Benjamin, ever the codic relief, waved a finger between Aria and Gabriel. "Hold on. Hold on". He raised both of his hands. "I know I make a lot of jokes, but this isn’t one of them, right?"
He stared, totally baffled. "Did we... did we actually miss a recruitnt mo?"
The subject of Aria dating was an awkward but delicate topic among the group of friends. Sotis, they still couldn’t wrap their heads around it.
Aria and dating..., it felt like polar opposites.
But here, right now, Gabriel, Aria’s boyfriend was here announcing to them that he was to be working with them? How does that even work?
All eyes turned to Aria, who had suddenly found sothing very interesting about her phone screen.
Genevieve leaned back, arms crossed, watching her with an unimpressed expression. She had a look on her face like she was betrayed by her best friend.
"So..., you just forgot to tell us?"
Aria finally looked up, completely unbothered. "Oh, please, it’s not a big deal".
"Not a big deal?!" Caleb nearly had an aneurysm. "You added a whole person to the team without telling us! That’s..." He gestured wildly. "That’s like suddenly adding a fifth wheel to a car and expecting it to drive normally!"
Caleb was normally very composed. Originally, he would never say all this when the person in question was standing right there but he was just too shocked and caught off-guard.
Another thing was his work description. Gabriel didn’t co to work here as so unassuming chef or cleaner, no, he was working with the main team.
The main team Echelon, them, the pro players.
This was why he reacted.
Gabriel didn’t take offense though. His girlfriend may have trivialized it but as a professional himself, he kind of expected this reaction.
Ever composed, he simply adjusted his glasses. "If it helps, I’ll be working in technical analysis and strategy developnt. My role is purely supportive. I have no intention of interfering with gaplay decisions".
Benjamin, recovering from his shock, pointed at Gabriel.
First, he chuckled to lighten up the atmosphere a bit. "Sorry for the reception my man, you know, we were kind of surprised that’s all".
"I know". Gabriel smiled.
Benjamin continued. "Okay, but let’s clarify sothing real quick. You’re her boyfriend, right?"
Gabriel nodded once.
By now, Aria already led her boyfriend to sit down so it was like a discussion. She was not about to have her boyfriend standing up and talking to these bastards so officially like they were interrogating him.
Benjamin nodded back. "So, let get this straight..., our already overpowered, overaggressive Blademaster now has a live-in tactical analyst?"
Genevieve exhaled, rubbing her temples. "Oh God. The ego boost alone is going to be unbearable".
Aria smirked. "You say that like I wasn’t already unbearable".
Caleb groaned, dropping back into his seat. "We’re dood".
While Aria never inford the rest of them, she did inform Noah ahead of ti, including when Gabriel who report to work for the first ti.
This was why a Warstar console and monitor was placed in this lounge, from where Noah listened to the conversation.
Gabriel already knew since long ago that Noah mostly communicated from inside the ga. He suspected that sothing was not right, but he never asked since his girlfriend never took the initiative to tell him.
And now, Noah who had been silent up until now finally let out a low chuckle from inside the ga. "Alright, I don’t care how this happened. What matters is whether or not Gabriel can actually do his job".
Gabriel looked at the monitor screen without hesitation. "I can".
Lord Doom’s smirk widened. "Good. Then welco to Club Echelon".
Gabriel inclined his head. "Thank you. I look forward to working with you all".
Benjamin sighed dramatically. "We just recruited Aria’s personal strategist. If we all die in a ga because of so hyper-aggressive strategy, I’m blaming you, Noah".
Noah just shrugged. "Fair".
And just like that, Club Echelon welcod a new worker that would be working closely with the pro team.
...
As the days turned into weeks, Club Echelon continued moving with ruthless efficiency; a team forged in battle, sharpened by trials, and led by the indomitable Lord Doom.
Noah and his team relentlessly pursued every last ounce of power the ga had to offer before their inevitable rise to the Heavenly Domain.
They tore through quests like a storm.
The Harbinger’s Paradox had tested their cognition and reaction speeds, forcing them to solve reality-warping anomalies while battling against paradox-born wraiths.
Chaos Gambit had thrown them into a high-stakes, unpredictable battlefield where only Noah’s split-second calculations led them to victory.
The Eternal Siren’s Song had nearly crushed them under the weight of an unrelenting ntal siege, their wills tested against the whispers of an ancient, malevolent force.
And then the crazy ga against the mad Jester.
All of them tested their wits and their Avatar’s resilience, but together, Noah and his teammates prevailed every single ti.
By the ti they erged, their arsenal of skills was near perfection, each player fine-tuning their abilities in preparation for the next stage of Warstar’s world.
And then the rise of Club Echelon’s reputation.
Word of Echelon’s growth spread like wildfire. They weren’t just so rogue club anymore, they were quickly becoming a serious threat.
Gabriel’s tactical insights refined their strategies, turning their chaotic brilliance into organized devastation. In no ti, Gabriel quickly built a close friendship with Caleb as they found a lot of things in common among themselves.
Nightingale’s vision for the club was unfolding, with sponsorships already beginning to roll in, infrastructure expanding, and the organization solidifying its presence.
The eSports world kept its eyed glued to Echelon, waiting for the mont they would challenge the established titans of the scene.
And through it all, whispers of Lord Doom’s dominance never faded.
While his teammates grew, Noah was undergoing his own transformation.
Stuck in the ga, he had all the ti in the world to play Warstar.
He had mastered the new form of Aetherforge, the Berserker’s Greatsword, honing it to terrifying precision as he integrated it with the other forms.
Caster had beco an unwitting sparring partner, thrown into battle after battle, gradually refining himself in the process.
And Caster’s progress was showing in every Cyber Squad ga.
Noah had even experinted with multi-weapon synergy, blending his past mastery of lances with the raw, explosive power of the greatsword.
It was a period of refinent, a relentless pursuit of absolute perfection before stepping into the next battlefield.
And then, finally, after countless battles, quests, and victories... a golden notification flashed before Noah’s eyes.
DING!
[You have leveled up to level 60!]
Finally!
The ti had co.
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