[Bloody Edge: Guys, I may have f*cked up...]
[Cyclone: What? But the timer says we got an additional hour!]
[Bloody Edge: Yes, I am glad I didn't fail my mission. But sadly, I won't make it out alive.]
[Silver Blade: What happened? Didn't Mirage say that it's easier to get out than in?]
[Bloody Edge: Forgive my blunder. Perhaps I enjoyed the show a little too much.]
[Cyclone: Can we do something to help you?]
[Player Bloody Edge has died.]
[Quickstep: Well...]
[Silent Acacia: Damn, how could he make such a mistake during such an important moment...]
[Radiant Shield: Let us not be overly harsh. Bloody Edge accomplished an important task.]
[Silver Blade: You're not wrong.]
[Balm: But we need every single person since the war is so difficult...]
[Bleary Mirage: Please calm down, guys. Edge will be revived after the first wave. Let's focus on the important tasks at hand.]
[Cyclone: Wait a second, there are revives?]
[Bleary Mirage: Yes. After each wave everyone will be revived. Even NPCs can be revived but you need to rescue them in time. But everyone only has three revives.]
[Cyclone: That's good to know.]
[Balm: Yeah.]
After the short conversation the party chat fell silent as everyone focused on their tasks. The preparations were fully underway. Everywhere the NPCs and players could be seen transporting resources. Profession players worked hard to provide useful items. The guild's NPC blacksmith and alchemist offered effects to boost production. Unfortunately, the equipment crated during the war could only be used by NPCs. But the potions and food were also provided to the players.
The head of the town's NPC alchemists provided the recipe for the revitalization potion. However, learning a new potion is not easy. Only two of Dream Avenue's alchemists managed to learn it in a short time. The other gave up and focused on other potions.
The successful alchemists were Dream Avenue's newly recruited intermediate alchemist Flirting Fairy and Balm.
After the first success Balm was smiling proudly. Although she didn't have as much time for alchemy as she would have liked, she was happy that she could prove her talent.
Flirting Fairy, clad in revealing red robes, immediately congratulated the guild leader generously:
"Balm, you are awesome! So talented! No wonder I fell for you!"
"Ehm... thank you..."
Balm smiled wryly. Flirting Fairy was a great addition to the guild, but her character was difficult to get used to. True to her name she kept flirting with the girls in Dream Avenue and no one could tell how much truth her words contained.
Apart from the alchemists the other profession players were working hard as well. Serena was in a large kitchen usually used to prepare meals for the soldiers. Next to her were the fifteen other chefs recruited by Dream Avenue and twenty more NPCs.
They worked at record pace, producing dishes with various positive effects. Boosts to strength, intelligence, agility, or max HP were the most common.
The chefs focused more on quantity over quality as they had nearly five thousand people to feed.
But Serena felt that it wasn't enough! She wanted to contribute more to the guild!
The young girl racked her brain for ideas when she suddenly thought of the revitalizing pond water. On her request a guild member delivered her a bottle before hurrying back to carry resources.
Serena kept up her work while taking sips of the fresh water in between, carefully savouring its taste. Her thoughts spun as she scanned all the ingredients she had available.
Eventually she gritted her teeth. Thinking that it was alright if she skipped one dish to try something she began to prepare various ingredients without a recipe.
The other chefs were somewhat unhappy watching Serena experiment at this important junction but knowing she was Bleary Mirage's sister no one dared to say much.
Serena also knew she had to be successful in order to justify her move. She went through each step careful, cutting the game meat and preparing vegetables. But the most important part was the sauce made from fresh herbs and the revitalizing water.
After more than ten minutes Serena was done and waited for C's judgement.
[Produced: Revitalizing Tender Venison Ragout
Quality: 5 Stars
Effect 1: Increase DEX by 10% for 5 minutes
Effect 2: Regenerate 4% HP and 9% mana every sixty seconds for 10 minutes
Reward: 125EXP; 100EXP for profession chef]
[Congratulations on inventing a new dish. You are free to choose a different name or go with the suggestion. Reward: 5.000 EXP; 3.000EXP for profession chef]
[Congratulations, you have been promoted to intermediate chef.]
