Guild Wars-Novel

"Luke, are you sure you want to do this? You can still turn back now." Asked a worried voice, making the silence in the room even more tense.

The one called Luke was casually seated in a sofa, leaning into it lazily as his expression displayed his nonchalance.

"Forget about it. What's the point of playing video games, man? Isn't it to enjoy yourself, release stress and have fun? Did I look like I was having fun in that game recently?"

The person opposite him, seated tensely in another sofa and with a worried expression, was a young man by the name of Leek, who happened to be Luke's best friend.

He had a lanky build, standing at 6''3', with arms that were quite thin, and a torso that was just about as broad as the average politician's ability to help a country grow.

Apart from a mop of partially dyed white hair that even covered his entire forehead with bangs, and two relatively benevolent black eyes, the fellow was arguably handsome despite not being filled out.

"Yes, but you weren't just playing the game for you, but for the advertisement and the contract. If you suddenly quit, won't you have to pay some damages?" Leek pressed on.

Luke boredly waved a hand. "Yeah, but this is where my dog father and bastard brothers come in. Since they have decided to make my life unbearable, let them be the ones to clean up after me and make themselves useful."

Seeing that Luke was unwilling to listen and had his mind set, Leek could only sigh. After a short spell of silence, he simply asked: "Is there any other game you're interested in? Or have you decided to retire from gaming entirely?"

Luke's eyes gleamed a bit as he smiled. "Have you heard of… Boundless World?"

..........

Greece in 2044 was quite manageable, not exactly prosperous but not exactly decrepit either. Apart from their rich culture and heritage, the country had gone from a legendary world power to an obscure remnant of a bygone age, quietly living its life in peace.

Many would think that this was a normal decline and that it was an eventual downfall, but what would they do if they knew that this was manufactured?

After all, just like in the various legends and mythos, Greece was home to certain powerful entities that had once shaken the world, and whose names were household knowledge.

However, rather than a huge and illustrious pantheon, this legend manifested itself in the form of a Lineage, a clan of sorts.

Nestled within the depths of Greece, on a mountain called Olympus, was a bustling and lively clan filled with men and women of great European looks and significantly amazing power.

The Zeus Lineage!

Among the three Advisor class Lineages, which were the Merlin, Buddha and Zeus, the latter was the most prolific in terms of social connections and merging with the human world, but considered the weakest in power.

It wasn't because they could not match up in a fight, rather it was because they spent most of their time infighting. If there ever was a more self-destructive and toxic Lineage than this one, it would be a miracle.

On this day, in this year, a baby was born to the Clan Head of the Zeus Lineage, whose name was Alastair Reyson. He was a powerful man that stood at 6''5' and was built just how you'd expect, like a Greek god.

With chiseled abs that did not have to hide in front of the most active bodybuilder, smooth white and silver hair that reached his shoulders, two amber colored eyes that shone with power and a flowing white beard full of majesty.

He naturally wore the traditional male toga in white to perfectly display his physique and allegiance to his clan's illustrious history.

Today, he sat in a golden throne with lightning symbols as he looked down on a slew of beautiful young women of various nationalities who were dressed attractively.

Three of them played with young boys of varying ages, the oldest around 10 years old, the second around 7 and the third around 4, while a new woman was brought in on a bed.

Her pale face and sweet beauty would make anyone feel a heartache, and even Alastair displayed some softness when he saw her, which made some of the other beauties have deadly glints in their eyes.

In her hands was a crying baby who was quite large and looked more than healthy. The other boys looked curiously at their new sibling and wondered what would happen.

Soon the woman was brought to Alastair, and she finally tore her lovely brown eyes of her baby and towards her partner. She smiled sweetly and presented the baby to him, to which Alastair held quite gently and expertly.

"Hmm, what a heavy and healthy boy. Oh, and what's this, his bloodline is quite strong! What a monstrously high purity for this era!" Alastair muttered with shock.

Hearing this, the other women around had ugly expressions that they could barely hide. The ones with his other children directly showed killing intent in their eyes, but Alastair pretended as if he did not see this.

"I shall name him Luke, and he will be my fourth son! Prepare a banquet immediately to celebrate the coming of my latest son into this world!" Alastair demanded with a hearty laugh.

Despite seemingly being overjoyed, there was a bubbling hatred growing in the heart of the new mother towards her partner, but she concealed it terrifyingly well.

.........

6 years later, four boys were in a grass training yard, being taken through physical exercises by a tutor. It just so happened that Alastair was passing by and could see what was going on here, so he paused to take a look.

The eldest son, James Reyson, was tall for his age and quite muscular. He had slicked back red hair and dark black eyes filled with the urge to fight and compete.

