MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1576: Pavilion Draconica

”Pavilion Draconica?”

As he listened to the words that came out of Malutar’s mouth, Ataraxia could not help but look at the man for a bit, wondering whether he had heard correctly. ”Did you just say they’re from Pavilion Draconica?”

”They are.” Malutar nodded, only to give him a look of slight confusion after that. ”Why? Is there something wrong about them?”

”There’s nothing wrong about them.” Seeing that Malutar was misunderstanding his reaction, Ataraxia explained himself as he shook his head. ”But think about this for a second.”

”It’s only been around a month and a half since Greater Beyond released, yet they’re already a peak third-tier guild?”

As those words left his mouth, he gave the man a slightly wry smile. ”Don’t you think that’s a bit too absurd?”

Though the reason he’d given Malutar was actually an excuse, Ataraxia’s shock at finding out that Pavilion Draconica was joining them was genuine.

After all, with the treasure trove of memories he had access to, he knew far more about Pavilion Draconica than what meets the eye.

Originally a medium-scale organization well-known for their preference towards Oriental-type VRMMORPGs, Pavilion Draconica was surprisingly one of the few larger guilds that decided to gamble their entire organization on Greater Beyond from the get-go.

Fortunately for them, that gamble did not take long to pay off.

Within just the first year of Greater Beyond’s release, Pavilion Draconica was able to amass a reputation that allowed their guild to be recognized as one of the top.

Although some of that reputation came from its members showcasing a level of combat strength far greater than even normal expert players, most of it was due to the fact that they were the first guild in the game to upgrade their guild to first-tier.

Utilizing their guild territory that now encompassed an entire kingdom, Pavilion Draconica leveraged the lead they gave themselves, eventually allowing them to be the first guild in the game to upgrade the guild to Continent-tier.

By the time Greater Beyond was in the middle of its third year, Pavilion Draconica had more or less become a household name to everyone, especially after it had upgraded their guild to World-tier.

At that point, a great number of people on Earth were confident that it was only a matter of time until Pavilion Draconica became an organization that stood alongside the Five Leviathans, the organization already being classified as one tier below them during that time.

After all, with control over an entire sovereignty, not only did Pavilion Draconica have access to a greater number of talents to recruit, but they also earned a ton of money from the various purchases happening within their territory.

Unfortunately, that momentum came to a grinding halt after one of the guild’s core members sent out a drunk message, boasting that it was only a matter of time until the Five Leviathans were kneeling in front of Pavilion Draconica.

With that, it did not take long for the foundation Pavilion Draconica had built in Greater Beyond to come toppling down.

Aside from the Five Leviathans working together to destroy everything the guild owned, the five guilds also put pressure on the organization in the real world, eventually forcing Pavilion Draconica to back down and become a relic of what was once a glorious past.

Because of a single mistake that could’ve been avoided, a guild that had the momentum and foundation to go beyond World-tier, a guild that had become synonymous with Greater Beyond, a guild that had already become known as the Sixth Leviathan to many...

...instead regressed into an obscure first-tier guild by the time the final battle had broken out.

’To think I’d be this close to Greater Beyond’s earliest top guild...’

’On top of that, its guild leader is personally leading the group!’

While his question caused Malutar to ponder over his thoughts in silence, Ataraxia continued to look at the brutish-looking man the former pointed at, a faint smile adorning his face as he briefly reminisced over the past events that surfaced in his mind.

After all, even though it might not seem like it, the young man looked up to Pavilion Draconica during its heyday.

Though, just as he was about to shift his focus towards the other groups in the area, the young man soon noticed that the same man he was looking at just earlier... had now begun to look at him.

’Shi—!’ Feeling a hint of nervousness and regret bubble up within him the moment he felt the man’s gaze, that feeling quickly intensified once the man decided to head towards where he and Malutar stood.

”Er...” Sweeping his gaze over both Ataraxia and Malutar, the man briefly scratched the back of his head as he asked them, ”Ataraxia and... Malutar, right?”

”...Yes.” Not expecting the leader of Pavilion Draconica to know his name, it took a while for Ataraxia to respond.

Seeing Malutar nod in response to his question, the man faintly nodded back as he reached out for a handshake with an amicable smile. ”The name’s Starblood_Dragon.”

”Glad to have both of your guilds on board for this exploration.”

”Glad to have been invited.” Inwardly taking a deep breath to calm down, Ataraxia eventually returned the handshake, giving the man a slight smile. ”Looking forward to working with you guys.”

”Likewise.” Starblood_Dragon let out a bit of laughter in response. ”I’ve been hearing a lot about Azure Coalition as of recent, actually.”

”Can’t wait to see you guys in action.”

Feeling his mind briefly go blank at the man’s words, Ataraxia eventually forced out a nod as a response, prompting the former to head back to his group in preparation for their eventual exploration.

”You good?” As for Malutar, he looked at the young man with slight concern, noticing how the latter’s expression changed a lot during their brief conversation with Starblood_Dragon.

”I’m... fine.” Thankfully, it did not take long for Ataraxia to go back to normal, letting out a soft yet long exhale to compose himself. ”Say, who are the other guilds that’ll also be participating in the exploration?”

”Let me start with the unranked guilds first.” Seeing as Ataraxia didn’t want to talk about what was happening earlier, Malutar understood as he shifted their conversation to the topic the former brought up.

”Aside from Big Richard that I’m leading, there’s Black Ink led by FlimZBrush, Whimsicality led by Myllatine, and Pareidolia led by Wysinwyas.”

Giving Ataraxia time to process what he just said as he pointed at the respective groups, Malutar then moved onto the four third-tier guilds that would be working alongside them.

”As for the third-tier guilds, there’s the Solitary Blade Cult led by Blade_Zero, Starchasers led by Pepperoncino, Tyrannical Strength led by Malacchas...”

”And last but not least, the Horse Enthusiast Union led by SylvesterStallion.”

”...”

”...”

”...Is... Is that last one serious?”