Chapter 58: GRB: First Call

I sat on the bed with Lira. Leila and Zela also followed, sitting beside me. The air in the hut was heavy, thick with worry. I asked Lira, softly: "Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help you?" Lira forced a smile, without looking us in the face. "Everything is fine. I’m just a little tired, but I’ll be better soon." Zela, unable to hold back, began to bombard her with questions: "Lira, what happened? What happened during your trip to the forest? Why did you come back so late? Why was there so much blood on your clothes?" Zela gave her no room to answer, one question after another, her voice trembling with anxiety. When Zela finally stopped, Lira only said: "Nothing happened. Everything is fine. I just... got lost," trying to explain her disappearance. But Zela didn’t believe her, continuing her interrogation with a voice full of desperation. "Lira, I’ve known you since we were both born. It’s impossible for you to lie to me. Tell me the truth, I’m your sister. Don’t you trust me, even though we’ve been together our whole lives since we were left alone?" Leila also intervened, with tears in her eyes: "I’m here to help you, too. I’ve always considered you my sisters, don’t leave me out." The tension became unbearable. Lira just looked at the ground as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Seeing her, I knew there was nothing more I could do. It was a moment for sisters. I got up and left them alone so they could talk. I ran toward the guild’s obelisk, seeking to give them space so they could vent freely. I arrived at the obelisk with the Omaishi in my hand, playing with it. Its texture was soft, as if it wasn’t made of stone, but of skin, and it even felt warm to the touch. Although I didn’t know what it was for, I knew that everyone wanted it and that it caused wars between the small clans. Since I had no idea what to do with it, I simply brought it closer to the obelisk in the hope that something would happen. Immediately, a small notification appeared in front of me, resolving my doubts. [Vassal Clan Emblem detected. Do you wish to Absorb it?] [Accept / Decline] The [system] detected it in the same way as my [Temporal Evaluation], giving me the confidence to absorb it. Without hesitation, I pressed "Accept." The fragment floated toward the obelisk and dissolved into the air. Instantly, a new information window appeared in front of my eyes. [Congratulations to the "Hero’s Clan" for winning its first war of conquest] [The clan emblems offered to the altar will increase the guild’s ranking after the GRB] [Time remaining for the GRB: [1 Hour, 12 Min] The message on the screen scared me. With the sudden invasion and Lira’s disappearance, I hadn’t realized that the time for the GRB had already passed, and now I would have to participate without having made any plans. I had no choice but to run to find Manaia. They were still in the food area, arranging everything for the next day, when they saw me arrive, running scared. "Jax, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Are we under attack? Has the demon king arrived?!" Their words scared everyone, who thought we were really under attack and could be killed at any moment. Some even started running in a panic, screaming that they were under attack. Although the scene was comical, I didn’t have time to laugh this time. "Stop...! We are not under attack," I shouted loudly to stop all the mess that had been formed by the misunderstanding. The women stood still and lowered their heads, embarrassed by their behavior. This time I couldn’t help but laugh at seeing all these beauties embarrassed. "It’s not that we are under attack, but it is important. The GRB is in one hour and we are not prepared, I completely forgot about it because of all the chaos. We must gather everyone quickly and prepare to fight." "That’s serious. Zyra, run and sound the alarm horn, we need to gather everyone." Zyra ran out and in a few minutes a war horn sounded. They all arrived one by one; some even had their nightclothes on, which showed off their magnificent bodies, leaving nothing to the imagination. "We have an emergency situation, the GRB starts in 1 hour and we have nothing prepared. We must prepare to fight immediately..." Just as I was talking, a window appeared in front of everyone, floating in the air for all to see. [Reminder of the Guild Ranking Battle 1 Hour remaining] [Welcome to the new guilds that are joining this ranking battle, you must choose a maximum of your best 15 warriors, form a private Guild Alliance and finally, you will be teleported from the Guild altar] [Good luck to everyone, the rewards will be delivered at the end of the battle] Everyone saw that, even the children, and began to whisper among themselves. "What is that?" "A guild? We’re not a guild." "Yes we are a guild, dummy. Mom said the hero formed it the first day, didn’t you see the floating screen? It’s the same one they told us to put up." "A ranking battle... against whom?" "What if they attack us in the village?" "It seems the time to fight has come, girls. Follow me to the altar to prepare. Manaia, I’m sorry to ask you to come to something so dangerous, but we will need a healer who already has her abilities unlocked." "Even if you hadn’t asked me, I would have volunteered to participate. They are my people and I will protect them from whatever comes." "Me too...!" several shouted, and the young children quickly signed up for the fight. "Leader, there are 4 places left. I’m going too!" "I’m sorry, children, you can’t go, it’s too dangerous. But when you are of age, you can come." We all headed to the guild altar and I started looking inside the store. I bought without hesitation a set of level (D) weapons and armor for the ten warriors, for Manaia, and for me. For me, I chose a warrior set with light two-handed swords, as I always used to fight. I started handing out the sets and they all put on their armor and carefully took their weapons. I laughed, since now they really looked like an advanced army. It was a shame that all the sets in total had cost more than 100,000 points, leaving me with only 125, which I used to buy two low-grade healing potions. With my account at 5 points, now I was ready for battle.