133 Luring the Trio!

As blood drips from Arvedar's neck, Pedro said coldly, "I am approaching you out of goodwill. But if you try to harm me, I won't have the second thought to kill you all. After all, I can easily do it without moving a muscle."

The pen-knife pulled away slowly from Arvedar's neck. Then, it rotated around Pedro and made an after image like the ring of the planet Saturn.

"P-please spare us, sire! We are just humble adventurers trying to escape to the Kingdom by the sea!" Arvedar pleaded as sweats started to drip from his forehead.

"Kingdom by the sea?" Pedro asked, astonished. Then, he frowned and asked, "Do you mean the Naga Kingdom?"

"Ye-Yes!" Arvedar and the two men answered, seemingly relieved.

However, Pedro went silent in response as he rubbed his chin and thought, 'Why would someone escape to the Naga Kingdom? Could it be...'

A lightbulb had seemingly lit in Pedro's eyes as he remembered about the player force organize by his Aunt that was about to face a perilous battle. Connecting the 'player force' case and what Arvedar told him, Pedro had a rough guess as to why the trio was fleeing away from the plains.

"Could it be related to the United Asian Players?" Pedro asked, seemingly curious.

Personally, he didn't know any information about how the players were doing all over the Aquari Continent. Every since the game started, he was mostly in a journey in the seas. Other than the shore near the Naga Kingdom, he had no intel about how the other parts of the continent were doing.

First of all, he was hospitalized, disabling him from getting news outside the game. Second, other than his Aunt, everyone else, even Mathew, didn't report anything to him because like him, they were busy 'doing their best' in catching up to Pedro and were also consumed by the progression and interaction with the NPCs. Hence, none of them really paid that much attention to the outside world.

It was probably a side effect caused by Pedro's revealing of information and techniques towards everyone else, consequently making them ecstatic in playing the game. This, unfortunately, made them ignorant of the information related to other players.

"You're a player?" Arvedar asked in astonishment. Pedro simply nodded in response and smiled.

"Eeeeeeeh?!" Roval and Lony shouted in disbelief as their jaws dropped to the ground and their eyes seemed like it was about to pop out from its sockets.

"What? Do you have a problem?" Pedro asked and grinned like a bragging child.

Arvedar and Pedro could only force out a smile. That said, it was for the better as it somehow lifted the tense mood from earlier.

Pedro simply smiled toward them and said, "I cannot share the information about it. But... I have a similar skill."

"Is it the wolf transformation skill?" Arvedar asked.

Pedro nodded in response and smirked. Then, he asked, "Do you know the ARES guild?"

"Doesn't ring a bell," Arvedar replied. Then, he asked, "What about it?"

Pedro shooked his head and placed a palm in his forehead. Then, he said, "Join our guild, and I'll give it to you for free."

However, the trio went silent in response. It was a direct answer to Pedro that it's not gonna happen that easily. On the other hand, Arvedar was wise. He knew that a dragon transformation skill was something that is impossible to obtain. Hence, he knew that Pedro was not an ordinary player the moment he revealed that he was a player.

'Based on how he acts, he can't be just a lucky newbie!' Arvedar thought as he sighed. Then, he asked Pedro, straightforward, "From what country are you?"

"Philippines?" Pedro said in a questioning tone, seemingly confused about Arvedar's question. "Why do you ask?"

Hearing Pedro's response made the trio to take a deep breath and relax a tad bit. Confused, Pedro could only watch their reactions with a slight frown in his face.

"Is there a problem?" He asked.

Arvedar simply shook his head in response and explained, "No, bro. We are also players from PH. It's relieving to finally meet a fellow Filipino player in this game."

"What do you mean?" Pedro asked, "Shouldn't there be many players from PH? How come I was the first player that you met?"

"You don't know?" Arvedar asked with a frown.

"Know what?" Pedro asked.

"You don't know that PH players are being PKed by other Asian Players?" Lony asked in astonishment.

"PKed? Is this related to guild wars?" Pedro asked as the situation becomes clearer to him.

"Guild wars? What are you talking about bro?" Lony asked, then he continued explaining, "Other big Asian Companies and Corporations grouped together to build a strong force. At first, they aimed to use quantity to fight the monsters brought by the Continental Quest."

"It was successful." Arvedar interrupted, "But..."

"But?" Pedro asked as he stares at Arvedar, waiting for the answer.

"But for some reason, they have started killing Filipino players. No one knows the reason behind it, but some players had a hunch in the forum that it had something to do with the Armaz Energy Corporation." Arvedar explained, "We don't know much about it and just want to hide from the crowd until this issue is resolved."

"I see..." Pedro nodded whilst rubbing his chin.

"You really don't know about it, bro?" Lony asked.

"Uhm!" Pedro nodded and said, "I was in this area since the closed beta started. I was filled with quests and had no time to even check just the forum."

"No wonder you have no information about the events in the central plains," Arvedar said.

Pedro simply nodded, then he asked, "So, what do you say guys? Do you want to join my guild?"

"Uhm... That." Arvedar forced out a smile whilst scratching his cheek, hinting that he was a bit embarrassed. "We plan to build our own guild. I mean..."

Despite Arvedar's rejection, Pedro needed to recruit them no matter what. That said, he smiled and asked, "How about this? Why don't you join us in the meantime?"

The trio remained silent in response. That said, Pedro didn't mind it and continued poaching them. "Our guild is quite generous. Our members were given a monthly salary. And yes! Even if you are just a student. Please think about this wisely. I think it is a good opportunity for you. We can even travel together."

The last phrase of Pedro lit Lony and Roval's eyes as their mouth started to drool. On the other hand, Arvedar could only force out a smile upon seeing the reaction of his friends.

"You mean, we can ride behind your back?" Lony asked that was followed by Roval, like children that were tempted by candies.

"I-I-In your dragon transformation?"

Pedro simply smirked like a fisherman who caught a fish and said, "Why not?"

"Deal!" Lony and Roval agreed simultaneously, not even considering Arvedar's thoughts.

Since they were good friends, and it was only just a game, Arvedar could only shake his head and surrender as he can't change his friends' decision.

'These two weebs. Enjoying the game rather than prioritizing the class requirements! If we fail the class, I'll kick their freaking @sses!' Arvedar thought as he forced out a smile deep inside.