Is this really a Game?!

"It's true that the main base can't be entered through the portal without the higher-ups allowing people to use the portal, which is locked for them usually, but who is to say that a portal can't be messed with, or that the small base that the people are living in can't be taken over?"

"What do you mean?" Reign asked Aethion who shook his head at them.

"Have you already forgotten about what happened when you guys first went to Doncaster, how you had to take over the anchors in order to completely conquer the town?"

"What do you think happens when a faction attacks another faction, what happens once you take over a base that has portals inside of it?"

"But wait, we did that against the Warden's, and nothing happened," Shadow said as Aethion nodded his head.

"Correct, because you had killed all of them, thus the base was not conquered but destroyed, since none of you wished to take it over."

"Had you guys waited for a bit, if you had actually wanted to, you could have used the system to take over the base, but let's be honest, there was nothing there that was of interest to you guys."

"Why didn't the system notify us of that?" Wolf asked as Aethion chuckled.

"As you all probably know by now, the system knows your thoughts and needs, so it will automatically do or even ignore things it knows you want or really do not want."

"Back when you went against the Butcher and took over Wilkashere, the system automatically got involved and initiated the process of taking over the city, even the Golden tree responded and appeared there, destroying the magical tree that had created the barrier around the city."

"Alright, so if we want to take over the base, the system won't even ask us, it will just do that?" Reign asked Aethion who nodded his head.

"Of course, you might change your mind, and if you do, you can always use the system to either take over a base you had planned on destroying or vice versa."

Reign and the others nodded their heads before staring at Aethion.

"You still haven't told us how taking over the smaller base will help us, after all, they will sense it and can simply destroy the portal from their side, rendering it obsolete."

"Yes, they can certainly do so, and they will definitely do so if you guys just charge in guns blazing and start kicking out people and slaughtering those truly loyal to the faction, but if you act patiently and sneakily, there is a way to take it over without the enemy noticing, it's just incredibly difficult to do so."

"And let's not mention the fact that even if you manage to do that, you will need to go inside the enemy base, which is full of their loyal members and has plenty of arrays in place."

"The enemy will be more powerful inside their base, just like you are in Doncaster and Wilkashere, while you will be weakened, which means that even if you are stronger than the enemy, there is a chance that you won't be if you fight them there."

"You need to take some time and think about this, don't just charge in with one plan and risk everything so easily."

Reign and the others sat in silence, absorbing Aethion's words. The situation was more complex than they had anticipated. Taking over one of the enemy's smaller bases would require careful planning and execution. They couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"We need a detailed plan," Reign finally spoke, breaking the silence. "Aethion, can you provide us with more information about the smaller bases? Their layout, defenses, and any weaknesses we can exploit?"

Aethion nodded. "I can give you a general idea, but the specifics will vary, after all, this guy was only in one small base for a short period of time before being allowed to enter the main base."

"The smaller bases are likely similar to each other, with basic structures and a central meeting hall, they're guarded, but not heavily."

"The key is to find a way to infiltrate without alerting anyone, and then slowly taking it over before anybody knows what the hell is going on." Get the latest stories on m_vl_em_p_yr

"And how do we do that exactly, the bases are connected to the main base, just like the base on the mountain range is connected to Doncaster, if anybody tried to do anything, I would sense it, so how do we do something like taking over it without alerting the enemy at all?"

"You see, every base has an anchor point, it's just that for some, the anchor point is not even shown, for example, the anchor point, or to be more specific in this case, the core of Doncaster would be the golden tree."

"As long as the tree is present and safe, Doncaster will be yours, the enemy would have to either take the tree or destroy it, and since you all know just how durable and strong the golden tree is, you should know that such a thing is impossible without you noticing."

"Wilkashere is connected to Doncaster via the tree, so the same thing applies to that city as well, taking it over without you noticing is impossible as well."

"The base on the mountain range, however, is not connected in such a way, it has its own core, you saw it the first time you established a base, it is usually below the ground, away from anybody's sight."

"So we need to infiltrate their base, get … somewhere in it, and dig deep enough to locate the core?" Reign asked as Aethion nodded with pursed lips.

"Pretty much, that would be the way to do it, get in, get near the center, the core is usually there, and dig."

"After you find the core, don't attack it, attacking the core will send a signal to the enemy that their base is under attack, what you need to do is to stand near the core, place a hand on it if it's easier, and slowly start pouring your mana inside, slowly changing the inside of the core and allowing it to accept you as one of the members of the base."

"Now, that is still just the start, after all, you are merely going to make it think you are a member of the base, if you want to take over the entire base, you need to completely overwhelm the mana inside the core, changing it with yours and letting the core get used to you, but that will also alert the enemy, they will find out that they lost a base, so what you need to do is something else actually."

"You need to fill it up just enough so the base is almost yours, that way, you should have access to everything inside that base, and since the others are members of your group, they will have the same access, which means that you will easily be able to use the portal and get inside their main base."

"So … we don't take over the base, we almost take it over, but keep it theirs so that they don't realize what we have done, well, that seems … not simple or easy to be honest."

"Who said it would be easy, you are trying to attack the base of a faction that is similar in strength to you guys, of course things won't be easy, in fact, doing this can already be thought of as something incredible, if it wasn't for Reign and the large amount of mana he has, even this plan wouldn't be possible!"

"If the bases weren't small and had more security measures, even he wouldn't be able to do this since the core would be stronger, the larger the base, the more people inside of it, the tougher the core, and the more difficult it is to take it over in such a way."

Wolf suddenly stood up and stretched his arms.

"Alright, so the first thing we need to do is visit one of those bases, take a good look at it, see what we will have to get through in order to infiltrate it, and then find the core."

"You said it yourself, the guy whose soul Reign took was only in one such base for a short period of time, and I doubt we are lucky enough for that base to be the closest one to us, right?"

"Correct, that base is not the closest, in fact, there should be 3 that are closer to you, with one being relatively close to the Verdant Jungle, that is definitely the one you want to try and take over."

"Oh, a message." Beast suddenly said as he glanced at a letter that suddenly flew through the open window of the living room.

"From the queen, it seems she and Drayce finally managed to uncover enough from the runes and symbols, they know exactly what the enemy is doing with their rituals," Beast said with his eyes opened wide as the others quickly stood up, ready to visit the two.