Outside the PVP tower… Most of the crowd that was there earlier had now completely dispersed.
A few groups of players were still standing around and looking at the tower longingly, but the majority had either gone in to climb the tower through the main PVP route or moved away from the area to do some other quests.
But at this time, suddenly something strange happened. Four giant squares appeared outside the tower, floating mid-air magically without support of any kind.
These squares were also not normal. They were special reflective squares that glowed brightly and as this glow decreased, images started flashing on these four things.
A second later, everyone could see these images properly.
GASP!
All the players standing around the tower were instantly stupified. The tournament was being telecasted!
The special PVP tower tournament was actually being telecasted on these giant squares! All the players standing around started huddling together and watching this scene.
News started spreading quickly, and more players arrived on the scene.
Then something even more unbelievable happened. The betting opened up to all the players currently in the vicinity of the tower!
This was like jaggery to the flies, and all the players swarmed the tower once again.
They didn't have to enter it, so everyone squeezed themselves into the crowd somehow and stood around the tower.
They clamored and clawed in using whatever means necessary peeling their eyes open for the events on the big square.
Free gold was not something easy to come by! So all the players discussed the event and analyzed it under a microscope as if their life depended on it.
"What is happening in the tournament right now? Who is winning? Who should I bet on?"
"What the hell? Wasn't this some sort of PVP event? Why am I seeing a white fox in the square?"
"Look! There are dire wolves, tigers, fox, bear, woah… wait a second… wait a second." The person panted and then continued, "IS THAT A FREAKING DEATH KNIGHT!"
As one by one, the faces of the various mounts started flashing on the four big squares, all the players were dumbstruck, trying to understand what was happening in the tournament now.
But the news broke out soon enough. "Hey! I heard from my guild seniors! The round currently going on is a mount race round!"
"What? A race between mounts?" Many players' faces immediately brightened up as they realized that this was a betting gold mine. Sure, players were complicated, but mounts were not!
It should be easy enough to spot weaklings and strong mounts and bet on them, winning the jackpot! This was a ridiculous round made just for them to win gold coins!
This sudden development shocked everyone, but at the same time, all the players began working very hard, forming guild groups and alliances and discussing all the information that they could get their hands on.
This information reached the players inside the tower as well, the ones currently standing on the tournament floor.
Things started snowballing, and soon someone had made a full list of the mounts participating and which guild it could potentially belong to.
This list instantly became a hot commodity and started selling for several gold coins. Many guilds invested and purchased this list and started reselling for cheaper. Soon almost everyone had it, and the players started gossiping about the best odds.
"YOWZA! Look at that! The Gresh Kingdom's top three guilds have 20 slots among the 50 slots! This is insane! Just how powerful are they! Other guilds only have one or two slots."
"What? You didn't hear? It seems in the previous round, the two of the top 3 guilds cooperated by forming an All Star team. This tournament's winner is already decided."
"Yes. Yes, one of the players from Dragons of Justice, Devil's Advocate or War Brothers is going to take the win for sure."
"Well, this round the players are not important. We need to pay more attention to the mounts. Let's see what's the best mount from the top three guilds of the Gresh Kingdom."
"He He, why are you being vague? Bro Roger has this win in the bag! Look at that six winged lion!"
"Right. Right. All the other mounts are stupid standing next to our guild master's lion!"
"Fuck! Who the hell brings dire wolves to this tournament? Idiots! What a waste of an opportunity! If I had the chance, I would have had the common sense to get a better mount beforehand."
As the four giant squares flashed all the mounts one after the other, revealing dire wolf after dire wolf, a small fox, a panther, and two ugly looking bats, everyone became even more convinced about their decision.
Many guilds almost decided their bets. The black sparrow and the white tiger were slightly concerning, but the lion stood out the most.
And as far as the huge death knight, some guilds decided to bet on it, but many decided against it because the size was not the only thing that mattered. The huge thing could be slow for all they knew.
But at the same time, the thing looked terrifying and powerful so it could also be a very good bet. This decision was confusing.
It was either the six winged lion or the tyrannical looking death knight for sure, but the several guilds did not make up their minds yet.
Just then, the attention fell on the other side of the line, and unexpectedly, the entire crowd fell into a huge uproar.
It seemed that the surprises were not over! On this side of the line, there were actually five drakes!
There were five winged drakes, each one a different color and all of them stood majestically.
"What the hell? These players have drakes as their mount? Where is this information in this stupid list?"
"Wait, who are these players? I haven't seen anyone flying a drake in our Kingdom or seen any announcement for that matter?"
"Yes, I also haven't heard of anyone having dragon mounts in the big guilds. Where are these players from? Another Kingdom?"
