Shen Yue, Alex, and the rest of the group promptly arrived at the new building, which stood majestically near the entrance of Yleka City. This building was the new structure dedicated to the teleportation portal network for the Kingdom, and it was immensely crowded.
Especially since the Gresh Kingdom was the talk of the world at the moment because of the impending battle, the whole place was packed full. Players were filtering in and out every second, everyone busily involved in something or another.
And in the midst of this chaos and commotion, Alex and the group also squeezed their way in through the crowd. Luckily, when they entered the main teleportation hall, the NPCs were allowing only the players actually using the network to enter and exit, so the crowd thinned out.
Their chance arrived soon enough, and they entered the inner hall. Almost immediately, a spectacular array of dazzling colored circles came into their view. These circles had strange runic symbols and pulsed with unfathomable power.
"Incredible, isn't it?" The NPC in charge of the teleportation portals walked toward the group. He usually did not chit-chat with scrubs, but Shen Yue caught his eye, and Alex's reputation with the divine temple was also not nothing.
"What happened, good sir? How did these portals get damaged in the first place?" Alex probed. Since she had failed to activate this, she wanted to know who succeeded and how they had done it.
It turned out that they did not have to grill anyone to get these answers. The NPC was more than happy enough to sing praises about the player responsible for this.
"Lord Dallas is a brilliant knight. He single-handedly fought off all the beasts around our ancient formation and repaired the rune stone that provides energy for the entire network."
"Without him, none of our kingdoms would have had these communication and trade networks. We would all be isolated, making it easier for the filthy demons to invade us and slaughter us little by little."
Alex rolled her eyes. Although she was the one who requested it, the NPC simply continued to sing the praises of the amazing Dallas, the great savior of humanity.
'This bastard definitely got instant high-rep in all the kingdoms.' She thought to herself.
He had to have gotten it because Dallas was not a nobody. He was the guild leader of the 'Death Knights', one of the top guilds in the Vozoya Kingdom.
That being the case, someone from the Gresh Kingdom was singing praises of him. This could only mean that the person received tremendous benefit from this quest and possibly a free pass in all Kingdoms.
And looking at the coincidental timing of the guild war and the unlocking of the teleportation portals, there was a high chance that Dallas and this guild were supporting 'Dragons of Justice' or at least they were one of the supporters.
As for how many guilds had truly banded against them, this was something that needed to be figured out. Since these guilds dared to strike them when they were down, they deserved retaliation.
Alex sulked silently as the NPC concluded his lengthy monologue. He then politely reminded her about the nominal teleportation fees, just 5 gold per person.
"The heck?" She blurted out, her brows furrowing together. This was called a nominal fee? Her face twitched as she paid for their group and proceeded to ask the NPC about the Dark Forest garrison.
This was a garrison at the southern border of the kingdom, outside the border, to be more specific. She already did her research and picked out this one among the five or six options available to them.
"Oh, you want to head to our border garrison? All the garrison portals are present on the lower floor. Please take those stairs to reach them."
"Also, beware that this portal is not a 100% secured portal. Dangerous creatures might be lurking on the other side. Good luck, heroes!"
Alex and the others hurriedly did not linger around any longer and hurriedly rushed downstairs. They took the Dark Forest garrison portal, instantly arriving at the designated location.
When the bright light from the teleportation array faded, a huge building sprawled in front of them. Surrounding the building, there were tall trees and unkempt brambles.
"This is the garrison?" Alex sighed in disbelief. They were essentially standing in front of a broken-down place in the middle of a forest.
She knew that the condition of the garrison would be bad, but she didn't know that it would be so bad. Nevertheless, they were here and they needed to get this done.
"Anyone here?" She called out aloud as the group walked inside the gates. Almost immediately, they were pushed back. "An invisible barrier?"
"Yes, it looks like there is an invisible barrier here. Also, I sense several powerful beasts nearby." Asura's hand was already on the hilt of the sword as his gaze wandered about.
Not long after he said that a group of huge white-furred beasts emerged from the dense shadows baring their fangs at them. That too these were not ordinary beasts. They were Level 60 beasts and had strange patterns on their bodies.
Alex had a bad feeling as soon as she saw them. "Watch out." She shouted but it was too late. The fifteen beasts had the group fully surrounded. Then without any warning, they produced sharp metallic spikes on their bodies and no one had to guess what was going to happen next.
