"Hey did you see the announcement?"
"Yes! It was the Grandeur Guild. They defeated the very first Boss monster in the Dreamverse VR and unlocked the Factions."
"Haha! They did that but did you not see the video on the forums? They used the Elite team of Fortune Guild as Cannon Fodder. Hats off to whoever tricked those blood sucking bastards into eating a loss."
"Really? I will have to check the video for sure but it is obvious that the Grandeur Guild is much much stronger than the Fortune Guild in Village #89. Too bad they haven't started recruiting yet or I would only apply to join the Grandeur Guild."
"Me too…"
"Hey look! Isn't that the RedQueen and the rest of the Grandeur Guild?"
"Looks like them… Hey RedQueen! Great job with the Boss. When will the Grandeur Guild start recruitment?"
"Soon."
On our way to the Barbarian Chief's tent, we often heard these kinds of discussions and were asked such questions. Stivi portrayed an icy persona in front of others but even she could not stop the wide grin from spreading on her face, displaying how happy she was.
Zamir and others were also quite pleased with the free publicity and fame they received. They could not wait to submit the Penance Quest and start recruiting new blood for the Grandeur Guild's Branch #89.
With heightened spirits, we parted the flaps of the tent and entered the room.
—---
Barbarian Chief Sorsa felt suffocated. His tent was the most spacious and opulent of the tents in the entire Village #89. Yet, he found it hard to breathe in here.
The reason was the pressure exuded by the three people before him.
These three people were the newly arrived representatives of the Holy Human Empire, the Coven of Elves and the Death Kingdom respectively.
The representative of the Holy Human Empire was a handsome paladin with silvery gray hair. He wore a pure white suit of armor that exuded divine might.
A calm smile hung on his lips but could not hide the arrogance and disdain for all the other races deeply ingrained in his bones.
Besides him stood an Elf with dark hair and warm brown eyes. He wore an elegant dress weaved from emerald tree leaves and carried an Ebony Longbow on his shoulders. His friendly aura, like that of mother nature's, instantly made everyone feel close to him.
On his opposite side was a figure dressed in black.
The Death Kingdom's representative was shrouded in Dark Cloak from head to toe. Other than his Blood red eyes and occasional glimpse of incredibly pale visage, one could not make out any other physical feature of this person.
However, this person was the reason behind the tense atmosphere in the room. He exuded a cold, dark and dreary aura as he glared at the other two representatives furiously.
His anger was mainly focused on the Elf and the Barbarians that stood beside him. It was none other than Bowsmith Sangma and his son.
At this moment the flap of the tent parted and six figures walked in.
The Barbarian Chief breathed a sigh of relief upon the arrival of the newcomers as the tense atmosphere eased somewhat. However, he had breathed out too soon as the question from the Holy Human Empire's Representative drenched his back with sweat.
"Are you the heroes that killed the Slave of Darkness and foiled the Death Kingdom's plan?"
These words were equivalent to lighting a fuse of a dynamite.
Cold and dark aura flared in the room as the blood red eyes of the Death Kingdom's representative glared at us.
That's right, the newcomers entering the room were Stivi's Party and me.
I, who had just experienced the soul crushing presence of an Imperial Black Knight, was not cowed by this display of power.
However, Stivi and others felt a sense of danger far surpassing that of Soulton from this cloaked figure.
No matter how powerful Soulton's soul fragment was, it could not kill them unless it descended. But this figure in front of them? It just needed a casual slap to end their lives.
The pressure slowly increased on the team. Adrenaline pumped into our bodies, screaming at us to flee as this was not an opponent we could fight.
It felt as if a tiger with his jaws wide open was right in front of us, one bite away from turning us into his next meal.
Stivi and Zamir stood tall but I could see them shiver from time to time. BigSoftie frowned as he silently covered himself with his kite shield and also hid Mamamia and HardBro behind his hulking figure.
The aura grew unbearable as the Death kingdom's Representative stepped closer to us. It had started to physically manifest into dark, shadowy tendrils that lashed at us.
-3
-3
-3
We started to lose health points in a steady stream. Just as the tendrils were about to become real, the Elven Representative frowned and stepped forward.
