Riveting Night went over to the starting square of Stagnant Moss Town. This was the legendary birthplace of Draco and Riveting Night, the first town they sprung from. Soon after that information became public knowledge, many new players chose it as their starting location in the hopes that they might uncover the hidden secret related to the monstrous growth of those two.
After all, no matter how great something was or how much evidence towards it, there would always be skeptics. People often arrogantly believed themselves to be enlightened over all others, as if they had pierced through the veil while others remained trapped sheep in a pen.
Such people took pride in their opinions, convinced they were right above all else. These very same people doubted that Draco or Riveting Night had the genuine talent to pull of what was necessary to rise to the top, so they either attributed it to hacks, preferential treatment, or dogshit luck at the beginning of the game.
The people who believed in the latter could be found prowling around Stagnant Moss Town, practically overturning the place as they sought the same opportunities.
Once Riveting Night appeared with some core members of Umbra in tow like the Five Generals, all activities seemed to halt. Everyone, whether NPCs or players, gazed at the powerful entourage and trembled at their oppressive auras.
In fact, Riveting Night herself was fine. It was the core members who radiated so much power and energy that all others could literally feel it. It caused many people to freeze in fear as they realized that they were in the presence of an apex being.
The NPCs were more acclimated to such things, but the players couldn't cope. After all, on Earth, there was no real way to create such a feeling from one human to another. It was a totally new experience for many people here, a feeling that words could not describe for them.
Riveting Night stood in place and used her Eye of Heaven to observe the area around her. She quickly spotted her targets, and they spotted her as well.
A group of exactly 10,000 players formally stood in the square like a rigid army. They ignored the furtive glances of all passers-by as well as the warning glances from guards.
They also paid no heed to the questioning of some curious players or their whispers. After understanding that this was a formal group, many stopped disturbing them quickly.
"See the way they stand together without distraction? They're disciplined and probably skilled. These aren't guys to be messed with."
"Yes, they're likely another batch of men from some country's army or some organization's security force using the game to train themselves up."
"How do you know this? Isn't that a bit farfetched? A whole country sending their elites to play a game? Haha."
"Not really. I've noticed a pattern in their arrival and rampant purchases in the game, so I feel my speculation is right. Besides, looking at them, doesn't it seem so?"
"All it seems like to me is that your 35 years of v.i.r.g.i.nity have finally made you lose your mind."
"…"
Riveting Night brought the core members to stand in front of the group while she quietly surveyed them. They were almost evenly split between males and females, as Supernatural had sent over their most promising youth to work under Draco.
These men and women observed Riveting Night silently but made no disrespectful moves. Not only was she and Draco Superior Lords, making them rank so far above them that they could be slaughtered for any sign of insubordination, but they were also young Control masters.
These men and women arrayed before Riveting Night felt great respect and gratitude towards the Evil Duo. Superior Lords training the youth on such a large scale was something unheard of since the inception of Supernatural. After all, Superior Lords were like tactical nukes, and they were hardly made to do anything but live well so that they could be a deterrent.
Draco and Eva proactively choosing to go out of their way by offering to train them for free into elite warriors in both the real world and in this lucrative alternate reality had greatly pleased the organization, so they had strictly and gravely warned their candidates not to squander this once in a lifetime opportunity or they would suffer.
"Who is the leader among you?" Riveting Night asked austerely.
Immediately, a fellow walked out from their mist and bowed to Riveting Night respectfully, speaking in a deep and manly voice: "That would be me, my Lady."
Riveting Night inspected the fellow slowly. He was taller than Draco at 6'0. He had caramel-colored skin, shoulder-length, lush black hair, and a pair of powerful silver eyes that looked like they could see through all facades.
He was muscular and compact, not entirely slim like a typical bodybuilder, but definitely not fat or muscular. In fact, he resembled Draco in his Demon Form, with outlined muscles but a tight body.
He had a sharp nose, a strong jaw, and semi-thick lips that were set into a contemplative frown at all times, like he was pondering many things at once. He had a set of loose leather armor and a Rare bow from the Master Package.
'An archer eh? We don't have too many of them in the guild minus Shani and Draco.' Eva notated.
Her impression of this fellow was that he was a lithe fighter that fought at range. Not the static type that took shots from a safe position but the ever-mobile type who flitted between tree branches while targeting his foes, striking fear and arrows into their hearts.
Riveting Night then checked his nameplate.
｢Name: Tunder Power – Rank 0
Level: 1
HP: 100/100｣
Just like him, all his compatriots were at level 1. They were blank slates that were up to Riveting Night and the members of Umbra to mold as they wished.
