty Kalash ) Fatty was on his way to the Church of light , one of the materials he was working with on the secret project Rudra had given him , had released a corrupting mana blast. Causing fatty kalash to loose mobility and a hell lot of HP every minute. He needed to go to the church to dispell the curse. Generally it was extremely difficult for , someone to request for the help of a cardinal to help with dispelling curses , however Rudra was someone special to the church , hence his guild members were given some special privilages inside Purplehaze city church. Cardinal Lee politely greeted Fatty kalash as he helped him dispell the corroding darkness. Although not difficult for him , he could not help but wonder , how fatty kalash got corrupted in the first place. The urge to ask was up till his throat , however at the end he decided against it. He had just recived news of how their honorary bishop had conquered mercury village in 14 hours. The star of Rudra Rajput was shining brightly , and the church was happy. /// A big big big shoutout to Kheoms who gifted me a castle worth 5000 coins. Amidst the exam period , I was struggling with writing everyday , however your gift motivated me immensely to power through the year. As with every super gift , I will provide a bonus chapter today itself! Thankyou for all the support. Finally it''s time for the last riddle of the year to be given out. The same as always guys , dm me on discord if you get the answer. This will be the toughest one yet .... I hope you enjoy solving it. Three Rings for the Elven-Elites under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Afraid to say the name of the Dark lord, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie, The wizard leads them against the tide , One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Victory or defeat , the leaders despair , for this will decide the lands destiny. [ C:E , F:D , I:I , A:F , J:E] /// Chapter 391: Setting the plan in motion Rudra set his plan in motion , procuring serpent''s Dale , a poison specially created to be tasteless and odorless , was bought in bulk from Purplehaze city under millitary quota . The scouts were already sent to enquire about the merchant responsible for getting supplies to the fort. It was apparently a NPC corporation called Nineclouds Trade company who was responsible for military contracts , which was a small company based in the capital city of Nineclouds kingdom. The rations were protected using military personnel , and private hired mercenaries. Hence if Rudra wanted to pull of poisoning the food , he needed to replace an entire guard division with his fake soldiers. The security of the food itself was not the problem , however the process of poisoning it was complicated. Things like injections were not invented yet in this world , hence Rudra had to place a bulk order of injections to fatty kalash in urgent priority. Fatty kalash cursed Rudra for this , he was an elder of the guild only in name , overall his Life was worse than most normal members , as he did not have a single day off from tiring work. Everytime that the workload even remotely decreased Rudra would come up with something to tie him up for months. It was good that there was a subdivision of powers created with head of departments in the guild , as Kalash had absolutely no time to look after the shop these days. However orders were orders , kalash needed to do whatever Rudra wanted to do. Hence even if he was groaning and complaining , he already started to divulge manpower for this sudden request. Since plastic was not invented in the game yet , all equipment was to be made of steel. Hence the furnances were blasted at full power , as every few minutes an injection was produced. With the supply of the injections sorted out , now the only thing left for Rudra to do was to stop the incoming supply chain in some remote location ,and kill all the existing members of the group . For this Rudra had a plan in mind. He wanted to pose as a Nineclouds captain and stop the caravan on its path under the guise of routine inspection. Then make the group leader eat a fruit he poisoned , under the guise of checking the food for poisoning. When the carvan leader died from posioning Rudra would bring in his Hazelgroove soldiers now dressed as Nineclouds soldiers to take charge of the caravan. The Ninecloud soldiers already protecting the caravan would also join them , blaming the merchant organization , yet they would be backstabbed and killed. Only then would Rudra slowly extract all relevant information from the merchant group , about how to trade what to say , what the drill was , before killing them. Rudra''s way of taking the fort down was a cowards way out. But it was the smartest way out. He did not want those under him to die a pointless death . He was not bound by honor and the like , and did not care about how the history books would remember his victory. He knew that his soldiers around him would thank him for it , and that was all that mattered to him. Hence Rudra got the wheels running , the ploy to intercept the caravan was made , and the scouts were monitoring it. From the conquest on Mercury village , Rudra already had access to the Nineclouds army gear , and hence the deception of being a captain was also ready. Now all he needed to do was to wait for his time to act . ---------- ( Meanwhile in China ) Jhonny was on the cieling of the building where a triad boss had supposedly entered , with his ears to the ground , as he tried to listen on what was going down there. He could hear loud moaning sounds of a man which sounded more like a bear groaning , hence his previous conjecture that the vist was most likely for private reasons was probably correct. What baffled Jhonny was the fact that why did a triad boss need to visit a facility for private reasons, he could just invite them to his personal loging. This misconception was caused due to the fact that Jhonny did not know that the triad boss was actually married and these little escapades of his were carried outside to keep his wife in the dark. Men were such creatures. Wether they were a salaryman or a triad chief , men were afriad of being caught cheating by their wives. But fickle in nature to do it anyway. The room was well built , and the concrete was atleast 6 inches thick. Meaning that entering from the roof was not possible. Since there was no windows in the room , direct access seemed to be difficult. Jhonny activated his IR glasses , to see a heatmap of the place. He saw that just outside the room there were 7 men gaurding a narrow corridor. With a small window at the edge of the corridor. To most people this would seem like a hopeless situation. But for Jhonny it was as easy as a walk in the park , as for him it was just seven daggers thrown at once. Fastening a harness to the AC shaft on the roof , Jhonny rappled his way near the window , before dropping a small vial of strong corrosive acid on the window , to create hole in the glass without making much noise. Just as the small hole was made , the nearest guard looked over in confusion due to the sizzling noises , only for brain to be pierced through his eye by an approaching dagger. Simmilar occurences happened to all six other guards as within seconds they were found dead on the ground. Jhonny casually entered the corridor after stretching his hand inside the hole to open the window without making a sound. As he made sure to sidestep the pool of blood on the ground as to not get his shoes dirty. Inhumaly calm in the face of such adversity , Jhonny English was