The Glorious Evolution

He knew that the Lightbearer Alliance was unlike the rest of the agencies in their region... Blood Hunters took care mostly of the Nightcrawlers' nests... their duties centered around expeditions and raids like the erased Sunstrike agency and other agencies.

Midnight Slayers did some expeditions and raids here and there, but their focus was mostly on assassinations or covert missions that affected the region's stability.

On the other hand, the Lightbearer Alliance handled their region's international duties...assisting allies in Raids by sending their powerhouses as mercenaries, managing risky delivery missions, escorting high-profile Daywalkers on overseas travels, and rescuing refugees from fallen regions or Nightcrawlers' nests beyond their jurisdiction.

These missions provided the regions with a great relationship with other regions, which helped them benefit from economic and social improvement.

In a world where resources and past knowledge were erased, shutting the region off from the world would do nothing but leave them in the past.

As Levi and Arthur walked inside the sophisticated modern tower, a guide met them at the door and took them to the gathering location.

Walking across the gleaming silver granite, the Larson Brothers received nods of acknowledgment from all around. Their choice to cover the Blood Hunters' main army during the ambush had secured them unparalleled respect in the region.

The same applied to Jojo, Nurah, and Rayan.

"Your friends are waiting inside."

With a polite smile, the guide opened a glass door, leading to a massive interior garden in the center of the tower... It had no roof as the tower's interior was full only on the sides, leaving the central garden to shower under the dome's sunlight.

Levi and Arthur nodded in appreciation and went inside, finding their friends in no time. They were chilling in an empty coffee space next to a beautiful Wisteria Tree... its purple cascading leaves fluttering slowly in the breeze.

"Good morning."

"Sup!"

Levi and Arthur greeted their friends with a wave, taking two seats at their table. Then, Levi asked them how long they had been waiting here.

"About seven minutes," Nurah responded, sipping Espresso coffee... dark and strong.

"Is this the meeting location? Isn't it a bit too public?" Arthur wondered as he looked at the people walking on the upper floors.

"We don't know... we were brought here like you," Shia answered, yawning lazily.

"Well... I ain't complaining." Arthur clapped his hands with a grin, "Waiter... Everything on the breakfast menu, please."

Jojo, who was meditating silently on the side, her lips couldn't help but twitch... dying to say something. But she kept those unholy thoughts to herself, refusing to ruin her meditation.

Once the table was filled with dishes, Arthur cracked his fingers and reached out to a boiled egg... picking it delicately.

Alas, just as his lips were about to make sweet love to it, Lord Hicham's gentle voice resounded across the garden.

"My apologies for the tardiness... I was on a call with the High Chancellor." He said, smiling, "It seems we are on our own for the morning."

'Lord Idriss isn't coming?' Levi raised a brow in surprise.

He thought he would be at least here since he was the owner of the evolutionary formulas he left behind in the treasury... He doubted he would have shared all the pages with Hicham Rahma or anyone in that matter... Such knowledge was treated as family heirlooms.

"Please follow me."

Lord Hicham led the way to the agency's training center for some privacy.

Levi and the others went after him with no problem, but Arthur kept looking behind him at the filled table, incapable of walking away from it.

"Ahh... leaving such a glorious table is a sin."

In the end, he returned and looked left and right... Then, he gathered everything with the table's tablecloth and sent it inside his dimensional wallet.

Uncaring about the weird, speechless looks he had gotten from the coffee's staff, he waved at them in appreciation and dipped away.

As for Levi and his friends? They saw everything, but merely walked faster, acting like they didn't know him.

In a short while... The middle-aged Prince Charming had led everyone inside a massive training center with tough, metallic white walls and floor. No windows, a single door, and illuminating LED stripes decorating the walls into squares.

It resembled the Blood Hunters' training center immensely.

"Alright... my daughter will join us in a short while, as she is in the middle of training." Lord Hicham smiled gently, "Until she comes, how about we start with the Rifter Contract signing?"

Hearing this, no one had any complaints. Lord Hicham told them the secret incantation to summon the Rifter Contract... an incantation changed every month and kept secured by the government.

