Astre sighed as he jumped from a tree to a tree in the darkness. It has been a while since he wore gear that allowed him to do that.
Mantle of Golden Sun Scout - Early Legendary Armor
Cloak and clothes made from the mane of Mythical Phlegon. Crafted with level four Tailoring skill by Rickert.
Reduces damage taken by 30%. Reduces chances of being detected by 50%. Improves speed by 50%. Reduces the weight of the user by 20%. Increases the jump-power of the user by 75%.
Astre was surprised when he received this from Apollo. He learned that the Order of Sun noticed that Nightshadows was gathering tickets for their crafters and decided to do the same. This armor was supposedly made by one of their best tailors.
Considering the crafter was level four, he worried that they called him their best, but he wouldn't complain. Tailoring wasn't a popular skill anyway, and breaking to level 5 was much harder for crafters.
His previous armor was only peak epic grade too, and its only redeeming quality was 75% conceal bonus. He had legendary armor once before, but certain fiery redhead burned it to crisps. It was low on durability by that time in the tournament, and it broke before he could fix it.
He sighed again, touching the emblem that rested on his shoulder. He wouldn't mind the deep green colored cloak embroidered with a golden thread that much if not for it. The shirt and trousers underneath it were a deep brown color with similarly golden thread decorating the whole ensemble. At first, everything was gold and gaudy, but he managed to negotiate with the crafters. He convinced them by threatening that it would be their fault if he died because he stood out too much.
Reaching his objective, he groaned in unsatisfaction, it was time to start the operation. Astre overlooked a camp of over fifteen players. There were lookouts, but he was high enough that his Cover skill was enough to hide him. Pulling out his bow, he announced to a crystal necklace on his neck in the shape of a sun, "Get into positions."
He released an arrow. One of the lookouts fell down to the ground lifelessly. The whole camp moved into motion. Astre released one more arrow taking down another person before a stream of spells and projectiles flew in his direction. He smiled as he used Dodge Shot to appeared midair a large distance away.
He fell to the ground just in time for one rouge spearman to get close to him. He already pulled out his sword mid-fall and Parried the attack. Stabbing the man in the gut and grinned as the vial in his sword became empty. Shrapnel tore through the man creating a bloody mess before his LP's healing kicked in. The man yelped, mostly from surprise, as Astre turned around and ran away.
The whole enemy's alliance immediately followed after him. When their archers and magicians passed the border of the camp, suddenly, a raging explosion blasted them to bits. Some of them died immediately, leaving only ashes as the front of the group got forced off their feet.
Astre walked closer to the spearman who was at the front and immediately stabbed him in the neck multiple times. Killing the man in such a way seemed to enrage the rest of the group as they cursed at him. Astre visibly put out his tongue and ran away.
Now the ten-person party shouted after him. Each time they thought they had him within sight and attacked, he dodged and hid again only to show dozen of meters away. He led them through the forest bit by bit.
Astre, after he disappeared for the first time, was never in any danger, as it was only a mirror image of him they saw. He had a mage hidden in the forest that, using his rune of mirror light, cast a spell that made a copy of him.
Having a mage use the spell, allowed Astre to make a much more stable and believable illusion. He still had to control both it and his body at the same time, but he was used to that.
Soon the party was within the area he prepared for them. Appearing in front of them in person without his hood, he spoke with a smile on his face. "Had fun?"
"You are Astre! Didn't you drop out of the tournament!?" the leader of the party screamed surprised. Noticing the symbol on his shoulder, he yelled loudly, "Sunnies!?"
Astre shrugged and attacked alone, soon he was being overwhelmed, but just as a giant fireball was supposed to hit him, he disappeared. A doll appearing in his place exploded, blasting the whole party once more to the ground.
When they tried to get up, the ground under their feet crumbled, and a giant pitfall opened under them. He managed to force few crafters in crafting him, geomancy scrolls. Without having time to react, they fell down one hundred yards below. When they hit the ground, Astre shouted to the necklace, "Now!"