the epitome of coolness for a middle aged man. Jhonny tapped on the door of the triad boss , as he played an audio on his mobile phone that said " ONIIICHAN , HONTONIIII , ONIIICHAN ". The triad boss doing his buisness was baffled for a minute to hear the Loli voice , but soon thought that it must be another girl sent to pleasure him. Thinking nothing wrong of the situation , he went onto open the door , only to horrifyingly see a man instead. A fully suited one at that. Jhonny looked at the triad boss''s weiner and said " Ha , my thumb is larger than that joke ". As two daggers pierced the triad chiefs neck. The prostitute in the room was stunned to silence , as she was horrified , however Jhonny charmingly winked at her and made a '' Shhhhh '' sign . The girl put a finger on her lips and obediently said nothing. Jhonny''s mission was complete as he wanted to leave. However a nefarious idea entered his mind. Before going away , Jhonny performed a gender change ceremony on the corpse before taking a few pictures on his cellphone and vanishing into the open. Little did he know that for the triads , this little act performed by Jhonny would infuriate them to no ends , and that Jhonny would become a sworn enemy of the entire organization. Jhonny posted the photos on a whistleblower website in China , as he exposed alongside the photo of the corpse countless crimes committed by the triad chief. Tommorow the nation was going to wake up to a chaos! One of the three triad bosses was found dead in an adult entertainment settlement , with no man parts on his corpse! This was a terrifying blow to the prideful triads and their entire organization , who would not take it lying down . Everyone from the topmost government official to the bottom rung sweeper on the streets were having an eye out for the triad retaliation. As an emergency meeting was called by between the two remaining triad chiefs. ------- ( Meanwhile in Hazelgroove kingdom ) The experiments for the unstable alchemic reagents were getting at a crutial stage , success meant that Hao Mi would get her hands on a ace card that she could use against her eventual clash against the Elites. The purpose of the reagent was to blow a hole into the massive wall the Elites were currently building. As with the defense of the massive wall standing strong , the path to victory was lined up with problems for any invaders. Hao Mi was working hard on building a terrifying force to eventually crush the Elites and the raze the entire Purplehaze city with her. Although the inevitable clash was still a few months away , the preparations from both sides were in full swings. The test on the reagent was conducted , as heat was provided by a burner to the green liquid boiling in the flask. Within seconds , a loud explosion covered the room , as the glass windows completely shattered from the shockwave . The room was nearly destroyed , as cracks could visible be seen on the wall near which the experiment took place. And only with such a low quantity of a single alchemic flask. If there was a barrel full of this stuff .... It could blow up any damn wall it stood against !!! The experiment was a success! /// Happy new year to you all , I wish this year be productive for everyone of you , and that this year brings lots of good health and fortune for you and your family. To everyone supporting my work , I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude , with an aim to make 2022 the year of the strongest guild master! Hopefully filled with many good story arcs , and epic moments. Bonus chapter for Kheoms gifting us with a super gift , extra long at that because Its the new year. Enjoy! /// Chapter 392: Nineclouds captain Shakuni Rudra along with 5 of his men was disguised as Nineclouds kingdom soldiers. They had taken appearance alteration potions and were acting bratty and authoritative like a patrol squad. When the caravan was approaching the group stood in the middle of the lane on their horses to block them. Rudra shouted " HALT". As the caravan was forced to stop to give face to the captain standing before them. Just as someone of authority was fetched from the caravan , as they approached Rudra. Rudra dismounted from his horse and went on to meet the person who had came to greet him. The person said " Good morning captain , this is my caravan on our way to the fort of Magma to deliver this week''s supplies. These are our identification papers". Rudra was a seasoned schemer at this point , and with the extremely corrupt cops in his previous country , he knew how to handle the role of the corrupt cop very well. Rudra carefully examined the papers line by line , and said " Call the deputy captain that rides with you ". The caravan leaders face noticeably paled a shade , as he rushed to call for the deputy , all the while wondering where he went wrong. He was worried if the prices quoted were too much , or that the other party knew that the grapes they sold were actually not pure renuriesa breed but a hybrid. The deputy that accompanied the carvan came and saluted Rudra first. As Rudra said " At ease deputy , if it is fine by you let us take a stroll , there are means beyond what military men like us can understand ". The deputy was instantly on- guard after Rudra''s warning , soldiers were especially sensitive to talks about the bigger picture. Rudra instantly had his undivided attention. Rudra said " Men , look after .... THEEEESE people , don''t let them move from here while we have a chat ". '' SIR , YES SIR !'' Rudra and the deputy started to walk towards a private area , as Rudra said " what do you make of that caravan leader? Does he seem like a honest man to you ? ". The deputy thought about the question and said " He is a shrewd merchant , however I think he might be a honest man. Unscrupulous at times ,but has the intention of the nation in his heart ". Rudra nodded , he did not outright deny the man''s claim. It was the art of manipulation , that said that implying answers was more powerfull than providing them. Rudra said " Soo listen to me , if someone were to poison thousands of our soldiers .... Will they still be considered as patriotic people? ". The deputy looked aghast as he said " Ofcourse not , that is a capital crime punishable by death ". Rudra nodded as he said " Large quantities of methaoxy diglycerine were bought by this same merchant .... You know what it is right ? ". The deputy replied " Yes , the most sinister of alchemic compounds , that is acidic to taste and has a sour smell , it can give one horrible death upon ingestion ". Rudra said " Yes it indeed can .... That is why this raid has occured , we suspect the merchant has colluded with the bastards from Hazelgroove and tried to ... ". Before Rudra could say another word , the deputy was hit by a tranquilizer dart in his neck and was asleep. Rudra stripped the man of his clothes as his soldier already drinking the appearance alteration potion took his place. The deputy , was then killed mercilessly. On their wayy back Rudra said " Goddamn it son , you kept me chatting for wayy too long there , go do your job now ". When Rudra was back , the fake deputy ignored the caravan leader , as he gathered his entire security troop unit. The fake deputy said " The captain has brought an intelligence report that suggests that the merchant organization has posioned the supplies. We will stand witness to the prosecution and report the true observations back to the main camp. The rest are dismissed , you you you and you , all ten of you , follow me , you are my most trusted soldiers and I need to