"Damn, that's a lot of people, even though there are only around a hundred of us," Martin said as he looked over the crowd gathered at the foot of the academy's headquarters.
The closer his party came, the less it felt like a simple meeting point and the more it looked like a war camp before the first horn.
Players stood in organized clusters beneath floating party markers. Tanks checked their shields and armor straps. Healers sorted support items.
Scouts compared route maps while damage dealers bragged too loudly near the edges of their groups. Pets, spirits, summons, and familiars crowded every open space, making the wide headquarters plaza feel even smaller than it should have.