Thunderbolts rained down the hole relentlessly, and the party didn't even have a chance to react as most of their members' LP turned to 0 under the relentless attacks.
Then when the few survivors breathed a sigh of relief, two pairs of red eyes glowed in the darkness. Soon many screams of death echoed from the pit.
"Good job, captain!" a warrior in silver armor clapped Astre on the back.
Astre sighed once more as he opened his notification.
Contribution to Alliance. Leader: Apollo. Direct points: 7
Points Gained from Killing Leader of another Alliance: 5 Officer Points: 10
----------------------------------------
Before the attack
"With that, you are now part of the winning Alliance," Apollo announced loudly as Astre accepted the invitation. The score Astre achieved till now disappeared from both his menu and the leaderboard. "Now, let's discuss your reward. Unbind him."
Astre looked surprised. He didn't expect he would be offered anything. As his bindings were released, he got up and caressed his wrists, looking questioningly at Apollo.
"Great leader rewards his followers," told the golden armored man. "And let's not pretend that you already trust me. I'm sure you will notice my greatness soon enough."
Astre didn't respond, unsure as to what would be good to say. In the end, he simply nodded.
"Don't stress too much. Now follow me into the tent," Apollo said, clapping Astre on the back. "I will introduce you to the rest of your fellow officers. We can discuss the details there."
"Lord Apollo. Is it a good idea to trust him so much?" a warrior in silver armor stepping out from the formation.
"You judge my judgment?" Apollo asked sternly, looking at the man with scorn.
"Of course not my Lord! I just..."
"Hahaha! Don't take it so seriously. It was just a jest!" Apollo spoke, clapping the man's shoulder, who visibly relaxed and laughed weakly.
"Now, don't worry about it. Astre here may be a trickster, but he has the honor of a knight," stated the golden man. "Now, let's not delay it any further!"
Astre, mostly confused, followed the man into the golden tent. Inside he saw a giant table with six seats around it. Each of a different color and two of them were empty. The golden one Astre didn't even have to guess belonged to Apollo. The last empty one was black.
On the right of the golden throne stood a silver one. On it, a silver-haired elf in a white robe embroidered in silver glared at him through silver glasses with gems in them. Most likely, they were some enchanted items. Astre rarely used such as they usually came with a drawback. He had a necklace that led him to go invisible, but it weakened all his melee attack skills. The debuff was active even when he only carried it in his inventory.
Next to the elf sat a girl on a blue throne. She had blue skin and a gem in the middle of her head. He didn't see players who choose demon races often. Their magical effects were increased by a lot, but at the same time, they rarely got any upgrades to LP from skillsets.
The remaining two people sat on a green and red throne. A half-orc in a red robe and the girl that brought him into this situation. When she noticed him, her face fell immediately. "Why did you agree!?" she screamed pretentiously.
The half-orc erupted in laughter, "I guess I will be taking that one thousand gold. Good job, newbie!"
"Oh, Clarrie? Did you have any doubt that Astre would accept an offer from me?" Apollo asked, sitting down in the golden chair.
She huffed, "I nearly died to him, thanks to your plan."
"That's simply how excellent our new Seat of Black is," remarked Apollo. "You can sit down," the guild leader announced, indicating the black throne.
Astre looked weirded out at the corny look, but he didn't say anything and sat down. He started wondering if he should introduce himself, but Apollo spared him the trouble.
"This tent is set us our headquarters. Meaning anything said here won't be displayed to the public. You should get to know your new companions. Of course, everyone here knows the great me, Apollo!" the golden man delivered with a satisfied smile.
The elf next to him, still glaring at Astre, announced himself, "I'm Andre, the high officer."
"Short to the point as always," stated Apollo. "He is the one who takes care of the details of my grand plans. You will also follow his order if I'm not around."
