As a buzz echoed, marking the end of the exam, Ester, who was standing near me muttered in a slightly stunned voice when she looked at the score displayed on the screen.
Looking at scores might make one wonder what's there to be so surprised about, but in that score lies a chasmic difference.
A chasm that can't be traversed no matter what. More precisely, it represents a distance that the opponent can never hope to cross even if they take down another castle.
Once a barrier of no entry is put up under a protection period, they wouldn't be able to stop even if they wanted to.
Advantage of acquiring forts. As long as it's not destroyed, the overwhelming advantage will continue. You can say it influences the victory or defeat in itself.
Forts are only 10 points.
A mere 10 points, but if you pile them up, it will lead to landslide differences.
This is the reason why the <Absolute King> and the <Thousand Sword Freckles> were so frantic to take them down in their face-off in the <Guild Battles>.
It's not like the thought of "isn't devoting yourself to acquiring fort would result in missing other details?" never passed through my mind but just that much of a significance these little forts hold.
"Although it's an easy win, it's all due to the special restriction. Because the opponent couldn't take initiative in commencing PvP and the advantage in number. Else it would be an impossible story. Besides, the biggest reason is all the members moved as we had planned out in our first strategy."
And that's the biggest factor in truth. No matter how good a strategy is, it would have been impossible to snitch the victory if the members hadn't moved as we planned.
"Not at all, it's all thanks to Zephyr-dono's well planned strategy and preparing these shoes. It would be tantalizing if we lost even after that."
Saying so, Ester gaze trailed down to her feet. She's currently equipped with <Dash Boot>.
These equipment were written in the recipe Lana got from at the time of battle with wolf second form and <Beautify Phenomenon>, which I then asked Mari-senpai to produce for every member.
Equipment status themselves are screaming that they are made for the guild battle. Besides, it was a drop item we have received from the silver chest of a rare boss, so they are naturally bound to be extremely strong.
That's why I gave these to everyone but asked them to wear only at the time of guild battle. Thanks to this, Ester and mu speed rose considerably and in addition to the buff <Agility blessing> which Lana gave right at the beginning of the game, we safely managed to capture the northern castle.
To begin with, I feel like they were quite serious too given how they immediately planned to take the central region under their control.
To whoever central region falls means it would be quite hard for the opponent to move freely. In addition, the instructor's speed was also considerably quick. That's given with their high job level but thankfully both him and Ester managed to get away with the buff from Lana and the dash boots.
I have asked to make them for everyone, just in case something unlikely happened but now I am glad that I made that decision.
While I was reflecting about the match, all of the scattered members finally returned to the base.
"Thanks for your hard work everyone. All of you were amazing!"
"Thank you too! I'm really glad we won, isn't it Zephyr?"
"Truly. Even now my mind is constantly thinking Did we just win so easily?. I am astonished."
"Foolish, of course I'm a <Hero>! A hero that guides everyone to the road of victory!"
"Woah, Zephyr, you were really cool with that line! Please say it again!"
"Of course, I'm the <Hero> who guides everyone to the road of victory!"
"Clap clap clap So cool!"
"Clap, I also think it was really cool!"
When I took a cool pose while using the [Appeal] to sprinkle a glitter effect, Lana applauded in cheers. Somehow, it seems that this really fascinates Lana. Even Hannah cheered and clenched her fist.
I feel like I might be addicted to this.
"Calm down everyone. Philis sensei’s group has arrived so be more attentive."
I looked up at Sierra's words and saw the instructors heading towards us.
"Congratulations everyone from the <Eden>."
"Thank you very much, Philis-sensei. How was the exam?"
"Fufu. Of course, perfect marks. Congratulations, <Eden> is now an E-rank guild from today onwards."
Buzz
The members behind me all buzzed with excitement. I also tightly clenched my fist in excitement. Although I already knew the results, it couldn't beat the excitement I get when I'm being told directly.
A pleasant numbing sensation ran through my heart. In fact, I could barely control my grinning face from breaking my <Brave> persona.
"Oh, you sure are grinning hard."
"Seriously?"
I rubbed my face when Sierra pointed it out and once again attempted to control my expression.
"Better now?"
But I still seem to have a smirk on my face. Well, it can't be helped.
That was our first guild battle while the <Eden> is still a fledgling guild with few members who are all beginners. It was a guild battle in reality, not something on the screen.
It was so fun and a win over instructors who let their guards down. That's why It's hard for me to control my grinning. A force majeure.
"Fufu. Then, this ends the guild <Eden>’s E-rank promotion exam. Please receive the rank certificate at <Reception for Guild Applications>. The guild room will also change to E-rank so don't forget to prepare for move"
"Understood. We will"
"This would be all then. Good luck on your future endeavors everyone"
"Thank you very much!"
In this way, the guild <Eden> successfully received the promotion and became an E-rank guild.