Now, that they have decided on what to do with the fort, Rudra already informed in the guild chat that it is best that they get out of the inner region as there is a high chance that if Shadow fails to complete his quest in the core region, the entire place might collapse.
Though it is a lie, it served the purpose of convincing the members of the guild quiet. It also would divert the suspicions of anyone in other guilds who would accidentally came to know about the unique weapons as no sane person would intentionally bury a place which could provide them with such good equipment.
He went back to the enclosure as he couldn't get out of the fort and carry on with the usual without fulfilling the heavenly oath and he had to wait for the four members of the guild to return before he did that.
"How long had it been since they went inside?" Shadow asked Merlin.
"Two of the four already failed the test and re-spawned at the city, the other two have been in there for more than four hours now. Wait for them here. I am going out," said Merlin as he sent the names of the remaining two through personal chat.
"Now that quite a number of the guild members are in the city, I want to get out of the guild and create an adventurer team. So, need to get to the Adventurers Association to register," said Merlin as he started to channel his hearthstone.
An adventurer group wasn't much different from a guild, both were almost the same and were a number of players helping one another in the game and both would also have a number of rules governing them. It also had a similar hierarchy to oversee the players, but the power held by the leaders in guilds differed from that of adventurer groups.
Players in adventurer teams had a lot less responsibilities to the group and don't usually have the stringent contracts that guilds require. The numbers are also usually smaller as these teams usually consist of a close-knit group of players of similar calibre. They don't have mass recruitments and large numbers like guilds. The adventurer teams also didn't require them to have to spend fixed number of hours in the game.
With everyone out of the core region only Balthazar remained in the enclosure waiting for the other two to get out of the test area. He had already put in a reminder in the game to inform his as soon as the two became available. If they get out of the test either by death or passing it, they would be online and available for communication.
As everyone left, Shadow too made his way out of the fort. He lied to those that were guarding the entrance to not enter inside as it was dangerous and that only he only came out as he had to collect something personally in the forest for his quest.
He was at level 11 right now and considered leveling up very important right now. Players from other guilds had already entered the city right now. The Crimson Realm guild had gained its prestige in entering the city first and was successful in getting more players than other guilds due to the use of the engineering tools, but this advantage would slowly start to diminish if they took it for granted.
Their advantage had already drawn the vigilance of the other guilds and many guilds who failed to get into the city the previous day were already paying extra attention as they were already left behind by the Crimson Realm on the first day. The shop at the Blackrock Town also had a good turnout and lot of sales during the day, which put the other guilds in much more stress and working hard.
Apart from the Crimson Realm guild, he had to make sure he was above the others in the game as he couldn't be playing the game full-time. He had to find out the threat to his life, so he couldn't waste anytime waiting for the others to come.
He made his way out of the fort into the jungle. The jungle was filled with a bunch of monsters which were at the same level as him. Moreover, the field about 15 min away from the fort were filled with white horn deer which were level 12 beasts. It was a good place to farm for him singly.
Though he was at level 11 right now, it was quite easy for him to hunt beasts that were even level 14. The only reason he didn't go deeper into the forest to do that was that it would take more time to come back to the fort, once the remaining of the two players were done with the test.
On his way out of the forest, he received a message from the system inviting him to join a newly formed adventurer team named 'Blazing Fury'. It was accompanied by a note from Merlin indicating that it was the team that he had created.
"Blazing Fury? Huh! Guess somethings don't change in this timeline," thought Balthazar as he accepted the invite joining the group. As soon as he did another panel appeared beside the guild panel in his view. It was for the adventurer team and was quite similar to that of a guild.
Apart from the original seven a couple more were in the group who were unknown to him. Their names were Bitter Beast, Grenadier Mage and Psychotic Mob. They were a druid, an elementalist and a summoner. The list of the members in both the guild and the team panel showed him as a multi-faction entity.
Both Rudra and Merlin sent messages to him as soon as they have seen the same. Though they expected Shadow to stay in the Crimson Realm guild as a honorary elder, they didn't expect the game to have a feature that would actually allow such a thing. So, they immediately called him to find out.
"I just accepted his invite and forgot to remove myself from the guild," answered Shadow feinting that he didn't know it was possible. After a couple more questions, they both accepted it. Rudra checked his settings and removed the tag from showing in the guild members list as many would have worries if a player is in multiple factions as it is constraint on loyalty. He also changed the contracts so that others may not use this trick.
"So, what is with the name?" Shadow called Merlin. "I expected something indicating mages in the adventurer team name," he said.
"I thought of Magus Magnum but was overruled by my cousin and others. She suggested the name which was accepted by the other," replied Merlin sounding gloomy. "Isn't mine a better name?" he asked hopefully.