With a burst of vibrant green light, the tendrils were countered and the pressure on us eased. The Death Kingdom's representative also stopped in his tracks and took a step back after glaring at us viciously for the last time.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"What a good show! What brave heroes!"
"Deathless Samar, Deathless Stivi, Deathless Zamir, Deathless BigSoftie, Deathless MamaMia and Deathless HardBro, your grit and courage has impressed me."
"Would you like to join our Holy Human Empire and contribute to the cause of Heavenly Father?"
The tension in the room became palpable. Gloom surrounded the Death kingdom's Envoy while even the Elven Representative frowned.
However, we were surprised and happy. Usually, one had to complete numerous quests and accumulate Faction reputation points before receiving a recruitment offer from a Faction.
Yet, we had received one just by standing firm against another representative. But something bothered me about this offer.
We had completed the quest benefitting the Elven faction. Naturally, our Faction reputation with the Elves was the highest with 100 points of reputation.
This fulfilled the first condition to join a faction.
So why did we receive an offer from the Holy Human Empire first with whom our reputation was only 50 points?
Could it be a special privilege for players who unlocked the Faction function in the Village?
"Heh! The old habits of the Holy Human Empire cannot be changed. They would not hesitate to poach talents even from their benefactors and so-called allies."
The gloomy figure of Death Kingdom's Envoy spoke in a raspy voice.
He saw slight discontentment hidden in the Elf's eyes and smirked with satisfaction. Then he turned to us and said,
"I, Galthan, acknowledge your strength. As long as you join my Death Kingdom and contribute, all your past sins can be forgiven..."
There was an obvious 'Or else' implied in his sentence. He let the threat hang in the air and turned quiet, waiting for our reaction. The offer from Galthan the Death Kingdom's Envoy was not even worth considering.
Our Faction reputation with the Death Kingdom was -100! Can such an offer even be considered genuine?
Moreover, we had offended a true big shot like Soulton from the Four Imperium Black Knights. Our future would be bleak no matter what we did for the Death Kingdom.
Then why throw an ax at our own feet by joining the Death Kingdom?
As for the Holy Human Empire - It was not a bad choice but it also was not the best.
Hence, Stivi and I ignored the other two offers and turned our gaze toward the Elven Representative.
The Elf looked at us and smiled with genuine warmth.
"Deathless Heroes, I am Karn. You have done a great service to our Elven Forests. If you wish, I would like to welcome you to join the Coven of Elves."
Suddenly a notification chimed for all of us.
[Elf Representative Karn has invited you to join the Coven of Elves. Do you agree?]
This notification was conspicuously absent when the other two Faction representatives invited us. It meant their offers were not sincere and they were simply toying with us!
Stivi and I exchanged grim looks. It seemed like NPCs of Dreamverse were more intelligent than we assumed. They even knew to use players to further their agenda.
If not for this notification, none of us would have been able to differentiate between genuine offers and fake offers. But now that we had a genuine offer we had to choose.
We reviewed what we knew about the Coven of Elves and compared it with the other factions.
The Elven Faction offered a stat bonus to Agility and Intelligence.
The Combat classes of the Coven also leaned towards bursts of offense rather than defense. They focused on ending the battles as soon as possible.
On the other hand, the Combat Classes of Holy Human Empire were rather balanced, good at defense as well as offense but best at neither.
The Death Kingdom's combat classes exhibited the ultimate defense. They would engage the enemy in battle of attrition and grind them down to the last bone.
Stivi and Zamir had already done their research before entering the tent. They had also consulted with the higher ups of the Grandeur Guild and received a go ahead to develop in the Elven Faction.
Naturally, Stivi stepped forward on behalf of her team and said, "Representative Karn, my team would be honored to join the Coven of Elves."
Karn looked at them with joy and handed each of them a spade shaped leaf. It looked ordinary but as soon as it landed in the hands of Stivi and others, it enveloped them in a vibrant green light.
In the next moment, their bodies began to morph. Their physical features were refined and their muscles became leaner. A sparkle that was absent before appeared in their eyes.
After their transformation was complete, Karn and others turned to look at me - The only person who had not answered yet.