"That puts an end to the first round of league A, a fabulous performance from the players so far, next up we have league B!" Dr. Reed announced. "I request the players of the first match to step down so that we can continue with the event."

The crowd knew what Reed was reaching for, he was trying to divert the attention of the audience from Night and Kira who were still coming out of their capsules or pods. He didn't really expect it to work, but this was the reason why Layla vs Ju Fen was the very first match of league B, fortunately, the ruse seemed to have worked, though it was mainly the male audience that fell for it, and perhaps a very small percentage of women. The others were still focused on Night and Kira, who were now shaking hands after their match.

'I didn't think he could do that? what kind of a move was that? did it require mana? was it an active skill? was it a passive skill? there's more to Night, there has to be,' Kira thought as he shook Luke's hand. "Thank you for the learning experience, I promise you, the next time won't go the same,"

"Thank you for the fun as well," Luke genuinely felt pleased after his match, perhaps it was because it was his first PvP match but it was more than what he expected. "The next time we might be representing our countries,"

"Ah, I see you've heard. Well, there's no harm in telling you but Genesis was recognized as a sport of some kind, an E-sport and there's a lot of effort, time and money being put into the whole "players representing their countries plan", but we shall see I guess, there isn't any sort of confirmation yet so,"

"I understand, thank you for telling me, then I better get going," Luke said as he waved his hand, "oh right, call me Luke."

.

.

.

"That was an interesting fight. Seems like you and Kira really bonded," Nate giggled, "but actually though, what happened to not showing our powers unless we had to? I doubt Kira actually pushed you that far..."

"What can I say, I felt like showing off a bit, just a sneak peek so they know how strong our clan is going to be. By the way, I was doing some thinking about the requirements."

"Obviously we can't just accept anyone and everyone, that'll be chaotic and at the same time, unreasonable."

Relentless was the number clan as of now, this was only in terms of individual strength. They weren't like the Uprising Guild that focused more on quantity than quality. The issue with that is simple, human nature. Controlling and maintaining more than 10,000 players and making sure there wasn't any bad blood between them was nearly impossible. Players just leave after gaining the strength they desired, and it would not even be noticed. The reason Relentless or Ken focuses on quality is that, regardless of human nature, with only 30 members or so in the guild, it is easier to gain trust in each other, and once this trust crosses a line, breaking away from the clan is akin to leaving your family.

Once the trust is built, players could be given better roles, positions, they would be given more responsibility, only at such a stage did it make sense for Ken to take in more players or members for the clan. Slowly but surely, they would all grow together and expand their roots throughout the world of Genesis.

"It's pertinent that we ask Master about Vraun, I've only visited the capital and nothing else, thanks to the Forest of Silence I assume, but back to what I was saying, Vraun has many cities, I'm sure we would be allowed to establish our guild in one of those."

Listening to Luke, Nate was a tad bit surprised, especially after Luke's statement of not wanting anything to do with the 'ruling' or 'leading' aspect of the clan. Yet, here he was, putting in more thought than even Nate, the leader and creator of the clan did.

"So much for not wanting anything to do with leading the clan," Nate sighed, "I understand so leave it all to me, you trusted me with this and I'll live up to and surpass your expectations,"

"Oh and do me a favor and focus on traveling the world and getting stronger, I'll handle the rest," he further added.

"Haah, okay okay, I was just excited, sue me," Luke grumbled. "I have no doubt you'll get stronger than me, you will, it's only natural, don't let my expectations hold you back or judge you, the only thing I expect is for you to not lose your mind."

'He has no doubt I will get stronger than him? surely he must be joking right? does he actually think that....' Nate thought for a few seconds before replying. He let out a sigh while looking at the floor.

"It's a promise then, I'll make sure I live up to THAT expectation,"

"Likewise, it'll be fun. You and the other guild members, if and when they join, can attack from the outside and crush the walls of other Kingdoms, I'll focus on the internal slaughter." Luke laughed as he bumped fists with his friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in Genesis, Vraun,

"Your Majesty!"

Dozens of soldiers in heavy silver armor were currently kneeling before the King of Vraun, Alaric Tristan. They were in the royal courtroom. Usually, there would never be so many soldiers, excluding the guards that protected the royalty or personally assigned members. However, there was somewhat of a crisis occurring in and around Vraun.

Ever since Night kidnapped Shade, the guardian of the Forest of Silence, the entire region remained unprotected, not that it needed any protection of sorts, but the guardians weren't just randomly called that, they were literally the guardians of the regions they belonged to. They weren't rulers but guardians, they focused on themselves and their area(s), guardians would never actively seek out to gain an advantage over the others.

However, the disappearance of the guardian of the Forest of Silence was bound to spread throughout Genesis. It wasn't a small issue, after all, Shade was said to be one of the strongest guardians, even as an individual, and without the use of his shadows, he would be as strong as one of the stronger guardians.

Now that, the guardians found an empty region, a region that once belonged to the strongest of them, they couldn't act passive anymore, they had the opportunity to get stronger and who knew how strong they could get? another region was a huge boost, especially with a region like Shade's.

"Brave soldiers, listen well, we the Kingdom of Vraun have always been peaceful but many have mistaken that for weakness, of course, they have learned their lesson. It was now time for the monsters to be slaughtered, endangering my citizens? under my watch? NEVER. I will never let that happen."

"There is a possibility that something bigger than us is taking place but as all of you may know, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Guardians from the other regions MAY come with hopes of occupying the ghastly Forest of Silence but that doesn't mean we will simply let them. Of course, there's also the chance they'll just send their minions, a guardian leaving his or her location would allow the others to attack so they can't act too reckless."

"Be brave mighty warriors of Vraun, you have the blessing of the Divine Oracle of Delphi, head towards the borders! alert the other soldiers..but be discreet, it isn't yet the time for the citizens to know, make sure the entirety of OUR kingdom is properly secured! Delphiria, Denren, Lionsheart, and Warriorsheart, these 4 regions should be our top priority, according to our analysts, these are considered danger zones. Please tell your families I apologize....and make sure every single one of you is alive, do not engage in battle first, hold back and make sure you don't attack unless the monsters do so first."

"That is all, good luck to you all," Alaric said before he sat back on his throne and leaned on his hand.

"For Vraun!"

"For King Alaric!"

"All hail!! King Alaric!"

"Praise the Royal family of the Tristans!"

"For the prosperity of Vraun!"

Alaric smiled as he watched the soldiers scream out loud, they were full of energy and life, this was one of the reasons Vraun was a unique Kingdom, the soldiers fully trusted their King, even if he asked them to walk into the line of fire, they would do so without any hesitation.

"The forest....and the situation right now....I sure hope Night is okay.." Alaric muttered.

"For someone whose borders are at risk, you sure worry about the wrong things, Alaric, understand that the Forest of Silence protected our kingdom as well. Just like Kriol, as long as the Guardians are only dead, they can always form again. That's the will of life, but this is the first time in history, no...actually this isn't the first but a situation where a guardian isn't dead but traveling with a human, if you can even call him that, is horrible," Pythia reminded him, she was the protector of Vraun, if it actually came down to it then she could simply take the matter into her own hands.

"The surrounding Kingdoms won't hesitate to attack. If the Imperial Kingdom were to take advantage of the situation then.....it would definitely be a mess."