Astre nodded. It seemed the second in command had a lot to deal with. Probably a caretaker sent by Apollo's father corporation. For worse or better it appeared the man didn't trust Astre, which wasn't surprising.
"I'm Lily, magician," the blue woman introduced herself, "I'm happy you joined. Let's get to know each other well." She winked at him.
"I'm Robert!" declared the half-orc showing his tusks. "Let's spar later. Because of Apollo's plans before, I wasn't able to participate in the tournament, and I have yet to fight anyone, so I'm raging to go."
"You can't fight because of the tournament rules," reminded Andre, the silver-haired elf.
"Ah, right. Later then," the orc smiled at Astre. The blond man could only nod.
"Clarrie?" demanded Andre.
"Right! Right! I'm Clarrie. I'm in charge of scouting," stated the girl glaring daggers at Astre. "Why are we taking him in as black seat? What about Jones!?"
"Jones failed a lot of his mission lately," remarked Apollo. "We need someone new to take care of spec-ops."
"Why this guy!? You know Jones mostly failed because of him!" Clarrie responded angrily.
"That's all the bigger reason," stated Apollo. "Look, we aren't throwing your boyfriend out. After the tournament, I'm sure he will be happy to work under Astre."
Clarrie wanted to say something but only huffed and sat down. No longer looking in anyone's direction. The relations between Apollo and the rest of his guild was different then Astre expected.
Astre watched all of this with hidden amusement. It seemed they truly didn't consider this much more than a hobby. Well, for families like Apollo's, first place's reward seemed like a joke. The officers probably enjoyed an excellent payout too.
"I'm Astre, and I guess I will be playing with you." If Apollo wanted to consider him a part of their guild from now, it was all fine for him.
"With you, we will show our might to the whole player base by winning this tournament!" declared Apollo. "That there is a reason why we are the biggest guild in the game!"
Everyone in the room nodded and agreed vocally. Astre, couldn't really shake off the idea that everyone here would be gone, the second Apollo said he wouldn't pay anyone anymore. He wanted to sigh and shake his head but did his best to seem enthusiastic. He needed to play the part for now.
"Now, before we go on our plan for the tournament, let's inform our newest member of the benefits of joining us," said Apollo nodding to the silver elf next to him.
Andre, with mild annoyance, spoke, "If you join us after the tournament ends, you will get the usual twenty-five thousand joining bonus and salary of one hundred twenty thousand a year. In case we win the competition, each officer will receive two hundred thousand plus a bonus depending on their performance."
Astre whistled, it was more than Draq and WGames offered. "So, what's the plan for the tournament?"
"For now, we are gathering intelligence," explained Andre. "We have yet to find movements from any big guilds. How is it going, Clarrie?"
"Most of my scouts have yet to report back. If someone didn't kill my second in command, it would have been better," the girl in green complained. "How did you one-shot him anyway, he was my hardest to kill scout with ten LP and ability to predict attacks."
"I have a charged ability, and I'm good at surprises," Astre answered merely, not wanting to explain further. He wanted to keep his skillset to himself.
"That we all know," remarked Robert. The blond adventurer gave him a look of slight confusion, prodding him to explain further. "Only Andre, Lily, and Apollo have never met your traps before. I still remember falling into that pit with melting rocks, and Jones will probably throw a fit learning you took his place. Though I always wanted to fight you in a straight fight."
"Maybe sometime after the tournament," said Astre dismissively.
"Since we all now know each other," asserted Andre. "It's time we return to work if we want to have a chance at winning this."
Astre opened the leaderboard, and it was true. Currently, the Order of Sun chances didn't look the best. Sparrow was over one hundred fifty points above Apollo. By now, most of the names in the top twenty were ones he knew belonged to members of Star of Genesis or big guilds.
Apollo nodded, "Good, I expect great things from you. Andre, if you could introduce Astre to his team."