talk with you in private ". The fake deputy took another 14 men from the security division , and took them deep into the ambush spot of the Hazelgroove soldiers. Who tranquilized replaced and killed them . When they came back , one of them took 3 of his friends to a private spot to come back replaced. Like this soon 60% of the carvan soldiers were replaced by Hazelgroove army men. It was now time to move forward. ------------ ( Real world , China ) The ramifications of killing a triad boss were massive. Hao Mi and the leader of the traid group were currently in an emergency meeting to decide the future course of action and the fallout of this incident. The confidence within the triads was at an all time low , because of the repeated attacks by the '' dagger man '' , severely affecting buisness. But now one of their top leadership fell victim to his attacks , they felt even more demoralized Moreover , billions of dollars of losses were being made every week as more and more subordinates rose up in rebellion to challenge triad power. Hao Mi especially was hit hard , as her faction had been suffering the most , however she received no support from the triad lord. Hao Mi said " THIS CANNOT GO ON , OUR PRESTIGE IS BEING TRAMPLED ON HERE ". Hao Mi was furious at the incident , to her the face of the untouchable triads was more important than money. Today not one government official , not one local ever dared to stand against the triads , it was because that they had carved this fear with centuries of domination. And now it was all crumbling down , as one man was making a fool of this organisation. Hao Mi said " What baffles me is , how can one man with daggers be better than all of our elite men ...? Those seven men protecting third lord was the best of the best in the underworld. Yet they died without a fight? .... Just WHO THE HELL IS THAT DAGGER THROWING MOTHERF**** ". If Jhonny was here to listen to this question , he would have undoubtedly said " English ..... Jhonny English ". /// Special shoutout to Richard_lawrence for the 500 coin gift. Thankyou for the patronage. Good news guys my exams are over. The book will be back on schedule releasing again ! //// Chapter 393: Poisoning Fort Magma Rudra took the caravan leader , and said in a voice that every single citizen and soldier could hear " MISTER TENTEN , YOU HAVE BEEN SUSPECTED TO POISON THE FOOD SUPPLIES GOING TO FORT MAGMA .... WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY IN YOUR DEFENSE? ". The caravan leader was baffled as he stumbled for words " I ..... Me? .... No .... Why ..... LIES! " SLAP ! Rudra gave a tight slap to Caravan leader tenten when he said the word lies. As he said " Deputy.... Being the fruit! ". The deputy acted like he picked a random fruit from the supplies , however he actually picked the predetermined poisoned fruit . Rudra said " You will eat this fruit and you will eat it now! ". He squinted down on the carvan leader , who was sweating buckets now. The caravan leader with trembling hands took a bite of the fruit , as under everyone''s watchful gaze he swallowed the fruit. One second passed .... Then two .... Then the third ... After ten seconds the leader said " See I am oooo... " THUD. He fell to the ground , foaming from his mouth , the caravan leader died from choking on his own vomit. ( SHRIEKS AND SCREAMS) were heard by the citizens of the merchant organization in the caravan , who were terrified after seeing their leader die. Rudra said " sieze the goods , arrest the citizens , we don''t know who all are involved in this scandal ". The deputy repeated " ARREST THEM SONS OF B****". All soldiers , wether fake or real then proceeded to arrest the normal citizens and tie them to trees with rope for later questioning. Just as this was done , ambush was done by Hazelgroove kingdom soldiers dressed as bandits. As Rudra rallied the command " BANDITS! ". Everyone was instantly on guard , however more than half of them were actually Rudra''s soldiers anyway , as the fight began , the Ninecloud soldiers were mercilessly backstabbed and killed , as the complete control of the caravan fell under Rudra. Tranquilizing the citizens , the remaining soldiers changed their appearances to normal citizens , as Rudra left food and water for them when they woke up , and left the normal citizens to enjoy the open wind of the forest for a while , as he took over the caravan. The journey started , with Rudra now becoming the fake caravan leader tenten , the original transport papers in hand , with a fake deputy in tow , and a complete soldier unit made up of Hazelgroove kingdom soldiers towards fort Magma. Enroute , seven soldiers were continually poisoning the supplies , injecting poison inside the fruits and vegetables as ordered by Rudra through the special device called injections. The fruits started to look even more plump and delicious after the infusion of poison , as about 3 kms out from fort Magma , those who were not dressed as Nineclouds soldiers disembarked , with the poison food caravan marching uninterrupted. When the first scout station saw the approaching caravan , he saw the familiar tenten at the lead and the deputy with him as per the norms , hence found nothing odd and raised no flags. Rudra was able to reach close to 500 meters from fort , after which he was significantly slowed down as he had to make his way through a sea of barricades meant to slow down enemy charge at the gates and shower them with projectiles. Rudra had his eyes of truth activated , as he could see the structural flaws inside the walls of fort Magma. He was studying the fort quite intently as this was a good opportunity for him to learn more about the place soon to be under him . When he finally made his way to the gate , a voice came saying " HALT " Soon through a single man metal door from the massive west gate , came a captain to greet the caravan leader. He said " Tenten my friend ... " Thankfully Rudra had his eyes of truth or else the act would have ended here itself as he said " Captain Morgan ". The two men smiled at each other , as he said " what did you bring this time my friend? ". Rudra replied " The finest grapes , apples and peaches and those green vegetables too ". Morgan laughed as he said " Alright , it''s only a formality but i need to see the transit papers ". Rudra said " Indeed". And produced the documents. Rudra asked " Is the war too serious? ". Morgan looking at the papers said " So- so , the Hazelgroove weaklings can never take down fort Magma , it''s a pipedream , the Aquahose cunts are supporting us too , nothing to worry ". Rudra got a crucial piece of information here , as he asked no more questions to not arouse suspicion as he said " I see , I am releived ". Morgan laughed again , as he closed the papers and said " What you worried about mate , your security will not be compromised , we even give you a Deputy and soo many soldiers ! ". Then Morgan looked at the soldiers following the carvan and his smile vanished as he asked " Why are there twenty men less .. DEPUTY get your a** here ". The deputy rode his horse near as he gave the captain a salute . Tenten said " We had a bandit ambush captain , the deputy tried his best , but we lost a few men ". The deputy said " I take full blame for this , they were brave men". Seeing the atmosphere Morgan frowned , then he nodded , it was indeed common for such large Caravans to be attacked by bandits , but Morgan did not understand which group had became soo bold to attack military carvans Morgan said " Impudent bandits .... One day I will wipe them all out. Alright