The Zone designated by the leaders of the alliance was pretty big and despite the vast amount of resources required to isolate it from the outside, it was beautifully protected by a magic barrier.
Many people in power thought that the best way to ensure fairness was to use real locations instead of creating a pocket of space like the one used by the demons in the abyss since it could give too much control to the people involved in creating it. It was definitely the best solution to the problem of security but the resources necessary to pull it off were considerable, especially when talking about Elementium.
Elementium was considered in the current era as the rarest of the ores available to the alliance and its primary use was in the construction of defensive barriers such as the one used by the Dark Elf empire in the time of the shattering. The properties of the material allowed them to maintain the barrier without the need of countless magi thanks to its ability to attract and conduct mana.
The applications of Elementium were endless but for the Tempering War it also ensured that there was a level of aggression at all times with the creation of secret portals. The portals were part of a gate system that allowed a certain number of people to teleport to the zone dominated by the opposite site. All the portals were a one way ticket to the territory dominated by the enemy and their entrance was usually generated in different areas close to their safe zones.
If somebody wanted to return to their own side of the map, they need it to find a portal belonging to the opposite faction and take one of their spots. The exit of the portals were random and in very strategic locations usually chosen by the leaders overseeing the war from the outside such as Degark and Ivan Pendragon. The Randomness of the exits prevented the opposite party to send an immense amount of people to wait in ambush for the ones crossing over thus preventing an attack on them before they had time to move around in the opposite zone. The arrangement was a reflection of the strategies used by the Dragonkin 5000 years before and it was a nice way to exposed their warriors to something they will encounter in the future.
The setup for the zone also meant that the people participating in the war would have an advantage when fighting the opposition in their own side of the map. The towns that found themselves inside the War Zone were determined to be a safe haven by the leaders of both sides and they could only be attack or taken over during the last 6 months of the war.
The safety of the towns was enforced by level 45 Elites that were responsible for the safety of each town and were authorized to shoot to kill any trespassers that came within 500 ft of the walls. The Level 45 guards were controlled by runes that would seal their powers once they exceeded the distance limit from the towns that they were supposed to protect.
During the last leg of the war, meaning the last 6 months of the two year period, the guards were to withdraw and help the people not involved in the war travel outside of the magic barrier where they would be safe and they would also be compensated for any damages to their properties.
The rules for the towns really secured a real advantage to the home team not only in the knowledge of the terrain but also in availability of safety measures, as long as they could make it back to within 500 feet of a town they were safe.
Rahz was very surprised to see that in the map provided by Giant Blade the town of Naas was inside the War zone but what made him even more surprise was the fact that he could clearly see the river that connected to the Fifth Gate a few miles to the west.
The map was very detailed and it was clear that Giant Blade had gone through great lengths to secure it, in any war information was key and being able to understand the division of power could save their lives later on.
The towns in the map were color coded with the north having a blue color scheme that represented their affiliation to the devas and the ones for the Asuras in the south with a Red color. Rahz noticed that there were also white color Towns spread out throughout the zone and when he asked Liz about it, he was told that they were neutral zones that would provide protection for everybody whether Deva or Asura.
It was clear from the distribution that it was a lot more difficult to attack the opposite party inside their own territory and that the possibility of getting siege by a lot of people from the opposite side was very high. Rahz thought about it and his blood boiled with excitement, there were a lot of intricacies to the War and if used correctly even Omega with two avatar items was prey.
The first order of business for the team was to get access to all the towns designated as Asura towns and if possible get some of the locations on the neutral zone. Without a doubt, the most important location before the last leg of the War was the town of Belfast.
The town was smack right in the middle of the neutral zone and according to the map it was 3 times the size of any towns on either side of it. Belfast was bound to be the information capital of the war and the main hub for the black market and all the organizations that walk the fine line between the two factions.
"Liz, can you see which towns you don't have portals to?" asked Elune.
"Out of the ones in our part of the map, I am missing two but I am able to teleport us to the town 500 miles to the east of Belfast. I think we should head there first so that we can avoid being ambushed by many Devas if we try to get to the location later on"
I AGREE!!!
The team looked towards the voice and saw Degark's aid right beside them looking at their map.
Jazz couldn't help but jump out in surprise as the voice practically came from his right side and he never felt a presence, it was very spooky.
Rahz was also surprised but he knew how scary the Coercer class was and that it was barely the tip of the iceberg.
"What can we do for you Commander?"
The members of the team went from scared to confuse when they heard their leader speak about the person in front of them.
"Commander?"
"Let me introduce you guys, this is the Commander in Chief from our side and Lord Degark's aid Mr. Distortion"
"That is quite an introduction Rahz, I was just passing by and saw Mrs. Liz and was wondering if I could hitch a ride towards Belfast"
"We will be arriving about 500 miles from it but the more the merrier in case we get attack along the way, so sure"
Liz opened up the portal and Distortion called out his entourage of more than 50 people which quickly passed through and arrived at the small neutral town of Kinsale that was exactly 500 miles east of Belfast.
The level 45 elites guarding the gates were intrigued about the people arriving to their gates so early and when they saw Rahz and the others the ones belonging to the North started clenching their fist. The attitude of the guards pertaining to the North was not lost in the eyes of their counterparts from the south side who got ready to react immediately if a fight was to break out.
As more and more people came through the portal, the tension dissipated and they realized that there was no way for them to do anything at all and that it was best to follow the rules.
Rahz and his team move along the streets on their mounts and the display of exotic beast had many young kids dreaming of the day when they could be as cool.
56 people took to the skies and headed west in a cool fashion and before two hours passed by, they saw the outskirts of the town of Belfast. On the opposite side of the town a group just as big full of Winged Lions appeared and in a very organized fashion descended to the ground.
Distortion just smiled at the sight of the opposition and gesture towards Rahz and said, "That is your biggest threat here Rahz... the man itself, Omega!"