"Understood, well, then go and continue with your preparations," the silver-haired elf ended the meeting.
----------------------------------------
Astre followed after the fast-paced elf through the camp. He didn't have any trouble following, but he could feel the dissatisfaction the elf had for him.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"You made yourself quite a nice fort here," said Astre.
Andre didn't answer, only glaring at him. The blond adventurer didn't mind silence as he was prepared to play the long game. For whatever reason, Apollo wanted Astre on his side badly, and he was happy to provide. For now.
Soon they found themselves in front of a row of large tents. Each tent was decorated in gold, which was a theme around here, and a differently colored circle on its side. There were two tents with a red circle, one with green, one with blue, and one in silver. Finally, at the end of the row was a tent with a black spot on it.
"Here, our special ops team was awaiting their leader," stated the elf. "There will be some change in the roster now, but you don't have a say in it."
"Not like I know anyone," remarked Astre shrugging his shoulders. "Thinking about it, how did all of the officers ended in one zone. Wasn't spawn location supposed to be random?"
The elf glared at him, "Outside out few unaccounted people, everyone is here. If you don't have any questions, let's go in." Andre went in without giving Astre a chance to say anything.
"How convenient..." Astre spoke under his breath, walking inside the tent.
When both of them entered the tent, Astre saw twenty or so people inside stood at attention. Everyone giving worried glances directed at the elf in front of him. Then, when they noticed Astre, all of them yelped from shock. Some even jumped back and pulled out their weapons.
"Oh, I feel like I recognize some of them after all," the blond adventurer spoke with a slight wave of a hand.
"What is he doing here!?" yelled one of the people inside.
"Due to inevitable happenstance, our leader recruited Astre into our ranks. He will also be your new team leader. Your past team leader, Jones, has retired from the tournament," the elf explained some of the people protested, but he silenced them with a rise of his hand. "Now, there will be some roster change. Brook, Bastion, Flang, EMP, Destduck will be from now on in Robert's team. Emma, Ali,..."
The elf announced a whole list of names. Astre wondered if Andre indeed remembered everyone's name or if there was some trick, but that wasn't the point. After everyone who was announced left the tent, only seven people were left inside the tent, including the two officers.
"Now, this will be your team, you can take care of introductions yourself," the elf said and left the tent.
Astre looked at the five people in front of him. He didn't recognize them from any party that attacked him. The small group of people made the tent feel very spacious. Fewer people to watch him would do him well. For some reason, they also looked scared of him. He guessed so from all the fidgeting they did. "I will start then; my name is Astre, as some of you may know. Now, if you don't mind, introduce yourself and tell me a little about your abilities."
The group looked uncertain at each other before a young man in black leather armor took a step and saluted with his arm over his chest. He had short black hair and blue eyes, "I..." he yelped in high pitched voice and stopped himself. Noticing that Astre wasn't going to say anything, he cleared his throat and continued, this time more calmly. "I'm Flash. I'm mostly focused on high-speed movement and dealing damage with two daggers. My skills are Close Combat level 4, Lightning Magic level 3, Dagger Weapon Skill level 3, Assassination level 4, Dash level 3."
Astre nodded but internally wondered what a total level seventeen was doing here. The man sighed in relief and went back into the line. Then a girl in a black and yellow robe that went to her knees stepped forward. She had long, bright blond hair and eyes that sparkled in golden.
"I'm JUDGMENT! All capital letters! I'm level five in Lightning Magic and level four in Magic Construction!" she pronounced happily looking up at Astre. She wasn't short, but Astre was still a head taller. He decided in his heart that he would never capitalize that.
Astre nodded, "And rest?"
The girl then nearly lost balance and had to regain it by flinging her arms wildly. "Ehm... I... well..."
One boy from the crowd chuckled, "She is level three and two in everything else."
Astre furrowed his brows as he thought how the hell something like that could be possible, but the look on the girl's face told him it's truth. "And you are?" he asked, looking at the boy who laughed.