dismissed ! ''". However the deputy did not go , instead he said " captain I have a request , if I so dare". Morgan raised an eyebrow and said " Go on ... ". The fake deputy said " two of my men have suffered grevious injuries in the fight , and our healer has died , can they stay in the fort for a couple of days as they must be nursed back to health ". Morgan looked at the deputy in appreciation , as he said " Ofcourse , you are a good leader ". With this the supplies were taken inside fort Magma and two injured soldiers were given treatment in the infirmary , as the rest of the group took their leave. The mission was a success , and as soon as Rudra and the rest were outside the sentry range , they ditched the disgusting Nineclouds gear and bolted towards mercury village. That night , large amounts of poison were dumped into the drinking well , by the injured soldiers ... Who supposedly could not even move. The plan was a success .... However Rudra had another unexpected gain from it ... One that he did not initiall anticipate , one that would help him go a long way. Part one of the mission had been completed .... FORT MAGMA HAD BEEN POSIONED! --------- ( Meanwhile in real world ) Bo had just regained consciousness today , as he saw a smiling Skyla by his bedside. The first thing Bo said was ... " How is the Mrs who saved my life? ". Skyla ''s smile was washed off as she said " dead ". Bo closed his eyes again as a tear escaped from his eye as he solemnly asked " Who ..? " Skyla said " Unclear , but we suspect Mithun Ambani and the triads involved". Bo remained silent for a moment and said " I''ll make them pay ". Skyla laughed , then looked at Bo , and laughed again . Which annoyed Bo who thought Skyla was looking down on his ability , as he said " What! What''s soo funny ... ". Skyla patted his head and turned on the tv infront of him. It was international news . '' Today''s BREAKING NEWS the third triad boss Xing Zao Mi has been confirmed to be killed by an unknown assassin , emasculated after his death , it is a big blow to the prestige of the biggest crime syndicate of China ..... '' Bo was baffled at first , but soon his mind became clear , he understood that there was only one man in this world capable of pulling this off , his idol , the greatest mercenary .... Jhonny English. It was not that Skyla was laughing at him , but rather at the fact that , he might not even get a chance , as they will all be dead within the near future! Bo felt emotions bubbling inside him , as Skyla said " yes he walked out of retirement after you fell into coma. He stayed by your side during your critical care time , refusing to go away , then one day he left the country , next we know a triad boss is dead ... You are very lucky Bo , you have English as your backer ". /// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job guys /// Chapter 394: The enemy cannot comprehend ( One day later ...) The infirmary was currently at full capacity , sick soldiers and dead soldiers were littered all over the infirmary. It seemed like an epidemic had broke in the fort. The very water used to treat these sick patients , being fed to them every hour , was the poison to their health , whereas those who were healthy were slowly consuming the contaminated food. The odorless and tasteless poison had did its job , there was nobody that was wiser of the ploy yet. However with more and more seemingly healthy soldiers falling sick after eating food or drinking water , many started to get suspicious. Nearly 40% of the fort staff was currently posioned and battling for their life. It was then that a local specialist healer who was called for , in urgency came to the location and after checking all the patients decided that , they were poisoned. This news breakdown was a heavy blow to the morale of the soldiers as they cursed whoever it was responsible for this despicable act. Upon investigation it was found out that all the latest food supplies and the water in the well were contaminated by the same poison. This was a very dangerous revelation , which lead to the fort staff immediately doubting the two men they took in at the infirmary as injured soldiers , after whose arrival this incident started. However the two Hazelgroove soldiers had already altered their appearance according to two dead soldiers who died of poisoning and replaced them as healthy soldiers within the fort ranks upon Rudra''s instructions. Hence no matter how hard the fort staff tried to look for them , they were not to be found. Rudra had thought about every step of the plan , and not one of the people under his command were put in a suicide position. It was a risky job , but not suicidal. But risk was the life of a soldier , hence those appointed the task did not despair , but did it with full precision. The show had started , the fort had been poisoned , and far away at Mercury village , one Rudra Rajput was smiling in his base camp. Gearing up for war ! A genius plan had hatched in his mind , when he travelled to the fort , as he secretly let Furball take a good look at the location , when he moved the supplies inside the fort. Now using Furball''s mass teleport , he could potentially take in upto 15 soldiers with him directly inside the fort , slaughtering it from the inside , to open the north gate from within for the Hazelgroove storm in. However , if Rudra was to pull this off , he needed his team , he needed his squad , he needed the Elites! Karna , SMG , Tank , Rhino , Naomi , Medivh , Yume , PoisonToadGamakichi , PoisontoadGamabunta , Skyla , Cola , PinkLotus and Greenlotus were chosen by Rudra for this task. Doom Armour strapped on , Excalibur in the left hand , Elven sword in the right. Sun god''s bracelet on his arm , and a fluttering lieutenant''s robe on his neck. Rudra was ready for action! With the Elites assembled , Rudra had a gaint meeting with his Commodore''s , to push towards the north gate with full defensive formations , as slowly as possible and with minimum loss of life. Only to charge when Rudra was successful in opening the door from the inside. The commodores thought Rudra''s method to be madness , they could not understand how 15 men were going to cause a chaos inside a fort manned by thousands , enough to open a forts reinforced gate from the inside? They expressed their apprehension towards the plan , but Rudra was firm , he told them it was an order , and left them incharge of carrying it out. The commodores could only exchange glances of concern and do as they were told. Their concern was genuine , however they did not know the elites like Rudra did. But what Rudra did not know this time , was the fact that the fort was being manned by a very agitated triad mercenary group. One of the best of the best at that. The kind of people that could rival an ordinary Elite one on one. This was going to be a tough fight , a prelude of how the inevitable clash between the triads and the Elites will be in the coming months ... --------- ( Meanwhile in Real World ) The girl that Jhonny left alive in the adult establishment was forced to draw a sketch of the man she saw in the room that killed and emasculated the triad leader . And after the sketch was complete , it was instantly recognized as one Jhonny English!!! It was a sensation in the underground world , as the number one mercenary was back in action after rumors of retirement. And back to take on the chinese mafia? The word spread quickly as everyone from the lowest level of mercenary organizations to the highest level of organized underworld crime , knew for a fact that