New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

During the first round, the only other match that brought the onlookers to the edge of their seats was the one with Khalor, the Necromancer. His onslaught of minions, ghosts, skeletons, zombies, ghouls, and many more, all painted him as an evil player.

Yet, what really depicted him like that was his lack of restraint. When his undead started swarming the enemy players, many times, his allies also got hit.

He didn't even try to stop it from happening, and after his match, he had killed all his teammates. Luckily for them, they were respawned because of his victory.

They angrily shouted at him, as they cursed and threatened, only to be put to silence when Khalor's death knight finally drew his halberd.

But the situation didn't escape the eyes of one angry and hateful Demonoid. When he saw that friendly fire was allowed in the competition, an evil grin crept up his lips.

He had thrown a vengeful gaze at Astaroth, as he started planning in his mind. This was his shot at grabbing the glory. If only he could get rid of this cheating noob at the start of the fight, then he could prove his worth to the rest of the team.

Astaroth felt a brief chill running down his spine, but ignored it. He had been getting glared at by so many players since his match that he was growing a shell.

As soon as the last fight ended, a large timer appeared in the sky. It showed ten minutes, meaning that the teams could take some time to plan their next fight adequately this time.

Of course, any manner of preparation would only work in certain scenarios, and since no one knew their next opponents, it was posturing more than anything to plan the fight.

Morticia walked over to where Astaroth was sitting, intent on having a conversation with him. When she reached him, he turned to her and smiled.

His smile was one that a friend would give you, and it didn't feel forced. It almost threw her off.

She stared at him for a few seconds before snapping out of it.

"Ahem. I have a question for you, Astaroth." She said.

"Do you know-" She started saying.

"The answer is yes." Astaroth replied, cutting her out mid-sentence.

"Wait… What? You don't even know what I was going to ask." She said, confused.

"I know, actually. You were going to ask me if I knew the other four players from the last tier. The answer is yes." Astaroth said, smiling lightly.

"How did you… No, it matters not. What I truly want to know is why are you all so strong, and all have no points from the first phase?" She then resumed asking, after her confusion passed.

"That is a question that is probably burning everyone's mind right now. The answer is simple. We aren't." Astaroth chuckled as he replied.

"What? What do you mean, you are not? We all saw you decimate teams so easily. Especially you and Phoenix." Morticia said, her confusion coming back.

What Astaroth was saying made no sense. He was saying they weren't strong, as if no one saw him kill five players in minutes, in one versus five.

"Don't get me wrong, I am definitely stronger than most players here. I'm saying we are not all that strong." Astaroth then said.

"The reason all five of us won our fights so easily is that the first to go was me. And I used the opportunity to plant the seed of doubt and fear in everyone's minds." He said, waving his hand at the surrounding players.

Morticia looked around and understood what he meant. All the players seated next to them were looking at him like he was the boogeyman.

"The reason the second confrontation went so well for my dwarven friend is also simple. He is an exceptional tank and has a few special skills." Astaroth continued.

"My guess is, he was lucky while levelling, and unlocked some specific skills for him. Plus, the opposing team was so scared of him maybe being as strong as me, they all dived him directly, playing right into his specialty." He added.

"That made it easier for his team to bulldoze the opposition, and they were smart enough to use that huge opening. And that solidified the seed of fear. Also, the conversation I had with him was for that too." Astaroth finished explaining, still smiling widely.

"So, this was all just circumstantial luck?" Morticia asked, baffled.

"Pretty much!" Astaroth laughed.

"But then, what about the other three?" She asked.

"Ahh, that is even easier to explain. Phoenix is a monster of a mage. Athena is probably a professional archer. And I'die just did what any good druid should do. Also, the players already feared them, so that helped." He said, pointing at each concerned player as he named them.

"Okay, I can understand that. But you still haven't explained why all five of you have no points from the first phase." Morticia then said.

"That has a simple explanation, too. We were in a simile dungeon, under the battle map. We were busy killing thousands of monsters while everyone was duking it out." Astaroth said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Slaying monsters, huh? Wait… You said thousands?!" Morticia exclaimed, her eyes going wide.

"Yes, thousands. Around five thousand." Astaroth replied, like it was an easy feat.

He knew it was misleading, since they had been far from easy to kill. But the stronger he looked, the more players would be reluctant to fight him.

While they were having this conversation, Astaroth got a notification that made him smile widely. He had been waiting for it ever since he came out of his fight.

Before he even went to talk to Gulnur, he had used the Soul Cores, and Monster Cores, to send White Death into the evolution process. There was a one-hour duration for the process, and he had hoped it would end before his next bout.

And it has just ended.

*Ding!*

*Evolution process for Spirit Animal White Death completed. Evolution process successful! Congratulations!*