"Me? I'm Hermes! If you want not to be noticed or use illusions, I'm the guy! I have White Magic, Illusion Magic, and Darkness Magic all at level 4! I also have the usual Mana Control and Magic Construction at level 3," the boy announced with shining blue eyes throwing his blue hair into the air with a wave of his hand. When he did that, Astre noticed that he had green roots on his forehead. Using Analyze, he discovered he was a fairy, another magically inclined race. It also explained his short stature.
Astre, in the past, considered exchanging Sense for Illusion Magic, but without it, he died too often for his liking. Still another person with a total skill level bellow eighteen, though this one at least didn't use lightning magic. Did he get the trouble children of the guild? Considering his plan was still in the making, he wasn't sure what he would make of them. Turning his attention to the last two members, he waited.
The two girls were holding each other hands behind their backs, looking worriedly at him. Both of them the same size as the blue-haired boy and seemed to be the complete opposite of each other, yet at the same time looked very similar. The girl on the left had black straight-hair and eyes and pale complexion, while the girl on the right had white twin-tails and red eyes with darker skin. Both of them wore leather and cloth armor that matched their hair color. Of course, with the Order of Sun insignia sewed onto them.
"Those two are quite shy and nearly never speak," said Flash. "They are also a mess on the battlefield."
"A mess?" Astre repeated questioningly.
The young man walked over to him and whispered into his ear, "Well, I heard they have some trouble at home. Their parents are what do you call it? Tiger parenting? So when they get a chance, they will try to unstress themselves by raging on the battlefield. They won't listen to orders. Split from formations. This type of stuff."
Astre looked at the girls, a bit confused. "Why would such parents let them play this game?"
"That's because of Apollo. Their parents are friends with Apollo's family," replied Judgment that suddenly appeared next to Astre face. "You were whispering about something, and since it felt cool, I wanted to join."
"How do you know that?" asked Flash, looking at the girl in front of him.
"Because I also know their parents," declared the girl prideful for reasons unknown to Astre. He delegated it to her being thinking it was cool she knew some secrets.
"So that's the reason why you are here!" stated Hermes with a sneer behind her back.
"And you are only here because you are Andre's brother!" shouted the blond-haired girl.
"Everyone here is here because they got some connections," said Flash resigned. That actually explained a lot to Astre. "I'm friends with Jones brothers. I don't care that you killed him, but his brother, who is now in Robert's camp, may."
Astre nodded, "I see. Well, with me being drafted prisoner, I guess we are all quite similar. Though, since I get to stay in the tournament, I don't mind it that much."
"Oh, Apollo was passionate about recruiting you whatever it took, since a while ago. Though he really became stubborn about it after the last tournament," stated Judgment. "I'm not surprised. You are the coolest player of them all! I imagined you to be scarier, but this aloof look fits you well. So cool!"
Astre looked at her, not really getting her point.
"I mean you are such a successful solo player, making fools out of big guilds. If you didn't join us, I would call it a shame and a waste of potential. But with you here, the two of us can become the coolest duo in the world. The two of us will create mayhem and..."
"Please ignore her," answered Flash with a tired look. "She always goes on like that. I think she watches too many cartoons."
"Here you go again! Anyway, Astre let me talk to them!" the hyperbolic girl said and went to the sister duo.
She whispered about something to them while the rest watched. Soon seconds turned into minutes, and the girls gave him glances from time to time.
Astre resigned himself to wait. With his socializing skills, he would only scare them away. The two young soon seemed to agree on something and went to the back of the tent.
"Ehm? Sorry?" a sudden silent voice gained Astre attention, who tried to set all the information he obtained in place. He turned his eye to notice the two sisters standing in front of him. The white-haired one spoke, "Is it true... you will let us partake in operations?"
"What are your skills?" Astre asked. For some reason, the girls hesitated at his question. "I tend to use everything and everyone I can use. Still, I need to know what you can do to do that."
