Shadow Era Guild Battle
Intro
Danae looked across the meadow and searched for that inner calm that would normally arise when she was presented Nature's endless beauty. It wasn't there though and it did not surprise her much. She had had a vision of this meadow before and there was nothing calm about that vision.
Blood. Cries. Steel. Fire. Death...
That's what kept creeping into her mind and although the meadow still remained untouched, she knew her visions were not far from the eventual reality. Even now she could pick out signs of the upcoming event. No fauna drinking from the stream. No birds at the fringe of the forest. No insects chirping in the field of grass. If the trees and flowers could uproot themselves, she was sure they would have left as well.
She doubted the animals and insects had the same vision but if they could pick up on anything, it would be the gathering storm of Shadow Energy building up. Where animals would distance themselves from this dark energy, man would converge among it. And this instance will be no different. From the moment she had arrived, she had felt them coming closer and from all directions. The Guilds.
From the oldest to the newest, they were marching their way down and it would not be much longer before the first of them would appear beyond the distance. As Danae stood up, she noticed figures in the horizon. She could not make out who they were but it would not be good for her to be seen there. Danae was a Mod and as such had to be impartial to such events. She took one last look at the meadow and with a slight sigh of the wind, disappeared.
----
“Extinction.”
“End.”
“Tomato.”
“Tomato? How is that even related?” BDK asked as he scratched his head.
“It isn't,” Keaven said. “I just wanted the game to end so I can discuss a new strategy build I came up with.”
BDK looked skeptically at Keaven. “Is it one that's going to help us against the other Guilds that will surely be there or is this another experimental one?” he asked.
Keaven stopped walking for a second to give the question some thought. “Well... I'm Experimenting Through Challenge so this will be something we'll find out later.”
The five ETC Guild members stood silently for a moment reflecting on what was to come. As they started on their way again, Berdugo said, “Potato”.
----
They rose from prayer in unison. Each of the five men looked at peace as they stood despite the fact that they were fully equipped with weapons of war. As a religious group, E2E participated in charity affairs, helping where help was needed and spreading their faith to those who were willing to listen.
In other extreme cases, such as this, they prepared to do battle for the good of all. Maldazar had been informed of the unnaturally large source of Shadow Energy in this area and had been appointed to lead a force to make sure that it was not taken advantage of by the other Guilds.
The others quietly went about their tasks preparing for what was to come while Maldazar spent a few extra minutes in prayer until a scream pierced his thoughts.
“Holy #@%^! That is NOT funny! Who placed this fire snake next to my pack? I'm your Guild leader. You just don't do that to your leader.”
----
Conjurors. Enchanters. Creators. Deities.
Those were words that have been used to describe them. GDC chuckled silently thinking how DT could easily be heard as deity. They were hardly any of those and in fact were once engaged with the same activities as that of any of the other Guilds out there.
The difference now was that they had been picked from the many and tasked to provide balance across the land. Balance that had been achieved to a certain degree so that they had begun working hard on crafting some new weapons, armours, traps and other assorted support items. Razcrux was researching new spells and Mojumbo training new allies. Soothslyr looked to testing and seeing how well it all went together while Nachyochez studied the lore of the land.
That’s what they were doing, until it was interrupted by an imbalance in the land. Apparently, it wasn’t just them that felt it as they were aware of the other Guilds heading towards the same destination.
It’s been a while since they had this kind of contact with the Guilds, GDC thought. At the end of this, will they still think the same?
----
“This battle is no ordinary battle,” barked Portgaz D Ace. “It is not like running the Gauntlet. This will test our strengths and seek to break them.”
He looked at those in front of him. All of them battle tested, none more so than the young Barcafan and the previous mercenary for hire PJoe. As an Elder of the Juggernauts, Portgaz D Ace knew how far their guild had come since it had been founded and capitalizing on this surge of Shadow Energy would help their Guild tremendously.
“We will face many enemies and it will be chaos once it starts. Some of you might not come back and others might not be the same after all this is over and done.”
Portgaz paused and looked at the determined faces.
“None of that matters because we are Juggernauts!”
----
“And so far we’ve noticed three Guilds in the area,” reported Coldsteel.
