A New World, an immersive game experience

Despite all appearances, the guild facing Elizabeth and the others weren't slacking. Their mages had kept their barriers up for as long as possible. However, the ballistae bolts loaded with runic mines were something unexpected.

Not because no one knew of this trick that the guild Phoenix liked to pull. Everyone had seen the videos of their fort defenses. They loved, absolutely loved, their landmines.

The thing is, they had never shown anyone that those mines could be applied to anything. Sure, dirt hadn't seemed like a good conductor. Everyone watching the streams had thought that they were doing something else. Perhaps a type of special powder or something.

Now, they clearly knew this wasn't the case. Not only that, these "mines" could be applied to anything. The object had to be large enough for the runes to be applied onto.

Of course, there were limits. Temporary runes would be impossible to create such quantity due to the required connection between creator and rune. However, adding a small carving, or even drawing with ink, allowed the rune to be more permanent.

Sure, these runes weren't close to what runesmiths used. But they didn't need to be. They didn't need to last. And they didn't need to be perfect. They just needed to explode—with the only condition that this doesn't happen too soon.

As a result, no one had expected ballistae to be used in the guild match. Nor had they expected the bolts fired from said ballistae to be comparable—certainly far weaker, but far cheaper and greater in number—than the cannons.

All this added up and made the guild Dragons look like fools. They hid behind their walls, their barriers now long gone. Their mages were exhausted of mana, and Judith and her group rushed the walls.

As soon as they reached the walls, half the members pull out what looked like grappling hooks. The other half pulled out ladders. Or rather, parts of ladders. Each part is the maximum size allowed by normal players (those who haven't increased the size with Mov Crystals).

These three-meter ladder parts were quickly assembled, with the grappling hooks thrown to the walls. Those who threw the hooks using the ropes attached to start climbing, ballistae fire still ongoing. Just shifted to the side.

Once the ladders were constructed, they were placed against the walls. And the next group rushed forward. Zyvish and the rangers. Half fired their arrows into the air. The volley arched, landing behind the crenelations and causing shouts of confusion and pain to echo from behind.

The other half waited for someone to peek their heads out behind the walls. And all the while, balistea fire continued. Though by now, the last saldo was near.

Under all this cover fire, Judith and her group made it to the walls easily enough. They slaughtered the confused and injured players nearby, then charged off. The rangers who had been waiting then climbed the walls, and a few minutes later, Pheonix's victory was announced.

—

Meanwhile, the forums were bursting with activity. Everyone had known that guild Phoenix was strong. However, they had thought this was due to Eldrian. This battle, where Phoenix had finally pulled out all the stops, had shown everyone that this was not the case.

Of course, some keen observers realized that the guild had far more in store for future matches. What they had done in today's was quite modest considering the guild's typical fort defenses.

However, there was a keen difference between a preliminary match and the defense of a fort governed, or owned, by a guild.

For both, resources used would be lost if damaged and consumables won't be returned. This meant each time something was used, it would place a drain on the guild.

For an actual fort's defense, this didn't, or at least wouldn't, bother most guilds. The benefits of owning and controlling a fort were simply too high.

Sure, the income wasn't great. But the other benefits were great. Not to mention the amount of renown and trustworthyness the guild could gain with their kingdom.

And, if, for example, a fort was near a mine. Like fort Kyno, the income possible was mind-boggling.

Fighting with everyone you had to protect it made sense. And, in most cases, quests were given in relation to the defense of forts. Thus, it was possible to double dip.

But, for the tournament, there were no such benefits. A guild would have to make it to the top 16 to benefit. Thus, wasting resources in the preliminaries could hamper the guilds future. Both in future matches and their typical ANW quest activity.

Still, Phoenix had displayed their abilities—without having to tap into their resources. Sure, they had opened the fight by exploding a mana crystal. Something the guild has become quite well known for. Seeing as it was the strongest attack possible by players—excluding Eldrian's spells.

Naturally, the Nova spell had become famous. Many players had tried to recreate it—without much success. Most attempt resulted in the playeri dying from said explosion. No one knew how Phoenix's elite mages—though mostly Ilmadia—did it.

—

[Did they seriously... Oh, they at least lost three players.]

[Three players lost, a hundred killed...]

[That's as close as a complete victory as we can expect, isn't it?]

[Whad ya mean? Eldrian didn't move.] 𝒃𝙚𝒅𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒆𝒍．𝙘𝒐𝙢

[Sure sure But when does he eve?]

[True. He is often absent from the rest of Phoenix.]

[I wonder what he gets up to?]

[Anyone know what type of armor he is wearing? It looks super cool!]

[Right! Though it doesn't really match his race. What elf wears black?]

[This one!]

[Fair enough. Oh, right, I heard that cape of his is special too. Apparently it has the flight ability. Do you guys think that is why he can fly?]

[Nah seen him fly without]

[That reminds makes me wonder why wear it?]

[Maybe he simply likes it?]

[True. When you're that strong I guess you don't need to consider optimization]

[Who does?]

{Oh, I guess you have a point. Only the top guys can, really. Like the Flaming Hearts]

[Judith is just too much. She basically took the walls on her own]

From there, the conversation returned to the actual events of the battle. With players happily discussing away.

Luckily, since the might of Phoenix was consentrated onto the guild category, the players didn't feel too upset about their OP-ness.

If the guild had wanted, it could have tried to claim multiple categories. Sure, this would have weakened their guild team. But with Eldrian there, they could weaken it plenty without worry.

That they had left the other categories alone meant they were allowing other players some glory. Or at least, that was what many players believed.

Those who had to face them in the guild category, however, were cursing their single-mindedness. The guilds who hoped to claim the number one spot for this tournament had a long road ahead of them.

Worst of all, even if they managed to beat the entire guild—there would still be Eldrian. And if today's match was anything to go by, he would be waiting in their castle.

No matter how much the other guild racked their brains, they couldn't find a way to overcome that hurdle. Worse of all, there was no guarentee Eldrian wouldn't move if his guild was losing.

Stalling to claim a victory by numbers was thus unlikely.