Infinite Realm

*Vroosh*

With a strange wormhole-like sound, a blue portal appeared somewhere on the 10th floor. A group of players slowly began to exit the gate with a few of them having some dent marks on their armour, and some having red blood splashed all over theirs like a trademark design. The air around the entire crew was like a unit that had just gone through a devastating battle but none of them had any complaints. On the contrary, as they all walked through the portal and appeared here, they had an expression of pride with joy lit up on their faces.

"Finally. We've made it." The young man in blue mage gowns who stood in front said with a contented expression. 

He was Azure Dragon, the guild leader of Emperor's Might subdivision in Black Rock province. The players behind weer all the members of the guild selected for the raid.

Though their adversaries, back on the 9th floor, were three peak Special Elite level 9 Guardian Golems, Azure's team totalled 24 players, and every one of them wasn't a noob in VR gaming. They were all pro-gamers with quite a number of Experts among them. Facing the monster trio that had defeated quite several players, the 25-man team stood their ground and were able to defeat the Guardian Golems without any sacrifices.

"Ore, what is the location of the other teams according to our intel?" Azure Dragon asked without turning back.

Ore, who was the lead [Assassin] in this mission as well as the head of their intel division, replied, "I'm still trying to fetch more info from some of our spies but the majority have confirmed that no other guild has made it this far. 70% of them are still yet to make it to the 8th floor while just a minority have recently stepped foot on the 9th floor."

"What about Battle Wolves?" Azure Dragon asked with a solemn expression.

In this contest, the guild's greatest opponent was the 1st tier guild that lorded over Black mountain town, Battle Wolves. Unlike the other guilds' teams, the Howling Wolf Battalion was made up of former military personnel, prospective personnel as well as trained units and ex mercenaries. This meant that when it came to organization, cooperation, and collective battle strength, they were one step ahead of other 1st tier guilds and could even rival some super guilds in this regard. Together with the fact that they had completely migrated over to IR and set their main base in Black Mountain town, they were truly a force to reckon with.

"No info yet but last I heard, they were at the 9th floor roughly the same time as us." Ore said with a careful tone.

The entire place became quiet as Azure Dragon didn't reply a word, seemingly in thought.

"We're still quite some distance away from the centre." Chesces suddenly spoke up as he surveyed the area. He said so not only to wipe out the awkward air but also because he noticed something strange.

"Also, the entire place feels…different."

Just as Chesces spoke up, the entire group began to check out their surroundings, and those who had been here before realised what he meant. At the spot that was supposed to be the centre of the entire floor, a mountain stood there like a towering monument. To those who were coming here for the first time, this seemed nothing special. But to those who were here during this first run, like Chesces, Azure dragon, and so on, the mountain was a new addition.

"It doesn't really matter for now. Our target is the Kobold King. Only once it's slain can we then check out the entire place." Azure Dragon said.

"Let's go. We have to find a nice spot for camping."

It was already a known fact that the 10th floor was riddled with kobold guards. If the group got accidentally spotted and their position revealed, they would face the hunt of the Kobold King and its legion. However, they still had to be close to the centre to monitor the movements of the kobolds as well as gather information on their collective strength. Hence, they had to find a secluded spot that wasn't far from the kobold settlement but it also had to have an escape route for them just in case they get spotted by the Kobold King. In summary, their goal no was to find a recluse spot with a tunnel exit that was usable by players.

"At the very least, we landed at a nice spot." Chesces said.

The Exit gate that brought the team over had appeared in a remote location on the 10th floor; close to the boundary of the floor. This area was devoid of any kobold guards so the team didn't need to worry about their safety nor the chance of their appearance being revealed.

"True, but we're still some distance away. Let's get going." Azure Dragon replied.

"Ore, you lead Tawaki, Ares, Riley, and Latte with you to form the scout team. Black Tempest, you lead the vanguard with Monolith and two attackers. The rest would set up Formation 3: exploration style. Let's move."

Per his commands, the entire team took up the roles that had previously been assigned to them. Ore lead the scout team away from the group, keeping a steady distance of 120 metres between them while Black Tempest and the 3 others kept a distance of 60 metres, staying right in the middle of the two teams. This way, he could provide support to Ore's team till the main team arrived, just in case they got ambushed, and the main team could provide support for him in case the same happened to his squad.

The team then began their journey towards the centre with steady steps. They had already accomplished their goal of reaching the 10th floor before any other team so all they had to do now was wait for the other guilds to make it this far. Then they could officially begin the raid right after teaming up with them.

15 minutes into their walk and the team got a report from their scouts in front. They had spotted another group.

"Another group?" Azure Dragon had an unsightly expression on his face.

"Who are they?"

"From their gait and formation, I'd say, Battle Wolves.." Ore sighed.