Preybird looked at the map in front of him and knotted his forehead in thought. He moved some markers around the map but no matter how he moved them, it didn’t seem to ease his mind.
So many Guilds, he thought. ASF had not been involved in such a conflict before and Preybird was having some doubts about this one. The focus of their guild was not power or fame but more on camaraderie and passion for the guild. However, even with all that, a source of Shadow Energy this large simply could not be ignored.
ETC, their sister guild will also be there so they, at least, could potentially ally with them, even if temporarily.
“So many things to think about and so little time,” Preybird mumbled. “Alright people, pack up. We’re going ahead as planned.”
Even with the decision made, Preybird still remained concerned as he had, in the pit of his stomach, a sinking feeling.
----
“Why are we even going there?” Larus asked. “A1 is definitely going to be there and will most probably be able to secure the area even without the help of its Acolytes Guild.”
“Because Pyrogene sent us. That’s why,” MZAAZM said. “And if you want to get a chance to get accepted into the A1 Guild, you need to show initiative and skill. This will be an opportunity for all of us to show them that we are no longer students.”
“Yeah! That’s true,” agreed Icebear. “I’ve been working hard on my Zaladar ability and have proven it with most victories in a row but I haven’t been noticed yet. I’m hoping that I can prove myself worthy by the end of all this.”
“Same for me,” Ipwnfour said. “I’ve even got a longer victory streak with my Moonstalker ability. I definitely should be promoted soon.”
“Ha! Moonstalker!“ Jdmbird1 scoffed. “Are you sure you won those victories and not that your opponents just left due to boredom trying to find you as you hid?”
----
“Guilds they come and Guilds they go
But there is one that all will know.
It’s young, skilled and full of class
And soon enough will be kicking ASS!” chanted SilenceDoGood.
“Is the answer A1?” asked XanteseZerylliom.
“Hell no! They’ll be finished when we are done,” replied the rest in unison as they jogged forward.
“Could it be the religious E2E?” shouted XanteseZerylliom.
“Hell no! They won’t be saved by their deity!”
“Then who is the Guild the riddle reflects?”
“It’s none other than that of TJX!” they responded enthusiastically.
“Huzzah”
----
Hatts squinted his eyes as he topped the ridge. There was no one in the meadow ahead but he could not shake the feeling that someone was watching. He scanned the area once again and listened for anything that would confirm his instincts.
“It's surprising that the Juggernauts are right behind us given all the precautions we took in the secrecy of the mission.”
“Are you implying I had something to do with that? I’m sure they had their own sources to be able to come up with the same conclusion we did.”
“Well you seem a little too anxious to stay calm and establish yourself as one interested in talking things over. Gives me a feeling of some shadowy intentions.”
Hatts sighed and looked behind him to see two large men glaring at each other. They were a team with many accomplishments, well respected for various writings of strategy guides and members of the oldest Guild, A1 Alliance, and yet they sometimes acted like children.
“Enough Sisyphos! Cwhittastic has proven himself loyal to A1 more times than necessary. There is no reason to doubt him.”
Sisyphos’s frown twitched and he broke out laughing. “I’m just messing with you Cwhit. You should see your face.”
“Oh yeah? Well we’ll see how your face looks after it meets my fist,” Cwhittastic growled as he launched himself towards Sisyphos.
“Children,” Hatts sighed once again.
----
vAct silently stepped out of the concealing shadows followed by four other figures spread out behind him. Had anyone been around to witness, it would have appeared as if the shadows of the trees had suddenly split away from the trees. Had there been witnesses, though, none would have lived long in the presence of the Kylin Assassins.
Kakamong moved past vAct to take the lead. He signalled with one hand and they all fanned out to both sides. Kakamong suddenly froze mid-step. Each of them seamlessly blended back into the forest just as a carniboar stopped in front of Jeff, snorted nervously and then quickly trotted off.
vAct released the breath he was unconsciously holding. He did not need to tell his brothers to be cautious as they were well trained. Aside from the noise of the boar, the unnatural silence was an uneasiness they could not shake. They were Kylin Assassins, though, and it would take more than silence to deter them from their quest.
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