( Leo's POV )
Leo was just checking into an inn with Ben when a global announcement showed up on his screen.
[ Global Announcement : Congratulations to player 'DarkEmperor' for establishing the first state acknowledged guild, 'DarkSky' within Terra Nova Online! ]
It was a very interesting announcement for Leo, as it concerned his brother Luke and his adversary DarkEmperor.
He was not shocked that DarkEmperor was successful in creating the first ever guild, but the thought that he might have gotten levels for this achievement made his gut roll, as he immediately checked the ranking leaderboards to see if there was any change-
Only when he did not see any immediate change did Leo sigh in relief as he really did not have energy to keep up with the leveling demands of the leaderboards with the Grand Tournament drawing near.
He was sort of happy that Cervantez named the guild DarkSky, including their pedigree as the Skyshards in its name, however, he was not sure if it was a wise decision or not as if the guild became as big as Cervantez hoped it would, then someday this fame was going to come and bite him and Luke in the ass, that much Leo was sure of.
That aside, Leo already knew that Luke was participating in the grand tournament on Cervantez's direction. That meant that it was highly likely that the two would come face to face with each other, alongside other members of the DarkSky guild.
" I guess I'll see all DarkSky members in the grand tournament, alongside Cervantez and Luke-" Leo murmured to himself, as he moved his attention from the global announcement and focused on reserving a room for a month instead.
Since he was not short on money, Leo reserved the most premium rooms of the inn for himself and Ben as he insisted on paying, assuring Ben that he was rich and could afford it.
Ben found it weird to let his disciple pay, but he did not protest much as despite his excellent strength, in the end Ben was not a 'rich' man and could not afford to buy the rooms that Leo booked for the two.
Quickly settling in, the duo took a total of five minutes to change into more moderate clothing that did not make them stand out from the crowd, with Leo once again adorning the layman's clothing.
They did so, to not stand out from the crowd as they went out to register Leo for the upcoming Grand Tournament, which was the first agenda of the two in the capital.
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Registering for the grand tournament was more or less a very simple process for players.
Regardless of their real life age, all players were eligible to enroll into the tournament, while for NPC entrants there was an age cap of 20 years.
One needed to only show their age, identity and choice of weapon to register for the open category, after heading over to registration centers that were temporarily built all over the royal capital for this week only.
Thousands of young NPC applicants and players queued outside each registration booths, with the waiting time to register reaching an average of two hours for each booth.
Since there was no other option, Leo patiently waited in the queue, however, Ben who did not have such patience tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to follow him, as using 'Vanish' the duo minimized their presence and cut the queue such that they reached all the way to the front with only a few candidates ahead of them.
Leo wisely used the [ Edit Profile Display ] option before joining the queue as he set his display level to [65] and lowered his stats, in case anyone sent detection spells his way.
This was a very wise decision on his part, as detection spells rained down on him when it was finally his turn to register, however, interest in him waned when they realized that Leo was a low leveled player that was slightly under average.
" Please state your name and choice of weapon-" the registration officer asked Leo, when his turn came to register.
" TheBoss, Dagger-" Leo replied in a hushed voice, ensuring that his voice did not propagate to unwanted ears.
Having already mastered ( Mirror World ) Leo had already developed an understanding of how to conceal his voice when needed which came in handy in this public setting as except for the registration officer no-one else could hear his name.
" Please pay a one time entry fee of 20 silver coins-" The booth officer requested as Leo paid him instantly.
" Alright, your first round match will be in two days' time. Should you win, you will have three more qualification rounds before being declared as an official open candidate.
This is your token number and a guide map to your first eliminator round arena, all the best-" the booth officer said in almost a mechanical voice as it was a dialogue she had been speaking for the past three days non-stop and was now bored of it.
" Thankyou-" Leo said, as he and Ben moved out of the line as Ben was impressed as to how Leo was not called out for being a criminal by the authorities.
" Do you really have no criminal background?" He asked, surprised as he expected the booth officer to scrutinize his identity, however, she did nothing of the sort.
" No, I have no criminal record. In Fact I have merit with the government" Leo replied with a grin, as Ben slapped him on the back with joy.
" That's my disciple! It's always good to have them by the balls-" Ben said with a smile on his face as it was a big relief for him that at least of them two, Leo had a shot at living a civilized life.
" Umm master Ben … I have something urgent to take care of in the capital. Do you mind if I join you later?" Leo asked Ben, who stroked his chin and nodded in understanding.
He too wanted to visit his father's cemetery alone since he was in the capital, so it was understandable that Leo wanted some alone time as well.
"It's okay, let's meet at the inn later tonight" Ben said, as he and Leo parted ways.
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/// A/N - Bonus Chapter for hitting the GT Target, good job everyone! ///