POV Anthonius and his merry party:
The black clouds enshrouded the sky, hiding all of the stars and the moon. In an instant, everything turned quiet. Even the angels quietly turned towards the sky, their wings and bodies of light glowing like torches in the darkness.
An invisible tension forced itself into everyone’s hearts, with powerful magic slowly spilling through the wasteland.
Finally, two bright golden circles looking like massive reptilian eyes ignited between the black clouds. They looked towards the ground, no one daring to move as tremendous pressure pressed against their bodies.
“Shit…” Antonius already knew what it was, his mind already getting to peace with his party getting wiped out in a single attack.
Soon the cold and familiar voice reverberated through everyone’s bodies, each of their cells resonating under the weird energy-filled voice, “Huh, how interesting. Two of my enemies are fighting against each other. You are like two rats fighting for scraps when the cat is nearby. How foolish of you.”
Antonius looked at his sword enchanted to slay dragons. Maybe there was hope. His heart started to pump blood even faster, his body preparing for a battle.
‘One lucky hit is all I need!’
However, the cold voice filled with ridicule destroyed all of his hope as if the wyrm knew what he thought, “Do you really believe that this small toothpick can kill me? Even if it can get through my scales with the vile power of dragon-slaying enchantment, it would be no different from a small splinter. Hahaha.”
The wyrm erupted into laughter, the incoming soundwaves shaking everyone’s bodies with gashes of blazing hot air blasting towards them.
Antonius looked at his sword, which felt small and pathetic, and the two massive eyes, his hope vanishing as he realised that the beast was right.
‘What was I even thinking? To slay such a beast… No lucky hit can compensate for the sheer difference in the sizes. That would require hundreds, maybe even thousands of lucky hits, and with their regeneration, even that would be useless.’
Without any warning, a dozen white glowing spears formed in the angel’s hands before launching into the black clouds. They flew all the way up, their white light vanishing under the impenetrable veils of darkness.
“Begone, annoying birds!” a blast of bright white, yellow flames with traces of pure gold descend from the sky, passing through the flock of angels, their bodies vanishing in the flaming inferno.
The sky above the players was flooded with flames, the whole sky turning into fire. The residual heat washed over their bodies, the runes on their amour flashing and pulsing, almost failing under the heat.
‘Am I really going to be scared of an NPC? No, if I do that, I will be ridiculed!’
Antonius steered his nerves as he looked straight into the golden eyes, and a weird feeling akin to looking directly into the core of a nuclear reactor passed through him, “Wyrm, have you come to make fun of us!? If yes, be sure that we will never falter!”
The silence fell upon them as the wyrm just quietly stared at them. The quiet stare was sending creeps down everyone’s spine. It was a weird but understandable, ‘This game is so realistic that it is sometimes hard not to get devoured by it and start to act as if it was all real.’
“You are wrong, mortal, no immortal. I am here to give you an offer.”
Antonius quickly looked at his companions, but they all were as clueless as him.
“Become my master of sacrifices! Keep bringing more sacrifices to me as you did until now, and I will richly reward you! I will even take your own minions under my generous wings!”
‘So this is what they thought of our attacks… we were all just ritual sacrifices…’
The cold voice suddenly changed, turning almost sweet and enticing as it melodically resonated with something deep within him, “You have gained a great amount of prestige and trust with your fellow immortals. Use it and become something more.”
Ding!
//
You have obtained a special invitation to become a hidden member of the faction: Dragons
Specials offer: Starting rank in faction: Master of Sacrifices; Tille: [Sacrifice Master of Dragons]
[Sacrifice Master of Dragons]:
Conditions: Hold the rank of Master of Sacrifices in the Dragons faction
Effects: Gain a small amount of XP (1 XP per level) for every sacrifice that you bring in.
//
Antonius looked at the notification, his eyes almost popping out as he read through the description of the title. At first, it didn’t look like a lot to him, but then he remembered that each riding party he led against the wyrm had many people.
‘With such a large amount of XP, my levels would soar through the sky. I will reach level sixty in a month!’
Still, he felt conflicted, ‘All of the players trust me. I gained their respect and trust, yet now I want to intentionally turn them into my XP farm.’
“We should take it, Antony!”
“We will easily raise our levels through the roof.”
Antonius looked with horror at his friends as they instantly turned greedy, ready to use their status between the local players for their benefit while sacrificing all of these that trusted them.
They all had grins plastered on their faces, even old Merlin as if they had already imagined themselves swimming in the XP.
Still, he could understand it, knowing how grindy game LOMM was. One had to slay dozens, if not even hundreds, of mobs to level up.
‘They are right. Even when shared with the whole party, the amount of XP would be insane.’
Finally, he collected his resolve making a hard decision, “Your Highness, I accept your offer to bring you sacrifices.”
‘I don’t have any obligation to these random players. I have to prioritise the benefits of my own party! Even after the update, this wyrm should still live and keep the faction running, bringing more XP to us.’
“Still, your highness, it will be much harder to convince people to attack you now that everyone has witnessed your immense battle proves.”