"I can say," suggested Judgment, but Astre raised his arm to stop her.
"I have time now. I can wait till they want to tell me themselves. I also need to understand who I'm working with," Astre said. He may be a bit rough, but he didn't feel like being needlessly kind to people he may betray.
"We..." said the white-haired sister. "I'm... Eclipse..."
"Sanguine..." spoke the pale black-haired sister.
Astre nodded, "I'm Astre. Nice to meet you. I'm proficient with sword, bow, and traps. I want to keep my skillset secret. At least, until I officially join the guild." Astre told himself that this wasn't a lie. Since he simply didn't plan on joining.
"Secrets are cool! So keep at it! I should keep my skillset secret, too!" said Judgment on the side.
"I'm... ax four, dark magic four, dash four, thick skin four and..." Sanguine hesitated at the last skill.
"And...?" Astre let out interested. For now, it seemed like some off-tank build.
"Rage... five..." she finished.
Astre whistled, "That's a hard skill to level up to five. I have only heard of that crazy guy getting it. Gorgan from Star of Genesis."
"Ah!" the sisters released simultaneously. Their eyes filled with sparkless. Astre turned to Judgment.
"Oh, they are his fans," explained the blond girl. "After they saw the video on the internet where he said 'Only in battle I'm truly free!', they asked their parents if they can play." When she quoted, she tried to deepen her voice and struck a pose.
"Huh, well, those are useful skills," remarked Astre looking at the sisters. "And Eclipse?"
"The same, just... two-handed swords and white magic," she said somewhat less shy. She still seemed to stumble on words. Astre wondered how much interactions this girl had to have to turn out like that. They were worse than him.
"Rage at level five, too?" he asked to make sure. The girl nodded, "Well, let's work over our communications skills, and we can probably make something out of this team. So do we just wait for orders now?"
"Yep," said Judgment. "Or, we could go out and scout for someone to bring JUDGMENT STRIKE upon."
"Maybe later..."
"Astre! Let's fight for the leader position!" Hermes shouted, walking up to him with wooden practice staff.
"I just want to spar, but whatever." Flash shrugged his arms, following behind with two daggers and the wooden sword in his arms.
Astre looked at them surprised if he was forced to work with them, even if for a while, it would be good to know how they fight. He nodded, "No skills, no direct attacks, due to the tournament rules, and you have to disarm your opponent. Is there someplace we can do that?"
"Why not here?" replied Flash, "If we move all the bunks we will have enough place. Considering this was a tent supposed to be for over twenty people. This way, we can keep our training secret too."
"How am I supposed to play too?" Judgment complained. "I don't fight in close quarters."
"What if someone sneaks on you?" Astre asked.
"I die! And blame the scouts!"
"What if someone gets past the defenders?"
"If I didn't blow them to bits, I die! And blame the tanks!"
"I'm not even going to ask about ranged attacks..." Astre shook his head. "The tournament is too short to teach you anything, but if we have time, we can try with some basics."
"Ehhh!? I don't want to!" Judgment rejected wholeheartedly.
Astre pretended he didn't hear that and turned to the young men in his team. At that time, the two sisters joined them with a wooden ax and two-handed sword.
"Let's get to work."
----------------------------------------
The area under the large tent turned into a small arena. With most of the bunks forming a circle, it resembled some weird childhood fort more. Still, the six yards radius would be enough.
The first challenger was Flash, standing ten steps away from each other Astre observed his opponent. Standing with his left hand free and the other tightly on the sword, he balanced his weight equally on both legs. Overall just from the form of his opponent, he was sure that they never did any real training in martial arts.
Astre hadn't trained in martial arts before his gaming days, unless once included him playing with other boys with sticks. Afterward, he used the in-game trainers to the fullest, even if they had sent him on the stupidest of errands.
"Begin!" shouted Judgment, enjoying herself in the process.