Jhonny was taking on Chinese mafia and had successfully taken down a boss! There was a 100 billion dollar bounty on his head now , as many independent contractors started to hunt for Jhonny English. Along with Jhonny the Elites were also insinuated in this matter , as it was public knowledge he was an Elites member and a part of Ethan Grey''s faction. Many speculated the nature of relationship between the triads and Ethan Grey , and if this was a massive war between these two entities. There were various conspiracies and juicy stories cooked up. Stories that fell on the ears of one Russian mafia boss , who was not very pleased with the situation. The matter was only to escalate in the coming time , as Jhonny was not done yet. Infact , he had not even gotten completely serious yet ... Jhonny was said to be the best ... The untouchable , the invincible. Now his legend would be put to test. The fight had begun! /// Guys , I need more golden tickets and powerstones. I don''t know how , but you guys need to make it happen. Please support ! Special shoutout to Terry_cliffon for the 2000 coin gift! /// Chapter 395: Starting the attack The main army started its march from Mercury Village , as Rudra and the Elites were gathered around Furball , who was preparing for mass teleportation. The organized March of the massive 100,000 strong army , made the earth rumble with its every move. The commodores leading the entire army with conviction , however they knew deep down , that the success and failure of today''s attack depended completely on wether or not the lieutenant would be able to open the gate from within. Fort Magma after the poisoning incidence was currently at its weakest , the fort was currently embroiled in chaos , as even the most basic water supplies were unavailable. It would take at minimum 24 hours more to bring in fresh supplies. With the soldiers suspecting even the safe to eat foods as poisoned , they were fatigued and hungry , not in a ideal condition to fight the war. An advantage that Rudra much wanted to exploit. Most of the mercenaries were unaffected , as for players eating and drinking was matter of choice and not necessity. If they ate , they would feel the corresponding taste , however they would not be fulfilled no matter how much they ate. The same did not apply for NPC''s who behaved like real humans in real world. The Elites had gathered around Rudra , their looks confident , their expressions arrogant , not one of the members was afraid about diving into enemy territory where thousands would be present , well none of those who came to Draconia were , the rest were a lot uneasy . The training that the Elites went in Draconia , now was the time to show , after a loud chant of one for all , all for one , go elites go ! , The team mass teleported inside fort Magma! -------- ( A Nineclouds soldiers POV , inside Fort Magma ) The soldier was already pissed out about the poisoning of supplies , hence was patrolling in a foul mood , when a small cute fox came upto him. The soldier bent down , to look at the fox , as he wondered how the little one had came inside the fort. Looking at its soft furcoat , he wondered in his mind if it was delicious. Reaching its arm out to pick the fox up , the little fox suddenly used a terrifying flamethrower to burn the man to a crisp. The only body part left of the man was the palm of his hand that he had extended to touch Furball. After which Furball walked on , like nothing had happened. Currently the elites had entered a secluded Part of fort Magma , a place Rudra had scouted to be safe for their entry point. To his luck , there was noone looking at that very location at the moment , and under the cover of the night , this was now the perfect playground for one SMG! Training with a shadow dragon in Draconia , he was now Lethal in exactly these kinds of situations. Hence he was the first to take his leave , dissapearing in thin shadows. Rudra , Karna and the rest looked at each other and tried to walk out in hushed steps , when Rudra saw Furball walking alone not 40 meters ahead. Rudra panicked , he did not understand why Furball would loiter alone in such a dangerous place. When the soldier bent to touch Furball , Rudra''s heart beat out of his chest , Elven sword unsheathed he was one mili second away from using blink , when Furball roasted the man to crisp alive. Rudra was left to watch without a response , as Furball continued to cutely massacre her way through the west gate. Rudra wanted to track its progress , however since the group''s hiding skills were not as good as SMG''S , soon some soldiers spotted them , as the alarm for enemies was raised. '' ENEMIES , ENEMIES IN THE FORT ! '' '' ALL MEN TO THE NORTH-WEST WALL , ENEMIES! '' '' THE HAZELGROOVE BAS**** ARE HERE , ALL MEN HEED ''. The group was discovered , as a fight broke off. There were currently four factions causing chaos inside fort Magma One was SMG , who was wreaking havoc under the cover of darkness . The second was Furball who was loitering around on its own . The third was Rudra and the rest of the Elites leading the main charge against the enemies , fighting swarms of men at a time. And the last was the two Hazelgroove soldiers who had already infiltrated the fort. Their job was to set fire to anything they could set fire to in the fort , and backstab any soldiers that they could during a fight. Hence in this way chaos erupted inside Fort Magma , as the already poisoned soldiers in the infirmary coupled with the Elites infiltrating at midnight , the defending soldiers were left scrambling as there was no order in the fort. --------- ( Meanwhile in China ) Jhonny was currently chasing six assailants who were not long ago 30 in number chasing Jhonny. How the tables had turned , the predators became the prey , after understanding the terrifying might of Jhonny English. The chase was happening in a slum area , where the roof of buildings were extremely near each other , as both the assailants and Jhonny were Parkouring their way on top of it. To the surprise of English , his middle aged body was actually able to keep up with these young men in their prime , as he took his time to shorten the gap before six daggers flew out of his hand , killing all six of them at once. Jhonny sighed , they were lads from the mercenary organizations he came from. Although he had nothing against them , he still could not beleive the mercenary organization to take a contract for his head. After all that he had done for them. But that did not change a thing for him , come who may , the triads would have to pay the price to hurt his disciple! /// Special shoutout to adrian_hardin for the 1000 coin gift and to ofcsoccer4 for the 5000 coin super gift! Like with every super gift , it will result in a bonus chapter released today. Thankyou very much for the patronage! /// Chapter 396: Furballs pov ( Furball''s pov ) Furball was summoned by Rudra out of the blue , as she was surrounded by the familiar Elite faces. As Rudra caressed her she purreb a bit. She loved when Rudra stroked her fur. She would wriggle a bit soo that he would touch the spots she wanted to be petted , as the dumb human of hers only petted her on the same stroke all the time. After enjoying Rudra''s attention for a while , she looked right into the human b*** Yua ''s eyes as she absolutely gave her the death glare. She thought '' Stay away pest , he is my human , MY , there can only be one vixen in his life , and that spot is taken , grrrrrrrr ''. She absolutely hated that human , while she was not overly fond of the other one either , but since she helped his human from time to time , Furball decided to grace her with not growling at her. Although the human was mannerless , Furball let it slide. The human should have praised her glory for sharing her human with her for a bit. But Naomi clearly did not thank her enough. When Rudra slowly explained her the plan to mass teleport , she understood it in the first go , but still had to put up with Rudra''s half an hour of explaining. Furball sighed , this human of hers was just too dumb , he needed to repeat things 50 times to understand. Sometimes she pitied her human , he was dumb. But she understood the assignment , and teleported the entire group inside the fort. She was more than tempted to leave the vixen here , however controlling her disgust she took her too. After they went inside , Rudra explicitly told Furball to return to his soul space , however she was hesitant. There was soo much interesting things in the outside world , she wanted to explore. She was not small anymore , she was 3 months old now! Hence Furball trotted inside Fort Magma , when she saw her human hide behind each and every obstacle to advance , she pitied him, he was a slow human. As she confidently trotted ahead , not waiting on him. When she went a little further , a stinky human saw her. As he intently looked at Furball. Furball growled , which was her way of saying '' WATCHA LOOKING AT ? STRANGA? ''. However the man did not speak animal , as he tried to get closer to Furball. Furball immediately bent her forward legs and coiled her hind legs taking an attacking stance as she said Grrrrr. Which meant '' Hey , hey , stay away , no touchie touchie ''. Furball hated other men stroking her , only her master could do it. Hence she gave the man a menacing glare , which was his final warning as he extended his hand to touch her. Furball thought '' Okay , that''s it ''. As she used flamethrower to burn him to a crisp. Furball purred which said '' I told you no touchie touchie , now you suffer the flames of the nine tailed fox , and the might of Furball'' Then she turned around to look at her human , as she wanted his approval. She was strong now , big sister Luna had trained her , these humans were all weak! However , when she saw the wide eyed Rudra , just blankly staring at her , she thought '' Oooo , he must think I am soo cool and grown up now , let me impress him more , so that he doesn''t give attention to the other vixen ! '' Furball did a roar , which sounded like a meow , which said '' Human , I am going to burn other bad men ''. As she continued on her journey to burn smell Ninecloud men to ashes. At first she was reserved , but soon she was in full on killer mode as she thought '' Hahaha , puny lizards , those giant scaly reptiles will never match my strength , Hahahaha ''. Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn smelly human ! Furball was having the time of her life. -------- ( Meanwhile SMG ) Meanwhile SMG was dishing out his latest special move. Where he would drag a man half into the ground and bury him alive in the shadows. It was as if the ground suddenly turned liquid for a second as the man would fall to their necks inside solid ground after which it would solidify , trapping them completely. Rendering them powerless to move. Such a happened to people all across the camp , in places where darkness dominated the light. As these people would suddenly find themselves neck deep inside the ground. Then suddenly a sinister man covered in darkness would come and decapitate the men clean . SMG was a one man wrecking crew in the darkness , that embodied fear inside the enemy camp. Entire patches of land would be covered in bodies with necks sticking out of the floor and decapitated heads on the ground. His current kill count surpassing that of Rudra and Karna combined. However things were going to change , as more and more mercenaries took control of the situation. These were the soldiers stationed by Hao Mi personally , who were one of the best forces of the triads , all over level 85 , they would have been evenly matched against the Elites if it was not for the visit to Draconia. However their arrival to the Battlefront changed the momentum of the battle , as the one sided massacre slowed down. Soon both sides were evenly matched ..... The real war had now started. --------- ( Meanwhile in China ) Jhonny was currently scouting a very big poppy production factory. The core buisness of the triads. It was the largest facility and the most guarded one. Responsible for nearly 15% of the triads total income. And now it was what Jhonny wanted to burn down next , as he planned his way on decimating his way through the entire facility . /// Bonus chapter for the super gift by ofcsoccer4 Also special shoutout to Adrian_Hardin for the 1000 coin gift! Thankyou soo much guys , these things are what keep me motivated. We have really dropped in the GT and PS department , guys let''s pick the pace back up! /// Chapter 397: Rudra shows his class When the mercenaries from Hao Mi''s faction arrived , the battle took a standstill. One on one , the elites could overpower their opponents , much to the surprise of the enemy , however there were wayy too many of them for the fight to be one on one. The fight was a huge face slap for the triad mercenaries as the more they fought , the more they realized that even five of them were not as good as one Elite and these are the people who prided themselves in being the best of the best. Before engaging in this fight , the triad members always thought that , it is only because they did not participate in events like the VR Olympics , that the world did not know of them , otherwise there was no special difference between them and the so called Elites. But the truth could not be further off , they were not as good as the Elites , be stats , equipment or even combat proficiency. This agitated the crowd well. Especially Rudra was drowned in a sea of triad enemies , as their boss especially hated the leader of the Elites and the one to kill him would enjoy very generous benefits . However , Rudra was the worst enemy to pick on this battlefield , with stats that surpassed the mortal man , Rudra was already someone initiated on the path of cultivation , his mind and body had already sharpened beyond normal human , and his fight clearly displayed that fact. Rudra was a one man army , no doubt about it , even the best mercenaries from the triads could only take two to three blows from him at the maximum. That was untill their leader came to face Rudra. As the others created some space. The man said " I am the traid deputy leader Xin Dao , here to avenge the humiliation of my master , Shakuni , prepare for your demise ". Saying soo the man started to scream as he took some kungfu type stance , In his hands was a small dagger , as he had his one leg raised above ground. Then the man started to dance from toe to toe , as he gauged Rudra. Yume instantly recognized the move , it was the Kung fu move of the snake dance , very effective to fight one v one. Xin Dao said " Huh , you were charging soo boldly at other enemies , but when you see a real man , you can''t help but feel your balls come to your throat can you ". Rudra looked at this idiot and sighed. As he instantly used blink followed by world Slash. The Kung fu panda was sent to his death by a single move , as Rudra completely ignored the incident and dove right into fighting again. The only people struggling in the fight from the Elites side were those who did not come to Draconia , and whose strength was simmilar to