The group soon made it to the gates where they could pass through the wall of cars. It was located in the middle of the front wall with two players guarding the entrance. There were several vehicles near the gate used as barriers for players to take cover in, where several more players were found, leaning their backs against their respective cars and keeping a trained eye out for any monsters coming this way.
In between the various barriers was a makeshift path leading toward the gate, to which Vlad and the rest of the group were trekking. While marching toward the gates, several of the players next to their barriers suspiciously eyed the group. More specifically, Vlad and Flint. The pair could feel their lingering gaze while heading toward the gate entrance. Vlad wasn’t fazed all that much by their gazes, but Flint couldn’t help but anxiously turn his head at all the people watching them as if he was afraid that one of the players would attack them.
The vampire nudged Flint’s arm, taking his attention away from the players and instead toward him. “Don’t pay attention to them, alright? You’ll only get more panicked if you do.”
Flint nervously nodded. “Y-yeah, you’re right…”
Vlad understood why Flint was so shaken. The pair were entering unknown territory that was filled with other players. Players with abilities that allowed them to do anything from crushing cars to blasting balls of flames at their enemies. And here Flint was a mage, most likely not even past level 5. He pretty much had every right to fear for his life.
Once the group approached the entrance, they were stopped by two Players guarding it as they brought their weapons in front of the gate, preventing Vlad and the others from moving past them. One wore a metal chest plate with bracers with a sword strapped to his waist, while the other wore similar armor to Vlad, but instead of wielding a spear, he owned a halberd. The weapon slightly towered over the user, hinting at how much range the player has when using it on enemies.
“Hey, Conner,” The player with the chest plate armor greeted the swordsman. “I see you managed to find two new players, huh?” He turned his gaze toward Vlad and Flint, his eyes sizing them up as if they were newcomers that just entered the military.
Flint couldn’t but tremble under the player’s gaze while Vlad stood there unfazed even staring back with his crimson red eyes. For some reason, the player got startled and looked away from them, making Vlad confused while tilting his head.
“Well, having more support will benefit us for the Blood Moon, right?” Conner stated, wearing a sincere smile on his face. “Besides, our leader, Tyler, told us to find any players that we can help and take in. During dangerous times like this, we need to work together to survive.”
“Y-yeah, you’re right…” The player stammered, still keeping his gaze away from Vlad. “I-I’m assuming you’re planning on introducing them to Tyler?”
“That’s right. Once Tyler meets them, he can assign them their roles to help assist with the base. If they plan to stay here, that is.”
“Right, we’ll leave you to it, then…” The player made eye contact with his fellow guard and both of them nodded their heads while pulling their weapons away from the gate.
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Once the entrance was cleared, Conner walked past the guards and entered mall Base territory along with the rest of his group and Vlad and Flint. While strolling past the chest-plate guard, Vlad took one last look at him, his blood-red eyes peering at him curiously. The guard fearfully flinched and spun his head away, avoiding eye contact with Vlad altogether. The vampire tilted his head once more, confused by the events, but he simply ignored the issue with a sigh and continued his trek.
Once the vampire left the guard’s sight, a heavy sigh escaped him as he nearly collapsed to his knees. Watching this to his left, the other guard eyed him curiously, a bit alarmed by his fellow guard’s sudden wave of exhaustion. But, before he could try anything to help, the chest-plate player stiffly straightened back up, keeping a neutral expression as if to hide whatever was bothering him before.
The other guard wanted to question him about what had gotten into his partner, but decided against it, believing that asking such a question would do more harm than good. And so, the two guards resumed their positions, neither of them mentioning the recent event that just transpired.
Meanwhile, Vlad and the rest walked down the path leading toward the Base. As they did, the vampire scanned his surroundings, noticing the very vacant parking lot sprawled out in front of the mall. There were very few vehicles shown in the lot, and the ones that were present were positioned in barricades, much like the ones outside the wall. If Vlad had to guess, this was a second defense position, in case the defenses outside weren’t enough to fully block whatever was attacking them. In this case, this was likely in preparation for the Blood Moon event.
Since the Blood Moon will cause a horde of monsters to attack their base, setting up as many defensive measures as they can was their only option. This base needed to be fortified as much as possible to defend against the monsters that planned on swarming them in the next couple of days. Surrounding the barricades were other players, performing various tasks around their blockades. None of which Vlad had any idea what they were.
He noticed a few players using some form of magic, and setting up pitfalls or spike barricades in front of the vehicle shields. As for the non-magic users, they were carrying scraps of metal and wood to likely assist in improving their defenses as well.
While watching this happen, the group soon made their way to the entrance to the mall. Like before, there were guards, but they instantly cleared the way for them so they could enter the building without even bothering to question Conner about Vlad and Flint like the previous guards. So, they immediately entered the mall and were instantly greeted with a multi-floor complex filled with over a dozen stands and shops, all of them providing a variety of services like clothing, food, and entertainment. Roaming all over the place in the mall were numerous amount of players, scurrying around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Each person was frantically going to someplace that it felt like rush hour in the mall.
The whole place was filled with a chorus of voices, all speaking in unison, making it extremely difficult to figure out who was saying what and to who. It was even worse for Vlad since his vampiric senses were picking up multiple conversations happening all at once. It was so loud and incomprehensible that the vampire covered his ears and prevented them from bleeding.
After a few moments, his senses managed to adapt allowing him to uncover his ears without fear of them overloading with sound like before. As he did, one of Conner’s group members spoke up.
“We’ll part ways from here,” The hunter declared to Conner. “We should help the other players around the mall as much as we can.”
“Which leaves you with giving the new guys the tour,” The other mage said, pointing at Vlad and Flint.
“Right, I’ll leave you guys to it then,” Conner nodded.
The majority of Conner’s group then waved at them before departing into the mall to assist other players. Vlad and Flint waved them goodbye as well as Conner walked up to the pair while wearing a gentle smile.
“Alright, you guys, let’s get moving. It’s time to greet the leader.”
Upon making this declaration, the swordsman marched on into the mall, making his way to their leader as Vlad and Flint followed along.