He swung his lance about skillfully, showing frightening levels of mastery for his tender age of 16. This made Alastair nod his head with satisfaction.

The second son was Frank Reyson, who was of relatively good height for his age of 13. He was also quite stocky in this regard, but his features were less handsome and more brutish.

With messy silver hair inherited from his father as well as cyan blue eyes, he showed a ferocious expression like a tiger as he punched and kicked forth, causing small shockwaves as he did so. Once again, Alastair was pleased and nodded his head.

The third son was called Julian Reyson, and he was only 10 years old today. His height, just like his brothers, surpassed the average youth of his age and his body was already beginning to develop musculature not seen on boys that young.

With bright blond hair tied into a pony tail and cold green eyes, he certainly looked the part of European royalty. His features were the best among the boys so far and he would easily sway the heart of any lady who saw him when he grew up.

He currently wielded a shortsword that he swung with precision and grace, his movements possessing a flair that was attractive to the eye. Alastair was fond of this son due to his nature and grace, so he gave him a thumbs up.

Then there was the fourth son… Alastair's forehead became black when he looked at the fellow. While his older brothers were training hard and developing their skills, he was… sleeping!

What was even more infuriating was that giant bubble that was growing bigger with each snore he made, and that he had locked himself in a cage of flowing water that also acted as bed for him, so no one could disturb him.

The 6 year old boy had a mop of brown hair with ends that were highlighted, glowing in a sea blue color as if they were made of water. He was quite chubby and definitely cute, but Alastair couldn't muster any kind feelings at the moment.

It seemed that the trainer felt the same way as he roared at Luke, who was snapped out of his nice dream, groggily waking up. To the secret awe of the trainer and Alastair, the water reacted with Luke, becoming slow and lethargic before wrapping itself around him.

"Mmm? What is it, old man?" Luke grumbled tiredly, glaring at the trainer with dissatisfaction.

The trainer snapped out of his awe and felt his lungs fill up with anger at being referred to in such a way.

"Get up and actually do some training! Can't you see how hardworking your brothers are? Why can't you be the same?!"

Luke was unmoved by this. "Because I don't need to train, I'm already strong."

The trainer laughed with disdain. "If you're strong then those funny games you play are actually good and not trash!"

Suddenly, all the grogginess from Luke disappeared and was replaced by endless coldness. How dare this old fart diss his precious video games?

"Okay then, let's duel. If I beat you, not only will you have to apologize, but you'll let me skip training whenever I want. If you win, not only will I sell all my games, but I'll train every day from sunrise to sunset." Luke offered calmly.

Hearing this, his brothers paused their training with interest on their faces, wanting to see how this would play out. Even Alastair was slightly interested, but he shook his head when he thought that his fourth son assumed he could match up to the trainer.

One should know, only people who had reached the pinnacle in their respective Inheritance were qualified to act as trainers.

Although Luke had the highest purity of his sons and was extremely talented, that was purely talent. As for skill, experience and raw power, he was far too young to have any of that.

The trainer sneered and accepted Luke's deal. The other lads cleared some space for the two to battle and the trainer simply stood there with his hands behind his back, waiting for Luke to make the first move.

When he did, the fight ended in less than 5 seconds.

By the time the trainer could understand what happened to him, he was already planted in the ground like a fucking ostrich, his head in the sand while his ass was up in the air.

James walked over to the planted trainer and poked him with his training spear while standing a distance away, an amused and curious expression on his face as to whether the man was still alive.

Frank simply grabbed his stomach, pointed at the planted trainer and then burst in uproarious laughter. Julian simply glanced at Luke, then at the trainer, and sighed.

He did his hair up and ignored everyone, poising handsomely by the side. As for Luke, he went right back to sleep.

Alastair was neither happy nor amused by all of this, standing by the side with a dark face. He was also shocked by the power displayed by his fourth son, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.

It seemed that he had given birth to a monster this time. He must be specially groomed and trained to inherit his position!

And naturally, it was the birth of such a thought that caused Luke's life to spiral downwards in terms of quality and happiness. Just 6 years later, when he was 12, he had already been the receptacle of 25 duels by James, 17 by Frank and even 3 by Julian.

His brothers' attitudes towards him, which used to be an amused and patronizing kind of nonchalance, was replaced by envy and in James' case, direct hatred. After all, the eldest son and most likely candidate was now shafted for the youngest.

This would have been fine for Alastair anyway, as he believed that such adversity would nurture strength in his chosen replacement, but one thing he didn't count on was Luke's rebelliousness.

No matter how he chastised or tried to mold and train the boy, Luke simply refused to comply. Apart from studying, he only ever did things he wanted to, like playing basketball and gaming with his new online friend, Leek.

