“Ladies and gentlemen. Today we are gathered for a very exciting announcement regarding Rebel Energy’s partnership with a team in Pantheon Online.” Jay smiled as he gave the opening of his speech. The members of the press fidgeted as they recorded every word he said. “Today, I would like to officially welcome the Ragnarok Pantheon to the Rebel Energy family!”
The crowd grew restless at that announcement. Each of them focused on reporting major gaming news, so they were all aware of Ragnarok and its achievements in the game so far.
“Now, I would like to introduce Ragnarok’s team captain, Exile!” Jay boomed as he glanced at their reaction.
Colt sighed as he walked on stage to join Jay by the microphones. The crowd erupted in disbelief when they understood who they were looking at. Reporters started placing calls to their editors, hoping to be the first to break this story.
“I’m sure Mr Anderson needs no introduction.” Jay smiled as the crowd settled back into their seats. Colt here has assembled Ragnarok without using his fame. Proving that he was always meant for the pro scene. We’re extremely proud to be Ragnarok’s official sponsors.”
Colt studied the reporters as they geared up to bombard him with questions. However, Jay’s speech was not over yet.
“Before we take any questions. I’d like to announce Ragnarok’s official training centre. The team will gather there to live and play together as they make their attempt to conquer the game. Now, any questions?”
The room erupted with reporters trying to get Jay’s attention. Eventually, he cleared his throat before choosing a female reporter in the third row.
“Colt, could you tell us about your departure from Camelot?”
“There’s not much to say.” Colt shrugged before straightening his shirt. “They decided to let me go.”
The reporters burst into an uproar as they complained about the short answer. Many wanted to know if there was tension between him and the other members or if some scandal had happened. However, Colt assured them that neither of those things happened. He went as far as to say that even he did not understand their reason.
Jay looked through the crowd before choosing another journalist to ask their question.
“Colt, what is your plan to win this game?”
huge news, and they were grateful to Rebel Energy for inviting them to be part of it!
“Colt, this is your first time leading a large-scale team. Do you have any concerns about that?”
“That’s a difficult question.” Colt sighed, then shook his head. “Pantheon is unlike any game before it. There are so many variables. Some you can predict, while others you can’t. But, once the team comes together, my officers and I will sit down and discuss with our strategist our plans to move ahead.”
“Colt, who is your strategist?”
“I’m glad you asked.” Colt grinned as he glanced at the room. “Our strategist is my brother, Mike Anderson.”
The room became chaotic again at that announcement. The journalists could not believe their ears. Not only had Colt Anderson started his own team after leaving Camelot. But Mike Anderson had quit Crest and was now serving as his brother’s strategist!
Never before had the two brothers been in the same game, never mind the same team. This was huge news, and they were grateful to Rebel Energy for inviting them to be part of it!
“Colt, this is your first time leading a large-scale team. Do you have any concerns about that?”
“No, I have some great people around me that I trust. I’m positive that by working together we can overcome everything that comes our way.”
The questions and answers continued for some time. Eventually, the event reached the stage where Rebel Energy revealed its teaser products. Colt cocked an eyebrow at the Ragnarok Game Capsule Nutrients. ‘That’s what we’ll be using from now on.’
However, his attention was drawn to the energy drinks. There were five flavours planned, but it was who Rebel Energy chose that surprised him. ‘Exile, Claymore, Winter, Midas and Mikari.’ Colt could not help but sigh when he saw that.
Jay must have rushed to do the Mikari one since Colt only told him about Mike the day before the event. ‘I can’t wait to meet everyone.’ Colt chuckled as he wondered what it would be like for them all to live together. Then his thoughts wandered to how many people would eventually end up on the team if they managed to raise Ragnarok to the highest Tier.
‘There could be hundreds of us by then.’ Colt sighed as he wondered if the training centre had enough space for that. ‘It would be horrible if we have to move building not long after getting this one.’
