The players from Sleeping Gardenia were startled by Mariposa's hurried actions. For some reason, their guild leader seemed to be in a hurry and left without explaining anything to them!
However, how could Mariposa afford to sit idle after hearing Izroth's words? If what she believed he meant was true, then it may explain what happened between Izroth and Blue Oasis. But, more importantly, she had to hurry back to Amaharpe!
As soon as Mariposa was outside of the raid, she immediately used a high-quality Returning Scroll to teleport directly back to Amaharpe. Fortunately, she had not used a Returning Scroll in the last 24 hours; otherwise, she would have had to journey to the nearest capital city on foot! Even at she moved at her top speed, it would take her somewhere between half an hour to an hour—that was not time she could afford to waste.
After Mariposa took her leave from the raid group, the members of Sleeping Gardenia could not contain their festive spirits. When the World Announcement officially sounded, the reality of it had thoroughly set in. Not to mention, Izroth was kind enough to give the raid leader position to their guild leader before she left so that it displayed her as the party leader! With this, Sleeping Gardenia's name would forever be remembered in RML as the first guild to clear a raid.
Though, of course, they knew that none of this would be possible if it were not for the owner of the Mystical Realm Palace. In fact, many of the Sleeping Gardenia players had begun to eye Izroth in a more than friendly manner. Since he was the owner of the Mystical Realm Palace, he did not lack wealth and influence. But, after seeing the way he completely dominated the raid using an overwhelming show of force, they knew that his future in RML would reach the pinnacle.
Unfortunately, none of them dared to make a move on him. After all, even though Zi Yi denied it, they all still believed that Izroth was her man. This caused a look of disappointment to flash in the eyes of the Sleeping Gardenia players.
'I have quite a few messages to go over.'
Izroth was viewing his system logs and noticed that he received a flood of messages from players such as Ewan, Mirage, Metronome, Worldly Skies, Gu Chao—and these were just some of the players!
"Hahaha! I bet those ungrateful dogs from Blue Oasis must be shocked out of their mind! Also, heh, brother, you're quite popular now." Guan Yu stated with a grin on his face as he walked over to join Izroth and Halls, followed by Luna, Zi Yi, and Valentine.
Izroth inwardly shook his head at Guan Yu's statement. While the women from Sleeping Gardenia were all beauties in their own right, that was only by this world's standards. As someone who came from the Seven Realms, they could only be considered average at best.
"Congratulations." Luna said to Izroth as a light smile appeared on her face.
Izroth gave a nod of thanks in response, accompanied by a carefree smile as he said, "It went smoother than expected thanks to everyone's hard work."
Valentine added on as he glanced over at Luna, "It would seem he's not the only one who is popular."
At the moment, all the supporters from Sleeping Gardenia, especially Red Meadow, who Luna saved earlier, had a look of admiration and awe as they kept sneaking glances at Luna. One could tell that they wanted to approach her, however, to those that did not know her, Luna gave off a cold and distant aura. Therefore, she was not the easiest individual to approach, and so, they only admired her from afar. Not only was she beautiful, but her skills as a supporter were extraordinary. They felt that even those supporters in the Lotus Guard could only take a back seat to her! How was someone like her not well-known in RML?
After some small chat for a few minutes and congratulating Izroth, Zi Yi asked, "Why did you give such a grand achievement to my elder sister and Sleeping Gardenia?"
Zi Yi could already guess the reason; however, she wanted to hear it from Izroth himself. After all, while the other may not be aware of it, she was informed when it came to some of Izroth's more hidden objects.
"It is important that top guilds like Blue Oasis understand my policy. I always repay kindness tenfold and contempt a thousandfold. If one chooses to ignore this, then they will only have themselves to blame." Izroth responded in a carefree tone.
Zi Yi sighed as she said, "I see, though, it is a shame that Blue Oasis still walked away with that Guild Order. After they become the first guild in RML, I am afraid that they will only grow stronger."
Halls burst out into a fit of laughter after hearing Zi Yi's words. His actions caused the others to look at him in a questioning matter. Did something funny happen that they were unaware of?
Halls finally calmed down as he held his stomach after laughing so hard and said, "Zi Yi, do you think my brother is so light-handed?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?" Zi Yi questioned. However, as if hearing her question, a world announcement went off!
At first, the raid group was surprised. After all, world announcements were not something that happened every day. However, once they grasped the contents of the world announcement, excluding Halls, a dumbfounded expression found its way onto their faces!
〈World Announcement: Congratulations to Player Mariposa for becoming the first player to register their guild «Sleeping Gardenia» officially! They have been rewarded for their efforts!〉
The first official guild in RML had been born! Except, it was not Blue Oasis as they thought it would be, but rather Sleeping Gardenia!
What was going on? Didn't Izroth hand over the Guild Order to Niflheim, who gave it to Asgard? Shouldn't it be Asgard and Blue Oasis whose name was being displayed for the world to see? However, after Halls explained to them that a Guild Order appeared in the loot, they were in a state of disbelief.
They encountered a Guild Order not once—but twice in the same day? The amount of luck required for that was absurd! Who would believe them if they told this story?!
