It took three weeks for Weston and his siblings to arrive at The Resort. As the children of a viscount, they were not that high ranking, but at least they did not have to wait weeks still for entry instead of the days they had already compared to lesser nobles such as barons and lords. Considering those of a higher rank have already been active here for over a week slightly irked him as well.

Once inside he was assigned a modest room a similar size that he shared with his siblings. Being a noble son he knew how to operate the magical devices and how to use the ropes, but there were still instructions on how on the desk as well. As well as a note that he will be seeing the otherworlders tomorrow in the training grounds. After ordering a brief dinner he went to bed.

-----

Weston looked amazed alongside the hundreds of other noble sons and daughters as they sat on the observatory stands. There were well over two hundred otherworlders present and each of them seemed to be training in some form or another. The most notable display was the challenges of squad-on-squad combat. Where groups of champions took on twice the number of soldiers likely at least twenty main class levels over them. Next were the duels showcasing individual prowess with even larger gaps in levels. He soon figured out, that these two groups were the castoffs of the main group of otherworlders that they call The Association.

The Association held the five hero class holders as well as all the rarer ranked combat classes. They were a small group of nearly a hundred that were working on larger tactics than a mere six on twelve fights. No, their display was of fifty versus three hundred and winning.

It was well past noon when that fight was over and Resort staff brought lunch to the watchers as some of the otherworlders were approached, but not toward The Association nor any others that have a child of another noble or royal with them. After the break, less than a third of the observers were missing. Either being picked up by an otherworlder or group or realizing they had no hope and decided to enjoy their time here instead.

The second set of otherworlders were not fighters, but crafters, tradesmen and laborer classes. Showcasing their trades despite their lower level. This is where most of those here are here for. To pick up talent for their lands.

Weston was half bored out of his mind watching the sixth blacksmith display and trial out an iron sword. Sure it shined, but how strong was it? That is when a hush took over the craftsman and soon the stands followed it. Unexpectedly, three distinct groups entered together. The first, was led by some custom-dressed soldiers with full facial masks with a banner bearer. This banner had the distinct markings of a mage class denoting a rank of lord and carrying a champion mark. Escorting the bannerbearer must have been one of the most heavily armored people he had seen so far.

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You have witnessed ‘The Banner of the Cardmancer’.

You are currently neutral.

No bonuses apply.

Weston’s eyes went wide reading the notice, and hearing the murmurs around him, he was not the only one. That quickly died down when they got a look at the Cardmancer himself.

Class: Cardmancer

Level: 3

All other info is set to private.

You do not have the ability to pierce this defense.

Yet another surprise, but not as big as the banner. Most otherworlders have their info set to private, and Weston had not trained his identifier skill much.

With this group passing the stands, Weston’s focus went toward the second group. Unlike the first, who he assumed were mostly summons, this group were all otherworlders. Most of them wearing white, silver, gold, or purple on their clothing and armor. He was wondering where all the religious-based classes were, as none had appeared before, and now here they all probably were. They were led by a clear saintess with three of the summons from before. Which meant the cardmancer could teach his class, making him that much more valuable. Based on the number of nobles that would want it for novelty alone, he could pay off his debt with that alone.

After the clear beginnings of a religious order another group organized and uniform as well. The biggest tell of this was the patch on each of their left arms with a simple emblem with the words ‘Guild 88’ on it. At first, Weston could only make out a mesh mash of non-combat classes, but he soon noticed there were a fairly large number of support classes here as well. It was also clear these were independents who were neither going to directly join the war effort for ten years or try to be recruited to one noble faction or another. Weston quickly deduced that these three groups were here because they had to be, not that they wanted to be.

The demonstration these three groups decided to put on was more realistic than The Association demonstration. It came down to three factors. One being the cardmancer pulled out another fifty summons and went into the fight against three hundred like the Association. Except he would constantly rotate his summons to get them healed by the clergy while the guild would resupply them with fresh gear. It took less than a minute for a summon from being pulled from the line to be fully healed and rearmed and back on the rotation of the line.

The second difference was their opponents were doing something similar as well as trying to punch through to the back lines while the cardmancer did the same. So it was much more organized than a bunch of independents fighting on their own on a large battlefield. There are actual strategies and tactics in play. The third and most defining feature was the number of buffs on the field. Not only was the cardmancer banner providing them, but several reserves of the Guild 88 also supported. Some provided large group small buffs and debuffs while others were more targeted in key places at key times. In short, this demonstration was not really a demonstration like the others. Weston realized this demonstration was a flex. To show everybody that they could in fact play on the same level if they needed to. It was at this moment he realized this, that he wanted nothing more than to be part of this group.