On a different continent, commonly known as the dark continent, in a city run by Demonoids, a certain player had just re-logged into the game, appearing in the main hall of his guild, the Neo-Spetsnaz.
This player had earned the guild leader title through a show of force, and his participation in the first tournament EG had held for New Eden.
This player was Anton the Berserker.
He had earned this moniker after the tournament, when he unlocked a special class, Berserker, in the most circumstantial way. By being constantly angry, and fighting with friend and foe alike.
He had gained this class after an outburst against his allies, when they refused to obey him and raid the base of Paragons, which he knew belonged to his hated enemy, Astaroth.
After slaughtering almost his entire guild roster once, he had woken up in a hut-like house, alone with a large man, wearing a bear's pelt on his back, and was sharpening his axe vigorously.
He later came to know the man as B?dvar Bjarki, the first Berserker. After proving his resolve and mettle, through a plethora of challenges, which he only passed through by envisioning himself ripping Astaroth apart, the large man marked him with a burning bear paw-shaped iron, before bestowing him with a legacy.
Since then, Anton had often proven his strength, be it in battle or out of it. His power had risen manifold, and he couldn't wait for the day he would meet Astaroth in battle again, and tear him apart.
His guild members reappeared, one by one, in a mix of Demonoids, Undead, and Orcs, all of them sharing some similar physical traits. The Neo-Spetsnaz guild was recognized as one that treasured power over wits.
But that only meant it was what they favoured, and didn't preclude them from having smart players amongst their ranks. The vice-leader was one such man.
His power was not the highest in the guild, but his wit allowed him to overcome most of the players in the guild, aside from the leader, Anton. His name was Chernobyl, in honour of the fear the place inspired in people.
He was a warlock Demonoid, whose patron was a demon whose power of corruption was unequalled, or so he claimed. Chernobyl used this power in combat to weaken his opponents, as he strengthened himself.
This often led him to victory, as his opponents forwent defence, allowing him to excerpt his influence on them. He only ever lost to Anton, whose power gap was enough to plow through the corruption, and beat him to a pulp before the corruption could take hold.
As Chernobyl appeared, Anton walked over to him.
"Start investigating what the changes are to the game immediately. We need to be the first to know the situation on the dark continent, if possible."
"Yes, komandir. What about the information gathering on the Paragons?"
"Put that on the back burner. I want information on our situation, first. We can deal with the trash later."
"Yes, komandir."
The vice-leader left Anton's side, immediately grabbing a few of the reappearing members and leaving the guild building.
Anton walked up to the roof of their one-story building and looked outward. Their guild base looked like an abandoned factory of some sort, like an old sawmill, alone, in the middle of an empty plain.
There was nothing for miles around, no trees, no lakes, no mountains. Whatever had been around this factory in the past was gone.
It begged to wonder how the factory withstood the passage of time, when nothing else around it did. As he looked around, he saw something shimmer in the distance.
Contrary to its name, the dark continent was covered in light, just like the other continent, and it wasn't perpetually night. But there was a permanent haze in the skies that filtered out the light a bit, making it seem like it was never the middle of the day.
The days were lit up like a sunset most of the time, making everything bask in an orange and red hue all the time. Sometimes, when the light reflected on a lake, it almost seemed as if the lake was on fire.
But whatever shimmered in the distance had a hue redder than the skin tone of the Demonoids, and it was moving.
Anton squinted, trying to see if he could make out what it was from his position, but it was too far to garner any details. Looking at the yard below him, where some of the guild members had filtered out of the building, he barked out commands.
"You lot! I want a full group to form up, and go scout out to the East of here. There is a weird phenomenon, and I want to know what it is."
The people in the yard promptly formed a full group of twelve, excited to already be back in action, and left on a jog toward the East.
The rest of the guild, lacking specific instructions, started going about their business.
Many of them left for the major cities of the dark continent, resuming their prior tasks of recruiting players for the guild. Anton had been clear about how he wanted to form the biggest and strongest guild on the dark continent, before taking that position outside of it, too.
In the meantime, the others started gathering resources in the more prosperous regions of the continent, to make gold for the guild coffers.
Anton had set a contribution system, where the players that contributed the most would get special privileges, and better access to new gear or skill books they gathered from dungeons and raids.
Of course, the officers had the first choice, making sure they were kept at the top of the power chain for as long as they could. Anton preferred to keep the officers he had in place, as much as possible.
He knew them, and their agendas, and it was safer to have someone you know about being close to you. It reduced the risk of getting backstabbed.
Anton wasn't unfamiliar with backstabbing, but he preferred to be on the giving side rather than the receiving side.
'This time, I conquer the continent, before moving on to squashing the Paragons.'
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