Eden felt the cold sweat trickle down the back of her neck. She had a sense of fear that suddenly crept in. Her ears were filled with the sound of her heart rate that was pounding like she ran a marathon already. Was this the survival instinct that cornered animals feel when they are being hunted? Eden asked herself. Her body was moving before she could process what was happening. She was already leaping into the air towards a nearby boulder, then hopped of it right after landing. She was running to create distance. She heard a loud bang and a crumbling sound. She didn't have to turn around to know that the boulder was being crushed into small pieces. Eden was at the entrance of the woods when she heard a whistling sound to her right, she shifted quickly and an ax flew past her cutting down trees in its path. Eden dove into the woods quickly and leaped onto a branch. She kept jumping from branch to branch hearing the noise of the trees falling down that followed her. She arrived at a waterfall and before she could climb she felt her body being hit on the side of her waist. Her oblique muscle felt on fire. The impact caused her to fly through the forest as her body hit trees on the way. Eden felt like a rag doll he was playing with. She coughed up blood as she tried to push herself off from the ground. Her armor cracked and fell of her from the impact of the man's kick. With every step he took the ground would shake. This is karma for all the lives she has taken so far, Eden thought. Then a flash of her castle being pillaged and the future of her alliance crossed her mind. Eden weakly got up and said to the man, "Is this all you got?"
The man amused by Eden's sudden change of demeanor paused for a moment and laughed. Just a few seconds ago she was running like a scared cat and was already in poor condition. He was so upset that everyone wanted him to hide and use him as a trump card until the second day, but he agreed only to stop the complaining. He didn't even bother looking for a specific opponent. Just anyone who was in his way. He let out a loud laugh. "You're already in such poor condition, what can you possibly do? Your army is fighting mine and I can feel you are grasping at straws," he said amused. Eden covered her mouth as she coughed, then saw the blood on her hand. "I can feel them still fighting," replied Eden as she drank a healing potion. She knew she couldn't use a shield like before because she had a cool down time of 5 minutes. It's only been two minutes. She had to survive for 3 more minutes because her army's strength was connected to hers. If she fell, her army could not be recovered. Eden took out a blue crystal and dropped it on the ground to stomp on it. It broke into a powder that rose from the ground and surrounded Eden. The man smirked and asked, "What do you think a power boost is going to accomplish?" Eden's eyes glowed and she said "a second chance to protect my people." Just then she charged at him and yelled "Equip dragon gear, fire breath." Her body glowed until she was in red armor made of scales. Her gold sword now looked like it was on fire. Eden swung her sword at the man with all her strength.
The clinking sound of metal could be heard. The man just stood in one place and swatted away each strike like if he was swatting a fly. Two minutes left, Eden thought, I need two more minutes. The man chuckled at every attempt. Then he grabbed the sword off Eden's hands and threw it to the side. He picked her up by the throat and said, "Do you think I don't know what you are doing?" the man asked and chuckled a little before continuing, "You're weak, but you still have the audacity to fight. You would have done well with our server, but you lucked out. Don't worry, I'll make it quick. Eden wasn't going to give up just yet. She threw a transportation bottle on the ground. As the world around them shifted, the man became a little disoriented. Eden noticed his grip slightly loosen. She teleported them a few more times until his grip was loose enough to push herself away from him with her feet. She landed on the floor gasping for air and quickly turned about. The man took the ax he had around his waist and raised it to strike her before she moved again. Eden then yelled, "Erza, be my shield." Erza uncloaked right in front of Eden and emerged with a sword made of light blue crystal and shield made of silver material. The man couldn't stop himself because his arm already had the momentum to strike. Upon contact a forcefield emerged from Erza that shocked the man with electricity and blasted him back.
"You tricked me into taking me to a stronger opponent. I lost the respect I had for you," said the man with a solemn face. He then threw the ax at Erza, who's force only blew it back. He frowned. "What is your name?" he asked Erza who only stood there staring at him. Eden's consciousness was fading. She knew the man was trying to talk to Erza, but Erza doesn't talk to anyone but her. Eden noticed she was able to activate her shield now. She let out a sigh of relief and activated it. She was safe, for now. Before she closed her eyes, she saw the man circling her and trying to talk to Erza. Stupid guy, he won't know right away. Eden fell asleep.