Levi and the others uttered the incantation simultaneously:

"By will and name, I cross the gate... Conquerors, Saviors, Raiders: guide my fate."

Once they finished, five nocturnal contracts took form before each one... even Shia's, as she hadn't joined the CRS Platform yet... One needed to be accepted into a Raiding Team first.

"What's with the secrecy?" Arthur murmured as he read the contract's terms, "Isn't it better for our region to have more raiders?"

"If only it were that simple."

Lord Hicham shook his head and explained with a patient smile.

"The range of the Contract signature is based on the nearest Solar Aegis Sanctuary to the signing... In simpler terms, if six randoms made a team and signed a Rifter contract in our region, they would be linked to Heliodor's Sanctuary."

"And?"

Arthur knew that anyone could become a Raider as long as they had the required minimum strength and five more members. In his eyes, shouldn't it be better to accept as many Raiders as possible, even if they were outsiders?

"This might not seem like a big deal, but it is... Your answer is in the contract details. I suggest you give it a thorough read... Call me when you finish."

Lord Hicham gave them a slight, polite nod and then walked out of the training center... Although the contract didn't come with five hundred pages, it was quite lengthy.

Though its details were already leaked on the dimensional network, Levi checked on it beforehand... Right now, he was checking if the terms were the same he had read about.

So far, so good... the contract involved mostly Raider Faction's details... Allowed actions, such as the ability to form alliances with other Raiders in the faction, as long as such alliances were declared to the Platform.

Or prohibited ones: refusal to comply with official CRS Gamemasters or moderators during events.

Also, how the Points and Ranking system operated... They were given a full diagram explaining everything in detail.

It wasn't too crazy... Win Raids, earn points... Lose Raids, lose points at best scenario... at worst? Death.

However, once Arthur noticed that the crucial term of Rifters' performance directly impacted their region's global ranking both positively and negatively, it finally clicked in his head.

'No wonder our government is keeping a strict watch on each Raiding Squad registered on the platform under our region's territory.' He raised an eyelid in surprise.

He understood at last that creating tens of Raiding Squads was more than possible for their region... However, they enforced strict rules of hiring only the best of the best in each agency, for the sake of their region's ranking not falling into the abyss.

Each win mattered... each loss mattered much more.

That's because losing a raid usually implied a squad wipeout unless they had a team-based resignation token in hand.

Those tokens were quite difficult to obtain, as they were given as rewards after a win... There were tens of different token types, each with a certain impact.

Since Solar Aegis Sanctuary based its resource split and benefits on the Global Regional Ranking, it was extremely important to stay on top.

Hence, each region must send only the best of the best to represent them.

After everyone finished with the contract, they glanced at each other in silence... Mixed emotions were written all over their faces, knowing that the moment their names were signed, their lives as Raiders would kick in on full gear.

Yet, no one was truly scared... anticipation and eagerness were dominating their faces as they signed the contract simultaneously.

The moment they felt their souls marked with a new contract, Levi looked at everyone and said with a faint smile, "I have always dreamed of becoming a Raider, and to be able to do it with my brother and friends in the same squad... I am more than content."

"Likewise!" Arthur shared a fist pump with Levi, grinning widely.

"I have to say, I didn't expect such development, but I am not complaining... It will be dangerous and fun." Nurah giggled.

"I feel bad for ditching Sergio and Jamal, but... as the High Chancellor said...to be the best, we have to fight the best," Shia said, her voice resolved.

When Arthur heard this, he swiftly summoned the cloth table filled with food and placed it in the center... Then, he picked a sealed orange juice bottle and poured it into five cups, some slightly broken from his barbaric sweep.

He handed everyone a cup, ignoring the disgusting looks on the girls' faces as they looked at the mushed-up dishes.

"Don't worry about it, none is going to waste." Arthur lifted his cup innocently and proposed a cheer, "To be the best!"

"To be the best."

Levi and the girls made a toast too, not wanting to hurt Arthur's feelings, seeing how excited he was.

"To be the best... now that's a fine goal."