"Good then. Organize yourselves into 10 groups. I'm assuming you already know the relative strength and talent difference between your lot, so make sure the groups feature the most talented to the least." Riveting Night commanded
This made them all pause for a second before they began moving silently. This was quite the harsh command, to have them move to where they belonged according to their talent, but it was necessary.
She wanted them to acknowledge their current value, whether they liked it or not. They were not here to be coddled or given heaps of positive reinforcement. They were here to suffer, struggle, and languish in so much pain until they became useful to her and Umbra.
After they tentatively arranged themselves, Riveting Night assigned the groups. Naturally, she was the one leading the Alpha group, which included the most talented of the bunch.
Each group had a thousand members, which made Riveting Night nod. She then assigned different Field Zones to the various groups to clear. As for her group, they headed to the Opdia's Marsh, a level 3-10 Field Zone for Elite players who started the game.
Naturally, this Field Zone had some heavy player presence as many tried to raise their levels or acquire some loot. They noticed Riveting Night's group - as it was hard not to - and many moved away due to the presence of Riveting Night.
Her name preceded her, so many knew not to mess around if they wanted to enjoy their time in the game. Heck, many even had plans to join the almighty Umbra and rise with the guild. Pissing off the Vice-Guildmaster was anything but a good idea.
However, in this world, there were always those who were painfully ignorant or just plain stupid. They always existed and were of shockingly high number, ready to lower the general IQ of any location with their esteemed presence.
In this case, a group of 300 players quickly blocked the way of Riveting Night and co. Their group consisted of a mixture of men and women, and their levels ranged from 5-9.
Of course, they only dared to do this because they saw that these 1,000 players were all level 1. When accounting for their newness to the game and the 5 level stat suppression, they felt slightly confident.
However, as soon as they saw that Eva's level was so high that they couldn't see it, they became serious and refrained from any foolish action. One of them, who was around level 9, come forward to state their groups demand;
"Halt! This Field Zone has been claimed by the FireFighters Guild! This is where we level up our low-level players to reach the cities and join our ranks! Please leave the area, dear madam and her fellows, or let us know if you have any arrangements!"
It should be said that this representative was clear and well-spoken. He instantly knew that they had kicked a steel plate when he saw Riveting Night's nameplate that was full of question marks, but he couldn't just back down without knowing who she was.
Their guild was relatively new in the game, and their highest member was the Guild Leader at level 35. He was considered an Elite player and had built the guild from scratch, so this representative didn't want it to go down the drain so quickly.
If it were Draco, he would stop and chat for a bit goodnaturedly, and win the respect of the people here by his conduct despite his resounding fame. The FireFighters guild would likely pledge allegiance to Umbra and swear to follow them for eternity based on Draco's charisma.
However, this was Eva. It was already enough of a crime to stand in her way, but even having the audacity to try and stop her was beyond what these fools could account for.
Riveting Night had not stopped for a moment since this group had come before her. Even as the representative spoke from afar, she continued to walk towards them unhurriedly and arrogantly.
Before they could repeat their warning, Riveting Night gently waved her hand and activated a skill that was frankly overkill in this situation.
｢Active 1 – Abyssal Pull: Open a wormhole to the abyss that swallows all enemies within range. Cooldown: 3 days.
Note: The maximum suction range is 500 meters at Rank 1.
Note: The maximum suction targets are 500 at Rank 1. ｣
A large blackish-grey hole ripped itself open right in the middle of where these opposing players stood, and before they could cry or scream out, they were all swallowed into its depths.
The wormhole pulsed as if it was satisfied with its offering and winked out of existence. Frankly, if the 300 players hadn't made such a scene, no one would have known that they had been here just a second ago.
All onlookers felt a chill in their hearts and left speechless. Those who knew about Riveting Night and Umbra gulped, while those who didn't quickly tried to find out. When they discovered who had paid their little leveling zone a visit, they were so shocked that many became blue.
Immediately, the whole area became clear as many players scattered. After all, looking at the ending of the previous group, who had been the strongest of the lot, who wanted to place their heads under the guillotine for free?
The 1,000 new members of Umbra had watched the spectacle and their respect towards the Lady Boss increased even further. This was the rumored suppressive effect which just the mere name of the guild had, and the power of the Vice-Guildmaster was insane.
She didn't even utter a single word nor acknowledged the presence of her foes before they were turned into nothingness.
After they entered the Field Zone, Riveting Night turned to them and spoke. "The first group to reach level 5 will receive a reward from the guild. Additionally, I personally will award the group with the most kills at the end of the day with something special."
"You are free to party up in as large a group as you wish or you can go solo. You have only this one day to cross that threshold with a limited number of monsters. How you go about it, I don't care, just get it done, or else!"