"This freeeaking sucks!" Complained Roderick, one of the players drawn into joining Phoenix from all the chaos surrounding the guild on the forums. Their achievements and own posts were currently a hot topic throughout the ANW community.
Roderick had come a month before Phoenix's most significant achievement, back when most still assumed the posts about them tackling an epic-ranked quest were simply trolls being trolls.
While said trolls had released photos of their quests, most people had thought it was photoshopped. After all, the leaders of Phoenix made no attempt to confirm these posts, and they even tried to keep things quiet.
In the month Roderick had been in the guild, the only city in Taurus he had come to know was Taurtania. Where he and everyone else had been fighting day and night with the rest of the guild. Until they finally won.
In that last battle, all the players had died far more than once. Many had even dropped down to level 20 from 30. Which they took great pride in, and thanks to the level rewards from the quest they were quickly back to their original levels. Their levels were still lower on average than other players, and they took pride in this.
It was their scar of achievement, proof of how hard they had fought to succeed in their quest. They boasted about their glorious feats all over the forums.
"Yeah... When are we going to get to the next city?!" Another player chimed in, her bored tone ticking Judith off and causing her to snap.
"Get used to it! The kingdom is massive."
All the new players had never experienced the distances one needed to travel between cities. In the empires they were from, they would always teleport close to where their quest was. Not even needing to pay for the teleportation since the Empire was sponsoring them.
All this walking was oh so boring.
While they wanted to continue complaining, no one wanted to anger Judith even more. They were all Tier 4, but they understood that there was a clear difference between them and the Flaming Hearts of Phoenix.
Most of the Flaming Hearts were forgiving, but Judith wasn't one of them. She had a bit of a temper, one that had only grown worse as the guild continued to expand. As more and more players would stare at her and comment on her 'figure'.
She didn't mind the stares, but the comments infuriated her. Especially when some players started getting it in her mind that she was inviting them, and they defended themselves by saying that it was apparent that she wanted it. Claiming that if she didn't want the attention she should dress more properly.
She had killed them all as their first warning. None of them had even stood a chance against Gray, her magical greatsword. It wasn't the best weapon in the guild, but it was still a bonified magic weapon. Which was still quite a rarity among players. It also suited Judith's style of fighting far more than any other weapon the guild had.
Killing them appeared to be the only effective way to help these new players understand where they stood. Too many had expected a royal treatment. After all, a player who could reach Tier 4 was considered a genius in their previous guilds.
Here, in Phoenix, it was an expected bare minimum to be a normal member.
Now, as for who the Flaming Hearts were, they were the core of the guild. The name originated from what Elizabeth's branch of the guild would have been called before her falling out with the 'so-called' guild master of what used to be the larger Phoenix guild. Back when players were still trying to figure out how to combine all their players throughout the world. The random spawn function in ANW having ruined many plans.
This group consisted of Elizabeth, the guild master. Nikki the vice guild master. Eldrian the absent vice guild master. Judith the barbarian roleplayer who was a feast for the eyes of most horny players. Where starring was the most they dared do after his violent killing spree.
lmadia, the enchantress. The opposite of Judith, her regal light blue mage robes gave no indication of what was beneath. A distant, cold beauty who had enchanted more than one player's heart.
There was also Therdul, the sturdy wall. Zyviss, the swift arrow, and finally, Erik. The alchemist and potion supplier for the entire guild.
Erik's supply of potions was undoubtedly a massive attraction to players. He sold his potions far below standard price, and there were no regulations on how they had to use them. If they so wished, they could resell them for a quick profit.
Erik was aware that some did but he didn't care. His fee for brewing was enough, and since he grew most of the plants, he had basically no material costs. NPC or player, no one could beat his regular prices. That he offered the guild was basically free; he did limit how many a person could order each week since he could only make so many potions.
With a year having passed and the tournament around the corner, many players had started wondering if Phoenix would take part in it or not. Last year they had claimed fourth, and many recalled the memorable fights they had put up against the other guilds. With everything they had achieved in the recent year, they were undoubtedly a favored for the tournament.
Yet, despite this, they have not signed up. If they didn't sign up soon, they wouldn't be able to make it into the bracket at all. Causing much confusion among players.
With talk of the tournament going around, Eldrian naturally became another hot topic. His showcase of abilities last year and the many clips of his magic casting magic seemingly instantly and controlling his spells caused everyone to wonder where he was.
There were plenty of rumors about why he was no longer in the public eye. Even in his own guild, very few members had ever seen him, and only the OG members had met him before.
To those in the guild, Eldrian's position was a confusing one. He never participated in any guild missions, yet somehow he seemed to be above even Elizabeth, their guild master. At the very least, it was clear that she couldn't control his actions.
In their quest to protect Vlisia, everyone thought Elizabeth would get him to help. Contrary to their expectations, Eldrian never made an appearance. Not even for the first-ever epic-ranked quest!
Of course, no one knew of his contribution in providing the location and movement of the enemy.
Despite all the odds stacked against them, they managed to complete the quest. While it had come at a high cost, the rewards had also been great. As one would expect from an epic-ranked quest. Though, for most of the guild members, their rewards were only the levels rewarded by the system and a distribution of the money the guild received as compensation.
The Flaming Hearts all claimed the greater rewards, some of which they immediately equipped while others were entered into the guild vault with a decision on how to deal with them still needing to be figured out.
Phoenix was now far ahead of any other guild. The single quest had shot them up to level 5 while most guilds were desperately trying to reach level 4. For which they needed to complete 25 A-ranked quests—no easy task.
Due to this, all the players serious about ANW were desperately trying to join the guild. And with Phoenix now able to accept 5000 players, it was hectic.
Nikki had been extremely busy trying to manage all the requests. They had needed to retract their offer to reimburse the teleportation cost, but still, players asked to join in droves. Some even teleported over before confirming if they would be accepted.
Nikki spent most of her time creating a system to sort through all the applications while Elizabeth was responsible for NPC relations. The rest of the Flaming Heart were also swamped.
They had placed things on hold after accepting their current quest. An S-Ranked quest with an options SSS-ranked side quest to retake the city. It would not be easy and the rewards weren't all that great, for most the true allure of the quest was that they could claim all magical items they found as their rewards.
Elizabeth and the others however felt more compelled to try and help. Seeking treasures were not their main focus. Though, for most of the players in the guild, this surely was the case. As the rule founders keepers would effectively be used by all.
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