"Dodge!" Alex shouted as everyone prepared to do the same.
The beasts were completely ruthless. In a second, every single beast released the spikes on its body and the small enclosed space became a death trap.
At the same time, they also started attacking from the periphery clawing left and right with their big paws and sharp nails. Roar! Roar! Roar!
In an instant the calm, and silent forest that looked deserted became filled with deadly ferocious sounds. Any party assaulted under this condition would have been instantly wiped out. There was simply no chance of escape.
However, this was not an ordinary party. Alex hurriedly activated the defensive spells she had in her possession. Mei Mei started casting buffs unleashing the full power of her Emerald Crown.
While these two held the group together, on the side Asura, Shen Yue and Nathan, the three melee players dodged the spikes coming at them from multiple directions and tackled the beasts with ease.
Asura alone was dealing with five beasts at the same time. Shen Yue took care of three and Nathan took care of two. This immediately reduced the load on Alex who was single-handedly managing five beasts.
While these four took the full aggro of the beasts surrounding them, the others quickly got to work.
Taking a couple of hits from the spikes was not a big deal. The priest Yumi already started casting a group heal. The five ranged players also started barraging the beasts with strong power-packed punches.
All the core members and high council members of the guild had run dungeons together several times so the group's coordination was impeccable.
Within a few minutes, the fifteen Level 60 beasts were brought down without any hitch. The group received a good lump some experience points boost as well.
However, the fight was far from over. This small tussle attracted more beasts to their location. Asura with his keen senses was the first person to warn anyone. "More beasts are coming our way."
"Thanks!" Alex shouted as she gripped her shield and sword. She made the right decision in bringing this group along with her. Now, it did not matter how many beasts come their way. They might as well be free experience points.
"Guys this is our chance to fast level. We don't even have to go searching for these beasts! Let's kill them and reclaim our ranks!" She shouted as she flung her shield at a pair of fluorescent green eyes that popped out of the bushes.
The next horde of beasts had arrived and once again they were Level 50 and above. The group pushed themselves to the limit, fighting in formation.
However, this did not end with the second horde or the third horde. The beasts kept on coming out of the forests and attacked the group relentlessly.
By the time, the last one showed up, they had already been fighting for two hours straight. "Fucking hell!" Alex was furious as she repeatedly smashed her shield on the head of the poor beast.
"Sis, it's ok. We all leveled up at least once. This was a good grinding spot." Mei Mei smiled awkwardly trying to cheer her up.
But no matter what she said, it was true that this diversion had taken a lot of their time. Even Alex was beginning to regret this now.
She had half a mind to simply use the portal back to arrive at the city. This time they did not even have to pay the gold for using it as no one was manning the portal.
She touched the space near the garrison gate and the barrier was still there. No more beasts were coming as well. Alex and everyone else was now at a loss for words on how to proceed.
Finally, Alex shook her head and sighed. "Fine, let's just leave. I am sorry everyone for wasting your time." She walked over to the teleportation portal and barely stepped on it when unexpectedly a middle-aged man appeared.
He was fully geared up and was wearing the tabard of the Gresh Kingdom. "Heros! Wait!"
Alex held her breath, hopefully waiting for the next words coming out of the guy, and luckily for them, it was what they wanted to hear.
"Just a moment. I cordially invite you to enter our garrison; please accept."
Bingo!
"Of course, it would be our honor." Alex grinned.
"Thank you, esteemed Paladin. Thank you, young heroes." Behind the guy, several other similar tabard wearing soldiers also emerged. "We apologize for being unable to assist you earlier."
"Our garrison was not always like this. We used to be the Kingdom's power, fiercely defending our borders. However, after a particularly powerful beast horde ambushed us, our strength had dwindled and our resources dried up."
"These beasts also damaged the teleportation network. So we were unable to get reinforcements from the Kingdom. Using the last of our supplies, we were only barely guarding ourselves."
"And now, thanks to you, some of these beasts have been culled. This is proof enough of your strength and valor. Please, I have a small request for you."
<Ding. New Kingdom Quest Available>
<Ding. Assist and aid the garrison to rebuild and return to their former glory>
<Ding. Reward: Managing rights of the garrison>
