[Cyclone: Whom should we send? Recommendations? Hurry!]
[Balm: No time to discuss, just make a decision!]
[Bleary Mirage: Guys, don't panic. You aren't necessarily faster only because you start earlier.]
Just as Liam calmed his friends down, there was a change in the valley where the arenas were located. A rippling water screen suddenly appeared above the arena to the left of Dream Avenue. It showed a lanky person standing on top of a rock, warming himself up with some light jumps. His name was displayed as Speedy Monkey.
[Cyclone: Oh no, Beast Den has already chosen. We need to hurry up!]
[Bloody Edge: I recommend Friendly Dagger.]
[Cyclone: Alright, Friendly Dagger it is then.]
Cyclone didn't want to waste time on arguing. Except for the core members she was pretty much fine with sending anyone else. She briefly informed Friendly Dagger in a private message before choosing him as candidate.
The thief and good friend of Bloody Edge had barely enough time to grasp the situation when he suddenly appeared within the arena. Boiling hot lava flowed in front of him, the hot air scalding his lungs.
"Could've at least asked me…"
Friendly Dagger murmured to himself as he took off most of his clothes. He stretched his body while studying the parkour. A rock on the other side of the arena was marked as the goal. There would be a straight path going there if it weren't for the small stars scattered around which he had to gather before he could finish the challenge.
Falling into the lava meant instant disqualification. Not only would he fail the challenge, but he would also be kicked from the war. Reading this information provided by C the thief smiled wryly. He definitely wasn't willing to leave that early. Thus, he carefully adjusted his mind, putting all his focus on the task in front of him.
[Cyclone: What's taking him so long?!]
Cyclone watched anxiously. Infinito and TwinThieves had sent their candidates at the same time as Dream Avenue. Now above all the arenas there were water screens showing the four players competing in first challenge. While others were still preparing themselves, Speedy Monkey had already begun to move.
"Move! Dagger!"
"Come on! Go, go, go!"
"Dagger, you got this!"
Cheers and encouragement came from all the guild members. It was unclear if Friendly Dagger could hear them, but at least he finally began to move.
The thief sprinted lightly and jumped high up to grab onto a rope. He swung nimbly and in one fluid motion landed on another rock. Next, he turned to the left, using a bunch of rock pillar barely big enough for one foot to reach another large rock. He reached out with his hand and gathered the first small star.
"Yes! Nice one!"
"Damn, that looks scary. I could never do that!"
"Bro, your armor weighs at least 200 kilograms! Of course you couldn't do that!"
"I meant without it… ah, whatever!"
[Bleary Mirage: Everyone, focus! Don't get distracted by the arena!]
Liam quickly warned the guild members. As they were watching Friendly Dagger, there had been multiple slip-ups where they failed to block attacks. This was definitely a trend which had to be snuffed out in the bud.
Luckily, Liam commanded great respect in the guild. With his words the players all suppressed their curiosity and focused on fighting the zombies.
Despite the ongoing challenge the zombies advanced unceasingly. Liam carefully estimated how many points they had already gained. As it reached a certain level, he gradually ordered the melee players to retreat.
A dozen seconds later Liam's cautious choice was proven correct. From the stronghold of TwinThieves a green light suddenly shot into the air. It drew a gorgeous arc through the battlefield and arrived above Dream Avenue's stronghold where it suddenly exploded in a beautiful firework.
"Oh, are they congratulating us?"
Quickstep made a joking comment as everyone watched the explosion turn into specks of green light which slowly fell from the sky. Whenever it landed on a zombie, the undead suddenly moved as if coming back to life. They sped up and sprinted towards the stronghold. If Liam hadn't told the melee players to retreat their rows might have been broken through.
"No!"
"AH!"
Distressed cries suddenly sounded from all around. Liam was shocked thinking that players were struggling to deal with the zombies. But this wasn't the case. It took him a moment to realize that the exclaiming players had been watching the challenge.
