As Ethan traveled through the winding forest paths, he kept asking Skyblade for details.
It turned out that right after they had left the Starter Zone, they encountered members of the Blade Syndicate. Ethan had been offline for days, and his level had stagnated at 15, gradually slipping down the leaderboard.
Blade Syndicate, seeing members of the Renegade Alliance, couldn't resist mocking them. "Your guild leader's lost his edge! Without exploiting bugs, he's just a washed-up nobody!" they jeered, their taunts escalating into direct confrontation.
At first, it was only verbal abuse, but soon enough, Blade Syndicate resorted to sneak attacks. They targeted isolated members of the guild, especially those returning from supply runs. A few unfortunate members were ambushed and taken down.
