New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Astaroth nodded, while Phoenix still held some reservations.

"Even if that was indeed impressive, there is still one question I have. How long can you have that open?"

"Long enough."

Phoenix didn't look satisfied with his response.

"Listen. It's not as long as we would need to kill every single player. But it is long enough to drive in them the fear of death. And that would be enough to drive most of them away."

"I don't understand. Why do you want to drive them away after dragging them here in the first place?"

"I want the smart ones to leave. The stupid, warmongering idiots will stay and keep trying until they've been decimated. Those are the ones that need to be taken down."

"I doubt it will go down like that."

"It doesn't matter if it varies a bit. Smarter players will leave when they see they have no chance of taking the fortress. The others can die and lose levels, as far as I'm concerned."

Phoenix could grasp what his overall idea was, but since she was missing so much information, she could not see the greater picture. But for now, she would have to make do with this.

"Alright. We can do it your way. But I will change the plan as much as I want, and you don't get to complain."

Khalor chuckled.

"Fine by me. As long as it works, the methods don't matter to me. I will be challenging all the guilds tomorrow morning. Make sure you are ready by then."

Astaroth sat by, listening to the conversation, and smiled.

'Phoenix really is putting him in his place.'

Phoenix nodded at Khalor's statement, and the man mounted back his drake.

"I'll be leaving now. I still have things to do. I'll be back by the end of the day tomorrow to prepare for the siege."

Saying his piece, he dove the drake down the side of the tree. He was gone in a few seconds, disappearing into the night.

Phoenix lay back down, setting her gaze upon the stars once more. Her mind was running scenario upon scenario, imagining as much detail about a siege as she could.

Astaroth turned his body to look at her focused face. Her determined eyes and scrunched-up brow, as well as her occasional mumbling, were slowly lulling him to sleep.

A full hour went by before Phoenix snapped out of her tactical thinking. She noticed Astaroth sleeping soundly next to her, and softly giggled.

Passing her hand on his cheek delicately, she slid closer to him. Astaroth instinctually wrapped his arm around her, still sound asleep, and the pair slept under the moonlight and stars, until sunup.

Peaceful hours went by, with nothing to disturb the sleeping couple. Only the chirps of birds and soft sun rays woke them from their slumber.

Astaroth felt refreshed, even though he had slept on a hard surface. It was like the sway of the tree in the wind had caressed his body all along the night, making sure he rested well.

Phoenix woke up a few seconds after Astaroth, smiling at him as she opened her eyes.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Astaroth giggled.

Phoenix tapped him on the side.

"Sleepyhead? You're the one that fell asleep first. I just didn't know if I should wake you to get back out of the game or not."

"No, we are fine here. It's safe outside and I'm sure some nurses have already hooked us up to IVs, since we've been inside the game for so long."

Phoenix trusted Astaroth, and she didn't doubt his words held some truth. After all, the room they were laying in had a plethora of doctors and nurses.

She doubted Mr. Boudreau hadn't told them to watch the two of them. So she took her mind off that for now.

Astaroth was already browsing through the forums, quickly finding what he was looking for. The number one trending post on most forums was the same.

*Challenge to all guilds!*

I, Khalor, the strongest player in New Eden, and part of the strongest guild in the game, Paragons, invite all guilds to stop their meaningless fighting. I challenge all of you to steal our new fortress from us!

Any player who thinks he can overthrow us is welcome to come try their hand at it. As for any player that likes a wonderful challenge, you can join our guild and help us defend against the oncoming onslaught.

As for the moronic guild leader who started all this PVP nonsense, Azamus, I will wait for you and your guild specifically on the fields surrounding our base. Don't back out!

Astaroth laughed at how brazen and ballsy Khalor had made the statement. With these fighting words, no one would stay back on the sidelines.

Many guild representatives had already accepted the challenge publicly on his post and their own forums. As for Aces High and Azamus, he had announced everywhere that the fortress was as good as his and that he would crush Paragons into dust.

Astaroth could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. This wouldn't be a minor task, and preparing for it was primordial.

Khalor had set a timer in his post, with a few hours to spare before the coordinates came online. That way, he knew he would be back in the base before the big fight started.

That also gave Phoenix some time to prepare countermeasures. It also gave the challenging guilds some time to prepare, but the travel time would give more to Paragons.

Phoenix was already sending messages in the guild chat, ordering every member to come to the base this instant. To the ones already here, she started giving instructions to help mount a defence.

Finishing this, she turned to Astaroth.

"I think it's time we go see the guild treasury and find out how many resources we got from taking this place."

Astaroth nodded in agreement, his face stuck in a wide grin.