Standing within the safety of the stronghold Liam turned his head and saw why everyone was so shocked. It turned out that Friendly Dagger had almost slipped while balancing on top of a metal beam. Fortunately, he barely managed to regain his balance before falling into the lava.
Even Liam felt some relief. Failing the challenge meant that they had to start the challenge from the beginning with another candidate. It not only wasted a lot of time, but it was also a hit to the guild's morale if they struggled during the first challenge.
Fortunately, Friendly Dagger didn't disappoint his guild. Although he was third behind Speedy Monkey and the candidate from TwinThieves, he successfully completed the parkour.
The world around the thief changed and he appeared in the centre of Dream Avenue's stronghold. Immediately praise reached him from all sides, leaving the thief with a broad grin.
At the same time a notification appeared in front of Cyclone and Balm, informing them of the reward of 75 points for getting third place. Seeing this the guild leaders only scoffed. 75 points could be earned in at most three minutes by cutting down zombies.
The notification contained another piece of information. It told the guild leaders that the next challenge would start in five minutes. Cyclone and Balm were quite nervous. They prayed that the next challenge had to do with fighting, so the guild had a chance to overtake Beast Den after falling behind slightly.
The seconds ticked by but before the next challenge could start two bursts of red light rose from Beast Den and Infinito, both aiming at Dream Avenue's stronghold.
"Damn, they are really targeting us!"
"So annoying!"
"Tsk. It only shows how afraid they are!"
"Be careful, guys! Something's coming!"
While the guild members vented their frustration, the spells launched by their enemies unfolded. One of them exploded in a red firework, raining down flames on the stronghold, forcing everyone to hide.
"Damn! The roof is taking damage!"
"Do we need to escape?"
"No, keep working! Wait for the guild leaders' orders."
In a small workshop the guild's alchemists were crowded together, tirelessly producing potions. Well, it was mostly the others assisting Flirting Fairy as this intermediate alchemist knew the recipe to produce mana potions, which in hindsight made recruiting her to the guild all the more valuable.
But now their production slowed down as the flaming spell used by Beast Den caused the roof to burn, constantly reducing its HP. The simple roof was no wall with millions of HP. Under the might of the flames, it threatened to burn to ashes after no more than 30 seconds.
Cyclone was quickly informed by the guild members. She gnashed her teeth in anger, but she had no other choice but to spend points to repair the roof of the workshop.
Of course, this wasn't the only damaged building. The fiery rain rampaged indiscriminately. Cyclone and Balm were constantly occupied with spending points to repair their defensive structures so their players wouldn't be exposed to the flames. The scroll which cost Beast Den 300 points to buy caused Dream Avenue damages of more than 450 points, easily profitable.
And yet Beast Den were not the only ones who sent an attack towards Dream Avenue. There was also the red light which arrived from Infinito. It fell on a random zombie, causing the undead monster to transform suddenly. It grew taller and got a light belly, its skin taking on a jade-green sheen, transforming into a level 45 boss, a jade zombie.
Seeing this, Cyclone got so angry she wasted 15 points to buy an item which looked like a primitive megaphone. Holding it against her mouth, her voice could be heard everywhere on the battlefield.
"Mountain Lord! Why are you attacking us? Didn't we only have positive interactions in the past?!"
It took a few seconds for a response to arrive:
"My apologies, Cyclone. Don't take it personally. We all want to win the guild war."
"Exactly, Cyclone. No one wants to find trouble with your Dream Avenue. We are only looking out for ourselves."
Cyclone was surprised as she recognized the voice of Fat Tiger. She knew that they had some conflicts in the past. Thus, it was unexpected that the guild leader of Beast Den would suddenly speak in such a tone.
However, next came a cold, male voice from TwinThieves's side, which sounded anything but friendly:
"Ridiculous. We are not afraid of Dream Avenue. If you want to be the best guild on Falva Star, you will have to defeat the three of us."
"Hey, don't make it look like we are working together!"
"Correct!"