"It would have been great, if the team was made of only mages like your first one was," replied Shadow. "But for this team, it is a bit ridiculous silly and sounds like the name of those adult toys. So, really glad that your cousin has bit more naming sense that you."
"Tcha! All of you are the same. Thinking of that thing as soon as hear the word 'Magnum'" replied Merlin as he cut the call.
Laughing at Merlin's crazy for mages, he made his way out of the forest to hunt the deer. It was easy prey for him and with his level below them, he got more experience. The passive effects of his new weapons were quite useful too. It was far easier to cripple the beasts.
Apart from that, when these weapons were changed to piolets, they could be used to make moves similar to those of a hunting sickle. He observed that it could be used to pull the beasts down or tear into their skin causing better bleed effect that simple slashes with a dagger.
This continued on for about 30 minutes before, he got a reminder that the remaining two had come online. He immediately made his way back to the fort in a hurry and went down the staircase. He found Harry waiting for him at the lever.
"You here finally," said Harry as he saw Shadow coming down the stairs. "Let us get it done then."
"You got anything good from there?" asked Shadow tilting his head towards the bottom of the stairs.
"It ain't anywhere close to what you or Rudra got. Got an upgradeable armor piece and a dark gold leg guards. Nothing I could use much. I would have rather had the unique weapon any of these," said Harry. He was quite disappointed that he didn't make the cut when they decided Perennial to be among the twelve who first went to check the core region, but he knew that he wasn't the best druid character in the guild. He had been a bit more enthusiased towards the trade professions and was one of the few forgers who had been with the guild from the start. He also studied engineering with Rudra and Shadow in college and wanted to explore the engineering trade in the game currently. Due to these things, he couldn't be the strongest druid in the guild, and he felt that he had lost that chance now.
"Don't worry about that thing. These things aren't bad either. Moreover, with Rudra being the guild leader, he wouldn't have time to focus much on the trade professions. I believe the trade professions will soon be a lot more important and valuable than the other. That part is clear from the amount of demand that we have for the dynamites," said Shadow. He knew that Harry was the one that was making dynamites after the first group of players were brought to the city in the morning.
"That is true, and it has quite a realistic feel with all those machines and other things in the workshops, but you can't deny that it lacks the feel of fighting," said Harry. "Anyway, there are still other chances for me to get hold of such things. I am not giving up that easily," continued Harry as he started moving up the stairs.
"Cool," said Shadow as he pulled the lever down to fulfil his heavenly oath. As soon as he pulled the lever, a bunch of rumbling noise sounded through the walls. There were also a bunch of large crackling sounds like that of electric shock that could be clearly heard from the bottom near the enclosure.
"Run," said Shadow as he and Harry quickly made their way up the stairs. They both knew that whatever the sound was it wasn't worth losing 10% of their experience for it and ran as fast as they could. The stairs started to wobble and move up closing the space they had. If they hadn't run, they would have definitely been crushed between the floor and the ceiling which came closer and joined effectively sealing up the shrine.
"System: Fulfiled the heavenly oath."
Rozarius quickly came up through the floor again greeting Shadow and startling Harry.
"Thank you, adventurer. I guess this fulfils my duty to my lord," said the spectre as it turned into a number of tiny particles like stardust and disappeared into the air.
"You know. It is one thing to see and hear them in the previous V.R. games, but this one is quite different. I could even feel a cold wind as the spectre came up," said Harry attempting to touch the silverish particles of light that the spectre transformed into.
"Yeah. The somnium tech is an entirely different thing. It is really like a dream or a memory which we are reliving," said Shadow agreeing with him. "Come on, let us get into the forest. It is time we increase our levels."
"You know, there is a dungeon which we haven't yet completed. Why don't you try that out first. Rudra has already attempted it with other in a group. There are both 5-man and 10-man dungeons," suggested Harry.
"Yes. I have totally forgotten about it. Also, I have joined Merlin's adventurer team," said Shadow.
"What?"
"I will definitely be helping the guild out as I have invested in it. But I also want to prefer working in an adventurer team. The guild thing is not my style as I can't spend lot of time, once my medical leave is up," said Shadow.
"Yeah. That is true."
"So, I am probably going to be a honorary elder or something, but I will join his team. I can't probably spend long duration of time in the game."
"This probably is the best option. Also, with you in their team, we are bound to be in cooperation with each other. Having someone like Merlin as an ally in a new game is quite good," agreed Harry.
"Ya. But first I need to get to the Adventurers Association in the city. Might also need to by a new shop in the city. I think we can afford one now." said Shadow as he pulled out the hearthstone from his bag.
"You already have the required reputation?"
"Yeah. Was just waiting to gather good amount of funds. Rather than rent like in the Blackrock Town, I was waiting to buy out a place for creating a shop. I am willing to try out the dungeon. If you are free you can join me," said Shadow channeling his hearthstone.