( Cervantez's POV )
Up till now, Cervantez had not really paid any attention to the non-player characters taking part in the Grand Tournament.
However, the name 'Lin Mu' drew his attention.
An open round qualified NPC just like himself, Lin Mu was highly rated and bore a suspicious resemblance to the name 'Jin Mu' that was adopted by Luke's brother.
Dressed in dark robes, cheered by suspicious looking men in the audience, Lin Mu definitely seemed to be an Assassin that was under training with the Night Guild or was at least affiliated with them.
Her footwork was stealthy, her mastery with the dagger unparalleled, and her agility and combat prowess appeared almost supernatural.
In the round of 128, she was scheduled to fight in the same East Park Arena as Cervantez, with her match scheduled before his. This provided Cervantez a prime opportunity to observe her closely.
Not only did she win her bout with ease; she did so with a grace and finesse that set her apart from even the most skilled members of the DarkSky guild.
Observing her in action, Cervantez couldn't help but feel a mixture of admiration and apprehension, contemplating her potential triumph in the grand tournament as he was seriously unsure of whether or not even he could take her down in a one versus one fight.
'Jin Mu….. Lin Mu…..' Cervantez kept thinking, as although he was not sure, he felt that there was a deeper story to uncover here.
'After logging out today, I'll ask Luke's brother about it-' Cervantez thought as he decided to let go of the matter for now, since he was scheduled to fight next and needed to focus on his bout.
Just like Lin Mu, he too won his fight in a convincing fashion, getting a lot of eyes on himself, including the Night Guild hierarchy that flagged Cervantez as a potential future problem.
With the tournament now heating up, and all the various contestants displaying their worth, the real off-ground battles were about to start now.
From this point onwards, all the promising candidates were sure to be tailed by spies belonging to a myriad different organizations.
Guild spies, Academy spies, Night Guild Assassin's, Royal Capital spies, Duke/ Count/ Viscount spies.
All these different factions were sure to burst into action post the round of 128 and Cervantez was ready for the challenge.
************
( That same evening, the DarkSky guild headquarters )
The mood inside the DarkSky guild headquarters was a complex blend of joy and tension.
Remarkably, every member had triumphed in their bouts in the round of 128, leading to a day free of eliminations for the guild.
Tor, Jex, Cervantez, and Luke all secured victories in their respective matches. Yet, from the moment they left the arena to the time they stepped into the guild building, a lingering sense of being followed cast a shadow over their relief and this unease seemed to be permeating amongst all the guild members.
On one hand, the presence of multiple factions tracking them meant that no single group could launch an overt attack without facing consequences, offering a peculiar form of protection. On the other, the sheer amount of attention was unnerving.
"What next guildmaster? How do we handle being followed by so many people? Also, what are the challenges that we will be facing in the next round?" Jex asked Cervantez, as his question mirrored the overall sentiment within the guild.
"Well, this much is to be expected. All of us belong to the same faction and all of us are performing too well, so naturally there will be eyes on this guild and its members" Cervantez said, as he tried to dispel the fears that the guild members may have.
"No-one can spy on us within this guild building, so we are safe inside here.
Since the guild building does have lodging facilities, we can temporarily all stay here until the tournament is over, after which I expect 90% of this problem to already be solved" Cervantez said with solidarity in his voice.
"There is a history of contestants being hurt by competitors, so the administration provides protection to all candidates that make it to the quarter-finals.
So all we need to do is weather the storm till then.
We still have 3 days of continuous fights left, in the round of 64,32 and16 and all of those fights are a must win for us.
If, and I don't actually mean if, but when….
So when we win our bouts for the round of 64 and 32, we need to increase our vigilance as the probability of us being attacked and taken out will increase dramatically after those rounds.
Ofcourse, we are players and even dying won't completely cripple us, however, in this grand tournament, a loss of gear or a few levels can be the difference between victory and defeat, so we need to be on our toes" Cervantez spoke with gravity as he scanned the eyes of all his guild members.
"We head to the arena together if we are scheduled for the same spot, and back together if we can.
Tomorrow, me and Luke have the same South Park arena while Jex and Tor have East and West respectively.
So I say, Lysa goes with Tor and Cola escorts Jex from this building to the arena and back.
We go straight from here to the arena and back, avoiding small alleys and not walking too close to pedestrians.
Got it?" Cervantez instructed as everyone nodded in understanding.
There was not much they could do against the established organizations within the game at this point, so their best course of action was self preservation.
They could only keep their heads low and weather the storm for now, until the administration offered them legal protection from the quarter finals onwards.
"Alright guildmaster, so what is the challenge tomorrow?" Asked Tor, as he was eager to know the kind of arena they would be fighting at the next day.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the GT Target, good job everyone! ///