Zi Yi had a helpless expression on her face as she shook her head and stated, "Blue Oasis must be drowning in anger right now. I guess the old saying 'There is comfort after victory' is true."
"Hahaha! I wish I were there to see the looks on their faces in person! Hmph, they dared to offend my brother, they should already have been prepared for the consequences!" Guan commented. In his eyes, those who broke their promises were worth nothing! After all, how could a real man go back on his promise and abandon their comrade in the process?!
When the players from Sleeping Gardenia saw the world announcement, they did not believe their eyes. So this was why their guild leader left in such a hurry! Not only were they the first guild to clear a raid and hardcore raid, but now, they were also the first guild to be listed officially—all on the same day!
"Alright, it's time to divide the loot." Izroth said as he removed all the equipment from his inventory. He had already given Mariposa and Sleeping Gardenia more than enough; therefore, this loot was something he reserved explicitly for himself and those of his main group.
…
Meanwhile, the world was currently was in an uproar over the wave of world announcements—from the top guilds to the casual players—there was no exception! Not only had a raid been cleared, but it was on hardcore mode! In addition, the first official guild was created! Who was behind all of this? It was none other than Sleeping Gardenia and their guild leader, Mariposa! At the moment, the world chat was going crazy!
"Sleeping Gardenia? Isn't that the guild full of beauties? I thought for sure it would be Blue Oasis!"
"How did they clear a hardcore raid? Hacks? Bugs?"
"Has to be a major bug exploit! How can someone beat a hardcore raid this early? Devs, fix your broken game!"
"I didn't know Sleeping Gardenia was so strong. I want to apply now. :)"
"LF e-girl! WTB you a full set of uncommon equipment among other things! Hit me up if you're interested!"
"Brother, I'm a guy, but I'll be your e-girl! How about gifting me that equipment set?"
…
In another part of RML…
"Was that Jin's name just now? Did he do something amazing?" Reilei said in a slightly excited tone.
"Hey, Realistic! We're going to leave you behind if you get lost again!" A voice called out to Reilei.
"Ah, sorry! I'm coming!" Reilei said as she snapped out of it and hurried over to join the group of players.
"Heh, what's this? When did our Shuyi grow a soft spot?" Phoenix teased as she giggled.
"Hmph! I just don't want to have to go find her again if she gets lost!" Shuyi replied as he continued to walk forward.
Phoenix shook her head. He said one thing but meant another. In truth, at first, Phoenix did not like Shuyi or his arrogant character. But, she soon discovered that he was just an honest person who was not good at expressing himself with words.
"Those brats, are they up to no good again?" Two Tons asked as he saw that Reilei had come alone.
"As long as Xiao Liang's there, they will be fine." Reilei replied with a smile on her face.
She then called out, "Xiao Liang! Ayanellia! We're leaving!"
A few moments later, a young doe came running out of a nearby thicket towards Reilei. The young doe was just a bit smaller than an ordinary young deer; however, its antlers were much larger. Another strange thing was that there was a rotating sphere of energy that resembled a small world no bigger than one's fist at the tip of its right antler. This young doe was none other than Ayanellia—and she had grown since the last time.
Nyu! Nyu! Nyu!
Ayanellia seemed upset about something from its wronged expression and tone.
"Hey, Ayanellia! Don't run away! I saw that herb first, but you ate it! Let this big brother retrieve it from your stomach!" The voice of a youthful voice sounded out. A couple of seconds later, a young boy jumped out of the same thickets that Ayanellia had just come through.
The young boy stood around 125cm tall with short bluish-purple hair, sharp teeth, and crystal blue eyes with elliptical pupils.
"This brat—are you picking on Ayanellia again, Xiao Liang?!" Phoenix scoffed.
"Eh? Is someone talking? My hearing isn't good, so I don't know—if someone is talking, that is." The young boy was, in fact, the same little lizard-like creature that had accompanied Reilei for so long—Xiao Liang!
"Xiao Liang, behave yourself." Reilei said in a slightly helpless manner as she gently petted Ayanellia's head to calm her down.
"Yes~" Xiao Liang responded unenthusiastically with a wide grin on his face.
"Let's go! We'll be late for the local event!" Two Tons warned as he called for Reilei and Phoenix.
"Yes!" Reilei and Phoenix responded before hurrying to join the rest of their party!
"Jin, what sort of amazing things are you doing right now?" Reilei questioned to herself with a lovely smile on her face.
…
Back in the Great Sea Palace raid…
'It's time to leave this place.'
Izroth had successfully divided up the loot and was still left with several pieces of rare-quality high-level equipment for himself. Of course, this would go straight to his Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence.
Just as Izroth left the raid group and prepared to exit the Great Sea Palace with everyone, he suddenly received a message via the system from a player.
The message had come from someone who Izroth did not expect to hear back from so soon, Azalea Wraith! As for the message she sent, it was short and to the point.
〈System Alert: Player Azalea Wraith has sent you a message, "Teacher, I have found it."〉
'Oh? She moved quicker than I expected.'
