Spectacular morning colors were forming in the sky as the rising sun began to peak itself over the horizon of Gruta Lake. Players on the northern and southern outer walls of Kassio, who were acting as sentries and patrols, stared at this stunning scene that was right out of a fantasy movie. No matter how hard they tried, they would never get used to this scenery no matter how hard they tried. It was actually one of the main reasons why they kept their jobs as boring wall guards besides farming city and faction favorability/reputation.
The NPC guards who were used to this view after a lifetime of work were taking their regular routes, ignoring the slacking off Immortal Souls. Because of their bravery, immortality, and bloodthirsty nature, Kassio overlooked the occasional moment of procrastination which they seemed to have most of the time. Since this was a large fortress city, the walls were heavily manned and armed to the teeth in case a creature horde emerged from the forest.
However, on the southernmost wall, opposite of the Keslar Forest on the north, where the threat of creatures was much smaller, fewer patrols roamed the wall. It was also the gate that faced the rest of the Empire's territory and the most frequently visited due to all of the safe roads leading there.
A cute looking female player on the southern wall who was dressed like a ranged combat class in light leather armor was not only looking at the sunrise but also admiring the other horizons unlike the rest of the players who were focused on the sun in the east. While she slowly swept her eyes over the plains and roads using a basic vision magnifier spell called [Telescope] in amazement, she noticed strange movements in the far the off distance that she would usually have no chance of noticing without the use of the spell. She squinted as she tried to discern the ant-sized black silhouettes approaching the city at alarming speeds, both in the air and on the ground. At first, she thought it was a monumental creature horde like the small ones they get at the north wall, but it looked-
She gasped and leaped into action, immediately arriving at her male warrior friend who was browsing the forums in boredom off to the side. Her hand grabbed one of the metal plates on his shoulder and abruptly yanked him over towards the wall's outer ledge.
"GAH, what are you doing!?!"
"Shut up and look you dolt!!" Her slim leather-gloved index finger pointed at the objects on the horizon, "Tell me I'm not going crazy!!! This can't be a ******(glitch) right?!"
He grunted in annoyance as he glanced in the direction she was referring to, "*Sigh* You know I'm a warrior type class unlike like you, a reconnaissance class, right?"
She realized the problem and used [Telescope] on him. A few moments passed and he also reacted in the same manner as her when she first saw it. They looked at each other solemnly with a hint of excitement as they tried their hardest to remember the basic protocol for these types of situations.
After finding and reporting their findings to the highest in command on the wall, they began spreading news and pictures on the local forums, alarming every player within countless miles of Kassio and the Keslar Forest.
Events frequently happened all over the world in differing magnitudes. They would usually result in a spike of related missions or a special storyline so they were always looked forward to even if they were impossible to complete with their strength. There was an infinite amount of methods to gain experience in this game so just participating in any kind of event would earn them substantial rewards. As a result, swarms of millions of players dropped what they were doing and rushed back to or traveled to Kassio, with some even using the level-sacrificial fast travel function from nearby towns and cities just to get a taste of the event. Guilds weren't fully established yet so a majority of players were in small parties or went solo so it was everyone for themselves.
When a player who had knowledge of the upcoming event and arrived inside of the region where Kassio was, they would receive a notification about an upcoming regional-level event called [Tribute to Genesis]. This meant that this event would affect the entirety of Kassio and nearby environments such as the Keslar forest, Gruta Lake, Vilvetan Mountains, and many more areas. It was the largest event to date in the Alvestine Empire ever since the planetary-level event [Immortal Invasion].
Area type events came in different levels of magnitude depending on the severity and the area it will and will possibly affect:
- Proximity ≈ A building/structure
- Zonal ≈ Multiple buildings/structures or streets are being affected
- Sectoral ≈ A town, city, or settlement is being affected
- Regional ≈ A couple or many surrounding environments or noble territories are being affected
- Interregional
- National ≈ An entire country or an area equally sized is being affected
- International
- Continental ≈ An entire continent is being affected
- Intercontinental
- Planetary ≈ An entire planet is being affected
- Interplanetary
- Dimensional ≈ An entire dimension is being affected
- Interdimensional
- Reality ≈ Everything will be affected
This was the official ranking list posted on the games website and although most of it was obvious or common sense, it was still nice to know. Some of the last ranks especially excited the players, making them think that the future storylines would be explosive!
An area event also didn't just end, it went on until there was a defining ending or the aftereffects have completely disappeared. Even the planetary-level [Immortal Invasion] event still hasn't disappeared from everyone's mission logs in their interface. This meant that if an event didn't completely vanish, it still had potential to grow. What could an event that was starting at the regional-level end up at?
