464 Siege (1/2)

Sylvanas regained consciousness.

Where was she? Was she imprisoned in a basement? Why was it so dark? She was so angry. She was also unable to communicate with Arthur and the others!

Sylvanas sat up.

She strongly condemned Changan City for kidnapping her on the forum.

Her action only gained sympathy from the non-affiliated players. The Guilds allied with the Pioneer Alliance also gave her support. However, Changan City was unwilling to release Sylvanas.

Arthur informed Sylvanas in the Guild Wechat about their plans to attack the Changan Stronghold and rescue her.

Sylvanas had to be in the Changan City Stronghold for Arthur to rescue her. However, the chance was slim. Since the gamers could build their Stronghold outside of Eternal Kingdom with a one-time payment of Reputation Points and game coins, it was likely that Sylvanas was kept in a location outside of Eternal Kingdom.

Most Guilds didn't want to build their Stronghold outside of Eternal Kingdom since it wasn't safe. After all, other gamers could rob and destroy the Strongholds located outside of Eternal Kingdom without any punishment.

There were no benefits to building a Stronghold outside of Eternal Kingdom, considering all of the Daily Missions were to be completed in Eternal Kingdom. To earn Magic Stones, the gamers had to work in Winterfell. They were unable to build a Stronghold at the boundary of Winterfell because there were Garrison Guard patrols. The Guards would stop the gamers from building illegal buildings and demolish them. The offending gamers could also be fined.

Not many gamers were fined. When they revealed they were from Eternal Kingdom, the Garrison Guards would show their respect. The gamers of Eternal Kingdom had received high standing in Winterfell after they saved Winterfell a few times.

It even applied to gamers who didn't play the game for long.

The gamers suspected that there were two Reputation Systems. One was Group Reputation, while the other was Individual Reputation. However, there was no clarification on the official website, so the gamers weren't sure if there was such a differentiation.

However, Changan City wasn't a normal Guild. Even the Pioneer Alliance was going to the Surface City to build a Stronghold. Hence, it was expected of Changan City to build another Stronghold outside the safety zone.

Normal Guilds didn't want to build their Strongholds outside of the safety zone. This was because they couldn't ensure the safety of the Strongholds if they were discovered by other gamers. Every gamer could become a robber or vandal without being denounced or discovered.

Even if the offending gamer was discovered, their physical location couldn't be traced via the internet, and they couldn't be subjected to punishments.

Arthur could use similar methods to find out Sylvanas' hidden location and Changan City's Stronghold outside the safety zone.

He only had to spend some money, as it could make the world go round.

Sylvanas failed to establish her location by surveying her surroundings, so Arthur contacted specific members of Changan City. He also created an announcement on the forum to reward anyone with information of Changan City's Stronghold and Sylvanas' location.

Hundreds of gamers claimed to know the location of Changan City's Stronghold and Sylvanas and provided detailed information. But most of them were lies to obtain rewards. After checking through the information provided by the rest of the gamers, Arthur obtained two Stronghold locations of Changan City and a possible location where they would imprison Sylvanas.

The management of Changan City was resourceful. They had chosen locations outside the safety zone that gamers didn't normally visit.

They were at the corners outside the map of the Ogre Fortress.

The Ogre Fortress was located in the Sighing Wilderness, which was an accessible plain. The Sighing Wilderness was connected by many underground tunnels that were inhabited by Underground Spiders or Dire Wolves.

Only a capable Guild would be able to clear the tunnels of monsters and build their Stronghold.

The other Stronghold location was in the forest that Eternal Kingdom and the Merchant Alliance had previously signed an agreement on. It was no longer called a forest, as the last tree was cut down. It was now barren land. All of the wood required by Eternal Kingdom was supplied by Victoria City.

The gamers of Victoria City made their earnings from selling wood.

This was the reason Arthur and his members wanted to build a new Stronghold in the Surface World. Instead of spending a lot of money to purchase wood from the Victorians, it was better to obtain the wood themselves.

Arthur gathered his Guild members and started planning for the coming battle.

The news of the impending war between the Pioneer Alliance and Changan City spread like wildfire in the game. Other Guild members and non-affiliated gamers waited in anticipation. This was the first time since the start of the game that a Stronghold battle was occurring outside the safety zone.

…

The fully armed gamers of Victoria City were about to set off towards the Duke of York under the lead of Lancelot and his wife, Guinevere.

After Dragonborn and Hoodlum cooperated in a secret operation to capture the Wyvern, it hadn't appeared anymore.

Though Queen Lilo's order was still valid and the gamers had to capture the Wyvern, most of them didn't harbor any hopes of capturing it. Dragonborn had the Strange Encounter Mission, so it was unlikely that the Wyvern would appear again.

Lancelot only needed to bring a few gamers to the York Territory to build a Stronghold with a Teleport Portal.

Dragonborn, who was the protagonist of the Wyvern incident, was enjoying life in paradise for the past few days.

Besides going offline to sleep at night, Dragonborn was receiving tortuous and unbearable training. Each session was a breakthrough in his constitution and mental endurance.

He also sustained multiple injuries and fractures.

The fugitive Chief Imperial Guard was a powerful combatant and a priest with the Power of Sacred Light. Whenever Dragonborn sustained injuries or fractures during training, he would use the Power of Sacred Light to heal Dragonborn's wounds.

It was a new discovery that the Power of Sacred Light had healing effects on Humans. Dragonborn shared his discovery on the discussion forum, and the Human gamers did an experiment and confirmed Dragonborn's finding. The Power of Sacred Light could heal Fairies and Elves too.

For the gamers of Eternal Kingdom, the Power of Sacred Light could only aid in combat. It was unable to heal Underworld creatures.

The inquisitive gamers asked the Sacred Knight Mentor Beast, who replied, ”This is a curse on all Underworld creatures. Most Underworld creatures aren't passionate about learning, so we were abandoned by the Holy Lord. If we persist in learning, the Holy Lord will accept us one day. Time is better spent learning than thinking of the impossible. Be a learned creature and obtain the essence of the Sacred Light. That is the Truth.”