“Colt! I’d like to introduce you to someone.” Jay beamed as he guided a burly man in his forties over to him. “This is Paul Rueben. We’ve taken the liberty of hiring him as your team’s trainer.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Colt said as he shook Paul’s hand. ‘Every team needs to keep their physical condition in check. I’m glad Jay thought of this.’
“Likewise. So what weapon do you prefer?” Paul replied with a deep voice.
“Sorry, what do you mean?” Colt asked as a confused look appeared on his face.
“Colt, Paul is a weapons expert. He’ll be teaching you all how to use your weapons properly as well as keeping you all physically fit.” Jay chuckled as a glimmer of excitement appeared in his eyes.
“Oh.” Colt’s eyes went wide as he studied Paul with interest. “At the moment I’m using the spear.”
Paul nodded as he seemed to think about something. His green eyes peered at Colt’s figure. “Not a bad choice. I should warn you, what I’ll teach you is based on my experience. I used to be a pro player in the game Coliseum.”
Colt’s eyes widened yet again. Coliseum was one of the first major deep dive games. Players competed as gladiators using only melee weapons. To climb its rankings a player had to become skilled with their weapon as well as add some showmanship to how they fought.
Colt knew that most fighting styles that came from that game were designed to excite the audiences watching it. So they were not exactly realistic since the players could rely on their stats to do things that could not be done in the real world.
“Jay brought me on since you guys have to deal with an audience of your own. I’ve watched the streams, and the battles have been exciting but not memorable, in my opinion. We’ll soon change that. I look forward to sitting down with you and coming up with a fighting style that will be exciting while adding spells.” Paul chuckled as he ran a hand through his short, dark hair.
“Oh, do you have experience with mixing melee and ranged attacks?” Colt asked with curiosity brimming in his voice.
“No, but as long as I know how the spells work and look like, I’ll be able to come up with something that will get your viewers’ blood pumping.”
Colt smiled at that thought. He nodded to Jay subtlely to show that he approved of Paul. It could only be a good thing to bring in a trainer like this for the team. Not only would their fighting styles become unpredictable, but it would help set them apart from the other teams.
“I look forward to working with you, Paul.”
“Yeah, I’ll let you get back to your guests. I’ll see you at seven tomorrow morning. Don’t be late!” Paul chuckled before walking away, leaving Colt speechless.
“What did he mean by that?” Colt glanced sideways at Jay as he watched Paul disappear into the crowd.
“Ah, we’ve already set up your training centre. We were quite lucky. It was used by a medium-sized team until recently when they upgraded. So it already had the majority of things we needed. We’ve just modernised it, and rebranded it.”
Colt trembled with excitement as he heard that. “How long until the team gets here?”
“Three days. You have five days left until you can log back into Pantheon. So I’d use this personal time with Paul well.” Jay grinned mischievously. ｎ𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｃｏ𝚖
“Well, I intend to bring Mike and start living there tonight.” Colt grinned in reply.
“Very well, I’ll send a car to pick you up around eight from your home. I hope you’ll find it to your liking.”
“Jay, how many players can it house?” Colt asked.
“Well, we assumed the numbers would grow. It can comfortably hold one hundred and fifty people. So you shouldn’t have any problems with that for a while.”
“Thank you.” Colt nodded as Jay waved goodbye and walked away to mingle with the reporters and other guests.
‘It seems like we’re finally becoming a real professional team.’ Colt smiled as he wondered how the others would take the strict training. ‘Mike is going to hate this.’ He chuckled as he thought about his brother who was used to sitting around giving orders and having to learn how to fight.
‘Mike and I can discuss our plans before the others arrive. I’ll have to fill him in on the Bargrux situation. I really want to know what he looted and if it can be of use to us.’ Colt scratched at his chin, where some stubble had appeared. ‘Then we need to figure out some good trades to make with Parthus. But I’m betting he will double-cross us at some point.’
‘I wonder if anyone will challenge Harik for the throne of High King… If we can get that, then we’ll have a greater impact on Skardia. That has to happen before another Holy War is launched against us.’
‘But Nar’Kozz has me worried.’ Colt sighed. ‘I’m sure Mike can think of something.’