The boons that the players could potentially receive from such an enormous occasion was most likely like no other reward they've ever seen! Everyone went into a frenzy to rush towards Kassio, therefore increasing the severity of the approaching storm.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Marquis Dunwald was leisurely brushing his fingers on the spines of hundreds of ancient and expensive books on shelves in his Victorian-style personal study. Kassio wasn't where he lived, it was just within his vast territory in which his noble family managed. The city he resided in was much larger and higher class than the backwater fortress city near the countries borders.
Things have been considerably peaceful and prosperous in his domain ever since the commonly known Immortal Invasion occurred. Crime rates decreased significantly, commerce along with trade flourished, and public safety against creature or bandit attacks rose, at least for the weaker ones and not the stronger ones. This and many other circumstances were all due to the presence of the Immortal Souls. He was convinced earlier that they were going to be the source of countless massive headaches in the future, but contrary to his expectations, they weren't all that bad. In fact, they generally did more good than evil with all of the random helping hands they would provide and their bloodthirsty, barbaric, and ruthless attitude towards creatures and criminals that have plagued him and his armed forces.
He's been in a surprisingly good mood...
*Knock* *Knock*
Dunwald frowned as he looked at the door curiously. It was awfully early in the morning and no one usually ever dared disturb him while he worked. What was so important that his good mood had to be interrupted?
After receiving permission, a young male half-elf assistant walked in. He recently hired him after the retirement of his last one and he's been doing quite well so far. However, his heart sank and his frown deepened when he saw his underling's distressed expression.
"M'Lord! Something BIG is happening throughout your province!!"
.....
Dunwald was now sitting down at his desk with his hands clutching his skull and hair as he leaned over his table in a cold sweat. His skin was worryingly ashen and a dark shadow covered his face as he looked in the direction of his lap, trying his best to ignore the existence of the report in front of him. He just couldn't believe such a horrifying disaster was falling into his lap, like a hot potato he couldn't get rid of! He could only watch it burned him to a crisp.
"Who- WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?!"
The report in front of him stated that countless legendary and powerful figures, which he could not afford to offend in the slightest, were all rushing over to Kassio... unannounced!! He was only a low ranked high noble who was without a doubt not qualified or important enough to receive such terrifying guests, he could even get killed and everything stripped from his family if he so much as stepped on their shadows! Someone or something had to be responsible for their unfairly abrupt decision to visit one of his less aesthetically appealing cities. Although it had a humongous population limit compared to most cities in the country, it was only a fortress city out on the edge of the Empire which he didn't even pay attention to all that much. Someone had to be behind this!!
Dread was filling him as he reluctantly continued to read. For some godawful reason that completely eluded him, these influential behemoths were bringing along private armies both in air and on land! Enough to defend against an invasion from multiple foreign superpowers on several fronts! These big shots didn't seem to stop coming too, with more on the way in waves after his scouts reported back! Even the Archaic churches Bishops and Templars were joining the fun.
On top of all of that, Immortal Souls that he's hired all over were leaving their posts without a word and migrating in unison to Kassio too!! This event was similar to moths to a flame, only the moths numbered in the tens of millions and the flame was a small candle.
The assistant flinched at his livid screaming and shakily looked through a copy of the reports. What he found spooked him and his heart stopped for a split second, "A-A fo-foreign power with unknown strength..."
"EHH!?! THAT'S ALL?!"
"The only known combat-capable unit is an E-Elder Dragon with everything else about them being unknown. They are supposedly the ones that visited the capital a while ago..."
The angry yelling caught in his throat when he heard his words. He didn't participate in that auction and didn't receive Maya's contacts, but he knew of the dangerous incident that occurred along with the capital's brush with complete annihilation.
Why him? What could he have possibly done to deserve this? He verbally cursed the pompous nobles above him for doing whatever they wanted without concern for his well being. He also cursed the damned Immortal Souls for being incredibly unreliable in such dire times. He especially cursed this "Draconic Genesis" for their actions within his domain, and within a crucial strategic city.
His mental breakdown was in full swing when his desk started vibrating. He took out a high-quality crystal ball and answered the communication request without a second thought. Shock soon crossed his face at what he saw, "Your Majesty!!!"
Seated on his grand throne was the Emperor as he looked Dunwald up and down. His image was being projected out of the object like a miniature hologram, "It seems that you've already found out..."
Dunwald's hair was messy and his clothes were disheveled. He was yet to regain the color in his pasty and sweaty skin but his cheeks were flushed red from yelling. Because he was in the moment, he answered the call without thinking properly and he was mortified beyond belief as he tried to make himself even remotely presentable.
However, the Emperor didn't blame him nor care all that much, so he began to discuss business and describe the entire known situation to him. He apologized on behalf of the nobles and great leaders causing so much stress for him and promised to decide on compensation at a later date, purely out of pity.
They hung up on each other after a while and Dunwald leaned back while rubbing his temples. His voice was hoarse and quiet as he spoke to his downcast assistant "I wonder if my family will survive this approaching storm with our heads still attached..... *Sigh* Find me a psychic mage and a healer. I'm getting a headache....."