Evolution: A Warlock's Rise To Power

"What is going on?" Lucan asked as he stepped out of the cave in Avalon.

"You are Lucan Quilldrake?" Asked the player that was cursing Alasan. Lucan could see the name floating over his head. Brightboy was a swordsman who was at level 175.

"That is me. Are you the one threatening to destroy my tunnel?"

"So what if I am?"

"Please stand aside and don't get in the way." Lucan said.

"You don't tell me what to do!" Brightboy barked.

Lucan shook his head. "Why are you causing problems?"

"Because you are taking all the NPCs for yourself. How is my guild supposed to operate if everybody leaves town?"

Lucan looked at him like he was an idiot. "Don't you know that the drow are coming?"

"Pshh, I am not afraid. Even if a hundred thousand drow come, I will face them all."

"Don't be a moron." Lucan muttered. "Two hundred thousand drow are coming and you want the people of Baramore to die with you? Is there something wrong with your head?"

"Two hundred thousand…." Brightboy said before trailing off with a dazed look on his face.

"Yes, and the direction they are heading is to Avalon, the capital. If you want to go fight them, be my guest, but is there a need to drag everyone to their deaths with you? If you are these people leader, then go ahead and act like it."

"But I… Our guild…. Sigh."

"Step aside and let these people escape. Don't force them to their deaths with you."

Brightboy had not expected that the drow everyone was fleeing was such a large group. He knew his guild couldn't take on an army that size.

The citizens of Avalon were growing restless. After seeing Brightboy become a bit dazed, they took the chance and pushed past him, surging into the tunnel.

The swordsman didn't react nor did he try to stop the people. His guildmembers were at a loss and didn't know what to do.

Seeing as the people were no longer blocking the entrance, Lucan turned to leave, as he did, some one called out to him.

"Lord Quilldrake."

He turned to see that is was Brightboy that called him. His tone was much more respectful this time. "Are guild is called the Alliance of the Sun, we aren't a big guild but we can hold our own. As the guild leader, I humbly ask that you let us leave with he people of Baramore."

"You want to enter the shadow realm?" Lucan asked while looking the swordsman over.

Brightboy nodded. "Yes, that is what we-."

"I refuse." Lucan said, cutting him off.

"What? Why won't you let us come?" Brightboy asked with a shocked expression as if he had never considered Lucan rejecting him.

"You are troublesome, I don't need troublesome guilds in my territory. You aren't poor, you can go anywhere you want on this continent. Unlike these people here, they can't afford to teleport out of the country."

"We are a midsized guild with over one thousand players. Over half of us are also dedicated to our crafting professions."

"Not interested, I haven't heard anything that is of any value to me. Stop blocking my path and get out of the way."

Lucan used ethereal step and passed through Brightboy who had followed him inside the cave. Lucan stepped into the shadow gate. The swordsman tried to follow him but was rebuffed by the tunnel gate since he didn't have permission to enter.

Brightboy quickly racked his brain to think of something. Yes they could go anywhere, it wouldn't be too hard for them to relocate to a different country. But this was an opportunity to go the shadow realm. The shadow realm itself wasn't the important part, what Brightboy cared about was that it was a different realm. Any realm would do in his eyes. He was most interested in exploring the unknown, it was hard to not be tempted by other planes of existence.

He panicked as he could see Lucan's back getting further and further away. This was a chance to relocate his guild to a different realm, he didn't want to miss it. In the beginning he never had any hopes of fighting against the drow, he had just wanted to make a scene and attract whoever was in charge. But Lucan didn't even play with him for a minute. He got straight to the point and then pushed him aside.

Gritting his teeth, Brightboy shouted out the last thing he could think of. "My guildmates are masters at construction!"

Lucan footsteps faltered as he looked back.

Brightboy shouted again. "I have a division of battle engineers that is made up of water, wood, and earth mages. They can construct buildings from the elements in flash."

The warlock turned around and started walking back towards Baramore. Which wasn't something easy to do, considering all the people were entering the tunnel to head to the shadow realm. He had to use shadow form to slip past everyone. It didn't take long for him ot reach the end of the shadow tunnel.

Lucan stepped out and stood before Brightboy again. "You aren't lying to me?"

"No, of course not. My father owns a construction company in the real world, a few of his managers play with me. They are the one who created the group of battle engineers. It just so happened that they were a great use in the first guild war we fought. After that, half of my guild focused on construction in one way or another. Not all of them can building finely crafted houses, but even the most basic mages on the engineer team can build roads and walls fairly easily with their magic."

"If you are telling the truth, then we have a place for you."

"I promise I am not lying."

"Fine, If you want free passage to the shadow realm, your guild will have to work for a month. Most of these people here are traveling to a city that hasn't been built yet. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, we will help them with the city for a month and you will let us stay their right. This counts as getting approval from the local ruler so we can building our guild headquarters their right?"

"If you work for a month, you can build your guild headquarters there. Once you get to the shadow realm, travel with the others to the Dragon Spine Hills."

Brightboy smiled, he had gotten what he wanted. "Okay, okay, I will head back to our current guild headquarters and pack everything up. We will be over by tomorrow at the latest."

"Go." Lucan said while shaking Brightboy's hand and activating his pact magic. Before the swordsman could say anything else, the warlock turned around and left. He was in no mood to stay and chat. 

"What a waste of time." Lucan muttered to himself. If Brightboy had been around his own level or lower, he would definitely of killed him. That stupid swordsman ended his time with Silent. If he hand not blocked the tunnel to the shadow realm, he could still be in bed with his wife right now. He could be holding her tight, feeling her warmth, and snuggling up under the blankets with her.

***

Sturdy Willow eyed the fortress at the top of the hill. The Willow players were hidden by the formation of their base camp. A mile ahead sat a large fortress on top of a hill. This was a tier three fortress, one tier higher than the fortress that Lucan had already captured.

Sturdy was aware that it wouldn't be easy to capture this place. The Willow B team made up the main fighting force. Most of their levels were around 160 to 180.

Shifty Willow came up beside his boss. He had recently been promoted from the C team to the B team. This was only his second time taking a mission with them and Sturdy from the A team was leading the way. He felt confident about this venture.

"What are your orders boss?" Shifty asked.

"Send out the scout teams. Have them make a full loop around the fortress, and have a couple try to see if they can enter."

"Sure thing, is there anything you want them to focus on."

"Keep an eye out for alternate paths into the fortress. It would be best if we could find a secret passage to the inside, but that is a long shot."

Shifty nodded. Finding a secret passage to the inside would be great, but it wasn't realistic. If they could find it so easily it would not be a secret passage.

Shifty returned to the scout team and passed along the order. Over 50 players turned invisible as they entered stealth and crept towards the fortress.

The players in the base camp were starting to get antsy, it would not be long until the real fight started.