The Call of Warlords (II)

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The bright sun set towards the horizon. Its cascading sunlight cast a beautiful harmonious display of red, yellow, and orange. Magic hour was starting. Loud bustling crowds moved in the City of Diadem as it crawled with life. Merchants jubilantly sold their products to the citizens. Soft music flowed throughout the open town square and accentuated the liveliness of the people. A variety of smells from freshly made home-cooked food tickled the people's noses, bringing starving customers to the stands.

Zero walked amongst the busy crowds as he looked upon the freshly cooked food with hunger. His stomach growled riotously. Agnis diligently moved from stand to stand looking upon the products with eager eyes. Zeraph on the other hand quietly followed behind them both, watching his surroundings tentatively.

"Zero, we need to try out this food." Agnis pointed out some kind of dish with octopus on it. Zero studied the food with interest but stopped himself from going any further.

"You're joking, right? The tentacles are moving…" Zero stated as he reeled with a bit of unease. Sushi was okay, but live moving food was a bit too much.

"Come on, let's try something new," Agnis begged. "You always tend to eat the same things that you are comfortable with."

"Yeah, for a good reason, I love my life. What about you, Zeraph—would you try that?" Zero pointed out the food that lay in front of them.

"Why not? It does look delicious. Just cut it into smaller pieces," replied Zeraph. He smirked at Zero. "The wiggling part is just extra. Think of it as calamari."

"You're not helping," groaned Zero. "Calamari I can take, but moving tentacles are a different story. Those suction cups could get stuck in my throat and kill me. Have you ever heard about that before? It's happened in real life."

"Yep. It's a risk you have to take for good food. Have you tried the Japanese puffer fish? You have to literally sign a paper stating that the chef is not at fault when you eat sashimi. Its tetrodotoxin is so deadly it could paralyze and kill you, but it tastes amazing."

Zero looked at him strangely. A tentacle was not worth dying for at the moment. Going through death in this game was like one of those zombie apocalypse movies.

A loud yell was heard off in the distance. Zero, Agnis, and Zeraph turned towards the sound to see what was going on.

"Hot news! Hot news! The Seed Shard quest is not over! Aldran has called for a large meeting! Come to the grand stadium for the news!" a young boy yelled at the top of his lungs.

The young boy stood on top of a small wooden box so he could holler into the crowd. NPCs talked amongst themselves as they became nervous.

"Something big is going to happen. We need to be prepared."

"What, you think Aldran has failed?" said a young lady, shocked.

"Please god no," an old woman said, and swooned.

"Is this the end of our city because of his failure?" gasped one of the watching farmers. Like a tidal wave the panic spread throughout the crowds.

"That's crazy! I thought they were better than that."

"What will happen to us? No… what will happen to our children?"

"I'm not so sure, but we need to be prepared."

"We need to protect ourselves," cried another as she hurriedly walked back to her shop.

While the NPCs worriedly chatted amongst themselves, the players were completely different. In the crowd there were admirers and players who were jealous of the Hercules Guild's fame.

"The Hercules Guild failed? Impossible!" said one of the male players, amused.

"Finally those snobby Hercules are put down a couple of pegs. They deserved that."

"What are you talking about? Hercules Guild has helped me out quite a lot. Don't slander their name," said one of the players angrily.

"They only say they're helping. Like all big guilds they take it upon themselves to boost

their own morals. It's nothing new."

"Come on, it's Hercules. It's news. The boy has not stated that they had failed. They might be giving us some information about some kind of new quest. Maybe they had another quest that we don't know about. Right?"

"Yeah, probably."

"What do you think they will be talking about at the grand stadium?"

"I'm not so sure. Hopefully we'll get to see it. It's going to be crowded. We need to get there as early as possible. There are not going to be any seats left for us to sit if we get there late."

"Do you think something cool will happen?"

"I'm not sure, but I do hope so," said one of the players excitedly.

"Doesn't matter, we should go to the grand stadium tonight and advertise our guild. Maybe we will be lucky enough to get some of the higher-level guild members from Hercules Guild to come join our guild instead."

"Agreed."

As the players and NPCs conversed amongst themselves, Zero weaved in and out of the crowd to listen to more about the young boy's announcement. He was curious about what was going to happen next. Agnis and Zeraph stood back in the crowds. Zeraph crossed his arms and stood still like a statue. Agnis leaned on his shoulder and made herself comfortable.

"Once again, the time is around sunset. There are only a limited number of seats available. It's first come first serve! Aldran, the guild master, stated that there is more to the Seed Shard quest! Supposedly it was activated a couple of days ago. It's an emergency meeting!" the young boy yelled over the crowd. More and more gathered around him, trying to hear the rest.

People poured out of the buildings, curious at the large crowd that was forming. It was not something that people saw often.

A loud trumpet blew, signaling the people. Silence followed right after as players and NPCs' heads turn towards the unusual announcement. People parted like the sea to let the large group of players pass through.

