Legacy of the Betelgeuse

Emma and I are at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Emma is piling up her plates with meats and vegetables. I'm on the other hand is looking at my phone and watch the match highlights from Palacetasia vs. Demeanour. I'm curious about Palacetasia Clan because I heard the clan leader is a celebrity and a movie star.

I'm watching the match and they annihilated Demeanour Clan in an hour. They went full force and just charged at the Demeanour Clan because the differences between both clan's forces are 4 to 1. Then as soon as they entered the Demeanour territory, they focused on the crystals and destroyed them. The terrains are totally different from the terrains from Forsaken- Clan and Diamond Clan match. Then I check the other matches' highlights.

Emma is busy chewing her food and then a notification appears from her phone. She grabs her phone to check it. It's a video from Francesca. Emma clicks on the video and it's a video about the strategies for the next match against Supremacist Clan. Since Emma is not in-game, Francesca sends her a video to inform her what's going on in the game since an hour in real-time is equal to a day in in-game time.

Forsaken- Clan is now has a total of 920.000 members. Demeanour Clan and Valkyrie's Wings offered them most of their members to help Forsaken- Clan in the main event since they already got eliminated. Ivonna accepted their offer gladly. William and all his clan members have also joined the clan and will be in Michael and Hans's teams. While Emma is watching the video, I open the official website and see the update on the clan leaderboard.

[Top 10 Clans Leaderboard (Global)]

[1. Supremacist (Aarus) (Lv. 50) (1.725.459 Members)]

[2. Palacetasia (Aarus) (Lv. 50) (1.196.432 Members)]

[3. Neutrality (-) (Lv. 50) (1.082.162 Members)]

[4. FlameGuard (Aarus) (Lv. 50) (974.644 Members)]

[5. Forsaken- (Alliance) (Lv. 50) (921.078 Members)]

[6. S.E.A. (Aarus) (Lv. 50) (860.927 Members)]

[7. Diamond (Eluna) (Lv. 50) (792.759 Members)]

[8. Cloud Veil (Eluna) (Lv. 50) (747.813 Members)]

[9. Black Shadow (Eluna) (Lv. 47) (729.166 Members)]

[10. Uninvited (Aarus) (Lv.50) (700.192 Members)]

I look at Emma and she's too focused on the video that she forgets about her food. Then I look at the time and we only have an hour before the next match begins. I wave at her and she looks at me while raising her eyebrows. I tap my wristwatch and she looks at the time on her phone. She immediately chows down all the food. After she's done eating, we leave the buffet and go back to my house.

We log in to the game. Ivonna and the others are still on the roundtable discussing the strategies. Emma and I sit down at the roundtable and join their conversation.

Michael is resting his head on his fist.

"I have seen the other matches and the terrains are totally different. If there are too many vast fields then like it or not, we have to face them with full forces."

Grisell is eating a snack.

"Are you sure about that? Our force differences with theirs are 2 to 1 though."

Michael is pointing at Ivonna.

"We have Ivonna. We can make it down to 1 to 1 in the first few minutes. She can hold off their damages for us."

Francesca is scoffing and looking at Michael.

"What makes you think they won't burst her down in the first few minutes? They must have seen her skills in the qualifier matches. They will be focusing on her in an instant as soon as the match begins."

Leonardo is nodding in an agreement.

"Francesca is right. The chance of them killing Ivonna in the first few minutes is pretty high. No players in this game that as good as her when it comes to tanking. This isn't the same as back then. So many players have high burst damage now. We don't want to risk Ivonna's life just for that. We need a better plan."

Hans is sighing and leans on the chair.

"No matter what our plan is, Ivonna is their first and primary target. If we protect her, we will lose a lot of forces. If we don't protect her, she's going down pretty quickly and when that happens, we will lose a lot of forces afterward."

Everyone is leaning on their chair and some of them are scratching their heads. Grisell is munching her snack while looking at everyone.

"You guys want me to use it for this match? It's the only way if we want to win this match."

Everyone is looking at Grisell. Only Emma, William, and I are confused with her statement. Ivonna leans on the table and looks at Grisell.

"How long it can last now?"

Grisell is looking at her skill screen. Then she lifts 6 fingers.

"It can last for 2 hours now."

