The players arrived at an empty sky-blue space. The game screen like visuals were similar to the starting screen.

  Blue and silver cubes floated randomly while a golden meteor would shoot off from time to time. This was a quiet yet mesmerizing area that could accommodate thousands of players.

  [Please select the Buffs]

  [The king will select the core buffs that would be available]

  [Further selection will be on individual basis]

  [You can now read the rules of Shatar]

  [Time left– 00:05:00]

  Zyrus read the message and then the long list of buffs behind it. This was enough to give him a headache despite the intelligence boost he got.

  “Focus on defense and recovery.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  Zyrus selected everything in less than a minute and left the rest to the players themselves. Since even he didn’t know anything about this event, he had to focus on his own matters first.

  As a king, his every action had a long-lasting impact. Much more so than the simple buff selection.

  ‘Tch…so much for a ‘selection’,’

  Contrary to his expectations, the king didn’t have any buffs to choose from. The king would get a default buff and extra power-ups after each victory. This and many other tidbits of information were written in the rules of shatar.

  To summarize the information, shatar was a game played between two kings. The stage was an island which was further divided into 64 spaces.

  A third of them were already occupied by the natives, shown in the red color. The rest were showing as grey spaces for the time being.

  The conditions for victory were as such– the one who controlled more than 50 of the 64 spaces would emerge victorious and earn the right to move on.

  The way to win more spaces was also pretty straightforward. Occupy a place with your ‘pawns’ for a certain period of time, and you can turn them into an allied space. There were also some specific timeouts and protection periods involved, not to mention the ‘stage buffs’ one can gain after occupying more spaces.

  ‘This is quite a learning experience…’

  Zyrus was sure that the event rules were a form of treasure trove of knowledge. This was essentially a crash course on warfare for both him and his army.

  Seeing that there was less than a minute left, Zyrus looked at the buff that was given to the king.

  [+[ Heavenly Ruler ]+]

  A king may not be the strongest being on the stage, but their very existence is the foundation of order. Victory and defeat, fortune and disaster, the world’s destiny is determined by the kings’ actions.

  Unit creation: You can assemble your troops into 16 different groups.

  King’s maneuver: You can instantly occupy any 16 gray spaces at the start of the game. A mana calculation will be done which will fill the ‘Turn’ charge. Each turn allows you to move your units according to the terrain conditions and their roles.

  Crown’s blessing: Every unit within the adjacent space of the king will have their defense and offense increased by an additional 20%

  Eye of the heaven: You can see everything within the stage via a projection, but as a cost, you are unable to affect anything. The king is unable to move from initial space without a ‘Turn.’

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Zyrus realized one important thing after reading the description– the rules were yet to be completed. Judging from the chess-like theme, he was sure that further restrictions and powerups would be added in the future. The rules right now were akin to a tutorial phase.

  [Time left– 00:00:00]

  Everyone disappeared except Zyrus.

  In front of him was a complete map of the Jindao Island.

  …

  “Whoa…”

  “Where is everyone else?”

  “Damn it! I fucking hate teleportation.”

  “I share your sentiment, but get into formation first.”

  “Y-your majesty!”

  “I’m just a projection,” Zyrus waved his hand to settle down the players. Similar scenes were occurring in different spaces as everyone saw a gigantic version of Zyrus in the sky.

  Even if the island was divided into 64 spaces, they were still too big. It was no wonder that the players felt they were isolated in a dangerous area.

  Be it the green grass below their feet or the metallic trees and rocks that were scattered about, everything emitted a sharp aura.

  Sharp enough to lacerate their skin without touching them.

  Zyrus made sure that everyone was organized as he had intended. Seeing that everything was set, his projection began to speak on all 16 spaces.

  “We don’t have the time to go into details, so I’ll keep this brief. The island we’re on is shaped like a kite, with a division of 64 spaces. The enemies are at the center and they occupy 20, while we are at the western edge and occupy 16. Our goal is to win a total of 50 spaces. Move as I say from now on, and lastly, don’t waste even a second by lazing around. Every inch of this island is valuable. How much you gain from it will depend on your luck and comprehension.”

  Zyrus’s projection faded alongside the last sentence. The concise speech had given everyone an idea about what to do.

  At the same time, on the westernmost edge of the island.

  “Phew…I’m glad we didn’t draw the aggro at first sight,” Zyrus stretched his arms and leaned back on the rough boulder. Even the blunt edges of the boulder were giving off a vibe similar to an unsheathed sword.

  10 Vajeer were looking at him with somewhat envious looks. They didn’t have the scales of the Sylvarix.

  Forget about leaning back, even standing up was hurting their soles.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Ria asked as she saw Zyrus stand up.

  “Nothing for the time being. Move out and get in contact with the players. Our only task this month is to get used to the environment and the rules of Shatar.”

  “Roger that,” everyone nodded despite their nervous feelings. As the common saying went, sharpening an axe wouldn’t slow down the cutting of wood.

  Only after reaching their optimum state would the players be able to give their best. One glance at the surroundings was enough to tell them that the natives that lived here were anything but simple.

  It was hard to gauge their level of civilization where every blade of grass was akin to a sword. The island of metals was without a doubt deserving its reputation.

  “Ah, I almost forgot. Kyle and Strongfist, you two stay behind,” Zyrus looked away from the scribbles he was drawing and pointed at the leaving group. What he said to the players also applied to him– don’t waste even a second by lazing around.

  While confused, both Kyle and Strongfist sat around him and observed his drawings. It was a weird sight to see as a human, an ogre, and a nearly ten-foot-tall Sylvarix were sitting around like kids in a garden.

  “Do you remember what I told you about runes and formations?”

  “Runes gather strong energy. Formations made by strong runes.”

  “Exactly,” Zyrus stuck a twig above a diagram and looked at the two. Strongfists’ words were the simplest way to explain what runes and formations are.

  “The runes…do you know how they were created? How did the first sentient being learn magic from scratch?”

  “…”

  “From Nature?” Kyle muttered as even he wasn’t sure of his guess.

  “I once thought so as well, but that’s incorrect. Legends say that there was once a primordial world, the origin of all things. It was in that world that the runes were created. Everything developed in the current era is related to the ancient relics- one way or another.”

  Arcanists studied countless artifacts and created a classification for different runes. They learned their usage one by one and experimented with their combination. Like how different characters made a word and a sentence, the runes were just like that.

  Language was used to convey one’s thoughts. Runes were used to converse with nature.

  “Now this is just my conjuncture, but I feel like runes are related to laws. Formations are stories and poems, runes are characters, and ink is mana. What about the molecules that make the ink then? I think that they are connected to laws.”

  Kyle and Strongfist tried their best to digest his words. This was too advanced of a topic for them, but with a simplified example, they could grasp the edge of it.

  Zyrus didn’t look away from the ground and continued his hypotheses,

  “If we go along the way, then one way to sense the power of laws is by using formations. Mana is everywhere in the sanctuary. Pure mana contains countless laws, and thus, it’s too difficult to sense any of them. Having a specific attribute of mana is similar to having a higher concentration of some laws in the mana you use. Your elemental affinity is your comprehension and compatibility towards the said element and the laws that govern it.”

  If the start was his guess, then the letter sentences were something that was long proven. Zyrus had told the players about it in the first ring as well.

  Neither Kyle nor Strongfist uttered a word after that. The words Zyrus spoke thus far were enough to give them an idea.

  They realized what their– no, what every player's next mission would be.