In the center of the formation, surrounded by an even brighter glow, walked an unarmed figure draped in voluminous folds of blood red and silver armor. It was Aldran, the leader of the Hercules Guild, and Gullifer, the handsome, dangerous-looking man in black leather by his side. His guild mates followed behind him quietly in an orderly fashion with similar silver armored outfits.

Children and residents looked upon them with awe. As the procession moved closer, the crowd surged forward, everyone straining for a better look. Aldran walked forward with grace as he passed through the large crowd of people.

The crowd went dead silent. Only the chirping of birds and bugs could be heard. Like the rest, Zero, Agnis, and Zeraph also followed behind them.

The large groups of people followed Aldran like a herd of sheep following its shepherd, blindly being led without any questions. They walked earnestly behind him, waiting for a single word from Aldran about what had happened. But no words escaped his mouth.

The crowd marched behind him closely as they all moved in fluid harmony. Wherever Aldran stepped they followed after; even when he stopped for a split moment, the crowd stood still. A murmur rose among them.

"I can't believe it, Aldran is here," squealed a female player with glee. "Aldran and Gullifer are so dreamy. It's like god has created them like a piece of art."

"Agreed," swooned another.

"I wish either one of them was my boyfriend," sighed a female player.

"What do you think he would say? There have been reports that all the famous guild lords are coming to this meeting."

"Really? That's amazing! That means we will even be seeing the Water Rose Guild, Deep Drive Guild, Grand Legion Guild, and many more."

"Pfft. There's nothing so great about them. It is just some kind of get together to show off their strength. Come on, it's just a power contest. There's nothing too much to really hope for."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. This is the first time all the guild leaders have come together in one place. It is unheard of."

The players nodded in agreement. Zero quietly listened as he used his hearing skill to eavesdrop on people. He selectively listened into different conversations and tuned out the others as best as he could towards the topics that interested him the most. While he was skimming through the different conversations, he heard a soft murmur between Gullifer and Aldran.

"Aldran. Do we need to tell everyone about this? You know we could handle this by ourselves. They don't need to know this."

"No. We need to do this. It's important that they know. It could affect all of us if we are not careful," stated Aldran sternly.

Gullifer sighed with disappointment.

"If you say so. I personally believe that it is not such a big deal. It's another quest. We have accomplished so many things. How is this any different from anything else?"

"It is. The other lords are waiting. We need to get there on time."

What are they talking about? thought Zero. What could be so important that everyone needs to be there? For the guild master of Hercules to be so riled up made him curious about what they might say.

"What's going on?" asked Agnis. She followed closely beside Zero.

"I don't know, but something major just happened. We might be in for some kind of trouble," replied Zero.

"The amount of trouble you get in a game is barely anything compared to real life." Zeraph smirked.

"You're being a dick again, Zeraph. Come on. Chill out. Is your handsome face for show while your lips are for speaking words to bash people with?" Agnis snapped back.

"My lips are sweet like honey. Would you like to try?" Zeraph smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Pass. It's too toxic to even try. I think I'll probably be dead from it."

"You guys are idiots." Zero shook his head. "How do you deal with him, Agnis?"

"Easy. Throw him a couple of bones and he'll be distracted for a while." Agnis snickered as she nudged Zeraph.

"Bones? Pfft. Hardly. I—"

"Guys," Zero interjected with a hurried tone. Both Agnis and Zeraph turned to see what Zero was pointing at.

The crowd halted. In front of them was a medieval style grand stadium. Its pearly white columns were painted yellowish-orange by the sunset. Glowing green fireflies moved like lazy ocean waves when people passed by, and their magical green auras trailed behind them. Large, beautiful green plants coiled around the building, their leaves overshadowing the people.

One by one, the blazing white stadium lights turned on all around. A whoosh of wind lightly brushed against the people. Aldran's silver armor glowed brilliantly. Gullifer followed closely behind him like a shadow, one complementing the other. Compared to others around them, they stood out completely from the rest.

Zero looked upon the coliseum with awe. There were three famous buildings in the city of Terra: the castle, the Royal Library, and the grand stadium that no other city could rival. These were the most visited and sought-out spots in the city. He wondered how the Hercules Guild could afford to rent out the whole grand stadium for such an enormous occasion.

In single file lines, the NPCs and players streamed in through different entrances around the stadium. Following with them were Zero, Agnis, and Zeraph.

"Wow. I heard about this place, but never got a chance to get in," stated Agnis in awe. "It costs too much to get in usually. Today it only costs silver."

"Well then, let's quickly go find ourselves some close-up seats. It's going to be difficult to hear them," said Zero in a hurried tone. He did not want to be in the back, and not able to see or hear anything.

"Nah. I heard that this stadium uses some kind of sound magic to amplify the voices. We should be alright," replied Agnis.