Ivonna is humming with understanding. Francesca looks at Grisell.

"How much it cost for each party?"

Grisell is looking at Francesca while chewing her snack.

"10 Gold coin."

Now I understand what they're talking about. It's a skill that can be obtained when a player has been forging for more than 10.000 pieces of equipment. It's a skill called [Gold Coating]. It's a skill where the player spends a specific amount of Gold coin to coat the party members' equipment in gold. What it does is to increase the amount of ATK and DEF value of the equipment by 2 times for a specific time and with no cooldown since it requires gold coins to use.

Francesca then looks at Ivonna. She tilts her head.

"So? Want to use it?"

Ivonna is staring at the table and taps on it with her fingers.

"Is that the only option we have? If we use that now, I can't guarantee that it will work for the second time. We are talking Supremacist Clan here. If we win in this match, we are going to fight them again in the final match because they will win against all the clans from the lower bracket. If we lose and we go to the lower bracket, they will know about this as well and they will prevent us from using it."

Michael is sighing while rubbing his face.

"This is so frustrating... We don't have any other solutions for this. I say, let's do it. Let the future us handle the problems of that matter."

Francesca is raising her eyebrows in agreement while looking at Ivonna. Ivonna is looking at the others and they all do the same thing. Ivonna nods and looks at Grisell.

"Alright, 10 Gold for each party, right? Let's gather all the members. We have to ask every each one of them to give us 500 Silver coins for this since the max party member is 20 players."

They all nod and then leave the roundtable. Emma and William are looking at me with confusion. I smirk and explain to them what that was all about. They both then humming with understanding. Then we follow them to the clan hall.

After all the online members gathered in the hall, Ivonna started to explain the strategy to them. Before she asked for their silver coins, Ivonna demonstrated the [Gold Coating] skill in front of them. Grisell tossed 10 Gold coins up in the air and it melted and flew towards Ivonna's equipment and coated them. Ivonna's equipment started to glow with gold color. They all looked at her and nodded with understanding. Then Ivonna started to inform them that they all need to spend 500 silver coins for that skill. They all nodded and gave their coins to Grisell.

After they all gave the silver coin to Grisell, Ivonna started to form the party. Each party left a spot for Grisell to join their party tomorrow in the arena. Ivonna told them to not leave the party until the match is over. Then everyone left the hall after Ivonna dismissed them to prepare for tomorrow's match.

We are on our way back to the roundtable, suddenly a screen appears in front of me.

[Affinity towards Trevor increased by 10%]

[Jariel Scarlettblood (100%)]

[Your bond with Jariel Scarlettblood cannot be broken!]

I raise my eyebrow while smirking. I stop and look at every one.

"I'll be right back."

I immediately leave and go to Fjel town.

I enter the pub and there's a player sitting at the counter with a glass in his hand. A black-haired guy wearing a white long sleeves shirt, black pants, and boots with daggers on his waist. I walk to the bartender and stand next to that guy. The bartender is smiling at me then I order my usual drink. The bartender goes to the back to make it. I look at the player from the corner of my eyes. A red eyes that are staring at nothing. He looks so messy even his shirt is unbuttoned. He then stands up and chugs the rest of the drink.

He clears his throat and looks at me for a split second with his blank expression.

"That's a nice outfit you got there."

He then leaves the pub. The bartender is back with my drink. I look at him and tilt my head toward the door.

"New customer?"

The bartender nods then he looks at me.

"What a coincidence. He wants to see you."

I nod and bring my drink with me. I open the hatch and go downstairs. Jariel is sitting on his favorite chair while smoking. He looks at me and grins.

"Perfect timing. Here, take this."

A screen appears in front of me.

[Congratulations! Jariel Scarlettblood has passed down his unique skill to you!]

[Congratulations! Unique Active Skill: [Temptation Lv. Max] has been learned.]

[Temptation Lv. Max: Absorbed 25% of the status value of the target and transferred its value to the player for 10 minutes. It will not work against a target with a higher level than the player. Cost 200 stamina. Cooldown 2 hours.]

I'm surprised and look at Jariel with disbelief. Jariel is smirking and chuckling.

"I'm too old to use that skill. With a face like that, this skill suits you very much."