MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

"Brother, I think we lucked out, as this place has no fire or acid rain nor lightning and ice storms and even the weather is nice," Venedikt said as he surveyed their calm and open surrounding.

"Maybe we did, or we are in one of the worst places," Alex said, as internally, he was cursing his luck because they were truly in one of the worst places on the island.

The team had landed in the open savanna, an area stretching for tens of kilometers, with only dark brown grass and trees, and while there were strong creatures roaming this area, the real threat was the clan that ruled this patch of land.

The team had noticed the calm surroundings and fresh air compared to the wild nature biomes they witnessed, but they didn't realize there was no single creature in the surrounding few kilometers.

The calm was because of the strange towering trees, which appeared to be made from thousands of winding vines, as they were perpetually emitting vapors that conjured mirages, challenging visibility without specialized aids.

However, the mirages were not the real challenge, as they could be dealt with with a potion from the shop, but the challenge was the clan of humanoid apes called Rutharok.

The Rutharok were ruthless yet intelligent creatures, and besides being immune to illusions of any kind to a certain Rank and having greater strength because of their animalistic nature, they also had unique crimson eyes that allowed them to cast illusions and mental attacks.

They also had a bloodline skill called blood frenzy, which acted similar to berserk as the more blood they lost, the stronger they became, in exchange for their sanity and intelligence.

The worst part was the Rutharok traveled in groups and were born hunters, so using traps, harassment, guerilla warfare, and other tactics was their standard practice against stronger opponents.

"Drink these potions, and make sure to drink one before the effect ends," Alex said as he handed each member ten potions, each able to help them deal with the illusion for eight hours and with no cooldown.

Alex drank a potion as he jumped into the sky with his unique eyes active, surveying the surroundings of their safe zone, and he could only shake his head in disappointment at what he saw.

Alex checked the map to see the location of the other two safe zones and felt a bit relieved that at least one zone was located away from the center or was not near the lake.

The savanna expanse, or Rutharok Domain as the map named it, was an area closer to the edge and had the island-wide lake running through it.

The most dangerous areas were near the lake, and the center and two of their safe zones were located in these places, so Alex didn't have much hope of keeping these locations safe.

After seeing the illusions, the team realized why this place would be a challenge, but they were still excited to explore the area.

Before they began hunting, Alex decided to think of a plan to use their situation to earn himself some points because he knew that in a day or two, he would be losing the safe zone in the core area.

'I am sure to get visited by multiple roaming parties to check the anomaly, and eliminating them will attract one of three Golden eye Rutharok,'

'If I can time it accurately, initiating a confrontation between the Golden Eye Rutharok and the Corpse Eater is possible, and if things go as planned, I can eliminate whoever emerges victorious from their clash, and if not, then we will lose a safe zone.' Alex thought, before shiting to how he could achieve it.

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(Seven Hours Later)

The main livestream was running with commentary from Zero, shifting from one team to another, capturing the best moments, but there was also a clean version without any commentary.

"Every team has given us a few moments of enjoyment, but few have shined as brightly as these five teams, but even among them, these players have taken the main stage," Zero said, displaying the player banners and what they did in a small montage.

"Before the Event's commencement, no one anticipated that Odin, one of the most renowned and formidable players, would be ranked Sixth in the individual points earned standings."

"Nor did anyone expect to see three completely unknown teams completely dominate the top ten rankings," Zero said as he displayed the ranking.

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1)Shadow Oblivion: 490K Points

2)Olypion: 460K Points

3)Carnage Carvers: 440K Points

4)Asgardian: 418K Points   

5)Heavenly Sirens: 410K Points

. .

...

8)Vulkan Reiniger: 370K Points

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"The top three most watched teams are currently leading the ranking, and the partial reason they are being watched is not because of their ranking but because of their star player,"

"The mysterious man who had taken the enigmatic name of Ruler, a figure concealed behind a dark mask, demonstrates remarkable skill with his sword while also wielding the power of darkness with finesse."

"Odin with his legacy weapon, the Gungnir spear, showing a beautiful display of strength and the wrath of lightning, and Lastly, the wildcard emerged in the form of Killian the Merciless, unveiling not only immense strength but also swiftly gaining favor for his unbridled brutality."Zero stated and took a small pause before continuing.

"As few of our viewers have noticed, Killian, with his two team members, Aetherius, the Healer, and Vesper, The Assasin, have left their given biome,"

"We knew that they were leaving to hunt other players, but after they crossed three teams without engaging, we also figured that they had a target, and it seems their target is the Shadow Oblivion team,"

"The Carnage Carvers team will arrive at their destination in two hours, and if they don't have friendly intentions, we will likely witness a clash between two of the top teams." Zero said, making the viewers go wild.

---------------

"You Weaklings will die,"

"The king will make slaves of you, and for killing so many brothers, you will be skinned alive," A humanoid monkey roared, struggling against the chains keeping him in place.

"Sir, I dealt with every observer," Ravyn stated as he appeared next to Alex like a ghost.

"The king will come for you, so enjoy your time, you weakling outsider," The monkey roared once more and continued to curse with rage visible in his eyes.

The Rutharok, restrained in chains, stood as a towering eight-

foot-tall, with his face protruding, revealing giant fangs, sunken eyes, and dark steel-like fur covering his forehead, sides, and the majority of his body.

"Monkey, go and tell your King that If he wants to die, he is welcome to visit me," Alex stated as he deactivated the chains, setting the Rutharok free.

The Rutharok, a bit startled, stood to his feet, deep phases covering his body from the struggle against the chains, and as angry as the creature was, he knew better to test his power against the man, who had killed his superior in complete dominance.

So a bit afraid and also filled with the desire for revenge, the Rutharok made a run, vanishing from sight in mere moments.

"Brother, Do you want us to be prepared for something," Venedikt asked, knowing Alex would have a plan to do what he did.

Alex and the team had encountered four groups of Rutharok, with their numbers ranging between ten to thirty and power being early and middle stage Sixth Rank.

After his team and viewers figured that the intelligent creatures were not friendly and there was room to negotiate peace, Alex made sure to kill each and every one of them, not letting a single one escape.

The plan to make one of the Rutharok kings take on the Corpse Eater was all about time, but even if he could make that happen, he needed to make sure it appeared as a coincidence because no one had information when a 7★ creature would show up.

So he had planned to display his strength, a plan of action to take on the king, which would convince the masses that their team got just lucky at the last moment.

Alex did not have much of an issue taking on a Rutharok king or even the Corpse Eater as he would dominate the creature in the aspect of strength, but in a real battle, he would surrender without using the Dragon Monarch Aura and using that trump card was not an option.

The reason Alex would surrender was because of the unique gifts both creatures held, with the Corpse Eater being a mythical creature that took birth from the high death rate, and he was a true elemental creature, so killing it was nearly impossible without real elemental damage.

While Alex could handle the Rutharok king, dealing with its mental attacks and illusions would be hard, and even though he could break free within moments, those instances in a battle at that stage would determine the end results.