Vyr didn't take a day off after the 2,000-star order. The win had brought a rush, not relief. It validated everything he and Echo were building—but it also opened a door. And once that door opened, it was impossible not to walk through.
The first thing he did was overhaul the structure of AscendX. He created a formal payment system, added an internal ticketing platform, and expanded the service page to include a new category: coaching. Echo had already laid the backend groundwork days earlier, anticipating the momentum. That's how he worked. One step ahead, always.
The coaching program was simple to start. One-on-one sessions, scheduled hourly, with vetted coaches. Raihan offered to help train the first batch. "If we're doing this, we're doing it right," he said. "Most sites treat coaching like a side gig. We treat it like mentorship."
What Vyr didn't know was that Raihan had quietly quit his organization. Things hadn't been going well—mismanagement, slow payments, team drama. He still had a handful of solid players, a small community, and enough savings to float himself for a while. But more importantly, he had belief. In Vyr. In the vision they were building. "Look," Raihan said, "I'm not just helping. I want in. You build the framework—the legal, the logistics, the grind. I'll handle the players. I'll play. I'll coach. We revive the old dream."
"What dream?" Vyr asked.
"Dominion Order," Raihan said.
It hit Vyr like a flashback. That was their old squad. The one they used when they were semi-pros. A name full of meaning, tied to a time when they believed they could conquer the world with just talent and timing.
Raihan's plan was simple. Start with players from his homeland. Use AscendX's infrastructure to fund and manage operations. Enter grassroots tournaments. Climb into visibility. "We won't be an org," Raihan said. "We'll be a movement."
Echo didn't argue. That night, Vyr found a file labeled: "Dominion_Order_Team_Protocol." Inside were training schedules, roster structures, branding guides. Echo even mocked up jersey designs with a logo resembling their old in-game clan tag.
While that effort moved forward, Vyr focused on stabilizing the business. Coaching slots were filling up. The in-game currency sales were ramping. But everything was informal. He needed to make AscendX a proper company.
That's when he finally decided to register.
The morning of the appointment, he got his haircut. Clean fade, sharp lines, short on the sides. He looked at himself in the mirror afterward—muscles more defined from weeks of working out, posture straighter, jawline sharper. He barely recognized himself. He looked like someone ready to run a business. Ready to be the business.
The department office was sterile and gray, tucked near the city center. Vyr walked in with a neat folder of documents, speaking fluent German with a calm precision. It caught people off guard. A young foreigner not just communicating clearly—but confidently. When he explained the business—digital services, eSports scaling, coaching infrastructure—the staff listened with more than politeness. They were intrigued.
By the end of the appointment, he had submitted all the documents, confirmed the trade license, and even received compliments from two women waiting in line.
"Du hast wirklich ein gutes Deutsch," one said, smiling.
"Danke," he replied casually, not missing a beat.
He left the office feeling ten feet tall.
Now it was real.
AscendX was a registered company. Dominion Order was forming. Raihan had five players ready. They had to secure devices, stable net, and find sponsors. That proved harder.
Some sponsors ignored them. Others wanted high visibility first. A few asked for demo reels and community metrics. Vyr and Raihan split the work—Vyr built sponsor kits, media decks, and proposal PDFs; Raihan coached his squad and scheduled trial matches for recording. Echo assisted with templates and automation, handling outreach emails silently in the background.
The stress mounted. One sponsor pulled out last minute. Another sent a lower-than-expected offer. But they didn't quit. Dominion Order wasn't just a team. It was a promise to their younger selves.
And as Vyr reviewed the site traffic at night, with orders still coming in, messages pinging, and Echo drafting the next system update—he knew they weren't dreaming anymore.
They were building it. One line of code. One player. One idea at a time.
And Dominion Order would be the next step in the rise of Paragon.