Serena's eyes sparkled as the notifications flashed before her. She proudly looked at the large pot containing her own dish. Although creating a new dish was manly possible due to the revitalizing water, which was not available elsewhere, it was still a great accomplishment.
Serrena immediately shared her joy with the other chefs while also messaging her brother, Silver Blade, Cyclone, and the others, who praised her generously.
Liam couldn't suppress a proud smile from forming on his lips. He knew that Serena's new dish was not Insignificant. The revitalization potion produced by the alchemists had a similar effect, but the same effect couldn't be stacked. Taking the potion twice only refreshed the duration.
However, the effect coming from food and from a potion wouldn't count as the same. Both could be active at the same time, providing a recovery of about 7% HP and 15% mana every sixty seconds. This was a great boost for all the fighters.
Unfortunately, Serena would most likely be unable to provide enough portions to feed everyone. Now they had to see if another chef could swiftly learn her recipe and assist her.
Fortunately, two others succeeded and were able to output the ragout in sufficient quality and quantity. If was still not quite enough to provide everyone with a portion but it was a great help for the guild.
Serena's achievement didn't cause any big waves. Everyone was busy with their jobs, working hard in preparation of the war. Cyclone and Balm were glad to see that even tier 3 and tier 4 members were giving it their all.
They felt somewhat bad like the boss of a company exploiting voluntary workers. The two guild leaders vowed to themselves that they would upgrade all the members to higher tiers as soon as their finances allowed it.
A couple of busy hours passed, and the atmosphere turned increasingly tense. The construction of the wall was already completed and the demand for resources slowed down. The players were granted a short time to relax watching as the NPCs made the last few instalments.
Crates with short spears were carried up the wall by burly soldiers who didn't spare any effort to defend their home. On top of the majestic central tower Sephran Greypine was instructing some savvy engineers on how to set up the magical cannon.
It looked different than most players would have imagined. The magic cannon was a purple crystal sitting on top of a circular construct of thin metal beams like a king on a throne. Below that, on the roof of the tower, was a large magic circle which already started storing mana.
Gradually the time for the war to start arrived. Dream Avenue's players gathered below the wall and waited for new orders. Everyone looked towards the core members who stood with Cyclone and Balm as their centre.
The guild leaders didn't waste much time and gave their orders. Most players were to be deployed on the wall. Ranged fighters would attack with everything they got while melee fighters would use the throwing spears. However, if some enemies made it on top of the wall, they had to stop and defend the ranged players.
Apart from the profession players everyone else was needed on top of the walls, no matter their level. With the throwing spears they were guaranteed a minimal amount of damage.
There was no need to worry about logistics as this would be guaranteed by the non-combatant NPCs.
After a while Cyclone and Balm ended their speech with a thank you:
"Before the fight begins, let us say thank you! Thank you for making Dream Avenue what it is now! Thank you for giving it your all in this war! Thank you for being with us! We couldn't have imagined a better guild than this!"
Immediately cheers broke out among the members.
"Cyclone! Cyclone!"
"Balm! Balm!"
"We couldn't have asked for better guild leaders!"
"Damn, who is cutting onions here?!"
"Dream Avenue! Dream Avenue!"
Cyclone and Balm watched the thousand cheering players for a bit, supressing their tears of joy. After a few seconds their friends gently reminded them of the timer.
The guild leaders nodded and told everyone to get to their positions. Fortunately, they invested enough resources in the wall. The massive barrier made of stone and wood boasted a width of five meters and a length of more than a thousand meters, barely enough to hold the 5000 soldiers.
It was separated into ten segments, each with ten million HP. It was an entirely different level compared to the structures seen in guild wars.