This naturally infuriated Alastair, but it also frustrated him because he could not do anything to Luke. He had tried everything to nurture a thirst for power in the boy, and some of the duels from his brothers had even been sponsored by him.

Alas, it had always backfired, and Alastair had been left fuming each time. As such, he tried his last resort: the boy's mother.

She had been one of his favorite concubines for a time, but he had obviously found newer ones who pleased him. As such, like her predecessors, she had been abandoned, and just like them nobody dared to start anything with a member of Alastair's harem.

Alastair managed to rekindle some old feelings in himself, like how you would stop listening to a favorite song for a few years and play it one day, with literal tears coming to your eyes as you recalled a simpler and better time.

So did Alastair treat Luke's mother, indulging in her for a while and forgetting his goal before later remembering when Luke came by to visit. Naturally, when the boy saw his annoying dog father disturbing his mother, he was filled with anger.

Alastair's face became gloomy when Luke almost literally kicked him out. Unfortunately, he could only take it because… he couldn't beat his son!

That's right, a 12 year boy was currently unmatched in terms of power and strength in their Lineage!

What could Alastair do? Who asked him to give birth to this monster who had Dual Inheritances and almost 60% purity?

In the Zeus Lineage, just like the Merlin and Buddha, there were only two Inheritances unlike the three inheritances for the top 3 Lineages and 1 Inheritance for the bottom three.

This was how and why Lineages were even ranked in power.

The Zeus Lineage had the God Inheritance and the Hero Inheritance. The God Inheritance basically granted one the power of one of the random Greek gods of myth, but your level of power with their abilities varies based on your purity.

So two people could have Aphrodite or Hermes, at the same time, but their charm or speed would vary in terms of power depending on their purity.

The Hero Inheritance worked similarly, where one would be granted the abilities of one of the famous Greek heroes like Theseus, Jason, Achilles, Odysseus, etc.

Alastair was of the God Inheritance and had the power of Zeus himself. James was of the Hero Inheritance and had the power of Bellerophon, while Frank was also of the Hero Inheritance and had the power of Hercules.

Julian was of the Hero Inheritance and had Perseus, so this had always troubled Alastair since only those of the God Inheritance could inherit leadership nominally.

Luckily, Luke came along, who had the power of Poseidon in the God Inheritance, hence his exemplary water control and the power of Achilles for his Hero Inheritance.

With his 'mage' like abilities and his great 'physical' abilities, he was unmatched whether it came to fellows from the God Inheritance or those from the Hero Inheritance.

So you could imagine why Alastair felt like he was sitting on needles when his son was 'wasting' his talent.

9 years later, Luke was 21 and almost completely detached from his family, living on his own in the Central Country with his aged mother, he was even less inclined to indulge in his bloodline matters.

Sure it gave him an edge in gaming, but not one that he liked or necessarily enjoyed. Still, it wasn't like he could turn it off.

"I hope this Boundless World can give me a challenge. I've heard some great stuff about it." Luke stated with shining eyes.

Leek rolled his eyes. "I've also heard stuff about it and it seems like it will give even you more than just a challenge this time."

Luke simply laughed and got up, pulling Leek along with him, who was naturally confused and wondering where they were going to. They hopped into a cab and when Luke set the destination, Leek was speechless.

"Purgatory Group? You're actually going there? Do you want us to get tossed out?" Leek questioned with an ugly expression.

"Pfft, relax. They're the group behind the number 1 guild in Boundless World, Umbra. I'm sure as hell not joining some low-tier guild and I can't be bothered to create and run my own, especially this late into the game, so I'll just join the best from the get go." Luke shrugged calmly.

Leek shook his head, hoping it would be as simple as Luke thought.

It wasn't.

Luke was kicked out flying from The Purgatory Group's door, forming an arc in the air as he landed heavily on the pavement. Despite this, he simply jumped up and laughed happily.

"Tsk, tsk, so many beauties! So many handsome blokes! So many fellow Lineage members!"

Luke placed his arms on his waist and rushed back into the building with a look of childish excitement.

"This is definitely the place for me!"

Soon the entire building began to shake and tremble as it was clear that a tumultuous fight was going on. Eventually, the door opened again and this time, Pedro Sousa was booted out and crashed into the pavement.

He spat out stones and cursed. "Bastard, how dare he defeats me? No, how can he be so shameless, is he related to Misery, AP or Draco?"

Saying this, Pedro got up and rushed back in, not willing to let this matter go. Once again, the building began shaking as if an earthquake was occurring, but no one was booted out for a long time.

Eventually, Luke was accepted into the guild by Pedro grudgingly since they were evenly matched, and the fellow entered Boundless for the first time after setting up his account.

Just what kind of legacy would he leave behind?