It did not take very long for that scarce farmland to turn into a fortified forward operating base.
Luvengart’s Gatewatch arrived on the scene quickly, sending alerts to all the Guilds and Academies in the city.
A barrier was placed around the Gate and the surrounding arena, cordoning off the Alpha Gate from the curious eyes of the unawakened civilians.
But inside the barrier, tension and excitement was oxygen.
The Gatewatch sat under a canopy, two officials with the crest of Luvengart in their simple gray uniforms.
But the main presence were the three distinct armies standing in formation and eyeing each other with undisguised contempt.
On the right flank stood the Golden Spire Guild.
Their Awakeners were decked out in armor so polished it reflected the sun, glistening with the golden signature of their Guild.
They looked less like soldiers and more like a royal procession.
On the left stood the Heaven’s Blade Guild.
They favored sleek, aerodynamic silver plates and silk robes. They were quieter, their silver giving them the grace of a river, though they looked extremely powerful.
Like a tide.
Finally, in the center, looking like a wall of boulders, were the Iron Guard Guild.
Their gear was stone-brown, heavy, and prideful. They looked more ready than the others to get into the gritty warfare, not merely anticipating the rewards.
"I cannot believe it," the Golden Spire Warden announced, adjusting his monocle as he stared at the swirling vortex. "An Alpha Gate. Here? Luvengart is rich in Gate Worlds but it’s been a very long time since an Alpha Gate appeared."
He turned to the other two wardens, puffing out his chest. "Gentlemen, let’s not make this messy. The Golden Spire has the capital to develop this land. It is only natural that we claim ownership rights."
He played his chest. "Our team will clear it, and we will compensate you for your... attendance."
"Compensate us?" The Heaven’s Blade Warden scoffed, crossing his arms. "Don’t make me laugh, old man. This isn’t an auction house. Are you scared of a challenge that you’re already trying to buy the competition? We all know that this Gate belongs to the Blade."
"Bah!" The Iron Guard Warden spat on the ground, cracking his knuckles.
"Didn’t you hear that the Iron Guard Guild is the fastest growing Guild in the entire realm?! You guys better give up now cause our Awakeners will be the only ones left standing when the frenzy starts. We’re taking the contract, and we’re taking the loot."
The three men glared at each other, sparks practically flying between their foreheads.
"Excuse me, Wardens," a Gatewatch Official interrupted, looking nervous as he held a scroll.
"What is it?" the Golden Spire Warden snapped. "Can’t you see we are dividing the spoils?"
"Well," the Official stammered. "I just wanted to confirm the entry logs. No one has gone in yet, correct?"
The Wardens looked at him as if he were stupid.
"Obviously," the Heaven’s Blade Warden sneered. "We are all standing here."
"Right... it’s just that..." The Official looked down at the report on the scroll. "The farmer who reported the phenomenon. He claimed he saw a lone Awakener enter the portal right as it opened."
The silence that followed was absolute.
"What?" The Iron Guard Warden blinked. "Someone entered an Alpha Gate alone? Is he suicidal? Or is it a High-Ranker? Who is it?"
"The farmer said the Awakener was a Level 28," the Official replied
For a second, the Wardens just stared. Then, they exploded.
"Bwahahaha!" The Golden Spire Warden clutched his stomach, tears forming in his eyes. "Level 28! A Level 28 in an Alpha Gate! Oh, stop, you’ll kill me!"
"He’s dead," the Iron Guard Warden grunted, shaking his head with a smirk. "He probably stepped in, saw the first threat, and got vaporized. Poor fool."
"Wait," the Heaven’s Blade Warden narrowed his eyes. "Did the farmer give a description?"
"Yes," the Official nodded. "He said the man had long dark hair. He carried a massive scythe and a sword crossed on his back... and he was riding a horse made of bones and blue fire."
The laughter died instantly.
The Wardens exchanged glances. That description...
"Could it be...?" the Iron Guard Warden whispered. "The Hero?"
"The Necromancer," the Heaven’s Blade Warden muttered, his face paling slightly. "He’s here?"
"It doesn’t matter!" The Golden Spire Warden snapped, recovering his composure first. "He is Level 28! Hero or not, class or not, numbers are absolute! An Alpha Gate requires a raid team of Level 80s minimum! He has walked to his own doom."
"He’s right," the Heaven’s Blade Warden agreed, straightening his lapels. "If the Hero wants to die in obscurity, let him. It just means the main reward is still up for grabs."
They turned to their squads.
"Captain! You have your orders!" the Golden Spire Warden declared.
The leader of the Golden Spire squad stepped forward, Level 90 floating below his Knight Crest.
He raised his sword high. "Golden Spire! Advance! Claim the glory!"
"Don’t let them beat us!" The Heaven’s Blade Warden shrieked.
A Level 91 Wind Mage with hair floating in a zero-gravity breeze stepped up. She raised her staff. "Heaven’s Blade! Leave them in the dust!"
"Crush them!" roared the Iron Guard Warden.
Their leafer—a Level 88 Berserker—roared back. "Iron Guard! Charge!"
Sixty high-level Awakeners surged forward into the Gate World.
The race had begun to claim the prize of the Rending Marsh.
—---—
It was hot.
The Gate World was ruthlessly hot.
A suffocating, dry heat that felt like opening an oven door directly into your face. The sky was a bruised purple, and the "sun" was a tearing wound of orange light that offered no comfort, only radiation.
Percival stood atop a rolling dune of coarse, red sand. The wind howled here, carrying the grit against his armor with the sound of sandpaper.
"No wonder the description called it hell," Percival muttered, wiping a bead of sweat from his chin before it could drip.
He looked out over the landscape. From every edge of his vision, there were only dunes and uneven rock formations jutting from the gums of the earth.
He had expected this. In his previous life, the Rending Marsh had been a nightmare.
But back then, he had done a meager part of the initial clearing, killing only a handful of beasts while learning teamwork from the squad of Heaven’s Blade Guild Awakeners Master Omares had stuck him with.
This time however, he was taking charge. Though he was leading no one but himself.
He pulled up his status window, checking his reserves.
⸢Mana: 823 / 1800⸥
He grimaced. It wasn’t full. It wasn’t even half. But it was better than before.
He would have to be careful with his fights and try not to use too much of his Necromancer mana.
He scanned the Gate World map on his interface. He was in the Unwelcoming Hills, the first Encounter Zone.
So far, it was quiet. Maybe a bit too quiet.
Percival’s memory was hazy. He couldn’t quite recall what the first threat was inside this Gate World.
Though he was certain that if he saw it, he would remember.
Percival crouched, reached down and took a scoop of the sand. It was hot to the touch, tender and dry, slipping through his armored fingers like water.
As the sand fell away, something caught his eye.
Two circles.
Embedded in the side of the dune, perfectly camouflaged against the red grit, were two dinner-plate-sized circles.
They looked like stones, but as Percival stared at them, they did something peculiar.
The circles blinked.
A jolt of recognition slammed into Percival’s brain.
"Sand Lizards," he breathed, suddenly recollecting. "The first threat was Sand Lizards."
SHREEEEEe!
The dune erupted.
Sand sprayed into the air like a geyser as three of the large reptiles lunged at him.