that of the mercenaries from the triads. But with Naomi''s constant healing support , even these members managed to hold on. Although the fight looked like it was in a complete chaos , the reality was not so. Rudra was methodically moving towards the north gate , as he was less than 50 meters from it. It was then that , a loud noise came from the forts watchtower. " ENEMY MARCHING!!!!! ENEMY ATTACKING THE NORTH GATE!!!! ALL HANDS ON THE NOTHERN WALL ". Everyone was baffled to hear this news , the enemy March could not have came at a worse time. As hordes and hordes of soldiers rushed to take stations on the nothern wall , Rudra and Karna lead the elites through the sea of soldiers progressively towards the north gate. The commodores outisde had already taken a full defensive formation , as the army was slowly starting to climb the hill , trusting that the leader would open the gates at the right time. However , in reality the commodores were not too optimistic about this actually happening and had a plan to undertake full retreat to cut the losses when needed. However , to their surprise , the gate was blasted open. When Rudra was close enough , the elites suddenly made a circle around him , to give him enough time to cast his two spells. Solar Flash! The sudden flash of light during the night , caused a temporary blindness for everyone around Rudra , as Rudra used Solar blast , to blast open the single lock on the huge metal gate of fort Magma. With the lock falling apart , all it now needed was a strong enough push , and the gate would open up! And that strong push came in the form of , Rudra, Karna , Yume , Gamakichi and Gamabunta pushing the door all at once at full strength. Arrows piecing their armour one after the other , as the group took heavy damage. However their job , was completed. The north gate was opened! The moment the commodores saw the north gate open , they knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity .... As they lead the army at full speed to charge at the gates! This was a do or die now ..... The Hazelgroove army was in control now .... The battle to capture fort Magma was now possible! --------- ( Meanwhile in China ) Jhonny had infiltrated the poppy field , having no interest in inhaling drugs , this time Jhonny wore a gas mask. Jhonny''s plan was simple , if he burnt the poppy fields , half the people here would probably die of overdose , while the other half would be high as hell . In both scenarios , Jhonny would walk out the beneficiary , hence what he did was to kill his way through to one end of the opium rich poppy fields and used a cigaratte lighter to burn 3-4 of the plants . After that Jhonny had nothing more to do as the fire started to spread from itself. Although the smoke kept rising and rising ,and the smoke detectors started to ring, the consequent sprinklers did not activate Or rather they did activate but no water came from it , as Jhonny had long cut the supply line. With the workers scrambling to save the billions of dollars worth of goods , they had no choice but to inhale the poison of drugs. Soon rendering them as slow laughing buffoons. /// Special shoutout to Adrian_hardin for the 1000 coin gift! Thankyou for the patronage brother ! /// Chapter 398: A Tactical Genius The Hazelgroove forces stormed the north gate to fort Magma , as a frantic effort began from the defenders to push the invaders out of the fort and secure the gates once again. But the moment the main army stormed inside the base , it was practically over. The Hazelgroove soldiers were wayy superior to their Nineclouds counterparts and could also rival the mercenaries from the triads. In short , the quality advantage was non existent , and the tactical advantage was also gone. With Rudra''s initial plan of poisoning coming to fruition , the numerical advantage was also gone! Meaning that it was only a matter of time before the slaughter turned one sided. And that was indeed the case , within one hour of the gates breached , the soldiers of Nineclouds kingdom were in a frantic retreat , as more and more areas of the fort fell to the enemy. It was a chaotic battlefield , however an Hazelgroove win seemed to be set in stone at this point , and that was indeed what happened , in the next two hours the entire place was a complete wipe. Rudra immediately ordered the men to secure the gates and man the walls , as he knew that before they coul gain a complete control over the fort , the Aquahose Kingdom forces were sure to act . And that was indeed what happened , 4 hours later , just as they had barely consolidated their position inside fort Magma , Aquahose forces were at their foot. However , Rudra was not an incapable general , he was already prepared for this , as the eastern wall was completely stocked with archers , who rained carnage onto the Aquahose soldiers on the foot of the hill. The Aquahose general could only look on in horror , as his mind could not comprehend as to how a fort as terrifying as fort Magma , fell within hours. Soo much soo that the enemy even had time to consolidate. 15 minutes later and at a cost of 2000 soldiers dead , the general asked his forces to retreat. There was no poin in attacking Fort Magma at this point where the enemy had already consolidated their position. It was akin to Asking for death. Hence in this way , Rudra had successfully captured fort Magma! -------- ( Meanwhile , somewhere in Nineclouds kingdom ) The news of Fort Magma falling had already reached Hao Mi , who was not happy about it in the slightest. To know that the Elites were the ones behind it was adding fuel to fire. She was absolutely livid , as she read the report she could not beleive the ridiculous things stated as a reason for defeat. Rudra''s schemes were such , that to a third person , they felt like it was an obvious trap , that the ones who fell in the trap were dumb , whereas if it was someone like them , they would never fall for it. But that is not true , Rudra''s plan although sounds ridiculous on paper , was actually extremely methodical and precise. His ability to estimate the chain of events that followed a particular event was unparalled. That is the only reason why Rudra could plan soo far. As he knew exactly what the enemy would be thinking at all times. With Jhonny''s acts of public rebellion against the triads , and the Rudra''s past transgressions against Hao Mi , and now their interference in the territory building of the triads was something unacceptable to the two prideful leaders of the group. With the newly appointed triad head , the son of the deceased triad leader killed by Jhonny pushing for a public declaration of war. The triads posted this message on the forums " Today we bring grevious news for the group called '' True Elites '' , for the various transgressions against us triads , we have jointly decided to annihilate your organization. 