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Unlike the normal soldiers, they were not setting up tents, and they were not covered in armor. From a glance, it was also clear that they were less organized. Not by much, but the little lack of training showed. The sheer number of different races made it clear who they were.

"So this is what the competent guilds look like..." Nikki mumbled.

Naturally, the only time you could find such diversity in races was when players were involved. From dwarves and gnomes to demi-humans, elves, dryads, the other fae, and even some more unique races.

The demi-humans of lizard kind were rare among players. Apparently, it felt queer. Having some fur, which was basically just extra hair, and animal ears and a soft tail, was easy to adapt to. But a leathery skin, massive tails, and other appendages not only massive dropped the affinity rate, it also just felt weird.

Not to mention how difficult it was to actually get these extra parts to work as intended. In some ways, it was similar to the high elves. Needing to rely only on yourself to learn to control a foreign aspect. Though, instead of magic, their foreign aspects were extra body parts.

This, coupled with just how strange it felt -and how much these extra parts could get in the way- resulted in many players deciding to choose a more human race. But there were some who stuck with it, ignoring the learning curve to play as something truly unique.

These players were truly similar to those few thousand who were still going with the High Elf race. Unlike the high elves, however, most of them had learned to control their extra body parts.

Phoenix, in comparison, could be said to be lacking diversity to what was before the two.

"Why the heck do we have so few players with outlandish races?" Elizabeth asked, stunned by the numbers before her. It had never hit her how human-centric Phoenix was until now. At most, they had a few demi-humans focused on the cute side, a few dwarves, and a few elves.

Standard, basic races. She almost felt that perhaps their guild was racist. Until it hit her that the races before her and on earth were worlds apart and shouldn\'t be compared in the least.

One of the more unique race player noticed the two girls whose eyes were wandering over the collection of players. "Are you Elizabeth, and Nikki?!" He exclaimed, his hulking figure towering over the two as he rushed over.

""Y-Yes?"" The two answered, uncertainty oozing out of them as they stared at the excited man, dragon really, before them.

"It\'s really you!" He shouted, calming down after a slight pause. "Sorry, it\'s just... You guys are like living legends."

""T-Thank you?"" Again, the two answered with uncertainty. Slowly coming to accept that this towering figure was just a normal player. "A-And you are?"

"Right, right... I forgot to, sorry, I was a little star-struck—"

"Paw, get your ass over here!" Came a shout, followed with a, "Hold up, is that who I think it is?"

"Yeah, it\'s really is them!" This Paw guy shouted in reply. Causing a flurry of movement as all the surrounding players turned to stare at the two girls.

Finding themselves surrounded by a flurry of movement. Questions being thrown at them left and right, the most common of which was why they hadn\'t signed up for the tourney. The two struggled to keep up with what was happening.

For the first time, they were being treated like celebrities.

—

"Hold up las!" Theas shouted, rushing to catch up to the red-haired girl who had stopped running. "Why are you in such a rush?"

Vivian looked at Theas but didn\'t reply. "Are you upset he\'s spending so much time with other—" her glare shut the dwarf up mid-sentence.

"He can do what he wants! I just feel it is going to be a waste of my time to remain there while they settle things. I need to get back to my training."

"Right, about that las." Theas ignored noticing that Vivian did not like being called las. "Why not come with me? I feel you\'ll fit right in my unit."

"I\'m a human."

"We aren\'t narrow minded dwarves. As long as you can fight, and drink, we\'ll welcome you with open arms... You can hold your drink, right las?"

"I\'ve only drank once or twice." Vivian replied, recalling the time she had gotten drunk with Eldrian.

It felt like a lifetime ago now. The memory was bittersweet, reminding her of a simpler time. When all her huffing and puffing about the cruelty of the invasions was just that. Huffs and puffs.

Before reality had hit her like a truck.

"No wonder you are still spiraling!" Theas guffawed, grabbing Vivian\'s arm and pulling her forward. "We\'ve got to get a good ale in you!"

"Hey! Wait a—" Vivian failed to get a word in as the dwarf pulled her to Ganalin.

Soon, she found herself at an entrance she did not know existed, being led into the mountain by someone who clearly knew the place like the back of his hand. He did not even summon a spell for light. Vivian even started to wonder if Theas could see in the dark.

—

\'It\'s sad we can\'t do more for them...but at least it looked like they aren\'t treated as cattle.\' Myropsis sighed, struggling to accept the concept of slavery. She had always known it existed, but like so many things before, it was only theoretical. Something she had read about.

Coming so close to it, and seeing the reality, made it much harder to come to accept. A large part of her wanted to save these people. While they were well dressed and properly fed, seeing the bite marks that their clothing failed to hide made her seethe.

Yet, she understood she could not do anything. Not only was there a magic contract stopping her, it would also ruin the diplomatic talks. While Myropsis had always run away from politics, she was still a duke\'s daughter. Part of the royal line.

Now that Eldrian had formed a line of connection with the vampires, she couldn\'t ruin it.

They might not agree to become a buffer between Taurus and the invasion. Allowing the monsters and armies to move through their territory to reach Taurus, but that was acceptable. At least their armies would not bolster the invasion.

That is, if negotiations did not break down. If everything went smoothly.

\'I can\'t let my personal feelings influence something so massive,\' she told herself, unable to turn and look away as the slaves filtered out of the fort.

\'Saving a few in cost of the many would be worse in the long run,\' she told herself, repeatedly.

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