Is this really a Game?!

The following couple of days progressed as one would expect.

Reign and his group continued exploring the jungle, sometimes, they would go a bit deeper, and as they did so the dense foliage seemed to thicken, creating an almost impenetrable canopy overhead. The air became humid and heavy with the scent of the unknown. The group moved cautiously, alert to any signs of danger.

As they ventured deeper, the jungle revealed more of its mysteries. Unusual flora and fauna caught their attention – strange plants with bioluminescent properties, and creatures with unique adaptations to the corrupted environment. The group, somewhat used to the jungle at this point, was able to maneuver their way around danger and explore a bit more of the jungle.

One time, they had decided to stay later, and as night fell, and the jungle's atmosphere became more surreal. Strange sounds echoed through the trees, and the group encountered creatures with abilities beyond their previous encounters. The battles were intense, pushing the limits of their skills and coordination.

During one particularly challenging encounter, a massive serpent with scales infused with corruption attacked. Its venomous bite posed a significant threat, and the alliance had to adjust its tactics on the fly. Laura's healing abilities became crucial, countering the effects of the serpent's venom as the others engaged in a fierce battle.

As the serpent's life force waned, it unleashed a final desperate attack, spewing corrupted venom in all directions. The group, however, stood firm, using their combined strength to defeat the monstrous serpent. The victory came at a cost – injuries and fatigue weighed on them, but they were all excited at the rewards given after defeating such a powerful monster.

The monsters that appeared late at night in the jungle were indeed more powerful than those that appeared during the day. They were more difficult to notice, they were very good at masking their presence, and their movement, and some were even able to somewhat hide their soul signature that Reign would use to notice them.

The jungle was much more dangerous during the night thanks to that. The monsters were more sly, they were difficult to track, and were quite powerful. Not all had corruption and those that did prove to be a bit more difficult to deal with.

The power of the gloves that Greenie was wearing proved to be almost useless against those who had corruption, but other powers still worked.

With the days passing, it wasn't only Reign and his team that became more powerful.

Slowly but surely, Tier V individuals started appearing in Doncaster.

The first one outside of the group that managed to become one became quite a surprise, however.

It was Tord, the only survivor of the enemy faction that had once used the warehouse of Jared's base as their main base of operations.

The young man had slowly integrated into Doncaster after finding out the truth and talking to Reign and Wolf. Even though he wished to do nothing else but simply die, after spending some time in Doncaster, and seeing that nobody really pushed him away or discriminated against him, an outsider that had newly arrived, he started working in the town.

At first, he didn't use his power as a Tier III combatant to join a team or anything, he actually started working under a blacksmith, a man in his fifties who had been a blacksmith in the past as well. He had done so as a hobby mostly, but his experience paid off at the start of the game, allowing him to improve a bit faster than others.

Tord worked and worked until one day, the old man had wasted precious material during the creation of a weapon. There was no second material present, and there was not a lot of time to wait as the old man had promised the player who had paid for a sword to be made that it would be done by tomorrow.

Tord quickly found out where the material could be found, which turned out to be the mountain range. He ventured there and returned with a larger piece of ore than the one the blacksmith had used. It would be enough for two more tries.

The old man was happy, but also a bit shocked as he learned that Tord had actually gone to the mountain range and found the ore.

The two talked, and upon learning Tord's true identity, as well as his strength, the old man decisively banned him from coming over to the store for a month.

He had not done that in anger, or because he disliked Tord, but because he truly felt that Tord could do much more and that he was simply wasting his talent and time by being in the story and acting as his assistant.

Knowing that the old smith meant nothing bad and that he was doing it for his own sake, Tord joined a team and started hunting, very quickly becoming one of the most notable and powerful combatants of the territory.

Following Tord in his evolution were Neil, Cameron, Elijah, Magokur, some of Mia's Ice Angels and more.

Right now, Doncaster had 8 Tier V combatants if one was to not count Reign and his team, as well as M'azgara and her monsters.

Together, they had about 30 Tier V combatants in the territory, a huge number that definitely placed them in the top 1% when it came to power in the entire world right now.

With the increasing power of the Tier V combatants in Doncaster, the dynamics of the territory began to shift. The town that was once a safe haven for players now stood as a formidable force in the game world. The Tier V combatants, including Tord and others, formed teams and alliances, each contributing their unique strengths to the collective power of Doncaster.

Reign, observing the growth of the Tier V individuals, realized the potential they held in confronting the challenges posed by the corrupted jungle. The alliance with Ishmail's enclave had proven effective, but a larger force would be necessary to face the deeper, more perilous regions of the jungle.

A meeting was called, bringing together the Tier V combatants and the leaders of the various teams. The makeshift war room, once reserved for discussions about strategy and plans, now hosted a gathering of Doncaster's most powerful players.

Reign, standing at the head of the table, addressed the assembly. "Our alliance with Ishmail's group has been successful so far, but the corruption in the jungle runs deeper than we anticipated."

"You guys have become strong enough to go in the jungle, and there is now enough of you to form a group large enough to stay safe in it." Reign said as he stared at Elijah and the others Tier Vs.

Many of them were leaders of their own teams, but for now, their teams couldn't help them fight inside the jungle, which meant that they would need to go together with the other Tier Vs.

Luckily, many of them had fought alongside each other in the past, so it wouldn't prove to be that big of a problem.

Still, one thing was inevitable, and that was that after about a month or two, many of the currently existing teams would need to be changed as those that were talented enough to reach higher levels without stopping for their body to adapt would no longer be able to work with their old teammates if they wished to progress.

Reign knew it, Wolf knew it, many of the groups knew it, and they were all well aware of what was going to happen later on.

Mia was a part of Reign's group for now, but the Ice Angels were quite talented, and there were already Tier V combatants that had appeared from them, so Reign and the others believed that it wouldn't take too long for more of them to evolve, upon which Mia would be able to go back to the team and fight alongside them once again.

"Here is what we know of the jungle so far," Wolf said as they spread out a map.

The map showed a large portion of the jungle, some of it was explored by them, some by Ishmail, and some were simply mapped by a device that Ishmail had placed in the Enclave, one similar to the one that Eldar had used in the past to gain a better understanding of the areas around the castle.

"The black areas that are placed on the map are the highly dangerous areas that we have gone around, no matter what you do, do not go there, from our understanding, there is either one or more peak Tier V monsters present there," Wolf said as he pointed at the map.

"Here, here, and here, these three areas are pretty much a mystery to us, we didn't go explore them because they gave a wrong feeling us, but none of us, not even Reign, was able to sense anything, which shouldn't be possible, so we believe that a monster that is highly capable of hiding is the one ruling each of the areas."

"These are the mildly dangerous areas, I still suggest you don't go there, and instead, you should keep to the outskirts of the jungle, as for why, you will quickly learn when you enter the jungle."