2 months and 4 days , that''s how much immunity you have , because on the 5 th day , there will not be a guild hall left in the inner district of Purplehaze City . Soo go make peace with all the demon''s you can , and empty all the funds inside Ethan Grey''s bank , because come judgement day , and you will face the full force of the Chinese triads. However , we triads genuinely hope that you can prepare for judgement day In peace with friends and family , just like how the guild elder Neatwit enjoys . Virtual or real , in any reality , the triads wish you guys the best ". The post naturally went viral on the internet , as well as real world , as there was naturally menace within the words of the threat that the triads made. The next day , the stocks of Grey international fell by 7% , the largest freefall in company history , showed how seriously the common people took this threat. The parents of various elites were afraid to their bone , seeing the repeat telecasts on media about the judgement day. They were simple people and the underworld scared them. Questions about the guild leader Neatwits family were raised , and the answer that was concealed very deeply , was getting harder to defend from public eye. On the guilds side , everyone was a bit nervous , while the upper management was furious seeing the threats. However what both these people had in common was that they were both waiting for the guild leaders response to the situation. Everyone wether it was Ethan Grey , the Elites family members , and the guild members , they all only had faith in one Rudra Rajput and had enough respect to wait to listen to what he had to say before formulating any opinions. And they were right to do so , as Rudra himself was deep in thought about the future of the Elites. He knew that the collision path against the triads was long since unavoidable since the day he rejected hao Mi , however them threatening the elites in real life and the family members too , was crossing a bottom line. Rudra was naturally furious , but the safety in real life of the Elite members was paramount. If real life safety was assured , Rudra was ready to deliver a savage reply. However he needed to talk to Ethan Grey first. /// Special shoutout to Antonn_kartunnen for the 2000 coin gift ! , Thankyou for the patronage ! /// Chapter 399: Guild Leader Is Savage ( Grey international tower ) The entire Upside was on high alert as soon as the triads threat came out. The common citizens were only a little anxious but the patrol was on high alert. Rudra was currently in Ethan Grey''s office , waiting for an answer from Ethan Grey. Ethan had already quadrupled the security after the Bo incident , however he further implemented even more security measures , and completely banned the entry of outsiders in the upside. There was a small reception created in one of the entry gates , which was the only place where outsiders could meet with the upside people , if necessary , otherwise beyond that point noone was allowed. The upside citizens were advised to stay within the upside as much as possible , and most had no problem with it , as upsdie was literally heaven on earth. H Hence after calculating everything , Ethan said " considering that unlike in virtual world , in reality the entire triad faction would not madly charge at upside walls , bypassing japanese government. This place is completely safe ". Rudra sighed in releif and took a deep breath. The only thing that bothered him was that his actions would have ramifications for the families of his guild members. Now that that concern was out of the way , Rudra told Ethan " Now that they admitted that they had some hand behind the death of Neatwits aunt , i swear to god , i never planned on annihilating them , but i WILL make them pay ! ". Ethan nodded , he was very angry that he lost nearly 10% of his net worth in a single day. It was the biggest freefall of his stock price that he had ever seen. Ethan Grey was out for blood now! He asked Rudra " How sure are you of winning ". Rudra laughed , it was a maniacal laughter and said " Winning? 200% , but it ain''t about winning is it? It''s about payback and HUMILIATION! infront of the world to watch. UTTER humiliation , to the limits. To a point where the triads become a joke , a complete meme for people for all ages". Ethan Grey had chills go down his spine at Rudra''s declaration. This was too terrifying to think off , the traids were a massive entity , someone even he could not casually mess with. Yet Rudra wanted to humiliate them..... Sometimes Ethan Grey felt afraid of his fellow reincarnator , as he kept reminding himself to never double cross this man. It was best to always be in his good books. -------- ( A little later in the virtual world ) Rudra posted this reply on the forums ... ( A small clip of Hao Mi being dragged across the streets of Purplehaze while being pelted with rotten tomatoes ) The reply read " We welcome the Chinese traids with open arms , Our Purplehaze city is known to be hospitable to criminals like you , as seen in the video clip attached, we would love to parade your entire organization through the streets the same way , We advise you to hire a good PR , to deal with the aftermath of your loss ". The reply went viral on the forums , as anyone who saw it would whistle at the audacity of the Elites leader. It was public knowledge that the Elites were a small group of talented players , while them taking on other normal players was acceptable. The triads were actually trained professionals in real life with superb reflexes and fight patterns. They were not someone to trifle with at the large numbers the triads employed them. However inspite of the elites being the underdogs , the support to Rudra''s post was almost international! Noone liked the triads , hence his audaciousness was praised by media around the world. Even the guild members who saw the post thought '' Damn , the guild master is too savage ''. Rudra posting the humiliating video of dragging Hao Mi across Purplehaze city was a slap to the triads reputation. Something that was more precious than life for some members , hence animosity rose between the two sides because of this heated exchange The common people trashed the criminal organization of the triads on the forums , as it was literally buried in hate comments. Hao Mi was especially livid after seeing Rudra publicly humiliate Her! Her old wounds became bare , as her hate for Rudra intensified. She wanted to strangle him with her bare hands untill he begged for mercy. However she could not out her hands on him because he was holed up inside the upside. Hao Mi however had even more disturbing news currently on her table , as the largest opium factory was now reduced to rubble overnight by Jhonny English! Killing 230 workers , while 70 died from overdose. The rest being mildly high or passed out! The estimated loss because of this was nearly 440 billion dollars for the triads , which was a huge blow! The supply chain had completely disrupted now , as everything from production to distribution was in shambles. All because of one Jhonny English. Jhonny who had read the post by the triads , was even more livid than before. As he disapproved strongly of the faction. The biggest mistake that the triads could have made was to take claim for something they did not do. Their mention of the Elites safety , like the incident from before would lead them to their doom. Although they did manage to rile some Elites up. Rudra had the overall situation under control. However , most people became absolutely disgusted with the Triads for their cowardly actions and were determined to squash them at all costs! Jhonny , Rudra and Ethan Grey were now gunning for the triads , and even if it seemed impossible with these three taking on three different aspects of the world. It was inevitable for the triads to suffer more losses than they could handle , as come 2 months later , and they will have their tails tucked behind their legs , as they would scramble to retreat , as to not die like ants! /// Special shoutout to zguoshe for the 5000 coin gift! As with every super gift it will result in a bonus chapter today itself! Thankyou for the patronage man , I will work hard and bring you the next chapter as soon as possible. ///