The woman's fist never landed.

The moment her strike should have connected, a sharp sound rang out across the oasis. It was the same voice they had all heard before. The Voice of the World.

[Rule violation detected. Direct combat is forbidden. Further attempts will be punished.]

The woman froze mid-motion. Her hand was locked in place abruptly, killing all the momentum behind her punch. The guy she had wanted to punch stood right in front of her, untouched and grinning widely like he had just confirmed a theory he had.

No one knew what had happened, but from the few clues, everyone could kind of guess that the guy goaded her into action to try attacking him. She looked like someone that was naturally short-tempered too, so she was his obvious choice.

The woman gritted her teeth, realizing she'd just been used as a test subject. A public test subject.

Everyone had relaxed back into their positions and went quiet, but one could practically see the gears in their heads turning.

There had only been a warning after the female champion had attempted violating a rule just now.

Meaning…

Immediately the fierce woman settled, someone else attempted breaking the rules. It was a hefty-looking orc variant. He lifted a huge rock and threw it into the air with a roar, drawing everyone's attention.

The rock itself had a parabolic trajectory that meant it was going to end up crashing on a group of human variants seated some ways away.

It was technically not a direct attack, so the orc, and even others waited to see what would happen.

[Rule violation detected. Any attempt to harm another champion is forbidden. Further attempts will be punished.]

It was the same thing. The attack was nullified and only a warning was given.

That was the breaking point.

Just like a ripple effect, champions who had been waiting for the slightest chance to try something immediately did.

A crazy champion tried to pour their mana into the largest pool of water to see what would happen.

Another even went as far as trying to stab himself with his own blade, maybe to see if hurting yourself was allowed.

But the results were the same.

[Rule violation detected. Any attempt to harm oneself is forbidden.]

The rules couldn't be broken.

But even so, the brief chaos had already broken the stillness that had been hanging heavy over the oasis. The tension hadn't disappeared, but now people were more restless, and eager to do something.

Eventually, someone broke the ice and asked out loud, enough for everyone to hear.

"So… who's the highest ranked here?"

The slight murmur that had been prevalent with the rising excitement suddenly died down as everyone looked around curiously.

Even those that had previously been unconcerned, with their eyes closed in contemplation, suddenly became interested.

"I'm ranked No.75," the guy that started the question continued. "...and I'm looking for others who are ranked high enough to join my team."

He was an elf variant with heavy plant features. He had leaves for hair and a green skin with small branches sprouting out here and there.

The guy didn't look like he was flaunting his rank with his statement, but rather, like he really was looking for strong team mates.

He struck Zephyr as someone that was very straightforward and to the point. He didn't even look like he realized he'd just asked something inappropriate.

Who would want to reveal their rank for all to know this early?

Zephyr didn't react. He schooled his expression naturally, as though he hadn't even heard the question.

But not everyone was like him.

A tall figure stood up near one of the central pools.

A dragonkin variant with crocodilian features, with a nose and mouth that were slightly more snout-like than normal. He had the rest of the dragonkin features though. A huge build, black, powerful wings that were in a closed up state behind his back, and prominently vertical pupils in his eyes.

He scanned the surrounding champions staring at him with intrigue, "I am ranked thirteen," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Oh…?" Zephyr whispered in real surprise. "Still within the double digits…" He hadn't expected that at all.

Everyone immediately opened up their ranking panel, checking for the alias of the No.13 ranked champion.

Rank No: 13

Name: Braddox

Rep: Planet 4. G–12. 06–0183

'Braddox? Did this guy use his real name?' Zephyr reassessed the dragonkin. He'd thought he would see a very domineering name because of the guy's willingness to reveal his rank for all to know just like that.

Just as Zephyr was thinking of this, the white-skinned demon guy also stood, "Well, I'm not ranked as high as Braddox here, but I still rank well. No.34 – Moonlight Sage."

