The dark armored man was called Hugo, and he was one of those that decided to create a council with other guild masters to work together and solve some big problems. Around that time, the criminals were starting to become active, so they managed to suppress them for a while… Only for a while. Then, they returned at full power… the people there were quite used to each other, so they didn't have problems in expressing their true feelings, even when it was feelings of anger and displasure.
"It seems that Frederick and Milena want to say something today," Hugo said.
"This better be for something important because if it is related to the usual nonsense…" A man armed with numerous knives across his leather armor said.
"What are you going to do if that is the case?" Milena asked. "Hah?!"
"Let's calm down… Even if they still want to talk about revealing what we know, they might have a point now," Hugo said. "A lot of people have been showing up lately, and we can't even say for sure how many the players the criminals have bought without following the normal procedures. Based on my calculations, everyone will awake in one week… Perhaps less."
"Even the newbies?" A hooded female mage asked.
"I believe so… Lately, their progress had been remarkable," Hugo replied. "For some reason, the innate skills of the newbies have been improving a lot faster, and I don't think it is related to our help."
"... What will happen next?" Frederick asked.
"We will learn the truth, and we will become more powerful," Hugo replied. "However, our minds will also merge, so there is a chance that we might become something different than we are right now. I suppose power always comes with a price."
"Can the process be reversed?" The hooded female mage asked.
"I think so… Even after the awakening, as long as you stop fighting, your minds will stay intact and return to normal," Hugo replied. "Those of my guild that fight the least look a bit behind when it comes to their general progress of the awakening. I think that they will only awake at the same time because this first wave will be something like nothing else that will affect everyone on this side."
Frederick stopped to think for a moment. Those who had the chance to get stronger wouldn't risk and stop fighting since when shit hits the fan, they can only count on themselves to fight for their lives. Also, it was hard to say how their minds would be once the awakening started. Will they have enough mind power to wish to revert the whole process? It was hard to say, he couldn't even tell how his closest people would react to all that or even himself, that was truly uncharted territory.
"With that in mind, you should at least tell your guild members that something will happen and that they should prepare for it," Hugo said. "That should contain the panic a bit… Putting that aside, I would like to ask how things are around the crystal wolves' territory."
"You would know if you guys had sent some help," Milena said.
"... I just heard that things have been solved there," Frederick said after sighing.
"As expected of Frederick and Milena guild members," Hugo said. "You guys never disappoint me."
"We didn't do anything… Most of our guild members only worked on hunting the ordinary monsters," Frederick said. "However, a small party worked with someone else and killed all of the bosses this morning."
"Oh, that was certainly fast," Hugo asked. "Can I hear more details about that?"
"I usually would refuse, but since some people saw what happened, everyone will discover the truth…" Frederick replied. "Two members of the party combined two spells to kill seven of the bosses instantly, and the others got heavily injured in the explosion."
The guild masters got completely quiet after hearing that. They had never heard of people combing their magic, only those who could do that were mages who could manipulate the elements… Not two people at the same time.
"... That is a lot of firepower," Hugo said. "I suppose that is a new discovery when it comes to melded magic… But you are still keeping a few details. What kind of spells were used?"
"... Fire and dark fire," Frederick replied.
"Dark… Fire? That must be an innate skill," Hugo said while furrowing his eyebrows. "I thought that I had seen all kinds of skills, but I guess I was wrong. What is the name of the person that uses dark fire?"
"Don't bother… He despises guilds and guild masters with all his heart," Frederick replied. "He moved to another planet just to avoid having to keep contact with us."
"This guy certainly sounds like someone interesting," Hugo said. "Regardless, if he doesn't want to do anything with guilds, then we should leave him alone. Does anyone have something else to say?"
"The number of encounters with those guys is increasing lately…" A brown-haired man that was still holding his spear while sitting said. "While I say encounter, I guess ambushes are more of the right term… They are on the move again."
"Perhaps they are also waiting for the awakening…" Hugo said. "I think some of them might know more than us, and they want something from that… Regardless, this week will be critical to all of us, so you should keep your guard up and contact the others in case something happen."
That was really the only thing that they could do. Also, they could only hope that the awakening won't cause more problems to them and give more advantages to the enemies. They had yet to learn why they attacked those three cities, and they couldn't get more on their plates. Things were already as bad as they were, after all. Some of them hoped that the awakening might be useful to them, but all of their instincts said otherwise.
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