Eden woke up an hour later from the pain she felt on her body. Breathing was painful and the only way to recover fully was to visit her infirmary at her castle. She tried to get up, but her muscles gave out. She figured she would have to teleport back to the castle and recall all her troops. She wondered if they were fine and if the shield managed to save some of them. Her opponent was extremely strong and it felt like it was out of her server's league. Eden was deep in thought that she didn't notice that the man was still there observing her as he sharpened his blade. The sound of the blade being sharpened hurt Eden's ears that she turned to look in hesitation.
"What is she?" asked the man and continued to sharpen his ax. There was a pause before he continued to talk. "She is not a member of your alliance. She isn't wearing your emblem anywhere and only members are allowed to stand within your protected shield. So what is she?" he asked as he set his sharpening tool down and used his ax to lean on while he listened. Eden stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about the possible outcomes of answering his question. No one in her server knew of her discovery yet and if the information would get out before she is ready to share, she would look bad. Then again she would be giving the enemy a tool to use and extort to win. What about lying about what she is? I know that there are spirit monsters players can get, but most of them are obtained during an event or difficult challenge. She would have to be extremely strong to get something like Erza that had unknown power. "Did I break the bones in your throat that you can't speak?" asked the man annoyed. Now Eden really doesn't want to answer, but then her alliance members would feel left out if this information was spread out like this. She meant to tell them eventually, she just wanted to trust them first. " Fine, what I meant to say is, your realm is new and even though you are weak, you have found a way to make up for that weakness. I am willing to bet that maybe the rest here haven't found out what you have because you keep her hidden. How about in exchange for keeping your discovery a secret, you at least give me a hint." Eden stared a bit more and then asked, "Where is your guide?"
With an amused look on his face he perked up a little and sat up straight. He pounded his chest and said, "here." Eden furrowed her eyes in confusion. The man chuckled a little. "My guide was removed from me by the creators of these worlds. Once you reach a certain academy level, they take your guide away, but allow you to keep a trait. Since my guide was a giant, I was able to keep the giant's strength and enlarge at will during battle to half its size. Something you haven't unlocked at your level." The man scanned Erza who was still standing guard over Eden. He smiled and said, "Your choice is different. I haven't seen anyone choose a human type of guide. Actually, I think it's unheard of." He then opened a flask and gulped the liquid that burned his throat. Then he continued to say "No one figures out how to utilize their guide until the war of worlds. That is when your guide's consciousness is released because it feels its world's energy through the portals. Then the quest to unlock its true potential begins." Eden had a tear fall from her right eye. Erza, she was a prisoner just like her. Except she didn't have her conscious mind. How cruel. Eden's chest swelled and she felt her throat close up. The man stared at Eden in silence. He thought to himself, to think that after days of war and killing others ruthlessly she still felt something. This place was designed to bring the worst in people and entrap them. The strong ones stay to defend and protect or continue the cycle. Does she still believe she can go home, he asked himself. "If you conquer the enemy throne, you will get the option to go home," he said knowing that the human servers were always matched with stronger opponents and winning was almost impossible. "What is the other option?" Eden asked while looking up at the sky. "You stay and watch your decree be fulfilled in that realm until your term is complete," he replied. What becomes of you if your throne is conquered?" ask Eden. "We stay prisoners until another war of worlds that happens annually," the man said with a sad look on his face. "Have you already gone through that?" asked Eden. "No, that is what Ethan told me when he first regained his consciousness. He was a prisoner of war and," the man paused before saying more, "there's things that I rather not share. Why are you concerned about the prisoners if you will be home by then?" he asked as he remembered why he brought up going home. "Because, I don't want to leave anyone I care about behind," said Eden as she looked at Erza's back. "You have a lot to work on before you can even consider taking the throne of an enemy. Taking your realm's throne is different, there are only rewards and meeting requirements. When I was king, I was only given the options to gift rewards, issue titles and make server rules. You can only be king once," said the man.
Eden worked up the strength to get up and said, "I'm going to go be King someday." She was in pain but her determination was stronger. Erza's eyes lit up with small lightning branches. Eden couldn't see the effect her words had on Erza, but the man noticed. He nodded in approval. Then the man said as he turned to leave, "I will let you leave without defeat. I think I can find another opponent, maybe not as interesting, but there's plenty of targets to play with here." Eden asked quickly, "What's your name!" He yelled in reply, "Odin!" Then he took off.