New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

*Welcome back player Astaroth*

Astaroth opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. He was still standing in the middle of the base, but some things were already different.

The first of them was that it wasn't as empty as before.

The wild Elves that had been staying outside had partly moved inside. He could see some of them restoring houses near the entrance that led to their village and farms.

He surmised this was the deal Athena had taken with them. It made absolute sense they would want some place inside, so they could shelter from danger if it arose.

Astaroth didn't mind, since he planned to make this a city. It wouldn't hurt to have some citizens already.

The next thing he noticed was that some players were wandering around the base. They weren't faces he recognized, so he opened up the guild roster.

His eyes widened when he saw the number of members. It had ballooned up from the previous eleven to an impressive fifty. Of course, it wasn't impressive compared to most established guilds.

But theirs was a new one, and still not widely known. Their only achievement was to conquer this place.

From the races the players had, he could already guess who had invited them. There weren't many who could invite, anyway.

Phoenix had locked the rights to invite new players to the core of their party, ergo, Silent Light, Gulnur, Athena, Violette, I'die, and themselves.

Gale, Morticia, Khalor, and Death had to pass through one of those to invite a friend. None of them complained, not even Khalor, about these conditions.

Khalor cared little about it, since he played alone and had no friends to invite. As for the others, they were still new to the group, so they accepted it without a fuss.

As Astaroth scanned briefly through the guild member list, he noticed they had recruited mostly combat classes, but someone had also found a few crafters.

This brought a smile to his lips. He mentally noted the crafters' names, wanting to meet them soon. But he had matters to attend to first.

He closed the guild tab, looking at Phoenix, who had been silently standing next to him. She seemed uneasy.

"Are you okay?" he asked, gently brushing his hand on her arm.

"I'm fine… I just don't feel comfortable knowing my body is unguarded and surrounded by strangers."

Astaroth knew what she meant. He would also feel that way if he didn't have absolute faith that Jack would keep them safe, in virtue of him owing the man a favour.

Astaroth hugged her, talking gently into her ear.

"Don't worry. Jack won't let anything happen to us. He considers me an investment, after all. And he doesn't seem like the type to forgo his investments, otherwise, he would be a terrible businessman."

The last comment made Phoenix chuckle, and she calmed down a bit.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry, I'll always make sure you feel at ease."

Phoenix gave him a gentle kiss, smiling softly.

She wasn't a weak damsel in distress, by any means. But knowing Astaroth would try his utmost to protect her, still reassured her.

Looking at the dark skies, Astaroth remembered why he was in a hurry.

"It's almost time. Do you want to follow me? You might be able to meet my divine correspondent."

The slight mocking tone he used to say the last bit amused Phoenix.

She nodded her head, and Astaroth smiled.

Wings suddenly sprouted in the man's back, surprising Phoenix. When he walked over to her and grabbed her body in his arms, she yelped.

"Eep! What are you doing?"

"We need to be higher for what I want. So I will fly us up. Hang on tight."

Finishing his phrase, Phoenix clutched his neck as he launched off the ground like a rocket. His wings beat powerfully as they rose into the gigantic tree's canopy.

Astaroth flew eastward, looking for a high branch that gave him a clear view of the night sky. As he pierced through the canopy, gaining altitude to see better, Phoenix got a view of the stars.

Her heart fluttered at the beauty of the scene. The feeling of flight mixed with the proximity of the sky made her feel like she could just stretch her arm up and grab the stars in her hands.

Astaroth smiled when he saw her amazed eyes glittering in the moonlight and flickering with the starlight. He kept looking for an adequate place to perform his night call and found one.

Further to the east, a large branch stretched out of the canopy, its leaves almost all on the underside. It was the perfect spot, almost like it was made for this.

He slowly manoeuvred his way there, landing softly on the branch. It slightly wavered to his weight, but seemed to hold strong.

Putting the still amazed Phoenix to her feet, Astaroth pulled out the Evolution Fruit. He scanned it again, making sure it hadn't suddenly degraded, but it was the same as earlier.

Astaroth dropped to his butt, taking an Indian position on the branch. Phoenix saw him and did the same.

"What now?" she asked.

"Now I will try contacting her. I don't know if I will reach her, this far from the Ash Elf kingdom, but I might have something to help."

Phoenix nodded, remaining silent.

Astaroth pulled out Ad Astra, sitting it on his lap in its shortsword form. That was how he got it, and he assumed it was its original form.

He silently prayed to Alantha Anulo, asking her to answer his call and grave him of her presence. After five minutes of silent prayer, something had yet to happen.

Astaroth frowned.

'Maybe the connection isn't strong enough?'

He tried again, this time injecting mana into the weapon's core. He continuously supplied it with mana while praying, but the results stayed the same.

'Guess I'll have to go with something stronger.'

Phoenix, who was still sitting next to him, could feel the fluctuating energy Astaroth was dealing with. She wondered what he was trying to accomplish.

But then she felt him pulling in something stronger. She still didn't know the name of the energy, since no one had taught her.

She assumed what she did when drawing that energy was just purifying the mana. But Astaroth seemed to draw it in raw, and it made her curious.

'I'll have to ask him later, when he's not so focused.'

Then something happened. Phoenix's head spun toward the sky, where she felt a massive surge of energy.

'What the!'