Chapter 295 – God-Slaying Sword (1/2)
Chapter 295 – God-Slaying Sword
Nie Yan looked over his gear: Darkbright Chestpiece, Skywalker Set, Zennarde’s Sword, and Glimpse of Darkness. When he first started out, collecting the chapters from the Book of Order, everything was still at an initial stage of development. But now, the quality of his gear far surpassed that of the vast majority of players, Zennarde’s Sword in particular. He doubted any other player at present possessed a weapon with over 600 attack power, Level Ignore +12, and Ignore Armour. Not to mention his stats were already staggering. Even the tankiest of Fighters couldn’t avoid being cut down by him!
Nie Yan was curious about how many players were by Faded’s side. If he encountered a group of peak elites, he would have to tread carefully.
Nie Yan naturally had no plans of throwing his life away. When outnumbered as a Thief, tactics were of vital importance.
“Be careful. I just received a report that Faded has over a dozen players by his side,” Guo Huai warned. But after recalling Nie Yan’s past feats, he laughed it off. “I guess I’m just being a worry-wart. Since when has being outnumbered ever mattered to you?”
From the perspective of Guo Huai, Smoke Stub, and the others, Nie Yan was skilled enough to breeze through any obstacle he encountered.
“Hurry back after you take care of those guys and retrieve that chapter or whatever. We still need you to finalize the building plans of the other strongholds. Also, we need you to guide us in the new Level 40 dungeon, Dragon Bell Valley, tomorrow,” Bladelight said. With Nie Yan’s help, they could avoid a lot of unnecessary suffering and hardship.
“No problem. Just contact me when the time comes,” Nie Yan replied. This team was formed from the peak experts of the guild. Even dungeons on Specialist difficulty wouldn’t pose a challenge to them.
Apart from those several chapters from the Book of Order, Nie Yan figured it was about time to retrieve the next fragment of Sulgata’s Shadow from the Level 30 map, Karon Gorge. It was hidden in a remote location, so he wasn’t worried about it being snatched away by someone else. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have put it off for so long.
When Yu Rui of the Dragonsoar Financial Group arrived, she was given control of the real-world business district in United City. Thanks to this contribution, the Dragonsoar Financial Group upped their investment and rewarded Asskickers United with an additional 50,000 gold.
Nie Yan immediately put this gold to use by outfiting the members of Asskickers United with high-end auxiliary items such as larger bags. Furthermore, the number of players with mounts increased to 3,000, all of whom were elites nurtured by the guild with the utmost care.
After capturing the strongholds, Asskickers United ascended to Level 5 and was steadily progressing towards Level 6.
Asskickers United rapidly expanded thanks to the financial support of the Dragonsoar Financial Group, causing more and more players in Calore to flock toward them.
“I’ll be going to take a look around Glory City. All the major guilds are seizing strongholds and developing them. Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame don’t pose a threat to us for the time being. The guilds we should be watching out for are Alliance of Mages, Divine Protectors, and especially Bloodlust Blades since they’re the closest to us. We have no choice but to be on our toes,” Nie Yan reminded.
“Don’t worry. Even though we haven’t really started construction on the other strongholds yet, their walls have been reinforced and they’re guarded by plenty of our guild’s members. Even if the enemy tries to mount a sneak attack, we can hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive!” Guo Huai assured. He had long since thought this through. Although the Glory City-based Bloodlust Blades was the closest to Calore, even if they took over one of Asskickers United’s strongholds, they lacked the resources and manpower to hold it for long. After all, Calore was Asskickers United’s territory!
Nie Yan nodded. Since Guo Huai had already accounted for such a scenario, he felt reassured.
“Bloodlust Blades have been seeking contact with Radiant Sacred Flame and Victorious Return. It seems like they want to join forces to deal with us. They’ve even tried to woo some of our players over to their side, like Summer Bug and Natural Fiend. Even though the invitations were rejected, it’s hard to say a few weren’t tempted,” Guo Huai added. These matters had left him swamped with work.
“I’m sure the vast majority of our players realize those offers aren’t genuine, and are only meant to sow discord. By staying in Asskickers United, they’ll definitely grow in the future. But if they turn-coat, no matter how skilled they are, they’ll always be looked down on by others,” Nie Yan said. In Conviction, if a player betrayed their guild for material gains, they would forever be labeled a traitor in everyone’s minds. From then on, who could possibly trust them?
When an outstanding player joined a guild, they would generally be made to sign a contract in exchange for preferential treatment. If they wished to leave, they would be presented a hefty bill. Combine this with the fact that a bad mark would follow them after breaking an agreement, most contracted players rarely withdrew from their guilds. As for ordinary, bottom-ranking members, if they wanted to leave, nothing could stop them.
Of course, there would always be a greedy few who didn’t care about reputation.
“I fear many of our players will be swayed by their offers,” Guo Huai said. Recently, he had seen a slight increase in the number of players withdrawing from the guild.
“What’s there to be afraid of? If they’re trying to woo away our players with generous offers, why don’t we do the same? In fact, we can even offer them better terms! It’s not like Asskickers United is lacking money. However, those that do jump ship have to be monitored closely. Give them the best treatment, but insert the most air-tight clauses in their contracts to prevent them from jumping ship again,” Nie Yan ordered. The competition between guilds didn’t only happen out in the open. There were also constant battles occurring in the shadows.