The Siege of a City

"Need a healer! You'll get priority for all priest loot!"

"Looking for additional DPS!"

"Need a defender!"

Shouts looking for party members filled the city. Akiol had just teleported to the city, the first thing he noticed was the players. The next was the reduced quality of the city. Dust and dirt scattered across the floor, buildings were barricaded and damaged. Several wooden spike barricades blocked routes.

Akiol jumped onto a building with [Leap] and searched his surroundings. The wall surrounding the city was damaged, rushed repairs were evident along its exterior. As he saw this sight he sighed in his heart. He was familiar with such a sight. Humans fighting humans, it was such a waste. In his previous world there was such a war. He was forced to partake in the war, for if he didn't then many more would die.

Even now he felt the same, there could be existences far more dangerous in the world. Yet they would rather waste resources fighting amongst one another.

He shook his head clear of such thoughts. This should be viewed as an opportunity, Tilia wanted equipment to appraise anyway. So he descended from the building and opened the group chat.

Akiol: I have arrived, someone fill me in on the details.

Kan'na: Taking a break to recover my MP at the A.G. I can talk to you there.

Akiol: Be there shortly.

Akiol began heading towards the building. The Adventurers Guild was easy to spot amongst the ordinary buildings. As he walked he noticed several civilian NPCs warily watching the passing soldiers and players. Their faces looked tired and scared. The soldier NPCs looked weary, he noticed the way they gripped their weapons. As if they were ready for a surprise attack at any moment.

Akiol thought to himself, "To think the game managed to capture the essence of a city under siege so well. If anything it only lacks a sense of urgency."

Why was there NPCs wandering about? Why were soldiers walking within a city under siege? It isn't like there is any recording of a city under siege in history. At least not a clear one. So it made sense for there to be a few issues with how the event was operating.

As he walked he felt... something. It was a pressure, or an aura. He quickly looked in the direction it came from. A player stood chatting amongst others, galaxy blue hair with eyes to match. There wasn't any players that seemed to be affected by this pressure. So it had to be controlled.

This pressure was something he only felt from true experts. A domineering aura obtained only by being one of the best, with experience to prove it.

Akiol could see it in the way the player carried themselves. While their position looked casual, in reality they could draw their sword and attack in any direction with ease.

He had faced with the top Guilds experts, but at most they could be considered gaming experts. With extensive knowledge and reaction times. They lacked actual combat experience, which is why he never had a hard time beating them. This character seemed different, they knew what they were doing.

The player noticed Akiol's stare a few moments later. They looked back at Akiol, puzzled. Akiol's hand twitched and the other player's hand twitched in response, less than a second later.

Akiol made an amused expression before moving along. However he wasn't amused, that player was different. The twitch Akiol did was actually a canceled sword movement. If he followed through with the movement then he would have swung.

The other player responded incredibly quick, had Akiol done an actual surprise attack the other player would have parried it easily.

To think that he would find such a skilled individual!

———————————————————————-

"Are you sure you want to do this? We are going to be facing a lot more than NPCs you know."

"Relax, if we pull this off then the rewards will be far greater than if we participated normally."

"Why are you so worried Crumb, we got the speeding blue streak here himself."

The speeding blue streak character was named Flowing Sea. He laughed and played it down, "That's just a dumb nickname, I'm not so special."

Crumb, a defender with a strange crescent shield, scoffed, "I'm sure you could take on the whole city if you wanted to."

"My fatigue would catch up before then."

"Aha! See you are confident! Are you saying that if you weren't limited by fatigue you could take on the city?"

"I would be heavily outnumbered you know."

"Your still not saying anything about losing!"

Flowing Sea frowned, he felt a stare coming from someone. He noticed it earlier but ignored it at first. Yet it went on a little longer than usual. He looked at the individual staring at him. A medium armored silver haired individual stood there. They looked like a warrior, yet they held no sword.

Their hand twitched, in a flash several different attacks they could do flashed in his mind. In less than a second his hand twitched subconsciously in response.

The player made an amused expression before walking away. Flowing Sea looked at his palm in surprise. Even if it was a troll looking to force a reaction out of him, it was no ordinary one. His body hadn't acted subconsciously like that in a long time.

"Hey... hey!" Crumb snapped.

Flowing Sea snapped out of his daze, "Yeah?"

"When's the rest coming? We need to get started soon."

"Uhh... they said give them ten minutes."

"Alright, if they are even half as skilled as you then this will be a breeze."

Flowing Sea chuckled, "You put so much faith in me."

Crumb rolled his eyes, "Don't go acting like that. I have seen you in action."

"Relax, I grew up with these guys. They are way more than half as good as me."

"Then my worries have floated away."

———————————————————————-

Akiol took a seat across Kan'na, "Alright what's going on."

Kan'na put away a sheet of paper, "The city is under siege by an enemy faction named Leon Crest. The cause for the fight has been hidden from the public, however it must be something large for it to elicit such a response. More than half the enemy faction's forces are attacking.

Due to them being humanoid enemies the equipment drop is high. So thousands of players are jumping in to help. Meaning the tides have been evened out. So we are going to help out in the war and collect equipment for Tilia, maybe even get some new pieces for us."

Akiol had his doubts, "You make it sound easy. However with this many players, and the guilds, surely getting equipment isn't that easy."

Kan'na nodded, "There isn't a respawn for the enemies since they are NPCs. That means there is a limited amount of gear. On top of that these soldiers are elites, not your mass produced kind. So the equipment value is high, but for ordinary players they have to fight them two on one."

"So why don't we go behind enemy lines?"

"People already tried. Not a single one managed to last. The officers are something players would need a whole team to fight. Much less the captains. The generals might need a whole Guild to finish off."

Akiol whistled, "So how does the event work?"

"Similar to the undead invasion long ago. You can sign up as a party and earn contribution points. The higher you're ranked the better the rewards. There is the Guild's ranking, the Party ranking, and the player ranking."

"Did you guys already register?"

"Ah, yes we did. Here you go."

<Player Kan'na has invited you to a party!>

Akiol accepted the invite, "Are you recovered?"

"Not yet, go on without me. I'll participate later."

"Don't go using that large beam again haha."

"That's not a bad idea."

Akiol chuckled as he left the Adventurers Guild. As he was walking out of the city he spotted the galaxy blue haired individual. Except there was more people with him, all giving off a dangerous pressure.

Akiol's interest peaked, "Sorry Tilia, but these guys I want to keep an eye on."

———————————————————————-

"Good, everyone is here. Now explain the plan Terra." Crumb said as he rubbed his hands together in excitement.

Terra, a priest, began explaining the plan, "We are going to meet up with a general. There we are going to receive orders to weaken the defense of the city. This is a secret quest I worked very hard for."

A pugilist cracked his neck, "Why are we doing this again?"

Flowing Sea answered him, "Because it's going to be fun. We haven't been able to fully exercise our skills within the game just yet."

"Then why are we siding with the obvious winning force? Let's go challenge this general instead."

Terra cut in, "Not a good idea, besides the rewards will be far greater if we succeed."

A sorcerer whispered to the pugilist, "Remember why we are playing this game in the first place."

The pugilist nodded, "Alright lead the way. Let's get this done quickly."

Terra nodded, "That's the spirit, but first let's get the introductions done. I need to know your guy's names first."

The pugilist patted their chest, "Tempered Steel, though you can call me Steel."

The sorcerer tapped their staff on the ground, "Kirin." They answered curtly.

An individual who stood further back spoke up, "The name is Fossil."

Terra clapped their hands together, "Excellent, now let's get started."