One after another, five more people revealed their ranks. They came from different corners of the oasis — a cloaked figure with foxlike ears announced his rank as No.47, a thin, insectoid-looking, human variant revealed her No.88 rank, a stocky imp-looking dwarf variant revealed his as No.139, and two more champions also revealed their, which was within the hundreds.

That made seven high ranking champions in total — at least those who were willing to reveal themselves.

Zephyr was sure that just like him, there might've been others who were also high ranking, but keeping their identities secret.

He could see the benefits of announcing one's high rank though. The murmurs in the oasis had grown into full blown chatters. Every champion regarded the seven high rankers in a different light, looking at them from the point of view of potential allies or foes.

Those who wanted to forge relationships with strong champions moved closer to them, while those who didn't, marked their faces as people to avoid when the twelve hours were up.

Groups started morphing into full-on factions.

It was natural. After the twelve hours here ended, no one would have the safety rules of the Voice of The World to protect them any longer. Aligning with the right people now could decide their survival down the line.

Those that knew they probably wouldn't last long on their own immediately tried joining any of the rapidly growing factions, displaying skills they had that could be useful.

One of the rapidly growing factions — where Moonlight Sage, Braddox, and one other high ranked champion were a part of — laid claim to one of the large pools and its surroundings, declaring that once the twelve hours were up, anyone not of their faction still within their claimed territory, would be considered as an enemy and would be dealt with immediately.

The same was happening in different areas of the oasis.

Large factions with high rankers were declaring large, prime areas as their territories, and leaving all other minor factions with areas with small pools and limited greenery to battle over.

Everything was still only verbal claims at the moment though, since the Voice of The World's rule was still in place. But even at that, most champions had already vacated areas large factions had claimed as their territories, with only a few headstrong individuals refusing to leave.

By the time the sun started to set, the whole oasis had already been separated into their various factions already, simply waiting for the twelve hours to be up.

Those that were without factions were making their last preparations, making water containers and bags with leaves, wood, and thatches from trees, stocking up and getting ready for their solo trek into the desert.

Zephyr was among these few. He knew he couldn't stay in the oasis during the first few days. Everything seemed to have been set in stone peacefully — Factions, groups, cliques — but those were all verbal agreements.

The real division of territory would begin when everyone could show what they could really do, without any inhibitions.

It was surely going to be a bloodbath. The first culling.

And Zephyr wanted to be far away from it when it happened.

By the time the sun fully set, and the darkness of the night took over, people finally started to leave, slipping away in ones, twos and threes.

Most people didn't know exactly how many hours had passed, and could only judge by what they saw. So instead of waiting and potentially getting caught up in the bloodbath, they vanished into the desert without hesitation, putting miles between them and the oasis.

Zephyr still chose to wait though.

For reasons he didn't really know, someone had taken an interest in him.

Aside from Moonlight Sage, who still threw occasional glances of intrigue his way, there was also a girl, an elf variant… She had been subtle with it, but Zephyr had still noticed.

Right now, she seemed to be very nervous, fidgeting slightly where she sat as more and more people streamed out of the oasis.

Her covertness had started to slip up and she was casting more glances Zephyr's way than usual, making him even more sure she was waiting for him to leave.

He simply looked straight ahead passively, like he was not bothered by the fact that time was ticking away.

In reality, he actually had a digital estimate of the time remaining floating within his view on his ever-present status panel. Aegis had provided the estimate based on the time it took for the sun to set, and projections based on that rate.

At the moment, the estimated time remaining was an hour and thirteen minutes. So he could afford to wait for at least thirteen minutes before he started to feel like he needed to get a move on.

The girl had raised the hood of her cloak, hiding her face from view, and Zephyr could practically feel the hole she was burning through his head with her piercing gaze.

But surprisingly, she stayed the whole while, waiting just like he did, making him start to get curious about her intentions.

He felt no maliciousness from her gaze, so he knew her agenda was something else.

'Okay… let's see where this goes…' Zephyr finally rose to his feet.

And just as he did, as if in sync, two people also stood up.

The Moonlight Sage… and the elf variant girl…