Is this really a Game?!

Reign and the others were slowly making their way back to the territory before stopping after hearing a new notification from the system.

[ All players from Earth. ]

A calm and enchanting voice could be heard throughout the whole planet suddenly.

[ You have done well, much better than expected, because of that the system has decided that some change is needed. ]

"Change, what?" Shadow asks curiously as he looks at Reign and the others.

[ Do not be afraid, the changes are as follows. ]

Ding!

-          Ability rank will no longer change the color of elemental abilities and similar ones. The abilities the players will use from now on will be their true abilities.

-          As some of the players have already seen, many territories are now present on the planet, both the monsters and players can fight for hegemony over the territories and become a lord

-          Events will periodically happen in the world and challenges that players can join in to compete against other players or players groups will soon be commencing.

[ That is all players, good luck. ]

"What the hell, what kind of a notification is this?" Shadow grumbles before he looks at Wolf who was staring at his palm like he was in some sort of a trance.

Whoosh

Suddenly golden flames appear on the top of his palm, the flames looked beautiful as they danced on top of his hand.

"Wow, Wolf, what in the world-"

"They feel different, my flames, my powers, I can't put it into words but, it feels a bit different."

Shadow and the others all look at him in wonder before using their own abilities, soon all of them had the same expression as he had. Their abilities were still the same, but at the same time they were not, previously they all felt that their abilities were familiar but that something was lacking, it seems that the missing piece was now there, but they had no idea what exactly it was.

"Guys, get away!" Reign grinds his teeth as he yells at the others who look at him in shock. He was clenching his fists as strong as he could while his head was getting red, they all felt a sense of danger and immediately created distance between themselves and him.

Bzzzz

Black and white lightning suddenly erupts from Reign as the others scramble to get further away from him. The lightning illuminates the surroundings as a fierce wind started blowing from him. The surrounding trees shook violently as the lightning blew the area away.

"Reign!" Shadow calls out while staring at his friend who was in the center of it all. The lightning didn't stop however, contrary it was getting even more violent as some of the trees started falling down while others caught on fire.

Suddenly it stopped, the lightning disappeared as Reign stood on the ground while his usual blue lightning flickered around him periodically. He looked at his hands before inspecting his lightning with a weird look on his face.

"Yo Reign, what the hell was that, are you alright man?!" Shadow comes to Reign and shakes him by his shoulders. Shadow gets back right away as Reign's lightning shocks him slightly.

"Yeah, I, I don't know, I felt like my two abilities suddenly fused and the power was enormous, I tried to keep it in me but, it was too much, that's why I told you guys to get away, but it seems fine now." Reign absentmindedly answers Shadow as he looked at his lightning with a solemn gaze. The power he felt earlier, it was incredible, not to mention that even now when his lightning went back to its previous state, it was still different.

Reign lifted his hand up as the lightning followed, every movement Reign made seemed to resonate with the lightning that acted like it was protecting him. With a flick of a wrist, Reign sends a part of it towards a nearby tree.

Bzzz

Crack!

Splinters explode all around the tree as a crack can be seen. The lightning was able to penetrate through the tree with relative ease before vanishing.

Wolf suddenly widens his eyes as he summons his flames.

"I see, that's what was missing, this feeling, it's like I have made a connection with the flame itself." The flame on his palm suddenly starts changing, one second it was a bird, the other it was a sword, an arrow, and so on.

"Yeah, it seems that the system never allowed us to use the full power of our abilities before, I wonder why?" Reign mutters as he deactivates his lightning. He could still feel the power of the white and black lightning inside of him and he was certain that he could use it, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to control it so he let it be for now.

Back to the castle Eldar and Jack were on the balcony of Eldar's office. Their faces showed a solemn gaze as they looked at the sky.

"Letting the players use their true abilities so early, why would the system do this?" Jack asks as he looks at Eldar who looked equally confused as him.

"I don't know, by everyone's estimates this was not supposed to happen before at least a year had passed and the second or perhaps the third phase started, for the system to move it up by so much, it seems this planet is even more of an anomaly than we thought," Eldar answers with a heavy look as he turns around and enters his office.

"Eldar, you know what this means, it won't be too long before the player's true names start having an importance in the game, for all of this to happen so soon, they're not ready yet, even Reign and the others need more time to become stronger and understand their abilities better."

"I know Jack, but are you sure that the system will do that, you know that some planets never even get the true names, only after somebody transcends will they even get a true name."

"I know, but here, so many of them actually gained them at the very beginning, when was the last time something like this happened, I understand that this planet is different, but how many of them will die, shallowed by their own powers in the end?"

"I don't know old friend, I truly don't know, but have faith in the boys, they have gone above and beyond every single expectation we had previously, I'm sure they will be able to continue."

Eldar stares at the map in front of him as he seems to be looking for something.

"First there was a big problem with the area where higher-level enemies spawned right next to the safe zone, even a drake showed up, gods descended and gave out marks, not to mention so many of them, now this, what could it all mean?" Jack sits down with a heavy look as he stared at the ceiling, his gaze seemingly piercing through it.

"Whatever happens, it is not for us to decide if it's right or wrong Jack, we have a mission that we need to do, anything beyond it is out of our jurisdiction."

Both of them sigh heavily as they continue looking at the map, more surrounding areas have been discovered and it was only a matter of time before the players become strong enough to explore them. Before that happens, however, they needed to get them all together, their powers have changed and Eldar and Jack have to help them better understand them now, without that it was possible for the players to lose control of their abilities or to even fail at using them, leading to their death.

"This is going to be a pain to go through." Eldar sighs again as he gets up, most of the players should be coming back to the territory after the announcement, he wanted to immediately start their training without any further ado. He and Jack could not do a lot to help them, but at least they could stop them if they lost control and hurt themselves or others.

"We have been given a blessing to have so many talented people in our territory, we can't afford to lose them now." Eldar gives Jack a stern look as the latter nods seriously, they both open the door of the office before going to the teleporter.

Back in the underground city Reign and the others had managed to come back without any more incidents. The people in the city were mostly the same as most of them had no abilities and as such, they didn't think much of the earlier announcement, only some had troubled looks on their faces as they were waiting for Reign and the others in front of their building.

"Before you ask anything, let's go to the castle, I'm sure the captain will explain everything to us," Reign tells the players who nod in agreement to his words, not all of them witnessed Eldar's power, but they all knew that he was many times stronger than even Reign and the others.

Teleporting back to the castle Reign could see a crowd formed on the training grounds, Eldar and Jack were giving a speech that was interrupted by their appearance, Jack smiles slightly as he looks at them before beckoning them to join everyone else.