New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Although both Phoenix and Astaroth were going there for an official function, they wanted to have clothes that would both represent their title, but also seem ready for business.

They both had a feeling that if they showed up looking too pompous, it would only play against them. One way or another, they could re-equip their gear at any moment.

But that would only come as a last resort.

Once they were ready, they also had to go through whoever wanted to join the party.

Phoenix had seen the quest and the amount of people who accepted it.

"You forgot to set a limit of people who can join. We can't possibly take almost eighty players with us. Themiscus will see it as a provocation," she stated, as they headed to the palace entrance.

"I know. But there is a reason I didn't put a limit. You'll understand when we get there."

As the pair exited the palace through its large wooden doors, they ended up facing a little army of players, all of them waiting in the plaza before the palace.

As soon as they had accepted the quest, the guards at the inner gates saw a list with names, growing, that had to be led to the palace plaza. So the players present had all been escorted there and were still being kept in check by the Royal Guards.

Astaroth clapped his hands loudly, adding a bit of mana to the strikes of his palms, so the sound would be louder, until he caught everyone's attention and they quieted down.

"Alright, folks. Thank you for accepting the quest in such great numbers. Now, I know most of you wonder why so many people were allowed to join the quest. Let me enlighten you."

He started walking down the steps slowly, making a dramatic pause. He could feel the excitement rising in the players' midst.

"I will not need all of you for this trip. Only twenty-one of you will be joining me and the Phoenix, along with the Royal Guard's commander."

A few murmurs of disappointment echoed in the crowd.

"But fear not, none of you will be turned around. Once the players who will join us have been selected, the remainder of you will stay here, training, and staying ready to act at any moment."

Saying this, Astaroth scanned the crowd with his eyes. He could see the looks of confusion amongst them.

"We don't know how it will go where we are going, and I don't want to be caught with my pants down. I want a troop ready to come to our aid. Of course, the people staying here will not get the item reward, unless we have to call on them. But you will still get the gold and Exp, just for being ready to act."

The looks of confusion were replaced by jovial smiles. The prospect of lazing around the palace plaza, and train without danger, and still getting gold and Exp, sounded almost too good to be true.

One player raised his hand, and when Astaroth looked at him with a chuckle, he realized he looked like a kid at school. Lowering his hand sheepishly, he asked a question.

"Can we willingly stay here instead of joining you on the trip?"

Astaroth looked at him and smiled toothily.

"Of course you can."

The man started smiling. A smile that soon disappeared as Astaroth continued talking.

"But if you do, I will consider that you never really wanted to join on this quest, and you will get no reward at all. Does that sound fair?"

The player gulped as he nodded slowly.

This made everyone present understand that the choice was not theirs. Either they wanted to join the team, and couldn't, or they didn't want to join, and got no rewards.

Phoenix grinned at how Astaroth handled the matter.

'Not bad. Of course, many players were brought here with the prospect of easy Exp.' She thought.

Some of them would much rather stay here and laze around. Making them understand that without the willingness to put themselves on the line, they would go home empty-handed, set them all back into the right mindset.

Nothing was free in life. Why would New Eden be any different?

Seeing as he got everyone in the right mindset, Astaroth clapped his hands again.

"Alright! Let's get all of you sorted out. I want five lines formed right now. Starting from my left to my right, I want a tank line, a healer line, a mage line, a melee line, and finally, a ranged line."

The players started spreading out, forming hasty lines on the plaza. The split he got did not surprise Astaroth.

'As I thought, more melee players and mages than any other roles. Good thing I don't need many of the other groups.'

Astaroth wanted to scan the players, to determine their levels, stats, and gear, but at the same time, he didn't want to be here all day.

Since gear often exuded mana, the higher grade it was, due to the materials that went into their crafting, Astaroth went about it in another way.

Activating his mana vision, he erupted in a pulse of pure mana, making it latch onto everyone's aura. This allowed him to gauge their power levels roughly, through mana emanation alone.

The mage players felt the mana pulse pass through them, and a few of them became pale, as they felt the raw power coming from it, and imagined the level of control it took to do this. As for the less magically inclined, they felt like they were being scanned and ignored the sensation.

Given that players scanned almost everyone they crossed paths with, they could hardly complain when someone did the same to them.

Now that he saw the aura of everyone, Astaroth started picking out people mentally, not saying anything yet.

But as he scanned through everyone with his gaze, he noticed a player in the tank line, who was shining almost as bright as the mages. This caused him to pause.

'Is she a magic tank, or is she simply geared in excellent gear?' he wondered.

Deciding to find out, he walked toward the human woman, wearing gleaming armour of gold and silver, with a weapon that was exuding a visible glow.

When she saw the guild leader walk toward her, the woman smiled widely.