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With Judith\'s shocking display of might, turning the tables at the last second, the orcs were too stunned to fight. They couldn\'t understand how she had done it.

How she had cut their Chieftain from shoulder to hip. A sight they couldn\'t accept.

Their shock lasted only a few seconds, but those few seconds cost them dearly. Where the fight before had been 60:40 in favor of the players, it was now a slaughter. 

Judith was too tired to join in it, luckily, the orcs didn\'t attempt to kill her in her weakened state. While their culture respected duels greatly, the \'what comes after\' was less clear. It was perfectly acceptable to challenge the winner to a duel after the fact. 

This was what made the ruler of even a small camp like theirs such a fearsome foe.

The ruler was the one who had survived such a barbaric war for supremacy. He had needed to display such might that the others didn\'t even think of challenging him. 

Still, the orcs didn\'t run. They fought to the last. Taking about half the players with them. Half of those engaging in melee, at least. 

As a result, just under a hundred players had died in the camp\'s defense. A loss that most guilds would feel quite heavily. 

To their guild, Phoenix, this was a common occurrence. And, thankfully, due to their reputable reputation in the kingdom, these players would be able to quickly grind their levels back up.

After all, the guild didn\'t just get A-Ranked quests frequently, they even got S-Ranked ones several times a month. Not to mention B-Ranked, which parties could grind almost daily. 

"Quite the display," Zyviss commented, having come down from the walls to join in the looting. Thankfully, there was a system to prevent players from hoarding items. 

Not that any of the guild members would dare. After all, the punishment for such a selfish act was severe. Still, it made the aftermath less chaotic. 

The system didn\'t truly prevent players from hoarding, but it flagged those who did (at least, those who looted any enemies they didn\'t help kill).

This only worked if said players were part of the guild and in a raid party. Which everyone was, naturally. 

"It was a close one," Judith replied. "Almost didn\'t have enough stamina or mana to pull it off." 

The problem with Slay\'s ability, Kill (yes, very creative), was that it took time to empower.

Slowly gathering power as the fight continues. Killing could also add to this pool (by absorbing a portion of the XP its wielder acquired—though vastly inefficiently).

If you can\'t kill anyone then only your spent stamina and lost HP would empower the sword.

Judith had had some extra power thanks to her rampage against the monster horde earlier. Which had made all the difference. 

When you want to release Kill it takes a minimum of a hundred stamina to activate. With more needed depending on how empowered the ability was. 

Luckily, the extra cost could be paid in mana, which Judith had done. She had thrown all the mana she had, every 272 points, to activate it. Plus around forty extra stamina. 

"You should claim your reward," Zyviss said, noting that the others were waiting to see what the Chieftain had on him. 

"Right." With a smile, Judith moved to gather her spoils. On that note, Zyviss had claimed the Shaman\'s life and had already gathered its equipment. A tier 4 robe and Tier 5 staff. And some Tier 3 gear, which was only valuable to newbies at this point in the game. 

"Oh, this isn\'t bad at all," Judith commented as she appraised the items. Sharing the information with her stream and the players around. 

[Raveger — Tier 5 War Axe]

[Damage: 74]

[Attack Speed: 1.15]

[...]

Its damage value was insanely high for a Tier 5 weapon, which was compensated for by it only having one active ability. With attunement as the standard passive as well as Blood Seeker. 

The active ability was similar to Slay\'s Kill. Only the axe worked by consuming blood to become stronger. After killing a certain amount of enemies, it would release a powerful blood-like attack. 

While a great weapon, Judith already had Slay. Just in damage alone, it won by 9 points.

Which doesn\'t sound like much, but it does matter when cleaving through monsters and their armor—be this shells, pelts, or scales. 

"We\'ll auction this later today." Judith declared, causing those who used large weapons to cheer in joy. At this stage of the game, most players had a good arsenal. Tier 5 items, however, were still rare. 

Many players had been gifted items through the adventurer\'s guild while defending cities.

However, these items often came with a mismatch of abilities. They were good quality, but due to them being second-hand, they often didn\'t fit a player\'s style. 

And not everyone could be fully geared out. The guild naturally focused the items they gifted to those they trusted most, firstly, and secondly to the most skilled. 

For players who were new in the kingdom or less skilled, they had to find their items through quests, markets, or the newly added dungeons. 

"Oh, these greeves look nice," Judith commented quietly. Deciding not to share their information, she stored them away. They weren\'t on the level of the axe, but they would fit her style really well. 

—

Over on Judith\'s stream, the players were leisurely talking about her fight. 

To make a little extra cash, she and the others streamed their battles on occasion. With how famous the guild was, they always had a good number of viewers. And a decent amount of tippers, too. 

[That was insane!]

[I really thought she was done for.]

[She\'s crazy. Which is why I love her!]

[What a dangerous fighting style. Anyone know the details on her sword?]

[No, she hasn\'t shared it. Only know she got it while defending Kynigo...]

[Gosh, aren\'t they just the luckiest.]

[Not sure if luck has anything to do with it. Have you seen the quests they take on?]

[Easy peasy. Have you guys not seen Eldrian and the Alicorn/Elf... What was he called?]

[Ceph?]

[They don\'t normally join the others for quests.]

[True, they are kind of an enigma.]

As far as the players were concerned, Eldrian was an oddball. He was insanely strong. As was evident whenever other players caught sight of him while streaming. 

From the clips of Eldrian fighting, it was clear this entire horde of orcs would have been as easy for Eldrian—if not easier—than the horde of monsters had been for Judith. 

As insane as it sounded, everyone acknowledged that Eldrian was probably the strongest player in the game. And everyone was dreading the coming tournament. 

Last year, Eldrian had barged in and easily incapacitated both finalist teams. Before an admin had to step in to stop his rampage.

Everyone believed this had been planned though, thanks to Miracle\'s excellent guiding of events after the fact. 

This year, things were going to be slightly different. But if Eldrian joined his guild, they were basically guaranteed the win. 

Luckily, players could only enter one of the three categories now. Yes, three. No longer just two. 

There would be individual matches, party battles, and guild battles. 

The devs had announced that 8 players could no longer properly represent a guild\'s strength. The new category would allow up to a hundred players to fight it out. 

And, as sad as it was to admit, Phoenix was almost ensured victory. Even without Eldrian, their chances were perhaps not 90% but 80 or 70% for sure. 

[Right, that reminds me. Anyone know if this "we discovered a way to bring magic to our planet" and the mutated animal post are related?]

[You on that again? It was clearly photoshopped.]

[No, it was taken in the game.]

[But, how do we know they aren\'t doing anything shady? After all...]

With chat entering a spiral of arguments, any semblance of a normal conversation was lost. 

AN: Just want to give a massive thanks to everyone who has continued to support my work through the unstable releases. I truly do appreciate you guys and gals!