Flash released a battle cry and dashed at Astre. The young man was fast, making Astre think he was using some ability after all. It could have been some passive, but Astre wasn't going to use his restrictive consumables for this. It wasn't anything he couldn't keep up with anyway. The movement was fast but predictable.
Astre sidestepped lightly to the left, and Flash's left dagger missed him completely. Astre struck the second blade away, and with his free hand, he grabbed Flash's hand. Since it was still stopping its momentum, it barely gave any resistance as Astre twisted it, causing one of the daggers to fall the ground.
Flash immediately kicked out with his right leg, but Astre calmly jumped backward, dodging it completely. The young man picked up his dagger, but when he looked up, Astre was nowhere to be seen. The black-haired man immediately turned around and slashed with his danger. Then, when he did, his hand was grabbed, and his leg whipped from under him.
Astre kept the young man pinned to the ground with his left hand, his sword pinned to the back of his neck.
"Amazing! The fastest of black order was outclassed completely! While compared to the mightiest of adventurers, he was but a slug!" Judgment commented, waking up from her daze. "Honestly, this was too fast for me to follow. How am I supposed to commentate that!?"
"No one asked for that!" Flash said, embarrassed, standing up after Astre released him.
"You depend too much on your speed. I guess with the right skills, it may be enough to overwhelm most people, but against someone on my level, they will know how to counter you," explained Astre. "Also, never let your enemy out of your eyes. Don't open with such broad attacks too. It makes it easy to predict and hard to pull back. Focus on short and quick slashes. Finally, that kick was solid. Short and to the point."
Flash looked at Astre with wide eyes and surprise. Making him wonder if he said something wrong. "Did I offend you?"
"No, no, no." Flash rejected that notion wholeheartedly. "Jones usually would only beat us up and tell us to work harder. Getting any tips and insights is new."
"How did he expect you to get better than?" Astre asked, lost.
"He didn't," said Hermes jumping into the ring. "Anyway, I'm next."
Astre shook his head, with an attitude like that; it didn't surprise the opinion about sunnies never changed. The match with Hermes proved that the young man, despite being a mage, was quite solid. He kept his distance well and poked at Astre with his staff. In the end, the blond adventurer forced the fairy into overreaching and tripping him.
"You move quite well, but if anything, I would say you lack decisiveness. All your attack focused so much on defense you didn't have any chance of changing the tide," Astre said, going through what he learned from the short combat.
Then when he thought he was done, the two sisters entered the arena. He honestly forgot about them. Their presence was quite thin and easy to miss. "Are both of you going to fight me at the same time?" He wasn't against it, but depending on how good they were, he might lose. They were the highest leveled of the bunch after all.
The sisters looked at him, then at each other, finally, after a few moments of silence, Eclipse spoke silently, "We always fight together."
Then Sanguine added, "We don't want to be... a leader."
"Oh, I guess you expect me to lose then. Alright. Let's do it then," Astre said, preparing himself.
The girls didn't wait for a signal and attacked both at once. They were slower than Flash, but their form looked much better. The black-haired girl assaulted with a broad ax from the right while her sister swung her large sword from the left.
Astre could tell from a glance that each strike carried enough energy to hurt him if they struck. He was half sure that the girls most likely already forgot about the rules. He wondered whatever they were simple-minded or simply didn't care.
The adventurer blocked the strike from the sword and using the energy generated, he slid beneath the ax of the second sister. It took all he had just to stay on his feet, but the girls had a surprised look on their faces for a second.
It only lasted for a second before Astre gathered himself and launched his offensive. Quickly stabbing at Eclipse and easily getting past her guard, brushing her white hair into the air. Astre immediately grabbed the handle of her ax and tried to twist it out of her hand. Her grip strength proved to be quite strong, and they found themselves in a standstill.
Astre was soon forced to disengage as Sanguine swung at him. The sword struck the ground as Astre jumped backward, but he was forced to block another strike from an ax that threw him further away.
Then the dark-skinned girl grabbed her sister's arm and threw her into the air. Straight at Astre. He barely managed to duck under the flying girl. Still, he decided to use the opportunity and grabbed her leg, stopping her midair. She tried to swing at him, but he twisted his hand and, with a spin, threw her at her sister, who was charging at Astre.
Both of them collided with each other, causing them to fall to the ground. Astre sprinted forward, and immediately kicked both of their weapons away. Thinking he won, he relaxed only to block two fists aimed at his face barely. The force threw him back a few steps.
The two girls didn't relent their charge as their eyes shined bloody red. Astre barely dodged and parried the attacks. He knew he was in trouble, but at the same, he couldn't let them land any direct damage due to tournament rules.
He was slowly getting closer and closer to the arena, then when both of them pinned Astre against one of the bunks, he dropped his weapon. With a fast slide, he moved between their attacks. Like water, he let Sanguine's fist and Eclipse's kick flew past him, guiding the attacks with his hands. Out of balance, he pushed both of them onto the bunk bed and pinned them down by their necks.
"Spray some water on them!" Astre shouted, doing his best to keep both of them down. They were strong, and whatever balancing advantage he had wouldn't last long.
Judgment quickly ran to one of the edges of the tent and threw a bucket of water at all three of them. Drenching them in the process. The thrashing of the girls calmed down. Astre released them with a sigh. He wasn't sure if water would have been enough and was ready to pull out sleeping dust from his inventory. Thankfully it did.
Both of the girls stood up, their drenched clothes clinging close to their bodies. "Sorry," both of them said.
"Well, it's okay. I got to see what you are capable of. If we find any worthy player, I may even send you against them to hold them off. Your instincts and teamwork are great, and it would only be a bit better if you were more cautious in your guard. I doubt it's something we could fix during the tournament, and you aren't the type to learn through talking," Astre ranted.
Honestly, he was surprised at the way they fought. They indeed reminded him of barbarians. With a bit of polishing and more combat experience, they would be a force to be reckoned with. He touched his drenched cloak and hair. Sometimes this game was too realistic.
The sister stared at him with wide eyes, "You are not angry?" asked Eclipse.
"Well, you did rampage a little," Astre stated, looking at the cracked bunk bed and the broken floor of the tent. "Still, I won't get angry over something small like that. It was good exercise too."
"Then, you will let us fight?" asked Sanguine. For some reason, her eyes were shining with hope.
"Well, I can already think of a few ways to use your might. So in the exact situation, I will," Astre declared nonchalantly. "Well, a lot depends on what Apollo tells me to do."
The girls snuck up to him, and with still wet hands, they grabbed both of his. Then they entwined their pinkies around his.
"Promise?" Sanguine asked hopefully.
"Ah, well, okay, I will make sure of it if I'm allowed," he said, surprised. For some reason, the two of them remained him of his sister, which made him grit his teeth at the reminder. He needed to do something fast.
"You are strong," remarked Eclipse.
"Amazing," added Sanguine. "Let's fight for real, one day."
"Hmm, ah, sure..." Astre answered, being thrown out from his stream of thoughts.
Then when he was just about to say something, someone entered the tent. Turning around, Astre saw the silver armored warrior that blocked Apollo's way before.
"Ah, I have been assigned here..." he announced himself, carefully looking around at the strange bunk bed's arena. Then he noticed Astre and the two girls holding his hands. Still dripping water from their clothes. "Oh, captain. You move fast. Not sure if that's my taste but to each their own."
"I think there is some misunderstanding," Astre stated, freeing himself. The girls looked at their hands, not understanding what the new man meant.
"Yes, yes. Anyway, I'm Frank, your new tank and bringer of news." He chirped no longer minding the sight inside the tent. "I have an assignment, and Lord Apollo wants it done 'the Astre way'."